The House voted 402-1 to urge its ethics committee to continue investigating allegations of sexual harassment involving former Democratic Rep. Eric Massa. Republicans accused top-ranking Democrats of ignoring the allegations against the resigned southwestern New York representative who purportedly groped and tickled male staffers and interns, used "inappropriate" words in conversations with aides, and attempted to "snorkel" a former roommate.
The vote won't force the ethics panel to continue investigating, though "Democrats seem resigned to the idea that the inquiry will gain new life," according to the Washington Post. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the vote sends "a clear signal that an investigation to examine and answer the very serious questions arising from Democratic leaders' response to their former colleague's conduct is necessary." He claims House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should have started investigating Massa in October after the former Congressman's chief of staff alerted her office that Massa lived in a house with five aides, used foul language, and went on a dinner date with a low-ranking male staffer for Rep. Barney Frank, according to the Daily News.
Pelosi says she did not receive enough information to launch a probe in the fall, and that more serious ethics allegations didn't emerge until last month. "In terms of anything that is worthy of the attention of the ethics committee, that was in February when it was reported to the ethics committee." Democrats told Politico that the allegations brought before Pelosi's office didn't involve sexual harassment. "He was a yeller, he treated his people badly," said one Democratic staffer familiar with the complaints. "This is not just a sex thing. He was a bad boss."
