By Lex Nepomuceno, Editor
When Eric Massa ran on a platform of "Vote for Change" in 2008, little did voters know that "change" would mean quitting at mid-term amid a sex scandal.
Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) announced his resignation Friday after revelations that the House Ethics committee is investigating the politician for sexually harassing a male staffer.
The first-time congressman released a statement on Friday that addresses the ethics investigation, but does not specifically mention the sexual harassment issue. He is expected to go into more detail for his Monday press conference. Massa originally planned on stepping down at the end of his term citing health concerns, but the ethics investigation has accelerated his departure to this Monday.
“In fact, there is no doubt that this Ethics issue is my fault and mine alone," said Massa. "But in the incredibly toxic atmosphere that is Washington D.C., with the destruction of our elected leaders having become a blood sport, especially in talk radio and on the internet, there is also no doubt that an Ethics investigation would tear my family and my staff apart.”
“I own this reality," said the freshman member of Congress. "There is no doubt in my mind that I did in fact, use language in the privacy of my own home and in my inner office that, after 24 years in the Navy, might make a Chief Petty Officer feel uncomfortable.”
The Massa affair was the second major scandal hitting the Democrat controlled Congress in the same week. Another New York Congressman, Charles Rangel, announced that he is stepping down as chair of the House Ways & Means Committee amid an ongoing House ethics investigation.
Ironically, in 2006 House Speak Nancy Pelosi proclaimed that the new power structure would be "the most ethical Congress in history." |
