Just how much experience is the subject of a Senate ethics committee investigation. For nearly a year the six-member panel has been looking into allegations that the Oregon Republican made unwanted advances to more than two dozen aides and lobbyists, and then tried to cow them into silence. This week a reluctant Senate will take up the whole sordid mess in a vote on whether to ask a judge to require Packwood to turn over his personal diaries to the ethics committee. Packwood so far has refused to comply with the committee’s subpoena.
Now the case has taken a new turn. Committee chairman Richard Bryan suggested last week that Packwood may be concerned about something more than groping. The Nevada Democrat alleged that the diaries–some 8,200 pages covering a two-decade period–may include evidence of criminal misconduct by Packwood quite apart from any sexual charges. Conflicting rumors swirled, but Hill sources speculated that Bryan was referring to possible violations of the campaign-finance laws. Committee lawyers are interested in diary entries from 1989-92, a period in which the senator was engaged in a tough re-election fight.
Republicans are now crying that Bryan has launched a fishing expedition. Some senators are worried that their own privacy will be violated if the diaries are made public; Packwood’s lawyer has warned of passages detailing the sexual affairs of other congressmen. Last week a woman identifying herself as “Mrs. Jane Doe” complained in a letter to Bryan that the subpoena would threaten her reputation. Her relationship with Packwood, she says, was “consensual.” But the talk of criminal misconduct increased the odds that senators will vote against Packwood. “He’s on the way to a train wreck,” said Bob Bennett, a former special counsel to the committee.
On the Hill, some Republicans and Democratic aides suggested Packwood ought to do the noble thing and resign. That certainly would prevent further embarrassment to the Senate. But friends say he won’t quit. “This job is the most important thing in the world to him,” says a buddy of 25 years. Still, friends describe him as “tired and haggard”–more so because he has stopped drinking and is without “the crutch that used to get him through everything.”
There may be a more practical reason why Packwood hangs on. With legal fees rumored to be nearly $1 million, he needs to hustle contributions for his defense. As the ranking GOP on the Finance Committee, he has natural links to corporate and union political-action committees. Among the donors to his defense fund: The Airline Pilots Association ($10,000), Coors executive Marvin Johnson ($2,000) and lobbyist J. D. Williams ($1,000). “It’s easier to raise money as an embattled senator than one who has resigned and has a big bill to pay,” said a Senate GOP aide. Packwood has to worry that if the diaries are released, the donations might dry up and, with them, his best shot at defending against what could be an expanding array of charges.
