Ex-Senator Larry Craig's bathroom sex sting just cost him $242,535

Ex-Senator Larry Craig's bathroom sex sting just cost him $242,535
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Former Senator Larry Craig's adventurous trip to an airport bathroom continues to haunt him, as a federal judge on Tuesday ordered him to pay out more than $242,000 for improperly using campaign funds in his legal defense of that 2007 arrest.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Craig's campaign committee, which covered thousands of dollars of his legal expenses, served as "little more than an alter-ego for Senator Craig himself." Jackson ordered the Idaho Republican to pay back nearly $200,000 to the Treasury for unlawfully used campaign funds, plus a $45,000 fine.

In 2007, Craig was arrested by an undercover officer in the bathroom of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for "lewd conduct" after allegedly trying to solicit sex. After news of the story broke weeks later, Craig said he would resign, though he then changed course and served the remainder of his term.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.