Seems Like Old Times . . .

By DAVID ELLIS/

The Keating Five hearings are probably giving Capitol Hill veterans a sense of deja vu. The familiar faces lurking near the witness table prove the maxim that there's nothing like a good scandal to bring lawyers out of the woodwork. Principal witness Edwin Gray was represented by Leonard Garment, who served as Richard Nixon's chief counsel throughout Watergate and advised Robert McFarlane during the Iran-contra fallout. Charles Ruff and Jim Hamilton, who are defending Senators John Glenn and Dennis DeConcini, respectively, served in the Watergate special prosecutor's office. Two lawyers besides Garment have hit the scandal triple crown. Senator Don Riegle is advised by Tom Green, who represented retired Major General Richard Secord after Iran-contra and White House aide Robert Mardian during Watergate. Lawyer Plato Cacheris, who worked for both Nixon Attorney General John Mitchell and Oliver North's secretary Fawn Hall, is at the side of Gwendolyn Van Paaschen, an aide to Senator John McCain.

With reporting by David E. Thigpen