Brian Beutler March 4, 2010, 11:24 AM

Rep. Jerrod Nadler (D-NY), told TPMDC today that accusations that he was taken by surprise by allegations that his New York co-delegate, Rep. Eric Massa, harassed a male staffer. He also said Massa’s decision not to seek reelection came “out of the blue.”

In an interview with me, Nadler (D-NY) said it came to his attention for the first time yesterday, but cautioned that the facts of the situation—which are still not publicly known—would affect how Congress should react.

“And by the way, I don’t know the nature of the accusation. Was this an adult or a kid? Remember the situation we had a couple years ago with Foley was an intern—a page. Is the accusation—if it’s a consensual sexual relationship with an adult, I’m not sure it’s any of our business,” Nadler said.

In the interview, Massa said he doesn’t know the truth of the situation, which TPMDC has been following closely.

“All I know is what I read,” Nadler said. “The moment that leadership was apprised of the potential problem with Mr. Massa, Steny [Hoyer] said that if Massa didn’t go to the Ethics Committee within 48 hours, he would.”

Nadler added:

I don’t know what the truth is. He denies it. So we’ll find out. That’s why the ethics committee is there. I always presume that until there’s real evidence—right now it’s a rumor, I don’t know, it’s an accusation by somebody. I don’t really know the nature or any details….

He’s already says he’s not running for re-election. He says for health reasons—and the man has had serious, serious cancer in the past; it’s quite credible….

This was brought to [the ethics committee] right away and hopefully they’ll deal with it properly.

2010 elections, Eric Massa, Ethics, Jerrold Nadler