Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevadahas acknowledged having an extra-marital affair.
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has acknowledged an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer in a statement released by his office. “I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions,” said Ensign. He is expected to announce the affair at a press conference at 6:30 pm tonight. The affair, which was with a woman who worked for both Ensign’s re-election campaign and his Battle Born leadership political action committee, began in December 2007 and ended in August 2008. Ensign’s wife, Darlene, said that the couple’s “marriage has become stronger” and added: “I love my husband.”
And in case you were wondering, he’s a huge hypocrite:
Eleven years ago, Ensign voted to impeach President Bill Clinton on two counts related to the cover-up of his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Five years ago, Ensign took to the floor of the Senate and said this:
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.
Update: Ensign called on Bill Clinton to resign during the Lewinsky scandal as well as Larry Craig to resign. Funny, he didn’t call on Vitter to resign. Hmmmm…
In 1998, while running for Nevada’s Senate seat against Harry Reid, Ensign called on President Clinton to resign in light of his admitted affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky:
“I came to that conclusion recently, and frankly it’s because of what he put his whole Cabinet through and what he has put the country through,” Ensign said Thursday, becoming the first member of the Nevada delegation to call for Clinton to quit. “He has no credibility left.”
So, does Ensign think he has any credibility left?
Update #2: Now we see why he’s coming forward now. The husband of the woman was trying to extort money from him.
Late Update: Politico has more detail, including a reported demand for money from the husband of Ensign’s lover:
Political insiders in the Senate and in Nevada told POLITICO that Ensign began an affair with a staffer several months after he separated from his wife. When Ensign reconciled with his wife, the sources said, he gave the aide a severance package and parted ways.
Sometime 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.