He Said, They Said: Craig Denies Claims of More Sexual Advances

Dec. 3, 2007 — -- Craig's list of accusers is getting longer.

Two men, including a former male escort, have confirmed to ABC News the allegations that they've had sexual encounters with Idaho's embattled Sen. Larry Craig.

Mike Jones, 50, told ABC News that Craig paid him $200 for sex during the winter of 2004-2005.

A second man, a 50-year old former Army captain, also told ABC News that Craig made sexual advances toward him in the men's room of a Republican gathering in Washington state in 1981.

The men were two of eight new people who claimed encounters with Craig in an article published Sunday by the Idaho Statesman newspaper. (click here to listen to audio tapes of interviews with the men).

Craig released a statement today calling the accusations "completely false."He also renewed his intention to serve out the rest of his term. "I will not let this paper'sattempt to malign my name stop me from continuing my work to serve the people of Idaho."

Both men who talked to ABC News said they were frustrated with what they saw as the senator's continuing "hypocrisy'' about his sexuality. Craig has a history as a Republican legislator of opposing gay marriage and gay rights.

Jones, the former male escort, also said he was paid to have sex with the Rev.Ted Haggard, who first denied, then admitted to the encounter. In November 2006, Haggard resigned as president of the National Evangelical Association.

Four men have identified themselves publicly to the newspaper and claimed to have had sexual encounters with Craig, and four more men have made claims but refused to allow their names to be used.

Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after he was accused by an undercover police officer of soliciting gay sex in the men's room of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. After a press conference in which he angrily denied that he was a homosexual, he changed his plans to step down from his office. While he has said he won't run for another term, he plans to finish out his current term, which ends in January 2009.

The newspaper reported that it conducted background checks on five of the men, and found nothing to disprove their claims. The newspaper also said it verified Craig's travel records where possible.

The Statesman acknowledged that it had not uncovered any definitive evidence of the claims. ''There are no videos, no love letters, no voice messages,'' wrote veteran Statesman reporter Dan Popkey. "Like last August,'' he wrote, referring to news of Craig's detention at the Minnesota airport, "they are he-said, he-said allegations about a man seeking discreet sex from partners whom he counted on to never tell."