Sen. Larry Craig Vows To Stay In Office

(CBS/AP)  To the dismay of fellow Republicans, Sen. Larry Craig launched a determined drive to save his seat on Wednesday, vowing to stay in office if allowed to withdraw his guilty plea in a men's room sex sting.

Craig's campaign suffered an instant setback, however, when the ethics committee refused to set aside a complaint lodged against him. "Pending Sen. Craig's resignation, the committee will continue to review this matter," the committee's senior senators wrote.

Craig had the following reaction today to a letter sent from the Senate Ethics Committee to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to the statement released by his office:

"It is my intent to fight the case before the Ethics Committee while I am a sitting Senator. I would prefer to have that case resolved on its merits.

"The letter sent today from the Committee to Senator McConnell does not address the arguments laid out by my attorney earlier today. I hope that Committee addresses those arguments sooner, rather than later, so that I can have my name cleared."

Craig's decision to deploy his legal team marked a reversal of his pledge to resign on Sept. 30, and raised the possibility of a protracted legal and political struggle, much of it playing out in public, with gay sex at its core.

The Republican lawmaker, who has represented Idaho for 27 years, announced his intended resignation Saturday but CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reported that privately he was sending out a very different message.

In fact, just minutes before that press conference, he mistakenly called a wrong number and left a recorded message obtained by the newspaper Roll Call and confirmed by CBS News to be the voice of the senator.

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Hear Craig Mull Reconsidering Resignation

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"Yes, Billy, this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell. Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense, arguing that it appears by all that he knows that I've been railroaded ...," Craig is recorded as saying. "...We've reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on September 30."

Senate Republican Leader McConnell, R-Ky. said Craig had told him he now intended to remain in Congress if he is permitted to withdraw his guilty plea by Sept. 30. "If he is unable to have that disposed of prior to Sept. 30, it is his intention to resign from the Senate as he expressed last Saturday," he added.

"I thought he made the correct decision, the difficult but correct decision to resign" over the weekend, said McConnell, after he and Craig spoke by telephone. "That would still be my view today."

The GOP leader spoke hours after Craig's attorney, Stanley Brand, asked the ethics committee not to investigate a complaint because events were "wholly unrelated" to official duties.

Committee action eventually would lead the Senate down a path of dealing with "a host of minor misdemeanors and transgressions," Brand added in a letter that was hand-delivered.

In a written reply several hours later, the panel's chairman and senior Republican wrote that Senate rules give the committee authority to investigate lawmakers who engage in `improper conduct, which may reflect upon the Senate.'

"The committee has reached no conclusions regarding the matter," wrote Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and John Cornyn, R-Texas. "Pending Sen. Craig's resignation, the committee will continue to review this matter."

A second attorney for Craig, Tom Kelly, was in Minnesota, evidently preparing to file papers seeking to have the senator's guilty plea withdrawn.

Lawyers not involved in the case have said Craig faces a difficult challenge, pointing to Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure requiring that a defendant show a "manifest injustice" to withdraw a guilty plea.

In Craig's case, he voluntarily signed a plea agreement that included a provision stating that the court would not accept such a confession of guilt from anyone who believed himself innocent.

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[reporter21]

Sisters keep their mother''s body in a fridge for ten years!
Two sisters have kept their dead mother in an a fridge for 10 years - so they can visit her every week.....
Is this something to write home about?

Continue..www.poconocommunitynews.com

[ekucrew]

The skeletons are rattling LOUDER against the closet door with every passing day....the screws are ready to fall outta the door hinges!

Go home Larry and enjoy your grandchildren.

[cozzicon]

"Hypocrite seems to be the Liberals "race card"; if you stand for nothing, it works."-- Posted by jackhighland

Perhaps they stand for homosexuality. That''s not nothing.

Some people (probably a majority) think that is a good thing.

[shaderider]

While some people might think that getting on your knees and whoring yourself out in an airport bathroom is conduct unbecoming a senator I think it actually raises the bar on conduct in Washington. Normally the kind of service Larry Craig was giving out can only be enjoyed by high priced lobbyists, wealthy donors and congressional pages. Larry Craig is expanding the definition of "public service" by servicing anyone willing to drop their droors and go for it in a busy public restroom. Bi curious teenagers, hispanic truck drivers, school teachers can all enjoy what it means to be "not gay" thanks to Senator Craig''s open mindedness...not to mention open mouthedness.
As for the republicans who keep bringing up Bill Clinton and Ed Kennedy, I think they''re just jealous because a) These guys actually did it with women. b) The women were adults and c) They didn''t have to pay for it.

[blackpearlsx]

toldyouso21..........Run for President. You have my vote!

[timoteo57]

Mr. Stein misses the point. The real problem here is the hypocritical and mendacious nature of Mr. Craig as he has revealed himself to the good folks of Idaho and the nation. We don''t care if the man has gay tendencies; and we don''t care if he is privately in denial. But we do care very much if he is publically a big liar. The false piety of an anti-gay rights Republican senator who has homosexual tendencies should turn the stomach of any conscious person.

[toldyouso21]

That''''s the gayest thing I ever heard, and I have been in airport bathrooms with republican senators.
Posted by wfbdem at 09:11 AM : Sep 06, 2007


???? what is the gayest thing you ever heard?

[wfbdem]

That''s the gayest thing I ever heard, and I have been in airport bathrooms with republican senators.

[toldyouso21]

"If he honestly did it, he honestly should think about his morals and do what he has to do," Idahoan Stephen Kirby told CBS Affiliate KBCI. "But if it was entrapment involved or wasn''t really that point, he should fight it if he has to."

How does one "honestly" do something supposedly immoral? The fact of the matter is, Craig--like most politicians will never admit wrongdoing unless their ''hand'' or *** is caught in the act. Craig may have been dodging and lying about this issue for years...if that is the case--this is just one more lie in a string of lies--the real problem is--Craig thought he was caught dead to rights--but with the backing of Spector and others, he now thinks he has found a similar loophole like he has found for years on the issue of his sexual activity.

But this time, this is not a nail in his coffin, it is a huge spike--now, not only must the GOP and his voters find a way to overlook this, but the country must to--I don''t think the country is all that willing--given Craigs history and stance on Gay issues. Come on gay community. If Craig is really desperately seeking gay moments in johns--surely one of you have been enterprising enough to get the video for it?

[Krazcarl]

Foot tapping Larry you disgraced yourself and anybody that looks like you I''ve never exchanged cash in a mens stall your a closet happy person caught literaly with your pants down though I do have a problem in targeting victumless crime it''s politics as a senoter you should know all about it. If I were you I''d look for a crack in the floor to prance into. But thanks I''ll be sure to never tap my foot in the mens room.