Some expected Sen. John McGee to apologize to the Senate when he rose during today's session, but McGee told Eye on Boise, "My family was sitting up there. I was much more focused on, we had just got done with that caucus meeting. That was an introduction of my family, a compliment to my wife. ... That was five minutes after the caucus meeting."

During the nearly two-hour closed-door confab, McGee apologized to the caucus, which then discussed and voted on whether he should keep his leadership post as caucus chairman; the vote was to keep him. "It was frank, and it was honest," McGee said. "That was the first time we'd really had a chance to be together and address that issue. It was a very good and frank discussion, by a lot of well-meaning people."

McGee said the caucus didn't want explanations of what happened in the bizarre incident last May that left McGee with a DUI conviction and a battered reputation. "This was an opportunity for me to be in front of them and offer my apology," he said. "They want to move on. That's hopefully what we've done today." He added, "I'm really ashamed that I embarrassed my peers and my constituents and most importantly my family," saying, "I have and I will continue to be spending a lot of my time apologizing, and I should."