Nbadan
01-19-2010, 10:53 PM
The Dems may not have to wait long to win back their super-majority after all as another GOP crook appears ready to crash and burn ...
The Justice Department and the FBI have begun what appears to be a preliminary criminal investigation into events surrounding Sen. John Ensign’s affair with a staffer, sources tell POLITICO.
In recent days, FBI agents have contacted former aides to the Nevada Republican in Washington and Las Vegas, said several sources familiar with the matter. The sources also said that a Justice Department prosecutor has been assigned to the case but has not yet convened a grand jury.
“Yes, the FBI has contacted witnesses — in this case, former aides,” said one source familiar with the matter. “We’ll see where it leads.”
Ensign announced last summer that he had carried on a nine-month affair with campaign aide Cynthia Hampton, herself the spouse of Doug Hampton, a top Senate aide of Ensign. Since admitting to the affair, Ensign has been the subject of a series of damaging revelations about his conduct — including the fact that his parents paid the Hamptons $96,000 after the couple left their jobs with the senator.
The Senate Ethics Committee is already investigating; it issued its own subpoenas for former Ensign aides last month. But a criminal investigation raises the stakes and, whatever its outcome, could take long enough that it would hurt Ensign’s chances of winning a third term in 2012.
Ensign spokeswoman Rebecca Fisher declined Tuesday to say whether the senator has been contacted by FBI agents. “Sen. Ensign believes he has fully complied with all ethics laws and rules and plans to cooperate with any official inquiries,” Fisher said.
A Justice Department representative declined to comment.
Sources familiar with Justice Department probes say it’s unlikely that investigators have yet spoken with Ensign. Investigators typically wait to question the main players in an investigation until after they’ve built up their evidence — essentially forcing a target to choose among telling the truth, risking prosecution for making false statements or refusing to talk altogether.
While it’s not clear what the FBI agents are asking, one subject of inquiry could be Ensign’s efforts to help Doug Hampton get lobbying work after he left the senator’s office — despite a one-year ban on lobbying by former congressional aides. Another could be whether the $96,000 should have been reported as a severance payment, as required by law.
Among other former Ensign aides, the FBI has been in contact with former chief of staff John Lopez, who reportedly served as an intermediary between Hampton and Ensign after Hampton left the senator’s office. Lopez has denied that those contacts broke the law, and he has downplayed the significance of the handful of informational conversations he had with Hampton.
“Yes, they have contacted John Lopez. I don’t think he’s unique in having been contacted,” one source told POLITICO.
Politico (Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31652.html#ixzz0d7YrW3HR)
The Justice Department and the FBI have begun what appears to be a preliminary criminal investigation into events surrounding Sen. John Ensign’s affair with a staffer, sources tell POLITICO.
In recent days, FBI agents have contacted former aides to the Nevada Republican in Washington and Las Vegas, said several sources familiar with the matter. The sources also said that a Justice Department prosecutor has been assigned to the case but has not yet convened a grand jury.
“Yes, the FBI has contacted witnesses — in this case, former aides,” said one source familiar with the matter. “We’ll see where it leads.”
Ensign announced last summer that he had carried on a nine-month affair with campaign aide Cynthia Hampton, herself the spouse of Doug Hampton, a top Senate aide of Ensign. Since admitting to the affair, Ensign has been the subject of a series of damaging revelations about his conduct — including the fact that his parents paid the Hamptons $96,000 after the couple left their jobs with the senator.
The Senate Ethics Committee is already investigating; it issued its own subpoenas for former Ensign aides last month. But a criminal investigation raises the stakes and, whatever its outcome, could take long enough that it would hurt Ensign’s chances of winning a third term in 2012.
Ensign spokeswoman Rebecca Fisher declined Tuesday to say whether the senator has been contacted by FBI agents. “Sen. Ensign believes he has fully complied with all ethics laws and rules and plans to cooperate with any official inquiries,” Fisher said.
A Justice Department representative declined to comment.
Sources familiar with Justice Department probes say it’s unlikely that investigators have yet spoken with Ensign. Investigators typically wait to question the main players in an investigation until after they’ve built up their evidence — essentially forcing a target to choose among telling the truth, risking prosecution for making false statements or refusing to talk altogether.
While it’s not clear what the FBI agents are asking, one subject of inquiry could be Ensign’s efforts to help Doug Hampton get lobbying work after he left the senator’s office — despite a one-year ban on lobbying by former congressional aides. Another could be whether the $96,000 should have been reported as a severance payment, as required by law.
Among other former Ensign aides, the FBI has been in contact with former chief of staff John Lopez, who reportedly served as an intermediary between Hampton and Ensign after Hampton left the senator’s office. Lopez has denied that those contacts broke the law, and he has downplayed the significance of the handful of informational conversations he had with Hampton.
“Yes, they have contacted John Lopez. I don’t think he’s unique in having been contacted,” one source told POLITICO.
Politico (Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31652.html#ixzz0d7YrW3HR)