Via Alexander Burns, Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun reports federal indictments could soon be heading John Ensign's way. According to Ralston, any possible indictment would likely hinge on "structuring." He explains:
Structuring is a broad term that refers to the crime of creating financial transactions to evade reporting requirements — for example, a $96,000 payment to your mistress laundered through a trust controlled by your parents and calling it a “gift” instead of what it obviously was: a severance payment that had to be reported.
That the feds are looking at structuring as a possible crime will not surprise many old hands who have watched the sordid Ensign saga play out, morphing from a fairly grotesque he-slept-with-his-best-friend’s-wife-who-was-also-his-wife’s-best-friend story to a fantastically creepy tale of a senator trying to keep the cuckolded husband quiet by any means necessary, including, perhaps, structuring transactions with businesses in exchange for campaign contributions.
Ralston, who is the top political reporter in Las Vegas, said his information came from a "reliable source familiar with the deliberations occurring inside the Justice Department." In addition, in on-the-record interviews, two former Federal prosecutors told Ralston that they believed DoJ already had enough information to indict Ensign.
As Ralston points out, an Ensign indictment would be an absolute nightmare for the Republican Party. Thus far, no major Republicans have called for him to resign. Indeed, none have even dared so much as seriously criticize him.
Their silence speaks volumes. Even though Ensign misused his power as a U.S. Senator in an effort to lure private companies into hiring his mistress's husband, Republican teabaggers have said nothing.
With all their contant bleating about tyranny and freedom, you'd think they would be up in arms over a U.S. Senator's attempts to intervene in the affairs of private sector firms in order to achieve his personal goals. Instead, they can't even manage a yawn, because IOKIYAR. And it's especially okay if your name isn't Harry Reid or your initials aren't BHO.
Join the discussion in Senate Guru's recommended diary, The End May Be Nigh for John Ensign's Political Career.