After arguments were heard in court today in Minneapolis, in which lawyers for Senator Larry Craig sought to undo his guilty plea in the airport restroom case, Mr. Craig issued a brief statement that was posted on his Senate Web site: “Today was a major step in the legal effort to clear my name. The court has not issued a ruling on my motion to withdraw my guilty plea. For now, I will continue my work in the United States Senate for Idaho.”
Mr. Craig, a longtime Republican senator from Idaho, had earlier announced that he would resign his Senate seat on Sept. 30 — just four days from now. But he also later emphasized, through aides and a bizarrely misrouted voicemail that became public, that he was only announcing his “intention” to resign. And that he wanted to fight to reverse the misdemeanor conviction.
National Republicans had exerted pressure on Mr. Craig to resign in the wake of revelations that the senator had pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge, paid a fine of $500 and was on one year’s probation. The case stemmed from a police sting at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, where an officer accused him of making overt signals for gay sex in a public men’s restroom in June. Upon disclosure of the events late last month, Mr. Craig said he had tried to keep the matter private, did not consult a lawyer and was not gay.
Gov. C. L. Otter, known as Butch, was lieutenant governor when he won the “Mr. Tight Jeans” contest at the Rockin’ Rodeo bar here in the state capital in July 1992. A few days later he was arrested, and eventually convicted, for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Now, after having gone on to serve three terms in the House of Representatives before being elected governor last year, Mr. Otter knows better than most what voters in this deeply conservative state will tolerate when it comes to the private behavior of public officials.
“As a public servant who has made mistakes in my private life, I am mindful that you don’t really know who your friends are, until you stumble,” he told reporters here this week…
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