Larry Craig's Appeal Stalls

A Minnesota court has rejected wide-standing Sen. Larry Craig's latest attempt to withdraw the guilty plea he issued after soliciting an undercover cop in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. Craig's contention that he hadn't committed a crime and that he was pressured into the plea didn’t sway the Minnesota state Court of Appeals, who affirmed a decision by the Hennepin County District Court. The Senator also argued that his actions constituted free speech, something that the appeals court's chief judge Edward Toussaint Jr. didn't necessarily disagree with. But, the judge added, Craig's speech (or toe-tapping, as it was) can be legally restricted as it invaded the "privacy interest" of a "captive audience," or the undercover cop. "I disagree with their conclusion and remain steadfast in my belief that nothing criminal or improper occurred at the Minneapolis airport," Craig said in a statement.