Senate GOP leader offers no support to Ensign
By PETE YOST and LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writers
Fri Oct 2, 7:12 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Ensign of Nevada was only beginning to emerge from a self-imposed political exile over fallout from his extramarital affair with a campaign aide. Now, tawdry new details about the case are raising fresh questions whether the Ensign can be re-elected in 2012 — or even face criminal charges over his behavior.
If Ensign was looking for signs of support among Republican leaders on Capitol Hill on Friday, he didn't get any. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell declined repeatedly to answer questions about Ensign or offer any support. Other Republicans, already effectively a 60-40 minority in the Senate, also met the latest developments with silence, wary of speaking out until they see evidence of wrongdoing uncovered by the Senate ethics committee or federal law enforcement.
Ensign's one-time presidential ambitions imploded this summer after disclosures about the affair — including reports of his own efforts to hide it by finding a consulting and lobbying job for his mistress' husband, Doug Hampton, arranging for a $96,000 payment to the couple and doling out a promotion and pay raises to his mistress around the time of the affair. Ensign responded by keeping a low profile, rarely speaking to reporters and apologizing in meetings with constituents and Republican leaders in Nevada.
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