The U.S. House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations that Rep. Chuck Edwards engaged in sexual harassment and fostered a toxic work environment, it announced May 14.
The panel is reviewing “allegations that Representative Chuck Edwards may have created or fostered a hostile work environment and engaged in sexual harassment in violation of the Code of Official Conduct,” the committee chairman Rep. Michael Guest, R-Mississippi, said in a May 14 statement.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards speaks during the 219th meeting of the National Council on the Arts at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts in Asheville on May 6, 2026.
“The Committee notes that the mere fact that it is investigating these allegations, and publicly disclosing its review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred. No other public comment will be made on this matter except in accordance with Committee rules,” Guest said in the statement.
Allegations of misconduct against Edwards have trickled out of Capitol Hill since April 30, when Axios first reported that he was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. In a statement to Politico on May 13, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson described the allegations against Edwards as “serious” and noted that an investigation was ongoing.
In statements to the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, Edwards has repeatedly denied allegations of misconduct.
“As stated many times, we welcome the ethics review and are fully confident that it will be demonstrated that Congressman Edwards has done nothing wrong,” Edwards’ campaign spokesperson Paul Shumaker said in a May 14 statement to the Citizen Times.
A Republican who served in the North Carolina Senate before being elected to Congress in 2022, Edwards, 65, has been married to his wife, Teresa Edwards, since 1980. The two jointly run the C. Edwards Group, Inc, overseeing several McDonald’s franchise locations in Western North Carolina.
Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com or message will_hofmann.01 on Signal.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: House Ethics panel investigates Chuck Edwards sexual harassment claims