More Men Come Forward With Allegations About Sex With Larry Craig

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.