A BREAK FOR PACKWOOD

The Justice Department closed its 18-month investigation of Sen. Bob Packwood today, deciding against prosecuting the Oregon Republican regarding allegations that he used his influence to solicit job offers from lobbyists for his ex-wife. The Department, which offered no explanation for its decision, had subpoenaed several lobbyists who made job offers. Packwood's problems are hardly over. Today, he spent a second day in closed-door session with the Senate ethics committee, which has kept the job-soliticitation charge alive, along with allegations that Packwood sexually harassed numerous women over two decades andaltered his diaries in an attempt to obstruct the congressional investigation.