Packwood Says He’ll Turn Over Diaries

Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) conceded defeat in a legal fight over his diaries Monday, agreeing to turn them over to the Senate Ethics Committee for its investigation into allegations of sexual and official misconduct.

Packwood released a statement saying he was ending a challenge to a U.S. District Court order that he provide the panel with the diaries, tapes and transcripts it subpoenaed last year.

Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist earlier this month rejected Packwood’s request to postpone transfer of the diaries to the committee pending a hearing before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals hearing was scheduled for May, but by then the diaries would have been in the hands of the panel.

Packwood’s statement on Monday said, “ . . . it frightens me to think that the private thoughts, hopes, dreams and despairs of all our citizens can now be seized by the government. I now look forward to a resolution of this matter before the Ethics Committee.”