More Packwood Allegations Revealed

A former campaign volunteer said Friday that Sen. Bob Packwood called her last month trying to gather potentially damaging information about a woman who accused the Oregon Republican of sexual harassment.

Mabsie Walters, a former president of the Oregon chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League, said Packwood called her Nov. 9 to ask about Mary Heffernan, who founded the chapter.

Heffernan is among five women who have publicly said that they were targets of unwelcome sexual overtures from Packwood during his 24-year Senate career. Heffernan said that, during a visit to his office in the early 1980s, Packwood grabbed her arms and kissed her.

Another of the five women, Julie Williamson, has said that a Packwood friend warned her last spring that her private life would be made public if she accused the senator.

Packwood checked into an alcohol treatment facility last week, and, without admitting improper behavior, has apologized for any embarrassment he caused.

Walters, who has known Packwood since she was a volunteer in his 1980 campaign, said Friday that her conversation with the senator lasted 5 to 10 minutes.

“He asked me, ‘Didn’t Mary Heffernan have a nervous breakdown?’ ” Walters said. She said she told Packwood that she had never heard that.

Heffernan said she didn’t know why Packwood would ask that question. “There is absolutely nothing like that in my history,” she said.

The Washington Post published the allegations of sexual harassment against Packwood on Nov. 22, but had first interviewed the senator on the subject on Oct. 29.

Walters said Packwood called her on Nov. 9.

“After I finished the call, I was curious why he wanted to know,” Walters said Friday, in a telephone interview from Bend, Ore.

“After I saw The Post article and read that he had tried to discredit the women, I felt differently about it,” Walters said. “I believe he was looking for detrimental information about one of the alleged victims.”

An aide in Packwood’s office said Friday that there was no immediate response to Walters’ statements.

Before publication, The Post said, Packwood gave the newspaper several statements it said were intended to question the credibility of the women accusing the senator.

Elaine Franklin, Packwood’s chief of staff, has refused to make those statements public. She said Packwood and his staff do not intend to comment specifically on any allegations or any of the women making the allegations.

Williamson said that what bothers her most is the extent to which Packwood and his associates have gone to allegedly pressure the women to keep quiet.

Williamson said a friend of Packwood’s, Ann Elias, telephoned her in May and warned that she had best not make public her allegations about Packwood unless she wanted her personal life to be scrutinized publicly.

Elias, now living in Seattle, has declined comment. Franklin said on Monday that she had no knowledge of such a telephone call.

“It’s the power that gives him the ability to do this,” Williamson said. “If he wasn’t a U.S. senator, he wouldn’t have the power to shut people up. He wouldn’t have staff people to cover it up. There are still five people out there in The Post story who are afraid to put their name on their allegations.”

Also Friday, 59 female members of the Oregon Farm Bureau sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell critical of the treatment of Packwood.

“We are heading for a modern witch hunt, in which men and women will be subject to losing their jobs over unsupported, unproven allegations of sexual misconduct. Our Constitution guarantees citizens of the United States due process under the law.

“Apparently, Packwood’s political opponents do not believe that this basic right applies to Bob Packwood,” the letter said. “They have judged him guilty without evidence and are now trying to hang him without trial.”