Massa(ge)?: Massa Faces New Groping Charges

Former Rep. Eric Massa has booked himself on both CNN’s Larry King Live and Fox News’s Glenn Beck later today. It should be interesting. As of last week, Massa was making the case that his decision to leave Congress resulted from personal health problems. As of this weekend, he was claiming that he was pushed out because he opposed health reform. (He resigned voluntarily.)

But leaks coming out today suggest that the concerns about Massa’s behavior go beyond his admission that one recent drunken night he propositioned one of his male staffers and tousled his hair. From the Washington Post:

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) has been under investigation for allegations that he groped multiple male staffers working in his office, according to three sources familiar with the probe. The allegations surrounding the former lawmaker date back at least a year, and involve “a pattern of behavior and physical harassment,” according to one source. . . . According to two sources familiar with the probe, Massa’s former deputy chief of staff Ron Hikel provided the information about the staffers’ allegations to the House ethics committee three weeks ago. Hikel had earlier sought advice from Majority Leader Steny Hoyer‘s office about brewing internal complaints, the sources said, and had been urged to report the allegations to the committee.

Related Topics: eric massa, Uncategorized
  • Latest on Swampland

    Pete Souza / The White House via Getty Images

    Political Picures of the Week, May 18-25

    TIME’s photo editors bring you the best pictures of the past week from the Beltway and beyond.

    Obama Administration Blocks Global Health Fund To Fight Disease In Developing NationsHuffPost Politics

    From left: AP; ABACAUSA

    The Phony War: Obama and Romney Are Debating Character, Not Policy

    More than five months from Election Day, the back-and-forth about Mitt Romney’s record at Bain already feels played out. Unfortunately, there’s good reason to expect the campaign continues in this vein indefinitely. Neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney are terribly interested in dwelling on policy platforms. Romney’s plan to slash spending and keep taxes low on the wealthy isn’t especially popular, at least not at any level of detail beyond a blithe promise to shrink the deficit. Meanwhile, Obama’s signature first-term achievements, like health care, the stimulus and Wall Street reform, are all unpopular or tricky to sell. (The Dodd-Frank bill is the most popular of these, but hyping it means offending wealthy donors.) So what we’re getting instead is a superficial duel about character–and, worse, one that’s based on the largely false premise that the better man can better “manage” the economy back to health.

  • FlownOver

    Ding!

    The sound you have just heard is the fifteen-minute timer going off, marking the end of this “story’s” newsworthiness.

    Move along, Village – nothing more to see here.

  • stuartzechman

    “Leaks” from which interested parties?

  • nflfoghorn

    What size are his shoes? How wide is his stance?

  • http://twitter.com/michaelscherer Michael Scherer

    “Sources familiar with the probe” at the House ethics committee.

  • jcapan

    1st off, repub or dem, I don’t care. But I’ve always found journalistic convention interesting:
    .
    1. If the child abductee is blonde haired/blue eyed, A1, black or latino, A22
    .
    2. If the murderer is black, the victim white, A1, black on black crime, A22
    .
    3. If the harrassed is mano-a-mano, A1

  • destor23

    You stay on top of this story, Michael Scherer!

  • jcapan

    And what was it Cobain said about modern media’s primary role: “Here I am now, titallate me”

  • destor23

    @MichaelScherer: So your source clearly has an agenda here since Massa claims he was forced out. Why are you letting him engage in annonymous namecalling without evidence?

  • stuartzechman

    Thank you for responding to commentary, Michael Scherer, it is always greatly appreciated.

  • kevin

    Yep. If you only relied on the cable networks for news, you’d assume that there was an epidemic of child abductions going on in this country, and every single one was a little blonde girl.

  • jcapan

    Fortunately Kevin, the only US cable channel I get is CNN (International), which doesn’t really count. By & large it still sucks but it’s focus is macro-superficial as opposed to micro-superficial. For ex., nothing spells compelling, in-depth reporting like a recent segment about women’s roles in modern China, lasting all of 3 minutes, featuring a (shocker!) lovely young reporter with the diction of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

  • afguy

    FlownOver: you over-shot by about 10…

  • square1

    I believe Don Henley said it best:

    Dirty little secrets
    Dirty little lies
    We got our dirty little fingers in everybody’s pie
    We love to cut you down to size
    We love dirty laundry

  • jcapan

    Well, Square, I didn’t know we were going for the best! My vote would be for this gem from RATM:
    .
    The main attraction, distraction
    got ya number than number than numb
    Empty ya pockets son, they got you thinkin that
    What ya need is what they sellin
    Make you think that buyin is rebellin’
    From the theaters to malls on every shore
    The thin line between entertainment and war
    The frontline is everywhere, there be no shelter here
    Spielberg the nightmare works so push it far
    Amistad was a whip, the truth feather to tar
    Memories erased and burned to scar
    Trade in ya history for a VCR
    .
    Cinema, simulated life, ill drama
    Fourth reich culture, Americana
    Chained to the dream they got ya searchin for
    The thin line between entertainment and war
    .
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    .
    Hospitals not profit full
    The market bull’s got pockets full
    To advertise some hip disguise
    View the world from American eyes
    Tha poor adore keep feeding for more
    Tha thin line between entertainment and war
    fix the need, develop the taste
    Buy their products or get laid to waste
    Coca-Cola was back in our veins in Saigon
    And Rambo too, we got a dope pair of Nikes on
    Godzilla pure motherfuckin’ filler
    Get your eyes off the real killer
    .
    Cinema, simulated life, ill drama
    Fourth reich culture, Americana
    Chained to the dream they got you searchin for
    Tha thin line between entertainment and war
    .
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    .
    American eyes, American eyes
    View the world from American eyes
    Bury the past, rob us blind
    And leave nothin behind
    .
    American eyes, American eyes
    View the world from American eyes
    Bury the past, rob us blind
    And leave nothin behind
    .
    Just stare!
    Just stare!
    Just stare!
    Just stare!
    .
    and live the nightmare!

  • jcapan

    Well, Square, I didn’t know we were going for the best! My vote would be for this gem from RATM:
    .
    The main attraction, distraction
    got ya number than number than numb
    Empty ya pockets son, they got you thinkin that
    What ya need is what they sellin
    Make you think that buyin is rebellin’
    From the theaters to malls on every shore
    The thin line between entertainment and war
    The frontline is everywhere, there be no shelter here
    Spielberg the nightmare works so push it far
    Amistad was a whip, the truth feather to tar
    Memories erased and burned to scar
    Trade in ya history for a VCR
    .
    Cinema, simulated life, ill drama
    Fourth reich culture, Americana
    Chained to the dream they got ya searchin for
    The thin line between entertainment and war
    .
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    .
    Hospitals not profit full
    The market bull’s got pockets full
    To advertise some hip disguise
    View the world from American eyes
    Tha poor adore keep feeding for more
    Tha thin line between entertainment and war
    fix the need, develop the taste
    Buy their products or get laid to waste
    Coca-Cola was back in our veins in Saigon
    And Rambo too, we got a dope pair of Nikes on
    Godzilla pure motherf@ckin’ filler
    Get your eyes off the real killer
    .
    Cinema, simulated life, ill drama
    Fourth reich culture, Americana
    Chained to the dream they got you searchin for
    Tha thin line between entertainment and war
    .
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    There’ll be no shelter here!
    The frontline is everywhere
    .
    American eyes, American eyes
    View the world from American eyes
    Bury the past, rob us blind
    And leave nothin behind
    .
    American eyes, American eyes
    View the world from American eyes
    Bury the past, rob us blind
    And leave nothin behind
    .
    Just stare!
    Just stare!
    Just stare!
    Just stare!
    .
    and live the nightmare!

  • square1

    If you wanna know ’bout the gay politician
    If you wanna know how to drive your car
    If you wanna know ’bout the new sex position
    You can read it in the Sunday papers
    Read it in the Sunday papers

    – Joe Jackson, Sunday Papers.

  • incandenzah

    Hm. ‘”Sources familiar with the probe” at the House ethics committee,’ eh? And that’s supposed to clue me in on whether these sources have any particular ax to grind for or against Massa? This anonymous sourcing racket has *got* to stop.. we readers get nothing from it, and all the Post gets is sources who get to catapult their version of the propaganda… or even lie on the record (anonymously) whenever they want to. I wish it was just the Post, but so many are doing it, these days. Forget Swine Flu…. there’s an epidemic of shoddy, anonymously sourced journalism in America. Cue Greenwald: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/03/07/anonymity/index.html

  • gysgt213

    Michae-When you use sources that you don’t indentify you need to explain why. Your readers are not stupid for the most part. Stop treating us like we don’t know what time it is.

  • Friar Tuck

    Well, that’s it. I’ll never be able to use the word “tousled” again.

  • Friar Tuck

    David Bowie –
    .
    They’ll split your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air
    And tell that you’re eighty, but brother, you won’t care
    You’ll be shooting up on anything, tomorrow’s never there
    Beware the savage jaw
    Of 1984

  • pintortwo

    Now we’re havin fun… I’m going all-in with Tool:
    .
    “Vicarious”
    .
    Eye on the TV
    ’cause tragedy thrills me
    Whatever flavour
    It happens to be like;
    Killed by the husband
    Drowned by the ocean
    Shot by his own son
    She used the poison in his tea
    And kissed him goodbye
    That’s my kind of story
    It’s no fun ’til someone dies
    .
    Don’t look at me like
    I am a monster
    Frown out your one face
    But with the other
    Stare like a junkie
    Into the TV
    Stare like a zombie
    While the mother
    Holds her child
    Watches him die
    Hands to the sky crying
    Why, oh why?
    ’cause I need to watch things die
    From a distance
    .
    Vicariously I, live while the whole world dies
    You all need it too, don’t lie
    .
    Why can’t we just admit it?
    Why can’t we just admit it?
    .
    We won’t give pause until the blood is flowing
    Neither the brave nor bold
    The writers of stories sold
    We won’t give pause until the blood is flowing
    .
    I need to watch things die
    From a good safe distance
    .
    Vicariously I, live while the whole world dies
    You all feel the same so
    Why can’t we just admit it?
    .
    Blood like rain come down
    Drawn on grave and ground
    .
    Part vampire
    Part warrior
    Carnivore and voyeur
    Stare at the transmittal
    Sing to the death rattle
    .
    La, la, la, la, la, la, la-lie
    .
    Credulous at best, your desire to believe in angels in the hearts of men.
    Pull your head on out your hippy haze and give a listen.
    Shouldn’t have to say it all again.
    The universe is hostile. so Impersonal. devour to survive.
    So it is. So it’s always been.
    .
    We all feed on tragedy
    It’s like blood to a vampire
    .
    Vicariously I, live while the whole world dies
    Much better you than I.

  • stuartzechman

    It Says Here
    .
    It says here that the Unions will never learn
    It says here that the economy is on the upturn
    And it says here we should be proud
    That we are free
    And our free press reflects our democracy
    .
    Those braying voices on the right of the House
    Are echoed down the Street of Shame
    Where politics mix with bingo and tits
    In a strictly money and numbers game
    .
    Where they offer you a feature
    On stockings and suspenders
    Next to a call for stiffer penalties for sex offenders
    .
    It says here that this year’s prince is born
    It says here do you ever wish
    That you were better informed
    And it says here that we can only stop the rot
    With a large dose of Law and Order
    And a touch of the short sharp shock
    .
    If this does not reflect you view you should understand
    That those who own the papers also own this land
    And they’d rather you believe
    In Coronation Street capers
    In the war of circulation, it sells newspapers
    Could it be an infringement
    Of the freedom of the press
    To print pictures of women in states of undress
    .
    When you wake up to the fact
    That you paper is Tory
    Just remember, there are two sides to every story
    .
    ~Billy Bragg, 1984

  • kbanginmotown

    Was this Massa’s “probe”?

  • diecash1

    I second that.

  • jcapan

    Thread makes me the miss the days when I could crank the tunes at a mind-numbing pitch

  • apr2563

    I don’t know. The Massa story has been a media mess since it began. Reporting before knowing the facts is a daily occurence by the traditional media. But seeing Beck’s face tonight in total bewilderment because he could not advance the smear was priceless. I thought he might actually shed “real” tears.

  • pittsburghpoet

    Calvin said it more simply: “Pander to me.”

    Boy, I miss Watterson.

  • cheesemanforever

    Good followup article by Michael Scherer at time.com. Leave it to Glenn Beck to show his self-pitying persona after Massa shows x-rays of his lymphoma! Get real, Glenn!

  • afguy

    “Dirty Laundry”: the anthem for the modern media.

  • Ivy_B

    Thanks for pointing it out.

  • sacredh

    “I turn the radio up loud so I don’t have to think at all”-The Boss

  • sacredh

    No more setting a stand up at the roadside rest and offering free prostate exams either. I will miss the payments medicare though. A truly enterprising doctor (if positioned correctly) can check the prostate and say “cough” at the same time.

blog comments powered by Disqus