The Book of Bob - excerpts from Bob Packwood's diaries

Washington Monthly, Nov, 1995 by Jennifer Shecter

BONUS: WHAT'S NEXT FOR PACKWOOD?

January 4, 1993: Well, I'll say again, if worse comes to worst, if they don't expel me. They can strip me of my seniority, they can punish me, they can make me pay money to the Senate, which I can pay for out of my campaign funds, except I'd hoped to use that to set up a historical trust, I may be reduced in six years to my pension and Social Security, and on that, I will live quite happily.

June 19, 1989: Ron Crawford has been a close friend of Packwood's for many years. He is also a lobbyist for influential companies such as Shell Oil and for the American Iron and Steel Institute.

November 9, 1989: Packwood is referring to friend and owner of Greenbrier, Bill Furman, and to Tim Lee, a former intern on Packwood's staff and founder of a trucking brokerage. Both men agreed to help the senator keep his alimony payments to Georgie, his wife of 27 years, to a minimum.

January 18, 1990: "Cliff" is Clifford Alexander, a liberal Democrat and the first black Secretary of the Army. He became a lobbyist and the pragmatic nature of his relationship with the Republican Packwood is clear here. Friendship yielded to self-interest when Packwood asked him for a personal favor that Alexander thought would not only hurt his client--the Investment Company Institute (ICI)--but might tarnish his image as well. Packwood's reaction reflects the insecurity that plagues even the most powerful of Washington's elite.

August 27, 1990: Following a Washington tradition of retiring into the lucrative private sectorm Packwood dreamt of working with the regional Bell companies--companies he tried to assist during the tenure as chair of the Senate Communications Subcommittee. His efforts did not go unnoticed: Debra Freidman, Bell Atlantic Mobile's regional marketing director, donated $2,000 to his legal defense trust fund.

May 31, 1991: This goes to show that in Washington, right is sometimes done for the wrong reasons. The large vehicles discussed in this entry cause many fatalities--in addition to tearing up the public highways--and keeping them off the road is a public service.

March 6, 1992: Senator X, later identified as Phil Gramm, apparently promised Packwood $100,000 for use in his campaign, even though this violates the rules on "soft money"--money which is not governed by federal donation limits, and which is supposed to be used only for state or local "party-building" activities, not to support particular federal candidates like Packwood. The funds were transferred with the knowledge of Packwood, and his chief of staff, Elaine Franklin, from the National Republican Senatorial Committee to the Oregon Republican party in time for Packwood's re-election bid against Les AuCoin.

March 23, 1992: In his efforts to circumvent campaign finance laws, Packwood manipulated the use of independent expenditures--money spent supporting a campaign that the candidate supposedly has no knowledge of and has not solicited. Packwood violated Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations by requesting the favor from the Auto Dealers. Former Packwood employee Tim Lee also violated FEC rules, as former employees are not allowed to make independent expenditures.