WASHINGTON — Three days after confessing an extramarital affair with a campaign aide, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., on Friday accused his former mistress’ husband of trying to extract a financial payout from the Nevada Republican.
Ensign’s office released a statement Friday charging that Douglas Hampton sought a large payment from Ensign, although the senator’s office refused to say how much money Hampton was seeking and whether there had been any negotiations over a payout.
“Within the past month, Doug Hampton’s legal counsel made exorbitant demands for cash and other financial benefits on behalf of his client. Doug Hampton’s outrageous demand was referred to Sen. Ensign’s legal counsel, who is handling the matter going forward,” Tory Mazzola, Ensign’s spokesman, said in a statement provided to several media outlets.
The formal statement from Ensign’s office followed a whisper campaign carried out by the senator’s allies over the past several days about what prompted the Nevada Republican’s revelation that he had an affair last year with Cynthia Hampton, who had served as the treasurer of his various political committees.
The Ensign and Hampton families were lifelong friends, living in the same Las Vegas-area neighborhood.
“I have no comment on anything,” Daniel Albregts, the Hamptons’ attorney, said in a brief interview Friday. Albregts has said the Hamptons are weighing how to respond to the Ensign statement.
