Ensign's parents gave mistress's family $96k

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By Kathleen Hennessey ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS — Sen. John Ensign said Thursday his parents gave his mistress and her family nearly $100,000 "out of concern for the well being of longtime family friends during a difficult time," providing his first public acknowledgment that the woman received payments tied to the affair.

In a statement through his attorney, Ensign described the April 2008 payment as a single check for $96,000 given to Cindy and Doug Hampton and two of their children. The Hampton family received the check after the senator told his parents of his affair with Cindy Hampton, a campaign aide and longtime friend.

"None of the gifts came from campaign or official funds, nor were they related to any campaign or official duties," Ensign's Dallas-based attorney, Paul Coggins, said in a statement. "Sen. Ensign has complied with all applicable laws and Senate ethics rules."

The statement comes a day after Doug Hampton told a Las Vegas television show that Ensign paid Cindy Hampton more than $25,000 in severance when she left her job as treasurer for two Ensign-controlled campaign committees.

Ensign, the son of a Las Vegas casino mogul, had not commented directly on allegations of payments to the Hamptons, but through a spokesman called Doug Hampton's statements "consistently inaccurate."

A liberal Washington watchdog group has said such a severance payment could have violated campaign finance laws because it was not reported by the committees.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has sought a Senate ethics investigation and on Thursday sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking for a criminal probe of the matter.

An FBI spokesman in Las Vegas, David Staretz, said the bureau was not investigating the matter. The U.S. Attorney for Nevada did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Coggins of the firm Fish and Richardson PC said no laws were violated with the $96,000 check.

"The gifts are consistent with a pattern of generosity by the Ensign family to the Hamptons and others," he said. "The payments were made as gifts, accepted as gifts and complied with tax rules governing gifts."