Craig's Plea Withdrawal Denied

A judge ruled the senator could not withdraw his admission

(NEWSER) - Despite a Minnesota judge's ruling that he can't withdraw his guilty plea in the bathroom sex sting last spring, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig announced this afternoon that he would not, after all, resign his Senate seat. Craig said he had concluded, in the three weeks he's been back on the job since the story broke, that it's still "possible for me to work here effectively." He vowed to stay through the end of his term next year, the Washington Post reports. More»

Strategy could delay resignation and stave off ethics probe

(NEWSER) - Toe-tapping Senator Larry Craig will file a motion today to retract his guilty plea to charges linked to allegedly soliciting sex in a public men's room. Minnesota law allows convicts to recant pleas if they can prove they were not intelligently made, but such strategies rarely succeed. The legal proceedings could delay Craig's scheduled Sept. 30 retirement and stave off an investigation by the Senate ethics committee. More»

Pled guilty in return for suspended jail term

(NEWSER) - Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig was arrested after allegedly soliciting sex from a male plainclothes police officer in a men's room at Minneapolis airport June 11. The incident is spelled out in graphic detail in Roll Call, which obtained the arrest report. August 8th, Craig appeared in the Hennepin County District Court and pled guilty to disorderly conduct . More»

Lovechildren, gay affairs, and hookers, oh my!

(NEWSER) - From Eliot Spitzer’s $80,000 worth of prostitute action to Mark Sanford “hiking the Appalachian trail,” this decade has been ripe with political sex scandals. The Frisky picks the juiciest. Some of the slightly-lesser-discussed affairs:

• Mike Duvall: A self-described “family values warrior” in the California State Assembly spilled about his mistress—while miked—meaning that a whole bunch of politicians got to hear about his propensity for “spanking her.”

Ill. senator hopes to box in white Dems for 2010 campaign

(NEWSER) - Roland Burris doesn’t have much support in Washington or money in his war chest for a reelection bid, but he retains one reliable weapon, Politico reports: the race card. As controversy over his appointment has reemerged, Burris hasn’t hesitated to chalk it up to racial politics. A Burris consultant says “race has something to do with” the Illinois senator’s chilly reception in DC. More»