October 04, 2007
Larry Craig Not Resigning After Judge Rejects Motion
UPDATED.
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has announced that he will remain in office, despite having had his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct rejected earlier today.
"I am extremely disappointed with the ruling issued today. I am innocent of the charges against me. I continue to work with my legal team to explore my additional legal options," the Republican lawmaker said in a written statement.
Craig had gone back and forth on whether to resign following revelations in August that he had been arrested in a gay-cruising sting in June. After pressure from the GOP, Craig announced that he would step down on Sept. 30, but backed away from that commitment after he decided to challenge his guilty plea. After an appearance in a Minnesota court last week, he appeared to hang his resignation on the outcome of his motion to withdraw.
Craig was clearly hoping to be one of a small minority who are able to persuade a judge to clear their guilty pleas. The married senator has vehemently denied that he was seeking sexual relations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on June 11, and he also denies he is gay.
Because Craig had not only been arrested for allegedly cruising an undercover officer but had also pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct, Senate Republicans abandoned him almost immediately. Several called for his resignation while the leadership announced an ethics investigation to add pressure on Craig to step down. Republicans clearly did not want a repeat of the Mark Foley scandal of 2006, and presidential candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney were among the first to disavow the senator.
In announcing he would not resign in the face of such enormous pressure, Craig seemed to be signaling that his duty lies not to the party but to his constituents.
"I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate, and there are several reasons for that. As I continued to work for Idaho over the past three weeks here in the Senate, I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively," he said.
Craig went on to highlight his senior posts on such key committees as Appropriations and Energy and Natural Resources, noting that an appointed replacement would probably not inherit those seats. According to local news reports, Idahoans have expressed concern about what losing their senior senator might mean for the state.
It's not at all clear how much Craig's presence in the halls of Congress through January 2009 will hurt an already badly damaged party. Whereas the Foley scandal was just about the straw that broke the GOP's back last fall, the kerfuffle over Craig's arrest and sexuality has already been eclipsed by more evergreen issues such as the administration's conduct of the war in Iraq and the war on terror at large.
Craig still maintains that he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct under duress.
"Sen. Craig continues his steadfast denial that any inappropriate behavior took place at the airport. He is currently considering whether to appeal this decision," said his lawyer, Billy Martin, following today's ruling.
According to Minnesota law, a person may withdraw his guilty plea if he can show that it was not accurate, voluntary or intelligent, i.e., he did not understand what he was pleading guilty to. If one of those conditions is not met, the plea is considered a "manifest injustice."
"The defendant, a career politician with a college education is of, at least, above average intelligence," Judge Charles Porter wrote. "He knew what he was saying, reading and signing." Porter also found that Craig had not produced "newly discovered evidence" that might exonerate him.
In a court appearance on Aug. 8, Craig pleaded guilty to "conduct which I knew or should have known tended to arouse alarm or resentment of others, which conduct was physical (versus verbal) in nature." There is nothing about sexual solicitation there, as we've pointed out, but because of the salacious nature of the case, Craig can probably expect to continue to see himself portrayed as having pleaded guilty to such a charge.
Although Craig's lawyers describe their client as having "panicked" upon his arrest, he has since lawyered up -- something he did not do when he was arrested -- and challenged the GOP leadership's efforts to investigate him.
In his statement today, Craig said, "I will continue my effort to clear my name in the Senate Ethics Committee -- something that is not possible if I am not serving in the Senate."
Soon after the scandal broke, Craig agreed to step down temporarily from his ranking leadership positions on the Veterans Affairs Committee and two subcommittees. There's no word yet on whether the GOP leadership will force him to fight to get those positions back, though the standing guilty plea will certainly ease their efforts to find him guilty of an ethical violation and permanently strip him of those assignments.
Craig's continuing presence in the Senate stands to complicate the election efforts of the eventual GOP nominee. Still, the Republican National Committee can probably take comfort in knowing the nominee is not Craig. "When my term has expired, I will retire and not seek reelection," the senator said. "I hope this provides the certainty Idaho needs and deserves."
Posted at 6:21 PM
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Campaigns, Congress, Larry Craig, Senate
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