[Vision2020] Craig still making headlines

[Tom Hansen]

A video of the complete statement presented by Larry Craig this afternoon.

 

http://www.krem.com/video/localnews-index.html?nvid=170167

 

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007) 

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From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Sue Hovey
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 4:31 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com; Mark Solomon
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Craig still making headlines

 

Today during an interview on NPR Dan Popkey stated there have been
allegations from as far back as when he was in college, along with others,
one a "credible" witness, but when Craig denied everything they decided not
to run it. 

 

SH

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Mark Solomon <mailto:msolomon at moscow.com>  

To: vision2020 at moscow.com 

Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 3:37 PM

Subject: [Vision2020] Craig still making headlines

 

>From the lead story section of the NYTimes on-line edition.

 

m.

 

Idaho Senator Says He Did Nothing Wrong

 

By DAVID STOUT and CARL HULSE
Published: August 28, 2007

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 - Senator Larry Craig said today that he regretted his
guilty plea in connection with an airport bathroom incident, and he accused
an Idaho newspaper of hounding him mercilessly in recent months.


"I am not gay, I never have been gay," Mr. Craig, an Idaho Republican,
declared at a brief appearance in Boise with his wife, Suzanne Craig, at his
side.

Mr. Craig, 62, apologized for "the cloud placed over Idaho" by his arrest
and guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge. But his deepest regret, he said, is
that he pleaded guilty when he had done nothing wrong.

The senator said he had chosen to plead guilty without consulting a lawyer,
and before telling his family, in the hope that the incident would just "go
away" somehow.

"That was a mistake, and I deeply regret it," he said.

Now, he said, he has retained counsel to decide what to do next. Mr. Craig
said he would announce soon whether he will seek a fourth term next year.

Meanwhile, the Senate Republican leadership sought to quarantine the
possible political damage arising from Mr. Craig's troubles, calling the
incident "a serious matter" and recommending that the Senate Ethics
Committee review the affair.

"In the meantime, leadership is examining other aspects of the case to
determine if additional action is required," said the statement issued by
Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader; Trent Lott of
Mississippi, the assistant leader; Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Republican
conference leader; Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, the policy committee
chairwoman, and John Ensign of Nevada, chairman of the party's Senate
campaign committee.

Mr. Craig said today that he and his family had been "relentlessly and
viciously harassed" for months by The Idaho Statesman, a daily newspaper
based in Boise, which has been pursuing rumors about his personal life. He
said the stress created by the newspaper's efforts "and the rumors it has
fueled all around Idaho" had clouded his judgment.

Otherwise, he offered no detailed explanation today for the embarrassing
events that began with his arrest in June by an undercover police officer in
a men's bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug.
8, Mr. Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. A second charge against
Mr. Craig, interference with privacy, was dismissed. He was given a 10-day
jail sentence that was suspended; was fined more than $500; and was placed
on unsupervised probation for one year.

According to a police report obtained by Roll Call, the Capitol Hill
newspaper that disclosed the episode and the guilty plea on Monday, a
plainclothes police officer who was investigating complaints of sexual
activity in the airport bathroom arrested the senator on June 11 after what
the officer described as sexual advances made by Mr. Craig from an adjoining
stall.

After his arrest, the senator denied any sexual intent. He said in a
statement issued Monday afternoon that the whole matter came down to a
misunderstanding, and that the police were "misconstruing my actions." In
2006, Mr. Craig publicly rejected allegations by a gay rights advocate that
he had engaged in a homosexual behavior, calling the claims "completely
ridiculous."
More Articles in Washington >


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