‘Happy’ Packwood Has Long Day Oregon Senator Not Finished With Ethics Committee Sessions

Sen. Bob Packwood met in private Tuesday with the Ethics Committee, declaring he welcomed the chance to answer charges of sexual misconduct, obstruction and conflict of interest.

Packwood, R-Ore., was with the six-member committee for morning and afternoon sessions, his first appearance before the panel since it lodged formal charges against him last month.

“I’m happy to be doing this. I’m glad to be doing this,” Packwood said before his appearance. “It’s just that you’d like to finish and get on with the rest of the business that I’d like to turn myself to.”

Despite Packwood’s wish, the committee members ended Tuesday’s meeting without finishing their session with him. It was not clear when the next session would take place.

After about 3 1/2 hours before the committee, Packwood emerged with his lawyers in a joking mood, telling reporters, “We reached agreement on the welfare bill.” He then turned serious and declined to comment on the proceedings.

The panel’s May 16 resolution concluded there was “substantial credible evidence” that the Finance Committee chairman may have abused his office and discredited the Senate. The resolution, similar to an indictment, charged Packwood with:

“A pattern of sexual misconduct” toward women in 18 instances between 1969 and 1990, including grabbing and kissing them against their will.

Altering his diaries between December 1992 and November 1993, when “he knew or should have known” the materials were needed for the investigation.

Soliciting financial support for his wife “from persons with an interest in legislation.”

Packwood has until July 3 to ask the committee for a hearing. The committee also could order a hearing or make recommendations to the Senate without such a proceeding.

Senate Republican Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi said he thought a public hearing would be a mistake. Lott served on the Ethics Committee during its last public hearings, in the case of five senators with ties to savings and loan figure Charles Keating.

“I’ve been through that and it was a disaster the last time we did it in my humble opinion,” Lott told reporters.

Lott, who has said previously that the ethics process was too cumbersome, added, “There has got to be a better way to do this. We have too many steps in the process.”

“We need to take a long hard look” at the committee playing the roles of “the grand jury, the judge and the jury,” he said.