There was a ruling today saying that a congressman’s right to privacy does not trump the public’s right to know about possible criminal behavior.
August 26, 2013

There was a ruling today saying that a congressman’s right to privacy does not trump the public’s right to know about possible criminal behavior. You would think that would be written down somewhere but it’s not.The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington won a lawsuit today to Federal District Court against former Senator John Ensign (R-NV) being able to keep secret his tawdry little affair with a former campaign staffer who was then married to his Chief of Staff.

ensign

You probably recall that Ensign asked Clinton to resign after the Lewinsky affair because Clinton “has no credibility left.” Ensign touted his membership in the Foursquare Pentecostal Church and how he was against same sex marriage because marriage was so sacred and everything.

I mean, Honey, you could have seen this fall coming a mile off. Nobody gets that sanctimonious without something to hide.

So Ensign gets caught doing the wild thing with his Chief of Staff’s wife and then spent taxpayer time and money trying to cover it up.

The ethics committee referred the case to DOJ for a further investigation, but the department declined to prosecute Sen. Ensign, instead prosecuting only the former chief of staff, Doug Hampton. DOJ refused to provide any records, claiming Sen. Ensign’s privacy interests trumped the public’s right to know.

I’m happy to report to you that this is the fourth such case that CREW has won. I know it’s Ensign who lives is Vegas but it’s CREW who is on a roll.

There is a simple solution here: If you are in Congress, behave yourself and also remember this simple rule: Pigs get fat but hogs get slaughtered.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon