Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Senator John Ensign (R-NV) is a two-term senator from Nevada. His ethics issues stem from an extramarital affair with a former campaign staffer.

Affair with Campaign Committee Staffer

On June 16, 2009, Senator John Ensign announced he had engaged in an extramarital affair with an unnamed former campaign staffer from December 2007 until August 2008. The staffer was later identified as Cynthia Hampton, whose husband Doug Hampton, was a close friend and top aide to the senator.

In a letter to FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly, Mr. Hampton stated that although the two families had been “lifelong friends,” Sen. Ensign pursued and engaged in a relationship with Mr. Hampton’s wife. He said Sen. Ensign’s “conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April 2008.” Mr. Hampton further stated that because of Sen. Ensign’s conduct, Mr. Hampton’s family “lost significant income, suffered indescribable pain and emotional suffering. We find ourselves today with an overwhelming loss of relationships, career opportunities and hope for recovery.”

Cynthia Hampton was paid $1,885 a month, working for both Sen. Ensign’s campaign and his leadership political action committee, Battle Born PAC. In January 2008, a month after their affair began, Ms. Hampton’s salary doubled after she took on increased responsibilities with the re-election committee and took over as treasurer for the PAC. An individual close to Sen. Ensign’s family said that after the senator confessed the affair to his wife, reconciled with her and attended counseling, he fired Ms. Hampton, providing her with a severance payment paid from his own pocket.

Both Doug and Cynthia Hampton received payments from Sen. Ensign after leaving his employ. After his departure, Mr. Hampton received $6,000, an amount Sen. Ensign’s office claimed was “equal to 12 days of unused vacation,” and was not a severance package, an understanding confirmed by Mr. Hampton.

On July 8, 2009, Mr. Hampton said Sen. Ensign had personally paid Ms. Hampton over $25,000 in severance. Sen. Ensign’s attorney, Paul Coggins, quickly contradicted that claim, stating Sen. Ensign’s parents paid Ms. Hampton and her family $96,000 after they had learned of the affair. Mr. Coggins insisted the payments were not made from campaign or official funds, nor were they related to any campaign or official duties. Rather, he explained, the April 2008 payments were “gifts made out of concern for the well-being of long-time family friends during a difficult time.” Each of Sen. Ensign’s parents made out four checks in the amount of $12,000 to Cynthia Hampton, her husband and two of their children. Sen. Ensign’s office claimed the alleged $25,000 severance payment was part of his parents’ $96,000 “gift.”

Additionally, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which Sen. Ensign chaired, paid the Hamptons’ 19-year-old son $1,000 a month from March through August 2008 for his work as an intern.

Sen. Ensign originally indicated he went public because he was being extorted. He later admitted, however, that he went public because he had learned Mr. Hampton had written to FOX News with details of the affair, asking the network to investigate the matter and downgraded the alleged extortion to a legal demand.

If, as it appears, Mr. and Ms. Hampton were discharged directly because of Ms. Hampton’s affair with the senator, Sen. Ensign may have engaged in discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Senate Rules. Additionally, the payments to the Hamptons may have been an unreported, illegal, excessive in-kind contribution to Ensign for Senate and Battle Born PAC in violation of campaign finance law.

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