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This post, written by Pam Spaulding, originally appeared on Pandagon
"The Idaho Stateman's Dan Popkey, who has been on the receiving end of serious ire from Larry Craig for daring to follow up with Mike Rogers' stories about the senator's long history of homosex trolling, calls the senator's bluff by getting -- on audio -- descriptions on the record of their dailliances with Craig, including another airport bathroom cruising story, this time in Denver. Guess they'll have to have a Craig Memorial Stall there too.
David Phillips. Mike Jones. Greg Ruth. Tom Russell.
Four gay men, willing to put their names in print and whose allegations can't be disproved, have come forward since news of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's guilty plea. They say they had sex with Craig or that he made a sexual advance or that he paid them unusual attention.
They are telling their stories now because they are offended by Craig's denials, including his famous statement, "I am not gay, I never have been gay." Those words, spoken on live national TV on Aug. 28, are now memorialized on a just-released-for-Christmas Talking Senator Larry Craig Action Figure.
David Phillips and Haggard escort Mike Jones surfaced before to tell their tales about Craig, but we have two more men who talked to Popkey and give their names:
Greg Ruth was a 24-year-old college Republican in 1981 when he says he was hit on by Craig at a Republican meeting in Coeur d'Alene.
Tom Russell, now 48, is a former Nampa resident who lives in Utah. Russell said his encounter with Craig occurred at Bogus Basin in the early 1980s.
There is a fifth man from Boise who won't go on the record, but said that
He was in a men's restroom at Denver International Airport in September 2006 when the man in the next stall moved his hand slowly, palm up, under the divider. Alarmed, the man said he waited outside the restroom and then identified the man in the adjoining stall as Craig, whom he had met in Idaho.
How is the U.S. Senator from Idaho going to respond to these testimonies of men willing to go on the record about their sex encounters with him:
* David Phillips' accounts to the Statesman about oral sex with Larry Craig in 1986 are here and here. [You can also hear an in-depth interview with Phillips from the Mike Signorile Show (see this Blend post with the audio). In that interview, Phillips recalled how paranoid and abusive Craig was when he took Phillips home with him, telling him "you were never here," and tossed him out of the house after their encounter; he shoved a $20 bill at Phillips, and Craig said "I can buy and sell you a thousand times over."]
* Mike Jones describes his encounter with Larry Craig.
* Greg Ruth recounts his experience with then-Rep. Larry Craig in a men's room at a Republican convention in Coeur d'Alene in 1981.
There are more clips at the Statesman site. The ball's in your court, Larry.
Popkey notes in a sidebar that conservative columnist Robert Novak doubts Craig's telling the truth, since apparently few in-the-know inside the Beltway were surprised when the initial scandal broke:
Conservative columnist Robert Novak has raised doubts about Sen. Larry Craig's truthfulness. In his syndicated column Sept. 3, Novak wrote that "several Republican senators and staffers were not a bit surprised" by Craig's guilty plea in connection with a sex sting.
On Oct. 5, the day after Craig reversed his pledge to resign, Novak elaborated on Bloomberg Television, saying he'd spoken to several Senate sources about Craig.
"They knew about it," Novak reported. "They knew he had this problem, and it was in the closet and it was not just a homosexual relationship, it was this weird, weird conduct."
The Freepi, as usual don't know whether to think this is a liberal smear or to drop-kick Craig. The squirming is delicious.
UPDATE via Think Progress: Larry Craig insists “I’m still not gay”
Craig: I’m still not gay.
After the Idaho Stateman reported five separate new accounts of gay men claiming to have encounters with Larry Craig (in addition to three earlier reports), the Idaho senator has responded by sticking with his claim that he’s never been gay. A statement from Craig:
It is unfortunate that the Idaho Statesman has chosen to continue to lower itself to the standards of what can best be described as tabloid journalism. Like its previous coverage, these latest allegations are completely false and have no basis in reality.
In fact, the paper itself states that these baseless accusations contain no definitive evidence yet they still decided to print them anyway. However, despite the fact the Idaho Statesman has decided to pursue its own agenda and print these falsehoods without any facts to back them up, I won’t let this paper’s attempt to malign my name stop me from continuing my work to serve the people of Idaho.
In August, Craig said it was the Idaho paper’s fault that he pled guilty to disorderly
Tagged as: craig, homophobia, gay republicans, republican hypocrisy
Pam Spaulding blogs at Pam's House Blend.
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