NC Congressman faces censure but claims exoneration | Hour 2

What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all of the links, become a patron, go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for your support. So I have some messages on the text line from last hour. We started talking, well we actually it was most of the hour. We talked about the House Ethics Committee report recommending North Carolina Congressman Chuck Edwards, a Republican from western North Carolina, that he'd be brought up for a censure vote on the floor of the Full House over unwanted advances. Basically that he's accused of making towards two young female staffers that he brought with him to DC. They used to work with him when he was a state lawmaker. One was nineteen years old when she first went up there, I think in twenty twenty three. It was. Hang on, sorry, and the other so one was nineteen. The other was in her early twenties, I think, like twenty one, twenty two or so, and the. Stuff that he. The stuff that he gave them, the trips that he took them on, the text messages that he sent them. Like as I said last hour, it just smacks to me of love bombing. Like he's making his intentions clear. So if they ever wished to reciprocate, they have every signal in the world that they could capitalize on. But they did not. And so he's saying to the Ethics Committee, and in his public statements from the campaign, they're saying, well, there was no sexual relationship and so therefore no sexual misconduct occurred. However, the Committee in its recommendation they point out that like, yeah, no, you're not allowed to make these kinds of advances towards your subordinates. So the report is filled with examples I mentioned in the last hour, which, by the way, Hat tipped to the Carolina Journal for their headline on this. I think Katie Zender wrote it up. Guns n' Roses, which is some of the things that he bought for these staffers, jewelry, guns, flowers, shoes, purses, a laptop, a cell phone, a kitchen mixer, a robotic vacuum, vacations, tickets to performances, and then one on one dinners. And this is a recurring thing where he's he's inviting them to come with him as basically his plus one to like the White House or you know, hey, come with me to this event or whatever, let's go to. He took a trip with one of them to Vegas and then gave her money to gamble with, Like is that a professional thing to do? Like when he says we had a close working relationship, well why are you going to Vegas? What are you doing there? And then in fact he had to cut short the trip because he had to come back and vote on the government's shutdown, which would indicate to me that that was not a business trip. Maybe it was, but I don't think so. It just seems like he kept pestering her and pestering her and pestering her, like, Hey, when are we going to go to Vegas? We got to go to Vegas, And finally she just caved, That's what she said. She knew he was not going to stop, so she just agreed to do it. I think her sister lived out there. Several gifts were for specific occasions such as Christmas or birthdays, but others were not. For example, Edwards paid for Stafford two, that's the one in her twenties, for her and her friend to visit New York City, including tickets to see Hamilton, after she had gone through a breakup. Hmmm, uh, okay, I'm not going to assume that there was any kind of ulterior motive there, Okay, but for a moment, would there be? Could I should say, could there be an ulterior motive there? Hey, you just went through a breakup, you're single. Now tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna pay for you and your girlfriend to go up to New York City take this trip. It's on me. I'm gonna pay for all of this stuff for you, love bomb. And may that maybe may? I don't know, Like, could that be a way that he's sending a signal there, like, Hey, you just went through this breakup, You're on the rebound. Here I am with all this money, and look how much I care for you. I'm sending you to New York City. It's like, you know what, it screams to me, friend zone. Oh, I guess in this case it would be boss zone, Like you're trapped in the boss zone. You're you're sixty five years old. These girls are nineteen and like twenty two. They could be your grandchildren or children like at this point, right, So it sounds to me like he's throwing this stuff out there in order to, like I said, send a signal that if you are ever interested, you can guess my intent. And then of course everybody on Capitol Hill, all the staffers, they all talk, right. Apparently, this is like there were rumors circulating about whether or not they were actually having an affair because they were seen together at all these places, and their relationship was just out in the open, and so people thought because outward appearances were that they were in a relationship. Like from a story at nous dot com from back in May, multiple sources told notice that Edwards and the former deputy chief were not discreet and the relationship became common knowledge, which. It wasn't true. They were not having an affair. Apparently, so this common knowledge quote unquote among office staff and members of the North Carolina delegation because all these staffers talk to each other, and this stuff then, you know, percolates up into the ranks. Of the members of Congress themselves, so like people were aware of the rumors, which does harm to the women who now are suspected of, you know, having an affair in order to get ahead in their professional career when they're not. That's the harm, and that's what Edwards keeps denying that there was no harm. He says, there was no I didn't harm anybody. There was no harm done. Well, there was to these women because like they suffered reputational damage because of the way you were behaving. Back to the report, Oh yeah, there was this. Stare for one, the nineteen year old said she did not feel obligated to wear the purse or the jewelry that Edwards gave her, but Stare for two did feel obligated to wear a necklace that he bought her, and when she stopped wearing it, he made a comment about how disappointed he is that I'm not willing to wear what he got me. That's manipulative. Christy has a lot of jewelry that I bought her. She doesn't wear, kidding, so she's supposed to wear the necklace every single day. While Edwards testified that Staff for one and two also purchased gifts for him all the time, quote unquote. The committee found evidence of far fewer instances, but did find they provided him with a custom Miami Dolphins jersey for Christmas. The committee identified numerous specific instances in which Edwards engaged in conduct towards staff for one or Stafford two that was highly unprofessional, made the women feel uncomfortable, and or gave the appearance of a sexual or romantic advance. Next, he bought staf for one, brought her rather to a holiday event at the White House, hid the details from other staffers, bought her flowers, and texted her in advance that he was quote so excited about tonight and he wanted the evening to be quote perfect. Stare for One testified that Edwards attempted to pressure her to continue the evening with him after the event and insisted on having her travel too and from the event in his car with his driver. Edwards said he could not recall ever suggesting that they continue their evening. Yeah. Oh, and he deleted hundreds of text messages. So there is that too, But they have the text messages because the girls kept them all right for over a year. Now, you've heard me talking about create a video. Great local company in mint Hill that has helped more than two million families preserve their memories by turning old photos, VHS tapes, film reels and slides into lasting keepsakes, now creative videos helping families and groups create brand new memories while they're traveling. 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Check out group travel videos dot com. That's group travel Videos dot com. Or call seven oh four eight four six seventy eight seventy extension two o six. And when you do that, ask for Katie. But Pete, can I just email? Well, yes you can. You can email Katie Katie at group travel videos dot com. Group travel videos from old memories to new adventures, preserving life's moments for a lifetime. Okay, I have been ignoring the text line, and I'm really ignoring. I just haven't read the texts on air, so I shall read the texts now. I have a bunch of them. About the Chuck Edwards censure recommendation, Trent says, once again, Chuck Edwards shows why primaries are important. He took a bunch of bad votes with Democrats right before the primary. Whispers of his love bombing was happening before as well, and people were not happy with how he managed to lean. But a few thousand people chose him. So now we will lose to a NEPO baby Democrat who plays as a moderate farmer. That's yeah, he costly well, Jamie Ager. And by the way, you've heard of Nutgap farm. That's the Agers farm. So they are a sort of a political dynasty western North Carolina. And John Ager was the longtime state lawmaker. I think he was on the county commission maybe two or something. And so now, uh that's why you know, he gets the NEPO baby. And so this is why the Democrats are you know, are backing him because you know, they have long sought to flip this district because you know, Ashville is so left wing. They're like, you know, we should have our own representative in Congress and all of this. But like Asheville is like ninety thousand people and the district is like eight hundred and fifty thousand, and so hey, you're a farmer, just like the oyster guy, you know with the Nazi tattoo, or the logger Troy Jackson who replaced the oyster farming minecom fond fan. So yeah, so like they want this this blue collar character or avatar you know this, Oh look at him, he's a farmer. Jamie Eager is a farmer. Hickory nut Gap is a large farm. Okay, but yes, to your point, Trent, primaries do matter, the good Jeff says, do you think that Western North Carolina now regrets pushing Madison Cawthorne out the door. Nope, I don't think so. I don't like how he handled himself after defeat. But boy, what a mess we now have in that district. Yeah, well, I kind of feel like that district has been a mess for a while. Gary says it makes sense why Edwards sold his Chick fil as he was the owner of several Chick fil A restaurants or I think no, I think it was McDonald's or something. Maybe it was Chick fil I forget, Uh do you remember, Yeah, I thought they were McDonald's. Also, if you are sixty something treating nineteen and twenty year olds like that, it's just playing creepy. That would be like grandkid's age for him. Yeah, Jeff says, Edward's got all that stuff for one thousand dollars. Yeah, I'm not sure if so he should be in charge of procurement. For the government because he got a lot of stuff for one thousand dollars. M Stanley says the results of the investigation into Congressman Edwards's potential inappropriate behavior with female interns and staffers will ultimately depend on what the definition. Of is is as an old throwback. I remember the good old days of when Jim Traffiicant was expelled prior to his prison sentence. Oh yes, those are the days. I got a text from Blackpill Craig. If this congressman did not receive any sexual favors from his staffers, that's even worse. That just. Shows the congressman. Okay, I'm not going to read all of that, Craig. Come on, man, Tony wants to know who he has to date to get free guns. I'm not sure. John says, Chuck just sold his six McDonald restaurants in the astral area. Is his wife cashing out? M that's possible. Jeanie says, if he can afford to pay for all of those gifts, he's clearly making way too much money. I mean, I think he's independently wealthy. He was, you know, he owned several franchises. Where did all this money come from? Campaign funds? I don't believe so. I think these were like I said, he was, he's he's got a lot of money. Dana. I am sure your listeners will agree with me. I'm like, well, I'm not sure about You're sure to hear that. It sounds like these girls were getting as much as they could out of it, and now they're trying to profit off of it even more. The first time he asked them about doing anything, all they had to do was say no. If he fired them because of it, then they could have brought up charges stemming from that. But to do all of these different things and now cry out it's too common. Now they're the playbook for okay. So what happened was they that they did not like they were trying to say no. According to the report, they like in one case, when he's like, I'm going to buy you flowers and one of them says, uh, I'm okay without flowers, but thank you. So she says no. So she's saying no to the boss. Remember this is the boss that brought her along, that's basically making her career. Stick with me and you're going to go places, right, So she's hitching her wagon too, his rising star to mix a metaphor, so she says I'm okay without flowers, thank you though, but he gets her flowers anyway. And so what happens then is now, so the. Rumors start swirling all around that he's having an affair with one or both of these staffers. They are then made aware of the rumors, They get wind of this, and they quit because they're like, we need to get out of this, because like this is reputational harm. So you're talking about a nineteen year old and a twenty or twenty one year old. They did not know and this is in the report as well. They did not know how to navigate all of this stuff because they didn't know. Look, part of this sounds like grooming to me. That's what this kind of sounds like. I always link up all of my show prep over at my Patreon page so you can see it. So if you want to read through the report in its entirety, you can do so. Just go to patreon dot com search for my name Pete Callener and you'll get it there. It's also when the podcast description links from the text line BET's favorite Russ says, I know nothing about the representative or his personal life, but doing all of this with no technically illegal or prohibited behavior is so weird. You're making all of these overtures with no reciprocation. I believe the kids call that simthing. Yes, they do. Allen says, I have voted against Edwards in every primary. Nobody cared that he was not effective until he came out as overly heterosexual. Is that possible? Overly heterosexual? Yeah, that's a good enough reason to submit to the watermelons over at the DSAU. Right, Well, this is the this is the fear. Now, see, if Edwards does not resign in the face of this censure vote, if he doesn't step aside, then the party cannot put somebody else up in his stead, and then chances are you're gonna have this guy with all of this baggage. She's basically dead man walking into the general election because we already went through the primary. But if he resigns, then the local party can pick a replacement, and there are options. As we went over last hour with Andrew Dunn, there were are Republicans from that area who could beat Jamie Ager, the Democrat. It's a toss up race at this point. According to cook political report, the girls were his sugar babies, living the sugar lifestyle. I don't know if that's true or not. Seven oh four number. It seems like they were uncomfortable. Seth wonders if Chuck Edwards ever used the infidelity slush fund that Congress has set up, or maybe he's just a kisser like Cuomo was. There's no medication that he used any of those funds. There's no indication that there's ever been any complaints by the women filed against him. They just le left. Not Beth's Rusty says, I'm betting that the actions of Congressman Edwards are far more common in politics than reported. Michael says, not taken up for the guy, But why have the girls continue to hang around? Ye Oh, that's a bit creepy. You know. Well, they left when the rumors started circulating that they were having an affair with him, because they recognize that this is reputational harm. And they had talked to their friends and colleagues about what he was doing, and one of them was like, this makes me uncomfortable. But again, these are young girls, and you know, you're working in Congress, and it's like he's brought you along, and there's the power dynamic at plays your boss, the fear of apparently like some of his staffers have said that he's got a temper and he would yell at staff and all of this. He brought staff for number one, the nineteen year old on political trips, including a trip to New York City, where they stayed in extra day for the congressman's birthday, for which he had planned a helicopter ride, dinner, and a Broadway show. Although Representative Edwards testified that stair for One asked to go on the trip, the committee received evidence that it was actually his idea for her to attend the trip, and that he sought to surprise her with the personal activities during the extra day. So he went and built a date. That's what he did, right, Hey, let's go around see the science, gonna take a helicopter t goer and do all these things like why are you not taking your wife this? And stair for One was his scheduler. Now, I mean I don't that's what he hired her as. Yeah, just I mean, it's just it's not a good look, guys, It's just not a good look. John says, I want to hear all of the Blackpills text. Oh Christ, No, I can't. I'm not going to read it. Uh. At one point, left early from an event attended by congressional members and staff, and later told staff for One that it was because she had brought a date. So Edwards left an event attended by his colleagues, his fellow congress members, and staff, and he told her it was because she brought a date. When he was asked about this, Edwards testified to the committee that he told her that he did not want to be quote in the way of something to that effect, In other words, Oh, I saw you. Brought a date, and I didn't want to be in the way. Why would you be in the way. You're her boss, unless you think there's something else going on here, Like what this just does not make any sense. She shows up with a date to this event, and you're like, I gotta leave because I don't want to get in the way of anything. Oh are you hurt? Are you wounded? She's your employee, man, So you're saying she can't bring a date to an event. I'm unclear why you would feel the need to do this. So you also talk to staff for one and other staffer is about going to strip. Clubs in DC. Yesh More from the text line, Trent says this reeks of desperation from an old man trying to use money to get these girls to lay in bed with him. But he never got the hint to stop. Maybe they played along because they liked the stuff he was giving them. The Hamilton tickets alone is like a shark smelling blood in the water. Yeah, because she had just broken up with her boyfriend, and so he's like, why don't you go to New York City and take in Hamilton and pay for the trip with her and her friend? No. Andy Watermelons refers to socialists, green on the outside, red on the inside. They pretend to be environmentalists, although nowadays they're just not. Now they're just like tomatoes because now they're just out with the socialism, out and proud, not justifying his actions at all. But do we know if they were threatened to lose their job? Well, it's always in the back of your mind when it's when it's the boss that's making these overtures towards you. He never outright asked any of the girls, so what's the problem or yeah, So Dane is like, oh, he never, He never explicitly said let's have sexual relations, so therefore it's all okay, that's not how it works, John says Chuck Edwards's biggest crime against humanity is having all that money and still sporting the worst calm over in North America. That's so, then there is from the report he took. Oh, so he would book. He would book massages and spa treatments. For one of these women, he went to Stafford two's house. This would be like the twenty two year old or whatever went to her house to perform chores like yard work. Dude, what are you doing? So to do yard work? Pick her up, drop her off for events and activities with his driver, and decorate her Christmas tree together, for which he skipped votes in the house. That evening, he wrote poems for her. He planned elaborate full day outings with staf for one and or staff for two. On one occasion, he suggested to Stafford two that they could go to Annapolis for lunch, meditate by its water, stroll around town, find a day spa, see a movie, or wipe out the casino, and that he was overthinking. But I really want you to enjoy our time together nearly as nearly as much as I know I will. That is not something a boss should say to you, Okay. The following day he texted photographs to her with a note that he would cherish every moment of our time. These last couple of days, he arranged for a singer to go to her birthday party and sing ed Sheeran's Hills of Aberfeld Never heard of it, but they quote in the report here they quote some of the lyrics, which include quote, I long for you to be the one I'm holding. Yet I know that I have never told you, darling, we could fall in love neath the hills of Aberfeldie. I know that you will never find another heart that wants you more than mine. Did Stafford one and staff for two ever talk about this stuff together? They're in the same office. Surely everybody knows, like it's in the report that like everybody knows that he's behaving this way towards both of them, which that actually might have been why he was unsuccessful, right if he was trying to idoto, if he was actually trying to initiate something. But like maybe if you had just focused on one of the girls, then they wouldn't both know that you're doing this to each of them, because then that it they don't feel special, you know, because you're doing it to two of them. He arranged for Oh so, the committee received evidence that Stafford two told a friend that him booking this singer led her to believe that the congressman did not view her as quote just a daughter figure and that she was quote scared low key. That's what the kids say, low key. Although he voluntarily produced some of his communications with the staffers, many relevant messages were omitted and were seemingly deleted from his phone. These missing messages contained sentiments that were central to the investigation. For example, one series of messages included only the staffers text messages stating that she went to a restaurant recommended by Edwards. His texts were deleted, but I guess they're still on her phone, and his response read, in part quote, I'm burning with jealousy because I wanted to be the person to introduce you to that restaurant, and the committee did not believe that's what he was jealous about. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecallanershow dot com again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.