Washington – Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s political support eroded by the hour Wednesday as fellow Republicans in Congress called for him to resign and party leaders pushed him unceremoniously from senior committee posts.
The White House expressed disappointment and no support for the 62-year-old lawmaker, who pleaded guilty this month to a charge stemming from an undercover police operation in an airport men’s room.
Craig’s “conduct throughout this matter has been inappropriate for a United States senator,” said Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the first in a lengthening list of GOP members of Congress to urge a resignation.
The senator’s spokesman, Sidney Smith, declined to comment except to say. “They have a right to express themselves.” He said he had heard no discussion of a possible resignation.
Craig said Tuesday that he had committed no wrongdoing and shouldn’t have pleaded guilty.
Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Norm Coleman of Minnesota joined Hoekstra in urging Craig to step down, as did Rep. Jeff Miller of Florida.
GOP Senate leaders issued a statement that said Craig had “agreed to comply with leadership’s request” to temporarily give up his posts on important committees. He has been the top Republican on the Veterans Affairs Committee as well as on subcommittees for two other panels.
“This is not a decision we take lightly, but we believe this is in the best interest of the Senate until this situation is resolved by the ethics committee,” said the statement, issued in the name of Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the party leader, and others.
For the most part, Democrats avoided involvement.
“We at least ought to hear his side of the story,” said Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, who spoke on CNN.
Craig’s “I’m not gay” declaration met with disdain from gay activists, many of whom knew for nearly a year of allegations that he had solicited sex from men in public bathrooms. They view his case as a prime example of hypocrisy – a man they say furtively engaged in same-sex liaisons while consistently opposing gay- rights measures as a politician.
“He may very well not think of himself as being gay, and these are just urges that he has,” said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “It’s the tragedy of homophobia. People create these walls that separate themselves from who they really are.”
Mike Rogers, an Internet-based activist who had a hand in outing several Republican politicians, went public last October with allegations that Craig engaged in sexual encounters with at least three men, including one who said he had sex with Craig twice at Washington’s Union Station.
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., one of two openly gay members of Congress, chided Craig for hypocrisy but said there was no need for him to resign now.
