For all the clarity U.S. Sen. Larry Craig added on Tuesday to his disorderly conduct plea, he might as well have stayed on vacation.

At a rushed appearance before reporters in Boise, the Idaho Republican denied having committed the offense to which he pleaded guilty in June, and being gay. He had said that much on Monday through his staff.

On Tuesday he had a chance to answer the question on everyone’s mind: If he had done nothing wrong, what on earth was he admitting in the guilty plea he signed June 11? Talking to reporters Tuesday, he merely said he pleaded “to a lesser charge in hopes of making it go away.” He gave no explanation for the foot and hand gestures that reportedly occurred between him and arresting officer Sgt. Dave Karsnia, who had described them as well-known signals for an interest in lewd conduct.

Craig claimed that an Idaho Statesman investigation into his sexual orientation amounted to eight months of relentless and vicious harassment of him and his family. That, he said, hounded him into a hasty decision to plead guilty without benefit of legal counsel. For what it’s worth, the Statesman story didn’t see print until this week, after the story of his guilty plea in Minneapolis broke.

But if that’s why Craig admitted a crime he didn’t commit, what led to the incident that resulted in the charge, namely rubbing his foot against that of someone in an adjacent toilet stall in the Minneapolis airport? Craig didn’t admit those facts, nor did he deny them. He just didn’t talk about them with any specificity.

While acknowledging that the lives of public officials like him are open to public criticism and scrutiny, the three-term senator walked away at the end of his statement, refusing to answer questions. So much for leveling with the public.

Craig did deny, emphatically – twice – that he’s gay.

It doesn’t matter if he is. It wouldn’t bother us, and although it seems to bother him, it shouldn’t bother his constituents in Idaho or his colleagues in the Senate.

But it is troubling that any U.S. senator would venture into a public restroom, where the expectation of privacy and modesty is necessarily lowered, and take actions that suggest he was seeking anonymous sex. That kind of behavior brings character and judgment into question and increases the risk of blackmail, regardless of whether the contact were homosexual or heterosexual.

For now, Craig is more interested in restoring his own reputation, and he said he’s retaining the lawyer he didn’t consult before. Having pleaded guilty to a criminal charge, however, he can no longer claim the presumption of innocence. The case has moved to the court of public opinion, and the burden of proof is now on him.