Glass Houses

Metzenbaum returns a fat fee

Ohio Democrat Howard Metzenbaum, who has been leading the fight against Edwin Meese's nomination as Attorney General, relishes his role as captain of the Senate ethics squad. So more than a few eyebrows were raised when it was learned that the millionaire parking-lot magnate had received a $250,000 finder's fee for merely making two telephone calls last June to help arrange the $30 million sale of Washington's Hay-Adams Hotel. "It's legal and ethical," Metzenbaum said. But the resulting publicity apparently reminded him of a maxim he has often preached: public officials must be concerned with appearances as well as legality. Last week he decided to return the fee, but a Washington real estate commission is nonetheless investigating the transaction. qed