Tulsa World | October 7, 2009

by Tulsa World Editorial Writers

We took Sen. Tom Coburn at his word this summer when he said he did not advise Sen. John Ensign to pay off Ensign's married mistress. At the time it seemed completely out of character for him to do so.

We've had our sharp differences with the senator, but he's always seemed to be a man of unquestionable moral fiber.

But now Coburn stands accused of participating in talks between Ensign and the woman's family by an unimpeachable witness — Coburn.

In an interview with the New York Times, Coburn said he attended a meeting set up by representatives of Cynthia Hampton, Ensign's mistress.

"It was wrong," Coburn told the newspaper.

We agree.

Coburn's answers to the newspaper contradict his early statements that he "categorically denied" discussions of payments to the Hamptons.

In the interview, Coburn told the newspaper that the Hamptons' attorney proposed a $8.5 million figure to him, and he rejected it as ridiculous, but he said he later passed on to Ensign a roughly $2 million proposal, which Ensign rejected.

In July, it was revealed that Ensign's parents had paid $96,000 to the Hamptons and two of their children.

Ensign is the one who's in the hottest water over this mess, and that's as it should be, but Coburn's admissions to the New York Times put all our assumptions about his character in question too.

What else don't we know about this man representing our state in the U.S. Senate? Perhaps more important, can we trust his answers to any questions in the future?