Reply With QuoteThis is the kind of decisive leadership the Republicans need! What a tool.
Craig may not be resigning after all
The Idaho senator intends to clear his name, which leaves open a possibility that he will not leave office.
By Richard Simon
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 5, 2007
WASHINGTON — In a surprise twist, Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) has left open, albeit slightly, the possibility that he will not resign from the Senate if he succeeds in his fight to clear his name of allegations that he solicited sex in a Minnesota airport restroom in June.
"Sen. Craig still intends to resign," his spokesman, Dan Whiting, said in an interview Tuesday night. "That being said, Sen. Craig wants it clear he's fighting these charges, both in Minneapolis and in the Senate Ethics Committee, and if the wheels of justice are able to turn quick enough, meaning before Sept. 30, he may -- and I emphasize may -- not resign.
"At this point, it's a very small door that he's left open," Whiting added.
Craig pleaded guilty last month to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. He was arrested in June by an undercover police officer investigating complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
On Saturday, he announced that he intended to resign his Senate seat by the end of the month, to the relief of fellow Republicans who feared that the scandal would hurt the party in next year's elections.
But Craig, who has denied that he did anything wrong and has said he regretted his guilty plea, has hired lawyers to see whether he can reopen the case, withdraw the plea and clear his name.
Earlier Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had expressed relief that "the episode is over."
"We'll have a new senator from Idaho at some point in the next month or so, and we're going to move on," he said, eager to put the focus on other subjects of importance to Republicans.
McConnell said he had spoken to Craig last week, before the Idaho senator made his resignation statement, and believed it to be a "firm decision."
In announcing his resignation, Craig, 62, said his fight to clear his name would be an "unwarranted and unfair distraction of my job and for my Senate colleagues."
But on Sunday he received encouragement from one of those colleagues.
"I'd like to see him fight the case because I think he could be vindicated," Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday."
Specter, a former district attorney in Philadelphia, said that if Craig had sought a trial instead of pleading guilty to a reduced charge, "I believe he would be exonerated."
The undercover officer said Craig used signals -- tapping his foot and sliding his hand under the restroom stall divider -- that indicated a desire for sex. Along with pleading guilty to disorderly conduct, Craig paid $575 in fines and fees and was given one year's probation.
If he remains in the Senate, Craig would face an embarrassing Senate Ethics Committee investigation. Additionally, Senate Republicans have stripped him of his leadership positions on several committees.
Craig, who has represented his state in the House and the Senate for 27 years, did not return to the Capitol on Tuesday to cast votes on Congress' first day back from its summer recess.
He has hired two prominent Washington lawyers -- Stanley Brand, a former House counsel who frequently represents legislators in ethics matters, for the Senate investigation, and Billy Martin, who represented NFL quarterback Michael Vick in his recent dog-fighting case as well as former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky, in the efforts to reopen the Minnesota court case.
Whiting said the senator was preparing to file papers with the ethics committee contending that it was "unprecedented" for the panel to consider a complaint based on a misdemeanor.
On Tuesday morning, two of Craig's three children appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" to defend their father.
His daughter, Shae Howell, said many of Craig's colleagues "made their decision and formed their opinion about it without even talking to my dad."
Mike Craig added: "We know who he is, and we stand behind him."
richard.simon@latimes.com
This is the kind of decisive leadership the Republicans need! What a tool.
Originally Posted by Glixy:
I'm not sure if you're middle aged, but the only things I know about you are your avatar picture, and that you are a lawyer, so I picture you as some kind of cross between K. Richards, and L. Hutz.
Clearly, the man is confused... First apologizes then insists he didn't do anything wrong. Then he claims he's not gay (or bisexual) even though he had applied knowledge of Mens Room Cruising 101... Then he quits, but isn't going to?
If he can not even figure out how to move forward on his own legal matters he should not be making laws for others. what a duche.
I'm not clear on exactly what he's resigning for.
If you believe his story, all he did was tap his foot (and also, I have a bridge to sell you).
But, even if you don't believe his story, he just cheated on his wife. Lots of Congresspeople (and Presidents, and mayors of New York) have done that without resigning.
Denial is an ugly sight.
Haven't followed this closely, but presumably he's resigning because he's an embarrassment to his party and because folks now know he's a hypocrite by his own standards of morality.Originally Posted by Ryan F
My point is: he's an embarrassment to his party because he's gay. If he had been caught soliciting a strange woman to have sex with him, he'd still be a hypocrite, but there probably wouldn't be so much pressure to resign.
Here are all the factors as I see them:
1) Strongly suspected of being homosexual
2) Convicted of a crime
3) Republican governor for Idaho (they will hold seat)
4) Up for reelection next year (clean incumbent with resignation)
5) Suspected adulterer
These are all of the reasons that the party wants rid of him, and I think it is probably in that order.
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