Calvin Rees’ DemoOkie

Things just keep getting worse for Coburn.

ABC’s Nightline last night featured an interview with Doug Hampton. To jar your memory, Doug is the husband victimized by Senator Ensign’s sexual harassment of his wife.

Understandably, most of the interview deals with the behavior of Senator Ensign. However, it turns out that Coburn features quite prominently as well. The full transcript is available here.

Coburn’s initial involvement comes when the Hamptons are trying to break off the affair, but Ensign won’t stop harrassing Mrs. Hampton. The Hamptons went to The Fellowship, a strange Christian sect that puts a decidedly unchristian emphasis on power, and that Ensign and Coburn both belong to. (The text below is from the Nightline transcript. The emphasis is mine)

Track: Back in Washington, Doug Hampton says he turned to the one place he was sure could help him. A secretive Christian group known as “The Fellowship. ” Ensign was living here—at what’s known as the C Street House…run by the Fellowship… - a meeting place and residence for Evangelical lawmakers.
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CM: What’s their first piece of advice to you?
DH: Be cool.
CM: Cover it up?
DH: No. No, not initially. No, we need help. We’re not big enough. This is a United States Senator and so even though we’re friends, we’re close, we’re brothers in Christ, we need power to confront this. Senator Tom Coburn, the hit man.

Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is one the most influential conservative voices in the United States Senate and also a C Street resident. Hampton says on Valentine’s Day, the C Street leadership and Senator Coburn helped him confront Senator Ensign.

DH: Tom really kind of takes the helm. Oh he’s smoking. He is one upset man. And then John kind of breaks down. I made a mistake, I really screwed up.

…of course this attitude lasted only as long as “Hitman” Coburn was in the room. Ensign is back after Mrs. Hampton before the day is out.

Eventually, after she repeatedly rebuffed Ensign’s advances, Hampton and his wife were both fired. Note that firing someone for complaining about or rebuffing your sexual advances is illegal. Hampton starts considering suing Ensign, which surely would have made the whole thing go public. That’s when Coburn steps in again.

CM: Were you threatening him…you either pay me the eight and half million dollars or I’m gonna go public?
DH: Absolutely not.
Track: Hampton claims none other than Senator Tom Coburn personally initiated and took charge of the negotiations …
Tom Coburn said ” What I would do, Doug, if I was you, is I would have them buy your home, give you a million bucks so you can start over, and that is what I am willing to help you negotiate.” He volunteered to help. He called me.
CM: And, what happened?
DH: John said: No can do, not going to happen
Track: In a statement to Nighltine Senator Coburn’s spokesman says that Doug Hampton never attempted to blackmail John Ensign nor was John Ensign trying to pay Hampton hush money.
From This Week: STEPHANOPOULOS: Is he telling the truth?
COBURN: No
Track: Yesterday George Stephanopoulos asked Senator Coburn about what Hampton told us.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You did not serve as an intermediary?
COBURN: Oh, I did. No, there’s no question. Look, my whole goal in this thing was to bring two families to a closure of a very painful episode. And there’s no question that Doug called me and said, “Will you talk to John about solving a problem?” And so I called John Ensign and said, “Do you want me to talk to him?” He said, “Yes.”

Initially, Coburn said he had no idea about this affair. Then he said he wasn’t involved. Now Coburn is claiming that, yes he did negotiate for Ensign, but now he’s saying it wasn’t his idea. Hampton, one day later, says otherwise.

It could be that Coburn is telling the truth…this time. After all the backpedaling, I’m skeptical.

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