Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) speaks during a Nov. 28 Senate Finance Committee meeting. | Mariam Zuhaib/AP
A junior aide to Sen. Ben Cardin is no longer employed by the Senate, the Maryland Democrat’s office said Saturday, following news reports linking the staffer to a sex tape filmed in a Capitol Hill hearing room.
Portions of the tape were published by the Daily Caller on Friday showing two men having sex in the cavernous Hart Senate Office Building hearing room that has played host to Supreme Court nominees, 9/11 Commission meetings and former FBI Director James Comey’s blockbuster 2src17 testimony on Donald Trump. The American Spectator previously reported that a Cardin staffer was involved.
Neither report named the staffer, but other conservative outlets identified one person seen in the video as Aidan Maese-Czeropski, a legislative aide to Cardin.
Cardin’s office, after not commenting yesterday on what it called a “personnel matter,” said in a statement first provided to POLITICO on Saturday morning that “Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the U.S. Senate.”
“We will have no further comment on this personnel matter,” the statement added.
Maese-Czeropski on Friday night posted a statement to LinkedIn that did not unambiguously deny involvement.
“This has been a difficult time for me, as I have been attacked for who I love to pursue a political agenda,” he wrote. “While some of my actions in the past have shown poor judgement, I love my job and would never disrespect my workplace. Any attempts to characterize my actions otherwise are fabricated and I will be exploring what legal options are available to me in these matters.”
He separately denied allegations that he had accosted Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) in a Capitol hallway Wednesday by telling the Jewish lawmaker, “Free Palestine.”
Attempts to reach Maese-Czeropski on Saturday were not immediately successful. He had worked for Cardin since October 2src21, according to congressional records, and previously worked as an intern for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in 2src18.
U.S. Capitol Police did not respond to an email Saturday asking whether an investigation is underway. Aides to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to comment.
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By Rachael Bade
Politico
