Edited on Thu Oct-04-07 07:14 PM by L. Coyote
Despite ruling, Craig says he will finish out his term
By Elana Schor - October 05, 2007 - 30 minutes ago
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/despite-ruling-craig-says-he-will-finish-out-his-term-2007-10-05.htmlSen. Larry Craig (R) said Thursday he would finish his full term before retiring, his choice revealed hours after a Minnesota judge denied the Idahoan’s bid to withdraw his guilty plea in the bathroom sex sting that upended his career.
Craig’s determination to stay in the Senate for another year leaves GOP leaders mulling their next move. The ethics committee has asserted jurisdiction over Craig’s alleged homosexual solicitation, leaving the door open for public hearings on his conduct or any stronger measures — such as censure or expulsion — that Republicans may seek to pursue.
“As I continued to work for Idaho over the past three weeks here in the Senate, I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively,” Craig said in a statement, adding that he would push to “clear my name in the Senate Ethics Committee — something that is not possible if I am not serving in the Senate.”
In a 27-page order, Judge Charles Porter of Minnesota’s Hennepin County court rejected the argument from Craig’s legal team that not allowing him to withdraw his guilty plea would be a “manifest injustice.”
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