Ensign quits leadership post in wake of extramarital affair

[Pitt Gorilla]

By Dave Cook | 06.17.09

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/06/17/ensign-quits-leadership-post-in-wake-of-extramarital-affair/

The scandal surrounding Nevada Senator John Ensign is the last thing Senate Republicans need.

On Tuesday, Ensign went home to Nevada to announce that he had had an extramarital affair with a woman on his campaign staff. Today, Ensign stepped down from his post as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the fourth highest raking spot in the Senate GOP leadership. Ensign remained in Nevada on Wednesday.

A former rising star

Before the news of his indiscretion, Ensign had been a rising star in the party. He recently had spoken at events in Iowa, raising speculation he was considering a run for his party’s presidential nomination. In 2008, he ran the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), in charge of electing Republican candidates. Colleagues did not appear to hold him responsible for the losses his party suffered in the Senate where they now control just 40 seats.

It is not clear yet how much political impact the Ensign scandal will have. The senator is not up for re-election in 2010, so his seat is not immediately in peril. But the controversy surrounding his affair could make it harder for Republicans to mount an effective challenge for the state’s other Senate seat, held by Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, which is up in 2010.

Reid is being careful not to seem to capitalize on Ensign’s problems. Reid told Politico, “This is a private family matter.”

A distraction during rebuilding

Ensign’s problems are a distraction at a time when the GOP needs to rebuild in the Senate and the odds of picking up seats are challenging. His successor at the NRSC, John Cornyn of Texas, recently told a Monitor breakfast that in the 2010 senatorial elections, “Success would be stemming the tide.”

Cornyn cautioned that “the math is not particularly friendly to us this time, there are 18 Republicans up and 18 Democrats” in 2010. “I am not going to name a number. Obviously, we want to move forward and not backward.”

With Ensign stepping away from his visible leadership post, it will be easier for Senate Republicans to try to regain focus on mounting an effective opposition to the Obama administration’s health care, financial regulation, and climate legislation.

A familiar story

The story of older males misbehaving is an old one in Washington. Some found to have strayed — like Senators Larry Craig and John Edwards — find themselves heading to political obscurity. Others, like Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, are rehabilitated and regain influence.

It’s too early to tell which future will be John Ensign’s.

[mlyonsd]

He should resign. If he can't be faithful to his wife how could the public ever trust him for their issues.

[bango]

He should resign. If he can't be faithful to his wife how could the public ever trust him for their issues.

That, and the fact that he is a politician.

[SBK]

If you trust anyone in Washington DC you're setting yourself up for big disappointment.

[BucEyedPea]

This is the best Pitt can do for a thread? Just another DC social scandal.

[KILLER_CLOWN]

If you trust anyone in Washington DC you're setting yourself up for big disappointment.

Man if that aint the truth, these sorts of issues are what politicians use as a smoke screen nowadays.

[BucEyedPea]

Life is not about always being good but whether we take responsibility for what we did wrong. He had a lot of balls to do that publically. If it were Frank or Clinton we'd get " I did nothing wrong!"
And I think there's a difference in being a serial adulterer and making a mistake. But yeah, DC is a pretty unethical town. It's the Babylon of the East coast.

[KILLER_CLOWN]

Life is not about always being good but whether we take responsibility for what we did wrong. He had a lot of balls to do that publically. If it were Frank or Clinton we'd get " I did nothing wrong!"
And I think there's a difference in being a serial adulterer and making a mistake. But yeah, DC is a pretty unethical town. It's the Babylon of the East coast.

I did not have sexual relations with that woman!

[BucEyedPea]

I did not have sexual relations with that woman!

I depends on what "is" is!

[wild1]

I credit him for stepping down. If his wife can't trust him, I don't know how the people of the US could.

[Pitt Gorilla]

This is the best Pitt can do for a thread? Just another DC social scandal.Should I not have posted this? I thought it was interesting as he was setting up to be a contender for 2012.

I think cheating on one's spouse is one of the lowest things one can do in a relationship. That being said, I have no idea how it would impact his ability to lead. I certainly don't think he should be excluded from consideration.

[mikey23545]

Believe me, if this had been a Demorat, Pitt Gorilla would have had no interest whatsoever in posting the story.

[Amnorix]

So you contend that Bill Clinton was a poor president due to his infidelity? He most likely cheated from day one with Hillary and we all know what happened in the Oval Office.

errr...that's exactly what he did NOT say. Reread his post.

[Amnorix]

He'll be back as a rising star in a few years I expect, though he may have lost any chance at the WH. Not because he couldn't necessarily win the general, but because he probably can't get a Republican nomination now.

[BucEyedPea]

Should I not have posted this? I thought it was interesting as he was setting up to be a contender for 2012.

I think cheating on one's spouse is one of the lowest things one can do in a relationship. That being said, I have no idea how it would impact his ability to lead. I certainly don't think he should be excluded from consideration.
You can post whatever you want. But you post so few threads why would you pick this over something with more substance for an R?
Is there anything about Republicanism that you like, as a Republican member?

Normally I don't comment on what someone puts up as a thread because I don't believe in that. So consider it blowback too!

[BucEyedPea]

So you contend that Bill Clinton was a poor president due to his infidelity? He most likely cheated from day one with Hillary and we all know what happened in the Oval Office.

And her too. She's had more women than he has per Bill. In fact she keeps a woman.

[BucEyedPea]

Believe me, if this had been a Demorat, Pitt Gorilla would have had no interest whatsoever in posting the story.

Exactly.

[oldandslow]

I think some of you who lean right are being unfair to Pitt, and by inference, most who vote a different way...

I don't know if you remember, but I posted a thread not to long ago entitled "John Edwards is a jerk" or something close to that and it included an article detailing his affair. I wouldn't say that I lean right.

Ensign deserves the same treatment.

Good on you, Pitt.

[BucEyedPea]

I think some of you who lean right are being unfair to Pitt, and by inference, most who vote a different way...

I don't know if you remember, but I posted a thread not to long ago entitled "John Edwards is a jerk" or something close to that and it included an article detailing his affair. I wouldn't say that I lean right.

Ensign deserves the same treatment.

Good on you, Pitt.
Yeah but Pitts an R that disses only his party and hardly anyone else. There's just something about his membership.

I think if someone is cheating while running for president is much worse. That man is being phoney while he tries to gain the public trust.

On the other hand, anyone who's had an affair once in his life, say in the past including while in office. I don't think should bar them from being in office because people do make mistakes. To me it's if they sincerely take responsibility. It's just hard to tell if a politician is being sincere.

I am certain there are many more up in DC that have having affairs and serial ones at that. Another thing about it is, while someone is in office when it's happening they could be blackmailed.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Yeah but Pitts an R that disses only his party and hardly anyone else. There's just something about his membership.

I think if someone is cheating while running for president is much worse. That man is being phoney while he tries to gain the public trust.

On the other hand, anyone who's had an affair once in his life, say in the past including while in office. I don't think should bar them from being in office because people do make mistakes. To me it's if they sincerely take responsibility. It's just hard to tell if a politician is being sincere.

I am certain there are many more up in DC that have having affairs and serial ones at that. Another thing about it is, while someone is in office when it's happening they could be blackmailed.No, I'm not an R. When I changed states (5 years ago), I noted no political affiliation. In the primaries, I have to choose a side for which to vote (if I wish to participate), but aside from that, I don't have to be either. In the last primary, you may recall that I caucused for Ron Paul. That doesn't mean that I support the party at all. I supported Dr. Paul. I also support Harken (D) and Grassley (R). That doesn't mean that I support the Dems, either.

Honestly, I can't stand a lot of things from both parties.

[wild1]

So you contend that Bill Clinton was a poor president due to his infidelity? He most likely cheated from day one with Hillary and we all know what happened in the Oval Office.

he is a serial adulterer, and it had been going on for decades. hillary knew it, and kept him around for her own purposes. it was a business arrangement.

[alanm]

Believe me, if this had been a Demorat, Pitt Gorilla would have had no interest whatsoever in posting the story.At least Republicans police their own. The Democrats let this stuff slide as well as corruption. :shake:

[orange]

At least Republicans police their own. The Democrats let this stuff slide as well as corruption. :shake:

Really? The last I heard, Whoremaster Vitter is still a Republican Whip. Do you have some new information?

[HonestChieffan]

He should resign. If he can't be faithful to his wife how could the public ever trust him for their issues.

And then there is Teddy.

[Chief Henry]

At least Republicans police their own. The Democrats let this stuff slide as well as corruption. :shake:

The democrats let Ted Kennedy get by with murder / drunk driving that killed a very young lady. An extra marrital affair means absolutley nothing to
the democRATS...

[Pitt Gorilla]

At least Republicans police their own. The Democrats let this stuff slide as well as corruption. :shake:The story had been out for more than a day. Nobody here had posted it, so I did.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Believe me, if this had been a Demorat, Pitt Gorilla would have had no interest whatsoever in posting the story.I doubt I would have had the opportunity. If it had been a Dem, I imagine it would have been posted the day the story broke.

[orange]

Ensign’s mistress saw salary double, son was paid $5,400
Ex-campaign aide to Ensign confirms affair
By J. Patrick Coolican, Lisa Mascaro

Published Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (10:13 a.m.)
Updated Wed, Jun 17, 2009 (3:24 p.m.)

The one-time mistress and campaign treasurer of Sen. John Ensign saw her salary double during the time of the affair, according to federal election documents.

Cynthia Hampton, whose husband, Doug Hampton, was a senior aide to Ensign, the Nevada Republican, was paid nearly $1,400 per month for most of 2007 as treasurer of Ensign's Battle Born Political Action Committee.

Her salary increased slightly in January 2008 but then doubled to nearly $2,800 per month in February 2008 and stayed at that higher rate through March and April, when she left the job.

She also made $500 per month in late 2007 at the Ensign for Senate campaign committee.

Hampton's 19-year-old son was paid $5,400 by a political operation controlled by Ensign, according to federal election documents.

Brandon Hampton was being paid by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, of which Ensign was chairman, for “research policy consulting,” according to the election documents.

The payments were first reported by Sun-partner Politico.

Doug Hampton received $19,679 from the senator's office for one month, between April 1 and May 1, 2008 -- a sum substantially higher than his normal salary, according to Senate records. He and his wife both stopped working for the senator at that time, in May 2008.

Doug Hampton had been earning about $160,000 annually since he started on the senator's payroll on Nov. 8, 2006. He was one of the top paid aides in the office, receiving pay equal to the senator's chief of staff.

Also today, the Associated Press reported that an attorney for the Hamptons released a statement, confirming the affair and lamenting Ensign's decision to “air this very personal matter” and said she eventually would tell her side of the story.

The Nevada political world was thrown into turmoil Tuesday when Ensign, who had been considered a rising star in national politics, acknowledged the affair with Hampton.

Ensign, whose office is not replying to requests for interviews, has said he intends to remain in the Senate, though he resigned his GOP leadership position today.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun/17/ensign-resigns-gop-leadership-post/

[Chief Henry]

Basically (r) Senator Ensign was screwing a hooker - like (d) Elliott Spitzer.

[orange]

Spouse in Ensign affair sought help in letter to Fox News
Husband’s account of how wife’s affair with Ensign ‘ruined our lives and careers’ comes to light



By Jeff German, Lisa Mascaro
Fri, Jun 19, 2009 (2 a.m.)


In a letter dated five days before Sen. John Ensign’s public confession of an extramarital affair, Doug Hampton pleaded to a national Fox News anchorwoman for help in exposing the senator’s “heinous conduct and pursuit” of Hampton’s wife.

Hours before the Sun obtained an unsigned copy of the letter, Ensign’s spokesman said the senator disclosed the affair with Cynthia Hampton because her husband had approached “a major television news channel before Tuesday,” the day Ensign admitted the affair. “We learned of this fact before the news conference,” the spokesman noted in an e-mail.
In his letter, Hampton, a former top administrative aide in Ensign’s Capitol Hill office, said: “The actions of Senator Ensign have ruined our lives and careers and left my family in shambles. We have lost significant income, suffered indescribable pain and emotional suffering. We find ourselves today with an overwhelming loss of relationships, career opportunities and hope for recovery. Our pursuit of justice continues to place me and my family in harm’s way as we fear for our well being.”

Hampton could not be reached for comment, and his Las Vegas lawyer, Daniel Albregts, declined to comment on the letter.

“We are not commenting on any aspect of the case at the present time,” he said.

The letter presented for the first time Doug Hampton’s view of what took place. It was addressed to Megyn Kelly at Fox News’ corporate office in New York. Kelly is the co-host of Fox News Channel’s “American Newsroom.” She also appears regularly on the “O’Reilly Factor with Bill O’Reilly,” according to the network’s Web site.

Kelly could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

Reached by e-mail late Thursday, Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola would not comment on the letter and wouldn’t say whether the senator was aware of it.

So among the key questions that remain unanswered are:

— Did Fox News receive the letter, and if the network did, what did it do with the information?

— How did Ensign learn that Hampton had “approached a major television news channel”?

In the letter, Hampton states that he wanted “to establish the framework for discussion and provide enough information to warrant a meeting with you (Kelly) and Fox News.” He said he had “great respect” for Fox News and was contacting Kelly because she is a lawyer and the story had several legal elements to it.

Near the end of the two-page, single-spaced document, he noted: “I could have sought the most liberal, Republican hating media to expose this story, but there are people’s lives at stake and justice is about proper process as well as outcome. Senator Ensign has no business serving in the US Senate anymore!”

Hampton’s timeline of the affair — December 2007 through August 2008 — matches what Ensign and his staff described earlier this week.

“Senator Ensign’s conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April 2008,” Hampton wrote. “I would like to say he stopped his heinous conduct and pursuit upon our leaving, but that was not the case, and his actions did not subside until August of 2008.”

Hampton also wrote that he and others had confronted Ensign about his “unethical behavior and immoral choice” on a number of occasions over the past year.

“In fact, one of the confrontations took place in February 2008 at his (Ensign’s) home in Washington D.C. with a group of his peers,” Hampton added. “One of the attendees was Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, as well as several other men who are close to the senator.”

Don Tatro, a spokesman for Oklahoma Republican, said late Thursday that Coburn had no comment.

In his letter, Hampton said he sought Fox News’ help out of desperation.

“It appears there may be nothing the law can do to correct and bring justice and restitution to this terrible wrong that has been done us,” he wrote. “I have sought a number of lawyers who are having difficulty finding charges that may hold up in court.”

Hampton said he understood the story was difficult to believe, but he added that there was a paper trail, phone records and witnesses to corroborate the allegations.

“It is my belief we are dealing with a very powerful person and institution in the U.S. Senate that only the media can pierce to expose the wrong and bring light and focus to what needs to be done.

“Please help me! This should not be how the leadership of our country should be allowed to behave. I need justice, help and restitution for what Senator Ensign has done to me and my family.”

He said he wanted to meet with Kelly and her “team as soon as possible” and would follow up with an e-mail.

Ensign’s sudden acknowledgment of the affair continues to create fallout in the nation’s capital and Nevada.

The Ensign-backed Republican Renewal Project — a political action committee in Nevada launched on Ensign’s vision to rejuvenate the state’s Republican Party after Democratic gains — had been scheduled to host a fundraising barbecue Friday.

Ensign was to be the featured guest at the dinner, but it has been postponed, according to the Web site.

Ensign remains away from Washington, missing several votes, and is not expected to return until next week.

The Senate is scheduled to resume debate next week on a tourism bill important to Nevada that Ensign co-sponsored with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The affair with Cynthia Hampton occurred while she, her husband and their adult son were all on the senator’s payroll. She was Ensign’s onetime campaign treasurer and the former treasurer of the senator’s Battle Born Political Action Committee.

Unnamed sources cited in various media reports initially raised the specter of extortion as the reason for Ensign’s news conference, but Metro Police and the FBI said they were not investigating. Ensign’s office on Thursday declined to say today whether the Hamptons sought any money to keep quiet.

Cynthia Hampton’s salary doubled as she took over as treasurer for Ensign’s leadership campaign account until she left in May 2008. Doug Hampton’s final month’s salary as a top aide at the senator’s office was nearly $20,000 — more than his normal pay at the $160,000-a-year-job, although the extra sum could have been for accrued sick or vacation time, or as a stipend.

The couple’s son, Brandon, was also on the payroll with a $1,000-a-month summer job at the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2008, which Ensign chaired at the time.

The New York Times reported today that after Ensign reconciled with his wife and dismissed Cynthia Hampton, he paid her a severance out of his own pocket.

Ensign’s office has declined to comment on the Hamptons’ salaries, or any severance.

Doug Hampton took a job with Allegiant Air, a Las Vegas company whose CEO is a major Ensign supporter.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun/19/we-have-suffered-indescribable-pain/

[Baby Lee]

And her too. She's had more women than he has per Bill. In fact she keeps a woman.
Gal's [excuse me, senator's] got taste.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/02/nytfrontpage/22668368.JPG

[Earthling]

Life is not about always being good but whether we take responsibility for what we did wrong. He had a lot of balls to do that publically.

Not really. He knew he was being outed so he fessed up quickly to save what little face he could under the circumstances. Had the story not been about to break do you really thnk he would have made such a heart-felt apology? THAT would have taken a lot of balls.