It’s been a wild weekend in the United States Senate, let’s just say that.
On Friday, Dec. 15, a video started circulating on social media showing a Senate staffer and another man allegedly having sex in a U.S. Senate hearing room. As of Saturday, Dec. 16, that Senate staffer has been reportedly fired.
PRIDE’s sister publication The Advocate was the first to confirm that the U.S. Capitol Police started an immediate investigation concerning this claim that two men filmed themselves having public sex with each other on Capitol grounds. The very explicit video was reportedly filmed in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill.
The office of Maryland Democratic Senator Ben Cardin released a statement addressing the situation and providing an update about the individual who allegedly appeared in the video. The statement read (via Politico):
“Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the U.S. Senate. We will have no further comment on this personnel matter.”
Maese-Czeropski’s LinkedIn profile showed that he had been working for 80-year-old Senator Ben Cardin since 2021. Maese-Czeropski started as a Staff Assistant in October 2021, became a Foreign Policy Legislative Correspondent in May 2022, and had just been turned into a Legislative Aide in November 2023. Considering that he has now been reportedly fired, Maese-Czeropski was only able to work in that new role for about a month.
Maese-Czeropski wrote in a LinkedIn post (seen below):
“This has been a difficult time for me, as I have been attacked for who I love to pursue a political agenda. 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 concluded, “As for the accusations regarding Congressman Max Miller, I have never seen the congressman and had no opportunity or cause to yell or confront him.”
A far-right outlet called The Daily Caller, founded by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, was the first publication to share the alleged video.
While many people certainly recognize how disrespectful it would be for anyone to allegedly have sex in such a historic building within government, this video immediately sparked outrage from far-right pundits who seemed predisposed to spew homophobic remarks on social media, and who weaponized this situation to further their political views against LGBTQ+ people.
A subsequent report from The Advocate’s Christopher Wiggins read:
“While many on the right are calling attention to the unprofessional behavior and complaining of depravity and sexual deviancy, others are pointing out the hypocrisy of conservatives glossing over their own sex-related scandals like Republican Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert’s recent public groping scandal in a theater with children present or the Florida GOP chairman, Christian Ziegler and his wife, Sarasota County Public Schools board member and Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget, whose own sexual escapades recently came to the forefront after Christian Ziegler was accused of raping a woman with whom the married couple had a sexual relationship.”
Christian Ziegler denied those allegations and wasn’t charged, whereas Bridget Ziegler wasn’t accused of being involved in the sexual assault. Both of them have also refused to resign from their positions.
Nonetheless, Bridget Ziegler’s alleged involvement in a same-sex sexual relationship has been condemned as hypocritical given how much she has advocated for anti-LGBTQ+ efforts like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law and the banning of books involving LGBTQ+ people in schools and libraries.
This story is still developing – make sure to check back for new details.
