New York Congressman Eric Massa announced Friday that he will resign on Monday, March 8th amid allegations of sexual harassment of a Male staff member. When questioned, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi said that lower level staff had received a complaint of sexual harassment regarding Massa, but she related to reporters that she disregarded the complaint as rumor.
FDL News Desk has a good handle on this story:
Ending one of the shorter political careers in recent memory, Rep. Eric Massa, a freshman Democrat in a swing seat, will not seek re-election, possibly because of a recurrence of the cancer that almost took his life several years ago.
As I reported last month, Massa was diagnosed with terminal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and was given just a few months to live. He survived, became active in politics and won his Congressional seat on his second try. Since then, he has become one of the more outspoken freshman members of Congress in the country.
CQ reports that the cancer has returned, but attributed it to a source. Massa has been raising money for another run, so my assumption is it would have to be something like that for him to abruptly leave. Massa scheduled a conference call at 3pm ET to make the announcement.
UPDATE: Politico is reporting (no link) that Massa has been accused of sexually harassing a male staffer, and that this is the reason for him stepping down. There’s no corroboration whatsoever for these allegations.
via NY-29: Eric Massa Leaving Congress After One Term, Possibly Due To Recurrence Of Cancer | FDL News Desk.