WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Eric Massa of New York, facing a harassment complaint by a male staffer, said Friday that he is resigning his seat with “a profound sense of failure.”
“I am guilty,” Massa said in an interview with a Corning, N.Y., newspaper columnist.
Massa later released a statement saying that after discovering he had a recurrence of cancer, he learned he was the subject of an ethics complaint by a male staffer who felt “uncomfortable” during an exchange with Massa. The exchange reportedly had sexual overtones.
“There is no doubt in my mind that I did in fact, use language in the privacy of my own home and in my inner office that, after 24 years in the Navy, might make a chief petty officer feel uncomfortable,” he said.
The resignation takes effect Monday.
His departure is good news for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s effort to advance a troubled health care overhaul. Massa had voted against it. His departure reduces the majority she needs for passage to 216.
