
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 24, 1990                   TAG: 9003242422
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

POINDEXTER COVER-UP TRY DENIED BY CIA OFFICIAL

A veteran CIA official testified Friday that former national security adviser John Poindexter did not attempt to cover up a controversial 1985 shipment of U.S. Hawk missiles to Iran that led to the Iran-Contra scandal.

But Norman H. Gardner Jr., a congressional specialist for the CIA who was present when Poindexter briefed members of Congress in 1986, said that Poindexter omitted some facts during the session, including former President Reagan's written authorization of the shipment.

Gardner appeared as a defense witness as Poindexter's trial completed its third week. The former White House official is charged with five felonies involving conspiring to cover up the scandal, obstructing congressional inquiries and making false statements to Congress.

Three of the counts involve charges that Poindexter misled members of the House and Senate intelligence committees by falsely claiming that neither he nor any other U.S. official had had prior knowledge of a shipment of U.S. Hawk missiles from Israel to Iran in November 1985. The arms shipment was intended to help free U.S. hostages in the Mideast.

Although the prosecution presented earlier witnesses to back up the charges, Gardner said that Poindexter told legislators during the Nov. 21, 1986, meeting that "we did not have all the facts about that flight" and that some U.S. officials might have had prior knowledge of it.

Gardner conceded that Poindexter, however, never told members of Congress about Reagan's written authorization for the 1985 shipment, known as a presidential "finding."

"Did anyone ask him about a finding?" inquired Joseph Small, a lawyer for Poindexter.

"No, they did not," Gardner replied.

Gardner said that Reagan signed the finding, which was drafted by the CIA, two months after the shipment on Jan. 17, 1986. Other witnesses have said the CIA recommended the presidential action because Congress had forbidden any shipment of U.S. arms to nations that supported terrorism.

Previous evidence at the trial has shown that Poindexter tore up the finding in late November 1986 because it linked the arms shipment to attempts to free U.S. hostages, a statement that conflicted with Reagan's pledge he would not negotiate for hostages.

by CNB