Congressman Exposes Obama’s Chicago Tactics (with updates)
By Bronwyn's Harbor on March 8, 2010 at 12:46 PM in Current Affairs
Well, I’ll be! Rep. Eric Massa (official site and contact info) is not “going quietly into that good night,” and solemnly resigning from the House, despite iffy allegations that he sexually harassed a male staffer as well as his bout with cancer. Instead, Massa is alleging there was “an orchestrated campaign to force his resignation” because, with Massa gone, there’s one less vote to get to pass Obamacare in the House.
“I was set up for this from the very, very beginning. … The leadership of the Democratic Party have become exactly what they said they were running against.”
“There is not a single member of the Democratic freshman class who is going to vote against this health care bill now that they’ve got me” …
Massa may have been a career naval officer but he is not obeying the demands of the bullying White House and Nancy Pelosi, who targeted the New York Democrat for his “no” vote on Obamacare. Here’s what Massa told a radio station today, via Roll Call:
“I’m not going to be a Congressman as of 5 o’clock [Monday] afternoon. The only way to stop that is for me to rescind my resignation. That’s the only way to stop it. And the only way that’s going to happen is if this becomes a national story.”
“Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill, and this administration and this House leadership have said, ‘they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill, and now they’ve gotten rid of me and it will pass.’ You connect the dots,” Massa said Several times during the broadcast Massa raised the prospect of rescinding his resignation if national news media picked up on his story of being railroaded out of office by Democratic leaders. …
Among the updates below is a YouTube video/audio of the interview today:
Is Nancy Pelosi using an ethics investigation to embarrass Massa and force him out of office? This is nothing new to Massa. Check out what Rahm Emanuel did to Massa when he voted against the cap & trade bill. From “Massa Implicates Emanuel, Dem Leaders“:
“When I voted against the cap and trade bill, the phone rang and it was the chief of staff to the president of the United States of America, Rahm Emanuel, and he started swearing at me in terms and words that I hadn’t heard since that crossing the line ceremony on the USS New Jersey in 1983,” Massa said. “And I gave it right back to him, in terms and words that I know are physically impossible.”
“If Rahm Emanuel wants to come after me, maybe he ought to hold himself to the same standards I’m holding myself to and he should resign,” Massa said. (National Journal.)
Here’s more from Roll Call on today’s radio interview:
In response to a caller’s suggestion that Massa disseminate his allegations by contacting Fox News, Massa stated: “I can’t call Fox News. You guys gotta call Fox News. I can’t do it. … Here’s why. I’m in the center of this storm, so obviously I’m not objective.”
But Massa also repeatedly pointed out that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly referred to as the ethics panel, would continue its investigation if he remains in office.
“That’s very kind of you, but understand what that means for me,” Massa said in a response to a caller who suggested he not resign. “It means that a group of lawyers are going to try to rip me and my family limb from limb. And you’ve already seen it in the newspapers. … It’s a piranha feeding frenzy.”
Massa said on the show that the ethics investigation focused on sexually charged comments he made to an aide at a New Year’s Eve celebration, but charged he was unaware of an ethics committee investigation into the incident until after he had announced his retirement last week.
The House ethics committee confirmed Thursday that it is investigating unspecified allegations against Massa.
Massa surprised political observers when he announced on Wednesday that he would not run for re-election in November. He cited a recurrence of cancer as the reason for his decision, but after the ethics investigation was confirmed, Massa announced he would step down immediately.
The ethics allegations, according to Massa, don’t amount to much (more below). It is Steny Hoyer’s behavior that Massa finds shocking. From the National Journal:
Massa slammed House Maj. Leader Steny Hoyer for discussing a House ethics committee inquiry, accusing Hoyer of lying in an effort to eliminate an opponent of health care. Hoyer said last week he heard in early Feb. about allegations against Massa, and that he told Massa’s office to report the allegations to the ethics committee.
“Steny Hoyer has never said a single word to me at all, never, not once,” Massa said. “Never before in the history of the House of Representatives has a sitting leader of the Democratic Party discussed allegations of House investigations publicly, before findings of fact. Ever.”
Here is what Massa says happened with the male aide:
A complaint before the House ethics committee, he said, stemmed from a wedding Massa attended over New Years, when he made an inappropriate comment to an aide, according to Roll Call, which first reported the radio program.
Massa maintained his comments were inappropriate, but he blamed “political correctness” and accused Dems of a setup. Massa voted against health care legislation in Nov., and he has not been a reliable vote for Dem leadership. That, he said, has put a target on his back. …
Here’s a more detailed description of Massa’s view on the sexual harassment charge, via CNN:
(CNN) – Embattled Rep. Eric Massa said Sunday that the ethics investigation surrounding him stems from a sexually laced conversation he had at a New Year’s Eve wedding.
The New York Democrat said in his weekly radio show that he wasn’t told about the ethics probe until after he decided to retire and that he first learned the details of the investigation from news reports.
While at a wedding for one of his staff members, Massa said he danced with the bride and bridesmaid as cameras rolled.
“Absolutely nothing occurred,” while he was dancing, he said.
Massa said he then sat with some staff members who were all bachelors. In a conversation fueled by alcohol, one staff member “made an intonation to me that maybe I should be chasing after the bridesmaid,” Massa said.
Massa said he told the staffer beside him, “Well, what I really ought to be doing is fracking you.”
Massa said he “tousled the guy’s hair and left – went to my room because I knew the party was getting to a point where it wasn’t right for me to be there,” Massa said.
“Now was that inappropriate of me? Absolutely. Am I guilty? Yes,” he continued.
Massa said the staff member to whom he made the remark never told him he felt uncomfortable. Instead, Massa said, someone else went to another staff member who was uncomfortable for the first staff member. That person in turn went to the House Ethics Committee.
“It was a third-party political correctness statement,” Massa charged, reiterating that his information comes not from the ethics committee, but from what he read in newspapers. …
Update: Roll Call has a transcript of Massa’s description of events at the wedding party.
If Massa’s version of events is true, this is indeed a tempest in a teapot.
For more on Massa’s statements today, check out Memeorandum.com‘s collection of news and blog posts.
You can hear the audio of Massa’s interview today — if it’s available. Right now, the site is at capacity.
You can contact Rep. Massa at his D.C. office. From his House Web site:
Washington DC Office
1208 Longworth House Office
Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3161
Fax: (202) 226-6599
by Ronald Scott
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