The senior senator from Idaho was arrested in Alexandria, Va., early Sunday morning and charged with driving under the influence.
Police said Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), driving alone in the D.C. suburb, ran a red light, after which he was pulled over and failed field sobriety tests. He was arrested at about 12:45 a.m. and submitted to a blood alcohol test.
Alexandria cops said the senator’s blood alcohol was .110, above the commonwealth’s legal limit of .08.
Crapo was released at 5 a.m. after posting $1,000 bond. He’s due in court Jan. 4. It’s unclear why he was still in town as the Senate was cut loose Friday after a memorial service for Sen. Daniel Inouye, and lawmakers either headed home for the short holiday break before returning Dec. 27 to resume fiscal cliff negotiations, or went to Hawaii for Inouye’s funeral earlier today.
In his third Senate term, Crapo doesn’t face re-election until 2016.
“I am deeply sorry for the actions that resulted in this circumstance,” Crapo said in a statement Sunday night. “I made a mistake for which I apologize to my family, my Idaho constituents and any others who have put their trust in me. I accept total responsibility and will deal with whatever penalty comes my way in this matter. I will also undertake measures to ensure that this circumstance is never repeated.”
The Associated Press was noting that Crapo, a Mormon, has told the news wire in past interviews that he doesn’t drink.
Idaho had a previous problem with a GOP senator in 2007, when Larry Craig was arrested for lewd conduct in the men’s room at an airport. Craig resigned at the end of his term and was succeeded by Jim Risch (R) in 2008.
Some elected Republicans at the federal level apparently don’t understand how their (mis)behavior affects local elections across our fruited plain. Every time a nationally prominent Republican misbehaves, I have to (painfully) hear about it from one of our resident liberals, whose family also happens to own the local newspaper. You can guess the slant of this newspaper, but here’s a hint: it ain’t Republican-friendly.
Attention Republicans in Congress: You weren’t sent there to drink, carouse, party and/or have affairs. You were sent there to do a job – so do it and stop the Kennedy family impersonations.
Merry – hic – Christmas !
What’s the big deal? Ted Kennedy drove drunk, killed a girl and still spent decades in the Senate. Other Dems have done terrible things and their worshipers only loved them more. Maybe Republicans just expect more from their representatives.
Of course, had it been a Democrat, the party affiliation wouldn’t have been mentioned.
At least he didn’t kill anyone, unlike The Swimmer.
Yeah, and I bet he voted for the transportation funding bill that imposed the .08 standard on the states. A few years ago the cops would have been reluctant to pop somebody for a .11 when the standard was .10. At .08 unless you are a really big guy, you can’t share a bottle of wine, two glasses each, with your wife and be legal to drive. Add that fact to the mandatory seat belt laws that many states have adopted that allow an officer to stop you on the observation or allegation that your or even someone in your car wasn’t wearing a belt and “drunk driving” has become a cash cow for the states and polisubs, e.g., “I observed that the driver was not wearing his seat belt and pulled him over. As I stood at the window I detected the odor of alcohol and his eyes looked glassy so I administered a field sobriety test which he failed.” Doesn’t matter if you really did have your belt on, he’s gotcha and in the dark on uneven ground, many people can’t pass field sobriety tests even cold sober.
That said, the moral of the story is that any Republican officeholder has to be Caesar’s Wife. When I was an appointee I wouldn’t have dared drive home from downtown Juneau if I’d had anything, I mean anything, to drink because I knew that somebody would drop a dime on me, there’s nothing the unionized police force there would have liked better than busting me, and a DUI for a Republican was front page above the fold in both the Juneau Empire and the Anchorage Daily News.
Cue Tina Trent to come tell how most cops are angels and saints…
..when most are average at best and all have a bad incentive structure with respect to being decent human beings.
You’re abosolutely correct about many of ‘todays’ cops, but they are rungs above 98.9% of lawyers, using the decent human being test.
“The Associated Press was noting that Crapo, a Mormon, has told the news wire in past interviews that he doesn’t drink.”
Now THERE’S your problem …
Stuff happens. People make mistakes. He screwed up, he seems to get that.