U.S. Capitol Police is reportedly investigating a gay sex tape that appears to have been filmed in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington D.C.
The Daily Caller obtained and released the recording of the alleged staffer having anal sex with another man, who is not identified.
“The alleged staffer can also be seen in a photo, naked on all fours, looking back at the camera on the table where Senators often sit to ask questions during a hearing. It appears to be unprotected sex,” The Daily Caller’s Henry Rodgers reports.
The Washington Free Beacon reports that the staffer allegedly is Aidan Maese-Czeropski, who worked as a legislative aide for Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD). Maese-Czeropski has since responded to the allegations in a statement on social media, saying that he has been “attacked for who I love,” and that he “would never disrespect my workplace” and is “exploring what legal options are available to me.”
Cardin’s office released a statement on Saturday saying that Maese-Czeropski was “no longer employed by the U.S. Senate.” The declined to comment further on the matter.
Jonathan Turley, an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law, said that there were various charges that could be brought forward in the case under the D.C. code, including Section 22-1312 for lewd, indecent, or obscene acts.
“It is unlawful for a person, in public, to make an obscene or indecent exposure of his or her genitalia or anus, to engage in masturbation, or to engage in a sexual act as defined in § 22-3001(8),” the statute says. “It is unlawful for a person to make an obscene or indecent sexual proposal to a minor. A person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, imprisoned for not more than 90 days, or both.”
Turley argued other charges that could be brought forward include Section 1361, which protects “any property” of the United States from willful depredation or attempted depredation; 18 U.S.C. 641 on the misuse of public money, property, or records; and 18 U.S.C. 1752, which defines trespassing as anyone who “knowingly enters or remains in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so.”