Embattled Republican Sen. Larry Craig resigned his seat Saturday after a weeklong political maelstrom triggered by revelations he was convicted of soliciting sex in an airport bathroom stall.
Amid unceasing pressure from his party's leaders, the 62-year-old Idaho senator said he feared fallout from the scandal would not allow him to "devote 100 per cent of the time and effort" to his job.
Craig, who now denies any inappropriate activity, indicated he will seek legal advice to determine whether he has recourse to appeal his conviction.
"I have little control over what people choose to believe, but clearly my name is important to me," Craig said at a news conference in Boise, where he was surrounded by family members, including his wife, Suzanne.
"To Idahoans I represent, to my staff, my Senate colleagues but most importantly to my wife and my family, I apologize for what I have caused. I am deeply sorry."
Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after being caught in a June 11 police sting while using a men's room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. According to police reports, Craig tried to initiate a sexual encounter with an undercover officer sitting in adjoining toilet stall.
The senator slid his foot under the stall partition to touch the officer's foot, then swept his hand under the stall. The signals are commonly used by men's seeking sex in public bathrooms, police say.
Craig compounded the situation after his arrest when he produced a business card identifying himself as a senator and - in an apparent bid to intimidate the police officer - remarked, "What do you think about that?"
Craig, who was first elected in 1990, did not disclose his arrest or conviction to his family or Republican colleagues until a newspaper on Capitol Hill reported the incident last Tuesday.
In the days following, Craig said his actions were misconstrued and that he only pleaded guilty keep the story quiet. He also revealed that an Idaho newspaper had been investigating longstanding rumour about his sexual preferences and behaviour.
"I am not gay. I never have been gay," he said at a news conference last week.
The careers of several other U.S. politicians -- notably former president Bill Clinton and Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy - have survived sex-related scandals.
Political analysts say the scandal involving Craig was magnified because he was convicted of a crime and kept silent about the incident.
"It is a truly remarkable thing that politicians get in trouble this way all the time -- thinking they can keep quiet negative information about themselves," said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
"But with so much scrutiny on top level politicians, it was bound to come out ... It's fairly clear to people that he did enough that he thought he needed to plead guilty."
The controversy has demoralized Republicans in Washington because Craig's resignation follows closely on the heels of several other sex and corruption scandals in the past two years.
n September 2006, Florida Rep. Mark Foley resigned after it was revealed he sent dozens of sexually explicit instant messages to 16-year-old Capitol Hill staffers.
This July, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter publicly apologized for committing a "very serious sin" after reports he was a client of the so-called D.C. Madam and regularly frequented a New Orleans brothel.
The sex scandals have come hand in glove with high-profile corruption cases.
Former California Rep. Randall 'Duke' Cunningham was sent to jail in 2006 for accepting a $2.4-million bribe from defence contractors.
Republican "super lobbyist" Jack Abramoff got five years in prison in a fraud and corruption case that also landed Ohio Republican congressman Bob Ney a 30-month sentence.
Earlier this summer, White House aide Scooter Libby was found guilty of perjury and, just last month, FBI agents raided the home of veteran Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens as part of a corruption investigation.
Craig's critics accused him of hypocrisy because, throughout his career, he has cast himself as a family-values conservative and has supported a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
"The thing that caused him a great deal of trouble was that he is a conservative Republican and has raged against homosexuality," said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "And yet here he is caught up in what looks like a gay sex scandal."
After reports of Craig's conviction surfaced, the Idaho senator showed no plans of resigning and said he would decide next month whether to seek re-election.
But Republican leaders, fearing the impact another prolonged scandal would have on voters in the 2008 election, applied enormous pressure in recent days on the senator to quit. It was reported the Republican National Committee intended to publicly call for Craig's resignation if the senator refused to voluntarily step down.
Craig "made a difficult decision, but the right one," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
U.S. President George W. Bush telephoned Craig following the resignation. Bush believes "Senator Craig made the right decision for himself, for his family, his constituents and the United States Senate," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.
It's expected Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, a Republican, will name another Republican to replace Craig until the next election, preserving the party's current 49 Senate seats.
An audio tape of Craig's post-arrest interview with the police revealed the senator accused the undercover officer of entrapment.
