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Craig hired lawyer before arrest

Betsy Z. Russell
Staff writer
October 25, 2007

Sen. Larry Craig Related: Previous Craig coverage Blogs: Eye on Boise | Huckleberries

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.

Betsy Z. Russell can be reached at (208) 336-2854 or bzrussell@gmail.com.

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