Sen. Craig vows to remain in office for term

Craig says he is innocent
Craig, in his separate statement, said he was disappointed in the ruling. “I am innocent of the charges against me,” he said.

Craig, a conservative with close ties to gun rights groups, said that during five terms in the House and three in the Senate, “I have accumulated seniority and important committee assignments that are valuable to Idaho.”

He did not mention that at the request of his party’s leaders, he relinquished the GOP leadership posts on his current committees.

Minnesota law allows a plea to be withdrawn if a “manifest injustice” occurs.

“It is not a manifest injustice to force the defendant to be bound by his plea bargain and the waivers and admissions which he made in conjunction with the execution of that bargain,” Porter wrote.

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Craig’s closest ally in the Senate, said Craig “has the right to pursue his legal options as does any citizen, and I support his effort. I look forward to serving with him as we continue to work on issues important to Idaho.”

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who had encouraged Craig to try to overturn his plea, told reporters Thursday that his colleague had the right to stay in office. “Disorderly conduct is not moral turpitude,” Specter said, “and is not a basis for leaving the Senate.”

Details of bathroom arrest
The official police complaint on Craig’s case said Karsnia went into a stall shortly after noon and closed the door. Minutes later, the officer said, he saw Craig gazing into his stall through the crack between the door and the frame.

After a man in the adjacent stall left, Craig entered it and put his roller bag against the front of the stall door, “which Sgt. Karsnia’s experience has indicated is used to attempt to conceal sexual conduct by blocking the view from the front of the stall,” said the complaint.

The complaint said Craig then tapped his right foot several times and moved it closer to Karsnia’s stall and then moved it to where it touched Karsnia’s foot. Karsnia recognized that “as a signal often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct,” the complaint said.

Craig then passed his left hand under the stall divider into Karsnia’s stall with his palm up and guided it along the divider toward the front of the stall three times, the complaint said.

The officer then showed his police identification under the divider and pointed toward the exit “at which time the defendant exclaimed, ‘No!”’ the complaint said.

The police report says Craig handed the arresting officer a business card that identified him as a member of the Senate. “What do you think about that?” Craig said, according to the report.

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