Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Idaho Senator Larry Craig still ``expects to resign'' from the Senate this month and is preparing for the transition, his spokesman said.

``All along we have said he expects to resign on Sept. 30,'' his spokesman, Dan Whiting, said in an e-mailed statement. Craig and his staff ``are working toward that end to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.''

Craig, a Republican, said Sept. 1 that he would leave the Senate after media reports about his arrest June 11 in a bathroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on suspicion of making sexual advances to an undercover policeman in the next stall. On Aug. 8, Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and paid a fine.

This week, Craig said he would fight to clear his name, and Whiting said the senator may not resign if he is cleared before the end of the month.

Craig yesterday asked the Senate ethics committee to consider his arguments for dropping its investigation of his disorderly conduct guilty plea.

``It is my intent to fight the case before the ethics committee while I am a sitting senator,'' Craig said in an e- mailed statement yesterday.

Some Republican leaders have been eager to put the issue behind the party. Before Craig's resignation, Senate Republican leaders forced him to step down from his committee leadership posts and demanded an ethics panel probe of the incident, and three Republicans demanded he leave the Senate.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Senator John Ensign, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, yesterday said Craig should stick to his plan to resign.

To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 6, 2007 12:04 EDT