Nevada Senator Ensign to Acknowledge Extra-marital Affair
The Fix (Washington Post political blog) is reporting that Nevada Senator John Ensign is about to acknowledge an extra-marital affair in a press conference later today–a sure bet that he’s trying to clear the air for a presidential run or that someone else was about to go public with the news:
Ensign, a member of the Senate GOP leadership, flew back to his native Las Vegas today in anticipation of the public announcement, sources said, missing a vote considered key to the Nevada tourist industry.
Two senior GOP political strategists, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, said the announcement was imminent. They declined to say with whom Ensign had the affair.
In February 2002, Ensign took an unexplained two week leave of absence from the Senate citing “personal reasons.”
When he returned from that respite, Ensign told the Las Vegas Sun that he was “not making any comments one way or the other. I’m just asking people to respect my privacy.”
Apparently Ensign had an affair with a campaign staffer who was also employed by Ensign’s Senate office. From LasVegasNow:
Update
An aide in Ensign’s office said the affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008, with a campaign staffer who was married to an employee in Ensign’s Senate office. Neither have worked for the senator since May 2008. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity.
Of course the irony in all of this is that Ensign is a stalwart defender of the Defense of Marriage Act and emphatically voted to impeach President Clinton for having an extra-marital affair. Ensign’s statement from the Senate floor:
Marriage recognizes the ideal of a father and mother living together to raise their children. Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded. For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simply point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation. Marriage, as a social institution, predates every other institution on which ordered society in America has relied.
Similar Posts:
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- Should Senator Ensign Resign over Extra-marital Affair?
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I’m shocked, Shocked, SHOCKED! How did Ensign ever work enough time into his golf schedule to have an affair? Surely, it must have been just a few “quickies” you know, “to relieve the stress” of being a do nothing, obstructionist, hypocrit with good hair!
Since the Ensign-nificant One had an affair with a subordinate employee – doesn’t that constitute sexual harrassement TOO?
Why, yes – YES IT DOES!
Well, at least, it’s not like he threw some poor girl up against a parking lot garage and tried to rape her?
Whew! I’ll sleep better tonight knowing that the Nevada Republican Party is self destructing before our very eyes and making things much, much easier for the Democrats to maintain our majorities in the State Assembly and Senate – and to take back the Governor’s Mansion!
Thanks John Ensign – Jim Gibbons and Bernie Z!