. . . Ensign's office, however, said the decision to publicly reveal the affair was not driven by the request for money. An aide said Ensign decided to go public after learning that Hampton had written to Fox News with the details of the affair, asking that network undertake an investigation into Ensign's affair with his wife. In the letter, Hampton suggested he wanted to file a lawsuit against the senator.
Mazzola would not say how the senator or his aides came to learn of Hampton's outreach to Fox News, only that once they were alerted to it, Ensign quickly returned home and sought to announce the affair on his own terms."Doug Hampton first approached the media. He approached a major television news channel before Tuesday. We learned of this fact before the press conference," Mazzola said.
Fox, meanwhile, was left with its own explaining to do yesterday after it was revealed that the network passed on the chance to publicize the allegations about Ensign's affair.
After the Nevada Republican acknowledged the affair Tuesday, a Fox producer failed to tell his bosses that he had the letter from Douglas Hampton, and Fox never reported it. The Las Vegas Sun disclosed the letter's contents Friday.
"Sometimes a ball gets by," said Tom Lowell, senior producer of Fox's "American Newsroom." "This one got by." It was, he said, "my
mistake."
Hampton had written to the program's co-anchor, Megyn Kelly, saying he was not giving the information to any other news outlet. Lowell said his primary concern was protecting Kelly, who "has any number of people who have stalked her."
Fox says it never received the letter that Douglas Hampton says he mailed to Kelly, but
it was later attached to an e-mail that the network received at 12:21 p.m. Monday.. . .
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061902327.html?hpid=topnews"Mistake," my behind. Does anyone of sound mind on DU believe anything other than that Faux News not only chose not to pursue the story about the GOP senator, but went immediately to Ensign to warn him that they had received this letter? Sure, Faux News has a denial of doing this on their website, and I give that denial as much credibility as the rest of their "journalism." Good for the Washington Post (never thought I would write that) for doing an article on this.
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