WASHINGTON — House Democrats have stopped a Republican bid to force an investigation into whether Democratic leaders covered up allegations that former Rep. Eric Massa sexually harassed male employees.
House Republican Leader John Boehner attempted to order the House ethics committee to investigate and report to the House by June 30. Instead, the House voted 402-1 to allow the panel to determine the next step — a move that could kill any further investigation.
Democratic leaders have denied any cover up. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said when he learned of the allegations from a Massa aide, he demanded the matter be sent to ethics within 48 hours. The ethics committee ended its investigation on Monday because Massa’s resignation took the case out of the panel’s jurisdiction.
Boehner, R-Ohio, said today there were many unanswered questions surrounding the sexual harassment allegations that were made against Massa, a New York Democrat.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the House Democratic Campaign Committee chairman, confirmed earlier today that the ethics panel had ended its investigation of Massa’s alleged harassment of male staff members after Massa surrendered his seat.
Republicans are increasingly making an issue of the ethical conduct of Democrats, mindful that Republican ethical misconduct was one reason the GOP lost control of the House in the 2006 elections.
As the campaign unfolded that year, so did details that Republican leaders took no action after learning then-Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., sent sexually suggestive messages to former male pages.
Republicans are clearly hoping it may turn out that some Democrats knew of Massa’s alleged harassment. There is no evidence at this point that they did.
However a Democratic leadership aide, who was not authorized to be quoted, confirmed Wednesday night that in October, Massa’s chief of staff met with a staff member in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office to discuss problems with the lawmaker.
The Massa aide pointed out a negative story about the lawmaker in his hometown newspaper that described Massa’s living arrangements with staff members. The Massa aide told the speaker’s office that he asked the congressman, who is married, to move out.
Massa’s aide also discussed Massa’s use of strong language and the way he ran his office.
Pelosi’s spokesman, Brendan Daly, said the harassment allegations didn’t surface until last month.
“In February, when serious allegations against Mr. Massa were brought to the attention of leader Hoyer and a member of our staff for the first time, the staff concurred that an ethics investigation was the proper course of action.”
Boehner earlier said he didn’t expect the matter to end anytime soon.
“There are an awful lot of questions surrounding the Eric Massa case and his resignation, and at this point, there are a lot more questions than answers, and I would hope that we would get to the bottom of these questions,” he said.
The Massa case follows an ethics committee report that a Democratic kingpin, Rep. Charles Rangel, broke House gift rules when he accepted corporate money to attend two conferences in the Caribbean.
Rangel, a veteran New York congressman, stepped aside as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee until the ethics committee resolves a separate investigation of his fundraising and finances.
Massa, a freshman lawmaker, resigned Monday. He gave contradictory explanations for his behavior in TV interviews Tuesday night, acknowledging that he groped a male staffer in a nonsexual way but later denied any groping. Massa also recalled wrestling with male staffers at his 50th birthday party and tickling one of them.
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