Politics Digest: GOP Leader McConnell Mum on Ensign Inquiry

ENSIGN AFFAIR

GOP Leader Won't Comment on Inquiry

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) repeatedly refused Friday to answer whether the Senate ethics committee should investigate Sens. John Ensign (R-Nev.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) over their handling of an extramarital affair by Ensign.

The New York Times published Friday a 4,000-word, front-page investigation that suggested Ensign may have improperly used his office to aid his mistress and her husband, who had been one of his top Washington staff members. Coburn (R-Okla.), a friend, served as a financial intermediary between Ensign and the husband, Douglas Hampton, the Times reported.

At a news conference, McConnell was asked several questions about the Times's report, including whether Ensign could still be effective.

"Senator Ensign continues to serve," McConnell said, adding that he did not "have any observations to make about the Ensign matter."

Spokesmen for Ensign and Coburn did not immediately respond to requests to comment Friday.

Ensign publicly admitted his affair with Cynthia Hampton earlier this year, but the Times's detailed account of his efforts to mitigate the damage generated significant buzz across Washington on Friday and threatens to further damage Ensign's political future.

The article reported that Ensign marshaled his political connections with corporate leaders in Nevada to help Douglas Hampton find a lobbying or consulting job after he left Ensign's employ. The Times also reported that Coburn served as a go-between in discussing a "large financial settlement" to help the Hamptons rebuild their lives.

Ensign declined to be interviewed for the article, but in a statement to the Times said: "I am confident we fully complied with the relevant laws and rules governing current and past employees. I have worked on these Nevada issues with these Nevada companies for years, long before Doug Hampton left my office."

Pressure on the ethics committee to investigate Ensign increased Friday. Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog organization, called on him to resign.

"Mr. Ensign looks like toast to me, and he should resign," Sloan said in an interview. "He clearly abused his office to try and not just cover up the affair, but he used his position to keep Doug Hampton happy so that Doug Hampton wouldn't go public."