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According to arcane Senate rules, the Durenberger hearing will be a "formal investigation." It has been nearly a decade since a Senate ethics committee has reached that stage. Usually, the accused lawmaker resigns ahead of time, as Wright did. New Jersey's Harrison Williams, enmeshed in the Abscam bribery scandal, waited out a formal investigation in 1981, then resigned before the Senate could vote on the panel's recommendation to expel him.
No negotiations between Durenberger and the committee appear to be taking place, although the Senator's aides say, "No options have been foreclosed." Congressional experts believe any "plea bargain" Durenberger might strike would have to include his resignation. "What Durenberger did was all calculated, not something he fell into," says one political consultant. "How could the Senate sweep it under the rug?" The rug is already bulging with scandals: ethics investigations are proceeding against Senators Alan Cranston, John McCain, Dennis DeConcini, Donald Riegle and John Glenn for their ties to savings and loan operator Charles Keating; and New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato is under scrutiny for handing out federal housing grants to some campaign contributors.
Even if the Senate ethics committee should recommend censure or a reprimand for Durenberger rather than expulsion, the Senator is in deep political trouble back home. Since October, his approval rating has plummeted from 71% to 39% in squeaky-clean Minnesota, where a politician was once rebuked for providing free doughnuts to supporters. "You would think that I would have seen this," Durenberger said last month. In an apology to constituents in December, he said, "I failed to appreciate the appearance of what I was doing." When the ethics committee begins to weigh Durenberger's six-year pattern of deception, its concern will be with much more than appearances.