Las Vegas NowHampton Speaks, Alleges Cover-Up by Ensign

Hampton Speaks, Alleges Cover-Up by Ensign

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- For the first time, Doug Hampton, the husband of Senator John Ensign's mistress, has spoken publicly about the affair. Hampton spoke to I-Team Political Analyst Jon Ralston for a two-part interview on Face to Face.

Hampton blasted Senator Ensign, alleging off the books payments to his mistress and accusing another senator of helping orchestrate a cover up.

Hampton said the affair started after his house was burglarized around Christmas in 2007. For protection, the Hamptons moved in with their close friends, the Ensigns. "We were asked to go over and stay with the Ensigns. We were close -- real close. Close friends. We had been close friends a long time. Very close while we live here in Nevada. And while living in the house, Cindy and John got together," he said.

Hampton said he learned about the affair when Ensign text messaged Cindy Hampton. From there, Doug Hampton and other conservative friends of Ensign confronted the senator.

Hampton says another senator was there -- Tom Coburn from Oklahoma. Hampton says Coburn was the one pushing for attorneys to meet and to give millions of dollars to the Hamptons to make this all go away.

"Our attorneys did talk. Our attorneys absolutely talked because Senator Tom Coburn asked and was involved in these negotiations out of good will and good faith," said Hampton.

Hampton says the negotiations were to talk about restitution from Ensign. Hampton called that a cover-up orchestrated by a United States Senator. While the payoff ended up not happening, Hampton did talk about Ensign paying severance to Cindy Hampton after she left her job with his political action committee.

Hampton said Ensign paid more than $25,000 of his own money, completely untraced and under the table. The payment could be a violation of elections law and criminal activity. Calls to Senator Ensign's office were not returned.

In a statement, a spokesman for Sen. Coburn said, "Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Senator Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Senator Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton's marriage. Had Senator Ensign followed Dr. Coburn's advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago."

Hampton admits he didn't try to stop any attempt at the alleged cover-up. He said he should have said more to stop Ensign. He says he wrote a letter to Fox News pleading for help and his lawyers asked for millions of dollars to make this right.

Ensign is also said to have written a letter to Cindy breaking the whole thing off and saying he wanted to repair damage with God. Yet according to Hampton, just 24 hours after sending the letter, Ensign continued to see her.