The Senate Ethics Committee announced yesterday that it will appoint a special counsel to investigate Senator John Ensign (R-NV), who allegedly used his political power to hide his affair with the wife of a top former political aide. Carol Elder Bruce, a criminal defense lawyer at K&L Gates who specializes in white collar crime, will lead the investigation. This is the first time in 20 years that special counsel has been appointed by the Senate Ethics Committee to conduct an investigation of a senator.
Senator Ensign remarked in an interview yesterday that he had not committed any wrongful acts, stating, “The Justice Department saw it that way; FEC saw it that way, that I broke no laws. And I don’t think I broke any Senate ethics rules, and we’re hoping they see it the same way.”
