NEW: Congress Secretly Paid Nearly $100,000 To Settle Harassment Claims Against Disgraced Democrat Lawmaker
Another day, another Democrat embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal. A new report by ABC News says the Congressional Office of Compliance secretly paid nearly $100,000 to settle sexual harassment claims against former House member Eric Massa.
ABC News reports:
The Congressional Office of Compliance secretly paid close to $100,000 in taxpayer funds to settle sexual harassment claims from at least two young male staffers who worked for disgraced former Congressman Eric Massa, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter told ABC News.
The claims were settled after Massa, a Democrat from upstate New York, resigned in 2010 amid a pending ethics investigation into allegations he groped and sexually harassed members of his staff.
When asked for comment on the specific settlements paid to Massa’s staffers, a spokesman for the Office of Compliance would neither confirm nor deny any of the terms, saying they are required by law to keep those records secret.
Massa wasn’t on Capitol Hill more than three months before allegations of “making aggressive, sexual overtures,” towards young staffers began circulating.
A probe was launched months after the claims first surfaced.
Then-House Speaker John Boehner was one of the first to call for an investigation.
“It is now readily apparent that Congressman Massa’s pattern of troubling behavior continued long after Democrats first became aware of his conduct,” an angry Boehner said.
Boehner added, “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?”
Eventually, the Democrat Congressman resigned in March 2010, amid a House Ethics Committee probe.
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