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US Senator Denies Lewd Conduct Charges

by Brian A Kennedy | August 28, 2007 at 05:39 am

563 views | 5 Recommendations | 3 comments

UPDATE: I LOVE local TV news! Here's one station's re-enactment of the incident...

US Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) is denying any "inappropriate conduct" after he was arrested in June in a Minneapolis-St. Paul restroom by plainclothes police. The incident was first reported in the paper Roll Call, and is now being blogged about like mad.

The Smoking Gun has the police report. After reading it, I'm actually sympatheic to Sen. Craig -- all he seems to have done was make some cryptic hand gestures that could or could not be associated with a sexual come-on. I love a good political sex scandal as much as the next person, but give me a break here.

Citing court documents, Roll Call said Craig, 62, pleaded guilty this month to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and paid more than 500 dollars in fines and fees, and had a 10-day jail sentence stayed.

Shortly after news of the incident broke on the paper's website, Craig, who represents the western state of Idaho, issued a statement saying he had erred by admitting wrongdoing.

"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct," said Craig, who is married, and up for reelection in 2008.

"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."

The report quoted a plain clothes police officer as saying Craig was seated in a stall in the bathroom, and had made gestures consistent with someone "wishing to engage in lewd contact."

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gmony714

at 06:20 on August 28th, 2007

Brian this guy is a Republican if he was a Democrat he would be recieving an award for bravery in the line of duty. he is toast, only Dems can turn this episode into a glorious political career see Barney Frank.

angryindian

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:43 on August 28th, 2007

Here's a kicker Brian, his GOP pal Bob Allen was caught doing the very same thing but defended himself this way:

---------------------------------------------------------

From Sailerfraud:

Last
month, Bob Allen was arrested on prostitution charges for offering to
perform oral sex for $20 on an undercover male police officer in a
public restroom. Does he take responsibility for his actions? No way. He does the popular theme the right-wingers are notorious for: Blame it on the black man.

State Rep. Allen explains sex case: Fear made me play along

"This was a pretty stocky black guy, and there was nothing but other
black guys around in the park," Allen, who is white, told police in a
taped statement after his arrest. Allen said he feared he "was about to
be a statistic" and would have said anything just to get away.

-Bob Allen's defense statement

So
Bob Allen was in a public park at night and he was afraid of being
mugged by stocky black guys. If he was so afraid, then why didn't he
just run away? Instead, he goes to the public restroom in the park and
solicits oral sex from a man. And since he knew the area, why was he
going to the park in the middle of the night in the first place?

Lies. Excuses. Stupidity. The right-wing way.

Oh, good find by the way!