<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="800"><tbody><tr><td align="left"><a href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/"><img src="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/images/small-logo.gif" border="0" height="20" width="200">
</a></td><td align="right"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif" size="2">Thursday, October 25, 2007</font></td></tr></tbody></table><br>
<h2>Craig already had lawyer </h2><h4 class="deck">Attorney hired months before June arrest, August guilty plea</h4><p><table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="210"><tbody><tr><td class="storyinset" align="right">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="200"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/stories/2007/oct/25/25_craig_10-25-2007_L2BRO9D.jpg" border="1" width="198"><br><p class="caption">Larry Craig Senator used campaign funds to pay law firm.
</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="200"><tbody><tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 8px;"><h5>Related stories</h5><p class="teaser"><a href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/newstrack.asp?newstrack=Larry%20Craig&contentdesk=Idaho">
Larry Craig</a></p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p class="byline"><span class="name"><a href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/bylines.asp?bylinename=Betsy%20Z.%20Russell">Betsy Z. Russell </a>
</span><br>Staff writer<br>October 25, 2007</p>
<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>"Larry didn't tell anyone – not a soul," said his spokesman, Dan Whiting, who said that was "a well-established giant mistake."</p><p>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.</p><p>"It
was unrelated to the Minneapolis incident," Whiting said. "The
Statesman was going after Larry. He consulted with them on legal and PR
strategies."</p><p>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.</p><p>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."</p><p>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."</p><p>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.</p><p><table align="left"><tbody><tr><td><br></td></tr></tbody></table>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p>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."</p><p>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."</p><p>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."</p><p>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.</p><br clear="all"><br>Submitted by: <br>Gray Tree Crab aka "Big Bertha"