Ethics committee ends investigation of Eric Massa

The House ethics committee made a decision Wednesday to close its short-lived investigation within allegations that now-resigned congressman Eric Massa groped and sexually harassed younger male staffers in his office, based on two sources accustomed to the decision.

The committee concluded that Massa’s resignation placed him outside the reach of any punishment the committee could dole out, and would render any findings of wrongdoing irrelevant. However the move appears likely to build a political battle with House Republicans, who are already complaining in campaign ads that Congressional Democrats are unwilling to take a look too deeply in to or punish the ethical transgressions that belongs to them.

Republicans signaled Wednesday morning, right before the House ethics committee was set to hold a meeting, they wanted the probe to keep. Republican sources declared that the public deserved to know who in the House Democratic leadership knew on the swirling allegations and what they did upon learning that congressional staffers could be victims of harassment.

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