A staffer in the US Senate has officially been given the boot after it was alleged he had sex inside a congressional hearing room.
A video has surfaced of the alleged event, which appears to have been filmed by one of the participants. Neither their identities or the video’s legitimacy have been confirmed.
Following the publication of the video by right-wing news site The Daily Caller, the staffer’s employer has been quick to distance itself from the situation.
“Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the US Senate”, said a spokesperson for Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland (Maese-Czeropski’s employer), to US news publication Politico.
The Daily Caller claimed the video was originally “shared in a private group for gay men in politics”.
Cardin’s office also told the Washington Examiner that, “we have seen media reports. As this is a personnel matter and under review, we will not be commenting further at this time”.
The footage allegedly shows Maese-Czeropski having sex with another man, who at this stage remains unidentified.
Local news channel NBC was not able to verify if the video was real, or the identities of the parties involved.
Maese-Czeropski has publicly denied the allegations via a post on LinkedIn on Saturday, calling them “fabricated”.
“This has been a difficult time for me, as I have been attacked for who I love to pursue a political agenda,” he began.
“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 characterise my actions otherwise are fabricated and I will be exploring what legal options are available to me in these matters.”
The judiciary hearing room is steeped in history, with many high-profile events occurring inside it.
The 9/11 commission hearings happened there in the early 2000s and former FBI director James Comey dished on Donald Trump there in his official testimony back in 2017.
This is a developing story. More to come.