FEC charges ex.-Sen. Craig with misusing campaign funds in legal defense for bathroom sex sting

Former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was sued Monday by federal elections officials who accuse the former lawmaker of misusing more than $200,000 in campaign funds for his legal defense following his 2007 arrest in a bathroom sex sting.

Craig was accused of soliciting sex in a bathroom at the Minneapolis—St. Paul airport after an undercover officer reported that the senator had used his feet to signal under the toilet stall that he was interested in sex. Craig initially pleaded guilty and received a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, but later attempted to withdraw that plea after the arrest became public.

But the FEC said in a complaint filed Monday and obtained by The Associated Press that the senator should not have used campaign dollars to pay for his legal fees surrounding the incident.

"Mr. Craig used these funds converted from his campaign committee to pay legal expenses he incurred in connection with his arrest, guilty plea, and subsequent efforts to withdraw his guilty plea in Minnesota," according to the complaint. "These legal costs were not made in connection with his campaign for federal office or for ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in connection with his duties as a senator."

The federal officials also contented that Craig would have faced the expenses "irrespective of his duties as senator."

The government is also asking a judge to order the former senator to pay a fine and for the investigative costs surrounding the case.

Craig has maintained that he did not intend to solicit sex during the airport stop.

"Let me be clear, I am not gay. I never have been gay," Craig said during an August 2007 press conference. "I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport. I regret my decision to plead guilty and the sadness that decision has brought to my wife, family, friends, staff and fellow Idahoans. For that I apologize."

The Idaho senator later said he would resign, but ultimately opted against doing so, deciding instead to simply not seek reelection in 2008.

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