FBI Joins in Massa Probe
The FBI has joined the mushrooming investigations of sexual harassment, hush money and coverups allegedly involving former upstate Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) and his male staffers.
The bureau’s entry into the case followed the announcement by the House Ethics Committee yesterday it is conducting its own investigation of how the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and others handled complaints against Massa.
Massa’s alleged “tickling,” groping and raucous behavior at a gay bar with young staffers was “offensive, inappropriate [and] created a hostile work environment,” the Ethics Committee said in a statement.
In the chaos in Massa’s office, “monies or other payments may have been misappropriated or otherwise fraudulently or improperly distributed or received,” the committee said.
Read more: (Richard Sisk, “FBI Joins in Massa Probe,” New York Daily News, 04/22/10)