Hoyer: Massa Claims “Absurd”

Eric Massa | Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/buffalopundit/3838503644/">BuffaloPundit</a> (<a href="http://www.creativecommons.org">Creative Commons</a>).

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y) claims that he was “forced out” of Congress by Dem leaders because of his opposition to health care reform—not because of sexual harrassment allegations that surfaced last week. That accusation is “absurd,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters in a forceful exchange Tuesday morning. “It’s absolutely untrue that there was any relationship” between what happened to Massa and health care, Hoyer said.

While it’s true that Massa’s departure makes passing health care reform a bit easier, the former congressman’s explanation for his retirement has changed repeatedly in recent days. On Wednesday, he said that a recurrence of cancer would require him to retire. The next day, after Politico reported that a male staffer had filed a sexual harrassment complaint against Massa, the Congressman told TPM’s Brian Beutler that the allegations were “totally false” and he was just a “salty old sailor.” On Friday, Massa issued a statement assuring his constituents that “there is no doubt that this Ethics issue is my fault and mine alone.” Then, on Sunday, Massa went on a local radio show in his district to explain that Dem leaders—including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel—were part of a conspiracy to end his political career.

Despite Hoyer’s denials, Massa appears to be sticking with his latest story. He’s still scheduled to spend an hour talking about the subject on Glenn Beck’s Fox News show tonight. “All Americans need to hear him,” Beck says.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate