not the time to stall momentum or to stifle innovation or investment. the future is at stake, and at at&t, the future has always been and at at&t, the future has always been our business. at&t... your world... delivered. tonight, on "nightline" -- sex, faith and scandal. the inside story of an affair that raises trouble questions of hycrisy and betrayal. they were best friends, now, john ensign's closest aide said the senator's attempt to cover up the indealt. infidelity. it's a "nightline" exclusive. plus, the right stuffing. here comes thanksgiving, and we have all the secrets for making the perfect stuffing in a special thanksgiving edition o "nightline." >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, martin bashir, and cynthia mcfadden in new york city. is this "nightline," november 23rd, 2009. good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with another sex scandal and another politician on the hot seat. in june, nevada's republican snaert john ensign, a family conservative a devout christian, publicly alogized for an affair with a staffer. it's the type of announcement that's become all too-familiar. but now, five months later, a key player in that scandal has come forward, claiming senator ensign's behavior just critical, but criminal. it's an interview by john ensign's former chief of staff with allegations that could prove devastating. >> ladies and gentlemen, the hone john ensign from nevada. >> reporter: john ensign was a rising star in the republican party. >> are you as fired up as i am? >> reporter: but for the second term, there are already rumblings that the junior senator from nevada might be the next hope. with impeccable kred schedules but this past june -- >> last year, i had an affair. >> reporter: a stunning announcement. >> it's absolutely the worst thing that i've ever done in my life. >> reporter: confession made, ensign took no questions but almost immediately questions were waved. it turned t the affair was with this woman, cindy hampton, and one of his top senate aides, doug hampton. >> right over here to the left shoulder is the ensign neighborhoods. ours is right over my right shoulder. >> reporter: now, doug hampton emerged with his first television network interview to tell his side of the story. allegations of hypocrisy and hubris. cover-ups and maybe even crimes that have destroyed lives that could get to destroy ensign's career. >> it's hard to describe what's going on at this moment, with regards to the unraveling of the choices that john made. >> reporter: you've lost your job. >> lost your best friend. >> reporter: lost your best friend. >> lost my best friend. >> reporter: nearly lost your wife? >> nearly lost my wife. >> reporter: it was a 20-year-old friendship. here they are vacation together. so close, they've become family. the couples lived yards away from one another in th suburb of las vegas. they prayed together here at the fellowship church, people of intense faith. and in 2006, ensign asked his friend doug hampton to come for washington and serve as his co-chief of staff. despite his utter lack of experience, hampton said ensign wanted him there as he walked the corridors. a brother in christ. >> walk alongside, in whatever capacity possible. the same kind of model that jesus exhibited in the bible. it was a dream. >> reporter: a dream come true? >> yeah. you know, i floated. >> reporter: but during christmas of 2007, that dream turned into a nightmare when doug intercepted a text message ensign had sent cindy. what did it say? >> how wonderful it is. can't believe, it's like a kid. scared by exciting. >> reporter: did you know instantly? >> oh, i had an out-of-body experience. i confront john, i think he genuinely believes i'm going to knock him out. john is panicked. he's like a kid. cindy is speechless. she is absolutely in shock. >> reporter: according to hampton on christmas eve there was a confrontation at the ensign home with both couples with all of their children present. >> the kids know. we know. ten of us meet at john and darlene's and i say, what are we going to do? are we going to destroy each other's lives, is this it? oh, gosh, no, no, it's the biggest mistake we ever made. we do not want this. john cries like a kid. puts his head in his hands and cries like a little boy. >> reporter: remorse? you hear remorse? >> yeah, panic. >> reporter: both couples tried to work it out by february hampton believes ensign and his wife are still having an affair. he's still sleeping with your wife, you think? >> yeah, that's hard to hear. he's absolutely pursuing her. he's absolutely fixated on cindy. >> reporter: hampton said his suspicions were confirmed when he accompanied his boss on a congressional trip to iraq. >> i was not a person he wanted to see anymore on a daily basis. >> reporter: you subsequently discover tlad he was calling your wife morning and night from iraq. >> i was having problems with my phone. i asked john, could i use your phone. instead of scrolling to cindy hampton, he scrolls to aunt judy, like covert cover-up for cindy hampton. and i realize, wow, wow. something is seriously wrong. >> reporter: back in washington, doug hampton said he turned to the one place he was sure could help him. a secretive christian group known as the fellowship. ensign was living here at what's known as the c street house owned by the fellowship. a meeting place for evangelical lawmakers. what's their first piece of advice to you? >> be cool. >> reporter: cover it up? >> no, no, not initially. no, we need help. we're not big enough. this is a unitedtates senator so even though we're friends, we're close, we're brothers in christ, we need power to confront this. senator tom coburn. the hit man. >> reporter: senator tom coburn of oklahoma is one of the most influential conservative voices in the united states senate and also a c street resident. marchton said on valentine's day the c street leadership and senator coburn helped him confronts senator ensign. >> tom really kind of takes the helm. >> reporter: so how angry is tom coburn at this point? >> oh, he's smoking. he's one upset man. and then john kind of breaks down a little bit. i don't know what to say. i made a mistake. i really screwed up. >> reporter: hampton provided us with this letter which he says the group of c street forced him to wright to sinsddy. i used you for my own pressure, he wrote. god never intendsed for us to do this. according to hampton, within hours, john ensign calls sinsddy. >> he is just lived. he made him write a letter, but it's not how i feel. doug has exposed me. as though somehow i'm the bad guy in this. >> reporter: so that weekend, you actually see john ensign. and what does he tell you about his feelings for your wife? >> he's in love with her. i know it's sad. i can't change it. i'm not going to apologize for how i feel. not only am i going to pursue the relationship, done work for me anymore. this isn't going to work. he almost said it like "you've made me uncomfortable." >> reporter: is your wife in love with him? >> no, she's -- >> reporter: did he take advantage of her? >> yeah, absolutely. he took advantage of his power and position. >> reporter: that isn't just a loving husband talking. >> i can appreciate why i lot of people think that. i do not think that he was blameless i'm not saying she was not struggling with her own attraction to john and her own demons. >> reporter: cindy hampton would not deny her husband's allegations that she was taken advantage of by ensign. a watchdog group has asked the senate to take a look at whether ensign was guilty of a violation because sinsddy was working for him at the time. >> did senator ensign sexually harass senator ensign? and then did he violate the law by firing cynthia hampton and her husband when the fire ended? >> reporter: by april 2008, senator ensign had indeed fired both doug hamp tond and his wife. but not before a final humiliation. 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>> absolutely. and a gift. >> reporter: days later, the hamptons received what ensign now claims is another gift. this check for $96,000 made out to doug, cindy and two of their children. the check is from ensign's father. mike ensign, a wealthy casino mogul. a family spokesman called a pattern of generosity made out of concern for the well-being of longtime family friends during a difficult time. >> pattern of generosity? hey, listen, we realize your son's having an affair with your wife. maybe some money will help. it's ridiculous. is it crystal clear you that that$96,000 was in fact severance and not a gift? >> crystal clear. i've taken notes. i've shared those notes. they were well documented. they were clearly what he deemed as severance. but a cover-up. >> reporter: the ensign family said the gift implied with tax rules, but if the check was indeed severance, senator ensign may have violated campaign laws by not revealing. >> you have to wonder how the parents paid his former mistress $96,000 out of the goodness of their hearts. it just doesn't make sense. the failure to report it may we will be a felony publnishable. >> reporter: having lost his six-figure dream job, ensign made it worse. hampton said he called him offering him a new career, lobbying. only one problem, federal exit laws prohibit staffers from lobbying the senate within a year of leaving and it may we will be illegal for a senator to help them do it. is senator ensign himself lining up clients for you? >> absolutely. hey. i talked to so-and-so. call them. >> that in itself is a felony. >> reporter: hampton claims once he had clients, ensign instructed him to deal directly with his then chief of staffer. hampton provided these then e-mails which he says show that's just what happened. let me make sure i understand what you're saying, john ensign was aware that he was helping you and assisting you in breaking ethics rules? >> john ensign was perfectly aware that it was going down exactly how he wanted it. >> reporter: so there is no doubt in your mind that john ensign understood that ethics laws were being broken as well? >> there's no doubt in my mind. >> reporter: this is a serious allegation you're making against a sitting united states senator. >> why would a client hire doug hampton if he didn't think he was going to have access to john ensign's office? that's the only reason he would hire me. >> reporter: you understand what you're saying could make you criminally liable? >> it's the truth. and it's under power and abuse and orchestration of a senator who controlled our lives. >> reporter: but doug hampton's career as a lobbyist only lasted a year before he was let go. unemployed and financially strained, hampton's lawyers sought $8.5 million from what he calls restitution. experts say doug hampton was trying to extort him with, quote, exorbitant amounts of cash. >> that's a powerful man twisting words. >> reporter: did you ever try to extort john ensign? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: did you ever threaten him? >> no. >> reporter: hampton claims none other than ensign initiated it. >> tom coburn said, what i would do, doug, have them buy your home, give you a million bucks to start over. he volunteered to help. he called me. >> reporter: and what happened? >> john said no can do. not going to happen. >> reporter: in a statement to "nightline," senator coburn's spokesman said that doug hampton never attempted to blackmail john ensign. nor was john ensign trying to pay hampton hush money. saying, quote, neither accusation is accredit. yesterday, george stephanopoulos asked coburn about what hampton told us? >> flat no? >> no. it was to bring two families to closure in a very painful episode. there's no question that doug called me and said will you talk to john about solving a problem. and so i called john ensign and said, do you want me to talk to him you he said yes. >> reporter: in june, hampton did try to go public. writing fox news anchor megan kelly revealing the affair. ensign hastily called a press conference. >> i will not be taking a questions, thank you. >> reporter: so what should john ensign do right now? >> resign immediately. >> reporter: doug hampton said he's coming forward now because he says he sees new evidence that these charges are being investigated. >> ts is washington, d.c. you never know how the senate ethics committee almost never met a scandal it could avoid taking action on. >> reporter: has the department of justice contacted you at all? >> not at all. >> reporter: the senate ethics committee, contacted you? >> not at all. >> reporter: the fbi? >> not at all. >> reporter: what conclusion do you draw from that? >> not really interested. getting to the bottom of this. it's interesting, when they're campaigning, you got to talk about everything. when you're elected, you don't have to talk about anything. >> senator ensign has said he has no plans to resign. and he designed our offer of an interview. but in a statement today to "nightline," he says that he has, quote, not violated any law or senate ethics rule. he went on to say that doug hampton violated ethics laws, he did not advise, assist or cooperate with him in doing so. we'll be right back. des clean cs to families affected by disasters. 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[ female announcer ] you, too, can help families affected by disaster by purchasing yellow-cap tide. together we can provide loads of hope. let the all-new campbellskitchen.com help bring your family to the table this holiday. from timeless favorites like campbell's green bean casserole to new classics like swanson herb roasted turkey with pan gravy and pepperidge farm holiday brie en croute even clever ideas that give leftovers a full makeover. for inspiration, family pleasing recipes and 15 dollars in valuable coupons, explore the all-new campbellskitchen.com for a very happy holiday. we go now to thanksgiving, a day we celebrate with gratitude and by digging into a turkey and all the trimmings. and we turn to chef daniel hu who tonight shares his recipe for a perfect stuffing in this edition of "nightline." >> my goal is to have a voice as a chef. and i feel it's important that that voice gets heard because i believe so much in what i have to say. we have fresh cranberries, we have sugar and some orange. the cranberries that go inside here, we're going to put some orange zest inside the sugar. we're going to also add it inside. and then at a low level, the berries are going to break up a little bit for one whole hour. so now we can take it out. we serve this on the side with our roasted chicken, it's great. also for turkey, of course. it is really good. i love thanksgiving because it's a holiday that is for everybody. and it doesn't matter where you're from or what religion you are, it's a time to celebrate and to come together. and the holidays are about food, which is even better. we're going to do a stuffing that is pretty traditional. we have chicken breast, onions, apples. here we have dried figs. and we have chestnuts and the celery. so here you have some duck fat. we have a little bit of a brown chicken, bread crumbs and, some sage and also some butter. make sure everything is nice and even. when i started cooking, i didn't really know that much about chefs and what can be achieved. i just knew i loved food. and i knew with food, you make people happy, and it's pretty much instant satisfaction, you have a recipe, and within two or three hours, you have result, and people can enjoy it. and you get edback. and really, i really like that a lot. are we going to feel the chicken underneither the skin with the stuffing? it's going to take about an ur to cook at about 350 degrees. here you see, it's golden brown and now it's ready to be presented and served. it's about the simple things in life. it's about, you know, finding happiness, i think. that's what's most important. >> you can almost smell it from here. you can find daniel humm's recipe on the "nightline" page at abcnews.com. we'll be back with a preview of my interview with rachael ray but first, here's jimmy kimmel what's coming up next. >> jimmy: thanks.