WASHINGTON (AP) - A guilty plea to a misdemeanor? The Senate's code of conduct is silent.
Handing an arresting officer your Senate business card? Nothing there.
Asked to investigate Sen. Larry Craig's conduct in an airport men's room and the aftermath, the Senate's ethics committee must judge him on an intentionally vague standard. Did he exhibit ``improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate.''
Craig was arrested June 11 in a Minneapolis airport bathroom after an undercover officer observed conduct that the officer said was ``often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct.''
A police report said Craig, R-Idaho, gave the arresting officer his Senate business card and asked, ``What do you think about that?''
After the story of the arrest broke this week, Craig said he ``overreacted and made a poor decision'' to plead guilty - without an attorney - in hopes of making the incident go away quickly. He said he was not involved in inappropriate conduct and is not gay.
Senate Republican leaders, wary of fending off corruption allegations for the second straight election, immediately asked the Senate ethics committee to investigate.
One senator, whose conduct in a U.S. attorney firing is under ethics committee scrutiny, warned against a ``rush to judgment'' but backed his leaders.
``The action being taken by the Senate Republican leadership is a good first step toward getting the facts,'' said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, whose home was raided by the FBI in an ongoing probe, didn't want to touch the subject. ``I spoke to my attorneys about it, and they advise I make no comments about any investigations right now.''
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
Handing an arresting officer your Senate business card? Nothing there.
Asked to investigate Sen. Larry Craig's conduct in an airport men's room and the aftermath, the Senate's ethics committee must judge him on an intentionally vague standard. Did he exhibit ``improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate.''
Craig was arrested June 11 in a Minneapolis airport bathroom after an undercover officer observed conduct that the officer said was ``often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct.''
A police report said Craig, R-Idaho, gave the arresting officer his Senate business card and asked, ``What do you think about that?''
After the story of the arrest broke this week, Craig said he ``overreacted and made a poor decision'' to plead guilty - without an attorney - in hopes of making the incident go away quickly. He said he was not involved in inappropriate conduct and is not gay.
Senate Republican leaders, wary of fending off corruption allegations for the second straight election, immediately asked the Senate ethics committee to investigate.
One senator, whose conduct in a U.S. attorney firing is under ethics committee scrutiny, warned against a ``rush to judgment'' but backed his leaders.
``The action being taken by the Senate Republican leadership is a good first step toward getting the facts,'' said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, whose home was raided by the FBI in an ongoing probe, didn't want to touch the subject. ``I spoke to my attorneys about it, and they advise I make no comments about any investigations right now.''
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
LinksMarker is a Web 2.0 content management system
Comments