Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In an earlier post about Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC), I briefly mentioned Sen. John Ensign (R-NV). I stated that "If the investigation into the money trail of hush money and your allegations of extortion pan out, you will soon be submitting your resignation from the U.S. Senate."

Well, the investigation into the money trail of hush money and the extortion and possible blackmail of a sitting U.S. Senator are panning out. This story is no longer about sex per se. The only question now is when Sen. Ensign will be compelled to resign from office, or be removed.

Most of you are already familiar with the sordid details that the alleged "victim" of this consensual sexual affair, Cynthia Hampton, saw her salary doubled during the time of their liason, and her 19 year old son was hired by the RNC as a policy analyst. Doug Hampton, who was a senior aide on Sen. Ensign's staff, received a new job arranged for him by Sen. Ensign who hooked him up with a major campaign contributor. This all appears bad enough.

But now we learn of additional payments that begin to look very much like extortion or blackmail of a sitting U.S. Senator. Time for the FBI to investigate. Joe Sudbay at Americablog reports GOP Senator Ensign allegedly paid mistress $25,000. Was it federal taxpayer money?

[T]he husband of Ensign's former mistress, Doug Hampton, appeared on Las Vegas TV to provide additional details about the affair and its aftermath. Remember, Doug Hampton and his wife, Cynthia (the mistress), both worked for Ensign. Mrs. Hampton was on the campaign staff. Mr. Hampton was on the Senate staff.

According to Mr. Hampton, his wife was paid $25,000 when she left her job (and Ensign.) Also, we learn that Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK and widely known as Dr. No) served as Ensign's marriage counselor:

Doug Hampton spoke publicly for the first time today about the affair his wife had with Sen. John Ensign, saying the Nevada Republican continued his pursuit even after intermediaries tried to get him to stop.

Hampton said that Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and others urged him to end the affair and help the Hamptons pay off their home and move to Colorado. But Ensign was so infatuated that he continued, Hampton said.

John Hart, Coburn's communications director, released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying Ensign should have ended the affair.

"Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Senator Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Senator Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage," according to the statement. "Had Senator Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago."

Hampton’s comments came during an exclusive two-part interview with Sun columnist Jon Ralston, to air tonight at 5:30 p.m. and tomorrow on “Face to Face with Jon Ralston.”

“In response to today’s television interview, Senator Ensign said Doug Hampton was consistently inaccurate in his statements,” Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said in a statement.

Cynthia Hampton was the treasurer of Ensign’s political action committee and re-election campaign, while Doug Hampton served as a senior aide on Ensign’s Senate staff.

Hampton said Ensign paid the woman more than $25,000 in severance when she stopped working for the senator.

Wait, so you mean he may have used federal money to pay off his mistress?

On Thursday there was this jaw-dropping revelation: Sen. Ensign asked his parents – his parents – to make a series of payments to Cynthia and Doug Hampton and their two children totalling some $96,000. How shameless is this guy? "Um, mom, dad, I got caught dipping my pen in the company ink and now I'm going to need some cash to make this go away. It can't be traceable back to me, you know? Can you spare about a hundred grand in $12,000 installments for hush money?" Un-freakin-believable! Most people would die from the embarrassment of admitting to marital infedility to their parents. But then to ask them for hush money? Shameless.

Jed Lewison at Daily Kos reports Ensign family gave $100k to mistress's family

John Ensign's parents paid his mistress's family $100K in what looks an awful lot like hush money:

Sen. John Ensign's attorney acknowledged Thursday that the Nevada Republican's parents paid nearly $100,000 to the family of his mistress after she and her husband left his staff in April 2008.

In a statement from Paul Coggins, Ensign's attorney, said that the senator gave Doug Hampton, Cindy Hampton and their two children gifts worth $96,000 and that "each gift was limited to $12,000."

"The payments were made as gifts, accepted as gifts and complied with tax rules governing gifts," Coggins said.

Whether or not the gifts were legal, Ensign stood to benefit by having his parents make them because it kept his tax records clean in the event that he ever had to disclose them (for example, in a presidential campaign).

But wait, there's more! (my tribute to Billy Mays). This story takes even more bizarre twists and turns than a John Grisham novel. Truth really is stranger than fiction.