Ensign says he’ll resign from Senate

WASHINGTON – Nevada Sen. John Ensign, facing an ethics investigation stemming from an affair with a campaign aide, will resign today, his office announced Thursday.

The Republican announced in March that he would not seek a third term in 2012.

The decision to resign now would stop any action against him by the Senate Ethics Committee, which in February named a special counsel to consider possible violations of ethics rules and federal law.

“While I stand behind my firm belief that I have not violated any law, rule, or standard of conduct of the Senate, and I have fought to prove this publicly, I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings,” Ensign said in a prepared statement.

Two members of Congress – Democrat Shelley Berkley and Republican Dean Heller – have already entered the race to succeed Ensign. Nevada’s Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, could appoint Heller to replace Ensign, giving him the potential advantage of incumbency in what both parties expect to be one of next year’s premier races.

Democrats consider the Nevada seat one of their best opportunities to add to their 53-47 majority in the Senate.

The Senate Ethics Committee named the special counsel to investigate claims that Ensign violated ethics rules and federal law after his affair with Cynthia Hampton, a campaign aide married to Douglas Hampton, another Ensign aide.

Ensign acknowledged the affair in 2009, after Douglas Hampton threatened to go public. The senator later acknowledged that his parents had paid Cynthia and Douglas Hampton $96,000 after Douglas Hampton left his job in the senator’s office.

The Hamptons have suggested the payment was severance, but critics called it an improper campaign contribution to Ensign by his parents. Ensign called the payment a gift.

The Senate Ethics Committee opened an investigation of Ensign in June 2009. In February, the Senate Ethics Committee named a special counsel.

With Ensign’s resignation, the panel loses its authority to take disciplinary action against him, but it does not necessarily end its investigation. The committee could refer its findings to state or federal legal authorities if it finds that laws may have been violated.