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Point By Point: Senate Ethics Committee’s Findings In John Ensign Case

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

The Senate Ethic Committee’s report on former Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) makes several findings about the Nevada Republican’s affair with the wife of his former chief of staff.

Here’s a bullet point list taken from the report by Special Counsel Carol Elder Bruce. A full copy of the report is embedded below.

  • There Is Substantial Credible Evidence That Senator Ensign Conspired to Violate, and Aided and Abetted Mr. Hampton’s Violations of The Post Employment Contact Ban, 18 U.S.C. § 207.
  • There Is Substantial Credible Evidence That Senator Ensign and His Parents Made False or Misleading Statements to the Federal Election Commission Regarding the $96,000 Payment to the Hamptons.
  • There is Substantial Credible Evidence That a Portion of the $96,000 Payment Constituted an Unlawful and Unreported Campaign Contribution and Violated Federal Law and a Senate Rule Prohibiting Unofficial Office Accounts
  • There Is Substantial Credible Evidence That Senator Ensign Permitted Spoliation of Documents and Engaged in Potential Obstruction of Justice Violations.
  • There Is Substantial Credible Evidence That Senator Ensign Discriminated on the Basis of Sex and Engaged in Improper Conduct Reflecting Upon the Senate by Terminating the Hamptons Employment Because of the Affair.
  • There Is Substantial Credible Evidence That Senator Ensign Violated His Own Senate Office Policies.

Public Report_Preliminary Inquiry Into the Matter of Sen Ensign

John Ensign, Senate Ethics Committee
Ryan J. Reilly

Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.

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