UNCUT: Craig press conference

BOISE - Under fire from leaders of his own party, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig on Tuesday said the only thing he had done wrong was to plead guilty after a complaint of lewd conduct in a men’s room. He declared, “I am not gay. I never have been gay.”

“I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport,” he said at a news conference with his wife, Suzanne, at his side.

Craig also lashed out at the Idaho Statesman, which reported Monday that, according to an anonymous source, Craig had a homosexual encounter in a Washington train station.

"I want to put my state of mind into context on June 11th. For eight months, my family and I had been relentlessly and viciously harassed by the Idaho Statesman," said Craig.

Craig accused the paper of waging a witch hunt against him.

"I overreacted in Minneapolis because of the stress of the Idaho Statesman investigation and the rumors it has fueled all around Idaho," Craig said.

Craig’s defiant news conference came as Senate Republican leaders in Washington called for an ethics committee review into his involvement in a police sting operation this summer in the airport men’s room.

“In the meantime, the leadership is examining other aspects of the case to see if additional action is required,” Sen. Mitch McConnell and other top GOP lawmakers said in a written statement.

Craig said he is sure that the issue will not soon go away. He said he will announce later this fall if he will run for re-election next fall.

Idaho Statesman response

The following is a statement from Mi-Ai Parrish, President and Publisher of the Idaho Statesman in response to Larry Craig’s comments today:

“As our story today demonstrated, we followed leads and asked questions. We worked hard and behaved responsibly, not publishing a story until it was ready. We didn’t print anything until the senator pleaded guilty. Our story outlined what we’ve done and it speaks for itself.”

Earlier, the private group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics filed a complaint with the ethics committee seeking an investigation into whether Craig violated Senate rules by engaging in disorderly conduct.

Lewd conduct complaint

Craig entered his plea several weeks after an undercover police officer in the Minneapolis airport arrested him and issued a complaint that said the three-term senator had engaged in actions “often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct.”

The airport incident occurred June 11. Craig signed his plea papers on Aug. 1, and word of the events surfaced Monday. The senator issued a statement Monday night that said, “In hindsight, I should have pled not guilty.”

He repeated that assertion at the Idaho news conference. “In June, I overreacted and made a poor decision,” he said. “I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in hopes of making it go away.”

Craig was at times defiant, at others apologetic.

“Please let me apologize to my family, friends and staff and fellow Idahoans for the cloud placed over Idaho,” he said. “I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport. I did nothing wrong, and I regret the decision to plead guilty and the sadness that decision has brought on my wife, on my family, friends, staff and fellow Idahoans.”

Craig said he has done a lot for the state, and hopes to continue to serve.

"Over the years I have accomplished a lot for Idaho, and I hope Idaho will allow me to continue to do that. I believe I still can be of service," said Craig.

The conservative three-term senator, who has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is up for re-election next year. He said he would announce next month whether he would run again.

Rumors about sexuality since 1980s

Craig, who has voted against gay marriage, finds his political future in doubt in the wake of the charges, which have drawn national attention.

Craig, 62, has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he had engaged in gay sex have never been substantiated. Craig has denied the assertions, which he calls ridiculous.

The scandal had already taken a political toll. On Monday, Craig resigned from a prominent role with Republican Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. He had been one of Romney’s top Senate supporters, serving as a liaison for the campaign since February.

Asked about Craig, Romney said, “He’s disappointed the American people.”

“Yeah, I think it reminds us of Mark Foley and Bill Clinton. I think it reminds us of the fact that people who are elected to public office continue to disappoint, and they somehow think that if they vote the right way on issues of significance or they can speak a good game, that we’ll just forgive and forget,” Romney said on CNBC’s “Kudlow & Company.”

Foley is a former Republican lawmaker who resigned nearly a year ago after being confronted with the computer messages he sent to male teenage pages who had worked on Capitol Hill. Clinton is the former president accused in congressional impeachment proceedings of lying about an affair with a White House intern.

According to a Hennepin County, Minn., court docket, Craig pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge on Aug. 8, with the court dismissing a charge of gross misdemeanor interference to privacy.

The court docket said Craig paid $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year. A sentence of 10 days in the county workhouse was stayed.