Massa Blames Himself For Own Actions, Then Lashes Out At Democrats

Resigning Congressman Eric Massa is at once saying he’s guilty and that Democrats are forcing him out of office because he’s standing in the way of health care reform.  First, Massa says he was initially unaware of the ethics investigation into his behavior at a wedding, thinking it was about a fundraising letter instead.  Then, he admits to being “guilty” of inappropriate behavior at a wedding.

“I said goodnight to the bridesmaid,” Massa [said on a radio show]. “I sat down at the table where my whole staff was, all of them by the way bachelors.”

“One of them looked at me and as they would do after, I don’t know, 15 gin and tonics, and goodness only knows how many bottles of champagne, a staff member made an intonation to me that maybe I should be chasing after the bridesmaid and his points were clear and his words were far more colorful than that,” Massa said. “And I grabbed the staff member sitting next to me and said, ‘Well, what I really ought to be doing is fracking you.’ And then [I] tossled the guy’s hair and left, went to my room, because I knew the party was getting to a point where it wasn’t right for me to be there. Now was that inappropriate of me? Absolutely. Am I guilty? Yes.”

Massa is accusing Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of lying to him and that Democrats want him out because he is a “no” vote on health care reform.

In a statement released Wednesday, Hoyer’s office said the Maryland lawmaker was alerted to the allegations against Massa in early February by his staff. The statement said Hoyer gave Massa or his office 48 hours to report the complaint to the ethics panel or threatened to do so himself.

“Steny Hoyer has never said a single word to me, at all, ever, not once. Not a word. This is a lie. It’s a blatant, false statement,” Massa said.

Hoyer spokeswoman Katie Grant responded to Massa’s radio show early Monday morning, stating: “That’s completely false. There is zero merit to that accusation.”

Massa also suggested that Democratic leaders are using the ethics committee to get him out of office before the vote on health care because he voted against the House health care bill last fall.

Massa said, “Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill and this administration and this House leadership have said, quote-unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill, and now they’ve gotten rid of me and it will pass. You connect the dots.”

However, in his resignation speech, posted on his House website, Massa takes full responsibility for his actions.

I want to make something perfectly clear. My difficulties are of my own making. Period….I fell short and I believe now, as I have always believed, that it is not enough to simply talk the talk, but rather I must take action to hold myself accountable.

On Massa’s radio show, he claims the Democrats will do anything to get health care to pass, and he wants to use FOX News to get get that message out.

By the end of the show, Massa is saying that passing Health Care Reform via reconciliation will tear the country apart and that the only way to stop it from passing is to get his story (presumably the alleged plan to force him out of Congress) on to Fox News to let the public know what the Democrats will do to get the bill passed.

But Massa announced last Wednesday he was retiring, so he was already a goner, and he’s overstating his importance to the health care bill, as other Democrats who are retiring, such as John Tanner (TN), Brian Baird (WA) and Bart Gordon (TN) are also being targeted for their votes.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.