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Justice Dept. opens preliminary investigation into Ensign's conduct

PogueMoran

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The Justice Department has begun a preliminary investigation into actions by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), who arranged to provide money and career assistance to the husband of his mistress, sources familiar with the case said Tuesday.

The tentative investigation is being run jointly by the Justice Department, the FBI's Washington Field Office and the U.S. attorney's office in the District, one federal law enforcement official said.

Ensign acknowledged last year that he had an extramarital relationship with former staffer Cynthia Hampton and that his parents paid nearly $100,000 to Hampton and her husband, Doug, as a gift. Doug Hampton has also told reporters that Ensign knowingly ignored ethics restrictions by helping him get a lobbying job and access to federal officials, according to news reports.
washingtonpost.com
 
So when will he resign?
 
This is just the first in many stupid invesitgations launched by Democrats against Republicans. They'll be giving the Republicans the, "Ted Williams Treatment", from now 'till 2012.
 
This is just the first in many stupid invesitgations launched by Democrats against Republicans. They'll be giving the Republicans the, "Ted Williams Treatment", from now 'till 2012.

Oh unlike the many "non stupid investigations" into Democrats during the Bush years?

Are you saying that the FBI and Justice Department are political now but were not under Bush?

Also the Conservatives on these boards have set a standard of sort, demanding every Democrat that is under investigation to resign.. Barney Frank and what not.

That has to go both ways..

So when is he going to resign and when are conservatives on these boards going to start demanding the same of their own people as they demand of the opposition?
 
Oh unlike the many "non stupid investigations" into Democrats during the Bush years?

Are you saying that the FBI and Justice Department are political now but were not under Bush?

Also the Conservatives on these boards have set a standard of sort, demanding every Democrat that is under investigation to resign.. Barney Frank and what not.

That has to go both ways..

So when is he going to resign and when are conservatives on these boards going to start demanding the same of their own people as they demand of the opposition?

Barney Frank should have resigned in disgrace after Freddie/Fannie failed.....;)
Dems know no shame though....
 
Oh unlike the many "non stupid investigations" into Democrats during the Bush years?

Are you saying that the FBI and Justice Department are political now but were not under Bush?

Also the Conservatives on these boards have set a standard of sort, demanding every Democrat that is under investigation to resign.. Barney Frank and what not.

That has to go both ways..

So when is he going to resign and when are conservatives on these boards going to start demanding the same of their own people as they demand of the opposition?

Which ones? Was there a single Democrat wrongfully and illegally convicted, like what happened to Ted Williams? I would love to hear about it, if so.
 
This is just the first in many stupid invesitgations launched by Democrats against Republicans. They'll be giving the Republicans the, "Ted Williams Treatment", from now 'till 2012.

How is it stupid? It sounds like there could actually be some ethics violations here. In the very least, it needs to be investigated to see if there really was any wrong doing. I somehow think that if the R was a D, we'd be seeing more support from the right side and not partisan groupthink going after the investigation itself. Is everyone held to standards? No, obviously the elite of both parties are well protected. But they shouldn't be. We need accountability in government and that means that we really do need to go after people who violate the law or ethics of their job. It's essential to control them.
 
How is it stupid? It sounds like there could actually be some ethics violations here. In the very least, it needs to be investigated to see if there really was any wrong doing. I somehow think that if the R was a D, we'd be seeing more support from the right side and not partisan groupthink going after the investigation itself. Is everyone held to standards? No, obviously the elite of both parties are well protected. But they shouldn't be. We need accountability in government and that means that we really do need to go after people who violate the law or ethics of their job. It's essential to control them.

Ensign hooked someone up with a job? Oh, the horror!!
 
Barney Frank should have resigned in disgrace after Freddie/Fannie failed.....;)
Dems know no shame though....
Politicians have no shame. Governor Sanford still hasnt resigned. Ensign tried to bribe his mistress' husband. Governor Jim Gibbons still hasnt resigned regardless of his countless scandals inclusing plagiarizing a speech in 2005, being investigated for bribery, his sheltering of an illegal immigrant as a babysitter/housekeeper, interference with a federal invesigation, his shady land deal, Im sure there will be more.
 
Ensign hooked someone up with a job? Oh, the horror!!

In ethical violation of his job. Yes, it's improper action if the allegations are true. This is why you can't talk to hyperpartisans. If Ensign was a Democrat dollars to donuts says you'd be in here talking about the corrupt Democrat party and how they'd try to get him off of the charges. If he violated the ethics of office, there must be consequences. We can't allow politicians to run around unrestrained. It's an essential part of having a constrained government. He didn't just write a letter of recommendation to some company or anything like that. It was a lobbying position and access to federal offices which is against ethics rules.

Investigate and see if there really was a violation. If so, then the Senator must face consequences.
 
In ethical violation of his job. Yes, it's improper action if the allegations are true. This is why you can't talk to hyperpartisans. If Ensign was a Democrat dollars to donuts says you'd be in here talking about the corrupt Democrat party and how they'd try to get him off of the charges. If he violated the ethics of office, there must be consequences. We can't allow politicians to run around unrestrained. It's an essential part of having a constrained government. He didn't just write a letter of recommendation to some company or anything like that. It was a lobbying position and access to federal offices which is against ethics rules.

Investigate and see if there really was a violation. If so, then the Senator must face consequences.

When you consider the crap that the Dems have overlooked, then this deal is nothing but a political witch hunt.

Still waiting, Pete. Thanks!
 
When you consider the crap that the Dems have overlooked, then this deal is nothing but a political witch hunt.

Still waiting, Pete. Thanks!

These things can be political witch hunts, it's important to apply these standards to everyone. But the government has acted improperly for some time now, many things on both sides have been overlooked. It's time that we stop overlooking these things. There must be accountability in the system, it's essential to controlling the government.
 
These things can be political witch hunts, it's important to apply these standards to everyone. But the government has acted improperly for some time now, many things on both sides have been overlooked. It's time that we stop overlooking these things. There must be accountability in the system, it's essential to controlling the government.

This is the same DoJ that dropped charges against two dudes who were standing in front of a polling house with axe handles, intimidating voters.

This is nothing more than a political witch hunt.

We'er going to start seeing alot of this, since the Liberal agenda is coming unwound like a cheap clock.
 
How is it stupid? It sounds like there could actually be some ethics violations here. In the very least, it needs to be investigated to see if there really was any wrong doing. I somehow think that if the R was a D, we'd be seeing more support from the right side and not partisan groupthink going after the investigation itself. Is everyone held to standards? No, obviously the elite of both parties are well protected. But they shouldn't be. We need accountability in government and that means that we really do need to go after people who violate the law or ethics of their job. It's essential to control them.

Nobody is objecting to the Senate Ethics Committee's investigation of whether or not Ensign broke Senate Ethics rules, but why exactly is the FBI involved? What federal law is he suspected of breaking? The gift reporting requirement?
 
How many guys give career assistance to the husbands of their mistresses? That's some Indecent Proposal **** right there.
 
Nobody is objecting to the Senate Ethics Committee's investigation of whether or not Ensign broke Senate Ethics rules, but why exactly is the FBI involved? What federal law is he suspected of breaking? The gift reporting requirement?

No, apparently the rules of congress which set forth ethics laws. That's what he's alleged to have violated. We should probably enforce those.

Yes, somehow the crap against the black panthers was dismissed. It shouldn't have been. Voter intimidation is a grave crime and MUST be treated as such. We need to demand that we don't just go after one guy for ethics violation, but we go after everyone who has acted improperly or broken laws while in office. It is essential to keeping the Republic.
 
So when will he resign?

What are your thoughts on the Black Panther scandal brewing? You know... the one where some thugs were let off from prosecution by Obama?
 
What are your thoughts on the Black Panther scandal brewing? You know... the one where some thugs were let off from prosecution by Obama?

The AG should be held responsible since investigating these things and bringing charges against people is his responsibility. And this is a grave miscarriage of justice to not in the very least have an investigation to see if charges can be brought. I'd say it's pretty damned clear that they violated serious laws and interfered with voting and they need to be held accountable.
 
No, apparently the rules of congress which set forth ethics laws. That's what he's alleged to have violated. We should probably enforce those.

Yes, somehow the crap against the black panthers was dismissed. It shouldn't have been. Voter intimidation is a grave crime and MUST be treated as such. We need to demand that we don't just go after one guy for ethics violation, but we go after everyone who has acted improperly or broken laws while in office. It is essential to keeping the Republic.

There are two different things - ethics rules and ethics laws. Ethics rules are set by Congress and are only enforced by Congress. Ethics laws are set by Congress and are enforced by the FBI.

So far, everything I've seen indicated that Ensign allegedly broke several ethics rules. I haven't seen anything suggesting that he broke any ethics law, which is why I'm not sure what the FBI is looking into. The only law that I've even seen raised as something he may have broken is a tax law - the gift reporting requirement, which is a bit strange.
 
How many guys give career assistance to the husbands of their mistresses? That's some Indecent Proposal **** right there.

Sounds to me like everybody was a good sport about the whole thing...:rofl
 
There are two different things - ethics rules and ethics laws. Ethics rules are set by Congress and are only enforced by Congress. Ethics laws are set by Congress and are enforced by the FBI.

So far, everything I've seen indicated that Ensign allegedly broke several ethics rules. I haven't seen anything suggesting that he broke any ethics law, which is why I'm not sure what the FBI is looking into. The only law that I've even seen raised as something he may have broken is a tax law - the gift reporting requirement, which is a bit strange.

At issue, primarily, are two questions. Did the $96,000 payment made by Ensign's parents to the Hampton family, after both Doug and Cindy Hampton left Ensign's office, constitute a gift, which would violate campaign-finance laws? And did Ensign run afoul of lobbying restrictions by directing his staff to maintain contact with Doug Hampton after setting him up as a lobbyist?
Report: FBI Has Contacted Witnesses On Ensign Matter | TPMMuckraker

Take the source as you will, it was one of the first that popped up when I Googled this to see if I could find the laws. But apparently the gift is part of it and then lobbying restrictions for the job he got for the other guy. Either or, I say this deserves an investigation.
 
Which ones? Was there a single Democrat wrongfully and illegally convicted, like what happened to Ted Williams? I would love to hear about it, if so.

Have no idea what you are talking about.

I am talking about the usage by Bush of the US Justice Department for political reasons. And dont deny that it happened because there is plenty of evidence that it did.
 
Report: FBI Has Contacted Witnesses On Ensign Matter | TPMMuckraker

Take the source as you will, it was one of the first that popped up when I Googled this to see if I could find the laws. But apparently the gift is part of it and then lobbying restrictions for the job he got for the other guy. Either or, I say this deserves an investigation.

As to the latter, it sounds like it's simply a Congressional rule. As to the former, I'm not clear on the provision they're referring to, but it looks like it might not even be a criminal matter. It's incredibly rare for an official to be fined, much less prosecuted, for failure to disclose one particular expenditure under the campaign finance laws.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be investigated at all, but am simply noting that people should take this with a grain of salt before they conclude that Ensign is a criminal on the level of Duke Cunningham.
 
Have no idea what you are talking about.

I am talking about the usage by Bush of the US Justice Department for political reasons. And dont deny that it happened because there is plenty of evidence that it did.

Post all that evidence. Thanks.
 
As to the latter, it sounds like it's simply a Congressional rule. As to the former, I'm not clear on the provision they're referring to, but it looks like it might not even be a criminal matter. It's incredibly rare for an official to be fined, much less prosecuted, for failure to disclose one particular expenditure under the campaign finance laws.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be investigated at all, but am simply noting that people should take this with a grain of salt before they conclude that Ensign is a criminal on the level of Duke Cunningham.

I think the lobbying thing may be a rule. Listen, I'm not saying throw the bum out (actually, I say throw all the bums out!). I'm saying there seems to be legitimate concern and grounds for an investigation. If the investigation turns something up, then legal proceedings can take place. If not, then it's dead and done. I think there are probably a good number of people in Congress right now who should be under some form of investigation. We must hold them accountable to their rules and ours.
 
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