BREAKING NEWS: Idaho's Sen. Craig resigns over scandal

Idaho's Republican Sen. Larry Craig bowed to the inevitable pressure of his political party today and officially announced his retirement from the U.S. Senate effective Sept. 30.

The decision, according to Republican political sources, came after countless telephone conversations throughout recent days in which party leaders and members made it bluntly clear privately and somewhat less so publicly that Craig's resignation was necessary.

In an emotional and somber news conference in Boise, in stark contrast to the defiant posture he took Tuesday, Craig stood with his wife Suzanne and two of their three children and numerous political supporters. The 62-year-old Craig, who was arrested on suspicion of lewd behavior in a Minneapolis airport men's room in June and pled guilty to disorderly conduct later, apologized to his family, staff, Senate colleagues and fellow Idahoans.

His statement was met by a smattering of jeers and applause from the crowd of 200 gathered in a parking lot on a sunny summer Saturday overlooking downtown Boise. A supporter yelled, "We love you, Larry." Craig thanked the numerous officials and supporters who were standing around him and apologized to the people of Idaho for being unable to complete his term, which ends in January 2009. Until this week he was a presumed shoo-in for reelection next November.

But Craig said the distraction of pursuing his legal options as senator would prevent him from giving full time to his duties. "I have little control over what people choose to believe," he said. "But to pursue my legal options would be an unwarranted and unfair distraction. These are serious times for our nation."

"It is with sadness and deep regret," he added, "that I announce my intent to resign from the Senate Sept. 30. I hope to allow a smooth transition."

As he had previously, Craig has continued to deny any wrongdoing. But his repeated denial of being gay elicited little support in his conservative home state, where he had delivered much favorable legislation over his three Senate terms and a spell in the House. As a staunch opponent of gay rights, he was easily open to hypocrisy charges.

Already facing an uphill political struggle next year against an unpopular war and president and forced to defend 24 Senate seats to the Democrats' 12, fellow Republicans immediately distanced themselves from Craig and began urging his resignation to allow a replacement enough time to hold office and prepare for next year's election in what has been a reliably Republican state; in 2004, Idahoans gave President Bush 68% of their vote.

Craig's denial of improper conduct and a police audio tape released Thursday, with its detailed discussion of tapping foot signals, hand waves and wide stances over toilets, immediately became the subject of countless water cooler conversations and fodder for bathroom jokes on late-night talk shows.

Why Craig is waiting until the end of September to leave office is not comlpletely clear. He said it was to allow a smooth transition for his staff and successor. But colleagues had hoped he would end the embarrassment and constant publicity as quickly as possible. It will also provide more time for the governor to consider a replacement.

This is not the first time Craig's sexual conduct has come under question. Last fall when a gay website announced that Craig was gay, the senator's office denounced the statement as "ridiculous." On Tuesday he uttered the now famous line: "I am not gay. I never have been gay."

Idaho's Republican Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter is expected to name Lt. Gov. Jim Risch as Craig's replacement. But as a longtime Craig friend, he has publicly refused to discuss that until the seat was actually vacant and Risch says there have been no discussions.

Another possibilty could be Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson or even Dirk Kempthorne, who already has been a senator from Idaho, then was elected governor and last year appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Bush. His term in the Cabinet would, of course, end with the president's in January 2009.

There was no word on the timing of the replacement announcement. But as he left the news conference site a CNN reporter asked Craig if he still maintained his innocence. Craig replied, "Absolutely." He was also asked if he intended to continue the legal battle he promised on Tuesday. "We'll be fighting this like hell," Craig said, adding that his attorney would have a statement possibly later today.

Overturning a guilty plea is technically possible under Minnesota law, but extremely difficult, especially since entering the guilty plea requires signing a document admitting that you are, in fact, guilty. Also, eliminating the disorderly conduct charge could cause reinstatement of the more serious waived charge of lewd behavior.

The Times story by Richard Simon is available here on this website and in Sunday's print editions.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[KYJurisDoctor]

Might as well, as the hypocrisy is unbelievable!

[PL]

What did he do that was wrong? He didn't have sex in public... he made some gestures, tapped his foot, but that should not be illegal. If a man winked, whistled at a woman in public, would the man be arrested or questioned by the Police? Yes, he is a hypocrite, but what is his crime? Is he punished for being gay?

[Eric Roth]

Why didn't we see this same outrage when Senator Ted Stevens was indicted for bribery and selling public contracts in exchange for additions to his home? Worse, why did so many Congressional leaders stand behind Congressman William Jefferson when the FBI found $80,000 cash in his refrigerator, leading to his indictment for bribery and corruption? Why do so many Republican Senators believe that a mismeademor for homosexual behavior to be worse than public corruption and abuse of their public offices for private gain? Whatever happened to basic moral values?

[G.L. Moore]

Larry Craig should not have resigned, and the Republican party should re-examine its claim on"moral high ground." Craig is guilty of hypocrisy, just like the rest of his party. But Craig has pulled the covers off a homophobic Republican party filled with homos who would sell "Jesus" and themselves for votes. Thank you Larry Craig! We owe you a sense of gratitude for further exposing Republicans as the paternalistic, sexist homophobes who would reward one man for visiting female prostitutes, and punish another for being caught gay in a men's bathroom...

[Why the double standards]

I really hope the ACLU and Lambda Legal start looking at this type of abuse of police power - arresting people and destroying lives and carrers for playing footsie in restrooms. Suppose old Larry did not want sex in the restroom, but just wanted to pick some guy up and go to a private location (say a hotel room) to have sex. I have seen grabbing and heavy petting in straignt bars and clubs - way more than Larry Craig allegedly did, and no one in those bars and clubs, which exist all across the country are the targets of sting operations for lewd conduct. That is the dangerous hypocracy. The abusive use of police power in Larry Craig's situation was shocking.