Sen. Craig Uses "Wide Stance" Excuse for Lewd Conduct in Airport Men's Room

This post, written by Pam Spaulding, originally appeared on Pam's House Blend

A little recap for schadenfreude lovers. It was a bad time for cruising for homophobic Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), who pleaded guilty on August 8 to a disorderly conduct charge after his arrest in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in June.

An undercover officer just happened to be investigating complaints of lewd behavior and cruising in the men's restroom there when Craig decided to repeatedly leer between the cracks into the stall the officer was in, then proceeded to enter the adjacent stall and play footsie and gesture under the partition for sex. Larry, btw, learn to flush.

Karsnia showed his police identification under the stall. "With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit," the report said. "Craig responded, 'No!' I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. ... Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn't want to make a scene. Craig then left the restroom."

The senator, once detained at the Airport Police Operations Center tried the old "do you know who I am?" maneuver, showing the arresting officer his business card indicating he was a Powerful Man of InfluenceTM, saying "What do you think about that?" but alas, that didn't fly. Here's the guilty plea court document.

In the annals of GOP sexual hypocrisy excuses, we have this new one to add to the database -- the Wide Stance DefenseTM.

Craig denied any lewd intentions and told police he has a "wide stance" in the bathroom and reached down to pick up a piece of paper from the floor.

"It should be noted that there was not a piece of paper on the bathroom floor, nor did Craig pick up a piece of paper," Karsnia wrote in the police report.

He pled guilty, but now he says it was all a big misunderstanding (sound familiar?).

"At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions," he said. "I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously."

What -- the pickup, the power play at the police station, or trying to make it all go away?