Senate Panel to Press Bid for Packwood Diaries

After delaying its sexual misconduct investigation while Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) flirted with resignation, the Senate Ethics Committee is prepared to ask a judge this week to enforce its subpoena for the lawmaker’s diaries.

“The expectation is this is going to be filed Monday,” a Senate source said Saturday.

Although a Senate lawyer was standing by Friday, the papers were not filed because Packwood was considering resigning.

The committee has been investigating allegations that Packwood made unwelcome sexual advances to more than two dozen women.

If the committee proceeds, Packwood would face two subpoenas for his diaries. Clinton Administration sources disclosed that Packwood received a Justice Department subpoena Friday as part of a criminal investigation.

Administration sources said that the Justice Department investigation focuses on whether Packwood’s defense in the Senate of Mitsubishi Electric Co. against unfair trade practice charges was linked to a job offer to his wife from a company lobbyist.

Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) told reporters Saturday, “As far as I know, he’s not going to resign, period.”