GOP chief sees clear differences for Craig, Vitter

McConnell says only one faced charges

5 Sep 2007 // Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he sees no double standard in GOP officials pressuring Sen. Larry Craig to resign while making no similar demands regarding Sen. David Vitter, R-La.

Craig announced Saturday that he will resign from the Senate on Sept. 30, just days after revelations that he pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge after police say he tried to solicit sex from an undercover officer in the men's restroom of the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. A spokesman for Craig said late Tuesday that the senator was reconsidering his decision to leave office. Vitter confessed in July to a "serious sin" after his phone number appeared on a list provided by a Washington D.C. escort service, which the Justice Department describes as a prostitution ring.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said Sunday that he sensed a double standard, which he attributed at least in part to politics: Idaho's Republican governor is almost certain to appoint a fellow party member to the Senate, while Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco would no doubt appoint a fellow Democrat to replace Vitter if he were forced to resign. Democrats have a one-vote majority in the Senate.

McConnell said there are clear differences between the Craig and Vitter cases that warranted different responses. Most Senate Republicans have declined to say much about the Vitter case, but members of the Senate GOP caucus gave him a standing ovation upon his return to the Capitol after he confirmed it was his phone number on the list. Vitter stopped short of admitting to a crime.

McConnell noted that there "have been no charges made" against Vitter and that the senator's transgression occurred when he was a member of the House of Representatives, not the Senate. There's a "serious question as to whether the Ethics Committee would even have jurisdiction over it," McConnell said.

With his guilty plea, Craig made an admission of guilt, McConnell said, meaning that "the legal case was, in effect, over."

Leahy said he doesn't think the public sees a big difference in the two cases.

"I say there's a double standard," Leahy said on Fox News Sunday. "Secondly, I don't think they'll ask him (Vitter) to resign because, of course, he'd be replaced by a Democrat. It's easier to ask Larry Craig to resign because he'd be replaced by a Republican."

Some others, including the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, have said the different reactions to the Vitter and Craig cases reflect Republican opposition to gay sex.

Craig, a conservative who has opposed same sex-marriage, has denied that he is gay or that he was soliciting sex in the Minnesota airport's restroom. He said he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct just to get the whole incident over with and now calls that decision a terrible mistake.

On Tuesday, Craig hired a well-known crisis management team to help him clear his name, including Washington communication consultant Judy Smith, who also is working with Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, to deal with bribery charges stemming from a lengthy federal criminal investigation.

One member of Craig's new team, attorney Billy Martin, who represents Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in his dog-fighting case, said the airport men's room incident "raises very serious constitutional questions." Martin said Craig has a right to pursue "all legal remedies available as he begins the process of trying to clear his good name."

At a news conference, McConnell rejected the notion that voters would associate Republicans with unethical or immoral conduct.

"I think the overwhelming majority of members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat, are honorable people," McConnell said. "Once in a while, there are examples to the contrary. And, as you know, there's at least one prominent Democratic example in the House of Representatives."

He didn't name the House member, but he apparently was referring to Jefferson, the New Orleans Democrat who faces a January trial on a 16-count federal indictment, including bribery, racketeering and violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Jefferson has pleaded innocent.