The usually useless Senate Ethics Committee whacked John Ensign today and is referring his case to the Department of Justice:
The Senate Ethics Committee on Thursday declared that it has “substantial and credible evidence” that former senator John Ensign broke federal laws in his effort to cover up an extramarital affair he had with a political aide, referring its case to the Justice Department and Federal Election Commission.A pdf of the Ethics Committee report is here. It's got some fun parts. I'm posting an excerpt from the section titled, Mr. Hampton Seeks Assistance to End the Affair and an Intervention Is Held. The "intervention" features Senator Tom "higher authority" Coburn. (Sounds like these guys were amateurs. They should have brought in Candy Finnigan from the show "Intervention.") And, Spoiler Alert: Within days, there's a relapse. I suspect Ensign isn't the first Senator to be told "put your pants and go home," but you don't see it in official reports very often:
In a highly unusual public rebuke, the bipartisan committee presented its case on the Senate floor, announcing it had voted unanimously to release its findings and request the Justice Department re-start a criminal investigation into the Nevada Republican’s actions.
When Mr. Hampton returned from the CODEL trip, he immediately sought the assistance of Tim Coe, Senator Ensign s long-time spiritual advisor, to assist with ending the affair. Mr. Coe recommended that they bring in a “higher authority, someone much bigger than me,” and approached Senator Tom Coburn. Senator Coburn was also a resident of the C Street Center, and was a close spiritual and personal confidant to Tim Coe and to Senator Ensign.What drama. When did these people find time to work?
Senator Coburn, Mr. Coe, David Coe (Tim Coe s brother and fellow spiritual advisor to the International Foundation), Mr. Hampton, and Marty Sherman decided to confront Senator Ensign about the affair and did so as soon as he returned to Washington, D.C. from the CODEL on Valentine s Day, February 14, 2008. They confronted Senator Ensign at the C Street House. Senator Ensign “started to lie,” but he was told that “we know the truth, “ and then Senator Ensign confessed to the affair. Senator Ensign was told that the affair had to stop. Mr. Hampton was very emotional during the meeting, and at one point got very close to a physical confrontation with Senator Ensign. Senator Coburn asked Mr. Hampton to leave, stating “we’ll take it from here. We’ll take care of this.”
At that confrontation, Senator Ensign agreed to write what appeared to be a sincerely apologetic letter to Ms. Hampton ending the affair. Senator Ensign wrote the letter, and Mr. Sherman mailed it from a Federal Express mailing facility. After it was mailed, Senator Ensign immediately called Ms. Hampton to alert her about the confrontation and to tell her to disregard the letter, which he had written only for the benefit of the men who were confronting him.
On February 16, 2008, two days after the intervention, Tim Coe received a call from Doug Hampton. Mr. Hampton was looking for the Senator to have him sign some documents for the NRSC, and saw his car and Ms. Hampton s car parked in a parking lot of a hotel close to their Summerlin neighborhood. Mr. Coe “pleaded with him [Hampton] to go home.” Mr. Coe called Senator Ensign and stated “I know exactly where you are. I know exactly what you are doing. Put your pants on and go home.” Senator Ensign initially said he would not leave the hotel room, telling Mr. Coe “I can’t, I love her [Ms. Hampton].” Senator Ensign ultimately agreed to leave the hotel. After he left the hotel, Senator Ensign told Mr. Coe that he wanted to marry Ms. Hampton.
