Craig: Newspaper Witch-hunt Caused My Guilty Plea

Please let me apologize to my family, freinds and staff and fellow Idahoans for the cloud placed over Idaho. I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport.

In June, I overreacted and made a poor decision. While I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct at the Minneapolis airport nor anywhere else.

I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in the hopes of making it go away.

I did not seek any counsel from am attorney, staff, friends or family. That was a mistake and i deeply regret it. because of that, I have now retained counsel and i am asking counsel to review this matter and to advise me on how to proceed.

I want to put my state of mind in the context of June 11. For 8 months, leading up to June 11, my family and I have been relentessly and viciously harassed by the Idaho Statesman. If you saw the article today, you know why. Let me be clear. I am not gay. I never have been gay.

Craig says he's not stepping down and will announce next month whether he'll seek re-election.