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Craig to Stay in Senate 'for Now'

GOP leaders react grimly as Craig prolongs the effort to retract his guilty plea

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 26, 2007 8:25 PM CDT
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(Newser) – GOP leaders listened in icy silence as Larry Craig vowed today to stay a senator while trying to change his guilty plea, the AP reports. A Minnesota judge says he will decide the matter sometime next month. "Today was a major step in the legal effort to clear my name," Craig said. But his lawyer admits that the effort to withdraw his plea is "near impossible, and it should be."

Craig's announcement will spark an ethics investigation into the senator's  infamous bathroom incident—a probe that would have been avoided otherwise. His statement also muddled the search for a replacement, which includes almost 30 prospects. "Until he receives a letter of resignation, we have no vacancy, therefore, there is no replacement," says an aide to Idaho's governor.

Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which brought the charges against Sen. Larry Craig, speaks to reporters outside the Hennepin County District Court in Edina, Minn. on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007. A judge took Sen. Larry Craig's request to withdraw his guilty plea under advisement on Wednesday,...
Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which brought the charges against Sen. Larry Craig, speaks to reporters outside the Hennepin County District Court in Edina, Minn....   (Associated Press)
Attorney Billy Martin, right, who represents Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, addresses the media following a hearing, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, in Edina, Minn., where Craig is seeking to wipe away a plea resulting from a mens' room sex sting arrest on June 11 at the Minneapolis airport. At left is...
Attorney Billy Martin, right, who represents Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, addresses the media following a hearing, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, in Edina, Minn., where Craig is seeking to wipe away a plea resulting...   (Associated Press)
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, talks to reporters as he leaves his residence at a Yacht Club in Washington, Wednesday Sept. 26, 2007. The first step in Craig's attempt to wipe away his guilty plea in an airport sex sting has nothing to do with whether an undercover policeman misunderstood Craig's...
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, talks to reporters as he leaves his residence at a Yacht Club in Washington, Wednesday Sept. 26, 2007. The first step in Craig's attempt to wipe away his guilty plea in an airport...   (Associated Press)
Hennepin County prosecutor Christopher Renz faces reporters outside the Hennepin County District Court in Edina, Minn., on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, after lawyers debated whether Sen. Larry Craig could rescind his guilty plea for a June sex sting at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. (AP Photo/Janet Hostetter)
Hennepin County prosecutor Christopher Renz faces reporters outside the Hennepin County District Court in Edina, Minn., on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2007, after lawyers debated whether Sen. Larry Craig could...   (Associated Press)
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