Boise, Idaho – A defiant Sen. Larry Craig denied any wrongdoing Tuesday despite his guilty plea this summer in a men’s room police sting, emphatically adding, “I am not gay. I have never been gay.”
Craig, a third-term senator from Idaho, proclaimed his innocence as well as his sexuality less than an hour after Senate leaders from his Republican Party called for an ethics committee review of his case.
Issued in the names of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the party leader, and several others, the statement said they were examining “other aspects of the case to determine if additional action is required.”
Craig, with his wife, Suzanne, at his side, took no questions in a brief appearance in the capital city of the state he has represented in Congress for more than two decades in the House and then the Senate.
He had “overreacted and made a poor decision” when he was apprehended by an undercover police officer in a men’s room at the Minneapolis airport and later pleaded guilty.
“While I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct in the Minneapolis airport or anywhere else, I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in hopes of making it go away.”
His account contrasted sharply with the complaint in the case, in which an undercover officer said that Craig, while occupying a stall in the men’s room, engaged in actions “often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct.”
Craig, up for re-election next year, said he would announce his plans next month. If anything, he sounded like a man inclined to seek six more years in the Senate.
“Over the years, I have accomplished a lot for Idaho, and I hope Idahoans will allow me to continue to do that,” he said.
Still, there already was speculation about a successor in the reliably Republican state. The Club for Growth, an anti-tax organization, issued a statement critical of Rep. Mike Simpson, whose name has been mentioned as a potential replacement candidate.
Regardless of Craig’s plans, it was clear his political standing had suffered.
On Monday, he resigned from a prominent role with Republican Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, and the GOP White House hopeful was critical in an interview.
“He’s disappointed the American people,” Romney said on CNBC’s “Kudlow & Company.”
Craig, 62, has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he had engaged in gay sex have never been substantiated.
