Tom Coburn Defends Roommate's Infidelity Confession

NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY,OK -- Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn is drawing criticism on-line with some  bloggers saying he is holding his Republican congressional colleagues to a moral double standard.

TheDailyBeast.com posted an article about Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada. Coburn shares an apartment in Washington D.C. with Ensign. The Nevada senator confessed to having an affair with a campaign staffer.

Read the full article on TheDailyBeast.com.

When asked about Ensign's affair, Coburn said "If you look at it in the light of everybody makes errors, at least he fessed up and resolved the problem with his family, so I think it speaks well of his corrective force."

But when President Bill Clinton lied about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, Coburn said "Our culture that too often glorifies promiscuous sex without consequences should not be surprised by this scandal."

Then in October 2007, Senator Larry Craig decided to finish his term after pleading guilty to soliciting sex with an undercover cop in a bathroom stall, Coburn called for Craig's immediate resignation.

Now, the Daily Beast blog reported Coburn knew about the Ensign's affair for 16 months. Critics say Senator Coburn was a moral hardliner in Washington, who is now tolerating adulterous behavior.

Senator Coburn's office was contacted, but they declined to comment. However, his office did not deny the senator knew about the affair.

The author of the entry on the Daily Beast is known as a left-wing writer. However, the Daily Beast also has regular contributions from Republican Senator John McCain's daughter Megan McCain.