Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) made a young female staffer “uncomfortable” by giving her unwanted extra attention, including by delivering flowers to her Las Vegas hotel and by reading aloud a poem to her in front of other employees.

Axios reported on Wednesday that those alleged moves had the unnamed 20-something woman “worried about retaliation” from the married 65-year-old conservative. The report comes a month after the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Edwards over sexual harassment allegations; Edwards has denied any wrongdoing.

The outlet obtained a text message from May 2025 where the staffer denied a dinner invitation from Edwards. She told him that she felt it was a bad idea because there were already rumors about the nature of their relationship.

Edwards did not take the denial well, texting her “It’s disappointing to feel something that used to be easy has gotten complicated…I didn’t expect outside chatter to change that.”

Axios reporter Kate Santaliz wrote the woman “declined to discuss her interactions with Edwards.”

The report said Edwards was “choked up and became teary-eyed” when he read a poem he wrote for the staffer during her office farewell party. His performance included a slideshow featuring photos of the congressman and the staffer playing in the background.

That performance made her “uncomfortable,” Axios reported, as well as Edwards having flowers waiting for her in her hotel room a few months later. The report said the two spent time vacationing together in November 2025, even though she had left his office earlier in the year.

“The female staffer told Edwards the flowers made her uncomfortable, two sources told Axios,” the report added.

Edwards did not respond to multiple requests for comment. He denied allegations of sexual misconduct during an interview with CNN on Tuesday, saying “I think you’re gonna find that when Ethics completes their investigation that the facts will have caught up with all the gossip and the rumor.”

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