REAGAN NAMES BOARD TO STUDY NSC

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920011-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: November 27, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920011-6
'l!! T APPS'..
By David Hoffman
Wash,n ton Post Staff Writer
WASHINGTON POST
27 November 1986
Reagan Names Board to Study NSC
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Nov.
26-The Justice Department today
expanded its probe of the Iran
weapons shipments into a full-scale
criminal investigation as Attorney
General Edwin Meese III said peo-
ple with "tangential" ties to the gov-
ernment were involved in the op-
eration.
Justice Department officials said
the probe, which began over the
weekend with Meese and a handful
of his assistants, has been enlarged
to include the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
In Washington, a department of-
ficial told Washington Post staff
writer George Lardner Jr. that the
investigation will be a wide-ranging
inquiry that could include inter-
views abroad and the presentation
of evidence to a federal grand jury.
The move transforms what began
as a fact-finding exercise for the
president into a formal inquiry as-
signed to the Justice Department's
Criminal Division and under
Meese's supervision.
Meanwhile, President Reagan
announced the appointment of a
three-member review board, head-
ed by former senator John G. Tow-
er (R-Tex.) and including former
secretary of state Edmund S. Mus-
kie and Brent Scowcroft, who was
President Gerald R. Ford's national
security adviser, to determine the
proper government role of the Na-
tional Security Council.
The appointments came a day af-
ter Reagan accepted the resigna-
tion of his national security adviser,
Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, and
dismissed Lt. Col. Oliver L. North,
a member of the National Security
Council staff. Meese said Tuesday
that North "knew precisely" about
the complex transactions that saw
money from the Iranian arms sales
go to help the Nicaraguan contras
and that Poindexter had some
knowledge of the diversion of funds
and did not stop it.
In an appearance on ABC's "Good
Morning America" today, Meese
said, "It appears that there were
some others involved and that's
what we're looking into now ....
There are some consultants in-
volved and other people who have a
tangential relationship to the Unit-
ed States government that we'll be
talking to."
In another development, a State
Department spokesman dismissed reports that Secre-
tary of State George P. Shultz was planning to resign
and said that "the secretary has every intention of stay-
ing the course with [the president] to the end."
Reagan arrived here for a Thanksgiving vacation as
an ABC News poll showed deepening skepticism among
the American public of the president's explanations
about the Iran operation. The poll showed that Rea-
gan's job approval rating has fallen another four points
since his news conference last week. Fifty-three per-
cent of those surveyed said they approved of the way he
is handling his job, compared to 67 percent in Septem-
ber.
The nationwide poll, taken after the disclosure of the
Nicaraguan link Tuesday, showed that six in 10 of those
questioned say they think that Reagan knew about the
diversion of money to the Nicaraguan contras before
Monday, which is when he said he learned of it.
In addition, 67 percent said they think Reagan knew
about it from the start, while 28 percent said he did not
know of it from the start.
Asked whether the resignation of Poindexter and the
firing of North ended the controversy, eight in 10 of
those questioned said it did not. Overall, 67 percent
said they disapprove of the way Reagan has handled the
Iran arms situation.
Three of every four people questioned said they dis-
approved of the way the Iran weapons money was di-
verted to help the contras.
Reagan's public approval rating has not been so low
since the controversy over deploying the Marines in
Lebanon in September 1983. However, his approval
rating is higher than his low of 42 percent in January
1983 when the recession was ending.
The survey showed a strong continuing belief in Rea-
gan, even if he makes mistakes. Sixty-eight percent of
those questioned agreed with the statement that Rea-
gan may have made mistakes in this particular instance
but that it does not raise major questions about his abil-
ity to run the country. Only 26 percent agreed with the
statement that Reagan is not in control of his presiden-
cy and that the situation raises major questions about
his ability to govern.
In a written statement today, Reagan said the newly
appointed review board will conduct a "comprehensive
study" of the future role and procedures of the National
Security Council staff "in the development, coordina-
tion, oversight and conduct of foreign and national-se-
curity policy."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920011-6
 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920011-6
"In particular," he added, "I have asked the board to
review the NSC staff's proper role in operational activ-
ities, especially extremely sensitive diplomatic, military
and intelligence missions. Specifically, they should look
at the manner in which foreign and national-security
policies I established have been implemented by the
NSC staff."
Reagan created the board in response to sharp crit-
icism in recent weeks that the White House had over-
stepped its bounds in getting involved in the operational
details of the Iran arms shipments, while excluding sen-
ior military leaders and diplomats.
Reagan said he wanted the review completed in a
"prompt and thorough manner." White House deputy
press secretary for foreign policy Dan Howard said
Reagan would meet with the members Monday to dis-
cuss the effort.
The bottom line is that they will have carte blanche
to talk to anyone and see anything they need to look at,"
he told reporters as Reagan flew to his California ranch
for the holiday.
White House officials said a replacement for Poindex-
ter has not been selected. "We're collecting names,"
chief of staff Donald T. Regan told reporters on arrival
at Point Mugu Naval Air Station this afternoon.
Sources said one candidate for the NSC post was for-
/4 e
As the president stepped from Air Force One, he was
quickly directed away from a "pool" of reporters under
the wing and taken in the opposite direction to meet
with a group of schoolchildren.
Regan insisted before leaving Washington that he did
not have a responsibility to look into the Iran weapons
shipments earlier. "I didn't know anything was happen-
ing," he said. "You understand that the NSC doesn't
report to the chief of staff."
Despite calls for appointment of an independent
counsel to take over the probe under the Ethics in Gov-
ernment Act, officials in Washington said Meese in-
tends to remain in charge until the Justice Department
has developed "a complete factual record." They said
there was not enough evidence yet to think that anyone
has committed a federal crime, let alone that one has
been committed by an official high-ranking enough to
trigger appointment of an independent counsel.
The inquiry will be "basically managed" by Associate
Attorney General Stephen S. Trott and Assistant At-
torney General William Weld, who heads the Criminal
Division.
"It will be complete, thorough and expeditious," one
official said. "We would like to produce a product by the
end of the year, but we just don't know how long it will
take."
The mushrooming inquiry began modestly last
Thursday, according to a knowledgeable source, when
Meese and Chuck Cooper, the assistant attorney gen-
eral in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel, were re-
viewing legal issues involved in testimony to be given
by administration officials on the increasingly explosive
issue of arms shipments to Iran.
They found "noticeable gaps" in the records kept by
different officials. So, about 11:30 a.m. Friday, Meese
met with Reagan, Regan and Poindexter and told them
they needed a comprehensive overview.
"Everybody agreed that was needed," the source
said. Meese was given the chore with the idea that a full
report would be ready for the president to present at a
scheduled NSC meeting on Monday afternoon. Meese
headed back to the justice Department and assembled a
small team, including Cooper, Assistant Attorney Gen-
eral William Bradford Reynolds, Meese staff assistant
John Richardson and several others. -
,The worked through the weekend, reviewing doc-
uments and talking to people, including the' rest ent,
Regan, _Shultz, Defense Secretary Caspar W. etnber-
p ger, CIA Director Wi li-Tam J. Casey. Poindexter. North
and former national security adviser Robert C. McFar-
lane. Meese spoke with Vice President Bush on Mon-
day,
"These were conversations, not part of a formalistic
investigation." the source emphasized.
By Saturday, the review team came across informa-
tion indicating a connection between funds coming out
of Iran and the Nicaraguan contras. That link became
increasingly clear as the weekend wore on. As a result,
the source said, Meese met told Reagan at 11 a.m.
Monday that more information was needed. The topic
was taken off the NSC agenda. Meese conferred with
Reagan late Monday and early Tuesday.
By that time, the source said, "Poindexter had al-
ready let it be known he would be leaving, and the pres-
ident said it was time to get all of this out."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920011-6