Senator John Ensign. Do we need to say more? We can end this post right here and everyone would walk away with a picture in their minds of a Republican Senator who had an affair with a Cynthia Hampton, the wife of a former top aide, Doug Hampton. And everyone will remember Mr. Ensign’s parents doling out $96,000.00 to Cynthia and her husband in an effort to quietly bury the affair.
And Ensign is making news again, this time, announcing his retirement from the Senate. The news was confirmed on his website earlier today, where he issued the following statement;
“It is with tremendous sadness that I officially hand over the Senate seat that I have held for eleven years. The turbulence of these last few years is greatly surpassed by the incredible privilege that I feel to have been entrusted to serve the people of Nevada. I can honestly say that being a United States Senator has been the honor of my life.”
Uh-huh…Mr. Ensign is under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee due to his affair with Mrs. Hampton and his actions afterwards, where he wallowed being lobbied by her husband. Resigning now is Mr. Ensign’s way of sparing his family the embarrassment of going through an investigation.
“While I stand behind my firm belief that I have not violated any law, rule, or standard of conduct of the Senate, and I have fought to prove this publicly, I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings. For my family and me, this continued personal cost is simply too great.
Mmm- hmm…Mr. Ensign will present his official resignation to Vice President Joe Biden on Friday, his last day in the Senate listed as May 3rd.
Family values at work here people. This is the conservative way!
