Coburn Confronted Ensign Over Affair
From www.politico.com ~ Sen. Tom Coburn knew more than a year ago that his Republican colleague John Ensign was having an affair with a staffer – and he reportedly urged Ensign to end the relationship and pay a substantial sum of money to the staffer and her husband.
Doug Hampton – the husband of Ensign’s mistress – told Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston in a television interview Wednesday that Coburn and others had urged Ensign to give the couple “millions of dollars” so that they could pay off their mortgage and move away from Ensign’s hometown of Las Vegas.
Asked about that allegation Wednesday, Coburn’s office confirmed that the he knew about Ensign’s affair and had urged him to end it.
“Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Sen. Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Sen. Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage,” Coburn’s office said in a remarkable public rebuke of his friend and fellow Christian conservative. “Had Sen. Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago.”
Sources familiar with the facts say that Hampton and Coburn confronted Ensign in February 2008 at a Christian fellowship home on Capitol Hill where Ensign, Coburn and several other lawmakers live.
A source familiar with the incident said that any discussion between Coburn and Ensign about a payment to the couple was “an expression of restitution and not in any way ‘hush money.”
Coburn spokesman John Hart wouldn't confirm or deny whether his boss spoke with Ensign about payments but said Coburn "categorically denies" Hampton's claim that he urged Ensign to pay millions to the couple.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24706.html#ixzz0Kmf3e6Of&C.
Doug Hampton – the husband of Ensign’s mistress – told Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston in a television interview Wednesday that Coburn and others had urged Ensign to give the couple “millions of dollars” so that they could pay off their mortgage and move away from Ensign’s hometown of Las Vegas.
Asked about that allegation Wednesday, Coburn’s office confirmed that the he knew about Ensign’s affair and had urged him to end it.
“Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Sen. Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Sen. Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage,” Coburn’s office said in a remarkable public rebuke of his friend and fellow Christian conservative. “Had Sen. Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago.”
Sources familiar with the facts say that Hampton and Coburn confronted Ensign in February 2008 at a Christian fellowship home on Capitol Hill where Ensign, Coburn and several other lawmakers live.
A source familiar with the incident said that any discussion between Coburn and Ensign about a payment to the couple was “an expression of restitution and not in any way ‘hush money.”
Coburn spokesman John Hart wouldn't confirm or deny whether his boss spoke with Ensign about payments but said Coburn "categorically denies" Hampton's claim that he urged Ensign to pay millions to the couple.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24706.html#ixzz0Kmf3e6Of&C.
Labels: Doug Hampton, John Ensign, Tom Coburn
posted by Mike McCarville @ 3:22 PM
