New York’s Rep. Eric Massa announces retirement as rumor leaks that he sexually harassed a male aide

First Rep. Charlie Rangel announces that he’ll stand down from the House Ways and Means Committee due to ethical concerns about taxes and travel expenses. Now a first-term Democrat from upstate New York is resigning over health issues (he’s suffered from cancer, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in particular) and Politico hears that he’s got a pending ethics complaint over sexually harassing a male aide:

Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) will not seek re-election after only one term in office.

According to several House aides – on both sides of the aisle – the House ethics committee has been informed of allegations that Massa, who is married with two children, sexually harassed a male staffer.

Massa, whose departure endangers Democrats’ hold on a competitive seat, told POLITICO Wednesday afternoon that no one has brought allegations of misconduct to him.

Asked about the sexual harassment allegations, Massa said: “When someone makes a decision to leave Congress, everybody says everything. I have health issues. I’ll talk about it [later].”

via Eric Massa to retire amid allegations he sexually harassed a male staffer – John Bresnahan and Jonathan Allen and Josh Kraushaar – POLITICO.com.

2010, you’ve got your Mark Foley. And so do the Democrats.

Here’s the thing: It doesn’t matter what Massa did. It’s just going to get spun up by resurgent Republicans to say that the Democrats look the other way while representatives from their party sexually harass staff – and in this case, with the insinuation of “the evil gays.” That was the lesson from Foley. The Florida Congressman was ultimatley never convicted of a crime, and is now running a consignment shop in Florida (erm, be a little bit leery of those navy blue blazers on the rack). But the criminal facts weren’t the point – it was just too easy for Democrats to deploy the Florida congressman against the mass of the Republican Majority and work their way back into control of the House in 2006. Foley was like the cherry on top, the coup de grace after Abramoff, Tom DeLay, and every other crazy thing the Republican Majority gave us in its dying thrashes.

It also doesn’t help that apparently Massa was telling people not to believe the rumors in advance of his announcement that he’d step down, or more specifically that they’d be “hearing things that aren’t true.” (see Liz Benjamin at the Daily News). I guess you’d expect that level of sophistication from a first-termer in Congress. A wise political operation would have tried to get out ahead of this charge if it’s untrue and they knew it was going to blow up. Massa (and the DCCC, ferchristsakes) let Politico send it forth to the deities of Internet traffic first.

Ethics scandals, charges of sexual harassment, and a general inability to get any major legislation passed. It’s pretty clear that this is a Congressional majority whose days are numbered. Hopefully they’ll make something meaningful out of it.

Update: 4:31 pm – Via the New York Daily News, Massa responds to claims that he harassed a staff member:

“Now there are blogs who are saying that I’m leaving because there were charges of harassment against my staff. Do I or have I ever used salty language when I’m angry, especially in the privacy of my inner office or even at home? Yes I have, and I have apologized to those where it’s appropriate.”

“But those kinds of articles – unsubstantiated, without factual backing – are a symptom of what’s wrong with this city. And it’s why so many have looked at the absolute gridlock in Washington, the intense partisanship without rational thought, and decided, like I, I do not have the life energy to fight all the battles all the time.”

This is very far from a denial. Massa says the articles are unsubstantiated and without factual backing, but doesn’t say what facts are wrong. He also doesn’t respond to the suggestion that there is an ethics investigation pending against him.