BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE... 
  
From Talking Point Memo 
  
09.04.07 -- 11:15PM // link 
  
More on Craig's (un)resignation 
I would be remiss if I did not mention that after Craig's weekend 'resignation' a number of TPM Readers wrote in to say that his resignation didn't seem nearly as firm or unequivocal as press reports were portraying it. I understood the logic of the parsing, but I still didn't buy it. 
  
What did make me wonder was the legal team Craig signed on -- Craig has hired two vey big team DC lawyers, Billy Martin (crisis management and miscellaneous) and Stan Brand (ethics investigation). 
  
Now, I'm actually not even sure if they go ahead with an ethics investigation once you've resigned. But if they did, who cares? 
  
On the criminal law front, what is there to fight about? Craig is like a senatorial Wile E. Coyote. He's fifteen feet out past the edge of the cliff on the criminal procedure front. The only reason he hasn't fallen yet is that he hasn't looked down. 
  
I've now spoken to a couple DC defense attorney friends who both say that a good defense attorney could have gotten the whole thing thrown out just on the basis of the interrogation. But as far I know, a guilty plea is virtually impossible to take back. Not impossible -- there's always an exception. But my sense is that to even have a shot at it you need some massive procedural flaw in what happened. Changing your mind or not being gay doesn't count. 
  
All of which is to say that the extent of Craig's lawyering up should have been the tell that this story wasn't quite over. 
  
--Josh Marshall