A Minneapolis police officer has accused Senator Larry Craig of lying in an interview after his arrest.
Posted on 08/30/2007 6:37:17 PM PDT by Stoat
Thursday, August 30th 2007, 7:57 PM
A Minneapolis police officer has accused Senator Larry Craig of lying in an interview after his arrest.
WASHINGTON - The officer who arrested Sen. Larry Craig in a police undercover operation at an airport men's room accused the senator of lying to him during an interrogation afterward, according to an audiotape of the arrest.
On the tape, released Thursday by the Minneapolis Airport Police, the Idaho Republican senator, in turn, accuses the officer of soliciting him for sex.
"I'm not gay. I don't do these kinds of things," Craig told Sgt. Dave Karsnia minutes after the two men met in a men's room at the airport on June 11.
"You shouldn't be out to entrap people," Craig told the officer. "I don't want you to take me to jail."
Karsnia replied that Craig wouldn't be going to jail as long as he cooperates.
At one point during the interrogation, the officer told Craig: "You're not being truthful with me. I'm kind of disappointed in you, senator."
Meanwhile, more of Craig's Republican colleagues moved away from him Thursday in the wake of his guilty plea earlier this month to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct in the undercover police operation aimed at sex solicitors.
Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who chairs the GOP's senatorial campaign committee, stopped short of calling on Craig to resign, but suggested strongly that he should.
"I wouldn't put myself hopefully in that kind of position, but if I was in a position like that, that's what I would do," Ensign told The Associated Press in his home state. "He's going to have to answer that for himself."
Sens. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, each turned over to charity $2,500 campaign donations they had received from Craig's political action committee. Coleman and Collins both face potentially tough faces for re-election next year.
Coleman and several other Republicans - including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. - have called for Craig to resign his seat in the Senate. Craig already has agreed to a request by Republican leaders to give up his ranking status on the Veterans Affairs Committee and appropriations subcommittees.
Craig said Tuesday he had committed no wrongdoing and shouldn't have pleaded guilty. He said he had only recently retained a lawyer to advise him in the case, which threatens to write an ignominious end to a lifetime in public office.
GOP Senate leaders said they did not act lightly in asking Craig to give up his leadership posts temporarily. But they said their decision was "in the best interest of the Senate until this situation is resolved by the ethics committee."
On the tape, Craig and the arresting officer can be heard arguing over what happened in the men's room minutes earlier. Craig acknowledges that the men's feet bumped, but says nothing improper happened.
"Did we bump? Yes, I think we did. You said so. I don't disagree with that," Craig said.
But Craig disputes the officer's account that he swept his hand under the stall next to him in an apparent effort to advance the encounter. They even disagree whether Craig used his right hand or his left hand.
Craig said he was merely trying to pick up a piece of paper - an account the officer disputes.
"I'm telling you that I could see, so I know that's your left hand. Also I could see a gold ring on this finger, so that's obvious it was the left hand," Karsnia tells Craig.
"Well we can dispute that," Craig says. "I'm not going to fight you in court. I reached down with my right hand to pick up the paper."
Meanwhile, Idaho Republican Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter told CNN that Craig's loss of his committee leadership posts was "problematic," adding: "I'm sure Larry and his family are going to take those things into consideration as they go forward with their decisions."
Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, said that "like most Idahoans, I was shocked by the allegations against Larry and by his guilty plea. However, I tend to judge people by the totality of their career and Senator Craig has been a dedicated public servant who has been an asset for Idaho for almost 30 years. At this time, I will not pass judgment on this matter."
Don't these idiots ever read what they have written before they hit the good ol' 'send button'?!? Though many are trying, spell checkers still can't quite nail down the context of words. This leaves us with the terrible inconvenience of actually having to read what we have written.
As someone who works in an office environment everyday, and reads many emails, I can tell you right now that very few people do it...
Agreed. It's very depressing to someone like myself (and apparently, from your post, you as well) who cares about the written word and strives for at least a passing glance in the direction of good, traditional grammar. I can usually find several obvious grammatical errors on every page of most newspapers.
guess what, I haven’t posted a word since this story broke,not even a letter..................but my gut says this man ain’t gay...........just me granted,but something tells me.............
If you are an undercover cop, do you think bathroom duty at the airport is a prime assignment?
Or did you really p**s someone off to get that assignment...:^)
Well,I am a nice person.
And frankly, I think the Senator is being destroyed by reppublicans. Why don’t we let the dems do this kind of thing and alienate their constituency.
Me too. I listened to the tape and he sounded very tired and old and not like a guilty man. The cop was full of himself acting like he had just watched LA law or something.
“Does that even matter to you????”
What matters is the Lacross players were smart enough to get lawyers.
And justice prevailed for them and thats a good thing.
What can one say about an educated Senator who thought he could sweep it under the rug. Only to take it back when it became public. We can debate this forever. The fact is he will not be a U.S. Senator much longer. If he chooses to re-open the case and take back his pleas agreement and go to trial and win.
Good for him. He can then re-enter the race for his former seat and let the folks in Idaho decide his fate.
history,,,,,,,,,,,sorry but a gay man has a history.
there is no history here except Barney Frank saying don’t go..................Shane.......don’t go
“We agree it is an important issue.”
I believe it is the MOST IMPORTANT.
Without National Security, we have nothing.
It may seem hard to keep up with the facts, but he's already had his trial and yes he has been convicted. He has already admitted his guilt in court. There is no need to consider him not guilty. He has already said he is guilty -- it's a done deal. He has not allegedly been convicted. Though it is not a sex charge like the MSM would like you to believe. He has actually been convicted of disorderly conduct. What with the repetitive peeking through the crack in the door, the foot bumping and the hands under the stall, even he had to agree his behavior was disorderly and would have disturbed a regular person. That is why he knew he could not fight it, so he plead guilty.
The reason this case is like few others is that usually you have to wait for the court date. But in this case the court date has already come and gone.
He admitted his guilt in court but he doesn't like the consequences. So now he's trying to do anything he can to get out of it which just makes everything worse.
I, at least, would want a defense attorney who has proficiency in the language. (You’ll have to back to orginal post to get the meaning.)
Glad to hear about Crapo. ....and thanks for the clarification.
It doesn't pass the 'expected behaviors of an innocent and wrongly-accused man' test, either.
LOL
“...the next time some homosexual activists knock at your door...”
Man, and I thought the Jehovah’s Witnesses around here were bad...
Those of us who determine guilt based on court documents and the defendant's admissions of guilt should be proud of our adherence to the truth and what is right and good.
Man, and I thought the Jehovah’s Witnesses around here were bad...
I haven't had any JW's come 'round in a long time. Perhaps they have given up on Seattle? If so, I can't say that I blame them.....it's pretty much a lost cause here.
I remember them as being very courteous, friendly and gracious, unlike the typical homosexual activists who instantly insinuate that if you don't support their cause, you're a 'homophobe'.
Don’t tar those poor lacrosse boys who stood by the truth when everyone else went after them with this lame fools actions.
If he were innocent he would have plead innocent. He’s not some poor powerless vagabond. He is a US Senator. He pulled his card out like a get out of jail free card. Whadaya think about that?
He wasn’t Nifonged, he Nifonged himself.
I am not defending this guy, haven’t had time to listen to all the news reports today.
But I do have a question for all the media and freepers about something.
Anybody heard anymore, saw any news reports, about the Democrats caught up in that D.C. madam story that made major headlines several weeks ago?
You know, the one that made headlines after a Republican was affiliated with her?
That's the best piece of analysis on this thread. (unless he really is a sniveling queer)
There’s a Kingdom Hall one street over from me.
If there’s a homosexual equivalent it must not be within walking/swishing distance...
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