POLITICO says that Ensign was blackmailed

[underpants]

COOOOOVER!! thanks Politico

Ensign admits affair; sources say blackmail involved
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090616/pl_politico/23813

Political insiders in the Senate and in Nevada told POLITICO that Ensign began an affair with a staffer several months after he separated from his wife. When Ensign reconciled with his wife, the sources said, he gave the aide a severance package and parted ways.

Sometime later, a Nevada source said, Ensign met with the husband of the woman involved and had what this source described as a positive encounter. Sources said that the man subsequently asked Ensign for a substantial sum of money – at which point Ensign decided to make the affair public. In his Las Vegas press conference, Ensign declined to give specifics about the woman involved but did say she and “her husband were close friends and both of them worked for me.”

Ensign, a born again Christian, is chairman of the GOP Policy Committee, making him the highest ranking Republican Senator in Nevada’s history. He has three children. Ensign’s wife Darlene, in a statement to the Las Vegas Sun, said: "Since we found out last year we have worked through the situation and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends our marriage has become stronger," Mrs. Ensign said.

It’s not clear exactly how this affair will affect Ensign’s future in the Senate. When former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested for soliciting sex in an airport men’s room in the summer of 2007, Ensign was among Craig’s toughest critics, saying he should step down since he had been charged with a crime. And during the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton, Ensign, then a Senate candidate, called on Clinton to resign.

[benld74]

1. Blackmail? Morer like thinking with the wrong *ead.

[liberalmuse]

2. Meh, I wouldn't care, except..

he is a sanctimonious, gay-bashing, fucking hypocrite, like most of his ilk. At least he got the chance to totally fuck up his marriage, the selfish prick.

[Clear Blue Sky]

3. If he was separated from his wife at the time, so what?

The staffer issue is not so good though. She worked for him.

[pdxmom]

4. From that article, it sounds like she was married at the time. Not to mention,

he claims to be a born again Christian...he was still married.

[dysfunctional press]

5. a separation is not a divorce.

especially in the eyes of his proclaimed religion, i would imagine.

[havocmom]

16. Exactly. Many marriages go through rough spots, but to be rabid about scantity of marriage

while taking a vacation from it for a fling is pretty cavalier. He is not exactly a stickler for following the religious lines he feels comfy with trying to force others to adhere to re HIS definition of marriage.

It wasn't any gay couple, devoted to one another, that put HIS marriage at risk. He needs to get over thinking his way is THE way.

[Edith Ann]

19. JE

At least Edwards, Vitter, and Spitzer, either paid a prostitute or picked up their women on the street. This man had an affair with a friend's wife. I had a boyfriend like that when I was younger. These people belong in a special place.

[LisaL]

21. So what? He was separated, not divorced.

And never mind the article says he was having an affair with a married woman.

[TahitiNut]

6. Gotta love how Politico carries water for the GOP.

Poor John. A victim of a dastardly blackmailer. Supposedly. (Let's ignore the termination of an employee whose wife became useless to the Senator. Can anyone say "wrongful termination"?)

[tanyev]

7. Blackmailed by "close friends" who had both worked for him?

Ouch.

[Petals]

24. Could he have been set up?

...and been stupid enough to fall for it?

[ColbertWatcher]

8. He was blackmailed to have the affair?

Nancy Pelosi is so devious!

[spanone]

9. yea, and he's sorry he got caught....

[MadMaddie]

10. Let's see

if I can muster some sympathy....

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[Historic NY]

11. They are hippocrits..remember Newt was banging his now wife when impeaching Clinton..

I often wondered how he found the time for the liaison unless of course it was in his inner sanctum.

[get the red out]

12. Republicans are pricks

So what else are they going to do? I love it when a "born again" gets caught screwing around though. It just makes my day.

[Old and In the Way]

13. I guess Ensign will need to be reborn a 2nd time.

Fucking. Sanctimonious. Hypocrite. He just reaffirms why I hate Republicans.

[MagickMuffin]

14. Blackmailed to keep it private or Blackmailed into having sex with someone other than his Wife

:evilgrin: I read the post, but I will not go to Politico :puke:

Put your money where your mouth is and RESIGN, Ensign.

but but BUT me and my (still married) wife were separated. :cry: me a river. According to "scripture" he still broke a commandment.

[underpants]

17. Magick that is exactly what I was thinking

Politico thinks it is giving him cover but what this really tells me is that he only made this public because he was blackmailed

[ThoughtCriminal]

15. How long before FOX identifies him as a Democrat?

Never fails.

[LeftyMom]

18. "Ensign, a born again Christian"

Naturally.

[ThomWV]

20. Any man who will fuck the hired help will certainly fuck the public.

[TahitiNut]

22. You've got it all wrong.

SHE wasn't the "hired help."
Her HUSBAND was the "hired help."
SHE wasn't getting paid anything.
HE was.
That makes it OK.
See?

:banghead:

[MagickMuffin]

23. Well they both worked for him, she worked his campaigns

Ensign declined to give specifics about the woman involved but did say she and “her husband were close friends and both of them worked for me.”

They were VERY close!

But she got the "Staff position", what made it OK was Ensign was separated from his wife. Don't ya know that makes it OK.