[Vision2020] Craig already had lawyer

[Gray Tree Crab aka Big Bertha]

 <http://www.spokesmanreview.com/>Thursday, October 25, 2007
Craig already had lawyer Attorney hired months before June arrest, August
guilty plea


Larry Craig Senator used campaign funds to pay law firm.

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Larry Craig<http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/newstrack.asp?newstrack=Larry%20Craig&contentdesk=Idaho>

Betsy Z. Russell
<http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/bylines.asp?bylinename=Betsy%20Z.%20Russell>
Staff writer
October 25, 2007

BOISE – Idaho Sen. Larry Craig paid top criminal defense attorney Billy
Martin and PR consultant Judy Smith $37,350 in early July, and has had them
representing him since last February – throughout the time he said he
consulted no lawyer about his legal troubles in Minnesota.

Craig, whose June 11 arrest and Aug. 8 guilty plea in a Minneapolis restroom
sex-solicitation sting has brought calls from his own party's leadership for
his resignation from the Senate, has maintained he did nothing wrong other
than mistakenly plead guilty, fail to consult a lawyer or inform his family
and staff.

"Larry didn't tell anyone – not a soul," said his spokesman, Dan Whiting,
who said that was "a well-established giant mistake."

Whiting said Craig hired Martin and Smith in February because he was
thinking of suing the Idaho Statesman newspaper for "harassment" over its
investigation into Craig's sexual orientation. The July payment was the
first and only bill for their services in that matter, Whiting said.

"It was unrelated to the Minneapolis incident," Whiting said. "The Statesman
was going after Larry. He consulted with them on legal and PR strategies."

Whiting said Craig never told Martin, a renowned criminal defense attorney,
of his arrest or guilty plea, even though he was paying him at the time to
represent him.

Craig hired Martin and Smith because "they're pretty well-known in
Washington, D.C., circles," Whiting said. "They're very talented. … But he
was not hired at all for any criminal defense work until the most recent
stuff."

Craig's latest campaign finance report shows he used campaign funds to pay
Washington, D.C., law firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, which employs Martin
and partners with Smith, $37,350.50 on July 9 for "p.r. legal fees."

Craig also dipped into his campaign funds, according to his Federal Election
Commission filing, to pay attorney Stan Brand $22,952 on Sept. 9 for
representing him in a Senate ethics investigation prompted by his
Minneapolis arrest and guilty plea. Craig's arrest came in an undercover
lewd conduct investigation in a Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
men's room that ensnared 40 men over a four-month period.


After news of the arrest and guilty plea broke in a Washington, D.C.,
newspaper on Aug. 27, Craig blamed his "fear" and "panic" over the Boise
newspaper's investigation for prompting him to plead guilty to a reduced
charge despite his claim he did nothing wrong. Craig said an undercover
officer misconstrued his foot and hand movements under a restroom stall wall
and that he wasn't seeking to solicit sex. Craig strenuously denied being
gay.

Since the news of the incident became public, Martin – who has also
represented such famous clients as football player Michael Vick and former
White House intern Monica Lewinsky – has been seeking to withdraw Craig's
guilty plea in Minnesota. Smith, meanwhile, has coordinated Craig's public
relations, including a recent hour-long interview with Matt Lauer of NBC
News that aired on prime-time television and pre-empted regular programming.

So far, the bid to withdraw the Minnesota guilty plea to a misdemeanor
disorderly conduct charge has failed, but Craig is appealing that to the
Minnesota Court of Appeals, a process that could take until January 2009.

Craig announced Sept. 1 that it was his intent to resign from the Senate on
Sept. 30, but he switched course and said he'd serve out his full term,
which expires at the end of 2008, and then retire.

Craig has nearly half a million dollars in his re-election campaign fund,
though he's not seeking re-election. Under federal law, he's free to use the
money for his legal defense in matters related to his service as a senator.
Craig was making his weekly commute from Idaho to the Senate when he was
arrested during a Monday airport layover in Minneapolis.

According to Craig's FEC report, the senator attracted $12,175 in additional
contributions from July 1 to Sept. 30, with all but $175 of that coming from
political action committees. Four of those PAC contributions were reported
Sept. 10, but Craig fundraising consultant Ken Burgess, of Veritas Advisors,
said the donations likely were pledged before the news broke of Craig's
troubles in Minneapolis.

Craig's last fundraising event was in August, and he canceled a long-planned
fundraiser, the Canyon County Wine Tour in late September. Burgess said
Craig has held that fundraiser each year for the last four years.

Whiting said Craig has stopped campaign fundraising. He also said Craig has
decided not to form a separate legal defense fund and will use campaign
funds for his legal defense both in the Minnesota case and in the Senate
ethics inquiry.

Whiting said Craig was upset about Idaho Statesman reporter Dan Popkey's
investigation, which included questioning past associates of Craig's all the
way back to his college years and checking out allegations that the senator
had engaged in homosexual sex. "If he wasn't a reporter, the capitol police
probably would have had him for stalking," Whiting said.

Whiting said Martin consulted with Craig's "internal counsel" on a lengthy
letter that Craig sent to McClatchy Newspapers on June 7, "outlining our
beef with the Idaho Statesman." Whiting noted, "That was four days before
the arrest."

He said, "We looked into the option of suing them for harassment … but, as
you know, that's a very high threshold when you're a public official."

Though Craig wanted to know his legal options, that was just a "small
portion" of the work for which he hired Martin and Smith, Whiting said. The
rest was "PR stuff."

Craig reported spending $87,853 in campaign funds during the reporting
period, with the two legal bills his biggest expenses. Other expenses
included $20,936 for fundraising consultants, smaller expenses for travel,
phone and office supplies, and $1,500 for computer repairs.


Submitted by:
Gray Tree Crab aka "Big Bertha"
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