by David Grann

About the author: David Grann is the executive editor of the Hill, a weekly newspaper published in Washington, D.C.

The trial of the century [of accused murderer O.J. Simpson] in Los Angeles overshadowed its political equivalent in Washington: the forced resignation of Sen. Bob Packwood. The Oregonian lothario exited Congress quietly on October 1, 1995. There were no crowds or cameras, no white vans, but there was a delicious double irony at work. Though Simpson got away with murder, the judicial system worked—a jury of his peers found him not guilty. Packwood, on the other hand, got what he deserved, even as the congressional ethics process that nailed him revealed itself as an abject failure.

A Mockery

It took the Ethics Committee nearly three years to investigate the allegations of sexual...