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"Salty Old Sailor" Accused Of "Snorkeling" Navy Roommate
By
Ben Muessig
Published Mar 10, 2010
Modified Mar 10, 2010
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By
Ben Muessig
Published Mar 10, 2010
Modified Mar 10, 2010
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Although former Rep. Eric Massa has been abandoned by conservative pundits, new reports indicate he's still a teabagger. Men who served in the Navy with the former Congressman claim Massa repeatedly made unwanted advances toward subordinates, including one instance involving "snorkeling"—a maneuver "performed by placing your testicles over the eyes of your partner, forming a mask," according to Urban Dictionary.
With Massa facing an ethics investigation surrounding allegations that he groped male staffers, Navy veterans who served with the southwestern New York politician told the Atlantic that he groped them, touched inappropriately, or gave them what he called "Massa Massages."
Navy veteran Stuart Borsch told the magazine:
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.
Massa's shipmate Peter Clarke claims the politician tried to snorkel his roommate, Tom Maxfield:
Tom lived on upper bunk ... 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.
Massa resigned shortly after a congressional ethics panel was alerted of his alleged behavior in the Navy.
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Ben Muessig
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