Larry Craig: He was for resigning before he was against it Update: New voicemail audio…What the hell?
Update 9/5 9:20am Eastern. Have you heard this?
Idaho Statesman explains:
U.S. Sen. Larry Craig says he might reconsider his decision to resign if he clears his name in his arrest for disorderly conduct in a restroom sex scandal.
That’s why Craig chose his words carefully during his resignation speech Saturday in Boise, according to a voice mail message he mistakenly left on a stranger’s phone. In the message obtained by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, Craig tells a man named “Billy” that his choice of language is deliberate because it leaves the door open for him to stay in office.
Craig made the call just minutes before his speech.
“We have reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on Sept. 30,” Craig said. “I think it is important for you to make as bold a statement as you are comfortable with this afternoon, and I would hope you could make it in front of the cameras. I think it would help drive the story that I’m willing to fight, that I’ve got quality people out there fighting in my defense, and that this thing could take a new turn or a new shape, it has that potential.”
The recording was offered for sale to the Idaho Statesman, which turned it down because the newspaper’s ethics policy precludes it from paying for information from sources. A Roll Call editor said that publication wouldn’t pay either, but managed to obtain the recording without charge.
The White House on Wednesday strongly suggested that US Senator Larry Craig should not reverse his decision to resign after pleading guilty in an airport bathroom sex sting.
Spokeswoman Dana Perino declined to confirm media reports that Craig might be reconsidering his plan to leave his seat but stood by an earlier statement welcoming his decision to quit.
“I saw that report that his spokesperson said that. I don’t think that our views have changed but, of course, this is the Senator’s decision and the Senator’s seat,” she told reporters.
***
AP: Craig reconsiders decision to resign
Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat, his spokesman said Tuesday evening.
“It’s not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign,” Sidney Smith, Craig’s spokesman in Idaho’s capital, told The Associated Press. “We’re still preparing as if Senator Craig will resign Sept. 30, but the outcome of the legal case in Minnesota and the ethics investigation will have an impact on whether we’re able to stay in the fight — and stay in the Senate,” Smith said.
Craig, a Republican who has represented Idaho in Congress for 27 years, announced Saturday that he intends to resign from the Senate on Sept. 30. But since then, he’s hired a prominent lawyer to investigate the possibility of reversing his plea, his spokesman said. Craig was a no-show Tuesday as Congress reconvened after a summer break and it wasn’t clear whether he’ll return at all since deciding to resign over his guilty plea in a sex sting this summer at the Minneapolis airport.
Another spokesman, Dan Whiting in Washington, said Tuesday that Craig was expected to spend the week in Idaho as the Senate votes on spending bills for veterans and other programs. Whiting did not rule out Craig’s returning to Washington before the end of the month. A telephone call Craig received last week from Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., urging him to consider fighting for his seat is affecting Craig’s decision to reconsider his resignation, Smith said.
Allah notes Craig’s push to get his guilty plea vacated.
Now, just pause and reflect: It is Arlen Specter egging Larry Craig on to help sabotage what’s left of the Republican Party’s credibility.
Arlen Specter. You know, the liberal Republican horse the Bush White House backed instead of conservative stalwart Pat Toomey.
Reap. Sow. Sigh.
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I totally disagree with you, Michelle. Sorry: But on this one you come across to me as a tad self-righteous. As actor Ben Stein said in Newsmax, Craig was railroaded by Gestapo police tactics and then abandoned by ungrateful and/or gutless Republicans. (Michelle: No way are you gutless, but you are — in this instance — in my view myopic and, frankly, ungrateful.) I hope Craig comes back. I hate what he did on amnesty, but he has been a good soldier for many years: I am not going to go after him. One more point, Michelle: You are a homeland security hawk — and, as Ben Stein points out, airport police have bigger fish to fry than foot-tapping incidents between adult males in restroom stalls. Why do you (and so many other conservatives) seemingly allow the Dems to push your buttons on cue?
runningonfumes,
You do realize that Craig had already abandoned us, right? He supported amnesty against the will of the Republican grassroots.
Does the airport police have better things to do then go after toe-tapping Senators? Absolutely. But to insinuate that we abandoned him first, is wrong.
Good grief! I hope the real GOP tells him to stop this nonsense.
His credibility is gone. Zip. Zero. He cannot recover and needs to ride off into the sunset.
And, with his RINO leaning with Specter, I won’t miss him.
runningonfumes,
First off it wasn’t a foot tapping incident between two consenting individuals. One was a police officer, who was investigating illegal behavior in the airport restroom. Airports aren’t Nevada brothels. What if a twelve year old happen to be in that stall? Would footsie be okay then? Thank God for police officers!!!!!!! Conservatives need to hold their own to a high standard, if not we will loose another election. MM is a bookworm. I’m sure if she went on that stupid game show, she could walk off with Ben Steins Money!!!!!!!! Bueller, Bueller, anybody, anybody.
Sure the police have better things to do, but the nonesense in the bathrooms prevent them from doing it. Are you suggesting they should turn a blind eye? Because I dont want those creeps stalking the stalls while I try and do my buisiness!
We need to consult with Jerry Lewis on this one! Spector is as trustworthy as a rubber crutch. Scottish law doesn’t fly in the men’s room which is way off the beaten path of the terminal where Craig’s flight is awaiting him. It is documented that there were many other crapholes for crapweasels near the terminal of use. All the fine points of legal rights can be argued and twisted but OJ is still looking for the killer! It is very disturbing that personal power comes before national interest at such a critical time in our history. God have mercy on us.
I was suspicious when on Saturday, he said, “I intend to resign.”
That is not a resignation. I thought more people would have caught that.
One supposes that if the kid had a foot spasm the cop would arrest him on the spot.
Jose, it would instead make sense if police were to watch outside the stall for two men to start an obviously undeniable sexual encounter and then bust them both.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Minneapolis, illegals and street gangs pretty much have run of the city. The former mostly by clogging up the all the systems meant for citizens and the latter by commiting all manner of crime against property and persons.
I keep remembering in specific one young Minneapolis girl, Tyesha Edwards, who was shot and killed while doing homework at her family’s dining room table, falling victim to a running gun gun battle outside. Such murders have become too common in Minneapolis.
Not as heinious as bathroom foot-tapping, of course.
This is an instance where Michelle and some in the GOP were just too much in a headlong rush to force Craig out instead of leaving it up to his constituents to act.
I caught that right off, Pat. From the start Craig was keeping his options, legal and otherwise, open. I thought he was pretty clear about that. In fact, he had already hired the lawyer who represents Sen. Vitter to handle this problem.
What a jerk.
God protect us from our own.
Great idea Larry- let’s see how long you can drag out the inevitable.
And save some of those “I’m a Senator” business cards for future airport visits while you’re at it.
Kind of infinitesimally trivial when you compare it to what they are doing with our borders and freedoms in Washington. These matters affect an entire formerly great nation.
His arrest may have been lousy and something a man in his position could have turned on it’s head. But he plead guilty (keeping in mind the previous rumors of similar activity in D.C.). It’s time for him to leave peacefully or get the boot.
Pleading guilty to a crime involving sex is enough for me to say good riddance to any politician, even one who is mostly on my side.
What sex was involved in this case, FireDrake? From everything I’ve seen, heard and read, according to everyone, no sex or sexual acts occured. Craig was not charged with, nor did he plead guilty to, a sex crime.
If you have info otherwise, I’d honestly appreciate viewing it so I can check it out.
A crime involving sex? What crime was that? Does this mean I can have the next guy who propositions me in a bar arrested?
Is asking someone if they want to come up to your room for a drink illegal?
Sanddo
5 will get you 10 if you asked some women you could at least be looking at a sexual harassment lawsuit. Mind reading does present some problems.
It’s not the crime, but the coverup.
Even assuming Craig could have fought the charges and been acquitted, the fact is he was arrested and did plead guilty and did not report either of these facts to his colleagues. If I’m not mistaken, that failure would be the basis of the Ethics Committee investigation that was hanging over Craig’s head before his non-resignation resignation. That failure alone might well be enough to justify an expulsion.
Throw in the abuse of power allegations and the lack of judgment made apparent by the whole incident, and I don’t see any case for keeping Craig around.
The gay blade cuts both ways.
Cheers to the Senator. Glad to see a Republican with the stones to fight a scandal instead of cutting and running.
For me, foot tap[s] and a hand under the stall wall don’t cut it.
It is possible he caved at first knowing that his party would abandon him if the situation became public, which they did.
Idaho primary season just became a whole lot more interesting.
I have to wonder who on earth these people are who think Craig should STAY.
I don’t know anyone in my life who thinks he should stay.
If he has any decency left, any respect at all for his wife and stepchildren, he will leave.
This is disgusting. We already knew Arlen Spectre was without decency.
What a bunch of lousy creeps.
Looks like they are in serious competition with the Dims for new levels of depravity, these days.
If they keep this up, and keep on promoting these RINOS for the Presidency, on top of it, it won’t be hard on General Election day to vote for a couple of write-ins, instead of the GOP, even in the face of Hildebeast.
I caught it – just didn’t think he’d have the gall to play it out that way.
The disease of the Clintons and the Kennedy’s is spreading.
I still can’t figure out why anyone would want to have sex in a public bathroom. That in itself is disgusting.
And by all accounts nobody in this case did.
(Hey…who was that masked commenter man?)
Tap on, Tap Tap! Tap off, Tap Tap! the Tapper!!
Tip to larry, in the future try and speak from the heart and not some lame attorney prepared statement.
Remember that song from the early 70s by Jaggerz (I think it was) called “The Rapper”?
Tap, Tap, tap, they call him The Tapper
Tap, tap, tap, you know what he’s after.
GREAT! Murtha on the left side of the state, Specter on the right side of the state and Rendell on NSU’s list.
This state is going straight down hill.
Elvis sang one also,
“I’m caught in a Tap” la la la…. lol
Well I guess he’s as wishy washy about resigning as he is in deciding whether he’s gay/bi/hetero.
A little of both perhaps?
i support this!
like the beasties said–you’ve got to fight for your right to party!
I cannot even believe there are people supporting this sudden change of heart! I don’t want a sexual deviant representing my party, and I am quite confident the good people of Idaho do not want one representing their state. I have always identified with Republican ideals because we hold ourselves to a higher standard than do Democrats; there are some posts here that toss some very cold water on that notion.
Go away, Mr. Craig, and don’t look back.
Toe tapping and a hand visible under the stall does seem a bit weak on proof of anything. Maybe he tapped his foot because he has, “restless leg syndrome”, and his hand was observed whn he reached down to pick up a stray sheet of toilet paper?
I still think he should step down…but where is the crime?
He’s a lying arrogant “crapweasel” who was looking for action in a gross disgusting germ infested public bathroom. Gayle IMHO, I dont think he’s gay/bi or hetero, perverted and sick maybe.
And who could forget Tony Orlando and Dawn’s big hit:
“Oh, my darling, tap three times on the ceiling if you want me
Twice on the pipe if the answer is no, oh, my sweetness
(Tap, Tap, Tap!) Means you’ll meet me in the hallway
Mmm, twice on the pipe (clink, clink) means you ain’t gonna show”
Bi the way, I “mispoke” above (read: I got it wrong) when I wrote Craig had retained Sen. Vitter’s attorney, Billy Martin, to handle this. Martin is Michael Vicks attorney, not Vitter’s. Big difference there.
My bad. DOH!
Larry Craig should go !! I don’t have a good feeling about him. I think he’s not telling the truth. He never impressed me as a senator.
peep, hotair has a spoof using the tony orlando song.
or is it youtube…
Rush said yesterday that the GOP is being spineless again by throwing Craig “under the bus”. I see that sentiment in some of the commenters here as well. That’s cool. Maybe there wasn’t a crime committed worthy of a resignation, but his credibility and integrity are in shambles. He’s a liability. But what depresses me more than anything is that this whole episode illustrates how depraved our society has become at it’s core. Sure, we’re all sinners, and we all fall woefully short of perfection, but shouldn’t there be repercussions for lewd conduct, at least from a married Senator? For those that think that Craig should not resign, what do you think should be the repercussions for George Michaels…errr Boy George…errrrrr Larry Craig?
Watched Morning Joe today – as long as I could take it. He was spinning the Craig resignation as an example of Republican intolerance and hypocrisy. This will probably become a common theme. Perhaps we can combat it some with attention on Specter hypocrisy, and proper attention on Craig credibility. The Republicans urging Craig to resign were adhering to core values, and not ignoring Craig’s prevarications.
As far as the point that no sex occurred, therefore no crime, and besides police have better things to do — I remember a relative’s trauma after being accosted in an airport restroom. I think I will give that point of view all the respect it deserves – zilch.
Craig will eventually walk be cause his arrest was unconstitutional. Article I Section 6:
The political damage is enormous and he is sure to Foley this through the campaign season.
What gets me is the National attention they has recieved when it is for the people of Idaho to decide if he should stay or go. Michelle has lead the charge calling for his resignation and I didn’t know she was from Idaho before.
If RNC is against what he did then they are welcome to kick in out of the party, but again it is only the voters of Idaho who should be able to have a say in whether or not he resign or not.
I beg to differ he is a United States Senator from Idaho.
Craig had months between the arrest, and the pleading guilty.
If he gets this plea tossed out, I’ll be 100% amazed, and frankly it will create so, so many more problems for that state it isn’t even funny.
Pleas are entered to end, completely, a proceeding. Allowing people to come back and change their minds would throw the system into chaos.
Sen. Craig, please turn down the stupid. Please.
hahaha! Thanks for the heads up, I found it on YouTube by searching “larry craig tap three times”.
Gotta have something to laugh about in all this – and it might as well be on the Senator’s account!
Rino -
I fail to see how your mention of Article 1, Section 6 applies to his arrest in Minneapolis.
The ‘going to or coming from’ portion is a VERY wide interpretation of that section – and in any case, he was cited and pled guilty to ‘disorderly conduct’, which could qualify as a ‘breach of the peace’.
I don’t care about toe tapping. No crime was committed.
Someone asked earlier “So what if it had been a 12-year old in the next stall?” Well, then a 12-year old would have left his stall kinda creeped out because his toe was tapped. Big whoop.
I am extremely uncomfortable though, with his handling of the aftermath. He seems to be floundering about, leaving messages on strangers’ phones, etc. etc. It all creates a picture of a rather shifty guy.
I don’t think that’s applicable here, Rinoalert. Maybe if the reading is very loosely and generally applied, but it seems that would be like putting a new right into the Constitution. Not that it’s never happened before, lol.
It would seem to me this is more specific regarding attendence that is of an immediate and urgent, very local nature. e.g having a Senator arrested so he cannot vote a certain way at 3PM.
One could see why the framers would protect Congress from arrest by the executive branch.
Craig’s problem is more political than criminal.
He needs to go and not drag this out through the election.
It doesn’t protect them from DUIs and such, it won’t protect Craig here. That section and article exist to protect them from arrest while acting out their duties as Reps and Senators. I don’t think his searching for anon gay sex in an airport’s public restroom (an airport I really don’t think is part of what would be the normal home-DC route) is part of his duties.
But he can argue that all he wants.
But honestly, if he though he could get away with that excuse, he’d have pulled that trick outta his bag before he plead guilty.
He is the United States Senator from Idaho who representing the people of Idaho. This means he is the representative for the People of Idaho in the US Senate. Again this is issue only the people of Idaho who elected him should be having a say.
I don’t like a lot of things many other Senator’s do, but there is nothing I can or should do about this because they are chosen by the voters of that state and represent them. Just take the example of the people of Mass. who keep electing Sen. Kennedy time and again.
But if Teddy broke a law or something in your state, you would fully expect him to be prosecuted.
This guy should have his picture in the dictionary next to the definition of sick puppy.
Yup and they also probably had whatever the majority party in mind on that account, even though they likely didn’t have “Capitol Police” back in the day.
If he stays, the libs can yell hypocrites all day and they will be right.
While there was no crime committed, everyone knows what was going on with this pervert, and it cannot be tolerated by a party that has its base built on family values.
The Republicans have to keep heavy pressure on this guy to resign, or the continued marginalization of the party will make it the same as the dems or the UN….irrelevant.
I need a drink.
Well, swj, Craig did break the foottapping law (heh) in my state. I don’t care a whole lot how he ends up either way. He can pursue whatever legal avenues are open to him if his counsel think this can be “revisited and reversed” or he can go buh-bye.
My guess is that he’ll go buh-bye when all’s said and done. From what I know at this time I think he’d stand a very good chance of beating the rap if it’s re-adjudicated. On the other hand, being found guilty in court would be much worse for him then his current legal situation. Dunno if he’s willing to take that chance.
The flip side, Mike, is the liberals and the media will yell the same day & night if Craig had to go while Vitter (and/or others) are allowed to stay.
Resign!
General company, I don’t want perverts playing footsie with me in the mens’ room, but I don’t want undercover policemen playing footsie with me either. There has to be a better way.
Rev Snow, “An unbroken line of precedents dating back 220 years makes clear the Senate does not consider misdemeanor private conduct to be a fit subject of inquiry, asserted Washington attorney Stan Brand.”
Exactly. He plead because it was the pragmatic thing to do. If he actualy manages to reverse the plea, and goes to trial, I’m fairly confident that the prosecutors will, in a fit of pique from having had his prior plea tossed out – pull out all the stops and try and throw every book they can get their hands on.
Exactly. We get to pick our poison. Thanks Larry!
Curious to hear Rush’s take today.
Presto,
Again he is a United States Senator. Not just representing Idaho. please see below.
Special Committee on Aging
Appropriations Committee
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs
Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee on Water and Power
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Public Sector Solutions to Global Warming, Oversight, and Children’s Health Protection
Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health, Ranking Member
Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Ranking Member
There’s just something creepy about somebody wanting to stay in power so bad that even after potentially being publicly disgraced, such as Craig was, trying to have anonymous gay sex in a bathroom, having been verbally chastised by his colleagues, and having embarrassed his wife like nothing else would; that he wouldn’t slink away with some humility and dignity still in tact just seems pushy. The hubris is overwhelming and creepy, if you ask me.
Dear Mr. Craig:
You played a foolish game in public toilet whatever your ultimate objective. Then you arranged and rearranged your story in a lame attempt to find a politically palatable way out of the mess you created. You are craven, get lost.
coffee260, very well stated, my opinion exactly.
I did catch Rush’s opening monologue, he did say that if Craig said he was going to resign, then he needs to resign. But he did maintain that the GOP are too anxious to get rid of him.
Glenn Beck said roughly the same thing in his closing monologue today as well, that we have no chance of winning in 2008 if we treat this as another Foley, and throw Craig ‘under the bus’ again. Beck said the reason we lost in 06 wasn’t because of Foley, it was open borders, spending like drunk sailors etc.
Ok fine, then Rush, Glenn, what would you precisely like to have the GOP do with Craig? Wipe our hands and give a hearty, “well, s#$! happens, so let’s let bygones be bygones!” Tell me what should have been done then.
Lying Crapweasel.
Fake resignation speech (“intend to resign”) – well, not really – while his poor wife stands there humiliated. Ugh.
I dunno, swj – my thinkin’ is kinda the opposite; if the police had a solid case against Craig in the first place, they would’ve have charged him with what they where looking for – some sex crime or another since that’s a much more serious offense.
I’d compare it to setting up a sting to bust a coke dealer but only having enough evidence to arrest an alleged dealer for the two joints he had in his pocket.
So I’m of a mind it would be a gamble for Craig but it would also be a gamble for the police/courts. Obviously Craig has more to lose in that equation.
I don’t think he would even do it unless his atty recommended it as a reasonably safe bet to take.
Too, if it would involve a jury trial, Craig’s chances would be even better. Minneapolis juries are commonly not police-friendly and tend to be quite liberal.
I believe Arlen Specter’s legal take on this has merit. It probably wouldn’t politically be a wise move, though. At least in the short term.
That’s not speaking fondly of Specter the man or the Senator, just that his analysis of the legal aspects of this case seem well-founded.
The Rinos and Moderates must be desperate to drive out what is left of the Conservative voters who are clinging to a desperate hope for the GOP election victories by their fingernails. They want the GOP all to themselves.
Arlen Spectre is always and ever more, such a total phryqueing moron.
Do they imagine they’ll gain some Moderate votes from the DIM party to make up for all the Conservatives they are driving out?
When it is a public office, there IS still a SMALL MINUTE TEENSY WEENSY LITTLE BITTY issue of ETHICS!!! INTEGRITY!!! FIDUCIARY OBLIGATIONS!!!
At least in the minds of a FEW people.
Once upon a plane ride dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly pooping, suddenly there came a snooping,
As of some one gently tapping, tapping on the restroom floor.
`’Tis some Senator,’ I muttered, `tapping on the restroom floor-
Only this, and nothing more.’
…
Open here I flung the stall door, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately Senator of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, picked the TP off the floor -
Then took a stance upon a bust of Pallas just above the restroom floor -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
…
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Senators whose foot-falls tapped on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,’ I cried, `thy Party hath lent thee – by these airlines they hast sent thee
Respite – respite and nepenthe from thy tapping on the floor!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this tapping on the floor!’
Quoth the Senator, `Nevermore.’
Heh.
Methinks you’re ranting & “raven” there.