After Ensign tried to introduce a totally unrelated amendment — forcing outside groups that file ethics complaints against senators to disclose their donors — people assumed that Ensign was the one who was blocking the original bill behind the scenes. The Hill newspaper even ran a story saying Ensign had admitted to it.

Ensign’s comment: "I don’t remember. I honestly don’t remember."

Well, according to the Las Vegas Sun, Ensign’s staff checked it out, and learned that he hadn’t placed the anonymous hold on the bill. Or at least that’s what Ensign now says.

First good batch of questions of the day: Why the hell didn’t Ensign know for sure that he did, or didn’t, do it when reporters first asked him? Why did his staff have to check? Is Ensign holding a lot of bills behind the scenes? What the hell is happening with this guy anyway?

But that’s not the most interesting thing about the Sun story: It turns out, the outside-groups amendment (widely believed to be a poison pill to kill disclosure, which Republicans seem to dislike) was originally proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Ensign just agreed to be its sponsor, or as they say in Washington, to carry McConnell’s water.

"I felt it was a good idea for me to do it," Ensign said of the sponsoring/water carrying.

Hey, it works for him: After Ensign agreed to the unenviable task of helping Republicans raise money and get candidates elected to office in 2008, he was rewarded with a prestigious seat on the Senate Finance Committee. After trying to kill electronic filing — a bill Ensign claims to support — who knows what he might get from McConnell.