Craig Begins Court Challenge

The judge asked only one procedural question of the prosecutors who after the hearing expressed confidence. "We feel like we have a very strong case," said Patrick Hogan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which oversees the airport police. "I think the facts are clear."

Craig was arrested in June during an undercover sting conducted by police in the Minneapolis airport. A police officer said that Craig, who was traveling between Idaho and Washington, entered an adjacent restroom stall. The officer, who had been responding to complaints about illicit sex in the restroom, said that Craig slid his foot toward him and reached under the stall waving his hand in the manner of gay men seeking sex.

The senator later said he "panicked" after his arrest and agreed to plead guilty to keep the case quiet because his home-state newspaper, the Idaho Statesman, was investigating his sexual orientation.

But the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call broke the story. In the firestorm that followed, Craig, who is married, called a news conference where said he is "not gay."

If Porter accepts the plea withdrawal and schedules a trial on the original charges later this year, Craig would have to fight the criminal charges and a Senate ethics investigation. Craig has said he will not seek reelection in 2008 regardless of the outcome of his criminal case.

The ethics committee's investigation, which will not continue if Craig resigns, was demanded by the GOP leadership. Within days of the revelation of Craig's guilty plea, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) led a political assault on the three-term senator that included stripping him of his senior committee posts, calling for the ethics investigation and privately forcing him to announce his intention to resign.

McConnell declined to comment on Craig's plans to stay beyond his self-imposed resignation deadline.