The Nevada Sagebrush

Covering up misdeeds creates more scandal for politician

Monday, October 12, 2009 - 12:37 AM

Taylor R. Anderson

As we’ve learned time and time again, it’s not what politicians do that gets them in trouble.

It’s the cover-up.

The emerging details about Sen. John Ensign’s (R-Nev.) affair with a campaign staffer and subsequent cover-up are getting worse and worse.

It might seem funny that the senator representing the only state with legalized prostitution got caught cheating on his wife, but in reality, it’s not what Ensign did in the bedroom that has gotten him into trouble — it’s his misuse of power.

On Oct. 1, The New York Times published an article detailing the post-affair maneuvering Ensign did to avoid public humiliation from the affair.

After this was published, Washington, D.C., went crazy, with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) promising a full investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.

Even the Justice Department is looking into an investigation regarding Ensign’s actions, which may have violated federal law.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), prior to The New York Times article, said that he wouldn’t reveal any knowledge he had about Ensign and his affair to “anyone” because he considered it privileged.

He has since changed his tune after claims surfaced that he advised Ensign to pay off his mistress and her husband and then served as an intermediary to do just that. Coburn has now said he may testify to the Senate Ethics Committee if questioned.

With the pending ethics and possible federal investigations of Ensign, he has been pretty quiet with the public. On Oct. 6, he told CNN, “All of these things will come out at their due time. But there’s no question, we complied with all of the ethics.” According to Eric Lichtblau and Eric Lipton’s reporting in The New York Times, however, that’s not what happened.

After learning of the affair, Ensign’s former staffer and husband to his mistress, Doug Hampton, confronted Ensign.

This subsequently led to the senator paying, through his parents, almost $100,000 to the Hamptons as “severance.” Ensign’s mistress, Cynthia Hampton, quit her campaign job and her husband left his job on Ensign’s Washington, D.C. staff.

Soon after Mr. Hampton left Ensign’s employment, he demanded Ensign work with some friends back in Nevada to find him a lucrative job.

Ensign ended up getting Mr. Hampton a job working for NV Energy as a lobbyist. This job would put Hampton in the direct position of lobbying his old boss which, according to the article, is illegal. The New York Times wrote, “Senate ethics rules and federal criminal law prohibit former aides, if they have ‘the intent to influence,’ from making ‘any communication to or appearance’ with any senator or Senate staff member for a year after leaving their jobs. A separate law required Mr. Hampton to register as a lobbyist if he intended to press a company’s case on Capitol Hill.”

Mr. Hampton knew that to be of value to his newfound clients, he needed to maintain access to Ensign. Despite a federal law that puts a 12-month ban on former employees of Congress from lobbying, Mr. Hampton ignored it “at Mr. Ensign’s direction.”

Aside from the legal implications of Ensign’s cover-up, which are still yet to be determined, there are the political and ethical implications.

During the impeachment of President Clinton, which was motivated by Republican outrage over an on-the-job “servicing,” Ensign supported impeachment by saying that Clinton had “lost all credibility” with the American public. Now it is Ensign who has lost all credibility. Even though the thought of Gov. Gibbons appointing a replacement makes me cringe, Ensign no longer holds the public trust.

Like most politicians who find themselves in hot water, if he had simply come clean at the beginning, he likely would be in far less trouble. In trying to cover up his immoral, unethical and possibly illegal actions, Ensign disgraced himself and the state of Nevada. To spare himself and Nevada further embarrassment, he should resign.

Taylor Anderson is a political science major and a self-proclaimed news junkie. Follow him at twitter.com/ander517 or reach him at perspectives@nevadasagebrush.com.