Simply Politics and News

[sylvester80]

GOP committee paid son of Ensign's mistress during affair

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ensign18-2009jun18,0,3018267.story

The 19-year-old was paid $5,400 between March 2008 and August 2008 for 'research policy consulting.' The payments ended the same month the Nevada senator says the relationship did.

By Ashley Powers and Richard Simon
2:03 PM PDT, June 17, 2009

Reporting from Washington and Las Vegas -- The 19-year-old son of a woman who reportedly had an affair with Nevada Sen. John Ensign was being paid by the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the relationship, federal election records show.

Brandon Hampton, who shares an address with former Ensign staffers Doug and Cynthia Hampton, was paid $5,400 between March 2008 and August 2008.

The payments, for "research policy consulting," ended the same month as the affair, which was said to begin in December 2007.

Ensign staffers and committee officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Doug Hampton had worked for Ensign as an administrative assistant, earning more than $144,000 in fiscal 2007 and about $101,000 in fiscal 2008.

While working for Ensign's Battle Born PAC, Cynthia Hampton made nearly $700 per pay period for much of 2007. In February 2008, that doubled to almost $1,400.

Both Doug and Cynthia Hampton stopped working for Ensign by May 2008. A housekeeper who answered the door Wednesday at their Las Vegas home said they had left for the day.

The Nevada senator, previously considered a rising Republican star, admitted to the affair Tuesday at a hastily arranged news conference in Las Vegas. Today, he resigned from his Senate leadership post.