John Ensign’s Girlfriend Steps Forward

John Ensign’s Girlfriend, Cindy Hampton, with her husband have issued a statement.

John Ensign's girlfriend

In Las Vegas on Wednesday, lawyer Daniel Albregts issued a statement that said “Doug and Cindy Hampton can confirm that they are the individuals referenced by Senator Ensign during his press conference.”

Cindy Hampton , Senator John Ensign’s girlfriend also had this to say.

“It is unfortunate the senator chose to air this very personal matter, especially after the Hamptons did everything possible to keep this matter private,” the lawyer said. “It is equally unfortunate that he did so without concern for the effect such an announcement would have on the Hampton family. In time the Hamptons will be ready and willing to tell their side of the story.”

Cynthia Hampton

The lawyer declined to answer questions.
Ensign, in his second term, has said he intends to remain in the Senate but he has resgined his leadership roles.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ensign’s office said he had carried out a consensual affair from December 2007 through August 2008 with a “campaign staffer who worked at Ensign for Senate and Battleborn PAC from Dec. 2006 to May 2008. The campaign employee was married to an official Senate staffer who worked for Senator Ensign.

Ensign is a member of the Christian ministry Promise Keepers and has championed causes pushed by the GOP’s conservative religious base while seeking to raise his political profile for a possible presidential campaign.
The revelation is a further blow for Republicans struggling to recover from recent election reversals as well as the political defection of liberal Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

At his news briefing yesterday, Ensign said the affair was “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.”

Ensign would not name the woman or her husband, but the statement from the Hamptons’ lawyer removed any mystery about her identity.

Federal records show Cynthia Hampton was on the payroll of Ensign’s Battle Born Political Action Committee at $1,385.24 a month until she was appointed treasurer and her salary was doubled to $2,771.50 starting in February 2008.

Her salary also doubled at Ensign’s campaign committee, where she was treasurer, beginning around the time the affair began. It went from $500 a month to $1,000 a month.

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