Roll Call reported today that Idaho Senator Larry Craig was arrested and charged with lewd conduct in a men’s room at Minneapolis International Airport in June.
The story sounded a bit outlandish — Craig was arrested after tapping his foot and touching shoes with a plainclothes officer — but in fact, Craig pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct on August 8th in Minnesota’s Hennepin County District Court.
Now Craig has issued a statement on his official Senate site, denying any inappropriate conduct. It reads, in part: “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.”
Craig, who is married, has been a prominent social conservative since joining the Senate in 1991. Those details are already earning him comparisons to evangelical minister Ted Haggard and Florida Congressman Mark Foley, two other prominent sex scandal figures of the past year.
One place to follow this story (besides Roll Call, which requires a subscription for many stories) is the Idaho Statesman, the state’s primary paper.
From the Who2 blog:
| Latest: | The 'S' in 'Harry S. Truman' Really DID Stand for Something |
| Next: | More on Craig |
| Prev: | The Mysterious Thumbs of Roger Ebert |