Largent talks about a townhouse and its code of silence for residents. (C Street)

"I know that particularly in Washington, D.C., as soon as you say something's secret and behind closed doors that it conjures up all these weird hallucinations and stuff,'' he said.

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"First of all, there is nothing secret about it at all,'' he said.

"It is merely an attempt to try to give guys who are in Congress a chance to have a respite, have a place where they can go and kind of let their hair down and not have to worry that everything they say and do would ever be repeated and get in the press.''

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"But at the same time, we want it to feel like a place that guys can come and share their deepest needs and wants and desires and let people kind of appreciate the circumstances that they are in,'' he said.

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Largent participated in the Ensign confrontation and has been involved with counseling Sanford.

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Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who does not live at the C Street townhouse, said he meets there for lunch several times a year with ambassadors from African countries.

Before the 2001 terrorist attacks, Inhofe said his involvement was a "Jesus type of thing,'' but today those meetings have more to do with building relationships with African leaders and discussing military matters.

Inhofe conceded he did not know specific details about the Fellowship.