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Larry Craig scandal


The Larry Craig scandal was an incident that began on June 11, 2007, with the arrest of Larry Craig—who at the time was a Republican United States Senator from Idaho—for lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport. Craig later entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct on August 8.

As a result of the controversy surrounding his arrest, subsequent guilty plea, and pressure from his fellow Republicans, Craig announced his intention to resign from the Senate at a news conference on September 1, which was to become effective on September 30. After Craig's efforts to withdraw his guilty plea failed, on October 4, he released a statement refusing to resign from the Senate. Craig did not run for re-election in 2008 and the incident effectively ended his political career.

On June 11, 2007, Craig was arrested at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport on suspicion of lewd conduct. The nature of the alleged activity has been categorized by some as cottaging. According to the police report, the police officer sat in a bathroom stall as part of an undercover operation investigating complaints of sexual activity in the restroom. After about 13 minutes of sitting in the stall, the police officer observed Craig lingering outside and frequently peeking through the crack of the door on the stall. Craig then entered the stall to the left of the officer's stall. The police officer made the following observations, which he recorded in his report of the incident, as to what happened next:

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 and moves his foot closer to my foot. ... The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area. Craig then proceeded to swipe his left hand under the stall divider several times, with the palm of his hand facing upward.


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