New Massa Accusations : He Groped People in the Navy

At the end of Glenn Beck's interview with Eric Massa last night, the Fox Host asked if there were going to be any Tiger Woods-type text messages revealed, Massa seemed to be setting up his next defense as he said, 

 

“I’m sure there’s text messages because we bantered back and forth all the time.

Joshua Green of the Atlantic may have found out what Massa might be preparing to defend, some of his former subordinates in the Navy made accusations that he groped them while under is command.

....in conversations yesterday and today with some of Massa's Navy shipmates, it became clear that the behavior toward his subordinates that got Massa into trouble in Congress is part of pattern that dates to his time in the Navy.

According to Peter Clarke, a Navy shipmate, Massa was notorious for making unwanted advances toward subordinates. He tells the story of his friend Stuart Borsch, with whom Massa shared a hotel room while on leave during the first Gulf War. "Stuart's at the edge of the bed," Clarke says Borsch told him at the time, "and [Massa] starts massaging him. Massa said, 'You'll have to get one of my special massages.' He called them 'Massa Massages.'" Ron Moss, a Navy shipmate and Borsch's roommate, confirmed that Borsch told him this story at the time.

Borsch, now a history professor at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, didn't addresss that specific incident, but did confirm to me in an email that he was groped by Massa: "In 1990, aboard the U.S.S. Jouett, I was awakened when a senior officer, Lt. Commander Massa, seemed to be groping me. (I was a lieutenant at the time.) I believe he may have been drinking. I shouted at him and he left. I mentioned the incident to several other officers. I did not officially report it."

Clarke says that Massa's roommate, Tom Maxfield, was also assaulted. "Tom lived on upper bunk," Clarke say. "When you're on ship, you're almost exhausted 24-7. So a lot of times you sleep with your uniform on. Tom and Massa shared a stateroom together. Massa climbed up on the top of his bunk, which is hard to do--you never crawl up on somebody else's bunk. He wakes up to Massa undoing his pants trying to snorkel him." Ron Moss also confirmed hearing this story from Maxfield. Maxfield did not return calls and messages left for him--I'll update if he does.

Green says that it was these Navy revelations that "broke the camel's back" Massa's resignation announcement came shortly after the House Ethics Committee had been notified of Massa's behavior in the Navy.


Massa could have gone quietly to retirement. Were it not for his bravado on radio over the weekend, and an invitation from Glenn Beck the story would have been forgotten by now. But Massa's hubris caused him to expose his self-destructive lifestyle to the public.




Read Green's full article here.