A U.S. Senate aide has been fired after an amateur video of him engaging in anal sex inside a Senate hearing room was leaked and shared widely on social media.

The video shows the staffer — whose face was blurred by the Daily Caller, which first broke the story — naked on all fours while being penetrated by an unseen partner on the table in Room 216 of the Hart Senate Building. 

According to the Daily Caller, the video was first shared in “a private group for gay men in politics.” One of the group members then provided it to the Caller.

The footage reportedly appeared on a since-deleted “alt” account on X, whose owner identifies himself as a “twink” who engaged in sex acts with an older “bear” partner, according to the UK-based newspaper the Daily Mail.

Other outlets soon reported on the story and re-shared the video online.

Social media users, including the far-right activist Laura Loomer, zealously set themselves on a quest to identify the staffer, eventually claiming that the individual in the video — and behind the “alt” account — was Aidan Maese-Czeropski, an aide to U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

Some X users named another individual as the man fornicating with Maese-Czeropski, although Metro Weekly has not been able to verify the individual’s identity, and nor has any mainstream media outlet. 

Some of those same users also flagged a second “alt” account allegedly belonging to Maese-Czeropski’s regular sexual partner — who does not appear in the Senate video — and sought to determine his identity as well. That account has since been deleted.

On the evening of Friday, December 15, Maese-Czeropski wrote a post on his LinkedIn profile appearing to deny the accusations that he engaged in sex in the hearing room while also admitting to exercising “poor judgment.”

“This has been a difficult time for me, as I have been attacked for who I love to pursue a political agenda,” he wrote. “While some of my actions in the past have shown poor judgment, 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.”

Earlier on Friday, Maese-Czeropski had been identified by U.S. Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), who is Jewish and supports sending foreign aid to Israel, as the person who allegedly shouted “Free Palestine!” at him while the congressman was speaking with NBC News reporter Ali Vitali.

According to NBC News, the news outlet has not been able to identify the staffer. Miller made the identification in an interview with the Washington Free Beacon, claiming that Maese-Czeropski was “visibly shaking” when he approached him to comment because “he’s a snowflake.”

Maese-Czeropski concluded his LinkedIn post by addressing Miller’s accusations, writing, “As for the accusations regarding Congressman Max Miller, I have never seen the congressman and had no opportunity or cause to yell or confront him.”

Cardin’s office initially put out a statement responding to both the Miller accusations and the sex tape accusations, saying, “We have seen media reports emanating from the right-wing media. As this is a personnel matter and under review, we will not be commenting further at this time.”

But the following day, on Saturday, December 16, Cardin’s office confirmed that Maese-Czeropski had been fired.

“Aidan Maese-Czeropski is no longer employed by the U.S. Senate,” the statement, first obtained by Politico, read. “We will have no further comment on this personnel matter.”

Online investigators reported that Maese-Czeropski previously appeared in a campaign video with President Joe Biden, and is seen talking with the president in the footage, which was released as part of a “thank you” message to supporters from the Biden campaign days after Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election.

A second photograph, allegedly of Maese-Czeropski, has also emerged in which he appears to be standing next to former President Donald Trump, with both men smiling and giving a “thumbs up” gesture to the camera.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Maese-Czeropski began working in Cardin’s office in October 2021, after previously working as a field organizer for the Democratic Party of Virginia and as a climate researcher for the charity Friends of the Earth. 

When contacted by the Daily Mail, Maese-Czeropski’s mother, Magdalena Rivera Maese, reportedly implied that her son was left distraught by the situation, telling the outlet, “You don’t want to know how he’s doing.”

Conservatives gleefully celebrated the scandal, pointing to it as an example of how Democrats, and those on the political Left more broadly, have no morals or respect for government institutions. 

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) commented twice on the scandal on X, first writing, “Cardin staff wildin’. Making porn at work and yelling ‘free Palestine’ at a Jewish congressman? I have a question: how long would Cardin’s filmmaker last in a free Palestine?”

Cardin staff wildin’. Making porn at work and yelling “free Palestine” at a Jewish congressman?

I have a question: how long would Cardin’s filmmaker last in a free Palestine? https://t.co/jXtBiFdTUb

— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) December 15, 2023

Collins later mentioned the scandal in a subsequent tweet.

“Heck of a week for the Left. Gay porn in the Senate, swearing in ceremony on child porn in Virginia, t****y tap dancers in the White House, and Satanic statues in Iowa. What else am I missing?” 

Heck of a week for the Left. Gay porn in the Senate, swearing in ceremony on child porn in Virginia, tranny tap dancers in the White House, and Satanic statues in Iowa.

What else am I missing? https://t.co/MIUaf715fq

— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) December 15, 2023

Collins appears to be referencing Fairfax County School Board Chair Karl Frisch, who is openly gay, being sworn in on a number of books that “parental rights” activists have demanded be banned from school libraries — a move that has enraged conservatives, who allege the books contain graphic and overtly sexual content, and are tantamount to pornography.

The other references Collins makes are to Dorrance Dance, which performed a spirited Nutcracker-inspired, gender-fluid tap routine at the White House as part of a Christmas themed video, and a display erected by the Satanic Temple at the Iowa State Capitol to counter other religious displays allowed inside government buildings during the Christmas season. 

Online commenters echoed Collins’s sentiments about Democrats’ lack of morality.

“Imagine thinking it’s a good idea to film anal sex gay porn for your Only Fans subscribers inside the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room in the Hart Senate Office Building. This is degenerate AF. Yet, this is a Democrat congressional staffer so he’ll likely be given a bonus,” wrote one user.

“And people get upset like “ITs nOT aLL of US” of course it’s not, but gay culture is rotten,” wrote another. “It has normalized this sort of behavior. But even beyond the hyper-sexualization, it’s the fact he picked the senate chamber to humiliate the US as if it deserves no respect.”

Non-conservative commenters expressed concern that Maese-Czeropski’s actions would be used to attack other LGBTQ people and successfully paint them as degenerates — thereby justifying future anti-LGBTQ legislation. 

“In a perfect world, one’s actions would only be their own and not reflective of the entire LGBTQ+ community — but we don’t live in a perfect world. This will likely give our oppressors another tool to target us, especially LGBTQ+ folks in public service or those wanting to serve,” wrote Justice Horn, chair of the LGBTQ Commission of Kansas City.

Another user quote-tweeted Horn’s post, writing, “This has been my only thought since seeing the story. I sympathize with any harassment that ex-staffer will suffer now, but I’m most concerned with the ammunition this gave to the anti-LGBTQ+ movement. He was so naïve and stupid to make a choice that could gravely affect us all.”

Another user clapped back, accusing that user and Horn of concern-trolling.

“they were literally electrocuting queer kids to make them straight, murdering gay couples in the street, parents kicking kids out of the house, all before this senate business. Exactly what new ammunition are you proposing exists now that they weren’t using before?” wrote @ShaneM_Anderson on X.

@adamj_griff they were literally electrocuting queer kids to make them straight, murdering gay couples in the street, parents kicking kids out of the house, all before this senate business.

Exactly what new ammunition are you proposing exists now that they weren't using before? pic.twitter.com/gtKzircxaH

— Shane Anderson 🏳️‍🌈 (@ShaneM_Anderson) December 17, 2023

“‘They’ll call us perverts!’ Were they not doing that? ‘They will demonise gay sex as unnatural!’ *Gestures at all of history* ‘What if they say bad things about queer people and hurt us!’ What fucking rock have you been under? Respectability politics belong in the bin,” Anderson wrote in a subsequent post.

"they'll call us perverts!"

Were they not doing that?

"They will demonise gay sex as unnatural!"

*Gestures at all of history*

"What if they say bad things about queer people and hurt us!"

What fucking rock have you been under?

Respectability politics belong in the bin.

— Shane Anderson 🏳️‍🌈 (@ShaneM_Anderson) December 17, 2023