A 24-year-old legislative aide who allegedly filmed himself having sex with an unidentified man in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing room has been ousted from his job with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).
“Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the U.S. Senate. We will have no further comment on this personnel matter,” a Cardin spokesperson said in a brief statement.
Maese-Czeropski did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Social media blew up on Friday night after right-wing outlet The Daily Caller published a short graphic video of two men engaging in sexual intercourse on the dais of the Senate hearing room floor. The video came just hours after another conservative site reported on the existence of the video, claiming it had been posted to a public Twitter account and “conspicuously and deliberately contain the staffer’s face.”
Following the Daily Caller’s story, the United States Capitol Police announced that they were investigating the matter for any potential criminal violations, stating that “we are aware and looking into this.”
Maese-Czeropski, meanwhile, took to his LinkedIn account on Saturday morning to suggest he was seeking potential legal action. At the same time, he didn’t fully deny that he filmed the amateur sex tape and even admitted to “poor judgement,” instead only outright saying he was not involved in an unrelated incident involving Rep. Max Miller (R-OH).
“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,” he wrote. “Any attempts to characterize my actions otherwise are fabricated and I will be exploring what legal options are available to me in these matters.
Maese-Czeropski added: “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.”
Prior to announcing that the Senate staffer had been fired, Cardin’s office said in a statement: “We have seen media reports. As this is a personnel matter and under review, we will not be commenting further at this time.”
Before coming to work for Cardin, where he quickly moved up from staff assistant to foreign policy legislative correspondent to legislative aide, Maese-Czeropski had been a climate and energy fellow with the non-profit group Friends of the Earth and had been a field organizer for the Democratic Party of Virginia. His work for the DNC in Virginia even got him featured in an ad for Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Now, he’s out of a job—and getting mocked online by disgraced former Congressman George Santos, of all people.
