In a forceful defense to charges that he engaged in lewd acts in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis airport, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig said Tuesday, "I am not gay," and accused a newspaper of attacking him and his family.

"I have brought a cloud over Idaho. For that, I ask the people of Idaho for their forgiveness," Craig said.

A court docket said Craig pleaded guilty this month to misdemeanor disorderly conduct after being arrested at the Minneapolis airport.

Craig told reporters gathered in Idaho that "I did nothing wrong" at the Minneapolis airport. Instead, he pleaded guilty to what he called a "lesser charge" in the hopes of keeping his arrest quiet.

He didn't tell his family or friends of the arrest, he said, and instead "overreacted and made a bad decision."

He also sought to shift blame for the affair to the news media, blaming the Idaho Statesman newspaper for "viciously attacking" him and his family.

"The Statesman has engaged in this witch hunt. In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis, because of the stress of the Idaho Statesman’s investigation and the rumors it has fueled around Idaho. Again, that overreaction was a mistake, and I apologize for my misjudgment," Craig said.

"I am not gay. I never have been gay," he told reporters. "I should not have kept this arrest to myself."

Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper that first reported the case, said on its Web site that Craig was arrested June 11 by a plainclothes officer investigating complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the airport.

The docket showed Craig pleaded guilty to the disorderly conduct charge on Aug. 8, with the court dismissing a charge of gross misdemeanor interference to privacy. Craig was fined $1,000, plus $575 in fees.

Craig has a record of voting against gay marriage and opposes extending special protections to gay and lesbian crime victims.

The three-term senator, who has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is up for re-election next year. He hasn't said if he will run for a fourth term in 2008 and was expected to announce his plans this fall.

Jasper LiCalzi, a political science professor at Albertson College of Idaho in Caldwell, said that there's a chance Craig would have to resign, citing the House page scandal that drove Florida Rep. Mark Foley from office.

Senate Republican leaders said Tuesday they plan to call for an ethics committee review of the case.

"With the pressure on the Republican Party, he could be pressured to resign," LiCalzi said. "If they think this is going to be something that's the same as Mark Foley -- the sort of 'drip, drip, drip, there's more information that's going to come out' -- they may try to push him out."

The head of the GOP in Idaho said that Craig carries clout as the ranking member of the appropriations committee, and that Craig should be given the benefit of the doubt.

"United States Senator Larry Craig has been a stalwart in supporting Idaho and ensuring that the needs of Idaho citizens have been well-represented at the highest levels of our nation’s government," Chairman, J. Kirk Sullivan said. "Until the facts of this situation are made clear, I would encourage all Idahoans to avoid rushing to judgment and making brash statements about a man who has dedicated his life to public service."

Craig has been a supporter of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, serving as a Senate liaison for the campaign since February. According to Romney's Web site, Craig has stepped down from his role with the campaign.

As word spread of Craig's guilty plea, a Romney campaign spokesman said Craig stepped down so as not to be a "distraction" to the campaign.