Opinion: Police release transcript of Sen. Craig’s interview

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Although he later pled guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, at no point during the police interrogation of Sen. Larry Craig in the Minneapolis airport did the Idahoan admit to wrongdoing. In fact, he seemed in more of a hurry to catch his plane.

According to a transcript of the interview released today between Sgt. Dave Karsnia and Craig, the senator accused the officer of entrapment. ‘You solicited me,’ said Craig. An audio version of the tape is available here.

‘O.K., we’re going to get, we’re going to get into that,’ replied the officer.

After reading the senator his rights, Karsnia asked for his account. ‘I sit down to go to the bathroom,’ said Craig, ‘and you said our feet bumped. I believe they did because I reached down and scooted over and the next thing I knew under the bathroom divider comes a card that says Police. Now that’s about as far as I can take it. I don’t know of anything else. Your foot came toward mine, mine came towards yours. Was that natural? I don’t know. Did we bump? Yes, I think we did. You said so. I don’t disagree with that.’

‘O.K.,’ replied the officer, ‘I don’t want to get into a pissing match here.’

Craig: ‘We’re not going to.’

Karsnia: ‘Good.’

Craig: ‘I don’t, I’m not gay. I don’t do these kinds of things and...’

Karsnia: ‘It doesn’t matter. I don’t care about sexual preference or anything like that.’

Craig: ‘I know you don’t. You’re out to enforce the law.’

Karsnia: ‘Right.’

Craig: ‘But you shouldn’t be out to entrap people either.’

Karsnia: ‘This isn’t entrapment.’

Craig: ‘Allright.’

The officer appeared to grow impatient. ‘You’re skipping some parts,’ he said. ‘What about your hand?’

Craig said he reached down to pick up a piece of paper. ‘Well,’ replied the officer, ‘you’re...

not being truthful with me. I’m kinda disappointed in you, Senator. I’m real disappointed in you right now.’

Later, Karsnia adds, ‘I will say every person I’ve had so far has told me the truth. We’ve been respectful to each other and then they’ve gone their way. And I’ve never had to bring anybody to jail because everybody’s been truthful to me.’

Craig: ‘I don’t want you to take me to jail.’

Karsnia: ‘I’m not gonna take you to jail as long as you’re cooperative but I’m not gonna lie.’

Craig: ‘Did my hand come below the divider? Yes, it did.’

‘We deal with a lot of people that are very bad people,’ says the officer. ‘You’re not a bad person.’

‘No,’ Craig replied, ‘I don’t think I am.’

Karsnia: ‘O.K, so what I’m telling you, I don’t want to be lied to.’

Craig: ‘O.K.’

Karsnia: ‘O.K., so we’ll start over. You’re gonna get out of here. You’re gonna have to pay a fine and that will be it. O.K. I don’t call media. I don’t do any of that type of crap.’

Craig: ‘Fine.’

The officer then seeks to have Craig tell his story again. The senator says he stood outside the officer’s toilet stall because he was waiting for another to open up.

There’s a lengthy dispute about which hand Craig reached under the divider with, the officer claiming he could see the senator’s wedding band so it was the left. The senator maintained otherwise.

Karsnia: ‘You travel through here frequently, correct?’

Craig: ‘Almost weekly.’

Karsnia: ‘Have you been successful in these bathrooms before?’

Craig: ‘I go to that bathroom regularly.’

Karsnia: ‘I mean for any type of other activities.’

Craig: ‘No. Absolutely not. I don’t seek activity in bathrooms.’

Karsnia: ‘It’s embarrassing.’

Craig: ‘Well, it’s embarrassing for both...I’m not going to fight you.’

Karsnia: ‘I know you’re not going to fight me. But that’s not the point...I don’t disrespect you, but I’m disrespected right now and I’m not trying to act like I have all kinds of power or anything, but you’re sitting here lying to a police officer.’

At another point the officer appears exasperated with Craig’s story. ‘I guess,’ he says, ‘I’m gonna say I’m just disappointed in you, sir. I’m just really am. I expect this from the guy that we get out of the hood. I mean, people vote for you.’

Craig: ‘Yes, they do.’

Karsnia: ‘Unbelievable. Unbelievable.’

Craig: ‘I’m a respectable person and I don’t do these kinds of...’

Unable to get the senator to admit he reached under with his left hand, the officer asks if Craig had his wedding band on his right hand at any time that day?

Craig: ‘Of course not, try to get it off. Look at it.’

Karsnia: ‘O.K. then it was your left hand. I saw it with my own eyes.’

Craig: ‘All right, you saw something that didn’t happen.’

Karsnia: ‘Embarrassing. Embarrassing. No wonder why we’re going down the tubes. Anything to add?’

Craig: ‘Uh, no.’

Karsnia: ‘Embarrassing. Date is 6/11/07 at 12:36. Interview is done.’

--Andrew Malcolm