Massa: Dem leadership forced me out over healthcare “reform” vote

Intriguing:

Embattled Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) lashed out in an emotional radio appearance Sunday, accusing Dem leaders of what he suggested was an orchestrated campaign to force his resignation.

“There’s a reason that this has all happened, frankly one that I had not realized,” Massa said on WKPQ radio on Sunday. “Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill, and this administration and this House leadership have said, quote unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill. And now they’ve gotten rid of me and it’ll pass.”

Massa addressed rumors circulating on blogs about his personal behavior, including incidents during an informal Navy ceremony in ’83 on the USS New Jersey and one that occurred in a state room later during his Navy career. He insisted he had done nothing uncommon, insisting his sin was foul language.

A complaint before the House ethics committee, he said, stemmed from a wedding Massa attended over New Years, when he made an inappropriate comment to an aide, according to Roll Call, which first reported the radio program.

Massa maintained his comments were inappropriate, but he blamed “political correctness” and accused Dems of a setup. Massa voted against health care legislation in Nov., and he has not been a reliable vote for Dem leadership. That, he said, has put a target on his back.

“When I voted against the cap and trade bill, the phone rang and it was the chief of staff to the president of the United States of America, Rahm Emanuel, and he started swearing at me in terms and words that I hadn’t heard since that crossing the line ceremony on the USS New Jersey in 1983,” Massa said. “And I gave it right back to him, in terms and words that I know are physically impossible.”

“If Rahm Emanuel wants to come after me, maybe he ought to hold himself to the same standards I’m holding myself to and he should resign,” Massa said.

Jim Geraghty adds:

Also, as noted on Drudge, Massa is saying that Rahm is “the son of the devil’s spawn” and that he would “sell his own mother for a vote.”

Keep in mind, in Rahm Emanuel’s world, that’s one of the nicest things anybody’s ever said about him.

Sounds about right. Listen to the audio of those remarks on Rahmbo, in which he goes into even more detail, here. TPM has the full audio of Massa’s Sunday remarks here.

BTW, just for the record, Massa’s revealed what he believes to be the incident that led to the ethics probe.

Of course, this could be just a case of sour grapes, but as we all know, this WH – and the Dem “leadership” in the House and Senate – will stop at nothing in order to get some form of healthcare “reform” passed before the November elections, and have even encouraged Congressional Democrats to sacrifice via putting their careers on the line in order to get it rammed through. So it is by no means outside of the realm of possibility that he was pushed out over his healthcare “reform” vote.

Massa, BTW, suggested on that same radio program yesterday that he may be open to rescinding his resignation – which otherwise would be effective as of 5 PM ET today – under certain circumstances:

Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) suggested on a New York radio station Sunday that he could rescind his resignation β€” scheduled to take effect at 5 p.m. Monday β€” after asserting that an ethics investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed one of his aides may have been orchestrated by Democratic leaders to get him out of office before the health care vote.

Responding to a caller to his weekly radio show on WKPQ Power 105 FM, a recording of which was made available via the Web site of local station 13 WHAM-TV, Massa said: β€œI’m not going to be a Congressman as of 5 o’clock [Monday] afternoon. The only way to stop that is for me to rescind my resignation. That’s the only way to stop it. And the only way that’s going to happen is if this becomes a national story.”

Sounds like that’s exactly what’s happening.

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