Register for E-mail alerts. Comment on articles. Sign up today, it's easy.
Close
The Washington Times Online Edition

Massa denies sexually groping male staffer

This Tuesday Oct. 14, 2008 picture shows Eric Massa, Democratic candidate for New York's 29th Congressional District in Rochester, N.Y. On Wednesday, March 3, 2010, Rep. Eric Massa, a freshman Democrat from New York, said that he will not seek a second term after a recurrence of cancer late last year, dismissing blog reports that he had harassed a staffer. He was elected in 2008. (AP Photo/David Duprey)This Tuesday Oct. 14, 2008 picture shows Eric Massa, Democratic candidate for New York’s 29th Congressional District in Rochester, N.Y. On Wednesday, March 3, 2010, Rep. Eric Massa, a freshman Democrat from New York, said that he will not seek a second term after a recurrence of cancer late last year, dismissing blog reports that he had harassed a staffer. He was elected in 2008. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Eric Massa, who resigned from Congress amid sexual harassment allegations, acknowledged Tuesday groping a staffer but denied it was sexual.

“It doesn’t make any difference what my intentions were, it’s how it’s perceived by the individual who receives that action,” Massa, D-N.Y., said on conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s Fox News Channel show. “I’m telling you I was wrong. I was wrong. … My behavior was wrong. I should have never allowed myself to be as familiar with my staff as I was.”

The Washington Post, citing anonymous sources, reported Tuesday that the House ethics panel is investigating allegations Massa groped multiple male staffers in his office. Massa has previously claimed his misconduct was limited to using inappropriate language with staffers.

Asked directly on Beck’s program whether he sexually groped anyone, Massa replied: “No, no, no.”

Massa, however, recalled tickling a staffer at a birthday party.

“Now they’re saying I groped a male staffer,” Massa said. “Yeah, I did. Not only did I grope him, I tickled him until he couldn’t breathe and four guys jumped on top of me. It was my 50th birthday and it was kill the old guy.”

Massa said his actions may have been misinterpreted.

“If somebody on my staff was offended, uncomfortable, thought I was inappropriate, I own that,” Massa said. “It’s why I resigned.”

Massa has given different reasons over the past week for quitting his seat before completing his first term, including health worries, a House ethics probe and charges fellow Democrats pushed him out because he opposed their health care bill. Democrats deny the charge. He took a slightly different tack Tuesday.

“I wasn’t forced out,” he said. “I forced myself out.”

Massa added he did not live up to his own personal code of conduct.

Massa, 50, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1996, defeated Republican Rep. Randy Kuhl in 2008 in a district long dominated by Republicans. He said his cancer returned in December.

Massa, who is married, is a 24-year retired Navy commander who served during the 1991 U.S.-Iraq war and later was special assistant to Gen. Wesley Clark during the conflict in Bosnia. His cancer diagnosis forced him and his family back to the U.S. for treatment. He spent his last year in the Navy as a cancer outreach advocate and later took a professional staff job with the House Armed Services Committee.

Comments
blog comments powered by Disqus
You Might Also Like
  • Delegate Robert G. Marshall holds a book as he reads to the House during debate on a bill defining life at the moment of conception during the House session at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Monday, Feb. 13, 2012.  (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

    Virginia House vote states life starts at conception

    By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times

  • A bomb specialist examines debris Tuesday in Bangkok where two explosions rocked a neighborhood. An Iranian man injured by a grenade he was carrying also was linked to a blast that ripped part of a roof off a house. (Associated Press)

    U.S. concerned about spike in Iran-Israel ‘shadow war’

    By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

  • Mabus

    Naming of Navy ships returns to tradition

    By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

  • In Case You Missed It
    Happening Now

          Independent voices from the TWT Communities

          A President for the People

          T.J. O'Hara has joined the political ring, declaring his candidacy for President. If you agree America is in need of solutions rather than political tactics, his is a message worth reading.

          Riffs

          Find up-to-date information on the D.C. and Baltimore live music scenes and read interviews with artists and reviews of the latest releases and concerts.