Earlier this year, political circles were shocked to learn that Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada had been involved in an extra-marital affair — with a campaign aide — who was one of Ensign’s closest friends — who also happened to be the wife of Ensign’s Chief of Staff. Soon after, the extra-marital affair of Republican South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford grabbed the spotlight and sort of made everyone forget all about Ensign, and he thought he just might survive fallout from the affair…that is until new sordid details of the scandal began to emerge.
According to the NEW YORK TIMES, once Doug Hampton found out his friend and boss Sen. Ensign had been sleeping with his wife, the cheating Senator tried to contain the damage and find quick employment for Mr. Hampton to silence him. Over the next several months, Ensign arranged for Mr. Hampton to join a political consulting firm and lined up several donors as his lobbying clients. He also repeatedly intervened on these companies’ behalf with federal agencies, often at the urging of Mr. Hampton. But that’s illegal. You see, Sen. Ensign’s activities are in violation of an ethics law which bars a Senior Aide (such as your Chief of Staff) from lobbying the Senate for a year after leaving their posts. Oops!
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Yesterday, Ensign denied any wrongdoing, saying that he complied with Senate ethics rules and the law when he arranged a “soft landing” as a lobbyist for his former friend and Chief of Staff. “I recommended [Hampton] for jobs, just like I’ve recommended a lot of people,” Ensign said when cornered yesterday outside his office on Capitol Hill by a CNN reporter. “We absolutely did nothing except for comply exactly with what the ethics laws and the ethics rules of the Senate state.” Well, if Sen. Ensign was looking for signs of support from his Republican counterparts on Capitol Hill, he didn’t get any. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has declined repeatedly to answer questions about Ensign or offer him any support. Other Republicans have also remained silent, skittish to speak out until evidence of wrongdoing is uncovered by the Senate Ethics Committee, which is investigating. Ensign is “the gift that keeps on giving,” said Eric Herzik, a political science professor at University of Nevada in Reno. “He can’t shake this.”
