Craig Leaves Message Discussing Resignation On Wrong Voice Mail

Roll Call reports:

Sen. Larry Craig (R) opened the possibility of reversing his stated intention to resign from the Senate on Sept. 30 in a voice mail message obtained by Roll Call that the Idaho conservative inadvertently left at a wrong number.

Craig left the digitally recorded message on the recipient's mobile phone voice mail Saturday morning, about a half-hour before he announced his intention to resign his Senate seat at month's end. The message was provided to Roll Call by the phone's owner, who is a Washington, D.C., resident not involved in politics and is not the person the Senator was trying to reach. Craig discussed his forthcoming announcement more as a strategy to rehabilitate his political fortunes than a statement about his looming departure.

"Yes, Billy, this is Larry Craig calling. You can reach me on my cell. [Sen.] Arlen Specter [R-Pa.] is now willing to come out in my defense, arguing that it appears, by all that he knows, that I've been railroaded and all of that," Craig said on the voice mail. "Having all of that, we've reshaped my statement a little bit to say it is my 'intent' to resign on Sept. 30.

"I think it is very important for you to make as bold a statement as you are comfortable with this afternoon and I would hope you could make it in front of the cameras," Craig continued. "I think it would help drive the story that I am willing to fight, that I've got quality people out there fighting in my defense, and that this thing could take a new turn or a new shape; it has that potential."

Although it could not be determined who the Senator was trying to reach when he incorrectly dialed the phone number, Craig recently hired Washington, D.C., lawyer Billy Martin, who put out a statement Saturday in support of his new client.

Read the full story here.