McChurch - US Senator Fined for Tapping Foot...2003 Received Christian Coalition 100% Voting Record

Sexuality

In 1982, (Sen.) Craig (R-Idaho) went on network news to deny rumors involving cocaine and sex with male congressional pages.^[19]

In October 2006, gay activist blogger Mike Rogers published allegations on his blog that Craig was homosexual; Craig called the allegation "completely ridiculous".^[20]

In an interview on May 14, 2007, with the Idaho Statesman newspaper, Craig responded to several allegations, including one by a Boise man who professed he essentially had been flirted with by Craig in 1994.

The man, who is gay, told the Statesman that Craig stared at him in a sexually inviting way and followed him around [the] REI [in Boise] for a half-hour. Said Craig: "Once again, I'm not gay, and I don't cruise, and I don't hit on men. I have no idea how he drew that conclusion. A smile? Here is one thing I do out in public: I make eye contact, I smile at people, they recognize me, they say, ‘Oh, hi, Senator.' Or, ‘Do I know you?'
"I've been in this business 27 years in the public eye here. I don't go around anywhere hitting on men, and by God, if I did, I wouldn't do it in Boise, Idaho! Jiminy!"^[21]

Arrest and conviction

On June 11, 2007, Senator Craig was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on suspicion of lewd conduct. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct on August 8, 2007, in a Hennepin County, Minnesota court. He paid a $1000 fine and $575 in fees and was given one year of unsupervised probation. A 10-day jail sentence was stayed.^[22] According to Roll Call, the arresting officer sat in a bathroom stall as part of an undercover operation investigating previous reports of sexual activity in the bathroom. After about 13 minutes of sitting in the stall, he observed Craig linger outside and frequently peak through the stall's door crack at him. Craig then entered the stall next to his. The officer filed the following 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 hand under the stall divider several times.

Craig stated "that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine," the arrest report states. Craig also told the arresting officer that he reached down with his right hand to pick up a piece of paper that was on the floor. "It should be noted that there was not a piece of paper on the bathroom floor, nor did Craig pick up a piece of paper," the arresting officer said in the report.

According to the police report, at one point Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, "What do you think about that?"^[23]

In a press release on his website, Craig said that the officer misconstrued his actions, that he was not involved in any inappropriate conduct, and had failed to seek legal counsel: "In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."^[24]