May 15, 2024
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., tells Fox News he was "angry" and "disappointed" after a staffer was seen in an amateur sex video filmed in a Senate hearing room.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., has broken his silence after one of his staffers was allegedly fired over a sex tape filmed in a Senate hearing room

“I was angry. I was disappointed,” Cardin told Fox News earlier Monday when speaking about the scandal. “It’s a breach of trust.” 

Ben Cardin

Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland, speaks during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 9, 2023.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Cardin would not name the staffer in question, only saying it was a “personnel issue.” The Democratic Senator said he was not aware of any further disciplinary issues against the staffer and hadn’t spoken to him since the firing. He added that the Capitol Police are investigating the incident. 

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The scandal erupted Friday when the Daily Caller published the video with the blurred-out faces of two men engaging in sex in Hart Senate Office Building room 216, a location where several high-profile hearings have taken place in recent years, including Supreme Court confirmation hearings. 

Hart Senate Office Building Room 216

Hart Senate Office Building Room 216 is set up for the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett before Monday’s Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Posts on social media said the alleged staffer worked for Sen. Cardin, whose office soon after announced that the aide had been dismissed. It did not address reports linking a member of his staff to the sex tape. 

Fox has learned that the Senate sex tape was recorded last week. But the time of day is unclear. A Congressional security source is promising a “thorough investigation” with interviews upcoming. 

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While there are currently no pending charges in the case, a security source did not rule out the possibility. 

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.