Larry Craig
On June 11, 2007, then Idaho Republican senator Larry Craig, U.S. Senate co-chair of Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign, and 2007 NRA Man of the Year, was arrested by an undercover police officer investigating complaints about sexual conduct in the men's restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in the latest in a long history of homosexual incidents and allegations. After pleaing guilty, Craig asserted his innocence and maintained that he is not gay. Read on below for the full story.
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According to the arresting officer, Craig looked into the officer's stall, entered the stall next to it, tapped his foot and moved his foot towards the officer's foot until it touched the officer's foot, which is a common signal for wanting to engage in anonymous sexual activity in a public restroom. Craig then put his hand under the divider to the officer's stall. When the officer flashed his badge, Craig tried to flee and was then arrested.
Craig was charged with interference with privacy (peeping), a gross misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, and plead guilty to the misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. He signed a plea petition on August 1, 2007, and paid a $575 fine. However, Craig later stated in a press conference on August 27, 2007 that "In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously." In early September, Craig's attorneys filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, arguing that it "was not knowing and intelligent and therefore was in violation of his constitutional rights." The motion was ultimately denied, upholding the initial guilty plea.
After initially announcing his intent to resign, Craig finished his term and did not run for reelection. Craig maintains that he simply has a wide stance and that he was picking up a piece of paper from the floor. The officer denies this and claims that the floor was clean. Craig also stated in press and interviews that "I am not gay, I never have been gay." He remains married to Suzanne Thompson, his wife since 1983.
However, in 1982, he was alleged to have engaged in cocaine use and sex with male teenage Congressional pages. One page, Steven Valentine, wrote a book in which he described multiple Congressmen known to be homosexual and one to have had sought out sex with male minors, and another, Leroy Williams, alleged on CBS news he had sex with three House members when he was 17. Saying he'd received calls from reporters saying they were going to publish his name in connection with the scandal, Craig denied the allegations, calling them "despicable" and blamed the "false accusations" on his being unmarried. He was the only member of Congress to make such a statement. Peter Fearon, then with the New York Post, said he never said his paper was preparing to name Craig. "No, no — it wasn't 'are you under investigation?' It was simply an inquiry: 'Have you heard anything? Who have you heard about? Have you heard any names mentioned? What's your reaction to this news?'" Williams and another page, Jeffrey Opp, later recanted, and a six-month probe exonerated all accused in December 1982.
In a five-month investigation, the Idaho Statesmen newspaper described allegations of gay sex dating to 1967. One interviewee said Craig made a sexual advance toward him at the University of Idaho in 1967 while considering pledging with Craig's fraternity at the U of I in 1967. He claims Craig took him to his room and made what the man said he took to be an invitation to sex.
Another man, who is gay, charged that Craig "cruised" a man at an REI store in Boise in 1994, stared at him in a sexually inviting way and followed him around REI for a half-hour, to which Craig said, "Once again, I'm not gay, and I don't cruise, and I don't hit on men... I've been in this business 27 years in the public eye here. I don't go around anywhere hitting on men, and by God, if I did, I wouldn't do it in Boise, Idaho! Jiminy!"
A Washington-area man reported to the Idaho Statesman that he had had sex with Craig in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station men's room in 2004, also a place known for sexual misconduct, and two blocks from Craig's office. In response, Craig said, "I am not gay and I have never been in a restroom in Union Station having sex with anybody... I don't do that kind of thing. I am not gay, and I never have been."
The Statesman's investigation followed accusations of homosexual sex by blogger Mike Rogers in October 2006, in which he cited anonymous sources, including one in Idaho and one in Seattle. The paper followed other leads, including rumors surrounding two dead men. Craig said he'd never engaged in sex with a man or solicited sex with a man, and called these charges "completely ridiculous."
There were rumors that Craig left the National Guard because he was homosexual. However, Craig was honorably discharged for a "physical disqualification," (Craig says it was flat feet), while had he been discharged for being homosexual, he would have been dishonorably discharged.
Larry Craig had made himself out to be a upstanding citizen, serving on the House Ethics Committee. He was involved in the push to more severely punish Representative Barney Frank for his involvement in a gay prostitution scandal. He also spoke out against President Bill Clinton during the Lewinski scandal, saying to Tim Russert on Meet the Press, "The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy - a naughty boy. I'm going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy."
Craig supported the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. He voted for cloture on the amendment in both 2004 and 2006, and was a cosponsor in 2008. However, in late 2006 he appeared to endorse the right of individual states to create same-sex civil unions, but said he would vote "yes" on an Idaho constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages when pressured to clarify his position by the anti-gay rights advocacy group Families for a Better Idaho. Craig voted against cloture in 2002, which would have extended the federal definition of hate crimes to cover sexual orientation. Craig voted against the measure when it came before the Senate, which passed as the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. He also opposed including gays in the military. The LGBT advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign issued guides to candidates' voting records in 2004. The Human Rights Campaign group gave him a 0 rating.
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