Subpoenas issued as GOP senator faces scrutiny

A Las Vegas television station reported yesterday that grand jury subpoenas in the Ensign probe went to six Las Vegas businesses that it did not name.

According to one subpoena obtained by the station, a recipient was ordered to produce documents relating to, among others, Ensign; Michael Slanker, the former political director at the National Republican Senatorial Committee; and Slanker’s wife, Lindsey, the committee’s former finance director.

The subpoena covers the period starting Jan. 1, 2008, and directs the recipient to testify March 31 in Washington, D.C., and to turn over documents.

Ensign’s affair and the legal problems it has engendered have derailed talk that he might make a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 and forced him to resign his position as chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee.

Asked about the subpoenas, Rebecca Fisher, Ensign spokeswoman, said, “Senator Ensign is confident he has complied with all ethics rules and laws and will cooperate with any official inquiries.’’

The FBI and Senate Ethics Committee are investigating.

Ensign acknowledged in June that he had an affair with Cynthia Hampton. Ensign helped her husband, Doug, gain employment with a lobbying firm, and Ensign’s parents provided the Hamptons with a payment of $96,000 they described as a gift.

Federal law prohibits congressional aides from lobbying their former bosses or office colleagues for one year after departing their Hill jobs.

The affair ended in 2008. Ensign is married.

Democrat Levy to make GOP bid for NY governor

ALBANY — A feisty conservative Democrat loved by many Republicans and conservatives, sometimes more than those in his own party, is giving New York politicians a fit over the governor’s race, which was supposed to have been clear months ago.

Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive, plans to announce today that he will run as a Republican, while also seeking conservative endorsement. Levy’s announcement notes he is supported by the state GOP chairman, Ed Cox, but the party won’t confirm that, underscoring the intraparty tension of Levy’s move.