Massa is serial groper and propositioner of male employees

Here, from yesterday’s Daily News, are more details on Eric Massa’s behavior toward his male staffers and other young men, which finally led the House Democratic leadership to bring ethics charges against him, which led him to resign from the House.

Former Rep. Eric Massa hit on male bartender during funeral for Marine war casualty: report
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Wednesday, April 14th 2010, 4:00 AM

WASHINGTON—House leaders finally moved to stop ex-Rep. Eric Massa’s sexual harassment of young men after he hit on a male bartender at services for a Marine war casualty, published reports said Tuesday.

Massa tried to make a date with the barman at the Hornell Knights of Columbus hall after a Feb. 2 service for Lance Cpl. Zachary Smith, 19, according to The Washington Post.

“We’re all in shock, everybody around here,” said Mayor Shawn Hogan of upstate Hornell, a family friend of the Marine, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Jan. 24. “I would be appalled if it in fact did happen at such a solemn occasion,” Hogan told the Daily News.

Senior staffers for Massa, who had earlier informed House leaders of Massa’s questionable behavior with young male staffers, went back to the leadership again to report the Hornell incident.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) then told senior staffers to either report the allegations to the House ethics committee—or he would. Massa resigned on March 8.

Lawyer Debra Katz said she was representing a male Massa staffer who had filed a sexual harassment complaint against the upstate Democrat.

Massa’s actions toward staffers “spiraled out of control” last fall, Katz told The Washington Post. “This left my client and other gay men in the office even more vulnerable to Rep. Massa’s predatory behavior.”

That included groping and constant crude propositions for oral sex, she said.

Massa could not be reached for comment yesterday. In previous interviews, he admitted groping but described it as “tickling.”

House Republicans forced a vote last month approving an ethics committee investigation of how the Democratic leadership handled the complaints.

“It is now readily apparent that Congressman Massa’s pattern of troubling behavior continued long after Democrats first became aware of his conduct,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

[end of Daily News article]

- end of initial entry -

Gintas writes:

Once he made the correct vote on ObamaCare, he is thrown under the bus. I wonder if there was any blackmail involved in his vote?

LA replies:

According to the story, Hoyer threatened to move against him (and I guess did move against him), and then he resigned March 8, almost two weeks before the Obamacare vote which took place on March 21.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 15, 2010 03:45 PM | Send