Ensign’s misdeeds resurface despite efforts to veil them in a senatorial cape

John Ensign should send David Letterman two dozen roses. The talk show host's revelation about the extortion attempt against him is overwhelming The New York Times' investigation into legal and ethical questions surrounding Ensign's affair.

There are differences between these two members of the Bosses Who Boff Women Who Work For Them Club.

One tells jokes.

The other is a joke.

Nonetheless, Ensign is a U.S. senator from Nevada who affects our lives, our taxes and our health care.

While Ensign was definitely married at the time of his affair with Cindy Hampton, it's not clear whether Letterman was married or single.

It's what happened since that draws a clear distinction between the two. When Ensign and Letterman were told money would buy silence, Ensign turned to another Republican senator: Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

Letterman turned to law enforcement.

On Friday, CBS producer Robert Joel Halderman was charged with trying to extort $2 million from Letterman.

On Thursday, the Times reported Coburn negotiated an $8.5 million demand from the Hamptons down to $2 million. In the end, Ensign's folks ponied up to the Hampton family $96,000, a credit to someone's negotiating skills, except it failed to buy the Hamptons' silence.

But the guts of the Times' story involved whether Ensign improperly used his influence to help land Hampton jobs with Allegiant Air and NV Energy, and then, in violation of Senate rules, permitted Hampton to lobby him on behalf of the two companies.

Ensign revealed his affair on June 16, a pre-emptive strike. Fearing a news story would beat him to the punch, the senator announced he'd had a 9-month affair with an employee. Later, his mistress was identified as Cindy Hampton, Ensign's campaign treasurer, and his wife Darlene's best friend. Her husband, Doug Hampton, was Ensign's co-chief of staff.

The Times raised issues that may force the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate whether Ensign violated ethics laws by allowing Hampton to lobby him. Departing top aides are prohibited for one year from lobbying anyone in the Senate. Hampton could face criminal charges for failing to register as a lobbyist, but he said he did it with Ensign's knowledge. Wouldn't that make Ensign culpable?

Comments from NV Energy and Allegiant to the Times back Hampton's allegations he lobbied Ensign and others on their behalf. Even Coburn said a lunch meeting he had with Ensign and Hampton "was wrong" because it was before the one-year ban ended.

Ensign had been lulled into thinking the scandal was behind him because stories about his failed health care amendments had ceased mentioning his cheatin' heart and parental payoffs. It had been some time since national TV shows had grouped him with fellow adulterers former U.S. Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Mark Sanford. But the Times' 4,000-word front-page article yanked Ensign's dubious ethical standards back to the media's front burner.

There are certain dates to remember. Ensign said the affair started in December 2007 and ended in August 2008. (Doug Hampton said it ended earlier but why would Ensign lie about that?)

In February 2008 when the affair was going strong, Ensign worked with his fund-raiser Mike Slanker to get lobbying and consultant work for Hampton by reviving Slanker's dormant company, November Inc.

In May 2008, the Hamptons quit working for Ensign, but the affair continued. For a year later, Doug Hampton shouldn't have been lobbying anyone in the Senate, much less his wife's lover. Meanwhile, officials at NV Energy and Allegiant told the Times that Hampton was lobbying for them in the Senate and provided specifics. Seems like a slam-dunk ethics violation.

What's more open to debate is whether Ensign's efforts to find Hampton a job were different than what he'd do for any other aide, although his motivation certainly seems suspect.

Letterman's public and oddly humorous confession on Thursday's "The Late Show," will get more TV time and column inches because he's a celebrity. Far more people feel they know him than Ensign, a junior senator from a state large in size but small in population.

But no matter how much he hopes they'll be forgotten, Ensign's misdeeds won't evaporate into nothingness. Nor will Letterman's.

The affair obviously hasn't forced Ensign to resign, nor do most Nevadans think he should, according to a poll in July.

Meanwhile, watch for Letterman's ratings to spike.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.