Cynthia Hampton – Details are emerging about the affair between Senator John Ensign and staffer Cynthia Hampton, aka Cindy Hampton, including a possible extortion attempt by her husband Douglas Hampton that caused Ensign to go public with his third affair.

Cynthia Hampton affair

Cynthia Hampton began her affair with Senator Ensign in December 2007 and continued the relationship until August 2008, four months after both Cindy Hampton and Doug Hampton left Ensign’s staff.

46-year old Cynthia Hampton served as the treasurer for Ensign’s reelection campaign and for his leadership fund, Battle Born PAC, ending her affiliation with the two committees in early 2008.

Douglas Hampton served as Ensign’s administrative assistant in his personal office from November 2006 to May 2008 — earning $101,000 in 2008 and $144,000 in 2007 – leaving around the same time that Cynthia Hampton left Ensign’s committees.

A mandatory financial disclosure form Douglas Hampton filed in 2007 and 2008 – required for senior congressional staffers – showed only checking and savings account worth a maximum $30,000 combined.

John Ensign and wife Darlene Ensign

Political insiders in Nevada and in the Senate said that Ensign decided to acknowledge his affair with Cynthia Hampton publicly only after her husband asked him for a substantial sum of money

Senator John Ensign, 51, is married and has three children. He and his wife, Darlene, were active participants and promoters of “Promise Keepers”, a Christian evangelical ministry that promotes strong families and marriages.

Ensign took a two-week leave of absence from the Senate back in 2002 to deal with the fallout from another extramarital affair and is rumored to have been caught by his wife a third time as well.

Darlene Ensign didn’t appear by her husband’s side, instead issuing a statement that made it sound like a medical illness: “Since we found out last year, we have worked through the situation, and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends, our marriage has become stronger. I love my husband.”

Ensign, a former veterinarian and the son of the chairman of the Mandalay Bay casino, holds the No. 4 position in Republican leadership and led the fight for disgraced Senator Larry Craig to resign, saying “Senators need to be held to a higher standard.”

Ensign also sponsored the Federal Marriage Amendment where he attempted to block same-sex marriages, famously saying:

“Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded. For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simply point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation. Marriage, as a social institution, predates every other institution on which ordered society in America has relied.”

And that’s the latest news on Cynthia Hampton.

Tags: affair, cindy hampton, cynthia hampton, cynthia hampton ensign, john ensign, marriage, senator ensign

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