Democrats send Massa probe to ethics panel

Democrats voted almost unanimously Wednesday to refer a privileged resolution on former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) to the ethics committee.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) offered the privileged resolution Wednesday to try to force an investigation into House Democrats after a Washington Post report on Tuesday leveled more serious allegations against Massa, who resigned amid allegations he sexually harrassed male members of his staff.

The House voted essentially along party lines, 235-157, to refer Boehner’s motion to the ethics panel, which has the effect of allowing the committee to potentially ignore the resolution. Had the privileged resolution passed, it would have required the ethics committee to form an investigative subcommittee in the matter.

“House Republicans just voted
to start a real investigation of what Democratic leaders knew, when they knew
it, and what they did to protect Rep. Massa’s staff. House Democrats
just voted to continue trying to sweep these important questions under the
rug,” said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

Three Democrats voted against the motion to refer, and 17 members, including many on the ethics committee, voted “present.” The three Democrats voting no were Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.).

Boehner’s privileged resolution says that despite having voted to refer
the Massa investigation to the ethics committee last month, the panel
had failed to launch a formal investigation.

A Democratic leadership aide said that “it was
confirmed weeks ago that the ethics committee is looking into the Massa issue. Therefore Mr. Boehner’s resolution is unnecessary and really only can be
saying one of two things: He doesn’t trust the people he’s appointed to the
committee to fulfill their responsibilities, or it’s a political stunt. Take
your pick. And it’s interesting to note that Republicans voted against
referring their own resolution, despite the fact that they all voted in favor
of referring the exact same resolution to the ethics committee just a few weeks
ago.”

Boehner had renewed his call for an ethics panel investigation into Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) handling of the Massa issue. It would also probe when those leaders became aware of the allegations against Massa.

In the March 11 vote on a priviledged resolution concerning Massa, most Republicans joined Democrats in referring the matter to the ethics panel.

Jordan Fabian contributed to this post.