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March 10, 2010

Big difference in how House leaders handled Massa, Foley scandals

By CREW Staff

Corruption, Ethics, House Members, Eric Massa, Melanie Sloan

Four years after news of the Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) scandal broke, the controversy surrounding Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) was handled much more responsibly by House leadership. CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan compares the two sex impropriety scandals in this op-ed at Politico:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington regularly condemns politicians for disgraceful conduct. It is a rare day when we can praise someone for getting it right. Today is one of those days.

Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) may be ranting to anyone who will listen that House majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) forced him out of Congress because he voted against health care reform. But the truth is that Hoyer stood up against sexual harassment of staff members.

In early February, a top Massa aide sought advice from Hoyer about how to handle allegations that Massa had sexually harassed one of his male aides. Hoyer told him to turn the information over to the House Ethics Committee — or Hoyer would report the allegations himself. The staffer told the ethics panel and was interviewed twice by investigators, who also interviewed other top Massa aides.

Contrast Hoyer’s conduct with that of many members of Congress in another recent scandal.

Click here to read the rest of her column.