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Craig Tries To Reverse Plea, Keep Seat

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By DAVID ESPO, The Associated Press

Published: September 6, 2007

WASHINGTON - To the dismay of fellow Republicans, Sen. Larry Craig launched a determined drive Wednesday to save his seat, vowing to stay in office if allowed to withdraw his guilty plea in a men's room sex sting.

Craig's campaign suffered an instant setback, however, when the ethics committee refused to set aside a complaint lodged against him. 'Pending Sen. Craig's resignation, the committee will continue to review this matter,' the committee's senior senators wrote.

The decision to deploy his legal team marked a reversal of his pledge to resign Sept. 30, and raised the possibility of a protracted legal and political struggle, much of it playing out in public, with gay sex at its core.

'I thought he made the correct decision, the difficult but correct decision to resign' over the weekend, said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky after he and Craig spoke by telephone. 'That would still be my view today.'

Craig met privately in Boise with Idaho Gov. C.L. Otter, who has the authority to fill any vacancy in the state's Senate delegation.

'We are proceeding based on the assumption that there is going to be a transition at the end of the month,' said Jon Hanian, Otter's spokesman. 'The senator's staff is going to work with ours to that end.'

McConnell heard something different when he talked with his longtime Senate colleague. He said Craig had told him he now intended to remain in Congress if he is permitted to withdraw his guilty plea by Sept. 30. 'If he is unable to have that disposed of prior to Sept. 30, it is his intention to resign from the Senate as he expressed last Saturday,' he said.

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