THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410050437
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: FALLS CHURCH, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Oliver North denied he lied to Congress, backed away from earlier statements about the Confederate flag and misstated his Senate opponent's position on abortion Tuesday.
``First of all, I did not lie to Congress,'' North said in answering questions from high school government students. ``The press said I lied, but the jury said I didn't,'' North said.
The Republican nominee was tried on 12 counts and convicted of three in his 1989 trial. He was found guilty of destroying documents about the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages deal, accepting an illegal gratuity and aiding in the obstruction of Congress.
An appeals court overturned the convictions because his trial may have been tainted by testimony he gave Congress under immunity.
North told about 200 students that he was only following orders in the Iran-Contra scandal.
The former Marine colonel admitted during his trial that he told lies in a White House meeting with the House Intelligence Committee in August 1986. In his book, ``Under Fire,'' North described how he gave evasive answers during the informal meeting.
North wrote in the book: ``That morning, in the (White House situation) room, I tried to avoid telling outright lies. But I certainly wasn't telling the truth. I knew that full and truthful answers would have destroyed the Nicaraguan resistance. And some of the congressmen knew that, too.''
North also conceded to reporters after the high school event that he had misled Congress during the Iran-Contra investigation.
Students also asked North about his defense of the Confederate flag two weeks ago during a campaign stop in Danville. North said then that the flag was a symbol of Virginia's heritage and labeled its opponents as ``politically correct.''
Ava McIntyre, a 17-year-old senior, asked North how she and other blacks offended by the Confederate flag should view his statement.
``What was reported was not what I said, and I'm glad to have the chance to clarify it,'' North said.
``I was asked by a reporter afterward how I felt about the Confederate flag that flies occasionally over a museum in Danville,'' North said.
``My response was I did not believe that was an issue for the United States Senate, the 10th Amendment to the Constitution was alive and well and that if that community, or this state or any other state thought that it was important to their heritage, the federal government ought not to be intruding on that.''
But North gave another answer Sept. 21 when asked whether he supported the goals of the Heritage Preservation Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving symbols of the Confederacy, such as the flag.
``Yeah, I'm not a political correctness freak,'' he said. ``I happen to believe this state has a great heritage.''
In Danville, leaders have proposed flying a Confederate flag outside a museum for the Confederacy's last capital in exile.
North also told the students that he is pro-life and proud of it, then said Democratic incumbent Charles S. Robb wants public-funded abortion on demand and supports abortion into the final month of pregnancy.
``That's wrong. Robb supports Roe vs. Wade, which is existing law,'' said Robb spokeswoman Peggy Wilhide. Existing law permits abortions only through the second trimester, or first six months, of a pregnancy. It permits third trimester abortions only if the mother's health would be endangered by continuing the pregnancy.
Robb accused North of ``lying to schoolchildren.''
``Throughout his adult life, Oliver North has displayed a pattern of not being able to tell the truth,'' Robb said in a prepared statement. ``He lives in Ollie's world.''
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES
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