GOP Senator John Ensign Admits Affair

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Congress

(CBS)

Updated 6:55 p.m. Eastern Time

Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, has admitted having an extramarital affair with a member of his campaign staff.

"Last year I had an affair. I violated the vows of my marriage. It's absolutely the worst thing I've ever done in my life," Ensign said at a press conference in Nevada this afternoon.

"If there was ever anything that I could take back in my life, this would be it," he continued. "I take full responsibility for my actions."

Ensign said the affairtook place "about a year ago," and that it involved a married female campaign staffer with whom he was close friends. "That closeness put me into situations during a very difficult time in my marriage which led to my inappropriate behavior," Ensign said.

The senator missed an important vote on the travel industry in Washington to return to Nevada to make the announcement. He did not take questions.

(AP)

Ensign is believed to have been considering a 2012 run for president. He made a speech in Iowa on June 1st widely seen as an attempt to test the waters for a national bid.

The Associated Press reports that Ensign's wife released a statement saying the affair was first revealed to her last year, and that the family has since "worked through the situation and we have come to a reconciliation."

"This has been difficult on both families," said Darlene Ensign. "With the help of our family and close friends our marriage has become stronger."

In his remarks today, Ensign said he is "truly blessed to have a wife like Darlene, who has found it in her heart to forgive me."

Ensign was one of the leading voices calling for Republican Sen. Larry Craig to resign in 2007, following Craig's arrest for disorderly conduct in an airport restroom. Ensign, a conservative first elected in 2000, called Craig a "disgrace" following the revelations.

In a speech "to defend the sanctity of marriage and urge passage of the Federal Marriage Amendment Act," on the Senate floor in 2004, Ensign said "marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded."

The fourth highest ranking Republican in the Senate, Ensign is chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.

"I know that I have deeply hurt and disappointed my wife Darlene, my children, my family, friends, my staff, and all those who believed in me," Ensign said in his remarks Tuesday. "And to all of them, especially my wife, I'm truly sorry."

Watch Sen. Ensign Comment On His Affair:

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by picklepants7 June 17, 2009 10:16 AM EDT: by PLANO-TX June 16, 2009 4:35 PM PDT
Would it be too much to ask for you to learn how spell and use
proper grammar / puntuation?? The point you are trying to make is
kind of dumb ..... and your delivery makes it sound even worse.

look here dunce, my style of writing is lower case. i am the anti caps person, people who caps irritate me, and this style shows that i am on even keal. as far as grammer, you don't know what you're talking about. and further more, if this is the only comment you have and not the content you are wasting my time and everyone elses time on useless dribble. it just shows that you can't dispute the message, so you have to attack something. typical liberal dumbacrate, get a life you sorry loser. your quote "the point you are trying to make is kinda dumb". sounds like something a first grader would say. great analysis, you should work for the main stream media with that kind of vocabulary idiot. go back and get your ged, then comeback and you can talk to the adults.; Reply to this comment


by chitown639 June 17, 2009 9:20 AM EDT: A another member of the Confederate Republican Party is once again ensnared in a sex scandal....how can the confederates still have the nerve to march under their hypocritical banner of "Promoting Good Family Values".......; Reply to this comment


by babooph June 17, 2009 9:14 AM EDT: No wonder the "Christians" love this party,they have the same phoney morality.; Reply to this comment


by mrs_trepidatious June 17, 2009 8:56 AM EDT: I blame the floozy staff member. She was probably a liberal agent sent to bring down the Senator.; Reply to this comment


by ekucrew June 17, 2009 8:30 AM EDT: Has Promise Keepers kicked him to curb yet? I guess the ad slogan is wrong... what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas or in Washington for that matter.; Reply to this comment


by johndevinejr June 17, 2009 8:03 AM EDT: by McHineguy June 16, 2009 11:38 PM PDT
I think he took his idea from John Edwards and John Kennedy. But, then I dont know. Maybe it was Bill Clinton.

It is not so much the act that people are offended by. It is the hypocrisy of the republicans that is offensive. If they weren't forever marching around talking about how moral they are they wouldn't get laughed at so much.; Reply to this comment


by johndevinejr June 17, 2009 7:59 AM EDT: The difference between the philandering of Democrats and republicans is that the repubs are alway preaching a morality they do not practice. The Democrats are certainly not immune to this kind of arrogance, like Elliot Spitzer, a serious sleazeball and criminal.

But the republicans make such a big deal about their level of morality. While the Democrats are just as immoral, they don't take the hit because they don't present themselves in such a pompous arrogant manner; Reply to this comment


by chitown639 June 17, 2009 7:07 AM EDT: HA HA HA!!!; Reply to this comment


by sean58z June 17, 2009 7:03 AM EDT: John admitted to romance. Religious Conservatives should mind their own business. Morality is an opinion.; Reply to this comment


by sean58z June 17, 2009 6:55 AM EDT: John leads an active, social life. Conservative, religious Voters should drop the paranoid attacks. Thorazine and Haldol treats serious symptoms of mental illness like delusions (such as assumed divinity) and hallucinations (hearing voices).; Reply to this comment