Ensign May Have Busted Ethics Rules After Affair

Senator arranged lobbying work for senior aide after having affair with his wife

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 2, 2009 5:27 AM CDT

(Newser) – Sen. John Ensign says his affair with an aide was a strictly personal matter but he may have trampled on ethics rules and federal criminal law during his efforts at damage control, according to the New York Times. Ensign helped his mistress' husband, Doug Hampton—another senior aide— join a consulting firm after the affair ended in 2008 and helped find him lobbying work for several firms that donated to his campaign, despite a law barring senior aides from lobbying the Senate for a year after leaving their jobs.

Hampton says he ignored the law on the senator's advice. He later decided to seek compensation from the senator and asked Ensign's friend, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, to broker a deal. Coburn told Hampton's lawyer that the $8 million he was seeking was too much, but passed on the figure of $2 million to Ensign, who rejected it and broke off negotiations. Hampton then told Fox News about the affair, forcing Ensign to go public last June.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Doug Hampton, a former aide to Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., appears outside his home in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on health care reform legislation on Capitol Hill yesterday. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. speaks at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn, last year. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)

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John got trapped doing something really stupid and then made a lot of other mistakes afterward. Judgment gets impaired by arrogance, and that’s what’s going
on here.
- Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 7 comments

divetrader

Oct 2, 2009 11:57 AM CDT

Sounds like they need to look into ethics violations with Tom Coburn as well.

riffran

Oct 2, 2009 11:56 AM CDT

so in retrospect..it ok for .demmies to sleaze all they want because they do NOT have any family values.

AdaptAndOvercome

Oct 2, 2009 11:25 AM CDT

Negotiations? So, is that what Republicans call blackmail- hush money? The s.o.b. lied, cheated and tried to cover it up and GOT CAUGHT. ETHICS AND MORALS were two values that apparently Engsin doesn't hold. People gave Sanford an ear full and that s.o.b. is still sitting in his office and now we have this other jackass who got away with breaking the law. REPUBLICANS ARE ABOVE THE LAW. Cheney has made that a Republican mission and it's worked. They don't have to be held accountable for anything. Screw their friends wife, their fellow Americans and get a slap on the wrist. AND THEY CALL THEMSELVES THE MORAL MAJORITY? What a joke!

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ethics • lobbying • Nevada • John Ensign • senator • extramarital affair

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Ensign May Have Busted Ethics Rules After Affair