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Published Thursday, March 18, 2010 | 12:16 p.m.
Updated Thursday, March 18, 2010 | 12:18 p.m.
John Ensign
WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury reportedly has issued subpoenas in a probe of Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who has been under scrutiny for his efforts to find lobbying work for the husband of his former mistress.
According to one subpoena obtained by a Las Vegas television station, recipients were ordered to testify March 31 in Washington, D.C., and to turn over documents relating to the Republican senator.
TV station KLAS reported Thursday that the subpoenas went to six unnamed Las Vegas businesses. One of the subpoenas posted on the station's Web site blacks out the recipient's identity.
Ensign's affair and the legal problems it has engendered have derailed talk that he might make a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 and forced him to resign his position as chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.
Asked about the subpoenas, Ensign's spokeswoman Rebecca Fisher, said, "Sen. Ensign is confident he has complied with all ethics rules and laws and will cooperate with any official inquiries."
The FBI and Senate Ethics Committee are investigating whether Ensign tried to limit political damage from an affair he had with the wife of one of his Senate aides by conspiring to help the aide find a new job as a lobbyist, which might have violated restrictions on lobbying by former congressional staff.
Federal criminal law prohibits congressional aides from lobbying their ex-bosses or office colleagues for one year after departing their Hill jobs.
Ensign acknowledged the relationship with Cynthia Hampton last June. In addition to Ensign's helping her husband, Doug Hampton, gain employment with a lobbying firm, Ensign's parents provided the Hamptons with a payment of $96,000 that they described as a gift.
The affair ended in 2008; Ensign is married.
Hampton told The New York Times last year that, in coordination with the senator and his staff, he played a significant role in pushing the Washington agendas of NV Energy, the largest power company in Nevada, and Allegiant Air, a Las Vegas-based discount airline. On Thursday, Allegiant Air declined to comment and a call to a spokesman for NV Energy was not immediately returned.
The subpoena posted on the TV station's Web site seeks documents relating to Ensign; former Ensign chief of staff John Lopez; the Hamptons; and Michael Slanker and his wife, Lindsey.
Michael Slanker was the former political director at the National Republican Senatorial Committee when Ensign was its chairman and Lindsey Slanker worked as the finance director there.
The subpoena also seeks records regarding November Inc., a political consulting firm belonging to Michael Slanker.
John Lopez, Ensign's former chief of staff, told the New York Times last year that when he raised concerns about contacts between Hampton and the senator's office, he was designated as an intermediary to ensure those contacts complied with the law.
Lopez acknowledged that Hampton tried to lobby him, but he said that was Hampton's problem. Robert Kelner, Lopez's attorney, declined to comment Thursday about whether Lopez has received a subpoena in the case.
Michael Slanker and officials at November Inc. did not immediately respond Thursday to messages seeking comment. Daniel Albregts, a Las Vegas lawyer representing the Hamptons, did not immediately respond to messages.
Associated Press Writers Ken Ritter in Las Vegas and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.
Watch out Johnny boy, keep those pants up and the belt tight.......this could get rough !!!
I am getting ticked off at John. First, the whole Cindy thing, despicable as it is. Then, last September he voted against HR 3128, which permitted female employees of federal contractors in the Mideast to sue their employers and co-workers for rape (Ensign supports rape!). Now, he votes with Jim Bunning against providing extended unemployment benefits when Nevada has 12% unemployment. God, what a prize he is.....sleeze on sleeze on sleeze. Cindy, my dear, are all of his worts as appealing now as they were two years ago when you were cuckolding Doug?
John Ensign is just a complete & total piece of garbage. Stay away from this guy-he's bad news.
I dont want John Ensign to resign. I want this to last until the fall elections. I also want him to endorse the Republican candidates and their slate.
Why let a wonderful fiasco go so easily
Just remember Sen. Sleazeball is representing YOU in the halls of Congress. You get what you pay for.
awe...
what's a matter johnny boy???
hmmm???
mommy and daddy can't write a check to stop this train wreck???
hmmm???
ladies and gentlemen...
you are witnessing the moment when a snot nosed spoiled punk...
like johnny boy i slept with my best friends wife then ran to mommy and daddy to fix my boo boo ensign...
comes to terms with the fact that he really is not special...
that he is just a guy...
no different than the rest of us...
too bad it is going to be very very painful for this snot nosed spoiled punk!!!
"When Johnny come marching home again...HOORAY, HOORAY"
"When Johnny come marching home again...HOORAY, HOORAY"
"For he must pay for his shenanigans"
"So that we can be represented again...HOORAY, HOORAY"
I would like to state unequivocaly, that under no circumstances would I cheer the deimise of any person; but I feel that we are being grossly under represented in the senate right now. However, you must read and excerpt from an article printed in Politico earlier this week.
This is a quote spoken by an aide of a Senior Senator.
"Like Vitter, Ensign doesn't get invited to a lot of press conferences because no one wants their boss in a photo op with them," said one top GOP aide, referring to Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter, who was identified in 2007 as a client of an alleged prostitution ring.
"He's been so isolated for so long that I almost forget he's still here," said another senior Senate Republican aide."
Need I say more?
It takes a special kind of stupid to **** up the way Ensign has and it takes the lowest snake in the grass to play righteous Christian in public and then carry on a sexual affair with the wife of your "best friend" in private.
But here's the clincher -- JE had his rich parents pay hush money to the Hamptons while he personally hustled very business connection he had to keep Doug Hampton employed in a high paying job.
The depth of this scandal is stunning. Many of us wonder why Ensign hasn't already resigned but the answer is clear: the man doesn't have a shred of dignity or the capacity to feel remorse. In other words, he's a fairly typical Republican.
John Ensign has been toast for so long now he has turned to Melba.
I don't know if ORANGE is Ensign's color, but he might start acclimating to it.
Subpoenas are not indictments, and indictments are not convictions. The legal process will follow its own course.
My issue with Senator Ensign stem from his conduct. The fact that he and this woman had an affair is not really any of my business. By Washington standards, this is hardly a scandalous affair. He made a mistake in his private life and people make mistakes in their private lives all of the time. Man up to it and move on. The public can be forgiving and move on also.
The real scandal is his arrogance with regard the events which followed the affair. Somehow money and influence could smooth things over and make it all right. His lack of capacity to see his hypocrisy with regard to Bill Clinton is stunning and make his contrition seem hallow.
Senator Ensign's private life has spilled into his public life. This is my business as it affects his capacity to serve Nevada. This is not what I or other Nevadans intended when we cast our votes for him. Unhappily, we cannot take our votes back, just as he cannot undo what his actions.
Senator Ensign and Nevada can move on. The first step is for Senator Ensign resign and resign now.
ENSIGN RESIGN NOW.
Ensign is DIRTY. Go away Ensign family.
You people are sick
Something has been bothering me since I first saw the "6-way" photo of the Hamptons, the Slankers, and the Ensigns.
Look at all 3 three husbands "joyfully" embracing their wives.
Mrs. Hampton and Mrs. Slanker are smiling sweetly.
But look closely at Mrs. Ensign. In all other pictures she has this "ear-to-ear" blinding smile. In this photo she forces a smile -- and look at her "body-language" --completely closed off -- completely out of character with any of her other photos.
It looks like this may be the day she first learns of the Senator's infidelity.