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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 27, 1990                   TAG: 9003272432
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

WITNESS SAYS POINDEXTER CALLED ILLEGAL AID `NO PROBLEM'

An ex-Reagan White House official testified Monday that twice in 1986 he told then-national security adviser John Poindexter of suspicious activities that later became central issues in the Iran-Contra scandal, but Poindexter brushed aside his worries, telling him there was not "any problem."

Testifying at Poindexter's Iran-Contra trial, Rodney B. McDaniel, who was executive secretary to the National Security Council in 1986, said he was particularly uneasy about then-council staffer Oliver North's efforts to support the Nicaraguan Contras.

North helped to arm the Contras during a two-year congressional ban on U.S. military assistance to the rebels. His Contra work is a central issue at Poindexter's trial, where prosecutors have charged the retired Navy rear admiral with concealing from Congress North's aid to the rebels.

Poindexter has pleaded not guilty to five felony charges, including conspiracy and lying to Congress about North's Contra work.

Meanwhile, as the trial entered its fourth week Monday, Richard W. Beckler, Poindexter's chief lawyer, complained of a lack of cooperation from the House of Representatives, which he said was "stiff-arming" defense efforts to interview members who were potential witnesses.

"It's easier to get members of the Politburo in here than it is to get members of Congress," Beckler told U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene.

Beckler said he is subpoenaing 14 House members, but House lawyers so far have refused to allow him to interview the members before deciding if he actually will put them on the stand - something he has been able to do with other witnesses.

Greene urged Beckler and House lawyers to cooperate to avoid a "great big confrontation."

Appearing as a defense witness, McDaniel said he viewed North, who in 1986 was a Marine lieutenant colonel, as a "gung-ho" staffer who "embellished his personal role in things."

In cross-examining McDaniel, chief prosecutor Dan K. Webb sought to show that Poindexter and North went to extraordinary lengths to hide North's activities, even from NSC officials such as McDaniel.

The defense has countered that secrecy was normal at the NSC, and not part of any sinister plot.

McDaniel, who as the NSC's chief administrator was at the center of the information flow, told Webb that although he knew of the secret U.S.-Iranian arms sales, he was unaware that profits from those transfers had been diverted to support the Contras until that was revealed by then-Attorney General Edwin Meese on Nov. 25, 1986.

McDaniel said that several months before the Meese announcement he went to Poindexter, a friend who had hired him, and asked if he knew about all of North's Contras work.

McDaniel said Poindexter told him he was "aware of North's activities" and that McDaniel "not need concern himself" about it.

by CNB