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(Photo: AP)
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Bob Packwood was first elected to the Senate in 1968 as a Republican from Oregon. He was reelected four consecutive times, and became chair of the powerful Finance Committee, but he resigned his seat in September 1995, after the Senate's Ethics Committee recommended that he be expelled.
It seems that Packwood had a penchant for sexual harassment. Twenty-nine women, many of them congressional aides and interns, accused the senator of sexual misconduct - including charges of groping, forced kissing and propositioning sex. The Ethics Committee found evidence supporting 17 of those claims. They also held Packwood accountable for other charges, including using his influence to get a job for his wife and altering his personal diary to help hide his misconduct.
The Ethics Committee released 10,000 documents and diary excerpts to illustrate the depth of Packwood's violations.
Packwood wrote: "But I said wait a minute. You and I have made love maybe six or seven times. She says, 'At the most.' I said, 'Well, six or seven times, and you were telling me then that you maybe made love once a year. I was feeling sorry for you and thinking I was doing my Christian duty by making love to you."
However, despite the lengthy list of allegations against Packwood, the Justice Department refused to pursue prosecution.
When Packwood was asked on the CBS News program "Face The Nation" about his sexual misconduct in 1995, he said, "In some cases, I was very frankly so drunk that I cannot remember the evening."
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