FBI'S UNUSUALLY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH NORTH SLATED TO BE A MAJOR AREA OF IRAN-CONTRA HEARINGS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605050001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 20, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605050001-8
STAT
~r 3
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
MAY 2 Q 1967
FBI's Unusually Close Relationship With North
Slated to Be Major Area of Iran-Contra Hearings
By ANnlt P*szTOa
Sf f Th'p irrer of Trer: Wnce:S-rEFr Jousrrwr.
WASHINGTON - Michael Boone, an
agent in the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
lion's Los. Angeles office. was startled to
re(?rive a telephone call two years ago
born someone identifying himself as U.
('ul- Oliver North.
The caller urged stepped-up investiga-
tion (if a private band of U.S. adventurers
whose plans for military action in Central
America, he asserted. threatened to under-
mine U.S. foreign policy and the cause of
Nicaraguan rrhels. The request was so
'*highly unusual," Mr. Boone later told su-
jwrittrs, that he suspected it was a hoax
until the White House switchboard con-
finned thal Col. Korth worked for the Na-
tional Security Council.
The FBI's response was equally un-
usual.
Agent Boone im-
mediatety gave Col.
North a sl:lits re-
lrort about the Just-
begun invrstigatirrn
wrthnul clearing it
with headquarters.
Other parts of the
:ntre'atl later firt.-
I(aweed suit. after
I,,arning of the ir-
1,11s4' Vrbirh' elrtq.se
Inle?rrs' In III(, Case,
:arcmriing to F131
(late?,trnrnlc obtained
by lawmakers. Our-
William lt'rhslcr
me the next eight months, the FBI pro-
vidh'd the National Sernrily Council copies
or s.rnam;mes of sensitive criminal invesli-
gative files-written by agents in Miami.
Houston and at FBI headquarters here-
with details on the progress of the Neutral-
ity-Act inquiry. No charges were filed
against members of this Contra splinter
group that planned an invasion of Nicara-
gua. though some of the same individuals
again are under investigation.
The cooperation with W. North is one
reason that the FBI's activities are stated
to be an important topic during the joint
House-Senate hearings into the Iran-Contra
affair. FBI Director William Webster. who
concurred in passing along some of the
information, and other bureau officials
have been plagued by a stream of embar-
rassing internal memos, missing or forgot-
ten documents and conflicting recollections
involving efforts by Col. North to influence
law-enforcement officials.
Hints of Illegalities
The real question," says Sen. Arlen
Specter iR.. Pa.l, a former prosecutor, "is
how many other documents there may be
in the FBI's files revealing such efforts?
And how many contacts there were, for
which there are no records at all?"
A major issue is why the FBI (ailed to
aggressively pursue early hints of illegali-
ties involving aid to the Nicaraguan Con-
tras. New information gathered by con-
gressional investigators reveals that:
-Col. North relied on a wide network of
acquaintances, contacts and associates in-
side the Ft3i for information and assis-
tance. This group included agents who
helped guard his home, interviewed him in
his White House office, and served as a
link to a secret brotherhood of "free-
lance' 1r.S. intelligence operatives whom
he described to the FBI as "rogue.. Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency agents.
As early as June 1985.17 months before
the Iran-Contra scandal forced Col. North
out of the White House, memos show that
FBI headquarters was aware of his close
ties to Richard Miller. a conservative fund-
raiser recently convicted of conspiracy
charges brought by Lawrence Walsh, the
Independent counsel Investigating the Iran-
Contra affair. FBI agents interviewed Mr.
Miller about his fund-raising efforts for the
Contras five times in one year. While the
agents worried that Mr. Miller was trying
to delay their inquiries, the bureau took no
further action against him or his sup-
porters In the White House.
-In April 1956, Oliver Revell. the FBI's
executive assistant director for criminal
investigations. learned about. but failed to
follow up on. an allegation contained in an
FBI document that Mr. Miller "was in-
volved with the CIA in an oil deal In Ei Sal-
vador." Some enforcement officials
say the alleged transaction should have
been interpreted as a source of potentially
illegal aid to the Contras because Justice
Department officials were told that pro-
ceeds were intended to go to the Insur-
gents. And when the FBI began a top-pri-
ority internal review of the how the case
was handled. one of the main Investigators
chosen to do the work had played an im-
portant role, along with Mr. Revell, in the
original probe.
FBI Opened 41 Inquiries
-The FBI collected extensive Intelli-
gence about private Contra-aid efforts, and
opened 41 separate criminal Investigations
of such operations going back to 1979. fre-
quently naming across Col. North's name
In the process. In one revealing memo
written after a July 19,5 Interview with
Col. North, an FBI agent wrote that Col.
1'Z
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605050001-8
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605050001-8
North "confidentially advised" him that
"the NSC maintained indirect contact"
with a prospective contributor "due to the
desperate need" the Contras had for pri-
rate funds. -
F131 officials now concede that such
comments, on their face. suggest violation
of a congressional ban against government
solicitation of Contra aid. "Ollie North's
name was rather well known among those
involved with the Contras," -acknowledges
the FBI's Mr. Revell, who says further in-
vestigation clearly was warranted. How-
ever. Mr. Revell told a group of reporters
last month that lower-level agents "simply
didn't appreciate the sensitivity" of the is-
sue, and that the crucial teletype messages
never got to headquarters because of
transmission problems.
-Overall, Col. North and Rear Adm.
John Poindexter, the former National Se-
curity Adviser who was his boss at the
White House, attempted to sidetrack or in-.
terfere with five separate federal criminal
Investigations during the past two years.
according to lawmakers and FBI docu-
ments. They convinced Mr. Revell to give
Col. North updates on some probes. They
also persuaded senior FBI and Justice De-
partment officials to disregard bureau-
cratic protocol and urge the Customs Serv-
ice, which is run by the Treasury Depart-
ment, to restrict the scope of some of its
Inquiries.
Webster Acknowledges Mistakes
Sen. Specter. responding to questions
about whether Col. North or other Reagan
administration officials improperly tried to
influence criminal investigations, asserts.
"There's no doubt about it." Cot. North. he
says, "was pulling and prodding the FB[
repeatedly" over the years, helping to cre-
ate "a climate where the FBI winked at
possible violations of the law."
Mr. Webster acknowledges that mis-
takes were made and that. in hindsight, he
and his aides should have been more vigi-
lant. But he denies that political pressure
prevented the FBI from doing its job or
"resulted in any change in our investiga-
tive process." The controversy, however.
didn't keep Mr. Webster from being con-
firmed as CIA director by the Senate yes-
terday.
But despite efforts by the FIB[ chief and
his allies in Congress to deflect criticism,
questions about the bureau's activities
won't go away. Independent counsel Walsh
already is looking into Col. North's deal-
ings with the FBI and senior Justice De-
partment officials. Later this year, after
resolving issues involving immunity from
prosecution for congressional witnesses,
Mr. Walsh suggests he will delve mnrn
deeply into FBI-related matters.
Meantime. members of the Hoarse-Sen.
ate committee conducting hearings on the
Iran-Contra affair plan to quiz A1t_nrue%
General Edwin Meese and other aduiinrs-
(ration officials about the the FRI's han-
dling of Contra?aid issues. "We will hate
ample time and opportunity to get int+r
such questions." promises Sen. lvar,rn
Rudman, IR., N.H.), vice chairman of the
Senate panel investigating the affair.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605050001-8