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Senator John Ensign (R-Nev)
“A born-again Christian, Ensign has been a member of the Promise Keepers, a male evangelical group that promotes marital fidelity.”
Ensign admits affair; sources say blackmail involved
POLITICO Tue Jun 16, 6:47 pm ET
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) acknowledged Tuesday that he had “violated the vows” of marriage by having an affair with a campaign staffer.
The admission — made in a televised appearance in Las Vegas — shocked Ensign’s Senate colleagues and delivered a serious blow to any hopes he might have had of seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
Political insiders in the Senate and in Nevada told POLITICO that Ensign began the affair with the staffer several months after he separated from his wife, Darlene. When Ensign reconciled with his wife, the sources said, he gave the aide a severance package, and the two parted ways.
Some time later, a Nevada source said, Ensign met with the husband of the woman involved and had what this source described as a positive encounter. Sources said that the man subsequently asked Ensign for a substantial sum of money — at which point Ensign decided to make the affair public.
Ensign did not provide specifics about the affair Tuesday, nor did he identify the woman involved, except to say that she and her husband “were close friends, and both of them worked for me.”
“Last year, I had an affair,” Ensign said. “I violated the vows of my marriage. It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. If there was ever anything in my life that I could take back, this would be it. I take full responsibility for my actions.”
Ensign said he deeply regretted the affair — and that he remains committed to his Senate duties.
In a statement to the Las Vegas Sun, Darlene Ensign said: “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.”
Ensign informed fellow Nevadan Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, about his situation prior to making his public announcement.
“I don’t know the details. I talked with him today,” Reid told POLITICO Tuesday afternoon. “Of course, he’s my friend. This is a private, family matter. I just hope that Darlene and he work things out.”
Reid said he didn’t offer any advice on how to handle the situation. “I didn’t give him any advice,” he said. “I just told him he’s my friend. I’m pulling for him. Anything I can do to help, let me know.”
Ensign is chairman of the GOP Policy Committee, making him the highest-ranking Republican senator in Nevada’s history.
Ensign was absent from Capitol Hill on Tuesday, skipping the weekly lunch that his committee hosts for GOP senators and its ensuing news conference, where party leaders espouse their weekly message.
His announcement stunned colleagues, who were preparing for this summer’s big battles over the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor and health care reform but now have to contend with a drama hovering over one of their leaders.
Elected in 2000, the 51-year-old Ensign has moved up the leadership chain in the Senate. As chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2008, Ensign oversaw the devastating losses by GOP candidates. But his party largely spared him of blame, casting it instead on an unpopular president who dragged down the party’s brand. Since then, Ensign has sought to articulate conservative principles and is a mainstay at GOP news conferences deriding Democrats’ domestic policies.
Ensign ran for the Senate in 1998 against Reid in a nasty cliffhanger race that Reid won by a razor-thin 428 votes. Reid and Ensign have since reached a détente; neither man criticizes the other by name back home.
A staunch fiscal and social conservative, Ensign has been considered a rising star in his party, recently making headlines by speaking at events in Iowa, raising speculation about his interest in a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
A born-again Christian, Ensign has been a member of the Promise Keepers, a male evangelical group that promotes marital fidelity.
When former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in an airport men’s room in the summer of 2007, Ensign was among Craig’s toughest critics, saying Craig should step down because he had been charged with a crime.
“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 told The Associated Press at the time.
During the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton, Ensign, then a Senate candidate, called on Clinton to resign.
Ensign admits affair; sources say blackmail involved
POLITICO Tue Jun 16, 6:47 pm ET
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) acknowledged Tuesday that he had “violated the vows” of marriage by having an affair with a campaign staffer.
The admission — made in a televised appearance in Las Vegas — shocked Ensign’s Senate colleagues and delivered a serious blow to any hopes he might have had of seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
Political insiders in the Senate and in Nevada told POLITICO that Ensign began the affair with the staffer several months after he separated from his wife, Darlene. When Ensign reconciled with his wife, the sources said, he gave the aide a severance package, and the two parted ways.
Some time later, a Nevada source said, Ensign met with the husband of the woman involved and had what this source described as a positive encounter. Sources said that the man subsequently asked Ensign for a substantial sum of money — at which point Ensign decided to make the affair public.
Ensign did not provide specifics about the affair Tuesday, nor did he identify the woman involved, except to say that she and her husband “were close friends, and both of them worked for me.”
“Last year, I had an affair,” Ensign said. “I violated the vows of my marriage. It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. If there was ever anything in my life that I could take back, this would be it. I take full responsibility for my actions.”
Ensign said he deeply regretted the affair — and that he remains committed to his Senate duties.
In a statement to the Las Vegas Sun, Darlene Ensign said: “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.”
Ensign informed fellow Nevadan Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, about his situation prior to making his public announcement.
“I don’t know the details. I talked with him today,” Reid told POLITICO Tuesday afternoon. “Of course, he’s my friend. This is a private, family matter. I just hope that Darlene and he work things out.”
Reid said he didn’t offer any advice on how to handle the situation. “I didn’t give him any advice,” he said. “I just told him he’s my friend. I’m pulling for him. Anything I can do to help, let me know.”
Ensign is chairman of the GOP Policy Committee, making him the highest-ranking Republican senator in Nevada’s history.
Ensign was absent from Capitol Hill on Tuesday, skipping the weekly lunch that his committee hosts for GOP senators and its ensuing news conference, where party leaders espouse their weekly message.
His announcement stunned colleagues, who were preparing for this summer’s big battles over the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor and health care reform but now have to contend with a drama hovering over one of their leaders.
Elected in 2000, the 51-year-old Ensign has moved up the leadership chain in the Senate. As chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2008, Ensign oversaw the devastating losses by GOP candidates. But his party largely spared him of blame, casting it instead on an unpopular president who dragged down the party’s brand. Since then, Ensign has sought to articulate conservative principles and is a mainstay at GOP news conferences deriding Democrats’ domestic policies.
Ensign ran for the Senate in 1998 against Reid in a nasty cliffhanger race that Reid won by a razor-thin 428 votes. Reid and Ensign have since reached a détente; neither man criticizes the other by name back home.
A staunch fiscal and social conservative, Ensign has been considered a rising star in his party, recently making headlines by speaking at events in Iowa, raising speculation about his interest in a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
A born-again Christian, Ensign has been a member of the Promise Keepers, a male evangelical group that promotes marital fidelity.
When former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in an airport men’s room in the summer of 2007, Ensign was among Craig’s toughest critics, saying Craig should step down because he had been charged with a crime.
“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 told The Associated Press at the time.
During the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton, Ensign, then a Senate candidate, called on Clinton to resign.
You know, if Sen. Ensign was a man of the moral compass he claims to be, he should resign from the Senate immedately. He called for Sen. Craig's ouster and called for former Pres. Clinton to resign. If he serves out his term, he's a hypocrite.
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