Thursday, August 30, 2007
Some want him to give up leadership positions; others want him to leave the Senate.
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON — A growing chorus of congressional voices called Wednesday for Sen. Larry Craig’s resignation, as Senate Republican leaders asked him to step down from his committee leadership positions pending the outcome of an ethics investigation.
Two of the Idaho Republican’s Senate colleagues, John McCain of Arizona and Norm Coleman of Minnesota, called on Craig to resign, saying his guilty plea to charges he solicited sex from an undercover police officer makes him unfit to serve as a U.S. senator.
“I think he should resign. ... My opinion is that when you plead guilty to a crime then you shouldn’t serve,” McCain told CNN. “And that is not a moral stand. That is not a holier-than-thou. It is just a factual situation.”
McCain was echoed by Coleman, who called Craig’s arrest and guilty plea “conduct unbecoming a senator.”
White House responds
And in the most stinging rebuke of Craig’s actions since news broke Monday about his conviction for lewd behavior in a Minneapolis airport bathroom, a Bush administration spokesman said the White House was “disappointed” in the senator’s behavior.
“It’s been referred to the Senate Ethics Committee, so they will have to address it,” White House spokesman Alex Conant said. “We hope that it will be resolved quickly because that will be in the best interest of the Senate and the people of Idaho.”
Republicans have increasingly distanced themselves from the Idaho senator since the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported Monday that Craig had pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges in connection with the undercover investigation into lewd conduct at the restroom.
Many said they are bothered by how Craig kept the matter secret for so long, without telling friends, family or Senate leaders. Craig handled his plea negotiations over the phone or by mail, and never appeared in person in court on the misdemeanor charge.
Republicans began to turn on Craig as early as Monday, when Mitt Romney dropped him as the Senate co-chair of his presidential campaign. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, said Craig “disappointed the American people.”
Matters got worse Tuesday when Senate leaders called for an ethics investigation into Craig’s actions, just as he was about to begin a news conference in Idaho. The news struck a blow to Craig’s claims during his press conference that he hadn’t done anything inappropriate in the airport restroom and that he was the subject of a “witch hunt” by the Idaho Statesman newspaper.
On Wednesday, Craig was asked to give up his leadership spots on four Senate committees. McCain, Coleman and Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., called on him to resign from the Senate, as did the leaders of conservative political movements both inside and outside Idaho.