This Entire John Ensign Affair Thing Has Taken a Sinister Turn

The blockbuster here appears to be that another Senator, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, was present at at least some of the discussions on this matter between Ensign and his former staffer, though it also appears that there is the suggestion that Ensign was stalking Ms. Hampton after the relationship ended.

Well, it appears that Senator Ensign was slowly backing away from the allegations of extortion over the past few days, and law enforcement has said that there have been no allegations of such.

What is interesting is that Doug Hampton, the cuckolded husband seems to have felt threatened about something, because he sent a letter to Fox News about claiming that he was threatened about 5 days before Ensign went public, and while Fox denies having tipped him off, they now admit having received the letter.

It appears that someone there tipped off the Senator to this, and now that the contents of the letter have been leaked, we're hearing rumblings of potential extortion again, only Ensign's office is suggesting that it was his council, who they have not named.

So, murmurings of extortion, but no names, for now, I am betting that this is Bullsh&%.

My guess is that the sequence of events is as follows:

1. Affair occurs. (agreed to by all sides)
2. His colleagues in the Senate confront him about the affair in February of 2008
   
3. Stalking or a vendetta by Ensign.
4. Letter to Fox News.
5. Fox sits on the letter.
6. Fox tips off Ensign.
7. Ensign goes public, and starts spreading rumors about extortion.
8. Ensign's office starts floating an extortion smear.
9. Reporters start checking with law enforcement, find no evidence of extortion.
10. Ensign's office backs off extortion smear.
11. Las Vegas Sun gets a copy of the letter, which makes Ensign look like Kathy Bates' character Annie Wilkes from the movie Misery.
12. We start hearing the extortion smack again.

Pass the popcorn

Text of Doug Hampton's letter to Fox News:

Thursday, June 11, 2009
Fox News- Corporate Office
1211 Avenue of the America’s (sic)
New York, New York 10036

Megyn Kelly,

More than any time in my life I understand why people take matters into their own hands. I am disheartened! I have sought wise counsel, tried to do the right thing and continue to run into road blocks (sic) in dealing with a very terrible circumstance and injustice that lives in my life. I am hoping you and Fox News can help.

My name is Doug Hampton. I am a former employee of US (sic) Senator John Ensign. I worked for Senator Ensign in his official government office on Capitol Hill from November 2006 to April 2008. My responsibilities were the oversight of his personnel in Washington as well as the state of Nevada. Duties included budgets, policy and public speaking on behalf of the Senator and his initiatives.

Here is my story. In December of 2007 in the midst of some very difficult personal issues that deeply impacted my family and marriage, Senator Ensign pursued and engaged in a relationship with my wife. Our families were lifelong friends, our children attend school together to this day, and our homes are in neighborhoods across from each other. My wife was the Senator’s campaign treasurer.

There is a tremendous amount (sic) of details and critical facts associated with this story and their relationship that will not be addressed in this letter but are very important and need to be further explored if you choose to meet with me. The purpose of this letter is to establish the framework for discussion and provide enough information to warrant a meeting with you and Fox News. This is the only letter of its kind and no other news stations have been contacted with this information. I have great respect and affection for Fox News and many of your collages (sic). I’m sending this to you because you have a legal back ground (sic) and this story has several legal elements.

The unethical behavior and immoral choice of Senator Ensign has been confronted by me and others on a number of occasions over this past year. In fact one of the confrontations took place in February 2008 at his home in Washington DC (sic) with a group of his peers. One of the attendee’s (sic) was Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma as well as several other men who are close to the Senator. Senator Ensign’s conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April of 2008. I would like to say he stopped his heinous conduct and pursuit upon our leaving, but that was not the case and his actions did not subside until August of 2008.

The actions of Senator Ensign have ruined our lives and careers and left my family in shambles. We have lost significant income, suffered indescribable pain and emotional suffering. We find ourselves today with an overwhelming loss of relationships, career opportunities and hope for recovery. Our pursuit of justice continues to place me and my family in harm’s way as we fear for our well being (sic).

Today, Senator Ensign’s responsibility and stature have increased within the US (sic) Senate. His is currently the head of “Policy” for the Republican Party, the number four position within the Parties (sic) leadership team. We on the other hand are completely ruined and left to deal with the aftermath of very evil and completely unjustifiable acts by one of our countries (sic) top leaders.

It appears there may be nothing the law can do to correct and bring justice and restitution to (sic) this terrible wrong that has been done to us. I have sought a number of lawyers who are having difficulty finding charges that may hold up in court. There are either technicalities that exist due to the time period in which I have sought help, or other nuances that quite frankly make no sense to me given the egregious acts and blatant abuse of power by Senator Ensign. From my perspective this whole nightmare is terribly wrong and completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

I clearly understand this story is difficult to believe for anyone reading (sic) for the first time. I too would have difficulty believing it, if someone brought me this story. However I assure you it is true and there are facts, a paper trail, phone records and personal witnesses to testify to its truth. It is my belief we are dealing with a very powerful person and an institution in the US (sic) Senate that only the media can pierce to expose the wrong and bring light and focus to what needs to be done? (sic)

Please help me! This should not be how the leadership of our country should be allowed to behave. I need justice, help and restitution for what Senator Ensign has done to me and my family. Regardless of technicalities, regardless of position, regardless of power this cannot and should not be tolerated in our country from our trusted leaders. Will you help? Will you consider a meeting with me to further discuss this story and what can be done to bring justice and correction to this situation?

I love this country and considered it a great privilege to work in the US (sic) Senate. I am bringing this to you and Fox News to address this professionally and correctly. I could have sought the most liberal, Republican hating media to expose this story, but there are people’s lives at stake and justice is about proper process as well as outcome. Senator Ensign has no business serving in the US (sic) Senate anymore! I will send you and (sic) email as well as leave you and your staff messages in an attempt to meet you and your team as soon as possible. I live and work in Nevada but can be in New York within hours, I look forward to your help.

Sincerely,
Doug Hampton

And yes, I am feeling a bit of Schadenfreude about this, pass the popcorn.

Noose Tightening on Ensign

Part 1
Part 2

The scandal now has the department issuing subpoenas to, "have been issued to at least six Sas Vegas businesses," as well as to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSCC).

As to the businesses, we are looking at what may be an actual bribery case:

One of those companies was eCommLink, formerly run by Jack Williams, a man who claimed to have invented the gift card.

Senator Ensign's then-Chief of Staff John Lopez welcomed the opportunity to help a Nevada company. But sources say Ensign's office quickly seized on the opportunity to get something in return.

Sources close to the situation say Ensign's office warned eCommLink and others about pending prepaid card regulation and that donations and support could make those troublesome rules go away.

So, basically the story is as follows: John Ensign sleeps with the wife of a longtime friend and aide, he then gets his parents to pay his friend off, and throws illegal (there is supposed to be a waiting period) lobbying work to his ex-friend in order to keep things quiet, only it appears that there was some more run of the mill corruption, that Ensign, as head of the NRSCC, may have used his position to extort campaign donations.

The mainstream media has studiously avoided covering it, the Washington Post has yet to publish a stand alone story on the scandal yet, for example, but thankfully Rachael Maddow has been all over this, as the two videos (7:33 & 6:35) show.

Well, Now We Know Why He Quit

It turns out that John Ensign made his resignation effective the day before he was to testify under oath before the Ethics Committee:

Senator John Ensign's resignation letter allows him to leave office just one day before he was to have to answer questions under oath about whether a $96,000 payment to the family of his former lover was illegal and designed to keep the affair from becoming public, according to people familiar with an investigation of Mr. Ensign's activities.

That formal testimony, scheduled for May 4, was the final step as Senate investigators prepared for what were almost certain to be Senate ethics charges against Mr. Ensign, Republican of Nevada. Mr. Ensign's resignation is effective May 3.

To paraphrase King Kong, it was cowardice and hypocrisy that killed the beast.

John Ensign Resigning Senate Seat

John Ensign has announced that he will be resigning from the US Senate in May:

Embattled Sen. John Ensign announced this afternoon he will resign from office, effective May 3. The move opens the door for Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval to appoint Rep. Dean Heller to finish out the term.

"It is with tremendous sadness that I officially hand over the Senate seat that I have held for eleven years," Ensign said in a statement. "The turbulence of these last few years is greatly surpassed by the incredible privilege that I feel to have been entrusted to serve the people of Nevada. I can honestly say that being a United States Senator has been the honor of my life."

Sun columnist Jon Ralston first reported earlier in the afternoon that Ensign would step down.

Ralston was on Maddow just now and said that the Ethics Committee had just held a secret vote to open a public investigation of his activities, basically f%$#ing his best friend's wife (both staffers) and paying them off, and this is what precipitated his exit.

I'm going to call my Senators, and ask them to continue the investigation even though he is leaving, he shouldn't skate, and given that the DoJ under Eric "Place" Holder has dropped their investigation of him.

Well, I was Experience of Schadenfreude

But Senator Ensign (R-NV, and many bedrooms) just keeps on delivering.

So, the New York Times has done some journalism, and discovered that, in addition to boinking his chief of staff's wife, stalking her, and getting mommy and daddy to pay hush money, reporters Eric Lichtblau and Eric Lipton have now discovered that Senator Ensign arranged for Douglas Hampton to get a cushy lobbying job, and then had Hampton lobby one...Senator John Ensign, in a direct violation of Senate ethics rules and federal laws, which require a 1 year cooling off period:

Mr. Hampton said he and Mr. Ensign were aware of the lobbying restriction but chose to ignore it. He recounted how the senator helped him find clients and ticked off several steps Mr. Ensign took to assist them with their agendas in Washington, activities confirmed by federal officials and executives with the businesses.

“The only way the clients could get what John was essentially promising them — which was access — was if I still had a way to work with his office,” Mr. Hampton said. “And John knew that.”

Gee....Who'd a thunk it?

Needless to say, the folks at Leno and The Daily Show are chortling about this, though David Letterman might be too busy boinking his staffers on his show.

John ensign

First, his former best friend, and the husband of the woman that John Ensign f%$#ed, Doug Hampton, has been indicted for violating lobbying laws and conflict of interest laws.

The could get interesting if he decides to drop a dime on Ensign and the rest of his co-conspirators.

It does appear though that John Ensign is incredibly busted, since the normally toothless Senate Ethics committee voted to make a criminal referral to the DoJ, and the special prosecutor they appointed to investigated recommended that he be expelled from the Senate.

BTW, speaking of co-conspirators, it appears that Senator Coburn was hip deep in negotiating the specifics of the payoffs to Hampton and his wife.

Assuming that the Department of Justice has the stomach for it pulling on this string^* will unravel a lot more than just a Senator boinking a staffer.

Pass the popcorn.

^*I think that they don't because of their mishandling of the Ted Stevens prosecution and because of a general Obama administration policy to let things slide when they involve Republican law breaking.

Light Night Comics Must Love Republicans

Because this stuff writes itself.

Case in point, the rebounding scandal of John Ensign's affair and his payoff of his mistress and her husband, where we now discover that , "His lawyer has just released a remarkable statement saying that Ensign's parents paid the Hamptons $96,000 after the 51-year-old senator told his Mom and Dad about the affair."

Republican family values....Things go bad, and rich daddy bails you out.

Republican Family Values

United States Senator John Ensign (R-NV), who screwed around on his wife with the wife of a staffer of his, and now appears to be admitting the affair only because his former staffer is trying to blackmail him.

Note that Ensign was a member of "Promise Keepers", and called for Larry Craig to resign after his peccadilloes.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Ensign Liebowitz Beam Down. Who Isn't Coming Back?

Answer: Al Qaeda's number 3 guy:

Al-Qaeda's third-ranking operative, an Egyptian who was a founding member of the terrorist network and a key conduit to Osama bin Laden, has been killed in Pakistan, according to a statement Monday from al-Qaeda that U.S. intelligence officials believe is accurate.

A U.S. official said there is "strong reason" to believe that Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, known as Sheik Saeed al-Masri, was killed, apparently by a CIA drone strike in Pakistan's tribal belt within the past two weeks.

I've seen this episode before.

Picture Pr0n: X-47B Demonstrator Rolls Out

Well, Northrop-Grumman has rolled out its first X-47B unmanned combat air system (UCAS) demonstrator in a rather splashy debut.

Not bad for a project that was on the death watch list just 6 months ago.


It's actually rather large, with a, " 62.1 ft, compared to 44.7 ft. for an F/A-18" (the E/F models), and so looks to be close to the size of the canceled A-12 attack aircraft.


Here we can see the standard robust naval landing gear.


Here is a closeup of the inlet, which the N-G folks were fine with letting people take, which surprises me, because it's kind of the "secret sauce".

There is still a part of me that is surprised that the US Navy is considering a tailless anything after the debacle that was the F7U Cutlass (aka "Gutless" and "Ensign Eliminator").

NG press release here.

Wanker of the Day

Brit Hume, who suggests the reason that a sports figure whom I will not name is cheating on his wife is because he's a Buddhist, unlike those good, Chri$tian, right wing Republithugs like Larry Craig, Jojn Ensign, David Vitter, Newt Gingrich, David Livingston, Mark Sanford, Vito Fossella, etc.

So both he's a moron and a bigot, which explains his success at Fox News.

[on edit] It appears that Atrios agrees.

It's Called Journalism

Rick Sanchez has John Ensign on, when he bloviates about terrorism, and he quizzes him on his own little scandal, where he paid off the husband and children of his mistress, and Sanchez asks him about how he appears to have encouraged the illegal lobbying activities by former aide:

IOKIYAR*

So John Edwards has been indicted for potential misuse of campaign funds to hide his affair, but the Department of Justice, despite the the fact that the normally weaselly Senate Ethics Committee was seriously considering expulsion, and referred their files to the DoJ for a criminal investigation, appears to be doing nothing:

"There is no question that I have done wrong," John Edwards said Friday in front of the North Carolina courtroom where he pleaded not guilty to six counts of violating federal campaign laws. "I take full responsibility for having done wrong."

But, Edwards said, he did not violate federal law.

"I will regret for the rest of my life the pain and the harm that I have done," the former Democratic presidential candidate said, "but I did not break the law and I never, ever thought I was breaking the law.

Compare that to the web of conspiracy and money laundering that Senators Ensign and Coburn engaged in, and one begins to wonder why the DoJ is so hands off on that.

My only answer is that Reagan, Bush, and Bush spend an awful lot of time politicizing the Justice Department, and we are now harvesting the fruits of this.

^*It's OK If You Are A Republican.

A Bad Day at the Office

That can't be good

In late January, an F-35C crashed while attempting to land on the USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea, sliding off the deck and sinking in thousands of feet of water, triggering a race to recover the aircraft with the Chinese. (the pilot was recovered successfully)

Video of the accident has been shared online, and now 4 chiefs and an ensign have been brought up on charges over the leak.

Regardless of the circumstances of the leak, the video is rather compelling.

 

So, Anthony Weiner Has Resigned

I guess the rule here, even if you are a Democrat, because they were the ones screaming for him to go, is that unlike Craig, Vitter, Coburn, Ensign, etc., is that it's not OK if you aren't a Republican.

The Democrats are such willing hostages to Republican political terrorism that Stockholm Syndrome should be renamed Beltway Democrat syndrome.

The only thing more pathetic is the behavior of the press, which sees fit to treat real scandals from Republicans with decorum, but turns into an (even bigger) freak show when a Democrat does something.

One final note, I would not call Anthony Weiner a dick, because a dick has a head.

Let Me Guess, He Was Their 3rd Most Senior Member

That's the way it always is whenever a senior al Queda official is killed in a drone strike.

Al Queda number 3 = Ensign Lebowitz on a landing party with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.

Awfully convenient, don't you think?

The Real Threat to Marriage as We Know it

Republican marriage.

Mark Sanford, Larry Craig, John Ensign, David Vitter, Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston, Ronald Reagan, etc.

I'm thinking about trying to get a bill passed banning Republican marriage. It's a threat to the traditional understanding of marriage.

Why Yes, F%$#ing Your Best Friend's Wife, and then Paying Them Hush Money is Bad for Reelection

This is why John Ensign announced today that he will not run for reelection.

The pity here is that Barack "The Audacity of Nope" Obama, and Eric "Place" Holder have decided not to further investigate the matter, though it is refreshing that the Senate Ethics Committee has hired a special counsel to look into this.

Senate Republicans Short on Reelection Cash

And they are freaking out about it so much that NRSC chair John Ensign is publicly complaining about his fellow Senators not raising campaign funds.

The problem is that the rich rat f*%$ers of America have decided that George W. Bush is bad for business, and you guys have welded yourselves to him.

My heart bleeds.

Well, Duh………

Better than ST:TNG

The Writers Guild of America has the original Star Trek series higher than they did Star Trek: The Next Generation:

The Writers Guild of America has announced the 101 best written TV shows of all time, and I would like to draw your attention to a small excerpt from the list:

33. Star Trek

79. Star Trek: The Next Generation

I am not surprised.

In my opinion, the best written SF show around the time of ST:TNG was ALF.

Notwithstanding the fact that Jean Luc Picard might have been a better captain than James T. Kirk, particularly if I were Ensign Liebowitz of Starship Security, the characters never worked as well.

You could see Kirk being adored by the crew, while Picard was distance, intellectual, and sarcastic; the sort of commander who you would call "The Old Man", when he wasn't around.

Spock not wanting to move onto command worked, it was completely absurd for Riker.

And let's not go with the "Ships Counselor", or Wil Wheaton's first turn in the series as the boy genius.

Geebus, it sucked.

As an aside, I am heartened that The Prisoner was on the list as well, though I would have put that at number 1.