Top 10 Political Sex Scandals
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has gotten off easy compared to his philandering political predecessors. TIME looks back at the tawdry affairs that brought down the high and mighty
U.S. Senator John Ensign pauses during a news conference about an affair he had with a former staffer in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Scandal: Affair with campaign staffer
How Outed: Press Conference
On June 16, Nevada Sen. John Ensign abruptly admitted to having an affair with a former campaign staffer, Cindy Hampton, from December 2007 to August 2008. Why the frank disclosure? The Las Vegas Sun reported June 19 that Hampton's husband, Doug — who was, incidentally, a former administrative aide in Ensign's Senate office — had sent a letter to Fox News five days before Ensign's press conference asking for help in laying bare the senator's "heinous conduct." "Senator Ensign's conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April of 2008," Hampton allegedly wrote. "The actions of Senator Ensign have ruined our lives and careers and left my family in shambles." Fox denied the report, and Ensign's camp said he had come clean because the Hamptons were trying to extort money from the senator. Either way, the fallout continued: Citizens for Responsibility in Ethics in Washington filed a complaint against the senator June 24, alleging that Ensign's actions had violated the Senate's ethics rules and calling for an investigation into the affair.
Read a 2-min. Bio of Sen. John Ensign.
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