WEINBERGER, SHULTZ ON DECK; CASEY SICK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302320001-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 4, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 16, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302320001-4
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Weinberger, Shultz
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deck; Casey sick
By Bill Gertz and Damon Thompson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The Senate Intelligence Committee expEcts White
House Chief of Staff Donald Regan to tell all he knows
today about the festering Iran arms sale, the committee
chairman said.
At the top of what the committee expects to hear is
who authorized what actions in the White House about
the sale and related matters.
"The issue is one of authority," Sen. David Durenber-
ger, Minnesota Republican and committee chairman,
said last night. "Who had the authority to do what is the
important issue in this investigation. Don [Regan] can
shed some light on who had what authority from the
president because he was there."
Mr. Regan's closed-door testimony before the Intel-
ligence Committee is expected to be followed today and
Wednesday with appearances by Secretary of State
George Shultz and Defense Secretary Caspar Wein-
berger.
Attorney General Edwin Meese III is expected to
testify on Wednesday, but he has not formally accepted
the committee's request to appear,
Mr Durenberger said.
But CIA Director William J.
ts,,sey. who was scheduled to appear
before the committee today, was hos-
pitalized yesterday following a "mi-
ir cerebral seizure," according to
the CIA. Mr. Casey's testimony has
been postponed indefinately.
A spokesman for Georgetown
University Hospital later said the 73-
year-old intelligence director had "a
seinire in which his arms and legs
uttered multiple spasms for a pe-
riod of about a minute."
Meanwhile, Sen. Frank Murkow-
ski. an Alaska Republican and mem-
ber of the Intelligence Committee,
said last night that the committee
investigation has found that inves-
tors from countries other than
Canada ?? the focus of disclosures
last week ? were involved in the
Iranian arms sale. Mr. Nlurkowski
iv()tild not elaborate on which other
countries were involved.
-All I'll say is that there are a lot
of hank accounts, and a lot of money
I passed through a lot of hands in
a lot if places," Mr NIurkowski said.
'-fhat seems to mean a lot of people
v,,2ren't happy about the way busi-
nt..ss was conducted."
Mr. Durenberger said Mr. Regan
'I going to be perfectly free" to "say
iinything that he wants to say" after
the hearing slated to begin at 9:30
a in. Unlike other witnesses who
have testified before the investigat-
tile panel, Mr. Regan is not bound by
WASHINGTON TIMES
16 December 1986
committee rules which forbid re-
xealing secret testimony.
, Since the widening Senate probe
began Dec. I. the committee has
been shackled by administration
,witnesses who have refused to
testify, invoking their Fifth
Amendment right against self-
incrimination.
But sources yesterday said the in-
tricate details of the arms sale and
alleged diversion of funds to the
:anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan rebels
'week.riia.begin to unfold publicly this
Sen. David Boren, Oklahoma Re-
publican and incoming chairman of
'the Intelligence Committee, yester-
day said "huge gaps' remain in the
.investigation that is entering its
;third week.
"We're a long way from knowing
what has actually happened," Mr.
Boren said. "The greatest injustice
:would be if the committee tried to
, rush a conclusion before the facts
? are known."
Ile said the committee expects to
:call more witnesses in "the intelli-
gence field" before the probe is con-
cluded. Also scheduled to appear to-
day or tomorrow is National
Security Council political military
affairs director Howard Teicher.
Committee members were meet-
: Mg behind closed doors late last
! night to decide the next steps in the
inquiry into the administration's role
, into the arms sale and alleged diver-
sion of up to S30 million in proceeds
to the Nicaraguan resistance.
Under discussion, sources said,
was how to make the transition in the
committee's inquiry when the new
; Senate convenes Jan. 6, and the rela-
tion between the committee and a
select Senate panel that will be ap-
pointed today to investigate the af-
fair.
Mr. Boren will replace Mr. Duren-
berger as chairman of the
Intelligence Committee, while Sen.
William Cohen, Maine Republican.
will replace Sen. Patrick Leahy. Ver-
mont Democrat, as vice chairman.
Mr. Cohen and Mr. Boren have
sent Senate leaders a memorandum
urging a continuation of the Intel-
ligence Committee probe, rather
than combining it with the select
Senate committee inquiry, Mr. Co-
hen said yesterday.
"We really are concerned about
protecting the scope of the investiga-
tion regarding covert activities," Mr.
Cohen said in an interview. "That's
something that belongs in our juris-
diction.
Despite use of the Fifth Amend-
ment by former National Security
Adviser John Poindexter and Lt. Col.
Oliver North, a former NSC aide. Mr.
Cohen said the Intelligence Commit-
tee's probe has unearthed a wealth of
information ? but key gaps remain.
He said it has gathered most of
the details of the arms deal, "unless
there are icebergs lurking below the
surface."
But the most important piece in
the puzzle ? the alleged diversion of
funds to the Nicaraguan rebels ?
remains a mystery, Mr. Cohen said.
"We do not have the story of what,
if anything, happened to the funds
being sent to the Contras," Mr. Cohen
said. "But that, in my judgement,
could be cleared up in a couple of
days with the testimony of Mr. North
and Mr. Poindexter."
Meanwhile, President Reagan
yesterday paved the way for Mr.
Regan's testimony by waiving a
claim of executive privilege.
White House spokesman Larry
Speakes said Mr. Regan is willing to
answer questions ? in an open ses-
sion ? about his knowledge of the
Iran-Contra affair. But a committee
spokesman said an open hearing is
unlikely
Mr. Speakes said Mr. Regan is pre-
pared to answer questions from the
committee on "what happened ?
what he knows. .. I think he's per-
fectly willing to talk about whatever
would help the committee in their
pursuit of the facts."
Mr. Regan has acknowledged he
knew about the arms sale to Iran and
supported it but has said he was not
aware of the diversion of proceeds
to the Nicaraguan resistance.
News of Mr. Regan's plans to
testify before the committee came
amid reports that thg, president
would be willing to make`an unprec-
edented appearance before the con-
gressional panel.
Sen. Paul Laxalt, the Nevada Re-
publican regarded as Mr. Reagan's
closest friend in Congress, said he
had discussed with Mr. Reagan the
idea of the president testifying
about the arms deal. Mr. Laxalt said
it would be a dramatic gesture to
demonstrate the president's willing-
ness to get the facts before the pub-
lic.
But lbm Lot-anger, Mr. Laxalt's
spokesman, yesterday said the sen-
ator had recommended the pres-
ident not take such a step unless Col.
North and Adm. Poindexter first
make full disclosures to Congress.
Mr. Speakes said there had been
no request for the president to talk
to Capitol Hill investigators and none
was anticipated.
But Mr. Speakes, alluding to pres-
.
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Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302320001-4
sure on tne White House to persuade
Col. North and Adm. Poindexter to
testify in full, said: "We do reiterate.
underscore and publicly proclaim
we'd like them to tell evrything as -
quickly as possible. We'd like to work
out a way for them to do so."
Some members of Congress have
suggested the two former officials
should be granted immunity from
prosecution to encourage their testi-
mony. But Mr. Speakes said the pres-
ident would not offer clemency to
the former officials.
"There are no plans for executive
clemency," Mr. Speakes said.
In other developments:
? Sources confirmed reports that
Iraq has been getting CIA intelli-
gence data on the Iran-Iraq kva r for
nearly two years. The aid, said to be
satellite reconnaissance photo-
graphs, coincided with secret U.S.
weapons sales to Iran.
? Congressional sources said 11
members of the House Judiciary
Committee were appealing to the
special court to expand the special
prosecutor's mandate to include
"possible obstruction of justice by
the !Justice! Department," including
the decision to delay an FBI inves-
tigation in Miami, and to examine
the whole Contra supply network.
Members of the Senate judiciary
panel made a similar request earlier.
? Scripps Howard News Service
reported that retiring Sen. Thomas
Eagleton, Missouri Democrat, has
been asked to work as a special coun-
sel to the Senate committee. Senate
Democratic leader Robert Byrd last
week asked Mr. Eagleton to begin
drafting the legislation needed to set
up the new panel when Congress
convenes Jan. 5, aides said.
? The Justice Department's inter-
nal inspector is investigating At-
torney General Edwin Nleese's han-
dling of the initial probe of the
secret Iran arms deals that turned
up the diversion of millions to Nica-
ragua, officials said yesterday
Justice Department officials said
Michael Shaheen, counsel to the de-
partment's Office of Professional
Responsibility has opened an in-
_ _ _
quiry Into Mr. Meese's weekend tact-
finding review that led to the star-
tling disclosure on Nov. 25 that up to
5.30 million in proceeds from the
arms sales were funneled to the
Nicaraguan resistance.
? A private group of former Rea-
gan political appointees announced
a campaign to back the president
during his worst crisis.
The group's directors include for-
mer U.N. Ambassador Jeane J. Kirk-
patrick; Helene von Damm-
Guertler, former ambassador to
Austria; Gerald P Carmen, former
chief of the General Services Ad-
ministration; and Donald J. Devine,
former director of the Office of Per-
sonnel Management.
? A federal judge, taking note of
the Iran arms scandal, urged a pa-
role commission to free a defendant
he sentenced to prison for conspir-
ing to ship arms to Iran and Chile.
U.S. District Judge Robert Vining
sent a letter Dec. 10 to the U.S. Parole
Commission in Dallas, recommend-
ing that Lemuel M. Stevens III be
released immediately, a spokesman
in ,Judge Vining's office said.
Stevens. a former arms broker
and president of the Marietta. Ga.-
based International Services and
and Logistics Ltd., pleaded guilty be-
fore Judge Vining in September
1985 to two counts of export law vio-
lations.
? Staff writer Walter Andrews con-
tributed to this report which is based
in part of wire service dispatches.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/10/04: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302320001-4