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.