Senator Ben Cardin (D., Md.) made his first public comments Monday night since reports emerged days earlier that one of his legislative aides made a sex video in a Senate Hearing Room.
“I was angry. I was disappointed,” the soon-to-be-retired legislator told Fox News when asked for his reaction to the staffer’s video. “It’s a breach of trust.”
On Friday, the Daily Caller published a graphic video purporting to show Cardin’s staffer, Aidan Maese-Czeropski, filming a sexual interaction with another man in the same room where the 9/11 Commission hearings were held, and former FBI director James Comey testified against then-President Donald Trump. The video was originally posted in a group chat for gay men in politics.
Senator Cardin’s office remained tight-lipped over the weekend, telling Politico in a terse statement at the time, “Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the U.S. Senate” and that no comment would be forthcoming “on this personnel matter.”
While he acknowledged his disappointment over the incident Monday night, Cardin refused to provide reporters with additional details regarding the extent of his relationship with the staffer and whether Capitol police are pursuing a criminal investigation into him.
Meanwhile, the aide temporarily released a statement on LinkedIn reflecting on the news, which appears to have since been deleted. “This has been a difficult time for me, as I have been attacked for who I love to pursue a political agenda,” Czeropski wrote following the news reports. “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.”
The day before the video was released, Czeropski was reportedly identified as the staffer who confronted Representative Max Miller (R., Ohio), a Jewish legislator and vocal supporter of Israel, and shouted “Free Palestine” in his face.
Miller was in the middle of an interview with Ali Vitali of NBC News when Czeropski interrupted. “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,” Miller told the Washington Free Beacon. “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.” Vitali later reflected on X it is “pretty rare and stunning to see staff challenge members to their faces this way.”
Representative Mike Collins (R., Ga.) poked at Cardin for tolerating such behavior among his staff. “Cardin staff wildin’. Making porn at work and yelling ‘free Palestine’ at a Jewish congressman? I have a question: how long would Cardin’s filmmaker last in a free Palestine?” the representative rhetorically asked on Friday afternoon.
In May, Cardin announced that he would not seek reelection in 2024. “I am proud of all I have done for Maryland. I have given my heart and soul to our great state, and I thank Marylanders for trusting me as your representative for all these years. Thank you, Maryland,” Cardin wrote on Twitter in a video statement featuring his wife, Myrna.
“You know, Myrna, it’s been the honor of my life to represent the people of Maryland first in the Maryland General Assembly, then as speaker of the House, later as a member of the House of Representatives, and now as a United States senator,” Cardin said. “When this term ends, it will be my last year as an elected official. I will not seek reelection.”
Republicans greeted the news as an opportunity to turn the seat in 2024. “Democrats are quickly realizing that the Senate won’t be any fun for them when Republicans retake the majority in 2024,” Tate Mitchell, the National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson, told Fox News following the announcement. Larry Hogan, a former Maryland governor, is speculated to be among the leading Republican challengers bidding for Cardin’s seat.
Cardin chairs the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee in the Senate and serves as the second-ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. Among the Maryland Senator’s notable accomplishments include the passage of the Global Magnitsky Act, a bill co-authored with then-Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.), which sought to sanction individuals accused of serious human-rights violations around the world.