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 ...
Well,yes,that would be the best option.
John Adams
Too bad he’s not a Dem; he could have parlayed his affair into a really plum committee position.
What a complete idiot.
I think there are differences between the two events. Sen. Craig was soliciting for sex in the airport bathrooms and was caught by police. He was arrested. Sen. Ensign had an affair.
Sounds like it.
“the fourth-ranking GOP position in the Senate,”
Did the CIA lie to him as well or just the Speaker?
Oh, you mean like Sen. David Vitter?
Because most Pub politicians still retain some sense of shame, and most conservative voters still retain a sense of outrage and disgust over moral lapses in their elected representatives. Liberal politicians have no sense of shame, and liberal voters are bereft of any sense of morality.
I’m confused - was the affair with Doug or with Cindy?
That’s not the only difference. Adultery is wrong. Homosexual behavior is sick and wrong.
He must have been a RINO, otherwise he would abide by the catechism of republicans, like the other thread says.
It’s a smart move to resign the leadership post, similar to what Trent Lott was forced to do after his innocent praise of Strom on his 100th birthday. It’s not fair and it’s not right, but it does minimize the damage the dems/MSM can try to inflict. He will not resign his seat, period.
Maybe it was a threesome.
These Senators are irredeemably corrupt, whichever side of the aisle they sit on.
Sometimes I regret that the US Capitol was not hit on 9/11, while Congress was in session.
He said he was being blackmailed by the husband (which itself is criminal).
He may have been wrong for leadership because of personal failings but this is fishy.
Now if he had had a homosexual relationship (barney frank) then he would have been promoted.
Other than then the physical environment of the sexual encounter, it appears to be one and the same moral crime, breaking your wedding vows.
“Sen. Ensign had an affair.”
While he and his wife were seperated.
A homosexual relationship with a man running a gay prostitution ring out of his office...
A workplace sexual harassment case with a college intern...
A death that was covered up by failing to report the accident to the authorities in a timely manner...
Sen. Ensign had sex while Sen. Craig did not.
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