WASHINGTON D.C., December 19, 2023—U.S. Capitol Police are investigating an incident involving a sex tape filmed in the Senate Judicial Committee Hearing Room by a junior legislative aide to Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD). The alleged staffer in the video, Aidan Maese-Czeropski, 24, has since been fired.

The sex tape was shared in a “private” chat “group for gay men in politics” and then reported on December 15 by the D.C.-based The Daily Caller. The news outlet released a censored clip of the sex act, depicts two men engaging in intercourse, with the alleged staffer wearing a black jock strap bent over a Senate hearing table. Both individuals’ faces are blurred in the released footage, but Sen. Mike Collins (R-GA) has identified one of the staffers involved.

The video was filmed in the Hart 216 room which typically hosts Senate Judiciary business. The room held U.S. Supreme Court nomination hearings; Senate intelligence hearings; and the historic 9/11 Commission. The romp occurred between the seating locations of Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Chris Coons(D-Delaware), according to Politico.

The staffer is no longer a Senate employee, Sen. Cardin confirmed though he did not explicitly state if the man was fired or not initially. Cardin told reporters Monday that he has not been in contact with the individual nor has he apologized.

“I was angry, disappointed. It’s a breach of trust. All of the above. 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 and the Senate staff,” said Sen. Cardin about the incident.

The whole Aidan Maese-Czeropski situation, first reported by @henryrodgersdc, has been interesting to watch play out. His social media activity was well known within @SenatorCardin's office, and he's posted questionable things for months, like this photo with @ERICSORENSEN. pic.twitter.com/Sf2dFCml03

— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) December 16, 2023

Cardin declined to mention any information about the staffer, including his relationship with him and his prior disciplinary history, stating he would “not comment on personal issues”. He told Reporters that he learned about the leaked video over the weekend and “made sure that he was separated.” He could not say how the staffer had access to the building after hours nor could he confirm if the video was legitimate or not, repeatedly stating it was the nature of the investigation to find that out.

According to reports by conservative journalist Laura Loomer, the staffer reserved the room under Senator Cardin’s name. Reports by Loomer that Maese-Czeropski was a registered foreign agent have been debunked by X notes – see below.

The alleged Democrat staffer, Aidan Maese-Czeropski, denied the video’s authenticity taking to his personal LinkedIn page to write: “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. Any attempts to characterize my actions otherwise are fabricated and I will be exploring what legal options are available to me in these matters.”

The recently ousted gay Congressman Goerge Santos (R-NY03) held back no words on an X posting sharply criticizing the actions of and taking a personal jab at the staffer.

“Having sex in a United States government building and filming it is the reason you got heat,” Santos wrote. “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 “Fuck around and find out”!

“Aidan you will forever be remembered as the Democrats favorite sloppy bottom…”

TheDesk reports that in November, Maese-Czeropski was promoted from his entry-level aide job. Prior to his promotion, he was warned to stop posting nude and seminude photographs to his public Instagram page.

A source revealed to TheDesk that Maese-Czeropski would routinely post nudes to his social media accounts and earlier this month, began posting nudes to an account linked to more than 1,000 followers including fellow work colleagues.

Capitol Police are continuing to investigate the incident and could not say if there was any security camera footage recorded that evening.

The second individual engaged in sexual intercourse in the sex video filmed in the Senate hearing room is alleged to be a Georg Gauger, a German national studying at nearby Elliot School of International Affairs. According to his LinkedIn account, he worked in the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs as a research assistant.

Since the video surfaced last Friday, it has raised security concerns for Capitol buildings.

“There are items that are classified, and the general public frankly should not have access to that and frankly if we got away from the idea of saying ‘everybody should be able to do xy and z it’s their right.’ I think we’d be better off for sure,” Retired Secret Service agent Jeff James told FOX5 Reporters.

The incident is not the first in recent history to raise security concerns about Capitol campus buildings including the January 6 attack on the Capitol and, more recently, on October 18 when hundreds of Pro-Palestinian protesters stormed into the Cannon House Office Building.

Senator Cardin is the Chairman for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who assumed the role on September 27, 2023, from embattled Senator Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) who was indicted by the DOJ in September for bribery offenses.