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Sen. Ensign Resigns GOP Leadership Post After Admitting Affair
FOX News ^ | June 17, 2009 | Trish Turner and Carl Cameron

Posted on 06/17/2009 10:47:42 AM PDT by MaestroLC

The Republican senator who went public a day earlier about an extramarital affair has resigned his GOP leadership post on Wednesday.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., stepped down as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the fourth-ranking GOP position in the Senate, after holding a brief news conference Tuesday to come clean about his affair with a former aide. He is not expected to resign from the Senate.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., confirmed the move Wednesday afternoon.

"He's accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his family and constituents. He offered, and I accepted, his resignation as chairman of the policy committee," the Kentucky senator said.

Several reasons contributed to Ensign's decision to step down from his post, according to a Senate GOP leadership aide. They included the likelihood of a persistent media firestorm stemming from his admission Tuesday; growing irritation within the conference regarding other distractions; and the possibility that more damaging information could emerge regarding the affair.

Sources told FOX News the admission was prompted by a blackmail threat. Two Senate Republican sources close to Ensign said a former employee had asked Ensign for money in what both sources described as a case of "extortion."

The employee, Doug Hampton, worked in Ensign's Senate office, and his wife, Cindy Hampton, worked for Ensign's re-election campaign. Both ceased working for the senator shortly after the affair ended, the sources said, with Cindy Hampton receiving a severance package. The circumstances of Doug Hampton's departure remain unclear.

Ensign expressed regret Tuesday for his actions.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Nevada
KEYWORDS: 111th; adultery; affair; blackmail; criminalconspiracy; ensign; extortion; gop; gopimplosion; resignation; resigns; stalinisttactics
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To: w1andsodidwe
The excuses are getting really ridiculous. The idea that your family being close to another family would just allow this to happen is beyond incredible.

Agreed, it actually shows just how far down the line this POS senator is in moral values. I would like to think and know a friend of mine could trust me with his wife.

121 posted on 06/17/2009 1:36:46 PM PDT by org.whodat
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To: stuartcr
He must have been a RINO

He was the most conservative member of the Senate leadership.

122 posted on 06/17/2009 1:40:16 PM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla ("men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." -- Edmund Burke)
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla

He couldn’t be according to the catechism of republicanism thread earlier.


123 posted on 06/17/2009 1:43:23 PM PDT by stuartcr (Everything happens as God wants it to...otherwise, things would be different.)
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To: kalee

> How about just keeping the sacred promise you made to your spouse?

THANK you. I don’t stomach excuses from Clintoon, Newt or any other moral-free knave in any ideological camp.

If you betray the one person you swore in front of God, family and friends to be true to, how are you going to treat your constituents, your country, your constitution?


124 posted on 06/17/2009 1:44:41 PM PDT by VictoryGal (Never give up, never surrender!)
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To: Carry_Okie

So what is the problem with Thune?


125 posted on 06/17/2009 1:50:28 PM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla ("men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." -- Edmund Burke)
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To: VictoryGal

As a Catholic I am not familiar with the moral situation with folks who are separated? Are you expected to be faithful when you are legally separated?


126 posted on 06/17/2009 1:53:31 PM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla ("men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." -- Edmund Burke)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

According to Politico, John Thune is making a run for the spot. Thune would be a great choice, IMO.


127 posted on 06/17/2009 1:53:53 PM PDT by St. Louis Conservative
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla

Marriage is a contract and until that is annulled or legally broken by divorce it is still in force, in my opinion, morally.

BTW, I am also Catholic.


128 posted on 06/17/2009 1:58:16 PM PDT by VictoryGal (Never give up, never surrender!)
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla

LCS wrote: “As a Catholic I am not familiar with the moral situation with folks who are separated? Are you expected to be faithful when you are legally separated?”

I would think that being separated before having an affair would preclude blackmail. That’s why I think we are not yet getting the whole story. The article hinted at Republicans being worried about further revelations...hence Ensign’s resignation.


129 posted on 06/17/2009 2:12:15 PM PDT by Reverend Wright ("Bankruptcy is not a sign of weakness." B. H. Obama, May 2, 2009.)
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To: Drango
He needs to resign from the Senate. In 2007 he urged Larry Craig (”a disgrace”) to resign.

Yeah, but Larry's stance was wider.
130 posted on 06/17/2009 2:24:48 PM PDT by mkjessup (Jimmy Carter is the Skidmark in the panties of American history, 0bama is the yellow stain in front.)
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To: St. Louis Conservative

I would support that.


131 posted on 06/17/2009 2:30:45 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Barack Obama: in your guts, you know he's nuts!)
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To: Abathar

Great point. They mentioned it five times in the snippet and four times for GOP.


132 posted on 06/17/2009 2:32:24 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (The UN has never won a war, nor a conflict, but liberals want it to rule all militaries.)
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Ensign to Acknowledge Extramarital Affair
Wash Post | June 16, 2009 | Chris Cillizza and Paul Kane
Posted on 06/16/2009 2:59:31 PM PDT by Hawk720
Edited on 06/16/2009 3:56:18 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2273098/posts


133 posted on 06/17/2009 2:37:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: drubyfive

Had it been a democrat the party might have been mentioned once, perhaps twice in the whole article.

This has been pointed out so many times it’s a running joke here.


134 posted on 06/17/2009 2:39:27 PM PDT by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
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To: Drango

I just do not understand why these pols risk their careers and self-respect for a little booty on the side. I guess they think they are too smart and too big to get caught. Not so for some of them, although I am sure there are dozens more fooling around with staffers late at night in their offices.


135 posted on 06/17/2009 2:44:43 PM PDT by mono
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To: pleikumud

This explains the rinos whinning about moral and ethical standards within the GOP. They can’t keep it in their pants.


136 posted on 06/17/2009 3:10:23 PM PDT by SaraJohnson
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To: andy58-in-nh
Only the honorable can be made to suffer shame.

I like this quote: it is brief and powerful.

137 posted on 06/17/2009 3:12:55 PM PDT by Theodore R.
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To: hoosierham
I smell a liberal-inspired set-up.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt. He did an honorable after doing the disgraceful thing.

138 posted on 06/17/2009 4:05:23 PM PDT by don-o (My son, Ben - Marine Private FC- 1/16/09 - Parris Island, SC - Lnc Crprl -6/4/09 - 29 Palms, CA)
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To: CA Conservative
Word.

You nailed it!

139 posted on 06/17/2009 4:07:52 PM PDT by don-o (My son, Ben - Marine Private FC- 1/16/09 - Parris Island, SC - Lnc Crprl -6/4/09 - 29 Palms, CA)
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To: Lucius Cornelius Sulla
IMO he's another Lindsey Graham or Orrin Hatch, talks conservatism but at key moments caves to the dark side.
140 posted on 06/17/2009 4:44:17 PM PDT by Carry_Okie (Grovelnator Schwarzenkaiser, fashionable fascism one charade at a time.)
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