Update#1:TPM is reporting Rep. Massa on a conference call said the following this afternoon:
“I do not have the life’s energy to fight all the battles all the time. I will now enter the final phase of my life at a more controlled pace,” Massa (D-NY) told reporters on a conference call. “I’m a very salty guy, a very direct guy and I run at about 100 miles an hour.”
He said that after being briefly hospitalized due to his third major cancer scare in December his doctors “made clear” he couldn’t keep up his current pace of work.
He said the reports of harassment are “unsubstantiated without fact or backing” and “are a symptom of what’s wrong with this city.” He said Washington is filled with “intense partisanship without rational thought.”
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ABC News is reporting Congressman Eric Massa (D - NY) will be announcing his retirement. ABC News reports the following:
ABC News’ David Chalian Reports: Congressman Eric Massa, D-Ny, is expected to announce his retirement from Congress on a conference call this afternoon according to Democratic sources familiar with his plans.
The motivation for Rep. Massa’s retirement was not immediately clear. A Democratic source tells ABC News’ Jonathan Karl that Rep. Massa plans to resign from Congress after making his announcement.
Rep. Massa was elected to Congress in 2008 with 51% of the vote in an upstate New York district where John McCain bested Barack Obama by three points.
He was one of the most vulnerable freshmen House Democrats facing reelection this year.
The Washington Times Water Cooler last summer captured Mr. Massa talking to Net Roots convention attendees about how he planned on voting for health care legislation…particularly how he would vote “against the interests of his district” (VIDEO ABOVE)
