Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) arrested, pleads guilty to lewd conduct (plus video!)
Stunningly, today we're hearing the first reports of two bombshell stories -- the arrest on June 11 and guilty plea on August 8 of Senator Larry Craig. Apparently, the charges related to misdemeanor disorderly conduct of a sexual nature in the men's restroom of the Minneapolis Airport.
Roll Call broke the story. We'll reprint a big chunk for you here, since their site has crashed due to traffic volume:
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8. ...
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states. ...
Airport police previously had made numerous arrests in the men’s restroom of the Northstar Crossing in the Lindbergh Terminal in connection with sexual activity.
[Sgt. Dave] Karsnia entered the bathroom at noon that day and about 13 minutes after taking a seat in a stall, he stated he could see “an older white male with grey hair standing outside my stall.”
The man, who lingered in front of the stall for two minutes, was later identified as Craig.
More details on the jump, including video.
Craig then entered the stall next to Karsnia’s and placed his roller bag against the front of the stall door. ...“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.
Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that “I could ... see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider.”
Karsnia then held his police identification down by the floor so that Craig could see it.
“With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, ‘No!’ I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. ... Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn’t want to make a scene. Craig then left the restroom.”
One more thing. Back in October, BlogActive.com called out Senator Larry Craig for "gay bashing" while allegedly being a closeted gay man. From Roll Call:
In October 2006, Craig’s office publicly denied allegations that he was a homosexual made on a gay activist Web site — blogactive.com. Craig’s office told the Spokane Spokesman-Review that the charge was “completely ridiculous,” saying that the allegations had “no basis in fact.”
As far back as 1982, then-Congressman Craig denied sexual activity with male congressional pages - despite the lack of any public charges. Here's the video, per BlogActive.
Discuss.
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August 27, 2007 |
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Comments
Posted by: Stephanie V | Aug 27, 2007 3:59:51 PM
what IS it with those guys, anyway?
Posted by: LiberalIncarnate | Aug 27, 2007 4:02:02 PM
I sense a weekend in luxury rehab someplace in the backwoods of Montana and some serious praying to get the gay out for the Senator.
This brings new meaning to the phrase, "Trolls in the bathroom."
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Aug 27, 2007 4:11:45 PM
I make a prediction: Suddenly, Larry's going to discover that's he had an alcohol problem.
Posted by: Trollbot9000 | Aug 27, 2007 4:15:33 PM
The Craigster caught doing lord knows what in an airport mens room. Another member of the current Republican herd bites the dust. Sure, this type of behavior wouldn't be a big issue among progressives were it one of their own (see Barney Frank), but some of us expect better from our elected leaders. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Larry. The Trollbot won't shed many tears for you and knowing Idaho, your replacement will not be a Democrat. I just hope it's a good classic liberal type rather than some bat shit crazy religious right goon.
Posted by: LiberalIncarnate | Aug 27, 2007 4:28:18 PM
Trollbot,
Let's please divide sexual orientation from a crime here.
Barney Frank has not, to my knowledge, committed a crime here.
Larry Craig committed a crime. Ironically, he also committed this crime in the light of his highly anti-gay stances (talk about self-loathing!). This fact is nothing new in Republican circles. Although, it is sad, "outings" such as these are highly entertaining.
Both are gay, but it has nothing to do with committing crimes.
Posted by: Stephanie V | Aug 27, 2007 4:37:38 PM
I'm sure Senator Craig isn't really, you know, GAY. He's just a troubled straight guy who has a weakness for anonymous sex with men in public restrooms.
Posted by: Trollbot9000 | Aug 27, 2007 4:42:39 PM
Solicited, shacked up with and had a prostitution racket running in his home, but why split hairs? Barney Frank is a progressive hero and Larry Craig will burn for whatever it is he did.
Posted by: torridjoe | Aug 27, 2007 4:42:50 PM
"Didn't Barney Frank solicit a male prostitute?"
Not that I know of. He had a relationship with someone who ran one, but to my knowledge he was never found soliciting for sex.
Posted by: East Bank Thom | Aug 27, 2007 4:48:02 PM
Jeepers, peeps. Discover the Wiki.
In 1990, the House voted to reprimand Frank when it was revealed that Steve Gobie, a male escort whom Frank had befriended after hiring him through a personal advertisement, claimed to have conducted an escort service from Frank's apartment when he was not at home. Frank had dismissed Gobie earlier that year and reported the incident to the House Ethics Committee after learning of Gobie's activities. After an investigation, the House Ethics Committee found no evidence that Frank had known of or been involved in the alleged illegal activity.[1] Gobie disputes Frank's account.
Idaho's Craig was found guilty of a crime.
Posted by: backbeat12 | Aug 27, 2007 4:49:11 PM
Miles really takes the cake.
Posted by: Thomas Ware | Aug 27, 2007 5:14:27 PM
While everyone is fascinated with Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig jerking off in Minnesota airport men's room and Alberto I Wipe My Ass with the Constitution Gonzales desertion of the ship of state, the markets are tanking for the third week in a row.
Not only is the Multi-Millionaire Media wall to wall with this bullshit, but I had to drill down to a fourth-tier conspiracy nutjob blog to find ANY news about the markets. "Blogtopia" (yesssssss, skippy said it) is pathetic.
Posted by: BlueNote | Aug 27, 2007 5:21:51 PM
After all these years of getting caught in restrooms and parks, would you not think that the GOP bigwigs could arrange for some sort of an "in call" service to satisfy their kinky cravings? Perhaps that guy with the fake press credentials (Jeff somebody???) is again offering his male-escort services now that the White House does not use him as a shill at press conferences.
Posted by: Stephanie V | Aug 27, 2007 5:23:12 PM
Jeff Gannon!
(I hate myself for remembering that so quickly.)
Posted by: lestatdelc | Aug 27, 2007 5:44:10 PM
Posted by: Miles | Aug 27, 2007 4:38:09 PMDidn't Barney Frank solicit a male prostitute?
No. But don't let facts get in your way.
Posted by: Trollbot9000 | Aug 27, 2007 5:54:49 PM
Jerking off in a mens room? Was that all it was? I'd tell Larry to get a room, but you know what they say about men and masturbation. There are those that do and those who lie about it.
Posted by: Stephanie V | Aug 27, 2007 5:56:26 PM
No, Trollbot. He solicited a plainclothes police officer.
Posted by: CBurr | Aug 27, 2007 6:07:02 PM
I make a prediction: Suddenly, Larry's going to discover that's he had an alcohol problem.
Or retire in order to spend less time with his family.
Posted by: Trollbot9000 | Aug 27, 2007 6:12:50 PM
"Not that I know of."
Kudos torridjoe (aka Mark Bunster)! That's one of the more intelligent things I have seen from you thus far.
Posted by: M.W. | Aug 27, 2007 6:52:08 PM
Craig is charged with something that probably should never have been a crime in the first place. Granted the guy is as two faced as the come and questions about his sexual orientation have been floating arond for years. But should this really be a crime?
MW
Posted by: t.a. barnhart | Aug 27, 2007 7:55:10 PM
you know, given how easy it is to look things up on google or wikipedia, why ask a silly question about Barney Frank? are you trying to break the news that Frank, gasp, is gay?
here's what wikipedia says about the Frank episode:
In 1990, the House voted to reprimand Frank when it was revealed that Steve Gobie, a male escort whom Frank had befriended after hiring him through a personal advertisement, claimed to have conducted an escort service from Frank's apartment when he was not at home. Frank had dismissed Gobie earlier that year and reported the incident to the House Ethics Committee after learning of Gobie's activities. After an investigation, the House Ethics Committee found no evidence that Frank had known of or been involved in the alleged illegal activity.[1] Gobie disputes Frank's account.
not even close to the same thing, especially since Frank turned himself in. Barney Frank is one of the good guys.
Posted by: Kristin | Aug 27, 2007 7:55:47 PM
Hypocrisy, hypocrisy, hypocrisy.
What a joy it will be when we as a nation can fully and completely accept all GLBT -- see what happens when you persecute people? They needlessly and stupidly run to the other side just to avoid said persecution....
Posted by: Tom Civiletti | Aug 27, 2007 8:19:03 PM
So, Craig solicited sex from someone he never saw [besides his shoes], talked with, or knew the name of. Gay or straight, that's pretty darn creepy.
Posted by: Kento Azegami, College Democrats | Aug 27, 2007 9:02:30 PM
Dude - I always joked that anti-gay activists were all gay, but who knew it'd actually be the truth?
Posted by: King Rod | Aug 27, 2007 10:24:43 PM
Barney Frank was had an ongoing relationship with a prostitute. Whether he was paying for it or not (beyond their initial consultation?) seems like splitting hairs to me. Just because O.J. was found "not guilty" doesn't mean he's innocent. Back in the day, a U.S. Senator didn't get investigated or prosecuted for these kinds of (ahem) oversights.
If closeted Republican Senators looking for a quickie in the twin cities airport lavatory doesn't qualify for sexual minority status, I don't know who will. We're supposed to be tolerant of sexual minorities, remember?
Goose. Gander.
Posted by: Chuck Butcher | Aug 27, 2007 10:45:27 PM
I don't have any problem with Craig's alleged sexual preferences, I do find his behavior "tacky" but the part that gets my "goose" is the hypocricy. The vote pandering lying hypocricy. Gander
Posted by: Peter Bray | Aug 27, 2007 11:39:22 PM
It's been an open secret that Craig is gay since at least 1983. A great place to follow the continued outing of closeted GOPers is http://www.blogactive.com/
Posted by: Peter Bray | Aug 27, 2007 11:40:43 PM
Posted by: Jerry | Aug 27, 2007 11:42:30 PM
The anti-gay laws have been on the books for a while, and they were/ are embraced by the likes of Craig, Foley, and others. I have no big problem with these people, altho I would like to know if they prefer to give or to receive.
A wet mouth is a wet mouth, where as a dry ass is another story. Being a politician who's job seems to be giving it to the public anus, I wonder if he is a giver or a taker.
"Stripped of ethical rationalizations and philosophical pretensions, a crime is anything that a group in power chooses to prohibit". Freda Adler
Posted by: miles | Aug 27, 2007 11:54:54 PM
Of course Barney Frank is one of the good guys. I only asked about him because Liberal Incarnate said: Barney Frank has not, to my knowledge, committed a crime here.
In fact, Frank did commit a crime, as recounted in a Washington Post story from 1989: Frank, one of two openly gay members of Congress, confirmed Friday that he paid Gobie for sex. . . . So Backbeat, Lestatdelc, and T.A., are you telling me that Barney Frank falsely confessed, or was prostitution legal in 1989? Perhaps you're not as good at Google as you think you are.
M.W.'s right, this shouldn't even be a crime. Probably 100 feet away, a straight guy was picking up a girl at the airport bar, hoping for sex. But two men picking one another up in the bathroom is a crime? Whatever. You can take joy in that. I find it sad that Craig grew up so repressed that this is how he expresses his sexuality.
Posted by: Peter Bray | Aug 28, 2007 12:34:57 AM
I don't actually understand how the sex act was going to occur... craig was reaching under the stall... what exactly was going to happen?? They were just going to play footsie?
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Aug 28, 2007 1:06:15 AM
Peter, you sure you want to know? Google has the answer.
Posted by: Mr. Crock | Aug 28, 2007 3:21:11 AM
Google is now able to determine sexual intent? Wow.
I knew they had glory holes at the Twin Cities airport but do you have a map of where the XXX video screens are located. It'll make my next layover something to look forward to.
I'll have to see a doc about my restless leg syndrome first: no wonder Mom kept telling me to quit tapping my foot at the dinner table. How did she know?
Posted by: Tom Civiletti | Aug 28, 2007 4:09:23 AM
Thanks for the informative link, Kari. So, I wonder, do folks go into these stalls with a cordless drill and carbide tipped bit to drill penis-size holes? Has anyone ever studied the difference in the average diameter of penis-sized holes in various parts of the world? Also, is sticking one's penis through a hole in a wall, condom clad or not, ever really "safe"?
Posted by: Bert Lowry | Aug 28, 2007 5:15:39 AM
I think it's pretty funny that every time a prominent Republican does something wrong (and that seems to be every other week), Republcians respond that a Democrat something similar 15 or 20 years ago. That's pre-school logic: two wrongs make a right.
Also, Republicans seem confused about what Larry did that was wrong. It doesn't bother me that he's gay (that's his business). It doesn't particularly bother me that he solicited sex (though I would expect more from a U.S. Senator). What bothers me is he's a hypocrit.
Posted by: Jim | Aug 28, 2007 5:35:14 AM
"THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR"S MEMBER LEST THOU FEELEST THE SHORT ARM OF THE LAW!"
Posted by: pterodactyl | Aug 28, 2007 7:00:04 AM
Larry Craig pleaded guilty to lewd conduct in an airport men's room. He said "In hindsight...". Isn't that what the problem was?
Posted by: Unrepentant Liberal | Aug 28, 2007 9:13:59 AM
Too sweet. Homophobic republicans are so gay. Let us pray. Thank you Lord for your destruction of the sinful, prideful, morally bankrupt republican party so that all of your children; red, white, brown, yellow, straight or gay can live in a country where they will be respected and valued for the content of their character. Amen.
Posted by: spudchick | Aug 28, 2007 9:21:27 AM
Many people may be outraged about this story for many reasons, but imo the hypcrisy is the primary issue. I don't care that he's gay. I do care that he's a closeted gay public servant who promotes anti-gay legislation, that he is a US congressman soliciting anonymous sex in public restrooms, and that he has almost certainly either diddled or tried to diddle minors working in the page program.
That's a long way from having an affair (straight or gay, married or single), or even a one-night stand, with someone able to consent and under private circumstances.
I certainly don't expect superior character from politicians anymore, but really... this is well below even the very modest standards of personal behavior I *have* come to expect. Whether public restroom solicitation is "OK" or not for a private citizen can be debated elsewhere. He's a freakin congressman, and worse, one who has sought to legislate what he thinks is "OK" for other people as if he had the moral authority to do so, which he would not have even if his character were beyond reproach.
And if I'm reading this correctly, he tried to intimidate the arresting officer with the fact that he's a congressman.
And he continues to avoid responsibility for his actions.
Comparing him or his situation to anyone/anything else is gratuitious. He's a sleazebag unworthy of the office he occupies.
Posted by: Stephanie V | Aug 28, 2007 9:41:17 AM
Yes! It seems so retro to point out the simple fact that he's married, but that's central. So much for the sanctity and defense of marriage, huh?
And I'd like to add my own thanks for that link, Kari. After reading it I feel very naive and sheltered.
Posted by: Grant Schott | Aug 28, 2007 1:15:37 PM
First of all. I feel bad for Craig's family and pity him for being one of many closeted gay/gay-bashing Republicans.
This isn't a total surprise. In 1983 two Congressmen were reprimanded (I'm not sure if it was a censure or what) for having sex with pages, Gerry Studds, D-MA with a male page (He was re-elected) and Dan Crane R-IL with a female page (He was defeated). Then Congressman Larry Craig promptly took the the House press gallery to assure the world that he was not involved. Trouble is, no one had accused him. It made Craig something of an inside the beltway joke... and raised eyebrows.
Posted by: Karol | Aug 28, 2007 2:06:14 PM
Well, look at it this way. At least he didn't blame a black guy.
Posted by: Jenny | Aug 28, 2007 2:06:25 PM
I definitely shouldn't have clicked that link at work. Ewww! Hopefully the corporate internet monitors didn't catch it.
Craig can like ducks, for all I care. It's the hypocrisy, baby. Just be who you are and quite telling others what to be.
Posted by: Captain Obvious | Aug 28, 2007 3:32:46 PM
> Craig can like ducks, for all I care.
Well, apparently, he is no beaver fan...
Posted by: lestatdelc | Aug 28, 2007 3:49:18 PM
I stand corrected. I knew Frank had hired Gorbie, but was not aware that he had paid him for sex.
Posted by: David English | Aug 29, 2007 11:27:22 AM
I have to wonder how this will effect Craig's re-election bid if he runs for office. If my recollection serves me right, I have a distant relative (I believe a cousin) that worked for Craig (although I have no idea if they still do because I don't talk to that side of my family).
The whole thing is strange. What makes it even more strange is the fact that he has such an anti-gay agenda.
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Posted by: jim | Aug 27, 2007 3:57:02 PM
There's got to be a police report. FOIA?