#john ensign

[republicansexscandals]

[republicansexscandals]

[republicansexscandals]

[expletive-avoidance]

When an Ensign aide later called to say the senator was unhappy that the executive did not give Mr. Hampton a job, the executive screamed at the aide to ‘tell the senator to pick up’ the phone, adding a vulgarity for emphasis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/us/politics/documents-reveal-details-of-fbi-investigation-into-disgraced-senator-john-ensign.html

[jenn2d2]

The Justice Department’s decision not to charge Mr. Ensign was widely seen as a sign of its skittishness about prosecuting and potentially losing public corruption cases in the wake of stinging courtroom defeats against former Senators Ted Stevens of Alaska and John Edwards of North Carolina. The documents confirm that speculation: In an internal email in 2011 assessing the chances of prosecuting Mr. Ensign, a top prosecutor wrote that “the legal theory is possible with the right facts” but that the “mere response” of helping a former Senate employee to find work “is not enough.” Another prosecutor wrote that “this is a really tough case to win.” The documents show that the investigation was also complicated by a legal conflict because Lanny A. Breuer, head of the Justice Department’s criminal division at the time, had worked with a defense lawyer in the Ensign camp at Mr. Breuer’s prior law firm, Covington & Burling. Mr. Breuer was temporarily recused from the Ensign investigation as a result of the conflict, the records show, but later got a waiver that allowed him to oversee it with certain restrictions put on him, officials said. In 2012, Mr. Breuer and the Justice Department decided not to bring criminal charges against Mr. Ensign. Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said the internal documents made the Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute Mr. Ensign — and charge his aide instead — even more perplexing. “This case more than any other public corruption investigation we’ve seen is just so troubling,” said Ms. Sloan, a former federal prosecutor. “If you’re powerful, it makes it look as if you can get away with anything.”

Documents Reveal Details of F.B.I. Investigation Into Disgraced Senator Ensign - NYTimes.com

[altoecko]

My God, the imagination some people have. 

[sarahlee310-blog]

In a letter released Friday, the six-member panel said Coburn's communications with Doug Hampton and his actions on behalf of the former administrative assistant "were improper conduct which reflects on the Senate." The committee said the contact warranted a public letter of qualified admonition. Specifically, the committee said a meeting between the two violated the Senate rule barring contact on legislative matters within the first year of a staffer's departure, commonly known as the "cooling off period."