Ensign Lover’s Hubby Wanted Money — But Through His Lawyer:

[malaise]

For the record, Tom Lowell, senior producer of “America’s Newsroom,” hosted by Kelly and Bill Hemmer, says no one at Fox News got the printed letter:

“We never received any letter from Mr. Hampton…. He might have sent it, but we never received it. He did reach out to us about 24 hours before the news conference, and he sent an e-mail to a booker on my staff.”

Lowell said that a member of his editorial staff followed up with Hampton that day.

“We followed up with him, but he seemed evasive and not credible, thus we didn’t pursue it,” he said. “We certainly weren’t going to rush to air with accusations against a sitting Senator without doing due diligence on the reputability of the claims.

What about the original charge of blackmail by the aggrieved husband? Ensign Lover’s Hubby Wanted Money — But Through His Lawyer:

An Ensign spokesman tells the AP that within the last month Hampton made “exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits” through an attorney, and that the matter was referred to Ensign’s lawyer.

In other words, Hampton threatened a lawsuit. Unless you’ve got an amazingly ham-handed lawyer, that’s a far cry from extortion, which can be a felony. Had extortion occurred, Ensign’s lawyer would presumably have had to contact law enforcement, and there’s no evidence that happened.
---------------

[mdmc]

1. good points

Ensign had paid off his wife, why not him? They both worked for Ensign too..

[malaise]

2. Well the Hamptons have said that we'll soon hear from them

so lets see what's in the law suit.

[rocktivity]

21. The Hamptons were no injured innocents in this

If they had a legitimate case, they WOULDN'T have resorted to (legal) blackmail.

Under Ensign's tenure, Mrs. Hampton's salary doubled, and her 19-year son ended up on a GOP payroll. And after Mr. Hampton left the fold, he got a job that Ensign recommended him for--with a company tied to one of his biggest donors. Maybe the Hamptons' motivation wasn't money from Ensign, but MORE money from Ensign!

:headbang:
rocktivity

[napi21]

3. Well, if you listen to Rachel, Ensign just might have to resign!

I find it quite funny that, one by one, Pub Prez hopefuls are disappearing from the scene. They either screw up all on their own, or Obama recruits them!

[wordpix]

4. on what basis would lover's hubby have sued? There's a law against having an affair?

:shrug: It seems Ensign more than compensated this couple by upping lover's salary and paying the son to be a "consultant," which is getting Ensign into more trouble.

[asjr]

5. Years ago there was an "Alienation of Affections" clause

that could be used, but I am beginning to think the Hampton family deliberately set out to bilk the Senator. This is one screwed up love triangle.

[MineralMan]

6. The term is "Alienation of Affection"

Now, I don't know if anyone sues on those grounds any more, but they sure used to.

[MineralMan]

7. Few states allow such suits any longer, though:

http://marriage.about.com/od/legalities/a/alienation.htm

[Tanuki]

8. I'm no lawyer

but I wonder if the husband is saying that Ensign's "relentless pursuit" of the wife, who was a subordinate employee, created an intolerable work situation for her and also for the husband (who worked as an aide to Ensign). They both stopped working for Ensign last year, so the husband may feel that both careers were damaged. Seeking compensation for financial damages caused by a boss's egregious behavior isn't necessarily extortion.

[malaise]

12. Ding dng

It can't be extortion if this was lawyer to lawyer - looks like Ensign was terrified about the law suit.

What's more the Nevada police and FBI said that they received no reports about extortion.

add

[wndycty]

10. Well since they all worked for Ensign there could be a number of reasonson including:

Sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

[kestrel91316]

17. I think this is probably what's behind the whole thing.....

[KharmaTrain]

9. Nothing Like A Good Political Love Triangle

Ensign deserves to loss it all, period. Besides being one of the biggest hypocrites in the beltway (and that takes quite a lot of doing), he probably thought he was smarter than everyone and could get away with this. He thought with the wrong head after condemning others for doing the same thing, and we (or should I say the voters of Nevada) should look the other way? Or pity the bastard?

I'm holding judgement on whose been "wronged" here until more details come forward. If this was a consentual affair, c'est la vie...actions have responsibilities. If Ensign is proven (IN COURT) to have forced Mrs. Hampton into submission, then we'll have a different matter. The fact that neither of them came forward at the time or left on their own, tells me there's something else cooking here.

[malaise]

13. As one article pointed out, this is no longer about sex

this is about 'hush money'.

[KharmaTrain]

14. True...But Part Of The Triangle As Well...

It appears the one thing all three had in common was their love of money...more than of their own selves. As we see many times in these kind of scandals, money is as much a part of the action as the sex.

There are some big holes in the story I'm sure either the lawyers or the corporate media will dig out here in the next days and weeks. These kind of stories never get cleaner.

:hi:

[malaise]

15. I think Ensign's love of power

superseded his love of money this time.
And yes, following the money is the real story :hi:

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Do we know if Ensign's affair was with the wife or the husband?

I read, here on DU, there was some speculation that the affair was between Ensign and the husband.

I read some other speculation, also here on DU, that both Ensign and the husband were doing the wife.

[kestrel91316]

18. Stinky, that was my speculation. I mean, think about it. The husband

was getting paid disproportionately SO much more than the wife. Why the hell was that?

I envision a menage a trois.......seriously..........

The wife could have been mere cover the REAL goings-on, which could explain why Ensign REALLY didn't want any part of this public.

And I still wonder if that 2 week absence in 2002 could have been for him to go for a gay "cure" somewhere.

Remember, I knew him. I know his demeanor and mannerisms. This is NOT outside the realm of possibility to me.

[Stinky The Clown]

22. A gay "cure" somewhere ..........

....... gawd ...... some of these religionuts are so fucking stupid.

Gay cure ..... :rofl:

[madinmaryland]

19. That was me. I had posed the question of who the affair was between.

Naturally that makes me homophobe for even suggesting that.

[rocktivity]

16. I know that no one likes an "I told you so"

But that's exactly what I told you!

Posted by Rocktivity http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3930418&mesg_id=3930528">yesterday:

I could believe that (Ensign went public after learning of the Fox News letter) if the Hamptons didn't have an attorney involved.

Believe it or not, it's perfectly legal to sell your silence IF YOU USE AN ATTORNEY. What I think happened is that after attempts to reach a legal "deal" fell through, Ensign spilled the beans originally floating an extortion story. But that raised the question of why he didn't call the cops (Answer: because if the Hamptons approached Ensign with an attorney, he WASN'T being extorted). Conveniently, an unsigned letter to Fox News then materializes. I wouldn't be surprised if Fox wrote it themselves to protect Ensign. At the very least, that would certainly explain this very odd statement that the Hamptons' attorney made:

"It is unfortunate the senator chose to air this very personal matter, especially after the Hamptons did everything possible to keep this matter private," Las Vegas lawyer Daniel Albregts said in the statement. "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." http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5873088&mesg_id=5873088">(link)

:headbang:
rocktivity

[malaise]

20. You rock

:applause:

The alleged Hampton letter is suspicious on many counts - starting with grammar.