A Democratic congressional aide, who was fired for recording a gay sex tape in the Senate, is facing possible criminal charges as the explicit video gained widespread circulation on the internet. Aidan Maese-Czeropski, 24, was fired by Maryland Senator Ben Cardin on Saturday afternoon, less than a day after a video showed two men having sex in a Senate room.
The Capitol Police are now reportedly investigating the explicit incident that took place in the same room where senators grill Supreme Court justice nominees. Maese-Czeropski, who appeared in a 2020 campaign video with Joe Biden, released a statement on LinkedIn Friday night claiming that he would never disrespect his workplace.
Career Could Be Damaged Forever
Clarifying his stance, Maese-Czeropski 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."
While the embattled staffer shared his plans to pursue legal action, Capitol Police are reportedly exploring the possibility of whether he violated any laws. Possible charges being considered include trespassing and obscenity.
Shortly before his termination was confirmed, Magdalena Rivera Maese, Maese-Czeropski's mother, suggested that her son had been deeply affected by the incident, saying, "You don't want to know how he's doing."
However, things could get worse for him because there is a claim that the video—which was first allegedly shared in a closed group chat for gay males on The Hill—is the subject of an investigation.
Attorney Jonathan Turley claims that other statutes might have been violated, including the question of whether using the hearing chamber informally constituted trespassing.
He said that if the video was recorded in a public space to generate income or if it contained explicit, lewd, or obscene material, the employee might find themselves in legal hot water.
The roughly eight seconds of sexual intercourse reportedly took place in a room that serves as the venue for Supreme Court nominee hearings and where former FBI director James Comey testified about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The explicit video of this incident was released by The Daily Caller on Friday evening.
The United States Capitol Police launched an investigation into potential criminal violations following the circulation of the video.
Maese-Czeropski had previously appeared in a campaign video for President Biden, and his mother had given him a shoutout on her now-deleted X account.
"Thank you for including my son, Aidan Maese-Czeropski, in your thoughtful message to everyone who has supported you," the staffer's mother said in a November 2020 post. "He has worked tirelessly with the DNC of Virginia. Congratulations to All!!"
In the same year, Maese-Czeropski reportedly posted on the payment platform Venmo, writing, "I want Joe Biden to spit in my mouth."
In Troubled Waters
Footage of the sexual encounter, first exposed by the Daily Caller, shows a young-looking male staffer positioned over a conference room table in the Hart Senate Office Building. Another man is standing behind him, filming explicit content of the sexual act they are engaged in.
In a separate photo, the staffer is shown naked and on all fours on a table typically used by Senators during hearings. Allegedly shared within a private group for gay men in the political sphere, the footage was said to have appeared on a now-deleted account on X.
The account owner self-identifies as a 'twink'—a young, smooth-bodied gay man—involved in sexual activities with his older 'bear' partner.
Maese-Czeropski's narrative elicited widespread ridicule from the Washington, D.C. chattering class, with disgraced Rep. George Santos taking a prominent role in leading the mockery.
"Having sex in a United States government building and filming it is the reason you got heat. You being gay and having gay sex NO BODY gives a rats ass," Santos wrote on X.
As per his LinkedIn profile, Maese-Czeropski has been employed in Cardin's office since October 2021. Earlier, he served as a field organizer for the Democratic Party in Virginia and worked as a climate researcher for the charity Friends of the Earth.
Senator Cardin announced his retirement at the end of his current term in May. As of the information provided, Cardin's office has not issued any comments on the allegations concerning his staffer. Maese-Czeropski did not respond immediately to attempts to contact him.
