Senate ethics records

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BARBARA BOXER, CALIFORNIA, CHAIRMAN
JOHNNY ISAKSON. GEORGIA, VICE CHAIRMAN
SHERROD BROWN, OHIO
BENJAMIN L CARDIN, MARYLAND
PAT ROBERTS, KANSAS
JAMES E. RISCH, IDAHO
JOHN C. SASSAMAN, CHIEF COUNSEL ANO STAFF DIRECTOR
ANNETIE GILLIS, DEPUTY STAFF DIRECTOR
The Honorable Tom Coburn
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Wniteb ~tates ~enate
SELECT COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, ROOM 220
SECOND AND CONSTITUTION AVEN UE, NE
WASHINGTON, DC 20510- 6425
May 25, 2012
Public Letter of Qualified Admonition
Dear Senator Coburn:
TELEPHONE: (202) 224-2981
FACSIMILE: (20 2) 224-741 6
TOO: (202) 228-3752
After an investigation, the Select Committee on Ethics found that your communications
with and actions on behalf of Doug Hampton were improper conduct which reflects on the
Senate, and it is therefore issuing you this Public Letter of Qualified Admonition. Further, in
order to assure that the Senate community fully understands the law and rules that prohibit such
conduct, the Committee is issuing guidance later today.
The Committee found that you had a personal friendship with Mr. Hampton, the former
Administrative Assistant to Senator John Ensign, that you were aware that Mr. Hampton had left
his Senate employment, and that when he later contacted you on official business less than one
year later you agreed to a meeting that involved a discussion of legislative matters, which is not
permitted by law. Your relationship with Mr. Hampton provided you with a basis to have known
that he was engaging in prohibited post-employment communications when he contacted you
and scheduled the March II, 2009 meeting on behalf of his employer, Allegiant Air
("Allegiant").
In reaching its determination to issue a qualified admonition, the Committee took into
consideration that your prohibited conduct was confined to oi1e meeting only, and that you
candidly acknowledged that you should have exercised a higher degree of care. While the
Committee did not find that your conduct constituted actionable violations of criminal law, the
Committee believes that Senators are obligated to meet a higher standard, and it has the authority
and responsibility to investigate Members who may engage in improper conduct which reflects
on the Senate.
Scope of the Committee's Inquiry
The Committee initiated its investigation following the conclusion of the Preliminary
Inquiry of Senator John Ensign ("Ensign Inquiry") to determine whether your conduct in
communicating with and meeting with Mr. Hampton violated any law, rule, or standard of
conduct within the Committee's jurisdiction. To reach its conclusions, the Committee conducted
interviews of Mr. Hampton, Allegiant representatives, and members of your staff who were involved in setting up or attending the meeting with Mr. Hampton. It also reviewed the
information and testimony developed during the Ensign Inquiry, including your testimony in that
matter, and your responses to the Committee's Request for Information.
Federal criminal law (18 U.S.C. § 207(e)) prohibits former "senior" staff, like Mr.
Hampton, for one year from knowingly communicating or appearing before their former Senate
colleagues if their intent is to influence official actions and they are acting on behalf of any other
person. The statutory ban, or "cooling off period," applies to any matter on which the former
employee seeks official action on behalf of someone else, regardless of whether the former
employee is a registered lobbyist or works for those who lobby. Senate rules prohibit lobbying
contacts by all former staff during the one year cooling off period. The Committee also
considered whether you knowingly associated with, participated in, and furthered Mr. Hampton's
impermissible contacts, in violation of the general aiding and abetting and conspiracy statutes
(18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 371).
Your Communications with Mr. Hampton During His Cooling Of:Jf Period
The Committee found that you met with Mr. Hampton on official business even though
you had reason to know that he was legally prohibited from requesting or participating in such a
meeting. You acknowledged that Mr. Hampton was a personal friend whom you counseled and
supported after learning of Senator Ensign's affair with his wife, Cindy Hampton. You were
made aware of plans to help the Hamptons transition into a new life, and you recommended that
Senator Ensign assist Mr. Hampton with recommendations to find another job, as you would
"normally give someone who had been your chief of staff." During his cooling off period, Mr.
Hampton thanked you for helping him after learning of the affair and informed you that he had
an "excellent job" with Allegiant. Prior to the March 11 , 2009 meeting, you knew that Mr.
Hampton represented the airline.
Mr. Hampton's email with your scheduler indicated the March 11 meeting would be
"both personal and business." You said you saw "no harm in meeting with him to discuss
personal matters and his efforts to re-establish himself in the business world." During the
meeting, you discussed substantive matters of legislative concern to Allegiant, including the
FAA reauthorization and the need for regulation regarding speculation in energy markets. You
also discussed Allegiant's reinstitution of air service to Oklahoma. Allegiant, however, did not
make any request for official action, nor did your office take any official action on Allegiant's
behalf.
Following the meeting, and after Mr. Hampton's cooling off period was over, you were
intimately involved in trying to help the Ensigns and Hamptons reach a financial settlement that
would stave off any public disclosure of, by then, the past affair. This lends further credence to
your awareness that Mr. Hampton was in his cooling off period in March 2009.
During this entire period, there is no dispute that Mr. Hampton was a former senior
employee subject to the statutory post-employment restrictions, for which he is now charged
with violating. Throughout Mr. Hampton's cooling off period, which ran from May 2, 2008 to
May 1, 2009, he successfully arranged a meeting with you on behalf of Allegiant in order to
2 further its business interests. Mr. Hampton is currently under indictment for improper contacts
that he had with Senator Ensign and his office during his cooling off period.
Your Actions Were Improper and Reflect Upon the Senate
Although the post-employment statute and cotTesponding Senate Rule (Rule 37.9) apply
to contacts by former Members and employees of the Senate, and do not address conduct by
current Members and employees who receive the contacts, current Members and employees have
an obligation to refrain from knowingly participating in conduct that is prohibited under either
the law or Senate rule. Consistent with Committee guidance that Senators must meet a higher
standard of conduct, ~ 2 of the Code of Ethics for Government Service admonishes government
employees to " [u]phold the Constitution, laws, and legal regulations of the United States and of
all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion." Other provisions of the Code
state that government employees must " [p]ut loyalty to the highest moral principles and the
country" above loyalty to others, and to uphold all of these principles, "ever conscious that
public office is a public trust."
While the Committee did not find that your conduct constituted actionable violations of
criminal law, it determined that you did not meet the aforementioned higher standards expected
of a U.S Senator. However, in deciding to issue a qualified admonition, the Committee took note
that it was one meeting that you have since candidly acknowledged was wrong and taken full
responsibility for arranging. You said that you were "in a better position to evaluate the potential
risks ofthis meeting than [your] staff, so that [your] behavior demands that [you] apologize for
not supervising [your] staff more careful! y in vetting this meeting request. " The Committee
recognizes and appreciates your contrition.
The Committee issues this Public Letter of Qualified Admonition, and hereby considers
this matter closed.
Sincerely,
d!:!:-Bo s-- r ~liliio..o.
Gant sw~ Sherrod Brown, Member
Z=&f~ember
3

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