Coburn drops the dime on Ensign

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., handed over e-mails that could help authorities build their case against embattled Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., Politico reports. (Find the Politico article, here.)

“We’ve given them everything they wanted,” Coburn told Politico, referring to the Justice Department.

The Nevada Republican faces Senate Ethics Committee investigation, which could lead to sanctions and even his expulsion from Congress, and a more ominous Justice Department investigation, which could land him in prison.

Senate and federal investigators are trying to determine whether Ensign broke ethics rules and criminal laws in an attempt to cover up his affair with Cindy Hampton, the wife of Doug Hampton, the senator's former longtime friend and administrative assistant in Washington.

Coburn and Ensign have both been involved with a conservative Christian group of power brokers known as The Family. The Oklahoman got mixed up with the Ensign mess when he tried to help Doug Hampton and Ensign resolve their conflict over the affair, a process that included Ensign's family paying Hampton $96,000. Coburn admits a financial payoff was part of the discussion, but says he did nothing wrong.

He told Politico he recieved a letter, but not a subpoena, from the feds and passed along the appropriate information.