BOISE, Idaho - Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig’s decision to quit spares his party the embarrassment of an indefinitely prolonged scandal following his arrest during a sex sting in a Minneapolis airport bathroom.

Craig will announce his resignation, effective Sept. 30, at a news conference in Boise Saturday morning, GOP officials in Idaho and Washington told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Still, opting to wait a month before officially bowing out raises questions of what Craig hopes to accomplish in Washington once the post-Labor Day session begins.
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Word of the resignation came four days after disclosure that Craig had pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge arising out of his June 11 arrest during a lewd-conduct investigation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Craig’s regional director in Boise, Will Hart, declined to say if the senator will appear in Senate chambers Tuesday. Craig, should he show up, could continue to be a liability for his party as it tries to shed negative publicity, said Jasper LiCalzi, a professor of political economy at Albertson College of Idaho in Caldwell.

“If he’s trying to walk into the Senate chamber, everybody is going to be following him,â€