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."
Actually, I'm mainly seeing people who are proud of their Republican Party, and who want it to be even better, wanting him to leave.
I haven't heard anyone advocating prison time without due process.
“Resignation might please a few, but cowardice will please no one”
What a brillant idea. Let the democrats and MSM pound the GOP up to the 08 election. Mark Floey Redux.
The most sickening thing about this whole scandal is that even the RATS admit that if this perv was a fellow RAT, they’d be defending his “right” to troll bathrooms for homo sex. The RATS will always beat the ‘pubs in this area, simply because the RATS have no sense of shame.
Look, we all know a democrat would be applauded for coming out of the closet.
BUT, here in Idaho, we wrote his sorry butt off when he supported shamnesty. If this is what it takes to get rid of him, great. Amnesty will have 1 less vote.
I wonder if he has actually been compromised before? If there was ever any extortion against him from someone in the know.This is why people with shady and/or risky backgrounds should not be in positions of power.
BTW, how can you have a “wide stance” with your drawers around your ankles? Has anyone here actually come close to putting his foot under an adjacent stall? It is near impossible, particularly in an airport john. How wide are the stalls where he got busted? I’ve never been in one where I could touch my knees to the walls, so how do you get your feet over there when you are hobbled?
You defense attorney? No wonder it is broken.
I have heard that many times. Until you are wrongly accused you will unthinkingly say that. I have seen people like you change in a heartbeat when it happens to them.
I understand your frustration about the apparent lack of evenhandedness regarding this, but that's one of the things that makes Republicans better than Democrats. We eliminate our perverts as fast as possible, the Rats rally round theirs. We should be glad that the media is an unwitting accomplice in showing the American public that there usually is a difference when you go to the polls, even if you generally don't know a thing about the particular candidates.
When the Republicans cease to care about who wears the name, then this 'Good Housekeeping' seal's value will have been lost.
Exactly!
His video response the other day reminded me of when I watched Clinton on tv do the same thing.
That is absolutely false.
Tapping toes is not "performing a sex act".
A good question. And one that I have not heard the answer to.
Set up and blackmail is not beyond the realm of possibility although it does stretch the credibility quite a bit.
I feel sorry for the guy.
&&
I don’t. But I feel sorry for his wife and his family.
“He’s guilty cause the cop said so and we all know cops are never wrong.”
He’s guilty because he chose not to hire an attorney and fight this.
His trouble originates from his guilty plea.
Why are those guys crapping with their pants on?
“This man is being tried and convicted and sentenced on this thread”
No we are not. Larry Craig plead guilty.
He did not plea guilty to lewdness.
In fact, he denies it over and over again if you read/hear the transcript.
“BUT, here in Idaho, we wrote his sorry butt off when he supported shamnesty. If this is what it takes to get rid of him, great. Amnesty will have 1 less vote.”
Right on target.
Posters here who support Craig don’t get it.
He’s finished period. He will soon be a memory. The GOP governor in Idaho will appoint a new GOP Senator and life will go on...with one less Senate Vote for Amnesty. That’s a good thing.
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