Packwood Ethics Probe Is Still Unfinished--19 Months Later

The preliminary investigation of Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) remains incomplete after a 19-month probe of sexual misconduct and other matters, the Senate Ethics Committee announced Friday.

Delays in obtaining Packwood’s diaries have left the inquiry more than a year behind schedule and postponed a decision on holding public hearings.

During the remainder of the year, the committee said, it will review tapes of the diaries, finish taking a sworn statement from the senator “and undertake any additional inquiries necessitated by the review and deposition.”

Providing a status report after months of official silence, the committee said in a written statement that it has yet to receive the tapes--which may, according to the panel, have been altered by Packwood.

“Provided the tapes are received and no unforeseen circumstances arise, the committee staff will then prepare the preliminary inquiry report for presentation to the committee,” the statement said. “Any discussion of the future course of the inquiry will occur after the committee receives the report.”

More than two dozen women have accused Packwood of making unwanted sexual advances, and some have accused him of touching and kissing them against their will. Several were Senate employees at the time.

The panel is also looking at job offers that businessmen and lobbyists made to Packwood’s wife while the couple were going through a divorce--and his alimony payments were being determined.