WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was having an extramarital affair with an aide when he nominated her to be Montana U.S. attorney, his office said.
Melodee Hanes, formerly the director of the senator's state office, was one of three names Baucus, D-Montana, forwarded to President Barack Obama to be considered for the U.S. attorney job, Roll Call reported.
Hanes withdrew her name from consideration this year after she and Baucus agreed she should do so, the Web site Main Justice reported.
Baucus and his wife, Wanda, separated in April and have since divorced, Roll Call said. Baucus and Hanes, who now live together in Washington, began their affair last year, his office said.
Tyler Matsdorf, a Baucus spokesman, said Hanes obtained her current job in the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on her own merits.
Hanes, who is also divorced, began working for Baucus in 2003. Matsdorf said when the couple realized their relationship was no longer a professional one, she decided to leave his office.
