H
Harry Hope
Guest
From The Idaho Statesman, 12/2/07:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/226703.html
More gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig
Allegations made since news of the Minneapolis case broke lend weight
to rumors about Craig.
Four gay men, willing to put their names in print and whose
allegations can't be disproved, have come forward since news of U.S.
Sen. Larry Craig's guilty plea.
They say they had sex with Craig or that he made a sexual advance or
that he paid them unusual attention.
They are telling their stories now because they are offended by
Craig's denials, including his famous statement, "I am not gay, I
never have been gay."
Those words, spoken on live national TV on Aug. 28, are now
memorialized on a just-released-for-Christmas Talking Senator Larry
Craig Action Figure.
David Phillips is a 42-year-old information technology consultant in
Washington, D.C., who says Craig picked him up at a gay club in 1986
and that they subsequently had sex.
Mike Jones is a former prostitute who told the world he had sex with
the Rev. Ted Haggard last year.
The former Colorado Springs evangelist at first denied it but
eventually confessed.
Jones says Craig paid him for sex in late 2004 or early 2005.
Greg Ruth was a 24-year-old college Republican in 1981 when he says he
was hit on by Craig at a Republican meeting in Coeur d'Alene.
Tom Russell, now 48, is a former Nampa resident who lives in Utah.
Russell said his encounter with Craig occurred at Bogus Basin in the
early 1980s.
A fifth gay man, who is from Boise but who declined to be named for
fear of retaliation, offered a recent and telling account:
He was in a men's restroom at Denver International Airport in
September 2006 when the man in the next stall moved his hand slowly,
palm up, under the divider.
Alarmed, the man said he waited outside the restroom and then
identified the man in the adjoining stall as Craig, whom he had met in
Idaho.
Craig, 62, says he was a victim of "profiling" when he was arrested
June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for soliciting
sex from an undercover police officer in an adjoining stall in a men's
restroom.
Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August.
He is appealing his conviction, financed by his 2008 re-election fund.
Because of the scandal, Craig no longer needs the money to run for
office; after 33 years in state and national office, he says he will
not seek re-election next year.
Craig also faces a Senate Ethics Committee inquiry, which was
requested by Senate GOP leadership.
"I know what people feel like when they're profiled, when innocent
people get caught up in what I was caught in as an innocent person,"
Craig told NBC's Matt Lauer in a prime-time interview that aired Oct.
16.
The appearance on NBC was the latest denial by Craig that he has
engaged in gay sex.
The denials began June 30, 1982, when CBS broke news of a scandal
alleging gay sex between congressmen and underage pages.
The following day, before any public allegation that he was involved,
then-Rep. Craig issued a denial.
Craig married a year later and adopted the three children of his wife,
Suzanne.
In 1990, the Idaho Statesman asked Craig about an allegation that he
was gay made by an opponent in his first Senate race.
"Why don't you ask my wife?" Craig replied.
In October 2006, Craig directly denied the claims of a blogger who
reported he'd spoken with three anonymous sources who said they had
sex with Craig.
In May 2007, after hearing a tape of an accuser who said he and Craig
had sex in two men's restrooms at Washington's Union Station rail
depot, Craig said, "I am not gay."
And when he emphatically told Matt Lauer he was neither gay nor
bisexual, Craig persuaded 28 percent of viewers to believe he had been
wrongly charged in Minnesota, according to a survey of 606 viewers by
HCD Research and Muhlenberg College.
Craig declined comment on this story.
He stopped replying to questions from the Statesman after the paper's
Aug. 28 report that included the accounts of three unnamed men, one
who said he had sex with Craig and two who said he solicited them for
sex.
But Craig's staff told other media that the allegations made by
Phillips and Jones were false.
As with the Statesman's August report, the new evidence is not
definitive.
There are no videos, no love letters, no voice messages.
Like last August, they are he-said, he-said allegations about a man
seeking discreet sex from partners whom he counted on to never tell.
But the Statesman's investigation, which included reviews of travel
and property records and background checks on all five men, found
nothing to disprove the five new accounts.
The men offer telling and sometimes similar details about what
happened, or the senator's travel records place him in the city where
sex is alleged to have occurred, or his accusers told credible
witnesses at the time of the incident.
Craig has said he hoped to keep his guilty plea secret.
Only after news of the guilty plea broke Aug. 27 did he tell his wife,
staff, colleagues and constituents.
His admission of guilt, taken together with the three accounts
published Aug. 28 and the five new statements, add weight to the
evidence that Craig has been living a double life.
HERE ARE THEIR STORIES:
DAVID PHILLIPS: SEX IN CAPITOL HILL HOUSE
Phillips' account was first published this Oct. 25 at Wonkette.com, a
liberal Web site. Shortly after the Spokane Spokesman-Review linked to
the story on Oct. 26, Craig spokesman Sid Smith replied on a blog that
"there is not a shred of truth to this."
In a tape-recorded interview with the Statesman, the 1985 graduate of
Rice University said he met Craig on a weekday afternoon between May
and August 1986 at a gay strip club called La Cage Aux Follies in
Washington, D.C. The club was a place where gay men met for sex, often
on the premises. Phillips said he mistakenly told Wonkette the
incident happened in 1987.
Phillips, then 21, said he and Craig talked and then hugged. Craig
said he didn't feel comfortable at the club and suggested they leave.
Phillips had his car, but Craig hailed a cab, with Phillips following
him to Capitol Hill. The cab stopped and Craig got out, telling
Phillips to park and wait for him to return. In a few minutes, Craig
came back on foot and escorted Phillips to the rear door of a house
reached by an alley.
On the way to an upstairs bedroom, Phillips said Craig told him,
"You've never been here. You don't know me."
Phillips said Craig removed his suit coat, but otherwise remained
dressed. He said Craig first performed oral sex on him, and then
unzipped his pants so Phillips could reciprocate. Craig then left the
room, returning with condoms and lubricant. The two men then had anal
sex. Afterward, Craig became agitated and pressed Phillips to leave.
"After the sex, he just wanted me out of there," Phillips said. He
said Craig stuck $20 in his pocket and said, "'I can buy and sell your
ass a thousand times over. You were never here.' "
Phillips said he saw a note card addressed to Suzanne Craig as he left
the house. But he said he never recognized Craig as his sex partner
until the recent story broke and he heard Craig's distinctive and
formal voice on TV.
"I didn't hear that voice again until August," Phillips said. "Then
that 'I can buy and sell your ass a thousand times' came back to me.
It just all rolled back so vividly."
Smith, the Craig spokesman, said in his blog posting after the
Wonkette report that Phillips should not be believed because Craig did
not live on Capitol Hill in 1987, but on his boat at the Capitol Yacht
Club. "Everything in that story, from beginning to end, is pure lies
and fiction," Smith wrote.
It's not clear whether Craig lived on a boat between May and August
1986, when Phillips said the encounter actually occurred. But Craig
told the Statesman in May 2007 that he "went through four boats,"
remodeled them, "made a little money on each one," and sometimes lived
on land between boats. It's also not clear whether Craig may have had
access to a house on Capitol Hill.
MIKE JONES: MALE ESCORT TOOK $200 FROM CRAIG FOR SEX
Jones, 50, told the Statesman that Craig paid him $200 to have sex
with him on a night between November 2004 and March 2005. Jones said
he recognized Craig only after he became a big story in August.
"Once I saw Larry Craig do his news conference, that's when I go, 'My
God! That guy came to see me.' "
Jones contacted the Statesman in September after Craig signaled he
might back away from his vow to resign Sept. 30. After Craig said on
Oct. 4 that he would complete his term in 2009 and appeared on NBC on
Oct. 16, Jones went on the record with the Statesman, describing a
sexual encounter with Craig. (In October, broadcast and Web reports
quoted Jones saying Craig had visited him, but did not say the two had
sex). Here is what Jones told the Statesman in a tape-recorded
interview:
Jones said a man phoned to make an appointment, not giving his name.
The man, whom Jones later recognized as Craig, then arrived at a
studio apartment on Sherman Street in downtown Denver. Craig asked
whether Jones followed politics but then quickly changed the subject.
"When I said, 'Yes,' he said, 'Oh, gee, it's cold outside.'" Jones
said he immediately deduced from his client's odd response that he was
servicing a politician.
Craig removed his coat and dress shirt, leaving his T-shirt, slacks
and shoes on when he climbed onto Jones's massage table. Craig asked
that Jones be naked. Craig undid his own zipper and masturbated while
performing oral sex on Jones. When Craig finished, he paid Jones $200
in cash and left.
The encounter lasted less than an hour, said Jones, who said he kept
no records on his escort clients. Jones said he advertised his
"massage" services exclusively in gay publications, including the
bi-weekly newspaper Out Front Colorado and Rentboy.com.
Craig was in Denver on Feb. 11, 2005, and in nearby Keystone, Colo.,
on Feb. 12. On the 12th, he attended a meeting at the Keystone Center,
a policy think tank. Craig's Senate travel records also show six other
trips where Craig may have had layovers in Denver between November
2004 and March 2005.
Craig and his staff won't respond to questions from the Statesman. But
Dan Whiting, a Craig spokesman, told KIVI-Today's 6, "Mike Jones is
lying in order to sell his book - plain and simple. Larry has never
met Mike Jones."
Jones has written a book about his experience with Haggard. Haggard
resigned in November 2006 as president of the National Evangelical
Association and was forced out as pastor of New Life Church after
Jones came forward with voice mails implicating Haggard.
Jones acknowledged his allegation about Craig may help sell books, but
said he is motivated by the desire to expose hypocritical conduct by
men like Haggard and Craig, who has a consistently anti-gay voting
record.
"Here they are putting down the gay community in a sense, treating us
like second-class citizens, and they want to have their cake and eat
it, too," he said.
GREG RUTH: RESTROOM PROPOSITION IN COEUR D'ALENE
Ruth attended the Republican Western Roundup in Coeur d'Alene in
October 1981, where he said Craig made a sexual advance. At the time,
Craig was a 36-year-old bachelor and first-year congressman and Ruth
was a 24-year-old college Republican from the University of Puget
Sound.
Ruth, who was openly gay in 1981, told the Statesman in a
tape-recorded interview that Craig paid him unusual attention at the
political gathering. Ruth said he excused himself to use the restroom,
but Craig soon entered and stood next to Ruth at the urinal, looking
at Ruth's penis.
"He looked over and said, 'Hi,'" Ruth said. "But he didn't touch me or
anything like that. And then after we finished urinating, we washed
hands. He gave me his phone number and he said, 'If you ever get to
D.C., call me. You can stay with me.'"
Ruth, now a professional photographer, said he never followed up and
lost the slip of paper with Craig's number. But Ruth said he has no
doubt Craig was making a sexual advance. "I'm gay, and I knew he was
hitting on me," Ruth said. "There's no question about that."
Returning to Tacoma, Wash., Ruth immediately told his uncle about the
incident. The uncle, Gerald King, is a retired major who served 25
years in the Army. Ruth, 50, is a former Army captain who served seven
years on active duty in the infantry and 12 years in the Army Reserve.
"Mind you," said King, "Greg was strikingly handsome. (Craig) was
extremely friendly and overt with Greg in trying to get him to
socialize with him."
King said his nephew told him in 1981 that Craig made a sexual
advance. "No question about it," said King. "I don't think they were
going to make Jell-O."
ANOTHER MEN'S RESTROOM ENCOUNTER
Another gay man, a 46-year-old professional from Boise, told the
Statesman that Craig reached his hand into his restroom stall in
September 2006 during a layover at the Denver airport. The man, who
travels in political circles, had met Craig before. He asked that he
not be named by the Statesman.
The man said he was flying from Boise to Washington, D.C., on the same
flights as Craig and Craig's wife, Suzanne. Denver, like Minneapolis,
is a key connecting hub for flights between Boise and Washington.
During the layover in Denver, the man said he was in a men's restroom
stall when a hand came under the divider and reached toward him. The
hand was palm up, as the officer in Minnesota also described, and slid
toward him for two or three seconds. The man said he noticed
unpolished, dark, lace-up shoes worn by the man in the next stall. He
did not respond to the gesture.
"I freaked out," said the man, who was traveling with his long-time
partner. "I finished my business and left."
The man said he then waited outside the men's restroom on a bench.
Shortly after, a man wearing the shoes he saw in the adjacent stall
exited. The man was Larry Craig.
"Those shoes came out, and I looked up, and it was like, 'Oh, my
God.'"
After boarding the second flight, the man told his partner about the
incident. The partner confirmed having heard the details of Craig's
advance that day.
The man said one reason he requires anonymity is he fears Craig will
use his power to retaliate. He is afraid Craig may have recognized him
and, perhaps knowing he is gay, followed him into the men's restroom
thinking he would be amenable to sex.
TOM RUSSELL: MUTUAL COME-ON AT BOGUS BASIN SKI RESORT
Russell, 48, a Nampa native who lives in Utah, was among three men who
contacted the Statesman about what they described as unusually
attentive behavior on Craig's part. Russell was willing to be named
for this story and spoke in a tape-recorded interview.
Russell worked as a food service manager at Bogus Basin ski resort and
said his encounter probably occurred in the 1983-84 ski season, soon
after Craig had married following the 1982 page scandal. Russell had
taken a food class from Suzanne Craig and had heard the rumors that
Craig was gay.
Russell, openly gay at the time, said he set out to engage Craig "and
attempted to show a personal interest - not in a suggestive way - but
a personal interest to see if he would respond."
"I recall that he was very delighted to talk to me - smiling, happy,
very delighted - and that he had suggested that we could get together
sometime," he said. "Why would he have a personal interest in meeting
me elsewhere?"
Russell said he became convinced Craig was gay because he used subtle
signals consistent with communication between gay men in public
places.
"You've heard the term, 'gaydar'? OK, it's there. You know it. You
know when somebody is raising an eyebrow at you because it's their
gesture when they say 'hello' or when they are subtly trying to send
you a message that they recognize you as being a gay person."
Nothing came of the meeting, Russell said. But he came forward now
because he is offended by Craig's denials.
"I'm disgusted because it's hypocritical, and he's lying. He's lying
through his teeth. Heterosexual men do not behave like that."
____________________________________________________
Harry
http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/226703.html
More gay men describe sexual encounters with U.S. Sen. Craig
Allegations made since news of the Minneapolis case broke lend weight
to rumors about Craig.
Four gay men, willing to put their names in print and whose
allegations can't be disproved, have come forward since news of U.S.
Sen. Larry Craig's guilty plea.
They say they had sex with Craig or that he made a sexual advance or
that he paid them unusual attention.
They are telling their stories now because they are offended by
Craig's denials, including his famous statement, "I am not gay, I
never have been gay."
Those words, spoken on live national TV on Aug. 28, are now
memorialized on a just-released-for-Christmas Talking Senator Larry
Craig Action Figure.
David Phillips is a 42-year-old information technology consultant in
Washington, D.C., who says Craig picked him up at a gay club in 1986
and that they subsequently had sex.
Mike Jones is a former prostitute who told the world he had sex with
the Rev. Ted Haggard last year.
The former Colorado Springs evangelist at first denied it but
eventually confessed.
Jones says Craig paid him for sex in late 2004 or early 2005.
Greg Ruth was a 24-year-old college Republican in 1981 when he says he
was hit on by Craig at a Republican meeting in Coeur d'Alene.
Tom Russell, now 48, is a former Nampa resident who lives in Utah.
Russell said his encounter with Craig occurred at Bogus Basin in the
early 1980s.
A fifth gay man, who is from Boise but who declined to be named for
fear of retaliation, offered a recent and telling account:
He was in a men's restroom at Denver International Airport in
September 2006 when the man in the next stall moved his hand slowly,
palm up, under the divider.
Alarmed, the man said he waited outside the restroom and then
identified the man in the adjoining stall as Craig, whom he had met in
Idaho.
Craig, 62, says he was a victim of "profiling" when he was arrested
June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for soliciting
sex from an undercover police officer in an adjoining stall in a men's
restroom.
Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August.
He is appealing his conviction, financed by his 2008 re-election fund.
Because of the scandal, Craig no longer needs the money to run for
office; after 33 years in state and national office, he says he will
not seek re-election next year.
Craig also faces a Senate Ethics Committee inquiry, which was
requested by Senate GOP leadership.
"I know what people feel like when they're profiled, when innocent
people get caught up in what I was caught in as an innocent person,"
Craig told NBC's Matt Lauer in a prime-time interview that aired Oct.
16.
The appearance on NBC was the latest denial by Craig that he has
engaged in gay sex.
The denials began June 30, 1982, when CBS broke news of a scandal
alleging gay sex between congressmen and underage pages.
The following day, before any public allegation that he was involved,
then-Rep. Craig issued a denial.
Craig married a year later and adopted the three children of his wife,
Suzanne.
In 1990, the Idaho Statesman asked Craig about an allegation that he
was gay made by an opponent in his first Senate race.
"Why don't you ask my wife?" Craig replied.
In October 2006, Craig directly denied the claims of a blogger who
reported he'd spoken with three anonymous sources who said they had
sex with Craig.
In May 2007, after hearing a tape of an accuser who said he and Craig
had sex in two men's restrooms at Washington's Union Station rail
depot, Craig said, "I am not gay."
And when he emphatically told Matt Lauer he was neither gay nor
bisexual, Craig persuaded 28 percent of viewers to believe he had been
wrongly charged in Minnesota, according to a survey of 606 viewers by
HCD Research and Muhlenberg College.
Craig declined comment on this story.
He stopped replying to questions from the Statesman after the paper's
Aug. 28 report that included the accounts of three unnamed men, one
who said he had sex with Craig and two who said he solicited them for
sex.
But Craig's staff told other media that the allegations made by
Phillips and Jones were false.
As with the Statesman's August report, the new evidence is not
definitive.
There are no videos, no love letters, no voice messages.
Like last August, they are he-said, he-said allegations about a man
seeking discreet sex from partners whom he counted on to never tell.
But the Statesman's investigation, which included reviews of travel
and property records and background checks on all five men, found
nothing to disprove the five new accounts.
The men offer telling and sometimes similar details about what
happened, or the senator's travel records place him in the city where
sex is alleged to have occurred, or his accusers told credible
witnesses at the time of the incident.
Craig has said he hoped to keep his guilty plea secret.
Only after news of the guilty plea broke Aug. 27 did he tell his wife,
staff, colleagues and constituents.
His admission of guilt, taken together with the three accounts
published Aug. 28 and the five new statements, add weight to the
evidence that Craig has been living a double life.
HERE ARE THEIR STORIES:
DAVID PHILLIPS: SEX IN CAPITOL HILL HOUSE
Phillips' account was first published this Oct. 25 at Wonkette.com, a
liberal Web site. Shortly after the Spokane Spokesman-Review linked to
the story on Oct. 26, Craig spokesman Sid Smith replied on a blog that
"there is not a shred of truth to this."
In a tape-recorded interview with the Statesman, the 1985 graduate of
Rice University said he met Craig on a weekday afternoon between May
and August 1986 at a gay strip club called La Cage Aux Follies in
Washington, D.C. The club was a place where gay men met for sex, often
on the premises. Phillips said he mistakenly told Wonkette the
incident happened in 1987.
Phillips, then 21, said he and Craig talked and then hugged. Craig
said he didn't feel comfortable at the club and suggested they leave.
Phillips had his car, but Craig hailed a cab, with Phillips following
him to Capitol Hill. The cab stopped and Craig got out, telling
Phillips to park and wait for him to return. In a few minutes, Craig
came back on foot and escorted Phillips to the rear door of a house
reached by an alley.
On the way to an upstairs bedroom, Phillips said Craig told him,
"You've never been here. You don't know me."
Phillips said Craig removed his suit coat, but otherwise remained
dressed. He said Craig first performed oral sex on him, and then
unzipped his pants so Phillips could reciprocate. Craig then left the
room, returning with condoms and lubricant. The two men then had anal
sex. Afterward, Craig became agitated and pressed Phillips to leave.
"After the sex, he just wanted me out of there," Phillips said. He
said Craig stuck $20 in his pocket and said, "'I can buy and sell your
ass a thousand times over. You were never here.' "
Phillips said he saw a note card addressed to Suzanne Craig as he left
the house. But he said he never recognized Craig as his sex partner
until the recent story broke and he heard Craig's distinctive and
formal voice on TV.
"I didn't hear that voice again until August," Phillips said. "Then
that 'I can buy and sell your ass a thousand times' came back to me.
It just all rolled back so vividly."
Smith, the Craig spokesman, said in his blog posting after the
Wonkette report that Phillips should not be believed because Craig did
not live on Capitol Hill in 1987, but on his boat at the Capitol Yacht
Club. "Everything in that story, from beginning to end, is pure lies
and fiction," Smith wrote.
It's not clear whether Craig lived on a boat between May and August
1986, when Phillips said the encounter actually occurred. But Craig
told the Statesman in May 2007 that he "went through four boats,"
remodeled them, "made a little money on each one," and sometimes lived
on land between boats. It's also not clear whether Craig may have had
access to a house on Capitol Hill.
MIKE JONES: MALE ESCORT TOOK $200 FROM CRAIG FOR SEX
Jones, 50, told the Statesman that Craig paid him $200 to have sex
with him on a night between November 2004 and March 2005. Jones said
he recognized Craig only after he became a big story in August.
"Once I saw Larry Craig do his news conference, that's when I go, 'My
God! That guy came to see me.' "
Jones contacted the Statesman in September after Craig signaled he
might back away from his vow to resign Sept. 30. After Craig said on
Oct. 4 that he would complete his term in 2009 and appeared on NBC on
Oct. 16, Jones went on the record with the Statesman, describing a
sexual encounter with Craig. (In October, broadcast and Web reports
quoted Jones saying Craig had visited him, but did not say the two had
sex). Here is what Jones told the Statesman in a tape-recorded
interview:
Jones said a man phoned to make an appointment, not giving his name.
The man, whom Jones later recognized as Craig, then arrived at a
studio apartment on Sherman Street in downtown Denver. Craig asked
whether Jones followed politics but then quickly changed the subject.
"When I said, 'Yes,' he said, 'Oh, gee, it's cold outside.'" Jones
said he immediately deduced from his client's odd response that he was
servicing a politician.
Craig removed his coat and dress shirt, leaving his T-shirt, slacks
and shoes on when he climbed onto Jones's massage table. Craig asked
that Jones be naked. Craig undid his own zipper and masturbated while
performing oral sex on Jones. When Craig finished, he paid Jones $200
in cash and left.
The encounter lasted less than an hour, said Jones, who said he kept
no records on his escort clients. Jones said he advertised his
"massage" services exclusively in gay publications, including the
bi-weekly newspaper Out Front Colorado and Rentboy.com.
Craig was in Denver on Feb. 11, 2005, and in nearby Keystone, Colo.,
on Feb. 12. On the 12th, he attended a meeting at the Keystone Center,
a policy think tank. Craig's Senate travel records also show six other
trips where Craig may have had layovers in Denver between November
2004 and March 2005.
Craig and his staff won't respond to questions from the Statesman. But
Dan Whiting, a Craig spokesman, told KIVI-Today's 6, "Mike Jones is
lying in order to sell his book - plain and simple. Larry has never
met Mike Jones."
Jones has written a book about his experience with Haggard. Haggard
resigned in November 2006 as president of the National Evangelical
Association and was forced out as pastor of New Life Church after
Jones came forward with voice mails implicating Haggard.
Jones acknowledged his allegation about Craig may help sell books, but
said he is motivated by the desire to expose hypocritical conduct by
men like Haggard and Craig, who has a consistently anti-gay voting
record.
"Here they are putting down the gay community in a sense, treating us
like second-class citizens, and they want to have their cake and eat
it, too," he said.
GREG RUTH: RESTROOM PROPOSITION IN COEUR D'ALENE
Ruth attended the Republican Western Roundup in Coeur d'Alene in
October 1981, where he said Craig made a sexual advance. At the time,
Craig was a 36-year-old bachelor and first-year congressman and Ruth
was a 24-year-old college Republican from the University of Puget
Sound.
Ruth, who was openly gay in 1981, told the Statesman in a
tape-recorded interview that Craig paid him unusual attention at the
political gathering. Ruth said he excused himself to use the restroom,
but Craig soon entered and stood next to Ruth at the urinal, looking
at Ruth's penis.
"He looked over and said, 'Hi,'" Ruth said. "But he didn't touch me or
anything like that. And then after we finished urinating, we washed
hands. He gave me his phone number and he said, 'If you ever get to
D.C., call me. You can stay with me.'"
Ruth, now a professional photographer, said he never followed up and
lost the slip of paper with Craig's number. But Ruth said he has no
doubt Craig was making a sexual advance. "I'm gay, and I knew he was
hitting on me," Ruth said. "There's no question about that."
Returning to Tacoma, Wash., Ruth immediately told his uncle about the
incident. The uncle, Gerald King, is a retired major who served 25
years in the Army. Ruth, 50, is a former Army captain who served seven
years on active duty in the infantry and 12 years in the Army Reserve.
"Mind you," said King, "Greg was strikingly handsome. (Craig) was
extremely friendly and overt with Greg in trying to get him to
socialize with him."
King said his nephew told him in 1981 that Craig made a sexual
advance. "No question about it," said King. "I don't think they were
going to make Jell-O."
ANOTHER MEN'S RESTROOM ENCOUNTER
Another gay man, a 46-year-old professional from Boise, told the
Statesman that Craig reached his hand into his restroom stall in
September 2006 during a layover at the Denver airport. The man, who
travels in political circles, had met Craig before. He asked that he
not be named by the Statesman.
The man said he was flying from Boise to Washington, D.C., on the same
flights as Craig and Craig's wife, Suzanne. Denver, like Minneapolis,
is a key connecting hub for flights between Boise and Washington.
During the layover in Denver, the man said he was in a men's restroom
stall when a hand came under the divider and reached toward him. The
hand was palm up, as the officer in Minnesota also described, and slid
toward him for two or three seconds. The man said he noticed
unpolished, dark, lace-up shoes worn by the man in the next stall. He
did not respond to the gesture.
"I freaked out," said the man, who was traveling with his long-time
partner. "I finished my business and left."
The man said he then waited outside the men's restroom on a bench.
Shortly after, a man wearing the shoes he saw in the adjacent stall
exited. The man was Larry Craig.
"Those shoes came out, and I looked up, and it was like, 'Oh, my
God.'"
After boarding the second flight, the man told his partner about the
incident. The partner confirmed having heard the details of Craig's
advance that day.
The man said one reason he requires anonymity is he fears Craig will
use his power to retaliate. He is afraid Craig may have recognized him
and, perhaps knowing he is gay, followed him into the men's restroom
thinking he would be amenable to sex.
TOM RUSSELL: MUTUAL COME-ON AT BOGUS BASIN SKI RESORT
Russell, 48, a Nampa native who lives in Utah, was among three men who
contacted the Statesman about what they described as unusually
attentive behavior on Craig's part. Russell was willing to be named
for this story and spoke in a tape-recorded interview.
Russell worked as a food service manager at Bogus Basin ski resort and
said his encounter probably occurred in the 1983-84 ski season, soon
after Craig had married following the 1982 page scandal. Russell had
taken a food class from Suzanne Craig and had heard the rumors that
Craig was gay.
Russell, openly gay at the time, said he set out to engage Craig "and
attempted to show a personal interest - not in a suggestive way - but
a personal interest to see if he would respond."
"I recall that he was very delighted to talk to me - smiling, happy,
very delighted - and that he had suggested that we could get together
sometime," he said. "Why would he have a personal interest in meeting
me elsewhere?"
Russell said he became convinced Craig was gay because he used subtle
signals consistent with communication between gay men in public
places.
"You've heard the term, 'gaydar'? OK, it's there. You know it. You
know when somebody is raising an eyebrow at you because it's their
gesture when they say 'hello' or when they are subtly trying to send
you a message that they recognize you as being a gay person."
Nothing came of the meeting, Russell said. But he came forward now
because he is offended by Craig's denials.
"I'm disgusted because it's hypocritical, and he's lying. He's lying
through his teeth. Heterosexual men do not behave like that."
____________________________________________________
Harry
