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Doug Hampton speaks publicly for the first time Wednesday about his wife’s affair with Sen. John Ensign on “Face to Face with Jon Ralston.”
By J. Patrick Coolican (contact) 
Published Wednesday, July 8, 2009 | 11:05 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, July 8, 2009 | 7:56 p.m.
Doug Hampton interview - July 2009
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Exclusive Interview, seg. 2
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Exclusive Interview, seg. 3
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Exclusive Interview, seg. 4
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Exclusive Interview, seg. 1
Interview Transcript
Sun Archives
- Ensign’s pal lacked usual qualifications for top job (7-5-2009)
- Handling the public display of contrition (6-27-2009)
- Off the cuff, Ensign guarded but genial (6-26-2009)
- Fox News had Hampton’s letter earlier than it said (6-24-2009)
- For Ensign, a new lot in Congress (6-24-2009)
- Ensign apologizes during lunch with GOP senators (6-23-2009)
- Back in Washington, Ensign received warmly (6-23-2009)
- Ensign back in D.C.; group plans ethics complaint (6-22-2009)
- In state GOP, Ensign finds few defenders (6-21-2009)
- War of words between Ensign and Hampton escalates (6-20-2009)
Doug Hampton spoke publicly for the first time today about the affair his wife had with Sen. John Ensign, saying the Nevada Republican continued his pursuit even after intermediaries tried to get him to stop.
Hampton said that Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and others urged him to end the affair and help the Hamptons pay off their home and move to Colorado. But Ensign was so infatuated that he continued, Hampton said.
John Hart, Coburn's communications director, released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying Ensign should have ended the affair.
"Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Senator Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Senator Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage," according to the statement. "Had Senator Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago."
Hampton’s comments came during an exclusive two-part interview with Sun columnist Jon Ralston, to air tonight at 5:30 p.m. and tomorrow on “Face to Face with Jon Ralston.”
“In response to today’s television interview, Senator Ensign said Doug Hampton was consistently inaccurate in his statements,” Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said in a statement.
Cynthia Hampton was the treasurer of Ensign’s political action committee and re-election campaign, while Doug Hampton served as a senior aide on Ensign’s Senate staff.
Hampton said Ensign paid the woman more than $25,000 in severance when she stopped working for the senator.
If true, Ensign faces a possible felony violation of campaign finance law if he paid the severance but failed to report it as an in-kind contribution to the campaign committees where she worked, according to ethics complaints filed against him.
Knowingly and willfully failing to report a contribution of more than $25,000 is a criminal violation subject to five years in prison, according to complaints filed last month by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Campaign reports show no such in-kind payment from Ensign to either his personal campaign committee or his Battle Born leadership Political Action Committee, according CREW, which filed complaints June 24 with the Federal Elections Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee.
The severance was just one of several new revelations that arose from part one of the two-part interview with Ralston.
Hampton said the affair began while his family was staying at the Ensign home. Hampton said his family’s house was broken into just before Christmas 2007, at which time the Ensigns invited the Hamptons to stay with them in a nearby Summerlin neighborhood.
The families each have three children and their friendship goes back decades.
Hampton discovered the affair when he saw an incriminating text message, he said.
The families confronted the issue in full on Christmas Eve.
Still, Hampton told Ralston, Ensign continued to pursue Cynthia Hampton with text messages and phone calls.
Hampton seemed to suggest his wife Cynthia was powerless to prevent the continuing affair.
Hampton and Ensign were bonded by their conservative evangelical faith. Hampton said he reached out to intermediaries involved in a Christian fellowship home in Washington, D.C., where Ensign and several other powerful Washington figures live.
The group, including Coburn, a well-known conservative, confronted Ensign and suggested that the Hamptons needed to be given financial assistance -- in the millions of dollars -- to pay off their $1 million-plus mortgage and move them to a new life away from Ensign.
During the confrontation, Ensign agreed to write a letter to Cynthia Hampton expressing remorse, Hampton said.
The letter, which was authenticated by Ralston’s executive producer Dana Gentry, is filled with contrition: “I was completely self-centered and only thinking of myself. I used you for my own pleasure not letting thoughts of you, Doug, Brandon, Blake or Brittany come into my mind,” he wrote, referring to the Hampton children.
But after sending the letter, which bears the date “Feb. 2008,” Hampton said Ensign quickly disavowed it in a conversation with Cynthia Hampton and continued to pursue her.
Hampton said that on that same February weekend, Ensign told him, “I’m in love with your wife.”
Some time later, according to Hampton, Ensign’s wife Darlene Ensign reached out to top Ensign political aide Mike Slanker, asking him to set up Hampton with political and lobbying work.
Hampton said he tried but failed to extricate himself from the situation.
“John is so focused, hyper-focused on what he wants….that he’s not seeing the collateral damage that’s going on in people’s lives,” he said.
With respect to the possibly illegal $25,000 severance, Melanie Sloan of the ethics watch dog group CREW, said, “This is exactly what we alleged. The FEC will certainly be asking questions.”
Ensign could argue that the payment was a gift, not a severance, which would make it not subject to campaign finance laws.
Or Ensign could have split the payment into two parts, say $12,500 to each committee, Sloan said, which would lower the penalty for failure to report to a misdemeanor.
Sun reporter Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
This guy ought to know his money tree is barren by now. Ensign's done paid up and shamed himself beyond measure.
This Doug Hampton seriously needs to quit whining to the public and take this issue up with his wife. After all, she's the one he exchanged vows with, she cheated on him. He's demasculating himself every time he does it.
"BOOHOO! He promised he wouldn't eff my wife anymore!" Unless his wife was raped, he needs to work it out with her. Who else gets cheated on and goes crying to the newspapers. Have some dignity and build up some testosterone. Quit being such a loser.
Using Jon to try to get more money Doug.
Hampton made his comments in an exclusive two-part interview with Sun columnist Jon Ralston.
LastI heard John was not going to bribe Doug.
And to believe Doug his wife was not interested in another man.
Since it wasn't rape, just possible that Mr. Hampton wasn't getting the job done at home?
Wow, what a merry Christmas eve that must have been. I'm guessing too much egg nog played a part.
John Ensign, you are a pig hiding behind your "religious values". God has nothing to do with you and your sexual pursuits. Those are personal choices you make; so you felt guilty enough to write a letter...but then you continued to boink Mrs. Hampton. You are a piece of work. And how embarrassed are you at this point? Color you red.
and now that the money train is over, he wants payback!
Let's remember that it takes 2 to boink. Why isn't Doug's wife stepping up and taking any responsibility? Why is Doug acting like she had no choice but to eff the extremely good looking Ensign?
"Hampton said he reached out to intermediaries involved in a Christian fellowship home in Washington, D.C., where Ensign and several other powerful Washington figures live."
Governor Mark Sanford (R-GA) was also a resident of that "Christian fellowship home in Washington, D.C." along with Ensign (R-NV) and Doctor Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla) wasn't he? That's some "fellowship" they've got going on over in that there "Christian" group home!
How long before we find out that Doctor Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla) has been "hiking the 'ol Apallacian Trail" too along with his roomies Ensign and Sanford?
That "Christian fellowship home in Washington, D.C." sounds more like a frathouse or a brothel!
"I used you for my own pleasure not letting thoughts of you, Doug, Brandon, Blake or Brittany come into my mind"--
WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN???!!!???
Oops, I meant Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), not (R-GA).
Ensign needs to RESIGN NOW.
He is the worst kind of hypocrite, a Holier Than Thou one.
What a disgrace to the great state of Nevada.
We deserve better.
it's not about "whining" you dumaxe, it's about MONEY... duh
To "henderson":
"Why is Doug acting like she had no choice but to eff the extremely good looking Ensign?"
BARF! plastic hair, lyin' eyes, RETCH.
I'm sorry! I think he's a very handsome man. What can I say! I don't think this woman put up a fight.
Ensign has a great new "line" for men to use when they want to dump their girlfriend or mistress.
"God told me to leave you."
Nice.
Ensign manages to be both sleazy and a sanctimonious in the same letter. That's a big accomplishment even for a politician.
Help Wanted: Fish gutter on a lonely beach in Alaska. Christians only need apply. Tweet Sarah P.
Doug Hampton may be an ass but its Ensign who used public funds and seems to have violated campaign ethics laws. Hampton doesn't represent me- he's just another cuckholded hubby. Ensign on the other hand is a public figure and an elected representative.
It makes Nevada look bad if we tolerate that behavior.
We know that this letter was written in February, and the affair didn't end for another several months.
All that talk about "restoring?" Was that Ensign's idea of pillow talk?
Sounds like bribery and misappropriation of funds.
Sounds like Ensign is Elliot Spitzer and Rod Blagojevich and more all rolled into one.
But that probably doesn't bother most Nevadans.
You know, it would never have mattered if John Ensign and Cynthia Hampton were single and having sex. But, both were married and they were raising children.
How exactly has John Ensign - who seems to have paid for sex with raises (Cynthia and Doug had their salaries increased) and a job (the 19 year-old son became a consultant to the republican party - no wonder the republicans lost seats in the Senate) - warranted any trust from his constituents.
Surely you don't think he was always paying attention to the business of the Senate. "John is so focused, hyper-focused on what he wants" like Cynthia Hampton, that he may not have focused on his job.
John Ensign is not trustworthy enough to remain in his position in the Senate.
Then again, think Jim Gibbons, Nevada's Love Gov, might appoint HIS soon-to-be-ex-wife as Senator to get her to back off from airing his dirty laundry?
How sad and pathetic.
KSAND is right. This letter was written in FEBRUARY; And the deception continues for MONTHS?
Ensign is weak.
Is there another letter for the "second ending"?
All that aside, it's still the MONEY that should cause the senator to step down.
"Ensign on the other hand is a public figure and an elected representative.
It makes Nevada look bad if we tolerate that behavior."
We tolerated somebody using public funds to promote his cigar girlfriend from intern to paid white house staffer.
We tolerated somebody whose M.O. was to attack the women who dare came out to state the truths about their affairs with him.
We tolerated somebody who lied under oath and committed felony perjury in a Federal court of law.
We tolerated somebody who look into the camera and lied to millions of Americans while wagging his big finger.
If we can tolerate that then we can tolerate anything.
So we have Sanford playing lovesick moon calf and we have Ensign paying off his lover's wife and kid. We have Palin deciding that she is entitled to desert her post as a higher calling. Granted venality is not exclusively a Republican proclivity, it's still telling the voting public that there's a rat's nest and a rat's nest usually implies the presence of a rat.
it looks like three dirtbags to me. This guy Hampton is pathetic. He not once blames his trampy wife who clearly was still a willing participant even after coming so "very clean". He wants money and is an extortionist. He shouldn't get anything except possibly another wife. Poor Mrs. Ensign she should go on a cruise.
@ Henderson 4:27 True!
Nothing more annoying than a whiney cuckold.
I love it! John Ensign is a riot. What a sleaze bag. Promise keeper LOL. I bet even Ensign laughs at his commercials. A bunch of dumb service trash with their bibles voting for clean and decent John Ensign to represent Nevada.
He is nailing women, payimg them off, talking about with other people. Must think we are fools.
Nice time to talk about John Ensigns dirty sex rampage on Jesus's Birthday.
John Enssign is a piece of work.
There's one big reason why our Senator Ensign, as well as the other dirt bags in the Senate and various Governor's Mansions won't resign.
They need the pay check.
No one else would hire them, given what they've done....Except Heidi Fleiss might hire Ensign for that long stalled ladies' bordello in Pahrump.
"Ensign needs to RESIGN NOW.
He is the worst kind of hypocrite, a Holier Than Thou one.
What a disgrace to the great state of Nevada.
We deserve better."
----------------------------------------
Disgrace Nevada? Please.... This is the same state that elected a gin-boozing mayor who wants to create Mob Museum, a governor who accosted a waitress in a garage, and a lt. governor who may have misused money from the parents who contributed money to the college fund. So please --- don't talk about disgracing Nevada..... we are getting what we deserve.... and a lot more to boot.
CynicalObserver,Ensign has a few career paths even if he were to resign his seat.
It seems the conservative base loves their fallen heroes. Rush the oxy addict, O'Reilly and his loofahs and falafel and multi-million dollar sexual harassment settlement... Ensign would fit right in.
Or, like Jon Porter, he could fall into the loving embrace of K Street. Does the golf industry need a lobbyist? Or maybe Pantene?
maybe they should all move to the mideast where they exact an eye for an eye - to get rid of the offending members - seriously we got lots of problems - maybe Ensign should resign.
That must have been a good piece of tail!!!!!! Think about it, to put a U.S. Senate career in peril.....This Doug guy must be the weakest link in the history of the male kingdom. He was the kid to get picked last for the kickball game at school. (remember that kid)
Rock sez: "We tolerated somebody using public funds to promote his cigar girlfriend.. We tolerated somebody whose M.O. was to attack the women who dare came out... We tolerated somebody who lied under oath... We tolerated somebody who look into the camera and lied to millions of Americans... If we can tolerate that then we can tolerate anything."
No we most certainly did NOT "tolerate" any of that stuff; we *IMPEACHED* that guy, remember?
And Ensign is supposed to be a "Promise Keeper" just like Sanford.
They campaigned as "Promise Keepers" and promised that they were holier than any of us mere humans with our faults and weakness.
Well, the promise has been broken.
They'd resign if they had a shred of family values or the honor they claimed to have back when they branded themselves "Promise Keepers" on the campaign trail.
This interview was absolutely pathetic. Doug Hampton is basically saying that he'd like some compensation from Ensign for effing his wife. Doesn't that make him a pimp after the fact? Definitely makes him a big loser for sure! Maybe Cynthia Hampton should be paying Darlene Ensign also, for effing her husband. These two have been riding on the Ensign coattails for years. Even after the affair was discovered, the Hamptons continued vacationing with the Ensigns and taking trips together. Cry me a river! Losers and users!
Again, I don't condone infidelity because it's absolutely wrong. I just find this Doug Hampton to be a huge piece of garbage.
I have to agree with "henderson" too.
In fact, they're all a pretty pathetic pack of slimeballs!
First you've got slimeball #1, Doug Hampton, suckling on Senator Ensign's campaign staff teat for years, apparently unable to find any gainful employment anywhere else other than Senator Ensign's payroll and he's still going around begging for handouts!
Next up is slimeball #2, Hampton's wife, another leech feeding off Senator Ensign's payroll, who can't seem to control her sexual urges around the suave Senator Ensign even after Ensign wrote her a letter saying God told Ensign to end it and her husband is begging her to be faithful to their marriage!
Then we have slimeball #3, Doctor Senator Tom Coburn who knows all about the whole affair for months and months and says nothing other than to advise Senator Ensign to pay off the Hamptons with millions of dollars to cover the whole thing up!
Finally we have slimeball #4, Senator Ensign the Promise Keeper who can't keep his little Ensign in his pants and goes around shtupping his best friend's wife and continues doing it long after everyone behind the scenes knows all about it. Then Senator Ensign tries to buy them all off on the cheap with a $25,000 bribe!
Promise Keepers, eh? They remind me of that quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons."
Mia, it's looking like Doosh Hampton is exaggerating Sen. Coburns role in this thing. I would hold off on accusing Coburn of anything slimey just yet.
Hey Dougie Boy:
Can't you see you weren't quite "measuring up" to her standards. What part of this don't you understand? She was tired of you and wanted to chase someone that made himself into something, not a second banana like you.
Keep going after Senator Ensign, he'll have to pay the consequences, whatever they are, but you need to look at things a little closer to home!
I'll bet you were the guy in the locker room all the bullies snapped their towel at, then you ran to tell the teacher or principal.
Now you know why Cindy got tired of you...no b*lls. What a loser! You mean you couldn't find some young intern to impress?
"Coburn spokesman John Hart wouldn't confirm or deny whether his boss spoke with Ensign about payments but said Coburn "categorically denies" Hampton's claim that he urged Ensign to pay millions to the couple."
http://bit.ly/EJnfO
Wouldn't confirm or deny? Sounds innocent to me!
And now Coburn's citing some sort of immunity because he's a Doctor and a Church deacon?
I'm sure there's an allusion to 'pleading the fifth' that can be made here.
"I was counseling him as a physician and as an ordained deacon. ... That is privileged communication that I will never reveal to anybody. Not to the Ethics Committee, not to a court of law, not to anybody."
--
Yeah, looks like Doctor Senator Deacon Tom Coburn (R-OK) has taken a sacred vow to never be placed under oath about the alleged payoff... lol
I find it very hard to believe that anyone would tell Ensign that it's a good idea to pay this man millions. I'm not saying that anyone's above it, I'm just saying that it sounds like the worst advice in the world.
Wow are there any real men left in this world...Simple leave the wife "she's an unfaithful whore. quit your job, Go home tell the kids the truth....(cause they already know) Maybe if you can sue for some cash making you leave your job...stand up AND BE A MAN... she cheated on you... punch the guy for betraying you take the assalt charge walk out with you pride and dignity...God he's like a slimy reptile he makes my skin crawl watching him
GOD and all you Hard core republicans with your tough on every thing Motto ...theses are they guys you supported they cant even stand up for themselves, bet they are fighting for you LOL. now this guy is crying to the media and he's still kissing his wive's butt...and Mr. Ensign how do you look in the mirror...worse than sewer scum..
The simple fact: Ensign committed adultery. There were payments, and there could be criminal charges regarding them. The choice was his, and he decided to commit adultery, which is morally wrong. So any religious talk from him now is hypocrisy.
henderson says: "I find it very hard to believe that anyone would tell Ensign that it's a good idea to pay this man millions."
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I agree but Doctor Deacon Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) isn't a lawyer (as far as we know) and there's only one way I can see where the twisted pieces fit and that's if Senator Ensign was grossly abusing his position of authority over the Hamptons.
Try this on for size: Senator Ensign is the boss and employer of BOTH of them and their only source of income and the Hamptons owe 1.2million+ on what is probably an upsidedown mortgage in a soft market; ie they can't sell and move and they can't easily find other work that will meet their bills.
Hypothetically, Senator Ensign could have been screwing them to the wall and having his way with her, mostly, and their few options include bankruptcy, unemployment and virtual homelessness in this economy or give in and continue to live indoors for the time being and hope Senator Caligula grows bored and moves on to his next employee, or the real estate market recovers.
In the meantime, Hampton tries to enlist the help of other Christian residents living in the group home to intervene and bring Ensign to his senses or at least turn the hose on him and run him off.
So when Doug Hampton tells Doctor Deacon Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) and the rest of the Promise Keepers in the Christian fellowship group home in D.C. all about what's been going on, the Deacon Coburn (R-OK) is so shocked and appalled by Ensign's use and abuse of his employees that he proposes that Ensign pay off their mortgage so they can leave his employ and move someplace else.
Why else would Doug Hampton tell a tale that makes him look like such a douchebag if it wasn't true?
--
henderson says: "I'm not saying that anyone's above it, I'm just saying that it sounds like the worst advice in the world."
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Even worse advice would be to tell him we'll pay off your mortgage, and then only fork over $25,000 and tell him to bill God for the rest. lol
They might not be able to afford the same lifestyle that Ensign enabled them, but anyone with any dignity would have removed themselves and disentangled themselves from their wife's lover's payroll immediately.
These two were both set up with other jobs, they weren't left homeless or broke. And I think that yes, he's a huge dooshebag to the total extreme. I don't think I've ever seen anyone on tv that I thought was a bigger dooshebag than this loser, and that is the truth. They have jobs, the affairs over, he just wants money for Ensign effing his wife. This guy is a scumbag.
Do you really think that anybody would say, "pay off his million dollar house, and give him millions, and move them to Colorado?" That is extremely unrealistic, and I don't believe anyone would have told Ensign to do this.
Doug Hampton wants to be treated like some teenage child! "Pay of my house! Give me spending money, and I need to be set up in Colorado!" For crying out loud, nobody owes him that!
Of course I agree with you. The whole thing is a steaming, putrid disgrace, all the way around.
I think the thing about shipping the Hamptons off to Colorado is probably because that's where The Promise Keepers are based out of.
But I'm pretty sure Doug Hampton is going to have to pay his own mortgage at this point. heh
1) Where are the checks?
2) Where are the deposit slips?
3) Where are the saved emails and text messages?
4) Where are the rest of the letters?
5) Where is Cindy?
6) Where is Doug living; with or without Cindy?
7) Where is Darlene; with or without John?
8) Where are the other staff members in both Senate and Campaign organizations who know even more?
9) Where are the tapes?
10) Where are John Ensign's answers to these and other questions?
The electing public wants to know.
benighse, I would venture to say that nobody owes you an answer to some of those questions.
Checks/deposit slips are relevant
letter/texts- we know he had an affair, no need
Other letters- not your business
Where is Cindy - the dirty tramps location isn't your business
Where is Pansy Doug living - not your business
With or without Cindy -not your business
Who knew what in the Senate - this isn't Watergate
Tapes - what? Tapes of what? Weirdo
Yes there will be an investigation but much of what you want to know is not your business or even relevant.
Put the Champagne on ice Las Vegas Sun, another Pulitzer Prize waits.
Why hasn't disc jockey Rush Limpbaugh or former House Painter Sean Hannity commented on this massive scandal?
Drudge and CBS news are running with the story, Fox is in cover-up mode. A great day for Journalism in Las Vegas. Ensign is history.
mred,
Do you listen to Sean Hannity? He was talking about it. Do you have something against people that paint houses? Honestly, most people weren't born with a career. That's like calling someone a former McDonald's employee.
Sounds to me like Coburn was advocating a payoff in return for silence.
Perhaps it isn't illegal for Coburn to have done that but it strikes me as unethical.
Republicans seem to suffer from selective morality while they preach to the rest of us and declare they are religious for political advantage.
I still say that all politicians should be held to the same codes of conduct (and law) as that of the military.
Punitive Articles of the UCMJ
Article 134-- Adultery
Maximum punishment:
Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for 1 year.
And, they should also forfeit their lifetime benefits from the US government!
Sen. Coburns jumping on the sinking ship!!
In the words of Sarah Palin, "boogity, boogity, boogity, let's go fishin boys"!!!
Are you referring to Dr. Deacon Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)?
Coburn is now saying that he advised Senator Ensign (R-NV) in his capacity as an OB/GYN and an ordained deacon so he has double special immunity and he ain't testifying about nuthin!
Unbelievable!
henderson writes: "Do you listen to Sean Hannity? He was talking about it. Do you have something against people that paint houses?"
I'd have to agree. When Sean Hannity dropped out of high school, house painting was probably the only honest work available to him.
Um, I'm pretty sure Sean Hannity did finish high school.
You know who didn't finish high school?
Jim Clark, first internet billionaire
President Andrew Jackson
Walter Smith Pres. A&M University
Jack London - American Author
Patrick Henry - "give me liberty or give me death"
I'm still not getting your point, most people weren't born with a career.
You're probably right about Hannity. Maybe he dropped out of college, not high school, henderson.
Anyhow, what I was saying was that Hannity needn't be ashamed of being a house painter and that his limited education probably made it hard for him to find good-paying honest work so he needn't be ashamed of being a house painter.
Mia, do you really have to resort to insulting laborers to make a point? Honestly, referring to laborers as uneducated, and suggesting that it isn't good-paying honest work is both largely inaccurate and ignorant.
What? I was say exactly the opposite of what you're saying.
I think you read that wrong. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
What a preverse logic if it ever does show up in front of an ethics commitee to be judged,by senators who have commited the same or perhaps worse.I'm no saint I was in the Navy eight years but you must not only insist but demand that your public officials be held to higher standards.Not ask for their resigination,demand it.You set the bar high enough,you get better govt.