Senator's (Ensign) resignation may not halt release of evidence

[UpInArms]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Ensign's resignation letter allows him to leave office just one day before he was to have to answer questions under oath about whether a $96,000 payment to the family of his former lover was illegal and designed to keep the affair from becoming public, according to people familiar with an investigation of Ensign's activities.

That formal testimony, scheduled for May 4, was the final step as Senate investigators prepared for what were almost certain to be Senate ethics charges against Ensign, a Republican from Nevada. Ensign's resignation is effective May 3.

In the letter, issued late Thursday, Ensign acknowledged that he was stepping down to avoid further scrutiny -- hoping that his departure from the Senate would mean the end of any further questions about his affair with Cynthia Hampton, the wife of his former senior aide, Douglas Hampton.

But in interviews Friday, officials said the two leaders of the Ethics Committee -- both the top Democrat and the top Republican -- had decided not to let the investigation disappear. They are likely to take the unusual step of issuing a statement that details evidence of wrongdoing uncovered in a 22-month investigation that was the largest in more than a decade, including interviews with dozens of witnesses and a review of records of Ensign and his family.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_17912131?nclick_check=1