Updated: 4:56 p.m.

The husband of the woman with whom Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) was having an affair is claiming other conservatives in Washington, D.C., including Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), urged Ensign to pay the couple more than a million dollars to go away and start their life anew, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

The husband — former Ensign staffer Doug Hampton — gave an exclusive interview to the Sun claiming that he asked a conservative Christian group in Washington to intervene after he discovered the affair between his wife, Cynthia, and Ensign. Cynthia Hampton also worked for Ensign as treasurer of his campaign and political action committee.

The Sun reported, “The group, including Coburn … confronted Ensign and suggested that the Hamptons needed to be given financial assistance — in the millions of dollars — to pay off their $1 million-plus mortgage and move them to a new life away from Ensign.—

The Sun also posted a February 2008 letter reportedly written by Ensign to Cynthia Hampton, in which the Senator says their affair was a violation of their faith.

“Plain and simple, it was wrong; it was a sin,— the letter reads. “God never intended for us to do this.—

Ensign acknowledged last month that he had an affair with Cynthia Hampton and said that the Hamptons had made “exorbitant demands— for money.

“Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Senator Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Senator Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage,— said John Hart, Coburn’s spokesman. “Had Senator Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago.—

Doug Hampton’s interview with the Sun will be aired on a Las Vegas political talk show Wednesday and Thursday nights.