Eric Massa To Retire: New York Congressman Leaving Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations- First-term Rep. Eric Massa announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection, saying his doctors have told him that he can’t continue to “run at 100 miles an hour.”
But several House aides told POLITICO that the House ethics committee has been informed of allegations that the New York Democrat, who is married with two children, made unwanted advances toward a junior male staffer.
A more senior staffer — Ronald Hikel, Massa’s former deputy chief of staff and legislative director — took the complaints to the ethics committee and was interviewed about them twice.
Hikel declined to comment about the situation, but House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) confirmed that the Democratic leadership had been informed of the allegations before the news broke.
“I’ve heard of that allegation before,” he said. “I had some indication, yes, but I don’t want to go beyond that. And my presumption [is] it’s being pursued in the course of business.”
This is apparently a longstanding problem for Massa- During his Navy career, Eric Massa allegedly touched at least two men inappropriately and may have exhibited a pattern of putting himself in situations where he would see men naked – particularly younger and lower-ranked men.
These allegations come from general shipboard understandings and conversations, and were relayed to me by shipmates of Eric Massa.
In one instance, Eric Massa was a lieutenant commander and the combat systems officer of the USS Jouett. That made him the third-ranking officer on the boat – behind the captain and the executive officer.
According to another officer on the ship, Massa and a lieutenant were on liberty in the Middle East. Massa had made the motel arrangements and the room turned out to have only one bed. The lieutenant reportedly told other officers on the ship that while they were in the room, Massa came up behind him and started massaging his neck and shoulders.
The lieutenant, shocked by this conduct from a higher-ranking officer, shrugged it off, literally.
In the night, he later told shipmates, he was awakened by Massa’s hands in his shorts. The lieutenant was startled and turned away. Massa rolled over and pretended to be asleep.
This is the Democrats' second Mark Foley.
The Dems' first Foley was Gerry Studds. They let the lawbreaking assfucker stay in office without a second thought, and elected him to several more terms in office before he chose to retire, many years later.
Every time Democrats talk about Foley, or Republicans' alleged greater "culture of corruption", I just have to laugh at their unbelievably hypocritical double standard.
Rep Charles Rangel.
Sen Harry Reid.
Rep Nancy Pelosi.
Rep William Jefferson.
Tim Geithner
Jeff Jones (former Weather Underground founder with William Ayers, now appointed to write our 2000-page Obamacare bill. Which in turn is being rammed through by corrupt and arguably illegal bribes of Senators and Congressmen. Even the Democrat votes have to be bought on this Democrat bill.)
ACORN.
SEIU.
Bill Clinton.
Hillary Clinton.
The shameless blatantness of Democrat corruption far exceeds the admitted corruption of Republicans. But Republicans demand their own transgressors step down.
Whereas Democrats make excuses for criminals in their own party, appoint them to the highest positions in congressional and Senate committees, and Dem voters re-elect them again and again. And whether it's Hilarycare or Obamacare, Dems just look the other way as their party tries to shut down democracy and bankrupt our nation.
Like when McCain was allegedly having an affair I think it's unfair to automatically assume guilt when so little is known.
Like when McCain was allegedly having an affair...
Kind of a weak response, there. Having an affair, even if true, is a far cry from sexually harassing a subordinate (male or female).
You are correct that nothing has been proven. But, then, that is why I asked if this was the Democrats' Foley or Craig?
Interestingly enough, BTW, it appears that at least some
democrats are drawing the Massa-Foley comparison.
Anonymous soureces are kind of weak nor do I give them much credability just like when they were used in McCain's alleged affair.
Anonymous soureces are kind of weak
Point of information: the guy who made the original allegation against Massa
isn't anonymous:
- The allegation was made by Massa's former legislative director, Ronald S. Hikel, a military veteran and friend of Massa's who was hired last year as the congressman's expert on health care issues.
Hikel's last day at work was Feb. 26.
Now, does that make the charges true? Of course not. But it does tend to give them more weight than if they were, in fact, anonymous.
And, to be fair to you, I doubt you knew that the complainant had been identified. As near as I can tell, that's part of the local media coverage right now (Massa's district borders the one I'm in) and hasn't gotten much play in the national news yet.
I of course was referring to your previous post that actually was based on an anonymous source.
Yeah, but those sources are simply confirmation of the on the record source. That's a little different than a case where all the accusers are unnamed.
Now, Massa isn't just not running. He resigned.
Massa's exit eases health reform passage- With Massa gone, the House will have 431 members, meaning a majority is just 216 not the 218 usually required. Because Massa opposed the House-passed healthcare reform bill and hadn't given any hints that he would change his vote when the final version comes up in the next few weeks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) just caught a break.
I'm sure he wasn't blackmailed by Pelosi or Obama to leave.
Now, Massa isn't just not running. He resigned.
Massa's exit eases health reform passage- With Massa gone, the House will have 431 members, meaning a majority is just 216 not the 218 usually required. Because Massa opposed the House-passed healthcare reform bill and hadn't given any hints that he would change his vote when the final version comes up in the next few weeks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) just caught a break.
I'm sure he wasn't blackmailed by Pelosi or Obama to leave.
: Rep. Eric Massa, who will resign today, says an ethics investigation was triggered by a comment he made to a staffer and pushed by Democrats to get Massa, a vocal opponent of health care legislation, out of the way.
Massa to resign Monday under ethics cloud
.....
WASHINGTON - New York Democratic Rep. Eric Massa, facing a harassment complaint by a male staffer, said Friday that he is stepping down from his seat with "a profound sense of failure."
"I am guilty," Massa told his House and campaign staff in a conference call Friday, according to a participant.
Later in the day, Massa released a statement saying that after learning he had a recurrence of cancer, he learned he was the subject of an ethics complaint by a male staffer who felt "uncomfortable" during an exchange with Massa. The exchange reportedly had sexual overtones.
"I will resign my position," Massa said in the statement.
"There is no doubt in my mind that I did in fact, use language in the privacy of my own home and in my inner office that, after 24 years in the Navy, might make a Chief Petty Officer feel uncomfortable," Massa added. "In fact, there is no doubt that this ethics issue is my fault and mine alone."
...
http://www.msnbc.com!Where all white people are racist and everything bad is caused by global warming. God damn America!
Yes, we knew that Friday.
Today's MSNBC article is the more interesting one:
- A New York lawmaker who resigned from Congress Monday accused Democratic leaders of using an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint to force him to step down before the House holds a close vote on health care legislation that Massa has opposed.
“Now they’ve gotten rid of me and it will pass,” said Rep. Eric Massa, one of 39 Democrats who voted against an earlier version of the bill last year.
Speaking on a radio program on Sunday, Massa admitted that he made a sexually-charged comment to an aide during a staffer’s wedding, but said that he was a welcome target for Democrats who will “stop at nothing” to pass an overhaul of the nation’s health insurance system.
You connect the dots,” he said of the timing of the investigation.
Massa focused his ire on White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, calling the former Illinois representative a “son of the devil's spawn.”
“He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote,” Massa said of Emanuel. “He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive."
MEM, I share your outrage that Rahm Emanuel and the house leadership blackmailed a man with threats to label him a homosexual in a cold and cynical effort to use homophobia for political advantage.
So besides his comment that seems to be more sour grapes than anything else there really isn't any evidence or even a serious allegation of blackmail. Must be a bummer for some of the partisans from the right.
the G-man argumentative Moderator Lawyers Guns & Money
15000+ posts 41 minutes 5 seconds ago Making a new reply
Forum: Politics and Current Events
Thread: Re: "I am guilty," Massa
41 minutes for a copy and paste and a repeat of a mem insult?
I started to respond but then my wife said dinner was ready. Anyway...
his comment that seems to be more sour grapes than anything else there really isn't any evidence or even a serious allegation of blackmail
According to MSNBC (your source article), he admitted his guilt. As such, blaming Rahm, et al, is not a defense. Therefore, he has no real motive to blame them unless his allegation were true.
Since his comments and behavior was in view of at least a table full of people it could have been in his best interest to be honest. This isn't a case where it's just one's person word against another. Since even he admits he's guilty it's not that wild an idea that his staff complained about him and that it was investigated as it should be.
Since his comments and behavior was in view of at least a table full of people it could have been in his best interest to be honest.
If, as you say, it was in his best interest to be honest and, as you claim, he WAS honest, then this tends to support the argument that he was being honest about Rahm, etc.
So what evidence does he have that it was blackmail? Does he even use that word? There's at least a table full of people that heard and saw him. He also had previously announced that he was retiring because of his cancer. So he's kind of changed his story there.
Being guilty doesn't prevent one from being blackmailed. Quite the opposite in fact. Being guilty of something increases the potential threat from the blackmail.
Sure but my point was that the guilt he's being honest about can be verified, his other claims however not so much. Nor does it make sense. He wasn't the deciding vote on the bill. Plus it sounds like Massa is changing his story again...
Massa: 'I Forced Myself Out' of Congress
FOXNews.com
New York Rep. Eric Massa is resigning Monday in the wake of an ethics investigation.
Denying that he groped anyone sexually, former N.Y. Rep. Eric Massa said Tuesday that he was responsible for the events leading up to his resignation Monday in the wake of a House ethics investigation into sexual harassment allegations.
"I forced myself out," Massa told Fox News' Glenn Beck in his first interview since his resignation.
The declaration contradicted assertions Massa made over the weekend that Democratic leaders forced him out because of his opposition to their health care reform bill. Democratic leaders have denied those assertions.
Massa added Tuesday that he "owned this misbehavior."
"I did nothing sexual, but I did things that were wrong," Massa said. "I failed. I didn't live up to my own codes. I own this. I take full and complete responsibility for my misbehavior. And goodness only knows what allegations they're going to throw at me."
The Washington Post, citing anonymous sources, first reported that the House ethics panel is investigating allegations Massa groped multiple male staffers in his office.
Massa told Fox News that, yes, he groped a male staffer -- but not sexually.
"Not only did I grope him, I tickled him until he couldn't breathe and then four guys jumped on top of me," he said. "It was my 50th birthday. It was 'kill the old guy.' You can take anything out of context."
Massa has previously claimed his misconduct was limited to using inappropriate language with staffers.
Massa's interview came after the former New York Democrat alleged that party leaders conspired to force him out of office so they would have an easier time approving the health care reform bill.
In a radio interview Sunday, Massa described himself as the "deciding vote" on health care.
Massa was one of 39 House Democrats who voted no on the legislation last November. The House Democratic leadership has been courting nearly all of its caucus members who opposed the bill in an effort to flip them to vote yes in the next round.
The White House denied Massa's assertion Tuesday. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs noted that Massa has cited different reasons for stepping down, from his health -- a recurrence of cancer -- to using salty language, to being forced out by Democrats because of his opposition to health care legislation.
"I don't why I'd give any weight to what he said on the fourth day, or the previous three," Gibbs said. "The notion the White House had anything to do with the series of events...as I said this morning was silly and ridiculous."
I saw Massa on Glenn Beck today. Massa's rationalization was pretty lame. It was the worst excuse for quitting I've heard since Ross Perot said he dropped out of the race because the evil corporate elite controlling the big two parties were going to ruin his daughter's wedding.
If Massa were the slightest bit sincere about this conspiracy to keep him from voting in the House against Pelosi's version of Obamacare, he would have manned up and stuck it out for at least another week, till he'd done his part to defeat the bill, and not been intimidated.
But Massa clearly was intimidated and has something to hide.
I'd agree that Reid, Pelosi, Rahm Emmanuel and other Democrat elites are pricks working against the national interest for their own political gain. But Massa pussied out and missed his chance to stand tall, if only for another 7 days till the anticipated House vote.
Like Massa said (although probably with some hyperbolic exaggeration) I'm sure Reid, Pelosi, etc., are using every weapon at their disposal to ram this Obamacare bill through.
But Massa is a pussy and a liar, and I don't take much stock in his version of events. He's trying to ride out with some shred of dignity by exploiting the independent/Tea-Party sentiment toward Pelosi. But it's plain as day what he's trying to do, and he isn't fooling anyone, despite his best attempt to worm his way out of it.
Being guilty doesn't prevent one from being blackmailed. Quite the opposite in fact. Being guilty of something increases the potential threat from the blackmail.
Sure but my point was that the guilt he's being honest about can be verified, his other claims however not so much.
I think that the probability is that Massa is a closeted gay predator and crazier than a shithouse rat.
At the same time, that doesn't mean Pelosi didn't try to use the former to blackmail him and, in fact we now have
this from the Associated Press:
- A Democratic leadership aide...confirmed Wednesday night that in October, Eric Massa's chief of staff met with a staff member in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office to discuss problems with the lawmaker.
The Massa aide pointed out a negative story about the lawmaker in a local newspaper that described Massa's living arrangements with staff members. The Massa aide told the speaker's office that he asked the congressman, who is married, to move out.
Massa's aide also discussed Massa's use of strong language and the way he ran his office.
Pelosi's spokesman, Brendan Daly, said the harassment allegations didn't surface until last month.
It appears that Pelosi's office lied about when they first learned of the allegations against Massa. It was nearly six months earlier than when they claimed.
While not a smoking gun, that would tend to support Massa's story and not Pelosi's.
Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that Pelosi is in frequent contact with Rahm Emanuel and other members of Obama's staff.
Therefore, there's a good chance that Rahm, et al, knew about these allegations last fall and this winter.
So, while Massa might be nuts, the outside sources are tending to confirm, not disprove, his allegations.
So taking someone out to eat is now sexual harrassment? I know you don't care for Pelosi but doesn't that even seem silly to you G-man?
I'm afraid I don't understand your reference. Could you please clarify?
That was from your link. Pelosi's office knew Massa took somebody over 20 years old out to eat once. That doesn't sound like harrassment.
No. The article I posted has this (see above):
- The Massa aide pointed out a negative story about the lawmaker in a local newspaper that described Massa's living arrangements with staff members. The Massa aide told the speaker's office that he asked the congressman, who is married, to move out.
The
living arrangements with the staff members was, according to another article, as follows:
- he filled his Capitol Hill rowhouse with low-paid male staffers in an arrangement ripe for trouble.
"It's like he had people trapped," said a Hill source.
At the house on E St. Southeast yesterday, which Massa had shared with five of his staffers, clothes were piled on the floor and half-a-dozen pairs of shoes mingled with dirty towels next to an open pink suitcase in the living room.
In hindsight, Democratic insiders wondered about activities that before had just seemed odd. They said Massa hired a surprisingly large percentage of young gay men, and paid them so little that staffers were forced to live in the house with him.
"It's not the gay part that's a problem, it's the abuse, if it's true," said one Hill source.
"The guy's a freak," a close friend of one embattled Massa aide told the Daily News.
Sorry G-man, I must have had another window with another article similar to your's that also included Massa's lunch date. I gotta say the townhouse and the lunch date at the time didn't constitute harasment. From what I've read even Massa's then chief of staff wasn't making that charge. It sounds like as soon as anyone heard that there was more than that it was acted upon properly, unlike the Foley situation that went on for years.
My point in mentioning that Pelosi knew approximately six months ago was to note that, under that time line, it was in fact possible she (amd/or Rahm Emmanuel) had the knowledge at a time it could be used to threaten Massa with exposure if he didn't change his vote on Obamacare.
Yeah but even Massa isn't alleging that there was any attempt to blackmail him.
As noted
above:
- A New York lawmaker who resigned from Congress Monday accused Democratic leaders of using an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint to force him to step down before the House holds a close vote on health care legislation that Massa has opposed.
“Now they’ve gotten rid of me and it will pass,” said Rep. Eric Massa, one of 39 Democrats who voted against an earlier version of the bill last year.
Speaking on a radio program on Sunday, Massa admitted that he made a sexually-charged comment to an aide during a staffer’s wedding, but said that he was a welcome target for Democrats who will “stop at nothing” to pass an overhaul of the nation’s health insurance system.
You connect the dots,” he said of the timing of the investigation.
Massa focused his ire on White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, calling the former Illinois representative a “son of the devil's spawn.”
“He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote,” Massa said of Emanuel. “He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive."
So, yeah, he hasn't used the word "blackmail," but he's been very vocal about the idea that the Democrat leadership is using the investigation to force him to resign because of his votes on the Obamacare bill.
This thread is more gay and uninteresting than the queer the thread is about.
...
So, yeah, he hasn't used the word "blackmail," but he's been very vocal about the idea that the Democrat leadership is using the investigation to force him to resign because of his votes on the Obamacare bill.
Yet you use quotes around the word? Seems to me the investigation was a direct result of Massa's own actions in public view of a crowd of people. There would have been an investigation reguardless.
I used quotes in order to connote figurative, not literal, blackmail actually.
As for your other point Massa was able to get elected with DNC support despite what you describe as his public behavior. No one in the leadership sought to investigate until his vote was problematic.
Maybe that's a coincidence. Massa claims it wasn't.
The living arrangement wasn't harrasment though and that besides a lunch date was all that was known at the time. That's a far cry from what happened at that wedding that resulted in the investigation.
So you dug up a comment M E M made on
another topic, just so you could respond to it here?!?
Man, what a pathetic attention whore you are.
M E M and I aren't exactly best buds, but I'd say your screaming need for attention proves that he, in fact, broke
you, Rex.
No, wondermctardboy, your liberal clone took a post of mine from this thread and replied to it in his "rex is a bully thread". I then responded with that post in this thread.
I know these things are hard for you to understand since it doesn't involve large bouncing cocks or underage girls.
No, wondermctardboy, your liberal clone took a post of mine from this thread and replied to it in his "rex is a bully thread". I then responded with that post in this thread.
I know these things are hard for you to understand since it doesn't involve large bouncing cocks or underage girls.
You usually say I'm a conservative clone of Whomod. Try to be consistent in your insults.
Regardless, you're still pathetic in your screaming need for attention, as is clear in your need to drag your response to M E M into another topic. All your insults are just so much needy whining for attention.
Ever the sockfucking loser.
You could just admit to being wrong and move on.
Or I could just continue to point out your attention-whore tendencies.
Among your other obvious psychological problems.
You forgot to call me a basement dwelling sock fucker in that post. Are you feeling okay?
You forgot to call me a basement dwelling sock fucker in that post. Are you feeling okay?
I win again!
You not only responded, but pointed out your own patheticness, thus saving me the trouble.
You couldn't be dancing more happily on my strings if you were wearing crusty socks.
You really need to start laying off the pot.
You need to wash the semen-crusted socks and get a job.
You should follow up that post with another g-man photoshop.
the G-man argumentative Moderator Lawyers Guns & Money
15000+ posts 41 minutes 5 seconds ago Making a new reply
Forum: Politics and Current Events
Thread: Re: "I am guilty," Massa
41 minutes for a copy and paste and a repeat of a mem insult?
AFLAC!