WASHINGTON, DC — Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, has reported that United States Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men's public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig's arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a "he said/he said misunderstanding," and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, "What do you think about that?" the report states.
Craig was detained for approximately 45 minutes, interviewed, photographed, fingerprinted and released, and police prepared a formal complaint for interference with privacy and disorderly conduct.
Craig is up for reelection in 2008. Bruce Otter is the newly elected Republican governor in Idaho.
Senator Craig had been outted by gay activist and University of Buffalo alumnus Michael Rogers in October of 2006 on his web site blogactive.com and on the nationally syndicated radio talk show hosted by Ed Schultz.
Rogers stated that he had done extensive research into the rumors involving Senator Craig, including trips to the Pacific Northwest to meet with men who have say they have physical relations with the Senator. Rogers also met with a man in Washington, D.C., who cited incidents occurring in the Union Station men's restroom.
Craig's office publicly denied those allegations and denied that he was a homosexual. Craig's office told the Spokane Spokesman-Review that the charge was "completely ridiculous," saying that the allegations had "no basis in fact."
In 1982 Craig had denied his involvement in a Congressional sex and drug scandal.
