Sen. Ensign's Parents Gave Nearly $100000 to Family of Mistress

[tj2001]

Source: FOXNews

LAS VEGAS -- An attorney for U.S. Sen. John Ensign says the senator's parents gave his mistress and her family nearly $100,000. In statement released Thursday, Paul Coggins says Ensign's parents made the gifts "out of concern for the well being of longtime family friends during difficult time."

Coggins says the gift was made in the form of a check totaling $96,000 in April 2008, after the Nevada Republican had told his parents of his affair.

Ensign last month acknowledged the affair with former campaign aide and family friend Cindy Hampton. He has said the affair continued until August 2008.

Coggins says the money did not come from campaign funds. He says Ensign has complied with all "applicable laws and Senate ethics rules."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/09/sen-ensigns-parents-gave-nearly-family-mistress?test=latestnews

[GodlessBiker]

1. Holy crap!

[livetohike]

2. More GOP family values. Have mommy and daddy fix it

no matter how old you (or they) are.

[Swede]

3. Sounds more like hush money,to me.

Those holier than thou repukes.

[cosmicone]

4. Ensign is a scumbag but ...

... that woman is also a scheming "commercial sex worker" ... she and her husband probably planned the whole thing to make money.

[JDPriestly]

13. As we used to say: Nice work if you can get it.

[peacetalksforall]

5. Question number 1 - did they launder money - did the money come from

someone else?

#2. Is this news to cover up the Cornyn news - so that Murdoch Fox, Time-Warner Cnn, GE nbx's, disney abc, viacom + cbs can concentrate on the parents only?

[Sydnie]

6. You hold a spaghetti supper for families that are having a rough time

not write a check for 100 grand!

That's one hell of a gift for someone who is not family.

Imagine the conversation THAT must have been asking his parents for the money! :rofl:

[lindisfarne]

7. Bribery recharacterized as a "gift". Paid to the whole family. Aren't FAMILY VALUES great?n/t

[PatSeg]

8. How stupid can people be?

A check for $96,000??? Oh that's really subtle and couldn't possibly raise any red flags. They couldn't have found a more discreet way to give the family money? How do both parties explain such a large sum to the IRS? They clearly are as dumb as they are corrupt, if that's possible.

[PatSeg]

11. Okay

Evidently they gave the money in increments of $12,000, but it still looks really shady.

[handmade34]

14. seems to me

the stupid people are the constituents of John Ensign for allowing him to stay in office

[PatSeg]

17. I think it's a virus

I can't imagine how some of these clowns get elected, Bachmann, Inhofe, Ted Stevens, etc. It has to be a virus or possibly body snatchers.

[cosmicone]

19. It is actually a clever way...

Gifts of $12,000 or below are neither reportable nor taxable.

[PatSeg]

20. Clever, if you don't have a public scandal!

Guess they were too arrogant to believe anyone would ever find out.

[LiberalFighter]

9. Were they given gambling chips too? Or free nights at their casino resort?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

10. "Mom 'n' Dad, can I have 100K in hush money?" "No." "But Senator ENSIGN's parents

gave HIM 100K in hush money!"

:cry:

[Rebubula]

12. Damn...

...why can't I ever get lucky enough to sleep with someone famous and something to lose??

Good work if you can get it...

[RedEarth]

15. Here's an article from Politico....personally, I don't like to click on a fixed news link

Sen. John Ensign's parents shelled out big bucks to pay off their son's mistress, the latest twist in an unfolding scandal that has upended the political career of the one-time rising GOP star.


The scandal has also touched Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), another prominent conservative, who revealed that he had confronted Ensign about the affair and urged him to end it, but says he will refuse to divulge any conversations with Ensign — even under inquiry from ethics investigators.


On Thursday, Ensign's attorney said that the senator's parents gave Doug Hampton, Cynthia Hampton and their two children gifts worth $96,000 in the form of a check. The attorney, Paul Coggins, said that each gift was limited to $12,000 and "complied with tax rules governing gifts."

The disclosure of the April 2008 payment seemed intended to head off growing questions about whether Ensign violated federal law by failing to report what Doug Hampton called a severance package worth more than $25,000 TO his wife Cynthia, who left Ensign's campaign staff on April 30, 2008.

Ensign was not required to report the giving of such gifts, and on Thursday, his attorney went to lengths to point out that the payments were made and "accepted" as gifts from personal accounts rather than as a severance package for their dismissal from his staff. It's unclear whether the Hamptons view the payments as a gift or as severance, and an attorney for the couple wasn't reachable for comment.

more.....................

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24748.html

[Tanuki]

16. I have to wonder if the elderly parents were even aware of this...

If Ensign is 51 years old, the parents are probably well into their 70's (at least). With all due apologies to our many sharp-as-a-tack DUer's in that age range, some people are having trouble managing their assets by that age and have appointed trusted persons (e.g., their kids) as power-of-attorney. This will be even worse if it turns out that he was dissipating their assets unbeknownst to them. It would be considered a category of elder abuse...

[seaglass]

18. Hey this is cool - I linked to your post from the New York Times.

scroll to the bottom:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/ensigns-parents-paid-lover-and-family-96000/?hp

[kestrel91316]

21. Casino money used to cover up John's dirty little secret. Must be

nice to have bazillionaire parents who will save your sorry ass at this age.

You are a completely disgusting piece of shit, John, and so are your parents.