TPMMuckraker
Sex: July 2009

Abstinence-Supporting GOP State Lawmaker Admits To Sex With 22-Year-Old Intern

Zachary Roth | July 23, 2009, 4:19PM

Paging Keith Olbermann. You can call off the search...we've found your Worst Person in the World for tonight.

Meet Tennessee state senator Paul Stanley. He's a solid conservative Republican and married father of two, who according to his website is "a member of Christ United Methodist Church, where he serves as a Sunday school teacher and board member of their day school." (Check out the religious imagery on the site -- the sun poking through clouds, as if manifesting God's presence -- which of course shows Stanley's deeply pious nature.)

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Topics: Allen Stanford, C Street, Sex

C Street

Sign Of The Times: Lawmaker Won't Say Whether He Lives At C Street

Zachary Roth | July 23, 2009, 11:33AM

These are tough times for C St.

The usually low-profile Capitol Hill-based Christian dorm and bible study group has been at the center of a media frenzy after three separate Republicans with ties to C St admitted to extra-marital affairs in recent weeks. And now, things have gotten so bad that one Christian lawmaker is treating the issue like a state secret, refusing even to say whether he lives there.

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Topics: C Street, Chip Pickering, John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Sex

Mark Sanford

NBC's Gregory: "I Wasn't Promising A Friendly Forum" For Sanford

Zachary Roth | July 21, 2009, 12:16PM

Over the weekend, NBC's David Gregory responded to charges raised by TPMmuckraker and others that he was overly solicitous in trying to woo Mark Sanford to come on Meet The Press during the imbroglio over the South Carolina governor's disappearance.

In an email to a blogger at Daily Kos, Gregory wrote:

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Topics: Mark Sanford, Media, Sex

John Ensign

CREW: DOJ Integrity Unit "Punted" On Ensign Complaint

Zachary Roth | July 20, 2009, 5:17PM

The Justice Department has responded to a formal complaint filed by a good-government group over the John Ensign matter by saying in a letter that the complaint should be filed with the FBI, rather than the department's public integrity unit, reports the Las Vegas Sun. And the good government group -- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) -- has itself responded to DOJ's bureaucratic fastidiousness with what we can only describe as a sassy retort that rubs salt in some recent DOJ wounds.

As requested, CREW has forwarded its complaint to the FBI. Executive Director Melanie Sloan writes:

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Topics: FBI, John Ensign, Justice Department, Sex, Ted Stevens, William Welch

Sex

C Street Rebranding: GOP Cheaters Need Our Discreet Counseling!

Zachary Roth | July 20, 2009, 1:09PM

A little creative re-branding has worked wonders for the likes of Diddy (now back to Puff Daddy), Joe Lieberman, and the Volkswagen Beetle. So why not for C Street?

In recent weeks, the secretive Christian fellowship group, whose red-brick townhouse on Capitol Hill has for years served as an in-session dorm for religious lawmakers, has been getting some unwanted publicity. Thanks to its ties to three recent Republican sex scandals -- those of Nevada senator John Ensign, South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, and former congressman Chip Pickering -- C Street has started to get a reputation as somewhere between a halfway house and frat house for conservative politicians looking to cheat on their wives while convincing themselves they're still upstanding guys.

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Topics: John Ensign, Mark Sanford, Sex, Tom Coburn

Mark Sanford

Morning Joe Producer Offered "Friendly Place" For Sanford To Tell Story

Zachary Roth | July 17, 2009, 5:23PM

We've made it through all 570 pages of those emails sent from and to Mark Sanford's office in the period just before, during, and after his disappearance.

Earlier we highlighted how big name TV journalists like David Gregory, George Stephanopoulos, and John King aggressively wooed the South Carolina governor's press secretary in an effort to get the governor to come on their shows. But here are a few of the other interesting finds -- mostly press related -- from our search:

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Topics: Mark Sanford, Media, Sex

Mark Sanford

NBC's Gregory to Sanford's Office: "Meet The Press Allows You To Frame The Conversation As You Really Want"

Zachary Roth | July 17, 2009, 2:29PM

The Charleston Post and Courier has posted online (pdf) all 570 pages of emails obtained from the office of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford.

There's a bevy of information in there, but one exchange that jumped out at us was the one between Sanford's press secretary, Joel Sawyer (who just today announced he's quitting -- good for him!) and David Gregory, the host of NBC's Meet the Press. In courting Sanford's office, Gregory wrote that "coming on Meet The Press allows you to frame the conversation as you really want to."

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Topics: Mark Sanford, Media, Sex

John Ensign

Hampton Didn't Disclose Payment From Ensign's Parents As Gift

Zachary Roth | July 16, 2009, 12:34PM

More bad news for John Ensign -- and perhaps his former buddy Doug Hampton too?

The Las Vegas Sun has taken a look at the Senate disclosure form that Hampton filed when he left Ensign's office -- he says he and his wife Cindy were terminated -- in spring 2008.

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Topics: John Ensign, Sex

Mark Sanford

Tapper Responds: We Didn't Know About Sanford Affair When I Sent That Email*

Zachary Roth | July 15, 2009, 11:52AM

It looks like Jake Tapper doesn't feel like his network's response to the news that he sucked up to Mark Sanford's office by denigrating NBC's coverage of the missing gov story -- that Tapper was just "carrying some water" for a producer -- is quite sufficient.

This morning, Tapper has been tweeting further defenses of his catty email to a Sanford aide -- in which he called NBC's coverage "slimy" and "insulting."

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Topics: Mark Sanford, Media, Sex

Media

Tapper To Sanford Aide: NBC Spot On Missing Guv Was "Slimy" And "Insulting"

Zachary Roth | July 15, 2009, 9:10AM

Yesterday we told you about how the conservative media sucked up to Mark Sanford's office by calling stories about the governor's disappearance overblown -- even while the gov was still AWOL.

But it looks like it wasn't just the acknowledged right-wingers who were denigrating the story to Sanford's aides. The State has written up a few more of the emails, and look what they found:

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Topics: Mark Sanford, Media, Sex

Mark Sanford

Great Call: In Emails To Sanford's Office, Right-Wing Media Dismissed Missing Gov Story

Zachary Roth | July 14, 2009, 12:24PM

The State newspaper of South Carolina has used a public records request to obtain emails sent to and from Governor Mark Sanford's office during the hectic few days last month when he had gone missing. It's not surprising that the emails underline the utter confusion that beset the governor's hapless aides as they tried to ward off inquiries about their boss's whereabouts, without themselves having any idea where he was.

But they also show something even funnier: an effort by the right-wing media to curry favor with Sanford's office by dismissing the story as a storm in a teacup created by the liberal media. It's fair to say that, as news judgments go, it would be hard to find one that turned out worse than this -- given the subsequent revelations about Sanford's Argentinian liaison and his abandonment of his post.

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Topics: Mark Sanford, Media, Sex

John Ensign

WaPo Wants Senate And FEC To Probe Ensign Scandal

Zachary Roth | July 13, 2009, 5:30PM

The drip-drip of the John Ensign sex scandal continues...

Today the Washington Post editorial board calls, in its well-mannered way, for investigations by the Senate Ethnics committee and the Federal Election Committee into the payments, totaling $96,000, that, according to a statement from Ensign's lawyer, were made last year by the Nevada senator's parents to the Hampton family.

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Topics: FEC, Fred Hiatt, John Ensign, Senate Ethics Committee, Sex

Rick Santorum

Did Santorum Tip Off Ensign?

Zachary Roth | July 10, 2009, 4:26PM

A great nugget we missed from the portion of Doug Hampton's interview that aired last night...

Ever since the appearance last month of the famous letter Hampton wrote to Fox News -- asking for the network's assistance in exposing John Ensign's "relentless pursuit" of Hampton's wife Cindy -- there has been intense speculation that someone at Fox tipped off Ensign to the fact that Hampton was preparing to go public, prompting the Nevada senator to pre-emptively admit to the affair.

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Topics: John Ensign, Rick Santorum, Sex, Tom Coburn

John Ensign

Ensign: The Updated Timeline

Zachary Roth | July 10, 2009, 3:12PM

We've already published one timeline on the Ensign saga, but we figured that, what with the new revelations of recent days, it was worth compiling an updated one. So without further ado...

• Nov 2006: Ensign is easily reelected to the U.S. Senate from Nevada.

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Topics: John Ensign, Right-wing extremism, Sex, Tom Coburn

Sex

More Ensign: Maddow Talks To Hampton Interviewer, And Expert On Christian Fellowship Group

Zachary Roth | July 10, 2009, 1:57PM

Last night, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow had two important interviews on the John Ensign story that are worth checking out.

The first was with Jon Ralston, who himself interviewed Doug Hampton over the last few days.

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Topics: John Ensign, Sex

John Ensign

Hampton: Religious Buddies Drove Ensign To FedEx To Mail Letter To Cindy

Zachary Roth | July 10, 2009, 11:58AM

We're probably not going out on a limb by saying that Doug Hampton's entire televised interview about John Ensign's affair with Hampton's wife Cindy, and the fallout from it, had to have been pretty embarrassing for the Nevada senator, if he's even been able to bring himself to watch it.

But one particular narrative that Hampton lays out really brings out what seems like the utter pathetic-ness of a man who Republicans once talked about as presidential material -- as well as the strangely paternalistic culture of the religious organization with which he's affiliated. And it jibes with yesterday's news that Ensign went to his parents to pay off the Hamptons, painting a picture of a man who, despite being 51 years old and a powerful US senator, still seems strangely weak-willed and dependent on those around him.

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Topics: John Ensign, Sex, Tom Coburn

John Ensign

Ensign Still Bringing Dirty Laundry Home To Be Washed

Zachary Roth | July 9, 2009, 3:33PM

It looks like John Ensign's sexual dignity -- which hasn't been high lately -- has plunged to new depths. His lawyer has just released a remarkable statement saying that Ensign's parents paid the Hamptons $96,000 after the 51-year-old senator told his Mom and Dad about the affair.

The senator's father, Mike Ensign, is a casino mogul who sold his shares in the Mandalay Group for around $300 million earlier this decade.

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Topics: John Ensign, Sex

Tom Coburn

Coburn On Hampton Claims: "Ask What's the Motivation Here"

Zachary Roth | July 9, 2009, 3:05PM

It looks like when Tom Coburn denied today that he urged his friend John Ensign to pay restitution to the family of the woman he had an affair with, the Oklahoma senator wasn't speaking just to Roll Call (sub. req.). Rather, in a sign of the potential trouble the story could represent for Coburn, he appears to have given an impromptu press conference, in what's likely to be a failed effort to nip it in the bud.

Politico reports that, along with his denial, Coburn had some choice words for Doug Hampton.

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Topics: John Ensign, Justice Department, Senate Ethics Committee, Sex, Tom Coburn

John Ensign

Coburn Denies That He Urged Ensign To Pay "Restitution" For Affair

Zachary Roth | July 9, 2009, 1:47PM

We just told you about Doug Hampton's allegation that Sen. Tom Coburn urged his friend Sen. John Ensign to pay "restitution" money to the Hamptons on account of Ensign's affair with Hampton's wife. And now Coburn is denying the claim.

Roll Call reports:

Coburn repeatedly denied allegations that he urged Ensign to pay Doug Hampton, the husband of his mistress Cynthia, millions in hush money following a confrontation with Hampton. "I categorically deny everything he said," Coburn said.

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Topics: John Ensign, Sex, Tom Coburn

John Ensign

UPDATED: Coburn Not Denying Claim That He Urged Ensign To Pay "Restitution" To Girlfriend's Family

Zachary Roth | July 9, 2009, 12:35PM

SEE LATE UPDATE BELOW

Doug Hampton's TV interview about his wife's affair with Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) is hardly a model of clarity. Hampton meanders away from some questions, jumps forwards and back in time, and seems, perhaps understandably, still to have trouble viewing the situation dispassionately.

But there's one point on which Hampton is particularly lucid. He clearly says that when Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) confronted Ensign over the affair in February 2008, the Oklahoma senator urged Ensign to pay "restitution" to the Hamptons, including helping them to pay the mortgage on their $1.2 million house and to move out of state. And Coburn isn't denying it.

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Topics: John Ensign, Sex, Tom Coburn

John Ensign

Doug Hampton Breaks Silence On Wife's Affair With Ensign

Zachary Roth | July 8, 2009, 5:14PM

Doug Hampton has spoken publicly for the first time about his wife Cindy's affair with Sen. John Ensign. And it's good...

The highlights from Hampton's interview with Las Vegas Sun political columnist Jon Ralston:

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Topics: John Ensign, Sex

John Ensign

Did Ensign Hire Doug Hampton To Stop Himself From Having An Affair?

Zachary Roth | July 6, 2009, 3:38PM

We can't blame you if you'd almost forgotten about John Ensign. Since the GOP senator confessed last month to an affair, he's been unceremoniously knocked out of the headlines by the successive implosions of two other Republican 2012 hopefuls.

But the philandering Nevadan doesn't deserve to go gently into that good night just yet. And yesterday the Las Vegas Sun had a report on the relationship between Ensign and Doug and Cynthia Hampton -- the latter was Ensign's paramour from December 2007 until August 2008 -- which jibes in places with what we reported several weeks ago.