Ensign's Adultery and His Parents' Tax Planning

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/10/03/adultery_and_tax_planning.html

Adultery and Tax Planning


Paul Caron follows up on Sen. John Ensign's extramarital affair with Cynthia Hampton, a campaign staffer married to Douglas Hampton, Sen. Ensign's former chief of staff.

He notes "that the $96,000 in 'gifts' by Sen. Ensign's parents to the Hamptons was structured in the form of eight checks of $12,000 each -- four checks each from Sen. Ensign's father and mother to Cynthia Hampton, Douglas Hampton, and their two children in order to take full advantage of the $12,000 gift tax annual exclusion available in 2008. This week's New York Times' detailed investigation should prompt the IRS to question the treatment of the $96,000 payment as a gift in light of the possible legal claims by the Hamptons against Sen. Ensign."

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports Ensign's future "grew more unsettled Friday as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to offer his support or express confidence in the embattled Nevada Republican."

[imdjh]

1. They just can't help themselves, can they? Always looking for an angle. nt

[babylonsister]

2. Yep, and I hope it bites Ensign and his parents in the ass. nt

[DavidDvorkin]

3. We shouldn't even be talking about this because

they're all consenting adults and we're not their mommy.

I read that in a couple of the Letterman threads.

[babylonsister]

5. When a sitting senator breaks rules, it's time to talk about it.

Letterman is a comedian; big difference.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=6679602

snip//

There are all kinds of ethics laws and lobbying rules intended to prevent the very actions Ensign seems to have taken. The Republican senator personally intervened with private companies to help land lobbying jobs for his mistress' husband, and then proceeded to use his Senate office to do favors for those companies that cooperated.

Indeed, Ensign assigned his chief of staff to deal with the mistress' husband directly. The law prohibits "senior aides from lobbying the Senate for a year after leaving their posts," but Ensign didn't care. "Mr. Hampton said he and Mr. Ensign were aware of the lobbying restriction but chose to ignore it."

[lunatica]

4. Rachel Maddow is also doing her own follow up on this story

I heard The Family has moved out of C Street. Is there any truth to this rumor?