1 Boring Old Man

Ensign moves out of home on C Street
Town house shared with Christian colleagues had gained notoriety because of Nevadan’s affair
The Nevada Sun
By Lisa Mascaro

Sen. John Ensign has moved out of the C Street house, the Christian home he shared with other elected officials on Capitol Hill that came under scrutiny for its residents’ beliefs and practices and their role in trying to end the Nevada Republican’s affair with a campaign staff member…

As fallout from Ensign’s affair continues with a preliminary Senate Ethics Committee investigation and talk of a possible criminal inquiry by the Justice Department, Ensign decided to move out, not wanting to draw further attention to his longtime home… Ensign apparently was not pushed out, but left on his own. He apologized to his colleagues…

The C Street home became central to the Ensign saga when Cynthia Hampton’s husband, Doug, who was one of Ensign’s top aides at the time of the affair, arranged to confront Ensign there. At that meeting in February 2008, one of the senator’s housemates and friends, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., urged Ensign to end the affair. [Other lawmakers who live at the home were not present.] During that meeting Ensign penned a letter to Cynthia calling off the affair, but immediately afterward phoned her and told her to ignore his note. The eight-month affair ended in August 2008, the senator’s office has said…

But new allegations reported in The New York Times in October reignited the story. The Times reported that Ensign may have knowingly allowed Doug Hampton, in his new job consulting for Nevada companies, to lobby the senator’s office in possible violation of the one-year lobby ban for top staff members.

Ethics experts have said they expect the Justice Department will launch a criminal investigation of the matter, though the agency has declined to say whether an investigation is under way. The Senate Ethics Committee has confirmed it is conducting a preliminary investigation. Coburn’s role was also more fully revealed in the Times story, which reported that Doug Hampton turned to him this year to seek help in obtaining financial restitution and relocation assistance from Ensign. Doug Hampton sought $8.5 million from Ensign, a sum Coburn considered ridiculous. Hampton returned with a $2 million request, and Coburn brought it to Ensign, who flatly refused, the Times said.

Coburn acknowledged to the Times having met with Doug Hampton on business in possible violation of the one-year lobby ban, a meeting he had not realized was a potential problem until asked about it…

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Senator’s Aid After Affair Raises Flags Over Ethics
The New York Times
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and ERIC LIPTON
October 1, 2009

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.

While the affair made national news in June, the role that Mr. Ensign played in assisting Mr. Hampton and helping his clients has not been previously disclosed. Several experts say those activities may have violated an ethics law that bars senior aides from lobbying the Senate for a year after leaving their posts…