Capitol Culture

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Ethics Committee admonished Republican Sen. Tom Coburn on Friday over his contact with a top aide to former Sen. John Ensign, the Nevada lawmaker who resigned in disgrace last year after lying about his affair with the staffer’s wife.

In a letter released Friday, the six-member panel said Coburn’s communications with Doug Hampton and his actions on behalf of the former administrative assistant “were improper conduct which reflects on the Senate.” The committee said the contact warranted a public letter of qualified admonition. Specifically, the committee said a meeting between the two violated the Senate rule barring contact on legislative matters within the first year of a staffer’s departure, commonly known as the “cooling off period.”