Sen. Craig seeks to withdraw guilty plea

[maseman]

Source: MSNBC/AP

WASHINGTON - Sen. Larry Craig will file court documents Monday asking to withdraw his guilty plea in a sex sting that seems likely to end his career, his attorney said.

Craig, an Idaho Republican, pleaded guilty in August to disorderly conduct following a sting operation in a men’s bathroom at the Minneapolis airport.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17152243/

---

Good luck there spanky.

[xxqqqzme]

1. first I've read it was a 'sting' operation

One cop assigned to vice duty, sitting in a toilet stall in an airport - doesn't sound like much of a 'sting' operation to me.

[maseman]

4. By the way

There's actually nothing wrong with a "sting" operation. What does Mr. Craig think an undercover police car hiding behind a bridge or embankment is? They are hiding and waiting for someone to break the law (speeding.) Once someone breaks the law they get pulled over and ticked.

Nothing different for an undercover policemen to sit in a john and wait for someone to solicit him. If it is a known problem for the Minn. airport then it is legit.

Police do "sting" operations all the time. Remember Marion Berry?

[yardwork]

7. I wonder what Senator Craig's position is on waterboarding?

Apparently, the senator's story is that he was so panicked by his home state's paper's speculation on his orientation, he just freaked out and pled guilty for something he didn't do.

If Senator Craig can be panicked into pleading guilty to something he didn't do by newspaper articles, I wonder what he thinks about people confessing to crimes while they're being waterboarded or otherwise tortured? I wonder what his record is on that? (Never mind. I know what his record is on waterboarding - he's never seen a form of torture he didn't approve, as long as it's being done to someone else.)

What a jerk.

[BadgerKid]

9. Very insightful.

Makes for a nice letter to the editor IMO.

[MarkInLA]

11. and what a great job...

...Sitting on a toilet all day waiting for someone to proposition you for sex. I like sex, but I think I'd pass on that career opportunity.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

12. sounds like a canidate for "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel

http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/dirtyjobs.html

[maseman]

13. Imagine all the regular toilet sitters

parading in and out of the bathroom before you get the guy wanting a BJ? Ugggg. What a stinky job.

[Tab]

14. I like sex too

but sex in toilet stalls?

I'll pass.

[trusty elf]

15. more like a "stink" operation

:eyes:

[Ian David]

2. Sen. Larry Craig: The Gift That Just Keeps on Giving. Thank you, Wide Stance Larry! n/t

[SharonAnn]

44. Stick a fork in him. He's done. He's old news now. Tell him "it's over".

[flyarm]

3. does anyone think he can succeed??

any lawyers here think he can succeed at this??

thanks..fly

[djg21]

43. Low probability,

Craig pled guilty. Both public policy and the law support the finality of judgments.

That being said, it can only benefit the Dems if Craig attempts and perhaps succeeds in withdrawing his plea. Nothing Craig says or does can put the cat back into the bag, and Craig alway will be remembered as just one more morally backrupt, hypocritical member of the GOP who expects and demands special treatment do to his station in life.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. Damn right, Larry! Fight this to the bitter end! You can win this!

.............. and take the whole stupid GOP down with you.

[fed-up]

6. DIVERSION, Diversion, diversion Keep your eye on the ball (war) nt

[yardwork]

8. It wraps back around to the war. See my post #7 upthread.

[kestrel91316]

10. Loser. LOOOOOOOSER.

[MaineDem]

16. All the legal expert talking heads have said

He has no legal justification for withdrawing the guilty plea.

He has stated under oath that he WAS NOT INNOCENT. Sounds pretty cut and dried to me.

[The Stranger]

17. This needs to be all over the mainstream corporate media and the Congress needs to hold hearings.

This is too good to be true.

[Ken Burch]

18. Let me be the first to proclaim it....it's WIDESTANCEGATE!

(And there'll be a confidential source named Deep Plunger.)

And there'll be the book: "All The President's Men's Rooms".

[Mrs. Overall]

19. Craig says pressure from journalists led him to plead guilty

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Larry Craig should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea in a sex sting because he was under extreme stress after being hounded by journalists asking questions about his sexuality, his lawyer argues.

Craig, an Idaho Republican, pleaded guilty in August to disorderly conduct following a sting operation in a men's bathroom at the Minneapolis airport. His lawyer, William Martin, said he will file court documents Monday trying to undo that decision so Craig can fight the charge.

Martin said Monday that Craig did not "knowingly and intelligently enter a guilty plea." The senator simply admitted conduct that "itself does not constitute a crime," Martin said.

"He admits to going into the bathroom, he admits to moving his foot, he admits to reaching his hand down," Martin said on NBC's "Today" show. "That's not a crime." In particular, Martin cited pressure from Craig's hometown newspaper, the Idaho Statesman, which spent months investigating whether Craig engaged in homosexual encounters.



Read more: http://www.komotv.com/news/9689192.html

[shaniqua6392]

20. If he is so stupid that he plead guilty

to something he did not do, and I find that is a stretch, he is too stupid to be a Senator.

[Kikosexy2]

34. Oh Sen. Craig...

shut the f*ck up now and accept the fact that you love dick!! When it all blows over (no pun intended)...believe me, you'll be back at those airport restrooms toe-tapping to show tunes, and telling the guy in the next stall...hey dude, are my feet big enough? wanna see what else is big? Come over to my stall and find out...

[truthisfreedom]

21. Way to keep this in the news, Craig!

Let me know where to send money for your defense fund! Another constant reminder of rEpublican Family Values!

[zonkers]

30. Tormented. stupid, selfish, obliviouis, irrelevant. Hop off big guy, you're done.

What a clown.

[no_hypocrisy]

22. Well, that exculpates Sean Hannity, doesn't it?

[Tempest]

23. Craig is lying on court documents

I can't wait for the Statesman's reporter to take the stand and contradict Craig in court.

[bullimiami]

24. his lies are ridiculous. like a 5 year old.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

25. No matter how much pressure I received from journalists...

...I'd never plead guilty to soliciting an undercover cop for sex in an airport men's room unless I actually solicited an undercover cop for sex in an airport men's room and got caught red-handed. Like Senator Craig.

:silly:

[azurnoir]

26. Considering that I live in the Twin Cities

and his arrest was not publicly announced locally until after his guilty plea, I would like to know just what journalists were "hounding" him. Or Mr Craig why don't you "get saved" instead, it'll score you more points with your base and they might even believe you.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

29. That would appear to be the salient point.

"...his arrest was not publicly announced locally until after his guilty plea..."

[LiberalFighter]

31. Larry Craig is so confused! All that stress is probably from his wife.

Did his attorney file the withdrawal plea? If so, could he be prosecuted for filing false statements too?

[frylock]

27. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Craig is entitled to his day in court.

HE HAD HIS FUCKING DAY IN COURT, YOU DAMNED IDIOT!!!

[LiberalFighter]

32. Specter is senile.. probably has alzheimers

Someone should explain in short sentences to Specter that Craig chose not to go to court by pleading guilty.

The court didn't prevent Craig from having his day in court.

The prosecutor didn't prevent Craig from having his day in court.

The cop didn't prevent Craig from having his day in court.

Craig agreed to the guilty plea to AVOID having his day in court. With the hope it wouldn't become public.

[rocktivity]

28. This is the lawyer who got Michael Vick off the hook!

The problem is, he's not saying anything that Craig hasn't. Batting a thousand, isn't he?

:eyes:
rocknation

[Drum]

33. Let's keep our eye on the prize.

This Craig story is a trifle when held up next to the bigger issues of Iraq and Afghanistan and the worldwide tracks America is making. Let's keep our big voices available for the big stories....

[budibudinski]

35. Average citizens have 'served time' with greater alibis than this one..

ummm..The Journalists Made Me Do It...????

loser.

[Bitwit1234]

36. Since the republican MSM doesn't print or supply anything

negative about republicans has anybody anywhere ever heard anything about Craig being gay. I surf the net, and stop on CNN enough to have heard something if it was true.

[Seabiscuit]

37. IOW: "I was so stressed out I had to run into a bathroom stall and play footsy with a stranger."

[leQ]

38. mr. craig, you're a dirty old man who likes to get his jollys in men's restrooms at airports.

enough said.

[Dark]

39. Begin the countdown to "I'm an alcoholic and it was the alcohol, not me, doing it" excuse ...

eom

[central scrutinizer]

40. What's the next ploy? Blame Clinton?

Sorry, Senator, but the victim mantle just doesn't fit.

[allisonthegreat]

42. i wouldn't be surprised...

craig screwed himself, so let the pants fall where they may...

[pink-o]

48. Don't forget, he has to go back to Jesus in there somewhere!

...C'mon people--don't drum him outta the Senate so quickly. I love the fact that just his presence is enough to make the Repugs squirm and cringe.

[PianoBlack]

41. If I remember correctly

When it first happened he said he plead guilty because he wanted to keep it quiet. He said NOTHING about being pressured by journalists. How ridiculous is this? He should just stick to one lie instead of lying over and over again.

[guitar man]

45. hahaha

This guy is just the gift that keeps on giving :thumbsup:

[Az_lefty]

46. I hope he drags this out for the next year...

the GOP deserves this guy and the sheeple need a constant reminder of the Grand Old Pervert party.

[libodem]

47. I hope he raises enough of a fuss

that they take away the lesser charge and and charge him with the lewd conduct. He is a bad, naughty, even a nasty boy. Shame on him for not embracing his true sexual orientation and condemning others for being authentic and truthful. This just depresses me. The guy is a crappy Senator anyway. He has answered my letters but never in a way that has taken my side. He has never represented me. I would be proud to have him be honest and get the hell out of that dark, dingy closet. What a sad, confused, self-loathing, dim wit, loser.

[JBoy]

49. He hasn't got a prayer

And he knows it. His bet is that he won't be allowed to recant his guilt plea, and then he'll be able whine about getting stuck on a technicality, and he can forever pretend to himself that he's not something he really is.

Either way you slice it, he's unsuitable for office. He's either a lying hypocrite or he has a complete lack of judgment.