It seemed like the story of former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) was just going to fade away, but a former staffer has now filed a sexual harassment complaint against the ex-Congressman, which has Republicans demanding a fresh review by the House Ethics Committee.
The legal complaint by a former aide said that Massa often implied that he wanted sex from his staffers, just part of a littany of crude sexual advances.
"There was grabbing people in private areas," said the staffer's lawyer, Debra Katz to the Associated Press, who also dished details to the Washington Post as well.
The Post ran an extended piece Tuesday afternoon on the internet, which detailed staff efforts to rein in Massa, who was evidently trying to repeatedly arrange trips with interns and other staff members.
You can read through it at http://bit.ly/bt5UEt .
But the real nugget of the story was that staffers finally went to Democratic leaders after Massa supposedly hit on a young bartender who was serving drinks at the New York wake of a Marine killed in Afghanistan.
Yep, you read that right.
Republicans jumped on the additional details and legal filings, demanding that the House Ethics Committee conduct a full inquiry.
"It is now readily apparent that Congressman Massa's pattern of troubling behavior continued long after Democrats first became aware of his conduct," said House GOP Leader John Boehner, doing his best to tie Massa to Democratic leaders.
"What action, if any, did the Speaker and the Democratic leadership take to protect Rep. Massa's subordinates from harassment and abuse?" Boehner asked in a statement.
Whether the Ethics panel gets involved is one chapter, as the legal filing by a former aide means this story could well find its way into the courts.
And obviously, the details about oral sex, etc., will only mean more talk about this in political circles and on radio and television, something that Republicans hope will be an election year embarrassment for Democrats.
It seemed like the story of former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) was just going to fade away, but a former staffer has now filed a sexual harassment complaint against the ex-Congressman, which has Republicans demanding a fresh review by the House Ethics Committee. The legal complaint by a former aide ...
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