(R) SenatorEnsign’s parents paid $96,000 ‘gift’ to Mistress

Ensign’s parents paid $96,000 ‘gift’ to Hamptons; Coburn says Ensign mistress’ husband spreading ‘untruths’ and claims convos with Ensign were ‘privileged communications’

Conservative Republican Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) purportedly urged Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) to pay off a mistress with whom he admitted having an affair — and wouldn’t deny urging payments to the woman and her husband when asked about the charge.

Ensign admitted having an affair last month, saying he “violated the vows” of his marriage and adding, “It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. If there was ever anything in my life that I could take back, this would be it.”

Apparently Oklahoma’s Republican senator urged just that.

The husband of Ensign’s mistress, Doug Hampton, told a newspaper columnist in a TV interview Wednesday that Coburn — and others — had urged Ensign to give the couple “millions of dollars” to pay off their mortgage and “walk away” from Las Vegas, Ensign’s hometown.

Hampton also said that Coburn had known about the affair for more than a year.

In response, Coburn’s office has confirmed he knew the affair had taken place, but vehemently denied that he advocated for any payoffs. He didn’t, however, deny outright that he’d urged Ensign to provide the couple with money.

“Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Sen. Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Sen. Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage,” Coburn’s office said in a statement to the website Politico. “Had Sen. Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago.”

According to the report, Hampton and Coburn confronted Ensign in February 2008. An anonymous cited source says Coburn’s suggestion to pay the Hamptons, if true, was “an expression of restitution and not in any way ‘hush money.”

The Oklahoma Republican’s spokesman, John Hart, wouldn’t deny that Coburn spoke with Ensign about making payments, but “categorically denies” Hampton’s claim that he urged Ensign to pay millions.