Larry Craig

Larry Craig in 2010

Larry Edwin Craig (born July 20, 1945) is an American retired politician from the state of Idaho. A Republican, he served 18 years in the United States Senate (1991–2009), preceded by 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Idaho's 1st District (1981–91). In addition to serving in Congress, Craig has been a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association since 1983.

On June 11, 2007, Craig was arrested for indecent behavior in a men's restroom at Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport; he pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct in August 2007 and paid less than $600 in court fines. The arrest remained unknown to the public until the Washington, D.C.-based newspaper Roll Call disclosed it in an article, drawing widespread public attention as well as charges of hypocrisy against Craig, as he had been an opponent of LGBT rights in the United States but was accused of homosexual activity.

Quotes

• I am not gay. I never have been gay.
  • Prepared statement August 28, 2007, on the subject of his alleged homosexuality and guilty plea of lewd sexual behavior on June 11 in a men's room in Minneapolis airport known as a gay hookup spot; MSNBC [1]

• The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughty boy. I'm going to speak out for the citizens of my state who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.
  • about President Clinton, Meet the Press, January 24, 1999 [2]

• Thank you all very much for coming out today.
  • Beginning of a prepared statement August 28, 2007, on the subject of his alleged homosexuality and guilty plea of lewd sexual behavior on June 11 in a men's room in Minneapolis airport known as a gay hookup spot [3]

• Matt, you won't believe this but I don't use the Internet. I don't have a computer at my desk. I have never used the Internet. It's just not what I do. I email with my Blackberry. No, I did not know that and I had no reason to know that.
  • answering whether he'd learned from the Internet that a men's room in Minn. airport is a hot spot for anonymous gay sex, in interview with Matt Louer; October 16, 2007; [4] [5]
  • FACT CHECK: Email constitutes use of the Internet; he has served on the Congressional Internet Caucus; he has advised in a recent op-ed to 'do a Google search on "mission creep"'; he has been a co-sponsor of a national Internet safety bill; he has received a 2007 Internet Keep Safe Award [6]

• The American family will fear less, our national security will be more assured, and we won‘t let the Venezuelas or Nigerias or the Saudi Arabias or the Irans jerk us around by the gas nozzle the way they are doing it now.
  • July 18, 2008 YouTube video

About Larry Craig

• We went to the urinals, where we both unzipped. The restroom became, uh, busy -- too busy to do anything. So we zipped up and then followed each other to the second restroom in Union Station, where we began the same process. And had a -- I also performed fellatio for a very, very short amount of time, as that restroom became busy as well. At that point, we both zipped up and left and went on our separate ways... I've always been interested in politics, and probably if you -- if you showed me pictures of the hundred senators, I could probably name, you know, 75 or 80 of them... There's no doubt in my mind that that's who it was.
  • Unnamed accuser speaking to the Idaho Statesman in regard to an interaction in 2004 in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, August 28, 2007, MSNBC.

• On social issues, and this is where you get the charges of hypocrisy, Craig has pledged his opposition to gay marriage and civil unions, he voted against allowing gays and lesbians in the military, he voted against abortion rights, and he voted guilty in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton.
  • NBC News correspondent David Shuster, August 28, 2007, MSNBC [7]

• At 1200 hours I was working a plain-clothes detail involving lewd conduct in the main men's public restroom of the Northstar Crossing of the Linburgh terminal. From my seated position, I could observe the shoes and ankles of a person seated to the right of me. An unidentified person entered to the left of me. From my seated position, I was able to see his shoes and ankles. At 1213 hours, I could see an older, white male with grey hair standing outside my stall. He was standing about three feet away and had a roller bag with him. The male was later identified by driver's license as Larry Edwin Craig. I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his position. Craig would look down at his hands, fidget with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes. I was able to see Craig's blue eyes as he looked into my stall. At 1215 hours, the male in the stall to the left of me flushed the toilet and exited the stall. Craig entered the stall and placed his roller bag against the front of the stall door. My experiences show that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall. From my position I could observe the shoes and ankles of Craig seated to the left of me. He was wearing dress pants with black dress shoes. At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times, then moved his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig, as he moved his right foot so that it touched side of my left foot, which was within my stall area. At 1217 hours, I saw Craig swipe his hand under the stall divider for a few seconds. The swipe went in the direction from the front-door side of the stall back towards the back wall. Craig swiped his hand again for a few seconds in the same motion to where I could see more of his fingers. Craig then swiped his hand in the same motion a third time for a few seconds. I could see that it was Craig's left hand, due to the position of his thumb. I could also see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger, as his hand was on my side of the stall divider. At about 1219 hours, I held my police identification in my right hand down by the floor so that Craig could see it. With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, "No." I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. Craig handed me a business card that identified himself as a United States Senator, as he stated, "What do you think about that?" I responded by setting his business card down on the table and again asking him for his driver's license. In a recorded, post-Miranda interview, Craig stated the following: He is a commuter. He went into the bathroom. He was standing outside the stalls for one to two minutes waiting for the stall. He has a wide stance when he goes to the bathroom, and that is why it may have touched mine.
  • Undercover policeman's report of June 11 offense of soliciting gay sex in Minneapolis airport men's room; 'Countdown' transcript YouTube video: 'Countdown' recreation Police interrogation audio