If you read through the transcript of Sen. Larry Craig’s Minnesota court hearing, one thing stands out: Judge Charles Porter doesn’t appear to be buying Craig’s attorneys’ arguments at all. That news was somewhat eclipsed on Wednesday by the Idaho senator's startling announcement that afternoon…
Greg Smith, an Idaho pollster and political consultant who once served as Craig’s regional director, said, “He technically is not breaking his word, but it is kind of strange that Sept. 30 will have come and gone and he’s going to stay put. I’m a…
Idaho Senator Larry Craig just issued the following statement, in response to today’s legal proceedings in Minnesota: "Today was a major step in the legal effort to clear my name. The court has not issued a ruling on my motion to withdraw my guilty plea.…
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s hearing in a Minnesota courtroom has wrapped up after about 45 minutes of arguments from attorneys on both sides. At the close of the hearing, Judge Charles Porter indicated that he won’t have a decision until the end of next week…
Boise State University political scientist emeritus Jim Weatherby, who has observed Idaho Sen. Larry Craig since both were students at the University of Idaho in the 1960s, said this week that that the court hearing taking place in Minnesota today may not be what really…
General Wesley Clark, retired four-star general and former commander of allied forces in Kosovo, has endorsed Idaho’s Larry LaRocco for the U.S. Senate. Clark, who was briefly a Democratic candidate for president in 2004, said today, “Larry’s campaign of working in jobs all across Idaho…
For all those who’ve been talking about how climate change has contributed to more devastating wildfires – the topic of a Senate committee hearing yesterday – Idaho Sen. Larry Craig put out a press release late yesterday offering the opposite argument. “As a member of…
Prosecutors in Minnesota say Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is seeking special treatment by trying to withdraw his guilty plea in a sex solicitation sting, and “playing games” with the state’s court system by first pleading guilty, then trying to withdraw the plea because of political…
Not only did Minnesota prosecutors file objections yesterday to the ACLU of Minnesota’s brief in support of Sen. Larry Craig, they also went into great detail about the restroom sex solicitation sting that ensnared the senator and exactly what he’s accused of doing. The sting,…
For 2008, Idaho’s maximum homeowner’s exemption from property taxes will rise to $100,938, from the current $89,325, the state Tax Commission announced today. The homeowner’s exemption exempts from tax 50 percent of the value of a homeowner’s primary residence, up to a maximum set by…
District Judge Charles Porter in Hennepin County, Minnesota, has ruled in favor of allowing the ACLU of Minnesota’s arguments to be considered in the case of Idaho Sen. Larry Craig. The ACLU argues that the restroom sex solicitation sting that ensnared Craig at the Minneapolis-St.…
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is back at work in Washington, D.C. today, for the first time since news broke in late August of his June arrest and guilty plea in a bathroom sex solicitation sting. “He needed to be back there to represent Idaho’s interests…
Sen. Larry Craig’s lead attorney, Billy Martin, has issued this statement on behalf of his defense team:“We welcome the ACLU’s filing today and their involvement in this case. We have argued to the court that the facts which Senator Craig admits happened on that day…
With funding for the popular State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, due to expire at the end of September if Congress doesn’t act to reauthorize it, calls have been coming from around the state – including from GOP Gov. Butch Otter – for Idaho’s…
OK, this is just weird. Gov. Butch Otter today released a list as long as my arm of names of people “who so far have expressed an interest in being appointed to the U.S. Senate if a vacancy occurs with the resignation of Senator Larry…
When Idaho Sen. Larry Craig goes to court in Minnesota to try to clear his name on Sept. 26, strict rules will be in effect, including the designation of just 78 seats for spectators, including media. Also, the doors will be closed before the hearing…
Here’s the situation: Idaho Gov. Butch Otter is out of state this week, vacationing in Texas, and Lt. Gov. Jim Risch is acting governor. This poses the theoretical question: Could Risch make some key appointments while Otter is gone?Idaho Supreme Court Justice Linda Copple Trout…
North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr has been named the ranking Republican on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee – “temporarily” replacing Idaho Sen. Larry Craig in that post. Burr served five terms in the House before he was elected to the Senate in 2004. "I…
State Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, said it was news to him when the governor added him to his short list today to replace U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, but said, “I think it’d be great if somebody from northern Idaho were named to do that.…
Sen. Larry Craig’s legal arguments in Minnesota don’t appear to be playing too well in Idaho. “I don’t know how many people are impressed with the ‘Statesman made me do it’ defense, and how many people are concerned about the judgment the senator used in…
In view of Sen. Craig’s legal arguments about the “panic”, "fear" and “intense anxiety” he experienced because of an Idaho Statesman investigation, it seems fair to ponder just how scary the Idaho Statesman really is. First, there’s the newspaper’s slogan, “The Treasure Valley’s Best-Read Newspaper…
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig has filed a 39-page motion to withdraw his guilty plea in Minnesota to misdemeanor charges stemming from a restroom sex solicitation sting, and is requesting that the court hear oral arguments on the motion. Prominent in Craig’s motion is his concern…
Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has added a name to his short list of candidates to replace Sen. Larry Craig – state Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, the state Senate’s youngest member. McGee, 34, is a second-term state senator and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. Otter…
Strong words from 2nd District Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, in the latest edition of “The Hill,” a weekly newspaper in Washington, D.C., in the wake of the Larry Craig brouhaha. In the article, Simpson lashed out at Senate Republican leaders who quickly turned on Craig…
Tonight, I’ll be appearing on Idaho Public TV’s “Dialogue” program, along with Associated Press reporter John Miller, political scientist Jim Weatherby, University of Idaho journalism prof Kenton Bird and host Joan Cartan-Hansen, to discuss the political implications of the Larry Craig case, including the senior…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
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