Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 19, 1994 TAG: 9403190118
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
"If the president says he didn't know, he didn't know," North said one day after opponents released a devastating letter from Reagan accusing North of lying about the illegal mid-1980s diversion of money to anti-communist fighters in Nicaragua.
North's comment was a substantial departure from an accusation he made in a best-selling book that "President Reagan knew everything." During a news conference, North said: "That book was written in 1990-91. Perhaps you haven't learned anything over the past four years, but I have."
Earlier Friday, North was denounced as a "fraud" by his opponent for the Republican nomination, former White House Budget Director Jim Miller. In his first direct attack on North, Miller said Reagan's letter "devastates [North's] credibility with the people of Virginia."
"Many fine Virginians initially decided to support Mr. North, because they believed he possessed a basic level of integrity," Miller said. "It is now clear, however, that he secured their support for his candidacy by deliberately making false claims about his record and character."
Reagan, in a six-paragraph letter to former Nevada Sen. Paul Laxalt, said he is "getting pretty steamed" about "false statements" North had made on Iran-Contra.
"I never instructed him or anyone else in my administration to mislead Congress on Iran-Contra matters or anything else," Reagan wrote. "And I certainly did not know about the Iran-Contra diversion."
North, on Friday, reiterated claims that Miller supporters had misrepresented his comments to the former president in an effort to draw Reagan into the campaign. Laxalt, a close friend of Reagan's, is on the steering committee of Miller's campaign. He wrote Reagan earlier this week urging him to reply to North's statements.
North said he decided to retract his statement that Reagan "knew everything" after reading the president's letter Thursday. He indicated that at the time he wrote the book, he believed former National Security Director John Poindexter had told the president that the profits from arms sales to Iraq were being illegally diverted to Nicaraguan Contra fighters.
North appeared sullen, mourning the death early Friday morning of Robert Venerable, his campaign pilot and longtime friend. About 12:50 a.m. - 15 minutes after dropping North off at Washington Dulles International Airport - the plane crashed near Winchester.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB