FBI gets involved in John Ensign affair

[ccharles000]

Federal agents have started interviewing people connected to Sen. John Ensign’s sex scandal, a potential sign that the Nevada Republican could face a criminal probe over the matter, according to several sources familiar with the matter.

The FBI has contacted former aides to Ensign — in both Las Vegas and in Washington, the sources said. The sources said it appears that the FBI has begun a preliminary review of the case, and there’s no evidence yet that it will become a full-fledged criminal investigation into the senator’s conduct. At the same time, the Senate Ethics Committee has already launched an inquiry, issuing subpoenas last month to a slew of former Ensign aides.

“Yes, the FBI has contacted witnesses — in this case, former aides,” said one source familiar with the matter. “We’ll see where it leads.”

After revealing last summer that he had carried on an extramarital affair with former campaign aide Cynthia Hampton, who was married to his top Senate aide Doug Hampton, Ensign has been hit with a series of questions over his conduct as the two left his payroll. In addition to whether he failed to report a $96,000 gift from his parents as a severance payment to the Hamptons, Ensign is also facing questions over whether he helped Doug Hampton break the law by assisting with his former aide’s lobbying career despite a federally required cooling off period.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31652.html

[DJ13]

1. That ought to make him

soil his diaper.