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Salazar approves Cape wind farm


Wind turbines supplied by Siemens Energy.
By Patrick Cassidy
STAFF WRITER
April 28, 2010
BOSTON - US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm today, a move proponents herald as a giant leap forward and opponents decry as a dangerous misstep.

His approval is the culmination of nearly a decade of review by local, state and federal agencies of the plan to build 130 wind turbines on Horseshoe Shoal in the Sound.

Related Stories
Obama tours supplier of Cape Wind turbines Island Wampanoag vow wind farm fight Related Links
Ongoing offshore wind farm coverage The so-called “record of decision” to approve a lease for the plan by Cape Wind Associates, LLC, opens the door for an expected onslaught of lawsuits by the project's opponents.

"This will be the first of many projects up and down the Atlantic coast," Salazar said standing next to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a wind farm supporter.

Salazar said he was approving the Cape Wind project “with modifications that will protect the historical, cultural and environmental resources” of Nantucket Sound. Among these were the reduction of the project from 170 turbines to 130 turbines - a requirement the developer has already made to reduce the visual impact of the turbines - and to do additional marine archeological surveys.

FBI joins in Massa probe of sexual harassment, hush money and coverups
BY Richard Sisk
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Thursday, April 22nd 2010, 4:00 AM

Miller, ElisaRep. Eric Massa speaks to the media on his reasoning for not seeking reelection, outside his office in the Longworth House Office Building at the US Capitol. Related NewsTantaros: New Yorkers need leaders they can be proud ofGOP pushes Massa probe, charges Pelosi ignored tipMassa mess spares Paterson on 'SNL'Massa hit on male bartender during funeral for Marine: reportMassa paid former chief of staff $40K before sexual harrassment complaint WASHINGTON - The FBI has joined the mushrooming investigations of sexual harassment, hush money and coverups allegedly involving former upstate Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) and his male staffers.

The bureau's entry into the case followed the announcement by the House Ethics Committee yesterday it is conducting its own investigation of how the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and others handled complaints against Massa.

Massa's alleged "tickling," groping and raucous behavior at a gay bar with young staffers was "offensive, inappropriate [and] created a hostile work environment," the Ethics Committee said in a statement.

In the chaos in Massa's office, "monies or other payments may have been misappropriated or otherwise fraudulently or improperly distributed or received," the committee said.

Massa resigned last month as the charges escalated. He maintained he was a "salty guy" whose gruff language and behavior may have been misjudged by his staff.

The case entered a new phase last week when Joe Racalto, Massa's former chief of staff, disclosed he has filed a sexual harassment complaint against Massa. Racalto also said he received a $40,000 check from Massa's campaign fund shortly before Massa resigned.

Through his lawyer, Massa said he did not authorize the $40,000 payment, alleging that forgery might be involved.

Car trouble for Massa

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By Tyler Briggs
The Evening Tribune
Wed Apr 21, 2010, 11:28 AM EDT

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Hornell, N.Y. -
On top of the sexual harassment complaints filed against Eric Massa, it seems the former 29th Congressional District representative is now having car trouble.

The Federal Election Commission is reviewing a complaint that Massa may have improperly used campaign funds to make a $31,896 payment on a leased vehicle just before resigning, according to Politico.

The complaint was filed Monday by the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog group.

The payment was made on March 4, according to Massa’s campaign finance report, a day after Massa announced he wasn’t seeking re-election and the day before he decided to resign.

Prior to March, Massa’s campaign was making monthly payments of $605 to GMAC to lease a vehicle. It’s unclear whether the nearly $32,000 payment was for terminating the lease or for purchasing the vehicle.

A spokesperson for the FEC told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that the commission considers complaints regarding vehicle use on a case-by-case basis, and it may take months or years before the investigation is complete.

The National Legal and Policy Center also complained about a $40,000 payment to Massa’s former chief of staff Joe Racalto.

Racalto has filed a sexual harassment complaint against Massa, who resigned amid allegations he harassed male staffers.

Racalto’s attorney, Camilla McKinney, said the $40,000 payment was for campaign consulting in 2009 and early 2010, and between Massa’s 2008 election and his swearing-in in January 2009.

Massa’s attorney, Milo Silberstein, did not return phone calls Tuesday seeking comment, but told the AP over the weekend that his client never authorized the $40,000 payment to Racalto.

THE PLOT THICKENS-MUD SLINGING BEGINS


Massa makes accusations against chief of staff

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By Tyler Briggs
The Evening Tribune
Sun Apr 18, 2010, 08:47 AM EDT

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Hornell, N.Y. -
There’s now two sexual harassment lawsuits against Eric Massa, the former representative of the 29th Congressional District who officially resigned March 8.

Joe Racalto, Massa’s chief of staff, has filed a complaint against Massa, his lawyer, Camilla C. McKinney, said through email Saturday.

News broke Wednesday that a male aide to Massa filed a lawsuit alleging the 50-year-old Massa regularly groped him, propositioned him and made lewd remarks to him and other staffers. Unlike Racalto, the aide has remained anonymous, for fear of ruining his career on Capitol Hill his attorney said.

Saturday it was reported that Massa made accusations against his chief of staff.

Massa told the AP through his lawyer, Milo Silberstein, that he didn't authorize a $40,000 check his campaign wrote to Racalto. Massa also denied authorizing a check from a campaign account in the same amount for Racalto.

According to the AP article, Massa's statement alleged that "someone forged then-Congressman Massa's signature on forms raising Mr. Racalto's own salary as a member of the congressman's personal staff from $120,000 per year to the maximum permissible level of $160,000."

Not the case, according to McKinney.

“The check is from the campaign, and it was signed by someone authorized to do so by the campaign,” Racalto’s attorney said. “It would be ridiculous for anyone in the campaign to cut a check for $40,000 without specific approval of Congressman Massa. The money was owed to Mr. Racalto for work he did on Massa’s transition in 2008 and the 2010 campaign.

“Mr. Racalto received a pay raise at the same time as did other staff members,” McKinney said. “The pay raises were authorized by Congressman Massa at the congressman's direction, and the pay increases were made from the Members Representational Allowance.”

Massa’s attorney could not be reached for comment Saturday.

McKinney questioned the timing of Massa’s statements against her client.

“The timing of the allegations by Massa is highly questionable and suspicious in light of Racalto's recent announcement of his sexual harassment complaint,” she said. “The former congressman is trying to discredit someone who is making a sexual harassment complaint against him.”

More dirt was dished on Massa Friday, as Politico reported that he spent nearly $32,000 of campaign money on an automobile just two days before announcing his resignation.

Washington Post Story Describes An Out of Control Eric Massa
April 14, 2010 09:14:00 Font size:
Aide who has now filed legal action was himself one of several homosexual men working for Massa

The aide in former congressman Eric Massa's office whose complaints led to Massa's resignation is himself a homosexual. The attorney for the aide, who has now filed legal action against Massa, told the Washington Post that Massa began making advances on his own staff members within months of taking office in January of 2009.

Staffers in the Massa office told the Post that they had no faith "in their workplace protections" and were concerned that senior staffers protected Massa. Attorney Debra Katz told the Post that both the "chief or staff and the deputy chief of staff" attempted without success to "rein in the congressman" and by the fall of 20=09 Massa's behavior "spiraled out of control."

The Post says that for months Massa's aides tolerated "a frat house environment full of sex talk and lewd behavior." According to the Post account Massa's chief of staff, Hornell native Joe Racalto told staffers he himself had been a victim of Massa's advances.

The Post and the Hornell Tribune reports that a male bartender at the Knights of Columbus alleges Massa made unwanted sexual advances toward him at that Main St. club following the funeral of fallen Marine Zach Smith.

Massa resigned in disgrace in early March. House Republican leader John Boehner has been trying to get facts about the Massa case and is asking how long Democrat leadership in the House of Representatives knew about Massa's conduct.

THE WASHINGTON POST


Staffers' accounts paint more detailed, troubling picture of Massa's office

By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 13, 2010; 5:50 PM
Just three months after Eric Massa was elected to Congress, his young male employees on Capitol Hill began complaining to supervisors that the lawmaker was making aggressive, sexual overtures toward them, according to new interviews and internal documents.
The senior staff, one of whom said he heard Massa (D-N.Y.) making lewd remarks to young staffers, tried to manage the problem internally. But reports of Massa's inappropriate behavior continued, leaving junior workers feeling helpless, according to victims, other staffers and sources close to an ongoing House ethics investigation. Most asked not to be named due to the ethics probe and the risk of hurting their job prospects.
This account, drawn from more than two dozen interviews and internal documents, shows that aides were accusing the 50-year-old married lawmaker of far more egregious behavior than previously known. Beginning in March 2009 and over the next several months, male staffers complained that their boss had touched them in a sexual manner, came up with reasons to have staffers travel alone with him on overnight trips, and expressed a desire to have sex with the men in the office.
But it wasn't until after a year of staff complaints -- when allegations about Massa's behavior threatened to become a public embarrassment -- that supervisors alerted congressional leaders to the problem. That led House leadership to demand the matter be referred to the ethics committee. Massa resigned a few weeks later when the media reported he was the subject of a harassment probe. He declined to comment for this story.
On Tuesday, in response to an earlier version of this article, House Minority Leader John Boehner called on the ethics committee to delve deeply into how such allegations could continue for a year with no relief for staff.
"It is now readily apparent that Congressman Massa's pattern of troubling behavior continued long after Democrats first became aware of his conduct," Boehner said. "Speaker Pelosi's staff has acknowledged they knew about problems in Mr. Massa's office back in the fall of 2009. What action, if any, did the Speaker and the Democratic leadership take to protect Rep. Massa's subordinates from harassment and abuse?"
Several staffers say the Massa episode reveals congressional staff's lack of faith in their workplace protections and the deference that office supervisors showed Massa.
"Both the Chief of Staff and the Deputy Chief of Staff attempted to rein in the Congressman, but their efforts were ineffectual and by the fall of 2009, Congressman Massa's behavior spiraled out of control," Debra Katz, attorney for one staffer who alleges he was harassed by Massa and has initiated a complaint against him, said in a statement. "This left my client and other gay men in the office even more vulnerable to Representative Massa's predatory behavior."
Staff in the D.C. office felt they had nowhere to turn, she said. For months, according to numerous accounts, Massa's aides tolerated a frat house environment full of sex talk and lewd behavior.
"It speaks to the significant power differential that exists between members of Congress and the personnel they employ," Katz said. Even though a 1995 law prohibits Congress members from engaging in sexual harassment, she said, "staffers by and large are fearful of retaliation and career suicide if they file complaints or go outside of their offices to report sexual harassment."
In one instance, a staffer said he alerted Joe Racalto, Massa's chief of staff, in March 2009 that Massa tried to fondle a young colleague in a hotel room during the 2008 campaign. Racalto told staffers he believed their complaints, because he had heard similar stories, according to staffers. Two sources said that Racalto told staffers he himself had been a victim of Massa's advances.
In a statement through his lawyer, Racalto declined to answer questions about whether he was harassed by Massa, or had filed a harassment complaint against the lawmaker. He did answer several other questions in comments relayed by his lawyer. He disputed claims that he mishandled the situation but said he had difficulty controlling his boss and lacked a manual to guide him. He said he confronted Massa about allegations of improper advances, but the lawmaker denied doing anything improper
Racalto said he tried in fall 2009 to block the lawmaker from being alone with young male staffers, including demanding that he move out of a townhouse Massa shared with staff. He confirmed that he pulled Massa out of a Dupont Circle bar in December when he could not get Massa to stop making inappropriate comments to a 21-year-old intern and another male staffer.
"When Mr. Racalto did witness something or hear a complaint concerning inappropriate conduct, Mr. Racalto made every effort to curtail the Congressman's behavior by directly addressing each issue with the congressman," said his attorney, Camilla C. McKinney, in a statement.
Racalto is leaving the Hill for a job in New York. He notified the House last week he would resign effective May 1.
Staffers also said they sought help from Ron Hikel, who became deputy chief of staff in November 2009. Hikel said he was prohibited from commenting for this story because of the ongoing ethics investigation.
When Massa departed Washington on March 9, he gave two nationally televised interviews that made him the butt of late-night television jokes. He first explained that he groped and tickled a male employee "until he couldn't breathe" during what he said were typical antics to celebrate his 50th birthday. In the next interview, he denied groping anyone.
The House ethics committee is scrutinizing what House Democratic leaders knew when about the harassment allegations, and how they acted on the information.
One gay male staffer said he complained to Racalto in spring 2009 that Massa routinely made sexualized remarks to him. The staffer told Racalto he had grown distressed, because of two incidents he had heard about involving Massa allegedly making unwelcome sexual advances when sharing a hotel room with staffers.
The staffer said that Racalto assured him that Racalto would talk to Massa and put a stop to this kind of conversation. But by summer, according to several sources, Massa's sexual commentary had escalated and some of it was directed at an intern.
In June, Racalto issued a memo, later obtained by The Washington Post, prohibiting staff from social relationships with staff interns, because of the appearance. He warned three staffers who shared a townhouse with Massa that "you must be extra careful who you bring home and how you conduct yourself, especially when EM is present" and not to "put EM in a position where he is sleeping and questionable activities are taking place."
In October, a local New York newspaper article chronicling Massa's life in Capitol Hill highlighted the lawmaker's unusual living arrangement. Racalto said he called a former co-worker then in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office to report remarks Massa had made about the sex life of a female staffer and discuss his concern about Massa living with male staffers.
Racalto said he told the Pelosi aide that he would demand that Massa move out of the townhouse. Within a day, Racalto also sent out a staff memo instructing employees to stop the sexual talk, and report to him when that rule was broken.
"It has been brought to my attention that casual conversations of a sexual nature are ongoing," he wrote in a memo obtained by The Post. "This is highly inappropriate, offensive, and against the law. . . . I want to invite all staff to immediately contact me if you are aware of any inappropriate conversations that are taking place. "
In December and January, staff reported, Massa sought to take an intern with him along on two West Coast trips. But Hikel, staffers said, balked at the idea and insisted Racalto stop him. Racalto said he agreed to block the trips.
The incident that eventually lead to Massa's resignation occurred at a funeral reception on Feb. 2 in Hornel, N.Y., for Lance Cpl. Zack Smith. The 19-year-old Marine had died in an explosion in Afghanistan. Massa struck up a conversation with a young bartender serving at the informal wake.
Four days later, a local blogger alerted the congressman's office that someone had posted an anonymous comment on his site accusing Massa of soliciting sex from the bartender, according to an e-mail obtained by The Post.
Racalto said he also received a voicemail message from the bartender asking why Massa wanted to meet him in Buffalo, 85 miles away, for dinner. Racalto said he confronted Massa, and the congressman said he was trying to give the man a law school reference.
"Mr. Racalto told the Congressman he did not believe him, and informed the Congressman that he was going to report his conduct," Racalto's lawyer wrote. Racalto, snowbound in New York, said he called Hikel in Washington, and the two discussed the need to alert House leaders.
Hikel called Hoyer's office about the blog and other allegations of harassment. Three weeks later, Hoyer confirmed to reporters that his office had given Massa's office an ultimatum: Report Massa to the ethics committee within 48 hours or Hoyer would.
Research editor Alice Crites contributed to this report.

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

Miller for News
Former Rep. Eric Massa resigned on March 8.
RELATED NEWS
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• Benjamin: Rush Limbaugh races to inject racial joke about Paterson into Massa mess
• Massa confesses to 'inappropriate' text messages in bizarre Beck interview
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).
rsisk@nydailynews.com
With Michael McAuliff



Massa aide files sex lawsuit




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By Anonymous
Corning Leader
Posted Apr 13, 2010 @ 11:47 PM
Washington, D.C. —
A male aide to former Democratic Rep. Eric Massa has filed a sexual harassment complaint alleging the 50-year-old New York lawmaker regularly groped him, propositioned him and made lewd remarks to him and other staffers.

“There was grabbing people in private areas,” said Debra Katz, the staffer’s attorney. “The congressman routinely made gestures implying that he wanted oral sex, and made crude propositions requesting oral sex from his employees.”

Katz said Tuesday the complaint was filed March 23 on behalf of the staffer, whom she refused to identify, citing confidentiality reasons. The Washington Post first reported the complaint.

Repeated telephone calls to Massa’s home in Corning, N.Y., on Tuesday were not answered. Erin Hogan, who staffs Massa’s former district office in Pittsford, N.Y., said no one in the office was in touch with Massa or knew how to reach him.

Katz said aggressive sexual overtures by Massa were routine in the freshman lawmaker’s congressional office. They began in early 2009 shortly after Massa took office and escalated over time, particularly after Massa had been drinking, she said.

“This was clearly conduct of a sexually predatory nature,” Katz said. “It was over a long period of time and just became part of the fabric of this office.”

Massa resigned last month under a sexual harassment cloud, and the House ethics committee is investigating how Democratic leaders handled the allegations. Republicans forced a House vote demanding the probe.

Massa acknowledged in a TV interview that he had groped a staffer, but he described it as tickling, not sexual behavior.

“It doesn’t make any difference what my intentions were, it’s how it’s perceived by the individual who receives that action,” Massa said on conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s Fox News Channel show. “I’m telling you I was wrong. I was wrong. ... My behavior was wrong. I should have never allowed myself to be as familiar with my staff as I was.”

In October 2009, Massa’s chief of staff, Joe Racalto, met with staff members in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office to discuss problems with the lawmaker. Racalto pointed out a negative story about the lawmaker in his hometown newspaper that described Massa’s living arrangements on Capitol Hill with staff members. The Massa aide told the speaker’s office that he asked the congressman, who is married, to move out. Racalto also discussed Massa’s use of strong language and the way he ran his office.

Pelosi’s office has said there were no harassment allegations discussed in the October meeting between the Massa aide and Pelosi staff members.

Racalto did not respond to a telephone message left for him Tuesday by the AP.

When the complaints about Massa reached Majority Leader Steny Hoyer in February, he demanded that an aide to Massa report the conduct within two days to the ethics committee. Hoyer said he would report it himself if the aide didn’t. The Massa staffer reported the allegations to the ethics panel.

Mindful that Republican ethical misconduct was one reason the GOP lost control of the House in the 2006 elections, Republican lawmakers are demanding an accounting of what and when Democratic leaders knew about sexual harassment allegations concerning Massa.
Massa is a 24-year retired Navy commander who served during the 1991 U.S.-Iraq war and later was special assistant to Gen. Wesley Clark during the conflict in Bosnia.

Associated Press writer Beth Fouhy in New York contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 The Corning Leader. Some rights reserved

Rep. Massa Is Back
2:00 AM APRIL 14, 2010, BY JAMIE DUPREE
It seemed like the story of former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) was just going to fade away, but a former staffer has now filed a sexual harassment complaint against the ex-Congressman, which has Republicans demanding a fresh review by the House Ethics Committee.
The legal complaint by a former aide said that Massa often implied that he wanted sex from his staffers, just part of a littany of crude sexual advances.

"There was grabbing people in private areas," said the staffer's lawyer, Debra Katz to the Associated Press, who also dished details to the Washington Post as well.

The Post ran an extended piece Tuesday afternoon on the internet, which detailed staff efforts to rein in Massa, who was evidently trying to repeatedly arrange trips with interns and other staff members.

You can read through it at http://bit.ly/bt5UEt .

But the real nugget of the story was that staffers finally went to Democratic leaders after Massa supposedly hit on a young bartender who was serving drinks at the New York wake of a Marine killed in Afghanistan.
Yep, you read that right.
Republicans jumped on the additional details and legal filings, demanding that the House Ethics Committee conduct a full inquiry.

"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 GOP Leader John Boehner, doing his best to tie Massa to Democratic leaders.

"What action, if any, did the Speaker and the Democratic leadership take to protect Rep. Massa's subordinates from harassment and abuse?" Boehner asked in a statement.

Whether the Ethics panel gets involved is one chapter, as the legal filing by a former aide means this story could well find its way into the courts.

And obviously, the details about oral sex, etc., will only mean more talk about this in political circles and on radio and television, something that Republicans hope will be an election year embarrassment for Democrats.