The ethics woes of Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., appeared to deepen this week, according to the New York Times' report that the senator had personally intervened to help a former aide secure lobbying clients.

Ensign has admitted an affair with Cindy Hampton, his former aide Doug Hampton's wife. The FBI is now reportedly seeking information about the senator's efforts to set Hampton up in a consulting operation after he learned of the affair, while Ensign was trying to convince him not to go public about the matter.

The Times story also mentions the involvement of Mike Slanker, the prominent Republican political consultant who is now working, through his firm, November Inc., for Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon. Slanker, who worked for Ensign as political director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee when Ensign was chairman, was a friend of both Hampton and Ensign.

In e-mail messages disclosed by the Times this week, he also serves as an intermediary between Ensign and Hampton as the latter struggles to line up a lobbying client pursuing an energy project in Nevada.

The McMahon campaign has acknowledged that Slanker received a subpoena for records from the Senate Ethics Committee, which began investigating the Ensign matter last year.

But the campaign has stood behind the aide, who has not been charged with wrongdoing.

A McMahon spokesman, Ed Patru, declined to comment on details of the Times story Thursday, saying the campaign would continue to focus on McMahon's qualifications to serve Connecticut in the Senate. Slanker and November Inc. remain consultants to the campaign, Patru said.