Senator’s Aid After Affair Raises Flags Over Ethics(Ensign)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

Early last year, Senator John Ensign contacted a small circle of political and corporate supporters back home in Nevada — a casino designer, an airline executive, the head of a utility and several political consultants — seeking work for a close friend and top Washington aide, Douglas Hampton.

“He’s a competent guy, and he’s looking to come back to Nevada. Do you know of anything?” one patron recalled Mr. Ensign asking.

The job pitch left out one salient fact: the senator was having an affair with Mr. Hampton’s wife, Cynthia, a campaign aide. The tumult that the liaison was causing both families prompted Mr. Ensign, a two-term Republican, to try to contain the damage and find a landing spot for Mr. Hampton.

In the coming months, the senator arranged for Mr. Hampton to join a political consulting firm and lined up several donors as his lobbying clients, according to interviews, e-mail messages and other records. Mr. Ensign and his staff then repeatedly intervened on the companies’ behalf with federal agencies, often after urging from Mr. Hampton.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/us/politics/02ensign....

[UpInArms]

1. typical guilty of everything one accuses everyone else of GOPer

needs to get kicked to the curb.

[ezgoingrl]

2. As bad as this is for Ensign,

I hope Coburn is all over it. That would be freakin awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TankLV]

3. And to think we have NORTHERN Nevadans to thank for Ensign's election victories...