Footage appearing to show two men having sex inside the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room, situated in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill, has been shared online.
It has sparked intense speculation about the identities of the participants, with one Democratic staffer, who conservative commentator Laura Loomer claimed was involved, being fired after posting a cryptic LinkedIn post insisting that he wouldn't disrespect his workplace.
The eight-second clip shows one almost completely naked man bent over an extended table, while a second seems to penetrate him from behind. The footage was published by Daily Caller. The outlet said that it had originally been "shared in a private group for gay men in politics." Newsweek has not independently verified the footage's authenticity.
On X, formerly Twitter, Loomer wrote that one of the two participants was Aidan Maese-Czeropski, a legislative aide to Democratic Senator Ben Cardin; this claim has not been confirmed by Newsweek. In a statement on his LinkedIn page, Maese-Czeropski said "some of my actions in the past have shown poor judgement," but added that he would "never disrespect my workplace," without explicitly referencing the leaked video. Newsweek has also approached Maese-Czeropski directly for comment via his LinkedIn.
When approached by Newsweek for comment, a spokesperson for Sen. Cardin said: "We have seen the media reports. As this is a personnel matter and under review, we will not be commenting further at this time." In a later message they added: "Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the U.S. Senate. We will have no further comment on this personnel matter."
Daily Caller said it had not identified either of the video's participants, who appeared to be engaging in unprotected sex, the outlet added. On X, Loomer later posted: "EXCLUSIVE: The Democrat Staffer of Senator Ben Cardin who filmed himself making a gay sex tape in the Hart Senate building is named Aidan Maese-Czeropski."
On LinkedIn, Maese-Czeropski says he has worked for Senator Cardin for two years and three months and has posted a statement.
Maese-Czeropski wrote: "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.
"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."
The second paragraph refers to an unrelated allegation from House Republican Max Miller, who is Jewish. He said that Maese-Czeropski approached him in the Congressional complex and said "free Palestine," seemingly in reference to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Miller identified Maese-Czeropski as the legislative aid who made the comment, while he was having a discussion with NBC reporter Ali Vitali, in an interview with The Washington Free Beacon website. Miller said: "We're just having a casual conversation, and out of nowhere, this guy beelines up to me visibly shaking—he's very upset in my presence because he's a snowflake.
"And he just comes right back up to me and was like, 'Free Palestine.' And I was like, 'Okay.' I'm not going to give him a reaction because that's what he wants," Miller added. Newsweek approached Miller's office and Maese-Czeropski for comment on Saturday on the second allegation, by email and LinkedIn message respectively.
Vitali confirmed on X that the incident took place, though she didn't name the person involved. She wrote: "Snapshot from the halls of the Hill: a House staffer just passed by GOP Rep. Max Miller—who is Jewish and has been supportive of sending aide to Israel—and said 'free Palestine.' Pretty rare and stunning to see staff challenge members to their faces this way."
In early July, parts of the White House complex were briefly evacuated after a small quantity of an unknown substance, later identified as cocaine, was found on the premises. In March 2022, GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn said someone he had "looked up to" in Washington D.C. had done cocaine in front of him and invited him to an orgy.
Update 12/16/23 12:27 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to note Aidan Maese-Czeropski has been fired from Senator Cardin's office.
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James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
