Nevada Sen. John Ensign to admit affair; sources say blackmail involved

Politico ^ | 6/16/09 | Manu Raju

[CA Conservative]

How is it an affair if he was separated from his wife?

Two points - first, if he was separated but still married, it is still an affair. Second, it appears the woman involved was also married.

I'm glad he and his wife apparently worked it out, but this will still cause political headaches.

[Popman]

I fail to see why considering the affair is now in the open because he was open to blackmail and decided to disclose the problem about it.

If having an affair as a Congress critter is the criteria to lose your security clearance, half of them wouldn't be allowed to enter the chambers

[dfwgator]

If having an affair as a Congress critter is the criteria to lose your security clearance, half of them wouldn't be allowed to enter the chambers

Works for me.

[driftdiver]

jveritas, are you without sin?

[TexasFreeper2009]

we do not know if he knew she was married.

[driftdiver]

and women will be gold diggers evidently

[Sudetenland]

The question is irrelevant. I am not a public servant, I do not put myself forward as a representative of the Party and the people. If I had it would not have placed the Republican Party in greater jeopardy.

You argue like a Liberal vis a vis if a person is not perfect, then they have no right to question the actions of another...it is a false premise. Expecting perfection or silence is a straw argument. Liberals love to use that argument and do so all of the time...maybe you are on the wrong forum.

The only question is, did he do wrong (yes) and if so how should Conservatives respond?

In answer to your question, it's none of your business whether I did or didn't. I'm certainly not going to indulge your prurient interest by answering.

[mad_as_he$$]

So the husband is scott free?

[CA Conservative]

we do not know if he knew she was married.

Well, since she was one of his employees, I assume he knew her marital status.. However, even if he didn't know, it is still adultery. It may mitigate his culpability on that score, but he was still involved in a sexual relationship with another woman while he was still married. That constitutes an affair.

[metesky]

How Hamiltonian...

[Sir_Ed]

Jesus said it best, God wants people to stay married for their entire lives, but for the hardness of the hearts God gave Moses a writ of divorce for adultery, but anything outside of that is a grave sin...

Ya’ wanna argue with me over that, argue it with The Big Guy up in Heaven...He made the rules, not I!

Ed

[Darlin']

"Apparently it was with a female anyway..."

LOL. There you go, the silver lining.

During a rough time in his personal life the man made a personal mistake. Now, it appears that he and his family have worked through a painful period and are trying to get on with their lives. The other woman was dismissed and given severance which is considerably more than she might have gotten had the Senator's wife decided she preferred revenge over being married to her husband. Unfortunately for the other woman, it looks like her husband was more interested in money than in his wife or her reputation. Now he will likely have lots of time in a very small place to contemplate the error of his felonious mistake.

[AliVeritas]

You read my mind.

[SeaHawkFan]

He should definitely lose any security clearance he has.

When he confessed after an attempted blackmail, there is no reason to lose a clearance. If anything, it does show a considerable degree of integrity. Doesn't excuse his behavior, but he owned up to it.

He also seems to have tried to make sure the other woman wasn't harmed financially. Think a democrat would have done the same?

[Political Junkie Too]

...Ensign began an affair with a staffer...

I'll add this much, pretty much the same I said about Clinton and Lewinsky.

Because of the unequal power distribution between the Senator and the staffer, even consensual sex could still be considered sexual harrassment in the workplace, and at the least it creates a hostile work environment to the others who work there.

-PJ

[dfwgator]

Can we really be sure that he won’t do it again, and open himself up once again to blackmail? His word means nothing, based on him breaking the biggest promise he made in his life. Why take the chance?

[AliVeritas]

I wonder how long the aide worked for him?

[theDentist]

Seems to me the woman’s husband should be charged with attempted extortion...

[Deb]

Why?

[microgood]

When he confessed after an attempted blackmail, there is no reason to lose a clearance. If anything, it does show a considerable degree of integrity. Doesn't excuse his behavior, but he owned up to it.

As someone who had a clearance, I do know that anyone caught having an affair, admitted or not, would lose that clearance immediately. That may or may not apply to a Senator, but it would to a normal federal worker.