MINNEAPOLIS – Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has resigned from Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in the wake of reports detailing his June 2007 arrest for lewd conduct in a public men's room at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.
Craig had served as Mitt Romney's co-liaison to the Senate with Senator Robert F. Bennett of Utah. A statement from the Romney camp reads: “Senator Craig has stepped down from his role with the campaign. He did not want to be a distraction, and we accept his decision.”
According to reports, plainclothes officers arrested Craig on June 11 for soliciting an undercover policeman in a toilet stall.
“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot,” Sgt. Dave Karsnia, who was sitting in an adjacent stall as a decoy, wrote in his arrest report. “I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moved his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area.”
After Craig made a clear signal of solicitation, Karsnia identified himself as a police officer and arrested Craig. After his apprehension, Craig told police he didn’t recall what had happened. He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
According to Roll Call, the police report said that at one point during the interview with authorities, Craig handed Karsnia a business card identifying him as a U.S. senator and said, "What do you think about that?"
Craig paid more than $500 in fines and fees and was given one year of probation for the offense.
“I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter,” Craig told Roll Call. “In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously.”
Sen. Craig has an ultra-conservative record, voting against gay marriage and opposing the extension of special protections for gay and lesbian crime victims.
Craig is up for re-election next year, and Democrats have predictably seized on the charges as fodder for the 2008 campaign. “[The guilty plea] has given Americans another reason not to vote Republican,” Hannah August, a Democratic Senate Campaign Committee spokeswoman, told Fox News.
