MSNBC is reporting that Senator Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign. The breaking news does not specify whether the Senator intends to withdraw his resignation or to simply change the date of the resignation.
No further information available at this time. Stay tuned.
Update: KTVB has a report as well:
Sen. Larry Craig's spokesman says the senator is reconsidering his decision to resign. A spokesman says Idaho Senator Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat. Spokesman Sidney Smith says: "It's not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign." Smith also says: "We're still preparing as if Senator Craig will resign September 30, but the outcome of the legal case in Minnesota and the ethics investigation will have an impact on whether we're able to stay in the fight -- and stay in the Senate."
Update: The Idaho Statesman has the report now as well.
Update: John Miller of the AP now has a more extensive report. Not a whole lot we didn't already know although Craig's spokesman Sidney Smith credits the statement and phone call from GOP Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania as a catalyst for this news.
A telephone call Craig received last week from Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., urging him to consider fighting for his seat is affecting Craig's decision to reconsider his resignation, Smith said. [...]
On Tuesday, Specter, senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, suggested Craig's GOP colleagues who pressured him last week to resign should re-examine the facts surrounding his arrest June 11.
"The more people take a look at the situation, there may well be second thoughts," said Specter, a former prosecutor. If Craig had not pleaded guilty in August to a reduced charge and instead demanded a trial, "I believe he would have been exonerated," Specter said.
Update: The Idaho Statesman now has a more extensive report that puts in doubt his intent considering some of the language used in the press conference on Saturday. [emphasis added]
Roll Call, a Capitol Hill political newspaper, posted a voice mail tonight that Craig may have inadvertently left at a wrong number Saturday morning. In it, Craig says he changed the wording in his speech and that "this thing could take a new turn or a new shape."
Whiting confirmed that the message is Craig's. Here is the transcript of the message:
"Yes, Billy, this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell. Arlen Specter is now willing to come out in my defense, arguing that it appears by all that he knows that I have been railroaded and all that.
"Having all of that, we have reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my intent to resign on Sept. 30. I think it is important for you to make as bold a statement as you are comfortable with this afternoon, and I would hope you could make it in front of the cameras.
"I think it would help drive the story that I’m willing to fight, that I’ve got quality people out there fighting in my defense, and that this thing could take a new turn or a new shape, it has that potential. Anyway, give me a buzz or give Mike a buzz on that. We’re headed to my press conference now.
"Thank you. Bye."
Update: mcjoan at Daily Kos has been following the story too.
Update: Apparently this is going to be a long, drawn out battle. KTVB has more:
"Certainly Senator Specter's comments to him, both personally and on Fox News Sunday demonstrated at least Sen. Specter is on his side and should fight this," Washington, DC-based spokesperson Dan Whiting told NewsChannel 7. "It's times like these when you found out who your friends are. Senator Craig found out what he's known all along - that he has a lot of friends in Idaho, and friends are few and far between in Washington.
NewsChannel 7 has also learned that Craig will fight a Senate Ethics Committee Investigation.
"He will be filing paperwork that will demonstrated that he believes that to take action against the Senator for a misdemeanor, which is what he plead guilty to, would reverse 200 years of senate history and set a major precedent that is inappropriate."
I think I speak for a lot of people, yet officially only for me!
When a man shows the lack of sense, follow through, belief in self and decisions he makes - is NOT a person that I can trust to make decisions.
I have to admit Larry Craig has made some good things happen in Idaho, but at some point you have to say look - I need to move on and do something else, because I am now hurting my state, self and family and umm hello your party.
shakes head
t
Posted by: theresa | September 04, 2007 at 07:34 PM
Oh, for crying out loud ...
On the upside, the longer he hangs on, the better it is for Larry LaRocco and Democrats in general.
Posted by: Julie in Boise | September 04, 2007 at 08:50 PM
Yeah, how much arrogance is one man entitled to, thinking that he can fight this without dragging Idaho through the mud even more.
This is beyone bizarre.
Posted by: MountainGoat | September 04, 2007 at 08:56 PM
it's good that he'll fight ~ for larocco ~ perhaps...
it's bad that he'll fight if you want to talk about policy rather than sordid bathroom situations.
http://wolves.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/yet-another-look-at-craigs-environmental-legacy/
Posted by: be | September 05, 2007 at 12:23 AM
The gift that keeps on giving. Fight, Larry fight.
And let this be yet another lesson from Lavatory Larry. When you seek to have attorney client privilege make damn sure the message you leave is on your lawyer's voicemail. He may have waived that privilege.
Regardless of what happened in the bathroom, or the misrepresentations surrounding the guilty plea, or the Tuesday press conference, it certainly appears that his press conference last Saturday was designed to decieve his constituents, senate leadership and the public at large. To use the term literally, the man is simply incredible.
Posted by: Sisyphus | September 05, 2007 at 10:24 AM