Senator pleaded guilty, reportedly after bathroom stall incident

[JBC77]

(CNN) -- A Republican senator pleaded guilty earlier this month to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge stemming from his arrest at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to state criminal records.
art.craig.jpg

Republican Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho was arrested in June at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Roll Call newspaper reported Monday that Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho was apprehended June 11 by a plainclothes police officer investigating complaints of lewd behavior in an airport men's room.

Roll Call reports on the U.S. legislature.

Craig denied any inappropriate conduct in a prepared statement, and said he now regrets his guilty plea.

"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct," he said. "I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."

Congress is currently in recess, and Craig's office said he was on vacation in Idaho with his family, with no public appearances scheduled.

Craig, 62, paid a $500 fine when he entered his guilty plea on August 8 in Hennepin County Municipal Court in Bloomington, Minnesota, according to state criminal records.

CNN confirmed that Craig was sentenced to 10 days in jail but that sentence was stayed.

Minnesota law defines disorderly conduct as brawling, disturbing a meeting or engaging in "offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous or noisy conduct."

According to Roll Call, the arresting officer alleged that Craig lingered outside a rest room stall where the officer was sitting, then entered the stall next door and blocked the door with his luggage.

According to the arrest report cited by Roll Call, Craig tapped his right foot, which the officer said he recognized "as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct."

The report alleges Craig then touched the officer's foot with his foot and the senator "proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times," according to Roll Call.

At that point, the officer said he put his police identification down by the floor so Craig could see it and informed the senator that he was under arrest, before any sexual contact took place.

Idaho's senior senator is married with three grown children and nine grandchildren. A former rancher, Craig was first elected to the Senate in 1990, after serving a decade in the House. His seat is up for re-election in 2008.

Last fall, Craig's office publicly denied assertions by Internet blogger Mike Rogers that the senator is gay. Craig's office dismissed speculation about the senator's sexuality as "completely ridiculous."

In 1982, Craig denied rumors that he was under investigation as part of a federal probe into allegations that lawmakers on Capitol Hill had sexual relationships with congressional pages, saying the "false allegations" made him "mad as hell."

He was never implicated in that investigation, which eventually led to ethics charges against two other congressmen.

In recent years, Craig's voting record has earned him top ratings from social conservative groups such as the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council.

He has supported a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, telling his colleagues that it was "important for us to stand up now and protect traditional marriage, which is under attack by a few unelected judges and litigious activists."

In 1996, Craig also voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages and prevents states from being forced to recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples legally performed in other states.

Craig has also opposed expanding the federal hate crimes law to cover offenses motivated by anti-gay bias and, in 1996, voted against a bill that would have outlawed employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, which failed by a single vote in the Senate.

Craig has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the 2008 presidential race. The senator was named in February, along with Sen. Robert Bennett of Utah, as Romney's liaison to build support among GOP senators.

Monday night, Romney's presidential campaign announced Craig was stepping down.

"He didn't want to be a distraction, and we accept his decision," the Romney campaign said in a statement. Access to a YouTube video in which Craig praised Romney was also blocked.

[JBC77]

Sounds like the senator wanted to play hot man love. Don't you have to see the persons face first? JJ....what are the rules of engagement in a situation like this. Did this happen when you were in the man pool?

[BuddyBear]

Another Republican hypocrite who bashes homosexuality left and right and then turns out to be one......why did he need to go to a bathroom in Minneapolis when he could have just given Ted Haggard a call.

[JBC77]

Buddy Bear.......the part where he is rubbing the other guys shoe. Come on, thats priceless. Then the cop, puts his badge on the floor so he can see it. Man....you can make sh1t up this good.

[BuddyBear]

I bet his heart sunk when he saw that badge.....and his entire life flashed before his eyes. It's like that feeling when you know you are doing something wrong but then you get caught and you know the gig is up.

But seriously...is anyone surprised by this hypocricy??? The right wing is filled with hypocrites one right after the other. They say they are for the people but they couldn't be more anti-consumer, anti-democracy, anti-progress.

On almost every issue the Republicans are out of step whether it be the war, foreign policy, science/stem cell research, the economy, etc....

It will be another month or two before we hear about another right wing scandal. I can't wait till the Bush administration is through and we hear about all the scandals in that administration.

[tacomax]

A little more meat on this report, asking the question why it took 3 months for this story to appear.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003632075

NEW YORK The revelation late Monday that Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested nearly three months ago for allegedly making sexual advances in a men's room raises the issue of how such an action could occur without the press reporting it.

Even Roll Call reporter John McArdle, who broke the story late Monday, admits he only received word of the arrest and subsequent guilty plea via a tip last week.

"You would think in the 24-hour news cycle, something like this would slip through," said McArdle, a four-year veteran of the Capitol Hill daily. "He wanted to keep it quiet, and he almost got away with it."

Even more surprising is that the unreported arrest occurred at a time when Craig was under scrutiny following previous allegations of gay relationships and sexual advances dating back to late 2006, when a blogger accused Craig of having relationships with men. The conservative senator has long denied the allegations.

McArdle said the latest incident, in which Craig was arrested June 11 for allegedly making advances to a police officer in a Minnesota airport bathroom, only came to his attention through a tip he received last week.

Declining to offer specifics about the source, McArdle said the tip came in midweek and was confirmed by Roll Call through police reports obtained from law enforcement officials in Minnesota.

"We have been working the story since we got the tip, getting the specific arrest report," he said. "We had to go through their different filing systems and we were able to expedite that process."

Roll Call also reported that Craig had pleaded guilty Aug. 8 to misdemeanor disorderly conduct stemming from the incident. McArdle said he was surprised that no one else, including the local Idaho press, had reported on the arrest and plea.

"It is amazing to me that it was able to sit on the shelf so long," he said. "Through the arrest and the guilty plea, and even a couple of weeks after."

Editors from The Idaho Statesman of Boise did not return calls seeking comment. But Editor Dean Miller of the Post Register in Idaho Falls defended the lack of reporting on the arrest by his paper and others, saying a misdemeanor arrest in another state does not always get easily discovered.

"It is not something we would ordinarily see," said Miller, who went on leave three weeks ago as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University for a year. "It would not come to your attention if you are not in Minneapolis."

Some Washington, D.C.-based editors, such as Dean Baquet, who heads The New York Times' D.C. bureau, agreed.

"I am not so shocked that it would not get out," said Baquet, who is also a former editor at the Los Angeles Times. "The way things work, sometimes if you have a misdemeanor arrest, they don't make their way out here. It was not in his state. My guess is if it had happened at La Guardia Airport or at an airport in Washington it might be different."

Leonard Downie Jr., executive editor of The Washington Post, also found it unsurprising. "We don't have a Minneapolis correspondent," he said. "He is not a local congressman -- it happened in Minnesota and Idaho."

But in addition to the delayed reporting on the arrest is the way news outlets responded to last year's blogger allegations. The initial blog item was eventually reported by several news outlets nationally and locally, including four Idaho papers, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Miller said his paper reported the accusation and Craig's denial, but did not follow the story after that. "It was almost an anecdotal piece about Larry Craig being cool under fire," he said. "There was nothing documented, you were not going to substantiate anything."

Miller said he did not investigate the allegations further and did not have enough resources to pursue possible other accusations against Craig. "Outing a closeted U.S. senator was not our highest priority. But there were members of the staff who disagreed with that strenuously, that it was everyone's absolute right to know."

The Statesman, meanwhile, never reported on the blogger allegations last fall. But Editor Vicki Gowler assigned reporters to investigate Craig, with orders to find out if the gay relationship accusations were true and if other such proof existed.

In its story today about Craig's arrest, the Statesman revealed that it had uncovered evidence of other Craig liaisons or sexual advances, including allegations that he had sex with a man in a Union Station bathroom in Washington, D.C., but had not previously reported it. "Until Monday, the Statesman had declined to run a story about Craig's sex life, because the paper didn't have enough corroborating evidence and because of the senator's steadfast denial."

But the paper also revealed, "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. The most serious finding by the Statesman was the report by a professional man with close ties to Republican officials. The 40-year-old man reported having oral sex with Craig at Washington's Union Station, probably in 2004. The Statesman also spoke with a man who said Craig made a sexual advance toward him at the University of Idaho in 1967 and a man who said Craig "cruised" him for sex in 1994 at the REI store in Boise. The Statesman also explored dozens of allegations that proved untrue, unclear, or unverifiable."

The Statesman's decision not to run its investigation until the arrest had been revealed raises the issue of when a news outlet should both investigate such allegations and report on its findings.

Poynter.org, the Web site of the Florida-based news institute, had its own struggles with reporting on the Craig allegations last Fall. Bill Mitchell, editor of Poynter online, wrote a piece last November describing how the site debated what to report following the blog posts, noting that the site at one point removed a report on the story.

"The 'It's out there dilemma' is something news organizations face," Mitchell said Tuesday about the issue of reporting what bloggers post. "When we lived in a world where journalism happened on printed paper or even one-shot broadcast outlets, the phenomenon of something like this being out there didn’t exist, there was no way for an activist to publish in a way that is possible in the Internet era."

Bob Steele, the Nelson Poynter Scholar for Journalism Values at Poynter, recalls Statesman Editor Gowler coming to him twice in the past year for guidance on the Craig story. He declined to reveal what they spoke about, but said it was obvious to him the paper was carefully reviewing its options. "I was impressed by the serious professional approach she took to decision-making," he recalled. "She was principled."

[BuddyBear]

Looks like the "liberal media" must not have been doing there job....

[dante1]

This is the incident I was tallking about in the political forum.
Yep, they are something aren't they. Now, I will ask again.
Why if you are a homosexual would you want to be a poltician in the R party? This is nonsense. And a ton of them do it. It is not unlike a black person joining the Klan. Or a Jew applying to be a SS guard at a concentration camp. Makes no f... sense to me.


You know what else makes no sense to me.? I am going to piss people off now. If betting sports is a big deal to you and one of your high priorities. Why oh why would you vote R?
Now, if you tell me this isn't a big deal and it is not high on my priorities then I will understand. But, I will find it a little hard to swallow if you have thousands of posts on a gambling forum and say it isn't important.

Let me vent, please. This gambling bill annoys me for the same reasons it annoys you. We lost Pinnacle, we lose all good deposit methods and it turns something we like to do into a f.... chore. Now, it also annoys me because it makes me a criminal. I don't disobey the law. I don't like breaking the law much like most of you or maybe all of you.
So a bunch of ahole politicians turn me and you into a criminal.

Here is one aspect maybe some of you didn't consider. Granted it is highly unlikely but what if it happens? If the Justice department decides to start arresting players what are the consequences? Well, besides being labeled a criminal, getting your name in the paper and possible loss of job or profession you also have the potential to lose a state/federal or local pension. I don't know if this would be a felony or not. Does anybody know? But, if it is some government pensions could be lost. Now still want to vote R????

[Stumpage]

"I have a wide stance when going to the bathroom..."

Craig's own words, when explaining why his foot touched the cop's foot. Man, that is simply priceless, perhaps the quote of the millenium.

Somebody's going to make millions by turning that phrase into a bumper sticker, or put it on about a zillion shirts. It'll be the new catch-phrase to get yourself out of any situation.....

[Dark Horse]

My guess is the cops set him up, based on the previous bathroom allegations. The chances of a cop being in that exact spot at that exact time seem rather slim.

[imgv94]

Yeah I think this sounds a little fishy myself..

Is Craig that stupid to attempt playing footsie with a guy he knows nothing about taking a Shit in the stall next to him?

"Some" Cops are scandalous motherphuckin pieces of Shit who will set people up to get ahead in their career.

[LargeMouthBass]

How come this doesn't surprise me that he was anti-gay and turns out to be a fairy nice gay in the stalls playing footsies?

I think there was this state prosecutor from Texas that was an extreme anti-pedophilia but got caught by Chris Hansen (from the TV show, To Catch a Predator)... The prosecutor ended up shooting himself in the head.

We live in a sick world, shit like this doesn't surprise me...

[tacomax]

My guess is the cops set him up, based on the previous bathroom allegations. The chances of a cop being in that exact spot at that exact time seem rather slim.

It was a set-up - although I don't know if it was specifically for him, there had been reports of similar activity in the bathrooms previously.

Here's a link to the police report, pretty damning.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0828071craig1.html#Reporthere

[bigboydan]

He steps down and still denies it. Thats public officials for ya.

[dante1]

Yeah I think this sounds a little fishy myself..

Is Craig that stupid to attempt playing footsie with a guy he knows nothing about taking a Shit in the stall next to him?

"Some" Cops are scandalous motherphuckin pieces of Shit who will set people up to get ahead in their career.

Of course it was a set up, but it is police policy. That is what they do to catch these guys. It certainly isn't entrapment. They force no one to commit a criminal act. They just hang around these places and watch for criminal activity. It is something like a cop being at a playground watching so kids don't get molested. Nothing wrong with the police action here.

[BatemanPatrickl]

Of course it was a set up, but it is police policy. That is what they do to catch these guys. It certainly isn't entrapment. They force no one to commit a criminal act. They just hang around these places and watch for criminal activity. It is something like a cop being at a playground watching so kids don't get molested. Nothing wrong with the police action here.

Great use of police time and taxpayer dollars; catch gay men looking for some action.

[dante1]

Bateman

I certainly don't disagree with you. But, maybe the larger point is his lies. My God, the R's wanted to crucify Clinton and the "liberal media" broke his balls for months and months.

[MrX]

Of course it was a set up, but it is police policy. That is what they do to catch these guys. It certainly isn't entrapment. They force no one to commit a criminal act. They just hang around these places and watch for criminal activity. It is something like a cop being at a playground watching so kids don't get molested. Nothing wrong with the police action here.

Or they could just let adults have sex with other adults. Is there anyone who can't see the connection between this and the difficulties we're facing in the offshore betting world?

[dante1]

Or they could just let adults have sex with other adults. Is there anyone that can't see the connection between this and the difficulties we're facing in the offshore betting world.

Of course, let them have sex with a dog or a horse who gives two craps. We don't need the morality police. But, again first he lies and second I don't think we want guys suckin each other off in a public mens' room. Do you? Now if it happened to be two gals, well that's different.

[BrentCrude]

Who wants to get off in a stinky can?

I never could figure the gay thing out where they like getting it on in public bathrooms where it stinks to high heaven,it's filthy dirty and you hear grunting.Don't you just want to get the hell out of there as fast as you can so it doesn't destroy tour appetite for food and sex for days to come.

Real nice bathrooms at the Gold Nugget downtown Vegas but I was in a stall where it sounded like the guy in the next stall was having a baby.I never stopped to think it was a sex act and not a BM.From thinking back,it was the same can that Austin Powers was getting strangled in.I'm not into toilet potty humor but that was a funny scene from a movie.

[BatemanPatrickl]

Of course, let them have sex with a dog or a horse who gives two craps. We don't need the morality police. But, again first he lies and second I don't think we want guys suckin each other off in a public mens' room. Do you? Now if it happened to be two gals, well that's different.

How do you know he lied?

[Willie Bee]

You know what else makes no sense to me.? I am going to piss people off now. If betting sports is a big deal to you and one of your high priorities. Why oh why would you vote R? Now, if you tell me this isn't a big deal and it is not high on my priorities then I will understand. But, I will find it a little hard to swallow if you have thousands of posts on a gambling forum and say it isn't important.

Because it's not the most important issue someone has on their list of priorities. If making some type of gambling legal is at the top of your list, then I'm not sure why you would vote for any current GOP candidate except for Ron Paul. But just because you have a few thousand posts on this or any other gambling/sports forum really should be no indication that making on-line gambling is your #1 priority. I mean, there are a couple of ghosts here with a coupla' thousand posts each, and as we all know ghosts rarely go to the polls and punch anyone's ballot

How do you know he lied?

The same way you know he didn't. If he had DEM next to his name, would you rush to his defense and suggest this was a complete waste of taxpayers' money to run a sting such as this?

[BatemanPatrickl]

Because it's not the most important issue someone has on their list of priorities. If making some type of gambling legal is at the top of your list, then I'm not sure why you would vote for any current GOP candidate except for Ron Paul. But just because you have a few thousand posts on this or any other gambling/sports forum really should be no indication that making on-line gambling is your #1 priority. I mean, there are a couple of ghosts here with a coupla' thousand posts each, and as we all know ghosts rarely go to the polls and punch anyone's ballot


The same way you know he didn't. If he had DEM next to his name, would you rush to his defense and suggest this was a complete waste of taxpayers' money to run a sting such as this?

I would Willie; there are always three sides to every story and I personally think this was a setup. We shall see...

Do I think the guy was looking for something in that bathroom, yes I do. He should resign ASAP.

[pico]

Sounds like the senator wanted to play hot man love. Don't you have to see the persons face first? JJ....what are the rules of engagement in a situation like this. Did this happen when you were in the man pool?

tapping your right foot in a bathroom stall is a signal for hot man lovin.

man, those people sure have a secret system to communicate...now the news is out, wonder if they're going to switch to left foot.

[pico]

How come this doesn't surprise me that he was anti-gay and turns out to be a fairy nice gay in the stalls playing footsies?

I think there was this state prosecutor from Texas that was an extreme anti-pedophilia but got caught by Chris Hansen (from the TV show, To Catch a Predator)... The prosecutor ended up shooting himself in the head.

We live in a sick world, shit like this doesn't surprise me...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Catch_a_Predator

"Among the more notable moments in the investigation was the arrest of a man who had brought along his five-year-old son to the house. Another man arrived to the house intent on participating in a menage a trois with a teen girl and a cat using Cool Whip as an erotic enhancement; upon entering the house, this man stripped naked and began searching the house with a tub of cool whip in hand."

[pico]

Of course, let them have sex with a dog or a horse who gives two craps. We don't need the morality police. But, again first he lies and second I don't think we want guys suckin each other off in a public mens' room. Do you? Now if it happened to be two gals, well that's different.

you guys forgot about the panthers cheerleaders?

[dante1]

How do you know he lied?

Bateman

Did you hear his explanation, did you read the police report?
OMG, his explanation is complete and total bs. I give everbody the benefit of the doubt. There is no doubt here.
Also, this was not the first or second time this guy was accused of being a homosexual. However, this time it is 100% obvious. Even his own party members are telling him to resign.

Listen, if you are interested, listen to his explanation and read the police report. I guarantee you will have no doubts about his honesty.

I must repeat, I like most of you don't care about a persons life style. It just isn't my business. This man votes against homosexual and gay rights. This man makes speeches about family values. This man is one big ahole, liar and is very much alike many of these "christian" value people that have no values at all. They make me puke.

[JBC77]

It was a sting, maybe not intended for him but he got caught in it.
They interviewed one of the police involved. The cop said they became aware that the airport bathroom was a "spot" for gay activity. The sting had been going for a month, he said that had arrested college professors, CEO's.....professional types. Over 40 men were arrested before they bagged the good senator.

[pico]

How come this doesn't surprise me that he was anti-gay and turns out to be a fairy nice gay in the stalls playing footsies?

I think there was this state prosecutor from Texas that was an extreme anti-pedophilia but got caught by Chris Hansen (from the TV show, To Catch a Predator)... The prosecutor ended up shooting himself in the head.

We live in a sick world, shit like this doesn't surprise me...

Louis W. Conradt Jr

http://www.ktvu.com/news/10255330/detail.html

[pico]

It was a sting, maybe not intended for him but he got caught in it.
They interviewed one of the police involved. The cop said they became aware that the airport bathroom was a "spot" for gay activity. The sting had been going for a month, he said that had arrested college professors, CEO's.....professional types. Over 40 men were arrested before they bagged the good senator.

man, good thing i don't fly northwest anymore...no need ever to go to minni airport.

[WestsidePete]

It was a sting, maybe not intended for him but he got caught in it.
They interviewed one of the police involved. The cop said they became aware that the airport bathroom was a "spot" for gay activity. The sting had been going for a month, he said that had arrested college professors, CEO's.....professional types. Over 40 men were arrested before they bagged the good senator.

exactly...it was a sting and the cop was doing his job...the senator is gay and just needs to accept it

[BatemanPatrickl]

Bateman

Did you hear his explanation, did you read the police report?
OMG, his explanation is complete and total bs. I give everbody the benefit of the doubt. There is no doubt here.
Also, this was not the first or second time this guy was accused of being a homosexual. However, this time it is 100% obvious. Even his own party members are telling him to resign.

Listen, if you are interested, listen to his explanation and read the police report. I guarantee you will have no doubts about his honesty.

I must repeat, I like most of you don't care about a persons life style. It just isn't my business. This man votes against homosexual and gay rights. This man makes speeches about family values. This man is one big ahole, liar and is very much alike many of these "christian" value people that have no values at all. They make me puke.

You don't care about a person's lifestyle yet you hate anyone that is a Republican and anything associated with the GOP.

[dante1]

exactly...it was a sting and the cop was doing his job...the senator is gay and just needs to accept it

Yes, of course he is gay. He and the other half dozen R's that got caught either screwing aides, having homosexual relations, cheating on their spouse or some other moral issue.

My question remains, why do these guys decide to join and spout the R nonsense when they themselves are gay. This is the part that is insane. These people are rabid anti gay nuts.
And they are gay. WTF? Wouldn't it be much safer to join the D's that at least give gays and homosexuals lip service? These sob's would gladly sit back and let their gay and homosexual partners get bashed and even killed. They are just as bad as the bashers.

Okay, that is my last word on this subject. I have wasted too much mental energy on these aholes already. They don't deserve even 15 seconds of our time.

[pico]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The senator who heads the Republican senatorial campaign committee has joined the list of people putting Sen. Larry Craig under increasing pressure to resign, The Associated Press reported.


Sen. Larry Craig, shown here in a 2005 photograph, is facing calls to leave the Senate.

Sen. John Ensign of Nevada did not call on Craig to step down, but strongly suggested he do so, AP reported.

"I wouldn't put myself hopefully in that kind of position, but if I was in a position like that, that's what I would do," he told AP. "He's going to have to answer that for himself."

A spokesman for Craig said Thursday he expected no word today on whether the embattled lawmaker would resign in the wake of his arrest in an airport men's room and subsequent conviction.

At least three other key Republicans in Congress have called for Craig's resignation, and the senator's support in his home state of Idaho apparently has declined.

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter on Thursday declined to say whether Craig should step down. But he acknowledged the predicament Craig is in.

"He's in a tough spot," Otter told CNN's Dana Bash. "He's going to have to work it out."

The Idaho Statesman newspaper on Thursday added its voice to those calling for the Republican's resignation.

Meanwhile, a SurveyUSA poll showed that 55 percent of Idaho respondents think Craig should step down. The poll of 475 registered Idaho voters was conducted Tuesday.

Thirty-four percent of the 475 respondents said Craig should remain in office.

The poll also found Idaho residents' rating of Craig's job approval had plummeted from 60 percent in November to 34 percent today.

The Idaho Statesman -- a newspaper the senator has accused of conducting a "witch hunt" -- was frank in calling for his resignation.

"We cannot abide an elected official who didn't disclose a lewd conduct arrest until the story broke 77 days later -- a lie by omission and a violation of the public trust," the Statesman said in an editorial published in Thursday's editions. "We cannot afford ... to have a senator who merely provides fodder for bloggers and late-night talk show hosts."

In its editorial, the Boise newspaper pointed out it endorsed Craig for re-election in 2002. But in recent months, it had been investigating allegations that Craig had made sexual advances to men.

Craig also has come under harsh criticism from party colleagues, with two Republican senators and a leading GOP congressman calling on him to leave office. Watch how GOP leaders are criticizing Craig »

Sen. John McCain, a GOP presidential candidate, called Craig's case "disgraceful."

"My opinion is that when you plead guilty to a crime, then you shouldn't serve," said McCain, of Arizona. "And that's not a moral stand, that's not a 'holier-than-thou,' it's just a factual situation."

Another Republican senator, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, said Craig pleaded guilty to "a crime involving conduct unbecoming a senator."

And Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Craig should give up his Senate seat.

"The voters of Idaho elected Sen. Craig to represent their state, and will decide his future in 2008 should he fail to resign," the Michigan congressman said in a statement issued by his office. "However, he also represents the Republican Party, and I believe that he should step down, as his conduct throughout this matter has been inappropriate for a U.S. senator."

On Thursday, former Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee said Craig's actions, if true, are "despicable." Frist, a Republican, is a former Senate majority leader.

Craig has agreed to give up his leadership posts on Senate committees temporarily, Republican Senate leaders announced Wednesday.

Don't Miss
Senator's full statement
Arrest report (PDF)
Criminal complaint (PDF)
Guilty plea (PDF)
Craig is the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and on two key subcommittees -- the Appropriations Committee's panel overseeing the Interior Department and the Energy and National Resources subcommittee on public lands.

"This is not a decision we take lightly, but we believe this is in the best interest of the Senate until this situation is resolved by the Ethics Committee," the Senate's GOP leaders said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Earlier this week, news surfaced of Craig's August 8 guilty plea to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge stemming from his June arrest in a men's room at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The married, 62-year-old senator pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after being picked up during a police sting targeting "lewd behavior" in the airport's restrooms.

Craig told reporters Tuesday that he did not take part in any "inappropriate conduct" and said he had "overreacted and made a poor decision" in pleading guilty. No sexual contact is alleged to have taken place, although the officer who arrested the senator said Craig moved his foot to touch the officer's foot while they sat in adjoining restroom stalls.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, for whose presidential campaign Craig was a Senate liaison, told CNBC on Tuesday that Craig "has disappointed the American people."

Craig has stepped down from his role in the Romney camp -- the third official from a leading GOP campaign to be ensnared in a sex scandal this summer.

McCain's campaign co-chairman in Florida, state Rep. Bob Allen, was arrested in July on charges he offered an undercover police officer money for a sex act. Allen called the arrest "a very big misunderstanding."

The same month, Craig's Senate colleague, Louisiana's David Vitter, admitted to having patronized a Washington escort service run by accused "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Vitter served as the southern regional chairman of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has run well behind those rivals, told Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson's cable network CBN that the spate of scandals "very much concerns me."

"Frankly, Americans will forgive us for being sinners. They won't forgive us for being hypocrites," said Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister.

Craig -- a three-term senator who has aligned himself with conservative groups that oppose gay rights -- appeared Tuesday with his wife, Suzanne, to deny he is gay.

The White House also has voiced its displeasure over the scandal.


"We're disappointed in what's going on," Bush spokesman Scott Stanzel told reporters. But Stanzel said the issue was "a matter for the senator and the Senate Republican leadership to address."

He added: "We hope that it will be resolved quickly, as that would be in the best interests of the Senate and the people of Idaho."

[BrentCrude]

OfCraig was a democrat,do you think there would be an outrage?

I'm no republican ''anymore''and I'm certainly not a democrat ''socialist''but don't you think these sex situations are handled differently by the opposition party and media when it's a republican that gets in someones pants.

OK,the funny money high flying Keynesian false economy sucks now just as it did when Clinton was riding the phoney dot com boom.But with Clinton defenders''commie lib Kool aid drinkers-unions-media-minorities--academia'' they all said,why bother the president when he's too busy doing the peoples work or else,the economy is good so why worry if he intimidated an intern to give him a BJ in the tax payers ovary office,raped a woman or few in Arkansas and had an affair and perjured himself in a court case.Yup,an innocent man like Clinton just so happens
to lose his legal license.hehe!The guy can be appointed to the supreme court by a democrat but he would be barred from trying a case there.

So give the republicans a little more credit than the democrats because at least they always tell their people to get the hell out of office when they do something awful. If Craig was a democrat every liberal and gay advocasy group would be defending him and bashing republicans for being homophobic.Are there any gay groups defending Craig right now????????????I guess it's summer vacation time and they are in the Catskills and Saratoga and aren't aware of Craig's problems.

Then it's predictable and laughable when the media always say,a conservative repubublican in these cases when they never say a liberal democrat.