Sen. Ensign's Family So Very Generously Paid $96,000 to Senator's Mistress

by bartleby the scrivener | ...and it was strictly out of concern for her and her family's welfare, it seems. (The New York Times)  Sadly -- as David Stout writes at The New York Times -- this generous gift is "sure to provide grist for political detractors," of whom I am one.

A statement by [Ensign's] lawyer, Paul Coggins, on behalf of the Mr. Ensign, a Republican from Nevada, said that in April 2008 the senator’s parents each gave $12,000 apiece to Cindy Hampton, her husband, Doug, and two of their children in the form of a single check for $96,000.

“The payments were made as gifts, accepted as gifts and complied with tax rules governing gifts,” the statement read. Under federal tax regulations, $12,000 is the most that a person can receive as a gift from any one person without having to declare or pay taxes on it.  (NYT)

Politico speculates that this revelation "seemed intended to head off growing questions about whether Ensign violated federal law by failing to report what Doug Hampton called a severance package worth more than $25,000 to his wife Cynthia, who left Ensign's campaign staff on April 30, 2008." (Politico) 

Apparently not. 

The Hamptons were simply fortunate in having the sort of family friends that you and I can only dream about.  And there's no way that Tom Coburn (R-Okla) -- who is "a physician and an ordained deacon"! -- advised any sort of payoff, whatever Doug Hampton might have said to the press. (Politico)

Jon Ralston, a Las Vegas Sun columnist who interviewed Hampton, asked: "Tom Coburn, a U.S. Senator, told John Ensign, 'Listen, you've got to deal with this. Make these folks whole. Let them get out of your life. And, let's move on. Isn't that exactly what happened?"

Hampton responded: "Absolutely."....

Thursday morning, Coburn responded fiercely to Hampton, saying the former aide had misled the press and the public - and he said that any advice that he gave Ensign at the time of the affair was privileged because of his occupation as a physician and an ordained deacon.

"I'm not going to go into that - that's privileged communications. I'm never going to talk about that with anybody. . . I never will, not to a court of law, not to an Ethics Committee, not to anybody - because that is privileged communication that I will never reveal to anybody." (More)

As The Politico notes, legal experts allow that Coburn's privilege under these circumstances is "murky" --- but murky or not, it's hard for me to imagine a doctor/deacon advising Ensign to pay off anyone.  So I won't try.

Instead, I'll just refer you to TBogg, who says:  "Remember when they used to smirk and  mock the expression "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is"?"

Meanwhile, check out the letter that Ensign -- under pressure from Hampton -- wrote to his lover, Hampton's wife.  "Hampton...claims that Ensign later repudiated the letter and told him "I'm in love with your wife."  (HuffPost)

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