WASHINGTON &#8212 Former Rep. Eric J.J. Massa acknowledged Tuesday he had groped a male staffer, but denied anything sexual about the episode; later said he never had

groped anybody in the first place.

Massa&#8217s provided the contradictory descriptions of an incident in the townhouse he

shared with male staffers on the same day that the Washington Post reported the House ethics

committee had launched a probe into allegations that Massa had groped multiple male staffers.

&#8220Now they&#8217re saying I groped a male staffer,&#8221 Massa, D-Corning, said on

&#8220The Glenn Beck Program&#8221 on Fox News. &#8220Yeah, I did. Not only did I grope him, I

tickled him until he couldn&#8217t breathe, and four guys jumped on top of me. It was my 50th

birthday, and it was: &#8216kill the old guy.&#8217 &#8221

Asked if he had ever touched a staffer in a sexual way, Massa said: &#8220No, no, no.&#8221

But four hours later, when asked on CNN&#8217s &#8220Larry King Live&#8221 whether he had

groped anyone, Massa said, &#8220I never admitted groping.&#8221

And when King asked him about the allegations in the Post, Massa said: &#8220It is not

true. Period.&#8221

Massa&#8217s comments followed a wild stretch of days that started with the Corning

Democrat announcing his decision to retire because of a cancer recurrence scare &#8212 but

later alleging he was forced out of office as part of a Democratic conspiracy to pass

health-care reform.

Tuesday, a day after leaving office, Massa again offered conflicting accounts of the

reasons behind his resignation.

First he told Beck he quit of his own volition and because of his own mistakes.

&#8220I wasn&#8217t forced out; I forced myself out&#8221 because of the ethics

investigation, he said.

&#8220If somebody on my staff was offended, was uncomfortable, thought I was inappropriate,

I own that. That&#8217s why I resigned.&#8221

But hours later, Massa shifted stories again, tying his departure to his opposition to the

Democratic health reform bill.

&#8220I am in trouble because I am a Democrat standing up to a horrible mistake we are

about to make,&#8221 he said.

Massa&#8217s conflicting accounts confused one of King&#8217s listeners, who asked him

about them &#8212 at which point Massa returned to his original excuse.

&#8220The No. 1 reason that I&#8217m not staying in Congress is that this Wednesday,

they&#8217re going to read a CAT scan and tell me whether I&#8217m going to be around in six

months or not,&#8221 Massa, a survivor of non-Hodgkin&#8217s lymphoma, told King &#8212 hours

after showing Beck an X-ray of his lungs.

&#8220You can&#8217t tell the whole story about why I&#8217m doing what I&#8217m doing in a

sound bite,&#8221 he said.

On the same day that White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and House Majority Leader Steny H.

Hoyer, D-Md., vehemently denied Massa&#8217s conspiracy claim, Beck pressed Massa for details

of the strong-arm tactics he had alleged Sunday on a Hornell radio program.

&#8220Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill,&#8221 Massa said on the show.

&#8220And this administration and this House leadership have said &#8212 quote, unquote &#8212

they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill. And now they&#8217ve gotten rid of

me, and it will pass. You connect the dots.&#8221

On Beck&#8217s show, however, Massa appeared to take a step back from his earlier charge.

Referring to the evolving allegations against him, he said, &#8220This is all planned and

calculated &#8212 we&#8217ll leak this, we&#8217ll leak that.&#8221

But that wasn&#8217t good enough for Beck.

&#8220I haven&#8217t heard anything&#8221 in detail about the corruption alleged Sunday,

Beck said. &#8220I&#8217ve heard generalities.&#8221

Neither Beck nor King could extract any specifics from Massa about the supposed connection

between his departure and the health care vote.

&#8220Name names,&#8221 Beck pleaded.

But Massa never answered.

&#8220I don&#8217t know how to be specific,&#8221 he said.

Earlier in the show, though, Massa showed Beck some specifics.

Following up on his anecdote about tickling a staffer, Massa handed Beck a photo album of

Navy hazing antics, which Beck promptly pulled away from the camera&#8217s view.

&#8220It looks like an orgy in Caligula,&#8221 Massa noted.

Massa also repeated an anecdote he had related Sunday on the Hornell radio program about

tousling a male staffer&#8217s hair at a drunken wedding reception on New Year&#8217s Eve and

jokingly saying he should have sex with the staffer.

But Massa&#8217s inability to provide details about Democratic pressure tactics left Beck

obviously frustrated.

&#8220I think this is the first time we have wasted an hour of your time,&#8221 Beck told

his viewers near the end of the hourlong program.

Beck was by no means the only commentator to have harsh words for Massa.

A day after promising to make Massa's health-care allegations a national story, radio

Republican Rush Limbaugh dismissed him as a "legitimate kook" and added: "Anybody out there

who embraces this guy is in for big trouble."

And if that review was not devastating enough, Washington Post political blogger Chris

Cillizza called Massa&#8217s appearance on Beck&#8217s show a &#8220landmark moment in the

annals of televised political implosions.&#8221

On &#8220The Charlie Rose Show&#8221 on PBS, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that

Massa&#8217s shifting stances were no laughing matter.

&#8220This is a very sick person,&#8221 said Pelosi, a California Democrat. &#8220Perhaps

his judgment is impaired because of the ethical issues that have arisen.&#8221