gop Gyno Clams Up About Urging gop Adulterer Use Hush Money - Claims Doctor/Client Privilege
Coburn denies pushing payments
WASHINGTON — Sen. Tom Coburn confirmed Thursday that he confronted a fellow Republican senator about an extramarital affair and urged him to end it, but the Oklahoman categorically denied that he discussed any form of restitution or compensation for the former mistress.
Coburn also said that because he was acting as both a physician and a church deacon, at least some of his discussions with Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., can remain off limits, even to the Senate Ethics Committee.
He described those discussions as “privileged.’’
...He spoke in the wake of claims by Doug Hampton in an exclusive interview with a Las Vegas Sun columnist, Jon Ralston, that Coburn had encouraged Ensign to make some kind of restitution.
“None whatsoever,’’ Coburn said when asked whether he had discussed some kind of payment to the Hamptons.
I categorically deny that.’’
...Addressing whether he would agree to testify before the committee, Coburn said he would talk to the panel but indicated that some of his discussions with Ensign over the affair might be off limits even to Senate investigators.
He said he had been involved in such situations “multiple times.”
“And so there’s a segment of my counseling (that) is privileged that I won’t divulge,’’ he said.
Coburn said that privileged information was linked to his role as both a physician and a church deacon.
