An extramarital affair with a former campaign staffer, as well as the ensuing ethics investigation about same, has driven Nevada Sen. John Ensign to resign, as the soon-to-be-former senator announced via a statement he issued Thursday. –KA

AP via Google News:

Ensign said in a statement that he will send Vice President Joe Biden a letter Friday making the resignation official.

“While I stand behind my firm belief that I have not violated any law, rule, or standard of conduct of the Senate, and I have fought to prove this publicly, I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings,” he said. “For my family and me, this continued personal cost is simply too great.”

The Republican, who is under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee, announced in March he would not pursue re-election.

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