Nevada Sen. John Ensign resigns amid ethics probe

By Eric W. Dolan

Nevada Sen. John Ensign (R) announced Thursday he will resign his seat on May 3, due to a Senate ethics committee investigation over his extramarital affair with a former campaign aide.

"It is with tremendous sadness that I officially hand over the Senate seat that I have held for eleven years,” said Ensign. "The turbulence of these last few years is greatly surpassed by the incredible privilege that I feel to have been entrusted to serve the people of Nevada. I can honestly say that being a United States Senator has been the honor of my life."

The senator, who has served since January 2001, was a rising star in the party when he admitted to an extramarital affair in 2009. His parents reportedly wrote a $96,000 check to his former mistress and her family, leading to an investigation by the Federal Election Commission, which was later dismissed.

It was later revealed that Ensign may have violated Senate ethics rules by arranging for his former mistress's husband to take a job as a lobbyist with a Nevada consulting firm in an attempt to hush the matter up.

Ensign, 51, a staunch conservative with a record of strong family-values stances, had vowed to remain in office after describing the affair as "absolutely the worst thing I've ever done in my life" at a news conference.

He said he and his wife, Darlene, had reconciled thanks to marital counseling and that his marriage is "stronger than ever."

“While I stand behind my firm belief that I have not violated any law, rule, or standard of conduct of the Senate, and I have fought to prove this publicly, I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings," Ensign said. "For my family and me, this continued personal cost is simply too great."

"To the people of Nevada, I humbly say thank you for what you have given to me through the years," he added. "To my family, thank you for the support and love that you have shown me. To my staff, thank you for coming on this incredible journey with me and for standing by me despite the obstacles."

GOP congressman resigns over failed attempt at extramarital sex

By Daniel Tencer

A Republican congressman from western New York announced his resignation Monday after a gossip website published a shirtless photo he sent to a woman who posted a Craigslist personal ad.

According to a report at Gawker, Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY) responded to an ad a 34-year-old woman posted to Craigslist's "women seeking men" section, sending her pictures of himself and claiming to be a 39-year-old, divorced lobbyist. Lee is married with one child and is 46 years old.

Lee's office confirmed to Gawker that it was his email address that was used to correspond with the woman.

"I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents," Leesaid in a statement circulated to the media. "I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness."

Gawker reported that Lee responded quickly to a January 14 ad challenging "Craigslist men" to prove they don't all "look like toads."

Lee responded with a fully-dressed picture of himself and the comment, "I hope I'm not a toad."

When the woman responded with "Are you sure that's not a photo from a JCPenney ad?", Lee responded with "Here ... I just took one. I'm relaxing at home." That message was accompanied with a photo of Lee topless in front of a mirror, flexing his right arm.

Gawker noted that the conversation was "relatively banal" but his "support for 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and vote to reject federal abortion funding suggests a certain comfort with publicly scrutinizing others' sex lives."

Lee was first elected to New York's 26th congressional district, which includes parts of the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester, in 2008. A special election to replace him hasn't been called yet.