There's a shoe left to drop in this whole mess, and it belongs to a man named Ronald Hikel. Hikel is the former deputy chief of staff and legislative director named in this Politico story who took the complaint to the House Ethics Committee. In Sean Carroll's interview with Massa's current chief of staff, that person said that the Massa office had not seen the complaint. But Steny Hoyer said that he informed the Massa office to forward a complaint to the Ethics Committee.
Connecting the dots, maybe Hoyer forgot that Hikel had quit Massa's office, or perhaps Hikel quit over the allegations. In either case, Hikel may well play the role that Kirk Fordham, Foley's ex-chief of staff, played in that case. Fordham blew the whistle on Foley, but the leadership didn't listen in that case. They apparently did here.
Related to the Foley comparison, Jay Newton-Small at Time's Swampland blog gives 5 reasons why Massa is no Mark Foley. Some excitable Democratic aide made a comment that the allegations against Massa would have the same impact on Democrats as the Foley matter did on Republicans. It won't. Massa wasn't hitting on underage pages, he might well be sick and, most importantly, Foley's pattern of behavior was condoned by Republican leadership for a long time, whereas the Democratic leadership apparently referred the first complaint to the House Ethics Committee.
The Foley remark was interesting because it typifies the type of panic that seems to grip Democratic staff and members whenever Democrats hit a little bump in the road. That panic is the opposite of leadership, it's unseemly, and Democrats will continue to hit below their weight as long as it remains part of the House culture.
Comments
Where are all of the democrats and Eric's friends when this weasel, wife cheating Mr Hinkel makes an allegation of sexual abuse over salty comments and statements made in private in their apartment shared in DC. Since when is a man not able to stand up and say "they don't like the language used", versus starting a scandel. We are talking about verbal comments being taken as abuse - give me a break ! Is DC so corrupt that they will lower themselves to what ever they can use to destroy people, their families and their reputations? Well, I still have very high regards for Eric and commend him for withstanding all of the corruptions and idiots pulling the chains in DC. Now he can go back to a quieter life, well desreved and Mr Hinkle can stew in his own soup, and I hope he realizes just what he did. What benefit did you receive for this mess Mr Hinkel? It will come out eventually you know. Oh Yes - Shame on you Mr Hinkel - you are a bottom feeder - so sorry you can not lift your head up with pride !
I'm a Democrat, I've watched Massa for years. He wanted this seat very badly. He wouldn't quit over a misunderstanding about a few cuss words. There's something else serious there.