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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 20, 1994                   TAG: 9401200165
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

NORTH NOT WORRIED BY REPORT

The allegations, essentially a restatement of long-standing charges against North, were released Tuesday in a 566-page report on the Iran-Contra affair by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh.

North told a gathering Tuesday night that he hopes the Iran-Contra report becomes an issue in the coming campaign against the Democratic incumbent, Charles Robb.

"I hope he does use it," North said at a meeting of about 50 Republicans at a private home. Referring to the Iran-Contra operation, North said, most Virginians "realize that the motives of the people involved in it were to save the lives of Americans being held in brutal bondage in dungeons in Beirut and to keep a struggling army in the field that had been created by the government of the United States."

"It looks like Walsh came up empty," said Franklin Hall, first vice chairman of the Virginia Republican Party. "All of this is old news that has been addressed time and time again. I can't see how this could hurt North."

Hall and several other Republican activists said the report on the illegal sale of American arms to Iran and diversion of profits to anti-communist insurgents in Nicaragua is unlikely to sway thousands of Republicans who regard North as a hero in the West's long struggle against communism.

"The activists have made up their minds," said another Republican, who asked not to be named. "I don't think anything can stop the juggernaut."

But Jim Miller, a former Reagan budget director opposing North for the GOP nomination, said he plans to make Iran-Contra an issue. "The obvious thing about all of this is that Iran-Contra will stay in the news," he said.

And should North win the nomination, the allegations could haunt him in this fall's general election against Robb.

"The report will reinforce the views of many independent and undecided voters who are wary of North," said Tom Morris, a political scientist who is president of Emory & Henry College. "The types of questions raised about his conduct are typical of the concerns the public has about members of Congress. Are they telling the truth? Do they have conflicts of interest?"

A spokeswoman for Robb declined comment Wednesday on the Walsh report.

North is expected to formally declare his candidacy Jan. 27.

In explaining his role in Iran-Contra, North has long contended that he followed orders from White House superiors, which he believed originated with former President Reagan. Walsh gave credence to that explanation, concluding that Reagan "set the stage for illegal activities by others."

But Walsh also cited North, who once testified that he thought the Iran-Contra scheme was a "neat idea," for being overzealous.

Walsh wrote: "North admitted to having assisted the [Nicaraguan] Contras during the prohibition on U.S. aid, to having shredded and removed from the White House official documents, to having converted traveler's checks to his personal use, to having participated in the creation of false chronologies of U.S. arms sales, to having lied to Congress and to having accepted a home security system . . . then fabricating letters regarding payment for the system. But North testified, `I don't believe I did anything that was criminal.' "

In 1989, a federal jury convicted North of obstructing Congress, receiving an illegal gratuity, and altering, destroying and concealing documents. A divided appeals court overturned the ruling on a legal technicality one year later.

Walsh disputed North's contention that the dismissal of the charges meant vindication.

"It was, of course, nothing of the sort," Walsh wrote. "North was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of serious criminal offenses, and the court of appeals' decision setting aside his conviction cast no doubt on his factual guilt."

Mark Merritt, a spokesman for North, accused Walsh of a vendetta against North and wasting $40 million in tax money investigating Iran-Contra. "Obviously, Walsh is just trying to win in the court of public opinion because he could not win in a court of law," he said.

North, in a written statement, said of the report: "There were no smoking guns when it came to me. Walsh has fired his last shot. It's a blank. It's over."

The Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service contributed information to this report.

Keywords:
POLITICS