Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 14, 1990 TAG: 9003143220
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
North, testifying for his fourth day at Poindexter's trial, has maintained that he told the national security adviser of assisting the Contras and of the U.S. role in a November 1985 shipment of Hawk missiles to Iran that Poindexter is accused of covering up.
A key piece of evidence in the case is a note to Poindexter detailing false information North provided about his Contra-related activities to members of the House Intelligence Committee on Aug. 6, 1986.
The note to Poindexter was written by National Security Council staffer Robert Pearson, who attended the meeting with North and the congressmen in the White House Situation Room.
The false statements itemized in the note were that North hadn't seen Contra supporter John Singlaub in 20 months, didn't meet with any frequency with Contra liaison Robert Owen and didn't offer military advice to the rebel force.
"Admiral Poindexter would have no idea how often you met with Singlaub, would he?" asked Poindexter's lawyer, Richard Beckler.
"No, those are the kinds of details I . . . didn't bother the admiral with," North testified.
Beckler suggested that North didn't keep Poindexter apprised of North's meetings with Owen. North agreed.
On Tuesday, North said he envisioned that a high U.S. official, possibly then-Vice President Bush, would travel to Iran in 1986 to deal with the question of U.S. hostages and other issues.
Beckler asked the former White House aide about a computer message he had written to Robert McFarlane, Poindexter's predecessor as national security adviser to President Reagan.
"As I recall, this dealt with a proposal for an advance trip" to Iran to pave the way for a journey by "a high-level official later on . . . perhaps even the vice president," North testified.
Beckler didn't question North about his remark, which came as the lawyer tried to undermine North's assertions that he kept his boss informed at all times of his activities in the Iran-Contra affair.
In his note to McFarlane, who by then had left the government, North said he hadn't told Poindexter he was communicating to McFarlane on the subject of a possible trip to Iran.
Neither Poindexter nor then-CIA Director William Casey are "very enthusiastic" about the possibility of meeting directly with the Iranians, North said in his Feb. 27, 1986, computer message.
Three months later, McFarlane made a secret trip to Iran in hopes of winning freedom for U.S. hostages held by pro-Iranian terrorists in Lebanon. North gave no indication that a trip by Bush to Iran was anything more than an idea in his own mind.
In cross-examining North, Beckler also brought out that Reagan was apparently told of the $15 million Iran paid for spare parts for U.S.-made Hawk anti-aircraft missiles.
Poindexter briefed Reagan by telephone about the shipment, according to Poindexter's handwritten note attached to a memo in which North spelled out the price for the equipment.
Poindexter "wanted to make sure the president knew what the Iranians were paying" for the Hawk parts, Beckler said in questioning North.
It is the first indication that Reagan may have been told about the exact prices the Iranians were paying in the initiative.
Iran was being charged exorbitant prices and at least $3.8 million of the additional amount was diverted to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
In a videotaped deposition for Poindexter's trial, Reagan testified Feb. 16-17 that he had no idea there was extra money left over from the Iran arms sales.
by CNB