Report: Ensign Aide Strikes Deal With Prosecutors

Posted May 15, 2012 at 5:38pm

A top aide to former Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has struck a deal with government prosecutors, according to news reports.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Doug Hampton has struck a deal with government prosecutors on seven felony charges of violating lobbying law.

Prosecutors charged that Hampton broke a federal law that bars top Senate staffers from lobbying Senators for a year after they leave their job.

Ensign, once a rising star in the GOP, resigned in 2011 after it became public that he had an affair with Hampton’s then-wife.

A lengthy report from the Senate Ethics Committee said that Hampton stopped working for Ensign after he learned of the affair. Just days later, he began representing clients such as Entravision and Allegiant Airlines, the report said.

According to the Review-Journal, Hampton and his wife divorced and he now lives in California.