Eric Massa Paid Staffer $40,000 Following Resignation Announcement

Former Rep. Eric Massa wrote a check for $40,000 to his chief of staff the day after he announced he was resigning from Congress amid allegations he had behave inappropriately with members of his staff, the Washington Post reports, citing federal campaign records.

The money the New York Democrat paid to chief of staff Joe Racalto was described as a "campaign management fee." Racalto told the Post the payment was for work on Massa's 2010 reelection campaign.

But the payment will surely raise questions in light of reports that Massa had sexually harassed male with members of his staff, including interns. This week a former aide to Massa reportedly filed a sexual harassment complaint against the former representative. According to the aide, Massa made a habit of groping and propositioned him and made lewd remarks to him and other staffers.

The staffer's attorney, Debra Katz, deemed Massa's behavior "out of control."

"The congressman routinely made gestures implying that he wanted oral sex, and made crude propositions requesting oral sex from his employees," she said.

Massa had admitted to groping staffers but insisted that the contact was non-sexual. According to a previous story in the Post, Racalto and deputy Massa chief of staff Ron Hikel spent a year trying to address Massa's behavior internally before eventually reporting the boss to congressional leaders.

The House Ethics Committee ended its investigation of Massa last month, citing his resignations, though Republicans are pushing for a new inquiry.