White House: Eric Massa's Charges Are 'Ridiculous'

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2010— -- The White House today dismissed comments from a retiring Democratic congressman who claimed his own party had hounded him out of office because he had planned to vote against President Obama's health care bill.

Rep. Eric Massa, D-N.Y., announced his resignation last week amid allegations that he sexually harassed two male aides. The congressman first said he was stepping down because his cancer had returned, but then shifted his story, suggesting in a radio interview that he was being forced out of Congress as part of a "setup" involving the White House.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today called the charges "ridiculous."

"I think this whole story is ridiculous. I think the latest excuse is silly and ridiculous," Gibbs said on "Good Morning America" today. "We're focused not on crazy allegations but instead on making this system work for the American people rather than insurance companies."

Democrats on Capitol Hill said Massa's allegations were absurd.

"That's absurd. That's untrue," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters today.

The House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Massa's conduct at a New Year's Eve wedding party last year during which he admittedly acted inappropriately toward a staffer.

Gibbs pointed to Massa's shifting language since last week, and said, "I think clearly his actions appear to be in the appropriate venue in the Ethics Committee to look at."

Massa may be stepping down from Congress today, but he has said he would not "go quietly." He put on his political boxing gloves Monday in a lengthy, rambling monologue on a small, upstate New York radio station, where he declared himself guilty of making inappropriate comments to a staff member but said he was "set up" by Democrats.

In a manifestation of his promise not to go quietly, Massa will appear today on CNN's Larry King Live and on Glenn Beck's show.

In his radio address, Massa touched on everything from walking in on a Navy stateroom roommate masturbating to an encounter with a naked White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the House gym.

"I am sitting here showering, naked as a jay bird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel not even with a towel wrapped around his tush, poking his finger in my chest yelling at me because I wasn't going to vote for the president's budget. Do you know how awkward it is to have a political argument with a naked man?" Massa said. "It's ridiculous."

There has been much speculation about tensions between Obama and Emanuel, but Gibbs dismissed the reports.

"The president has confidence in each and every person that works here," Gibbs said today. "The president is not focused on palace intrigue. ... He wants us to focus on getting something done for the American people, getting health care reform through Congress, focusing on the economy and getting jobs coming back here to this country."