Glaring omissions called out in scandal-plagued Republican's defiant denial

A reporter called out omissions in a congressman's response to sexual harassment allegations after he failed to deny key details.

Axios congressional reporter Kate Santaliz noted that in a Tuesday article about Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), he made glaring omissions in his denial of allegations he summed up as a "shovel of horses---."

"Nowhere in this story does Edwards deny sending a young female staffer a three-page handwritten letter telling her she had 'written a complex chapter in my heart,'" Santaliz wrote in an X post, referring to allegations she laid out in earlier reporting.

She added that Edwards didn't deny "giving gifts to two young female staffers, including jewelry, a designer bag, and even a custom puzzle to invite one to an Adam Sandler comedy show." Nor did the congressman refute allegations of "vacationing in Vegas at the Bellagio hotel during the government shutdown with one of those staffers," Santaliz wrote.

Santaliz ended by reminding her followers that "at least one of those staffers felt uncomfortable with his behavior."