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
• ARTICLES
• Former Navy shipmates who served with Massa say he 'groped' others
• GOP pushes Massa probe, charges Pelosi ignored tip
• Pelosi's office was warned of Massa antics in October: Dem insider
• Massa's long trail of bizarre behavior begins at home
• 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
Search provided by Premier Guide
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.
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
• ARTICLES
• Former Navy shipmates who served with Massa say he 'groped' others
• GOP pushes Massa probe, charges Pelosi ignored tip
• Pelosi's office was warned of Massa antics in October: Dem insider
• Massa's long trail of bizarre behavior begins at home
• 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
Search provided by Premier Guide
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.
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