Sen. Bob Packwood, forced to speak publicly about his diaries for the first time, tried desperately Monday to persuade colleagues not to force him to turn over his private journal to a Senate committee looking into allegations of sexual harassment.
In a rare public session that put him in the position of defending himself against other senators acting as prosecutors, Packwood (R-Ore.) tried to appeal to their compassion and desire for privacy, as well as the unspoken fear that someone else’s papers might be subpoenaed next.
With Senate galleries filled and millions watching on TV, Packwood offered to make a deal to reveal portions of the diaries related to sexual charges or possible criminal wrongdoing if he could find out what those charges might be.
All six members of the Senate Ethics Committee, three Republicans and three Democrats, voted to subpoena the diaries. The Senate faced the specter of public ridicule for being unable to police itself if it failed to support its own committee’s subpoena.
Although most senators were in attendance, they sat quietly at their desks. No one rose to defend Packwood.
Even if the Senate votes to support the subpoena-it recessed Monday without deciding-the issue likely will be fought again in federal court. Many are hopeful of averting a vote with a compromise, but no compromise appeared on the horizon.
New allegations surfaced Monday over whether Packwood might have illegally pressured a lobbyist to offer his ex-wife a job, enabling him to pay less in alimony. The Portland Oregonian reported that Packwood’s diaries, dated from early 1989 to present, mention a job offer to Georgie Packwood and name Steven Saunders, a lobbyist for Japan.
Packwood used the Oregonian story Monday to bolster his argument that leaks can occur any time a private document is put into the public domain, regardless of safeguards to protect privacy.
Packwood, under investigation for allegedly sexually harassing at least two dozen women and using his staff to intimidate them, revealed for the first time how the existence of the 8,000-page diary became known.
Pacing slightly at his desk and looking drawn, he said it happened during his testimony under oath before the Senate Ethics Committee about one of the women who had filed a complaint of sexual harassment. In that context, he said, he was asked if he had any information that could corroborate his statement.
“It was in the diary,” Packwood said. “If I say `no’ I’m guilty of perjury. If I say `yes’ I have opened up the diary. So I said `yes.’ “
Sen. Richard Bryan (D-Nev.), chairman of the Ethics Committee, recounted that the committee had asked for the diaries and allowed Packwood and his lawyers to blot out attorney-client references, physician-patient references and purely family matters. That procedure went forward through about 5,000 pages of diary until new material was discovered last month, Bryan said, that might indicate illegal activity unrelated to the charges of sexual harassment. At that point, Packwood and his lawyers withdrew the diaries, forcing the committee to subpoena the rest, Bryan said.
As the fight played out over the last few weeks, it became more and more public, with references made to what was discussed in the diaries, including mention of other senators and at least one member of the House Democratic leadership. Late last week, Bryan revealed that the committee wanted the diaries to pursue possible criminal conduct.
