Pastor: It was a massage and meth, not gay sex

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 (NAE) wielded influence on Capitol Hill and condemned gay marriage and homosexuality, resigned Thursday after Mike Jones, of Denver, said he had many drug-fueled trysts with Haggard.

On Friday, Haggard, 50, said 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. As for the drug, "I was tempted, but I never used it," he said, smiling constantly from the driver's seat of his pickup as he answered questions from reporters outside his home.

His wife and three of their five children were in the truck.

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.

He said he decided to come forward because he thought Haggard's public stand against gay marriage was hypocritical. The pastor has spoken out in favor of a measure to ban same-sex marriage on the ballot Tuesday in Colorado.

"How dare he say it's wrong for homosexuals to be able to have marriage with their partner, consenting adults, who they love, and he can have it but go behind his wife's back and have gay sex?" Jones said.

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, 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 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.

The 11-member executive committee of the NAE said late Friday it had accepted Haggard's resignation. Given "the seriousness of Rev. Haggard's misconduct while in the leadership roles he held, we anticipate an extended period of recovery will be appropriate," the board said.

Haggard's admissions came as the White House and some conservative Christians sought to play down his political influence in Washington and predicted the scandal would have no impact on the midterm elections.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto denied Haggard was a regular participant in weekly conference calls between White House officials and evangelical leaders that began when President Bush took office in 2001 and have continued since.

"He had been on a couple of calls, but was not a weekly participant in those calls. I believe he's been to the White House one or two times. ... But there have been a lot of people who come to the White House," Fratto said.

As head of the NAE since 2003, Haggard has been a leading moderate voice among evangelicals. He sparred, publicly and privately, with some big-name evangelists as he and other NAE officials embraced a growing list of moral issues, including global warming, and urged evangelicals not to speak harshly about Islam.

Some fellow conservative Christian leaders got in their digs Friday. "We're sad to see any evangelical leader fall," the Rev. Pat Robertson said on his television show, "The 700 Club." But, he added, it "just isn't true" that the NAE represents 30 million churchgoers, as the association claims.

"We can't get their financial data. I think it's because they have very little money and very little influence," Robertson said.

James Dobson, chairman and founder of Focus on the Family, headquartered near Haggard's megachurch, called Haggard a "close friend."

"Nevertheless, sexual sin, whether homosexual or heterosexual, has serious consequences, and we are extremely concerned for Ted, his family and his church," Dobson said.

The veracity of Jones' claims remained in doubt Friday. After he voluntarily submitted to a polygraph test Friday morning, the examiner said on a Denver radio-talk show that he showed "deception" when asked about the sexual allegations. However, the polygrapher said he wanted Jones to repeat the test later when he is rested.

In addition, Jones made public two voice-mail recordings, and Colorado TV station KUSA said an expert analysis confirmed the voice was Haggard's. According to Jones, Haggard always called himself "Art," his middle name, when arranging for sex and drugs.

"Hi, Mike, this is Art," one of the voice mails begins. "Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more. Either $100 or $200 supply. ... And I could pick it up really anytime. ... I also wanted to get your address so I could send you some money for inventory."

Jones has been arrested once in Colorado for felony drug possession, in January 2003. State records do not show the outcome of that case.

On Friday night, hundreds of cars packed the New Life Church parking lot. A man bundled up against the cold held a pair of signs that read: "God still loves you, Ted," and "So do I."

Material from The Washington Post, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times is included in this report.