It turns out that the leadership of the "most ethical Congress in history" can't be bothered by something so minor as the sexual harassment of young staffers -- at least not when it's a Democrat that's doing the crime.The Washington Post reports (although belatedly) on just how uncaring and irresponsible were Congressional leaders in dealing with revelations that newly elected Congressman Eric Massa was making outrageous sexual advances to young male employees on Capitol Hill. Even though the junior staffers were appealing for help, veteran Democrats in Massa's senior staff and eventually in Nancy Pelosi's office did nothing. And Massa's audacious (and quite likely) criminal behavior continued apace.
...The senior staff, one of whom said he heard Massa (D-N.Y.) making lewd remarks to young staffers, tried to manage the problem internally. But reports of Massa's inappropriate behavior continued, leaving junior workers feeling helpless, according to victims, other staffers and sources close to an ongoing House ethics investigation. Most asked not to be named due to the ethics probe and the risk of hurting their job prospects.
This account, drawn from more than two dozen interviews and internal documents, shows that aides were accusing the 50-year-old married lawmaker of far more egregious behavior than previously known. Beginning in March 2009 and over the next several months, male staffers complained that their boss had touched them in a sexual manner, came up with reasons to have staffers travel alone with him on overnight trips, and expressed a desire to have sex with the men in the office.
But it wasn't until after a year of staff complaints -- when allegations about Massa's behavior threatened to become a public embarrassment -- that supervisors alerted congressional leaders to the problem. That led House leadership to demand the matter be referred to the ethics committee. Massa resigned a few weeks later when the media reported he was the subject of a harassment probe...
On Tuesday, in response to an earlier version of this article, House Minority Leader John Boehner called on the ethics committee to delve deeply into how such allegations could continue for a year with no relief for staff.
Said Boehner, "It is now readily apparent that Congressman Massa's pattern of troubling behavior continued long after Democrats first became aware of his conduct. Speaker Pelosi's staff has acknowledged they knew about problems in Mr. Massa's office back in the fall of 2009. What action, if any, did the Speaker and the Democratic leadership take to protect Rep. Massa's subordinates from harassment and abuse?"
