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Ensign: My Affair Wasn't 'Legally Wrong'

By the Associated Press

Posted Aug 20, 2009 4:34 AM CDT

(AP) – John Ensign says that his affair with a friend's wife was different than former President Bill Clinton's relationship with a White House intern because he didn't lie under oath. "I haven't done anything legally wrong," the Nevada GOP senator said. "President Clinton stood right before the American people and he lied to the American people."

"Isn't that a little like saying, 'It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is?'" scoffed one ethics expert. In his first home-state appearance yesterday since admitting an extramarital affair with former campaign aide Cynthia Hampton, Ensign told the AP he can understand how some people might "have a problem" with the fact he called for Clinton's resignation but won't resign himself. "What we're trying to do is go around to people in the state of Nevada and tell them how sorry I am for what I did," Ensign told the AP.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

In this Sept. 4, 2008 file photo Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. speaks at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, FILE)

In this photo taken Monday June 22, 2009 Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., talks with reporters on his way to a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. speaks at a news conference at the Lloyd D. George Federal building, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

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I was in the House of Representatives but basically sitting in judgment of the president evaluating the case. I was basically a jurist at that point. I thought there was a violation of a felony. - Sen. John Ensign on Bill Clinton's affair

Isn't that a little like saying, 'It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is?' One politician comparing his illicit affair to another's is a sure sign his career is in trouble. - Melanie Sloan, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

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