PACKWOOD CHARGED WITH SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

The Senate ethics committee said it had found "substantialcredible evidence" that Sen. Bob Packwood of Oregon abused his officeand engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct spanning two decades. A five-page committee report released today details 18 cases of alleged sexual harassment over 21 years involving 17 women. The incidents allegedly took place in Packwood's Capitol Hill offices, a Senate elevator, his home, on the campaign trail in Oregon, in a motel room and elsewhere. "With details like 'forcing his tongue in her mouth six times,'" says TIME congressional correspondent Karen Tumulty, "it's incredibly damaging." The committee also accuses Packwood of seeking job offers for his wife from businessmen, of influence peddling and of obstructing preliminary inquiries by altering his personal diaries. The five-term Republican senator now faces a full-scale Senate investigation of the allegations. Possible penalties range from an official rebuke to expulsion from the Senate. In a formal statement, Packwood said he will now "have an opportunity to request an appearance before the committee to discuss the matter, as I did not have a chance to appear before the committee at this preliminary stage."