Is Ensign's Sex Scandal More Than a Sex Scandal?

Crossposted at The Sunlight Foundation blog.

Yesterday, Sen. John Ensign admitted to an affair with a campaign staffer who was also the wife of Ensign's administrative assistant. The couple ensnared in this torrid love triangle is Douglas Hampton, the administrative assistant, and Cynthia Hampton, an employee of Ensign's 2008 campaign and his Battle Born PAC. We know that Ensign revealed the affair because Douglas Hampton essentially blackmailed the senator. But, were the Hampton's receiving excessive pay from Ensign during the affair period? Politico looked at the official office payments to Douglas Hampton and found some numbers that look a bit... odd:

Douglas Hampton was paid about $101,000 in 2008 and $144,000 in 2007 as Ensign's administrative assistant. But a financial disclosure form he filed in 2007 and 2008 - required for senior congressional staffers - showed only checking and savings account worth a maximum $30,000 combined.

A review of public records shows that the Hamptons in 2006 took out a $1.2 million mortgage on their Las Vegas home, at an interest rate of 8 percent.

Now, you might immediately think that $144,000 for an administrative assistant is an absurd amount, but administrative assistant is often synonymous with chief of staff on the Hill. However, if you look to the reporting period of 4/1/2008 to 5/1/08:

Hampton was paid approximately $20,000 over this one month period. At the same time, Ensign hired a chief of staff, John Lopez, ostensibly to replace Hampton. If we are to assume that Hampton's annual salary is around $144,000 -- the cap on staffer salaries is around $160,000 -- then the $20,000 for one month ($240,000 in a year) would be far higher than his normal rate of pay. Over the four months of 2008 Hampton received $101,000, far more than his rate of pay for all of 2007.

There are a few points to be made here:

1) Staff salary reporting is often not aligned with the dates shown. If you look at Legistorm, you will see dates aligned with amounts. This is often not accurate, or includes bonuses with attribution.

2) Hampton could have collected his vacation pay, sick leave and a bonus at his termination, which would make his salary appear inflated.

3) Hampton could have stayed on to train Lopez in his new job. This would explain the overlap of two employees holding the same job.

(More: While writing this post, Politico released another report showing that the son of Douglas and Cynthia Hampton was on the payroll of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) while Ensign headed the organization. Also, this post about whether the Hampton's were pushed to extort Ensign due to a subprime mortgage on their house is worth a look too.)

Since these questions are integral to whether Hampton was received extra pay while Ensign was sleeping with his wife, there are important disclosure problems that need to be addressed. They are:

• The Senate does not disclose their office expenditures online in any format at all. The House is planning on disclosing online in August. The Senate has no plans.


• We could use better staff salary expenditure information so that the pay doesn't look so confusing. Sorry Hill staffers, I know you hate it, but you work for the government.


• Why is it that Senate campaigns do not disclose expenditures? Yet another failure due to the lack of electronic filing in the Senate. Due to the lack of electronic filing we can't -- easily -- find the precise amounts paid to Cynthia Hampton through Ensign's campaign committee, only his PAC.

Comments

[gatogato]

What's the big deal? Henry Hyde, who was instrumental in the Clinton impeachment, shrugged off any suggestion of hypocrisy even though he himself had an affair he described as a "youthful indiscretion" (he was the same age as Clinton when he had the affair and he was in office). His mistress' kids got state funded educations through Hyde. He did not see the big deal about that. They were good kids.

[larry278]

May infants enjoy their infancy as much as we adults enjoy adultery; right Sen Ensign.

[FarOutFish]

"A man with a hard-on has not brain" Politicians of every stripe have fallen victim to this fact. Political party is irrelevant, both are full of horn dogs. Remember Kissinger said "Power is the greatest aphrodisiac.:

[FunkyP]

The real shocker is not that a Republican was caught committing adultery; the shock is that it was with a woman. What's happening to the GayOld Party?

[DragonFly]

If it weren't for Douglas Hampton making a move on Ensign, this story probably would never have reached headlines

To get caught up in arguing 'hypocrisy', is to be suckered..
There is little question in my mind that the 'affair' is the lesser of two evils here; a slight of hand, the fluff of sensationalism being blown at us.

If there's an underbelly to this story, it's the inappropriate compensation that flowed to Ensign's little love ring via public funding.

[liberalsrheros]

that certainly is the aspect that carries real penalties.

until concrete evidence is supplied i'm inclined to believe that this supposed extortion aspect by the hamptons is preemptive smear coordinated by ensign to shift attention and responsibility.

[dubster]

Why was Doug Hampton paid less in 2008 than in 2007? The affair started in 07' and ended in the early fall of 08' so was Hampton in cahoots with his wife over the liason in order to extort money? At any rate this makes for an excellent story. There's certainly more to this.

Moreover, does anyone have any links to images of Cindy Hampton?!!! I need to see what this woman looks like.

[azcamp]

We need to act more like adults and stay out of the private lives of politicians. They have the same human foibles as the general population while they pretend to behave better. We should stop taking the news of adultery, alcoholism and bigotry as the scandal of the day. It is not news, it is just confirmation of human frailness.

[madragoo]

I will stay out of theirs when they stay out of ours. This is the same guy that wanted clinton impeached for monica and yes he resigned his chairman post but has not given up being a sentor. This is another repub that screams about the sancitiy of marriage but is a having an affair.

[dubster]

are you kidding me? Bigotry isn't a scandal? If we were to ignore bigotry then by default we would be complicit in it's nasty vileness. In addition, we would also be condoning it because if we didn't underscore why bigotry is so bad then your average folks wouldn't understnad why it's so bad. They would give it a pass. And that's what you're requesting - is to give a bigotry a pass. With all due respect, I vehemently disagree with you. Bigotry isn't just "human frailness" as you say, it's completely sinister and should not be tolerated what so over.

[deecee22]

Haven't you heard adultry and threesome affairs makes tradational marriages stronger?

[timetorevolt]

John "the Pimp" Ensign...or was he being Pimped ?

[truthartbeauty]

ah yes, those high moral standards. those made in heaven marriages.....so special you all are.

[Summer71]

I'm going to make a prediction that when the truth finally comes out we'll discover that Ensign was actually participating in threesomes with this couple, hence all the hush money.

[suigeneris]

That's the first thing I thought of too.

[kapo]

Nice work Paul

[audadvnc]

Oh, this keeps getting better - adultery, extortion - now tax evasion! You gotta love those oh-so-righteous wingnuts!

[superstition]

Ensign:

“The effort to pass a constitutional amendment reaffirming marriage as being between a man and a woman only is being undertaken strictly as a defense of marriage against the attempt to redefine it and, in the process, weaken it,” Ensign said.

"Marriage is an extremely important institution in this country and protecting it is, in my mind, worth the extraordinary step of amending our constitution.”

Given the President's incest/pedophilia DOMA brief, I think this angle is also bigger news than it would otherwise be.

[BarryS]

I guess adultery [it was adultery, as forbidden in the 10 commandments - you know the word of God -- in the bible.] is OK by a republican hypocrite. I'm sure God, his wife, his children, and the familoy whose woman he adulterated think he is a fine man because he is a MORAL gop person. Of course, the bible says otherwise, and ensign who believes in the bible should know better. or, is he an atheist bible-denier?

[dclobbyist]

No, it's not okay. Ensign never said he was perfect, nor did he say he was right. If you're going to quote the Bibe, here's one for you --- "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

[RevBookburn]

We're having a conservative Christian Republican family-values party on a forthcoming weekend. We'll have whipped cream, dessert toppings, web cams, an assortment of toys, paddles, and buckets of free money. We'll keep you posted. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta

[dclobbyist]

Sounds like you'll behaving a liberal funfest! You go for it, Sparky!

[timetorevolt]

Larry Craig, Vitter, Newt Gingrich, Mark Foley going to be the first to show up.. Rudy Guliana will show up late in a pink drag outfit..