Sen. Ben Cardin finally speaks about his aide who allegedly made explicit Senate video

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) has finally spoken about his now-fired aide who allegedly made an explicit adult video of himself and a male sexual partner in a Senate hearing room. The aide has deleted an online statement denying his involvement in the video’s creation.

“It’s a breach of trust,” Cardin told CBS News. “It’s a tragic situation, and it’s presented a lot of anger and frustration. I’m concerned about our staff and the way that they feel about this.”

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Last Saturday morning, barely a day after the video surfaced on right-wing websites, Cardin’s office released a short statement that said, “Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the US Senate.  We will have no further comment on this personnel matter.” The statement didn’t mention any details.

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Cardin said that he hadn’t spoken to the former aide, hadn’t received an apology, and wasn’t aware of any other disciplinary issues with him. “I can’t talk about other staff,” Cardin said, “but I have not talked to him.”

The video in question showed a young man in a black jockstrap kneeling upon an elevated hearing room table in Senate Room Hart 216 – the room used for judiciary hearings. After the right-wing website The Daily Caller posted a censored version of the video online, homophobic Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) identified one man in the video as Sen. Cardin’s aide, Maese-Czeropski.

An Instagram post, allegedly published by Maese-Czeropski, bragged about having intercourse in the room, gay journalist Zachary Sire reported. The accused aide also appeared to speak with now-President Joe Biden in a 2020 Biden campaign video, several online commenters claimed.

Maese-Czeropski initially denied the accusations on LinkedIn, writing, “I have been attacked for who I love to pursue a political agenda…. 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.”

However, that denial has since been deleted from the former aide’s LinkedIn page, CBS News reported.

In response to Maese-Czeropski’s now-deleted statement, out former Rep. George Santos replied, “Having sex in a United States government building and filming it is the reason you got heat. You being gay and having gay sex NO BODY gives a rats ass… No one is perusing a political agenda, we are just disgusted about your VILE behavior as a staffer to a United States senator. Now you do put a new definition to ‘F**k around and find out’!”

At least one Fox News host expressed disappointment former President Donald Trump’s recent white supremacist rhetoric on the campaign trail caused the media to stop focusing on the explicit Senate video. Fellow Fox News host Jesse Watters called the video “worse than [the] January 6th” insurrection that killed five people and injured over 100 police officers.