Larry Craig says sex fiasco was gov't business, wants to pay legal bills with campaign cash

Craig has spent more than $200,000 contesting a misdemeanor charge he pleaded guilty to. Not exactly the paradigm of fiscal responsibility!

Folks gave dough to GOP Sen. Larry Craig because they believed in his politics and wanted to help continue his career in the U.S. Senate. Instead, they might end up paying lawyers to argue that Craig really does have one of the widest bathroom stall stances known to man.

SEE ALSO: Larry Craig airport bathroom sex still hilarious on the The Daily Show

Craig wants to use campaign funds to foot the bill for the $216,000 he's spent trying to get the misdemeanor charge he pleaded guilty to in August 2007 removed from his record. But during a hearing before in U.S. District Court yesterday, Judge Amy Berman Jackson sounded less than persuaded by the reasoning Craig and his counsel are employing.

Craig and his legal team argue that because his June 2007 MSP arrest happened during the course of a Senate-related trip from Idaho and D.C., the use of campaign funds for his legal defense is fair game. And although there is precedent for that sort of use of campaign funds, it sounds like Judge Berman Jackson is leaning toward making Craig open his own pocketbook to pay for his pricey defense.

From the New York Daily News:

At a hearing on Monday, [Judge] Berman Jackson threw cold water on [Craig's argument], pointing to a letter Craig's lawyers wrote to the Senate Ethics Committee that described the arrest as "purely personal conduct unrelated to the performance of official Senate duties."

"I'm supposed to ignore that?" she asked.

The FEC wants Craig to return the money to his campaign and pay fines of up to $6,500, along with his campaign treasurer Kaye O'Riordan.

Sure, many Americans argue our political process has gone down the shitter, but Craig's argument really does seem like a stretch. After all, in many cases, Republicans aren't exactly known as being accepting and tolerant when it comes to the gay lifestyle. So the majority of Craig's funders can't be pleased with the way the disgraced ex-senator is hoping to spend their hard-earned cash.