Last week the other shoe finally dropped for embattled Sen. John Ensign. The New York Times ran a lengthy piece detailing how the senator secured a lobbying position for the husband of his mistress, Cynthia Hampton. Doug Hampton was co-chief of staff for Ensign’s federal office, as well as the senator’s best friend, and Cynthia was a campaign staffer before both Hampton’s left Team Ensign in the wake of the affair. The real news here is that Ensign may have knowingly helped Doug Hampton violate a 1-year ban on lobbying by former senate staffers.
News that the senator would face a Senate Ethics Committee investigation, and possibly Justice Department and IRS investigations as well, rocked the Nevada GOP last week. While Sue Lowden shockingly stood by her man, many other Republicans rushed to eat their own, calling on Ensign to resign. The calls were echoed by Nevada media. Meanwhile, Ensign’s approval numbers have plummeted, with 44 percent of respondents saying they would definitely vote to replace the scandal-plagued senator.
And since Ensign remains mum on the affair and says he plans to stay in office, we’ll just have to wait for the investigation (investigations?) into the affair to reveal just how many shoes this guy has to drop.
Source: Reprint from Elephant Watch (on the Real Republican Party) date October 14, 2009
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The Justice Department is expected to decide within weeks whether to pursue a criminal probe into the relationship between Ensign (R-Nev.) and the staffer’s husband, and two prominent Washington defense attorneys say prosecutors are likely to find Ensign’s case irresistible.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28264.html#ixzz0U0LZOSUv
Source: Politico.com
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