THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 22, 1994 TAG: 9410220401
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: NEWSDAY
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
As he made a pitch for Democratic congressional candidates facing tough elections less than three weeks away, President Clinton Friday needled one of his Republican nemeses - Virginia Senate candidate Oliver North.
At an East Room news conference, the president flatly denied newspaper charges repeated by North that he had promised former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder an ambassadorship if he would endorse the state's embattled Democratic incumbent, Sen. Charles S. Robb. ``I would never be a part of that . . . and it did not happen,'' Clinton said.
``Oliver North says a lot of things and, you know, if you've got $17.5 million to buy your own version of the truth then you don't have to be held apparently to the same standards that other people do,'' the president said.
The president was asked about North's recent comment in criticizing the Iraq operation that Clinton wasn't his commander-in-chief. Clinton replied he was more concerned that North ``didn't act as if Ronald Reagan was his commander-in-chief either'' - a reference to North's work as a White House aide who helped engineer the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages deal.
KEYWORDS: SENATE RACE CANDIDATE CAMPAIGN by CNB