If Sonia Sotomayor fulfills her long-held dream to sit on the Supreme Court, she would have the prestige of joining the highest court in the land, lifetime job security and a public forum as the first Hispanic on that bench. A statement released on Ensign's behalf by his lawyer, Paul Coggins, said a check totaling $96,000 from both of Ensign's parents was given to Cindy Hampton, her husband, Doug, and two of their children in April 2008. It described the ...

The story of Sen. John Ensign's affair with a former staffer took a new twist Thursday with the revelation by Ensign that his parents gave the woman's family $96,000 as a gift. A statement released on Ensign's behalf by his lawyer, Paul Coggins, said a check totaling $96,000 from both of Ensign's parents was given to Cindy Hampton, her husband, Doug, and two of their children in April 2008. It described the money as two separate gifts to each family ...

The news blindsided official Washington: Sen. John Ensign, a well-known social conservative and family-values advocate, admitted on June 16 to an eight-month extramarital affair with a married campaign aide. The Nevada Republican's sober confession, read before a pack of reporters in Las Vegas, doubtlessly dashed the hopes of many in the party who considered Ensign an emerging national leader. The 51-year-old even fanned the flames of presidential speculation earlier this month, with a trip to the key presidential state ...

Sen. John Ensign of Nevada admitted Tuesday an extramarital affair with a woman who had worked for him. Ensign would not identify the woman but said both she and her husband had been "close friends." Her husband, he said, also worked for him. "Last year, I had an affair," the Republican senator said outside his office in Las Vegas. "I violated the vows of marriage. It's absolutely the worst thing I've done in my life. "I take full responsibility for ...