The Labor Day Knucklehead Award Marathon Part Nine

Our ninth winner of the day is United States Senator Larry Craig. He gets the award for the following.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican senator confirmed on Monday that he pleaded guilty earlier this month to a charge of disorderly conduct after he was arrested at a Minnesota airport.

Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho was arrested in June by a plainclothes police officer investigating complaints of lewd conduct in the men's public toilet at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported.

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Craig pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct on August 8 and paid more than $500 in fines and fees. He also was given one year of probation, Roll Call reported.

According to the police report, Craig entered a bathroom stall next to the investigator, placed his bag against the front of the door and tapped his foot in a signal commonly used to try to pick up men in public toilets.

"I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct," Roll Call wrote, quoting the investigator in the police incident report.

Craig, a married father of three, is in his third term and up for re-election next year. He is a former chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the No. 4 leadership position in the Senate.

A gay rights activist claimed in a Web log in October last year that Craig had had several gay relationships. The senator's office denied it, telling the Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, Washington that the allegations were "completely ridiculous" and had "no basis in fact."

Questions about Craig's sexuality have been around for years.

Another sick politician who feels a need for sex in a public restroom. We had one down here in Florida, and Craig can join them for as much as I care as long as they do it in private. Idaho Senator Larry Craig has since resigned but that doesn't prevent him from becoming our ninth Knucklehead winner of the Day.

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