Ensign might not have ally in minority leader

Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.

Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky senator, could take it no more.

Even though the senator embroiled in the scandal was of McConnell’s own party, his conduct toward a female staffer and his subsequent behavior had become “offensive and degrading,” and potentially illegal. The senator had to go, even though the Justice Department had not acted.

“As the Ethics Committee has held in many previous cases, misconduct does not have to be criminal or even a violation of the Senate rules specifically to be deserving of punishment for bringing discredit and dishonor upon this institution,” McConnell said.

And he went on: “But this case is not only about severe misconduct; it is also about a deliberate effort to cover up important evidence relevant to that misconduct.”

McConnell, in a startling screed, concluded with this observation about his colleague: “As happens with increasing frequency these days, the victimizer is now claiming the mantle of the victim. The one who deliberately abused the process now wants to manipulate it to his advantage. That won’t wash ... Now is the time for justice to be done.”

McConnell, now the GOP leader, was not, as it turns out, speaking of John Ensign, although the harsh adjectives, potential lawbreaking and clumsy cover-up certainly apply. Those words were uttered almost exactly 14 years ago by then-Ethics Committee Vice Chairman Mitch McConnell about Oregon’s Bob Packwood, who resigned shortly thereafter to avoid expulsion. Packwood had been accused of serial sexual harassment and of using his position to confer financial benefits on the wife he was divorcing so he could reduce his alimony payments. “These jobs came from individuals who had a direct interest in legislation that Sen. Packwood was in an ideal position to influence,” McConnell said at the time.

So a senator used his position to try to persuade companies he regulates to get money for a person he had wronged. Sounds like exactly what Ensign did when he put the arm on NV Energy and Allegiant Air to hire Doug Hampton, whose wife the senator had an affair with while she was on staff. Might not have been sexual harassment, but offensive and degrading and potentially illegal? I think so.

I raise the eerie similarities not only because of Ensign or Packwood and their behavior but also because of McConnell’s. After months of using the guile and maneuvering that eventually propelled him into the leadership position, McConnell cut Packwood loose. (Ironically, the ethics panel that voted to expel Packwood was headed by Sen. Richard Bryan, whose seat Ensign won in 2000.)

So if I were Ensign, I would take little comfort in McConnell’s silence. And I would wonder what advice the former vice chairman of the ethics panel is giving to the current GOP members of that committee.

•••

A statement or a bluff? What does it mean when one of the dwarves running against the Senate majority leader puts $1 million of his own money into a campaign? That’s the question raised by John Chachas, a resident of Central Park West in New York City who said Thursday he made a seven-figure donation to his bid to take Harry Reid’s Senate seat.

The possible answers:

1. Maybe he’s not a dwarf after all.

2. Maybe he won’t really spend it.

3. Maybe it still won’t be enough to emerge from that crowded GOP primary.

Anyone who is willing to spend that kind of money — and we can assume he has more — is immediately a factor in that GOP primary, where I’d guess no one else will report even half that much. Sue Lowden, aka Snow White and the presumptive front-runner, just entered the contest. Danny Tarkanian, the two-time loser who hopes the third time is the charm, may have a few hundred thousand. And Mark Amodei, the state senator, and Sharron Angle, the former assemblywoman, can’t have very much.

So Chachas will have a significant money lead come Thursday, which may get him noticed by the national pundits. One local know-it-all recently told The New York Times: “There is no path to victory that I can paint (for Chachas to win). There is no evidence in the history of the state that a guy can come in, who is unknown, and spend a boatload of money to buy a Senate seat.”

But who would have guessed that path would be lined with millions of dollars? If it is, if Chachas can find a way to deal with the uncomfortable fact he has never voted in Nevada and if he can rise above all the other contenders, that local big mouth might have to swallow some crow.

Discussion: 12 comments so far…

By lcdrmandingonamvet

10/9/09 at 5:54 a.m.

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McConnell has his own legal problems. Firstly, he is a felonious Vietnam WAr draft-dodger. What does he know, and when he did he know it? Coburn conspired with the Ensign Klan (parents too) to suppress Ensign's adultrey and he was a particiapant in paying the $90K which is just a part of the overall $8.5 million BLACKMAIL. Again, Obama needs to lose the OVARIES, and STRIP Coburn and Ensign of their TOP-SECRET military clearances. That way, they Coburn and Ensign can IMPEACH themselves.
By Birdiedreamin

10/9/09 at 7:36 a.m.

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hey jon...
excellent article...
By lcdrmandingonamvet

10/9/09 at 8:25 a.m.

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Those lovable and "forgetable Joneses" (Rangel and Neil Bush). Rangel "FORGOT" to report the IRS he made $75K on the-side. Neil Bush, while his daddy had the WATCH, he robbed Denver's Silverado Bank of more than $1 BILLION. Neil also "FORGOT" to report his LOOT to the IRS. Neil's big-bro, Boy George (UCMJ felon * AWOLee * deserter), he jailed Blacks like Ron Isley and Wesley Snipes, becausE they failed to pay the IRS income-taxes. Obama cut and ran on the Bush-Klan (criminal enterprise), however, Obama jailed rapper "Method Man" and he had boxer Floyd Mayweather in his imprisonment sights, but unlike Rangel, Snipes, Isley, and Neil Bush, Mayweather PAID his income-taxes.

I want to hear the "TAKE" from Steele; Beck (LDS-FLDS member); JC Watts; Armstrong Williams; Hannity; Rush; O'Reilly; Coulter; Malkin; Imus; CNN (Malveaux, Tony Harris, Holmes, Lemon, Harris, etc.); Hammer; NABJ (print-video); NAACP; Cong. Black Caucus-CBC-comical blacks in congress; etc.
By JohnF

10/9/09 at 8:29 a.m.

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Great column, as always.
By dwms

10/9/09 at 11:08 a.m.

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Thank you, Sun, for continuous exposure of Sen. Ensign. What occurs under his watch is now seeing the light of day. For example, he remained silent (for the sake of Sen Reid) about the escalating child abuse in Clark County. That is because Sen Reid's son, Rory Reid, is at the core of the abuse. CPS recently fired caseworkers for falsifying CPS and court documents. When will Ensign take his Christian values and become a voice for those that don't have a voice - St of NV children? YOUR RIGHT!
By BCDave

10/9/09 at 1:13 p.m.

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McConnell doesn't support his fellow Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning either and Bunning has no ethics baggage. What does that tell you about McConnell? Only that he has no spine.
By mred

10/9/09 at 3:40 p.m.

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Packwoody, haven't heard his name in a while.

McConnell is jealous of the tanning booth, dippidy doo, look of Enswigne, he's looks challenged
By jw456

10/9/09 at 3:43 p.m.

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Very interesting breakdown of Ensign's financial ties, dated yesterday:

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/10/...
By ucsb1990

10/11/09 at 4:28 a.m.

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In her 2006 congressional race, Tessa Hafen was unfairly and inaccurately portrayed as a carpetbagger. Chachas, on the other hand, sounds more like the real deal. He hasn't lived in Nevada since high school, but wants to swoop in with a boatload of cash and run for the Senate? To me, that's almost insulting. At least when Jack Carter ran against John Ensign in 2006, he (1) had been living here for a few years, and (2) entered a race that no prominent Nevada Democrat wanted any part of. This race, by contrast, has at least two serious contenders who are long-time Nevadans. Chachas is obviously intelligent and successful, but I want someone who's been here a while representing my state.
By mikegino

10/13/09 at 10:56 a.m.

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McConnell reminds me of Larry Craig. I wish Ensign would take the honorable route so that the Governor can appoint Dean Heller...or perhaps Neil Bush.

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