Evangelical Leader
Says He Bought Meth
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, November 3, 2006
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The
Rev. Ted Haggard said Friday he bought methamphetamine and received a massage
from a male prostitute. But the influential Christian evangelist insisted
he threw the drugs away and never had sex with the man.
Haggard, who as president of the National Association of Evangelicals wielded
influence on Capitol Hill and condemned both gay marriage and homosexuality,
resigned on Thursday after a Denver man named Mike Jones claimed that he had
many drug-fueled trysts with Haggard.
On Friday, Haggard said that he received a massage from Jones after being
referred to him by a Denver hotel, and that he bought meth for himself from the
man.
But Haggard said he never had sex with Jones. And as for the drugs, ''I
was tempted, but I never used it,'' the 50-year-old Haggard told reporters from
his vehicle while leaving his home with his wife and three of his five children.
Jones, 49, denied selling meth to Haggard. ''Never,'' he told MSNBC.
Haggard ''met someone else that I had hooked him up with to buy it.''
Jones also scoffed at the idea that a hotel would have sent Haggard to him.
''No concierge in Denver would have referred me,'' he said. He said he had
advertised himself as an escort only in gay publications or on gay Web sites.
Jones did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press on Friday.
In addition to resigning his post at the NAE, which claims 30 million members,
Haggard stepped aside as leader of his 14,000-member New Life Church pending a
church investigation. In a TV interview this week, he said: ''Never
had a gay relationship with anybody, and I'm steady with my wife, I'm faithful
to my wife.''
In Denver, where Jones said his encounters with Haggard took place, police said
in a news release they planned to contact the people involved for information on
whether a crime was committed. The statement did not say whether an
investigation was under way, and police spokeswoman Virginia Quinones declined
to elaborate.
Lynn Kimbrough, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, said that a
public admission isn't enough by itself to bring a case, but that charges will
be filed if criminal conduct can be proved.
Jones claims Haggard paid him for sex nearly every month for three years until
August. He said Haggard identified himself as ''Art.'' Jones said
that he learned who Haggard really was when he saw the evangelical leader on
television.
Jones said he went public with the allegations because Haggard has supported a
measure on Tuesday's ballot that would amend the state constitution to ban gay
marriage. Jones said he was also angry that Haggard in public condemned
gay sex.
Haggard, who had been president of the NAE since 2003, has participated in
conservative Christian leaders' conference calls with White House staffers and
lobbied members of Congress last year on U.S. Supreme Court nominees.
The NAE's executive committee issued a statement Friday praising Haggard's
service but saying ''it is especially serious when a pastor and prominent
Christian leader deliberately violates God's standards of conduct.''
The statement did not mention the allegations against Haggard beyond noting he
had admitted to ''some indiscretions.''
''Due to the seriousness of Rev. Haggard's misconduct while in the leadership
roles he held, we anticipate that an extended period of recovery will be
appropriate,'' the statement said.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto said Friday that Haggard had
visited the White House once or twice and participated in some of the conference
calls. He declined to comment further, calling the matter a personal issue
for Haggard.
Corwin Smidt, a political scientist at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.,
and director of the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics there,
said that Haggard's role with the association gave him some political clout, but
that the group's focus is more on religion than political activism.
''It isn't necessarily that all evangelicals are paying close attention to what
he's saying and doing, but he is an important leader,'' Smidt said.
James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, an influential conservative Christian
ministry based in Colorado Springs, said he was ''heartsick'' over the
allegations. He described Haggard as his close friend and colleague.
Aaron Stern, another pastor at New Life, told Associated Press Television News
on Friday that Haggard is a man of integrity and that church members don't know
whether to believe the allegations.
Stern said he has been telling church members seeking his advice: ''People
do things we don't expect them to do, but in the midst of all of that our God is
faithful, our God is strong.''
Jones took a lie-detector test Friday, and his answers to questions about
whether he had sexual contact with Haggard ''indicated deception,'' said John
Kresnick, who administered the test free at the request of a Denver radio
station.
Jones told reporters afterward: ''I am confused why I failed that, other
than the fact that I'm totally exhausted.''
Associated Press writers Robert Weller and Dan Elliott in
Denver contributed to this report.
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