Senator Ensign Cynthia Hampton Affair – Details are emerging about the affair between Senator John Ensign and staffer Cynthia Hampton, aka Cindy Hampton, including a possible extortion attempt by her husband Douglas Hampton that caused Ensign to go public with his third affair.
The Senator Ensign Cynthia Hampton affair began in December 2007 and continued through August 2008, four months after both Cindy Hampton and Doug Hampton left Ensign’s staff.
46-year old Cynthia Hampton served as the treasurer for Ensign’s reelection campaign and for his leadership fund, Battle Born PAC, ending her affiliation with the two committees in early 2008.
Douglas Hampton served as Ensign’s administrative assistant in his personal office from November 2006 to May 2008 — earning $101,000 in 2008 and $144,000 in 2007 – leaving around the same time that Cynthia Hampton left Ensign’s committees.
A mandatory financial disclosure form Douglas Hampton filed in 2007 and 2008 – required for senior congressional staffers – showed only checking and savings account worth a maximum $30,000 combined.
Political insiders in Nevada and in the Senate said that Ensign decided to acknowledge his affair with Cynthia Hampton publicly only after her husband asked him for a substantial sum of money
Questions abound about the affair and the purported extortion attempt:
- How did the Hamptons afford a $1.6 million dollar home in Las Vegas?
- Did Ensign report Douglas Hampton’s request for a substantial sum of money?
- Did Ensign get Douglas Hampton a high-paying private job to keep the affair quiet?
Senator John Ensign, 51, is married and has three children. He and his wife, Darlene, were active participants and promoters of “Promise Keepers”, a Christian evangelical ministry that promotes strong families and marriages.
Ensign took a two-week leave of absence from the Senate back in 2002 to deal with the fallout from another extramarital affair and is rumored to have been caught by his wife a third time as well.
Darlene Ensign didn’t appear by her husband’s side, instead issuing a statement that made it sound like a medical illness: “Since we found out last year, we have worked through the situation, and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends, our marriage has become stronger. I love my husband.”
Ensign, the son of a casino magnate, holds the No. 4 position in Republican leadership and led the fight for disgraced Senator Larry Craig to resign, saying “Senators need to be held to a higher standard.”
And that’s the latest news on the Senator Ensign Cynthia Hampton affair.
Tags: affair, cindy hampton, cynthia hampton, extortion, Politics, senator ensign affair, senator ensign cynthia hampton affair
June 17th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Senator Ensign Admits Affair
June 17th, 2009 at 10:32 am
[...] Senator Ensign Cynthia Hampton Affair [...]
June 17th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Federal records show Cynthia Hampton was on the payroll of Ensign’s Battle Born Political Action Committee at $1,385.24 a month until she was appointed treasurer and her salary was doubled to $2,771.50 starting in February 2008.
Her salary also doubled at Ensign’s campaign committee, where she was treasurer, beginning around the time the affair began. It went from $500 a month to $1,000 a month.
Records also show Doug Hampton received a monthly salary of $13,555 as an administrative assistant in Ensign’s Senate office. He received a payment of $19,679 for his final month of employment and was off the payroll on May 1, 2008, according to Senate records.
Additionally, the National Republican Senatorial Committee made twice-monthly payments, generally $500 apiece, to Brandon Hampton, who Republican officials said was the couple’s son. The payments began in March of last year and ended in August, when Ensign’s office says the affair ended.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Ensign told a hastily arranged news briefing on Tuesday he had an extramarital affair with a woman on his campaign payroll, and it lasted several months, ending last August.
The disclosure resurrected questions about a two-week period in 2002, when Ensign abruptly dropped from public view. A person familiar with that episode, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Tuesday the senator told a close associate the absence followed an earlier affair.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Cindy Hampton Confirms Affair
A former campaign aide to Sen. John Ensign confirmed her involvement Wednesday in an extramarital affair with the conservative Republican, lamented his decision to “air this very personal matter” and said she eventually would tell her side of the story.
An attorney for Cindy Hampton and her husband, Doug, issued a statement on their behalf as Ensign phoned in his resignation as a member of the Senate GOP leadership. The senator’s aides refused to return phone calls seeking additional details about a dalliance that pushed the 51-year-old Nevada lawmaker’s political career to the brink of disaster.
An Associated Press review of federal records showed Cynthia Hampton received a promotion and a pay raise around the time of the affair at one political entity controlled by Ensign and a pay raise at a second. Her husband was an employee in Ensign’s Senate office.
June 17th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
In Las Vegas on Wednesday, lawyer Daniel Albregts issued a statement that said “Doug and Cindy Hampton can confirm that they are the individuals referenced by Senator Ensign during his press conference.”
“It is unfortunate the senator chose to air this very personal matter, especially after the Hamptons did everything possible to keep this matter private,” the lawyer said. “It is equally unfortunate that he did so without concern for the effect such an announcement would have on the Hampton family. In time the Hamptons will be ready and willing to tell their side of the story.”
June 17th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Senator Ensign was highly critical of former Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who served in Congress for a quarter-century when he was arrested in an airport bathroom sex sting. Ensign stopped short of urging him to resign but suggested strongly that he should.
“I wouldn’t put myself hopefully in that kind of position, but if I was in a position like that, that’s what I would do,” Ensign said. “He’s going to have to answer that for himself.”
June 17th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
[...] Senator Ensign Cynthia Hampton Affair (a11news.com) – June 17, 2009senator ensign cynthia hampton affair photo. The Senator Ensign Cynthia Hampton affair began in December 2007 and continued through August 2008, four months after both Cindy Hampton and Doug Hampton l… [...]
June 18th, 2009 at 10:57 am
[...] Senator Ensign Cynthia Hampton Affair [...]
October 6th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Mr. Senator you have a beautiful wife (looking) at the woman besides you with your children. What else did you need another man’s wife for???
If you want to start an affairs or flirt around, or want to feel young again at heart, do it with a younger woman, not an older woman older than your wife???
Please, think of the consequences of your action(s) before you begin!!! Your son can’t bear the disgrace and distress you’ve brought to him and he covered his face. What a price!!!