CREW Files Ethics Complaint Against Sen. John Ensign

On June 24th, CREW filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee against Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), as well as a companion complaint with the Federal Election Committee against his campaign committee and leadership PAC after news broke that the senator had an affair with former campaign staffer Cynthia Hampton and had terminated both Ms. Hampton and her husband Doug, who worked on the senator’s official staff, because of the affair.  These terminations might violate Senate ethics rules, which prohibit discrimination based on sex.

Press reports indicate Sen. Ensign paid Mrs. Hampton a severance out of his own pocket, but neither the campaign committee nor the PAC reported receiving an in-kind contribution from the senator as required by campaign finance law. Although the amount of the payment is unknown, the failure to report contributions of over $25,000 is a criminal offense and contributions to PACS are limited to $5,000. Mr. Hampton received $6,000 from the senator’s office, allegedly for unused vacation time. If the money was really severance, it may constitute a misuse of official funds.

CREW’s complaint also highlights two instances where Sen. Ensign’s behavior violated senate rules prohibiting improper conduct – using his position as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee to hire the Hamptons’ son as an intern, and claiming to have been blackmailed by Mr. Hampton without alerting proper authorities.

Sen. Ensign has replaced Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and Larry Craig (R-ID) as the latest poster senator for bad judgment and hypocrisy. CREW called on the Senate Ethics Committee to launch an investigation immediately.

Learn more
Read CREW’s complaint to the Senate Ethics Committee and the exhibits
Read CREW’s complaint to the Federal Election Commission
Read the Las Vegas Review-Journal article

Related posts:

1. CREW seeks answers from Senator Ensign
2. CREW keeps track of ethics violations and investigations for you
3. CREW names Nevada Senator John Ensign as one of “The 15 Most Corrupt Members” of Congress
4. Ensign’s “Dear John” letter to Cynthia Hampton
5. CREW: The 15 Most Corrupt Members of Congress