Senate aide at centre of lewd video scandal loses job

‘We will have no further comment on this personnel matter,’ US senator’s office says

US Capitol (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

An aide to a Democratic senator from Maryland is out of a job following the leak of a graphic video that hit Washington DC like a freight train over the weekend.

On Friday evening the rightwing blog Daily Caller published a video appearing to show two men engaged in sexual intercourse which the site reported to have originally been posted in a private group chat among gay men in DC politics. The video (and the sexual act depicted therein) appeared to have taken place in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building — a hearing chamber used by the Judiciary Committee that has witnessed debates about Supreme Court justices and other prominent work of the panel.

The Caller would go on, citing a source familiar with the video, to identify one of the two men pictured in the video as a Senate staffer. The man’s features were blurred out and the site did not name either the senator or the aide, however, as it had not confirmed the video’s legitimacy.

Rightwing media personalities led by conspiracy theorist and failed congressional candidate Laura Loomer would go on to take the reins on Twitter/X and other platforms. Digging up other posts on Instagram connected to the username “aidansanto”, they named the staffer as Aidan Maese-Czeropski, a staffer in the office of retiring Maryland Democratic Senator Ben Cardin.

Then, Mr Maese-Czeropski promptly left his job with Mr Cardin’s office. His apparent firing was confirmed to Politico’s Playbook newsletter by Mr Cardin’s office, though a specific reason was not given.

“Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the U.S. Senate,” said Mr Cardin’s office. “We will have no further comment on this personnel matter.”

The Independent cannot verify with certainty that Mr Maese-Czeropski was indeed in the video, or where it was recorded.

US Capitol Police told several news outlets including CNN that the agency was “looking in” to the matter, but did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Independent regarding whether a formal investigation was taking place.

Mr Maese-Czeropski also did not respond to a list of questions provided by The Independent on Sunday morning.

On LinkedIn, however, a statement posted by the former Cardin staffer appeared to suggest that a matter relating to his sexuality had been the cause of his ousting.

“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 said.

The Independent has reached out to confirm whether Mr Maese-Czeropski disputes being in the video or the location where it was supposedly recorded.

Mr Cardin announced his retirement earlier this year and kicked off a primary race that has winnowed down in recent weeks to two prominent Democrats: Angela Alsobrooks, executive of Prince George’s County, and David Trone, a member of the House of Representatives. Maryland is typically regarded as a Democratic stronghold, and the Senate seat is regarded as securely blue in the upcoming election.

Already beset by scandal throughout 2023 thanks to the alleged escapades of George Santos, the now-former congressman, Washington social media circles have been abuzz sharing news of the lewd video over the pre-holiday weekend. The Senate remains in session for the next few days as it delays the holiday recess over talks on the issue of immigration, which in itself is holding up discussions on several other issues.

On Twitter, one Republican congressman even took to publicly trolling Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic senator who had led a committee hearing in Hart 216 just last week, and whose desk appeared to have served as the backdrop of the couple’s sexual act in the video.