Idaho Sen. Larry Craig went from an airport toilet seat to the political hot seat after he pled guilty Aug. 8 to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in a Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport bathroom. His arrest occurred June 11.
Craig, a Republican, was in Ketchum last week touring the Castle Rock Fire and the Bavairan Village Condominiums where he assured Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise appears to have overstepped its bounds during an auction of the property in October of 2005.
However, in a 2:30 p.m. statement issued in Boise on Tuesday, Craig publicly renounced his prior guilty plea and said he had obtained an attorney to help him attempt to overturn it. His wife, Suzanne, joined him for his public appearance.
"In June, I overreacted and made a poor decision," Craig said. "While I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct at the Minneapolis airport or anywhere else, I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in the hope of making it go away."
Craig, 62, is in his third Senate term and is up for re-election in November. He said in his statement he would decide next month if he would seek reelection.
The story of Craig's June 11 arrest and Aug. 8 guilty plea was broken Monday by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill news outlet. According to police and court records obtained by Roll Call, the senior Idaho Senator paid $575 in fines and was issued a suspended 10-day jail sentence for his alleged attempt to solicit sex in the men's bathroom. He was placed on one year's unsupervised probation.
The delayed fallout from Craig's plea began to drip on Monday, and then pour Tuesday as news outlets and bloggers began to take the Idaho Senator to task for his alleged hypocrisy. Craig has achieved a strong anti-gay voting record. According to the Web site www.ontheissues.org, Craig voted in favor of a failed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, voted against expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation, no on adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes and yes on prohibiting same-sex marriage.
The Idaho Statesman ran a 3,795-word story on Tuesday detailing a five-month investigation into Craig's sexual orientation and history.
"Over five months, the Statesman examined rumors about Craig dating to his college days and his 1982 pre-emptive denial that he had sex with underage congressional pages," writes Statesman reporter Dan Popkey in the article.
The Statesman's story received attention from Craig in his Tuesday statement.
"For eight months leading up to June, my family and I had been relentlessly and viciously harassed by the Idaho Statesman," Craig said. "If you've seen today's paper, you know why. Let me be clear: I am not gay and never have been.
"Still, without a shred of truth or evidence to the contrary, the Statesman has engaged in this witch hunt. In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis, because of the stress of the Idaho Statesman's investigation and the rumors it has fueled around Idaho. Again, that overreaction was a mistake, and I apologize for my misjudgment."
Meanwhile, Republican Senate leadership Tuesday recommended a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into whether Craig violated Senate rules.
"This is a serious matter," the GOP leadership group said in a statement. "Due to the reported and disputed circumstances, and the legal resolution of this serious case, we will recommend that Senator Craig's incident be reported to the Senate Ethics Committee for its review. In the meantime, Leadership is examining other aspects of the case to determine if additional action is required."
Craig, who has been a prominent figure on gun rights and Western land issues, resigned Monday as Idaho chairman of the presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican.
In a Tuesday interview with CNBC's "Kudlow and Company," Romney said Craig's alleged conduct was "very disappointing."
"Once again, we've found people in Washington have not lived up to the level of respect and dignity that we would expect for somebody that gets elected to a position of high influence," Romney said. "He's no longer associated with my campaign, as you can imagine ... I'm sorry to see that he has fallen short."
Roll Call, citing a copy of a report by airport police, said officers had been conducting a sting operation inside the men's room because of complaints of sexual activity there. The police report gave the following account of the arrest according to Roll Call.
"The undercover officer was monitoring the restroom on June 11. A few minutes after noon, Craig entered and sat in the stall next to him. Craig began tapping his right foot, touched his right foot to the left foot of the officer and brushed his hand beneath the partition between them. He was then arrested.
"While he was being interviewed about the incident, Craig gave police a business card showing that he is a U.S. senator. 'What do you think about that?' Craig asked the officer," according to the report obtained by Roll Call.
Questions for local reaction on the Craig matter met with resistance.
Idaho Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, said, "I have no comment until we learn more about it. I'm busy with the fire."
Blaine County Commissioner Sarah Michael, a Democrat, said Craig's was a long career of service, and she hoped it would not be overly tarnished.
"I just think it's sad to have this light on someone who's served in public office and who's worked so hard for the state of Idaho," she said. "I hope that people will always remember him for all of the years of service that he has contributed to the citizens of Idaho and to the country.
"I politically disagree with Sen. Craig on many issues, but I have to appreciate someone who has spent the last 22 years as a public official and for what he believes is the overall public good."
Michael said she saw Craig last Sunday in Ketchum.
"He made a special trip to Blaine County, to Ketchum, to check with local, state and federal officials on a joint effort to fight this fire," she said. "He didn't have to come here. He did. He was making sure people knew that he appreciated them. Those things mean a lot in a time of crisis."
Ketchum City Councilman Baird Gourlay declined to comment.
Craig concluded his public statement with an apology to the people of Idaho.
"It is clear, though, that through my actions I have brought a cloud over Idaho," he said. "For that, I ask the people of Idaho for their forgiveness. As I mentioned earlier, I have now retained counsel to examine this matter and I will make no further comment."
U.S. Sen. Larry Craig says he was under duress from an investigation by the Idaho Statesman into his sexuality when he pled guilty Aug. 8 to charges of disorderly conduct in a Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport bathroom. Craig toured the Castle Rock Fire and the Bavarian Village condominiums in Ketchum last week with Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall.
