I expect Otto to be all over this.  

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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34001.html

Rep. Eric Massa to resign 


By JOHN BRESNAHAN & GLENN THRUSH | 3/5/10 7:13 PM EST 


Read more: 
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34001.html#ixzz0hLpkf12F



Democratic Rep. Eric Massa will resign from Congress on Monday, only 
days after reports first surfaced that the freshman New York lawmaker 
was under investigation by the House ethics committee for allegedly 
sexually harassing a male staffer. 


Massa was preparing the news in the Corning Leader, his local newspaper, 
but several media outlets were already reporting the news Friday 
afternoon. 


In a statement released Friday, Massa directly addressed the ethics 
issue for the first time, acknowledging that he used language that might 
have made staffers uncomfortable. But he did not specifically address 
any specific sexual harassment allegations. 


“I own this reality. 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 said. “In fact, there is no doubt that this Ethics 
issue is my fault and mine alone. But in the incredibly toxic atmosphere 
that is Washington D.C., with the destruction of our elected leaders 
having become a blood sport, especially in talk radio and on the 
internet, there is also no doubt that an Ethics investigation would tear 
my family and my staff apart.” 


Massa, who was elected in November 2008, announced earlier in the week 
that he would not be seeking a second term following a cancer scare in 
December. 

He initially dismissed as “unsubstantiated” a POLITICO report that he 
was being scrutinized for improper advances to a junior aide in his 
office. In fact, he mentioned this report in his resignation statement 
Friday afternoon. 


“At no point prior to this had any member of the Ethics Committee 
communicated with me directly - if fact I first read it on the 
internet,” Massa said. 


The ethics committee formally announced on Thursday night that Massa was 
under investigation by the panel, although Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) 
and Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), the chairwoman and ranking member of the 
committee, did not announce the reason for their probe. 


Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) also publicly acknowledged that his 
staff had told a former Massa aide that he should report the Massa 
harassment allegation to the ethics committee or else Hoyer would take 
it to the ethics panel himself. Ronald Hikel, Massa’s former deputy 
chief of staff and legislative director, was then interviewed twice by 
ethics committee investigators. 


Massa’s assertion that he did not learn that he was under investigation 
by the ethics committee until after making his retirement announcement 
appears to contradict the facts of the case. 


Joe Racalto, Massa’s chief of staff, told a Rochester TV station on 
Thursday that he was interviewed by ethics committee investigators 
several weeks ago in regards to the sexual harassment allegations 
against Massa, well before the case became a public scandal or Massa 
announced his intentions to leave the House.



Read more: 
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34001.html#ixzz0hLpoI49E

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999 
Patriotism is not who can leak the most Secret documents to the NY Times ...

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