Texas

Conservative Bloc Prevails In Latest TX Textbooks Standards Vote

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 5:48PM

Protesters outside the State Board of Education meeting in Austin this week

Another vote, another win for the conservative majority on Texas' State Board of Education.

The 11-4 vote today on the latest draft of Texas' high school history standards comes as the story has blown up, attracting intense media coverage from national outlets including the New York Times and Fox News, which reported live from Austin all week.

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Focus On The Family

Dobson's Exit From Focus: A Family Affair?

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 3:52PM

James Dobson

There's another wrinkle in the story of James Dobson's exit from Focus on the Family: an unnamed Focus board member told the New York Times in January that because Dobson's son Ryan had a divorce several years ago, Ryan could not replace his father at the helm of the group's popular radio show.

Yesterday we told you about the possibility that Dobson and Focus, arguably most powerful Christian conservative organization in the country, had a less than amicable breakup that resulted in Dobson departing last month as host of the Focus radio program, which reaches 1.5 million listeners.

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Eric Massa

Pelosi: Earlier Massa Conversation Didn't 'Come Close To Any Kind Of An Allegation' (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 10:24AM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Interviewed by Rachel Maddow last night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that what her staff was told last year about then-Rep. Eric Massa did not "even come close to any kind of an allegation."

She said the conversation, reportedly between Massa's chief of staff and a Pelosi staffer, "repeated something that had been in the newspaper the day before."

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House Ethics Committee

Reports Conflict On Whether Massa Ethics Probe Remains Open

Justin Elliott | March 12, 2010, 9:27AM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

Is it or isn't it?

Media reports based on anonymous sources are now in conflict about whether the ethics committee is still investigating allegations involving former Rep. Eric Massa.

The ethics committee, perhaps the most opaque institution in Congress, has been mum on the question. So let's review what's been reported.

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Eric Massa

Timeline: What Were Dem Leaders Told About Massa?

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 6:25PM

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former Rep. Eric Massa and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Since the House vote today to refer to the ethics committee the question of what Democratic leaders knew about former Rep. Eric Massa before news of harassment allegations broke publicly, it's worth looking at the timeline of what we know so far.

At some point in or before October 2009, Massa took out to dinner a member of Rep. Barney Frank's committee staff, Frank said in a statement today. The staffer told another Frank staffer, who in turn told Frank's co-chief of staff, Maria Giesta.

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Aqueduct Race Track

New York Cancels Queens 'Racino' Deal With Jay-Z-Linked Group

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 5:16PM

Horses run at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. Inset, from top: Jay-Z, Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), Pastor Floyd Flake

Less than two months after Gov. David Paterson selected a politically connected group of investors, including rapper Jay-Z, to build a casino at a Queens race track, the governor's office today canceled the deal, reportedly because the investors didn't release sufficient financial information.

The Times reports:

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Eric Massa

Barney Frank: Massa Took My Staffer To Dinner

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 2:34PM

Representative Barney Frank (D-MA)

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has released a statement confirming that former Congressman Eric Massa took a member of his staff to dinner, following a Washington Post report on the "date."

Frank says that a member of his personal staff believed that, "although this was not an ethical violation," she thought "it should be called to the attention of former Congressman Massa's Chief of Staff, Joe Racalto, a former colleague."

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Eric Massa

Boehner Asks For Probe Of Massa Case

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 12:17PM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

The Daily Caller reports that House Minority Leader John Boehner will offer a resolution that calls for an investigation of Democratic leaders' handling of the case of former Rep. Eric Massa.

The Caller suggests that Republicans want the ethics committee to look at how Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- whose staff was reportedly told in October that Massa lived with staffers and used sexually explicit language -- handled the Massa case.

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Focus On The Family

Did Focus On The Family Board Force Dobson Out?

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 11:58AM

James Dobson

A prominent friend and supporter of James Dobson believes Dobson was pushed aside by the new leadership of Focus on the Family, who want the powerhouse evangelical ministry to project a softer image on issues ranging from abortion to gay marriage to relations with President Obama.

Dobson founded Focus on the Family in 1977 and spent the next 25 years building it into the influential Christian conservative group it is today.

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Eric Massa

Report: House Ethics Panel Drops Massa Probe

Justin Elliott | March 10, 2010, 6:01PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

The House ethics committee has decided to end its investigation of former Rep. Eric Massa, which was launched less than a week ago, the Washington Post is reporting.

Massa reportedly has been accused of groping multiple staffers.

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Eric Massa

'Massa Massage': Ex-Shipmates Details Alleged Sexual Misconduct By Massa

Justin Elliott | March 10, 2010, 3:45PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

Former Navy shipmates of ex-Rep. Eric Massa tell the Atlantic that he several times made aggressive, unwanted advances on subordinates.

A sample allegation from the story:

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Eric Massa

Ex-Volunteer: I Shared A Hotel Room With Massa -- And Nothing Happened

Justin Elliott | March 10, 2010, 2:55PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

A former campaign volunteer for Eric Massa tells TPMmuckraker that Massa asked to share his room at the 2006 YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas -- but "nothing happened that was more interesting than snoring."

"It was reasons of economy," Howard Park, an independent bookseller in Washington, tells us. Park was at the time a netroots activist who was helping Massa on his ultimately unsuccessful 2006 campaign for Congress.

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Eric Massa

Report: Massa Lived With Five Staffers In Small D.C. Rowhouse

Justin Elliott | March 10, 2010, 10:35AM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

In what appears to have been a highly unorthodox living situation for a member of Congress, former Rep. Eric Massa shared a small Washington townhouse with five of his staff members, a local New York newspaper reported last year.

As the revelations about Massa's relationship with his staff continue to stream in, this detail from a "day in the life" profile in the Oct. 9, 2009, Hornell Evening Tribune is sure to raise eyebrows:

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Eric Massa

Hoyer Vs. Massa: All A Misunderstanding?

Justin Elliott | March 9, 2010, 6:00PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and former Rep. Eric Massa

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters earlier today that he never talked to former Rep. Eric Massa about any ethics allegation, after Massa accused Hoyer of lying about the matter.

"My staff talked to his staff," Hoyer said today.

But it appears that the back-and-forth between the two arose after Massa read an Associated Press article that incorrectly reported Hoyer's original statement on the issue.

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Eric Massa

WaPo: Massa Allegedly Groped Multiple Staffers

Justin Elliott | March 9, 2010, 3:07PM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

The Washington Post cites three anonymous sources who say that former Rep. Eric Massa has been under investigation for allegedly groping multiple male staffers over a period of "at least a year."

And Politico is reporting that Massa also allegedly "conducted himself improperly with interns."

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Eric Massa

Aide: Massa Apologized To Staff For Bad Language In October

Justin Elliott | March 9, 2010, 10:45AM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

In October, former Congressman Eric Massa wrote a memo to his staff apologizing for "chronic use of inappropriate language and pledging to hold himself to a higher standard," his chief of staff tells the Elmira Star-Gazette.

Massa, a Democrat from New York, sent the memo after Chief of Staff Joe Racalto told Massa he "needed to keep himself, you know, to less colorful language," Racalto told the Star-Gazette.

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Eric Massa

Gibbs Calmly Takes Down Massa Over Allegations Of Dem Plot (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | March 9, 2010, 9:59AM

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

With former Rep. Eric Massa appearing on Glenn Beck tonight and slinging charges of a Democratic conspiracy to force him out of Congress, the White House clearly wants to get out in front of this story.

Enter Robert Gibbs.

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Don McLeroy

Creationist-Cum-McCarthy-Booster Incumbent Rejected By Texas Republicans

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 6:38PM

Don McLeroy

The top conservative activist on the powerful Texas Board of Education, who rejects evolution and has pushed for a revisionist right-wing U.S. history curriculum, is on the way out, after a moderate candidate defeated him in a tight primary last week.

For months now, TPMmuckraker has been covering Don McLeroy as a major player in the battle over the drafting of nationally influential history textbook standards by the Texas board.

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Eric Massa

Massa's 'Fracking You' Tale: The Whole Story?

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 3:31PM

Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

On his radio show yesterday, Rep. Eric Massa said he believes his remark to a staffer at a wedding party that "what I really ought to be doing is fracking you" was the incident that led to ethics allegations against him.

But the ethics committee -- whose investigation will end when Massa resigns later today -- has not commented on the nature of the allegations it is probing. And an unnamed Massa aide told Politico the congressman "has been engaged in inappropriate behavior 'for eight months.'"

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Navy

Massa Recalls Sexual Misconduct Allegation From Navy Days (AUDIO)

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 12:50PM

Sailors participate in a "crossing the line" ceremony. Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) inset.

In the same radio monologue in which he admitted telling a male staffer, "what I really ought to be doing is fracking you," Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) defiantly recounted a misconduct allegation from his past that arose after he walked in on a Navy roommate masturbating.

The incident occurred during Desert Storm when Massa, who served for 24 years in the Navy, was based on a ship in the Persian Gulf. He was assigned to watch duty, Massa said on the radio show Sunday. One day, Massa came back early to the small room he shared with another crew member.

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Eric Massa

Hoyer Dismisses Massa Accusation As 'Completely False'

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 12:41PM

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

A spokeswoman for Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is dismissing charges by Rep. Eric Massa that Hoyer lied about how an allegation of harassment was brought to the House ethics panel.

On his radio show yesterday, Massa claimed that "Steny Hoyer has never said a single word to me at all, not ever, not once. Not a word. This is a lie. It's a blatant false statement."

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Health Care

Massa Blames Vast Democratic Conspiracy For Forcing Him Out (AUDIO)

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 10:02AM

Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

One of the motifs in the long radio monologue Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) delivered on Sunday is that Democratic leaders conspired to force Massa -- a no vote on health care -- out of Congress.

As TPMDC explains, Massa, who announced last week he will resign today, was a no vote on health care. His departure will mean the threshold for passing the bill would drop by one vote, to 216.

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Eric Massa

Massa To Aide: 'What I Really Ought To Be Doing Is Fracking You' (AUDIO)

Justin Elliott | March 8, 2010, 8:43AM

Former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY)

Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY), who is resigning later today, said on his radio show Sunday that he made an "inappropriate" sexual remark to a male aide at a New Year's Eve wedding party.

It's the first time Massa has given a detailed account of the events that he says led to the allegation of sexual harassment against him. Politico has reported that the married Massa "made unwanted advances toward a junior male staffer."

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