Breaking down the Ensign stonewall

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 | 2:46 p.m.

Below is a list of questions that Sen. John Ensign has refused to answer about his scandal. These are questions that Ensign has an obligation to answer, regardless of his fig leaf of "on the advice of counsel" he is using to advance his cover up. I will continue to add to these questions as time goes on -- suggestions are welcome.

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1. Can the senator, who says his family paid this money as gifts, prove what he says? Will he produce evidence? Canceled checks? A document stipulating the intent?

2. On June 17, The New York Times wrote: "A person close to Mr. Ensign's family, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the senator had confessed the affair to his wife many months ago and, upon reconciling with her and attending counseling, dismissed Ms. Hampton from his political team with a severance that he paid from his own pocket."

Is this true? If so, how much? If not, did you demand a retraction? And why would Doug Hampton repeatedly refer to the payments as "severance"?

3. Why were only two of the three Hampton children given gifts from the Ensign family?

4. Were the gifts passed through the senator or given directly? Was there one check or more?

5. If this is, as the senator's lawyer said, "a pattern of generosity by the Ensign family to the Hamptons and others," what other payments have been made by the Ensigns to the Hamptons?

6. Did you recommend that Mike Slanker hire Doug Hampton at November, Inc, and if so, why? Did you fully inform Slanker about why Hampton was leaving your employ?

7. You had your staff put out a statement that Doug Hampton’s statements on “Face to Face” were “consistently inaccurate.” Nothing he has said has yet proven to be false. Please elaborate. Please detail his inaccuracies. For instance, did, as Hampton said, anyone at C Street, such as Tom Coburn, suggest you give the Hamptons money? What really happened during that confrontation at the house? Was Coburn there, as Hampton claimed he was, when you wrote that letter?

8. During the height of the scandal surrounding Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, you denounced the President's conduct as “an embarrassing moment for the country,” even calling on him to resign. What was different about his behavior from yours and why won't you resign?

9. Why don’t you waive your doctor-patient confidentiality with Tom Coburn so the Oklahoma senator can tell us his version of what really happened at C Street the day you were confronted?

10. These are good, too:

Questions for Ensign and Sanford

11. Did Ensign talk with his parents about the gifts? How did Ensign come to know they were given? Did he ask or urge they be given?