Trial for Doug Hampton remains months away

WASHINGTON -- Attorneys on Friday continued a slow march toward trial for Doug Hampton, the one-time U.S. Senate aide entwined in the scandal that felled former Sen. John Ensign of Nevada.

U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell set a series of deadlines for pretrial activities stretching into September before Hampton would be tried on seven counts of violating a federal lobbying law. A trial might start late in the year.

Hampton, a former Las Vegan, appeared in court for the first time since he issued an innocent plea in April. He had been declared indigent by the court, which flew him at government expense from Southern California, where he now lives.

"I'm OK," Hampton said as he was leaving Howell's courtroom after a brief hearing. He and his attorney, Federal Public Defender A.J. Kramer, declined to talk further about the case.

Kramer has until May 11 to file pretrial motions. Federal prosecutors were given to July 13 to respond, and Howell asked both parties to return to court on Sept. 5 for oral arguments on the motions.

Kramer told the judge he could be ready to start trial on Oct. 1, but Howell said she preferred to hear the pretrial motions before setting a date.

Hampton was Ensign's longtime close friend and Senate administrative assistant, but their friendship and professional relationship disintegrated after Hampton in late 2007 learned Ensign was having an affair with his wife.

To cushion the financial blow after Hampton left Ensign's staff on May 1, 2008, Ensign lined up Nevada lobbying clients for him. Hampton is charged with violating a federal law that requires top Senate aides to refrain from lobbying senators for a year after leaving Capitol Hill.

Ensign, once a Republican rising star, resigned last May, days before the Senate Ethics Committee released a report that found evidence he may have committed conspiracy, made false statements and destroyed potential evidence in trying to cover up the affair.

In court on Friday, Kramer said it has been a "massive undertaking" to review material gathered by the Senate panel and by the Justice Department that conducted a separate probe.

The Justice Department told Ensign attorneys in December 2010 that it had completed an investigation and was not pursuing charges against him.

Following the more recent Senate ethics disclosures, there have been no public signs that the department has reopened the matter, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group.

Sloan, a former federal prosecutor, attended the Hampton session on Friday as an observer.

With attorneys focused on pretrial matters, Sloan said she found no clues that Hampton may be cooperating in any further investigations or that a deal may be in the works on the charges against him.

Hampton faces a maximum five years in prison and $250,000 fine on each of the seven counts on which he was indicted.

"The biggest thing we saw today is they are definitely moving forward with the Hampton case in a way that does not indicate cooperation in an Ensign case," Sloan said.

In Nevada, Ensign has kept a private profile since leaving the Senate.

Still living in the Las Vegas Valley, he recently renewed his license to practice as a veterinarian, his profession before entering Congress in 1995.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephens media.com or 202-783-1760.