Sen. Craig replaces communications team

WASHINGTON – Sen. Larry Craig has a new communications team as he enters the final year of his 18-year Senate career.

Dan Whiting, who served as Craig’s chief spokesman during the uproar over the senator’s arrest in a men’s restroom sex sting last year, is leaving to join the Bush administration.

Whiting starts Monday as chief of staff for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of the Department of Agriculture. His replacement as communications director is Susan Irby, who worked for Mississippi Republican Trent Lott for more than two decades before Lott’s retirement from the Senate last year.

Whiting’s departure follows that of Sid Smith, Craig’s Boise-based press secretary who also was a key public voice for Craig in last year’s scandal. Smith started last month as executive director of the Idaho Republican Party.

During the height of the media frenzy over Craig’s arrest in an airport restroom last summer, Whiting handled much of the national and international media, while Smith responded to media in Idaho.

Irby said her new post is a natural fit. Lott and Craig were close allies in the Senate, and they made up half of the now-defunct “Singing Senators” barbershop quartet.

Craig, like Lott, is committed to cutting spending, taxes and federal regulations while rebuilding national security, Irby said.

“Sen. Craig is committed to maintaining that same level of dedication in his service to Idaho and the nation throughout his last term, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to work with him,” she said.

Kyle Hines, a former TV news producer in Salt Lake City, joins Craig’s staff as deputy communications director. He replaces Jacq Landa, who is Craig’s new Washington-based press secretary. Landa has been on Craig’s staff since 2006.

Will Hart replaces Smith as Craig’s spokesman in Idaho. Hart has worked for Craig since 1998 and previously served as regional director in the Boise office.

Whiting, 35, said he was happy to get back to his policy roots and to serve in the administration before President Bush leaves office.

The latest staff shuffle was more about Craig’s impending departure from the Senate than fallout from the senator’s arrest, Whiting said.

“It was clearly a trying time. I could have left a lot earlier, but I chose to help (Craig) out for a few more months and then a good opportunity came along,” he said.

Craig “is still working hard for Idaho, and he will continue to do so long after his term ends (in January), despite what some might think,” Whiting said.

Craig was arrested in June in a restroom stall at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport during an undercover sting. A police officer said Craig tapped his feet and swiped his hand under a stall divider in a way that signaled he wanted sex.

After news of his arrest and guilty plea became public in August, Craig denied wrongdoing. After first saying he would resign, Craig reversed course and said he would stay in office through January, when his third six-year term expires.

Craig’s lawyers have asked a court of appeals to vacate his guilty plea.