We’ve long known that U.S. Sen. John Ensign is a total, unrepentant liar. We’ve known it for nine years, since the time he lied about us to an AP reporter, after Ensign had stumbled badly in an interview and we reported the results.

Since then, we and others have documented many Ensign lies.

But today’s Face to Face with Jon Ralston interview with Doug Hampton, the husband of the woman with whom Ensign had an affair, takes things to a new and unbelievable level. And we’re not just talking about the fact that Ensign allegedly first consummated his forbidden love with Cynthia Hampton while the Hampton family was staying at the Ensigns’ Summerlin home because of a break-in at their own residence. That’s just garden-variety douchbaggery.

No, we’re talking about Hampton’s description of confronting Ensign with a group of witnesses, the way wronged Christians are encouarged to do in the Bible. (Hampton had already confronted Ensign alone, and then with their families, on Christmas Eve 2007 after discovering the affair via a text message sent to his wife’s phone.)

In the second confrontation, on Feb. 15, 2007, which included fellow Christians (and figures of the shadowy Fellowship organization) Tim Coe and David Coe, as well as Marty Sherman and U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, Ensign appeared to express remorse. He wrote a handwritten note to Cindy Hampton explaining that their affair was wrong, and citing God’s desire for them to reconcile with their respective spouses. And Sherman and Tim Coe even drove Ensign down to the FedEx office to watch him actually send the letter.

(You can judge for yourself whether the advice allegedly given by these Christian leaders to Ensign in that meeting — pay off Hampton’s home mortgage in Las Vegas, give him some money and let them move to another state — was actually biblical. Sounds very Old Testament to us, if anything.)

But after having done all of those things, according to Hampton, Ensign angrily called Cindy Hampton and told her that “Doug’s ratted me out,” and to ignore the letter of remorse he’d just sent! And, 24 hours later, Doug Hampton caught Ensign and Cindy Hampton together again! Ensign’s response? Telling Doug Hampton he was in love with Cindy Hampton!

That means, if the tale is true, that Ensign has absolutely no shame, and the ability to lie well enough to fool people with whom he’s very close. That kind of mendacity takes practice.

“That John, given the opportunity, chose John, chose what was best for John, and kind of ramrodded and ran through people, including people very close to him when he was confronted with this,” Doug Hampton told Ralston. “He wanted a relationship with Cindy.”

Added Hampton: “John is so focused, hyper-focused on what he wants and what he’s pursuing that he’s not seeing the collateral damage that’s going on it people’s lives.”

It’s a damning indictment of Ensign, that’s for sure. And a reminder that, as far as we’re concerned, nothing Ensign says should ever be believed until it’s independently verified. And while the cynical will suggest that line could apply to all politicians, we’d suggest — based on the totality of the record — that Ensign is to regular lying pols as Mount St. Helens is to a third-grade science fair baking-soda-and-vinegar volcano.

Of course, this is just one side of the story. We’d love to hear the other side, but we’ve been unable — despite repeated calls and e-mails to Ensign’s spokesman — to get so much as a call back, much less an answer to a pile of ever-growing questions.