SECORD RECOUNTS BEING TOLD REAGAN KNEW OF HIS WORK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605580004-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 2, 2012
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: May 7, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605580004-7
~- j ARTICLE APP W NEW YORK TIMES
ON PAGE 7 May 1987
SECORD RECOUNTS
BEING TOLD REAGAN
KNEW OF HIS W000
JJJ~' By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM
special to The New York Tlmee
John M. Poindexter, while national se-
curity adviser, had told him that Presi-
:dent Reagan knew of and appreciated
his work. General Secord said in his
opening testimony Tuesday that every-
thing he had done on behalf of the Iran
sales and the supply of arms to the con-
'tras had been approved by the Admin-
istration, and his remarks today were
'meant to bolster that contention.
+ At the end of the day, committee
..members said they were intrigued by
"General Secord's remarks about the
President but did not view it as conclu-
sive evidence.
Most of the day was ? spent in a de-
tailed recounting of the various arms
jtransactions with Iran. Much of the
f material was explored thoroughly in
the Tower Commission report , which
was made public in February.
Still, General Secord broke some new
ground, including these points:
1 9As early as December 1985, Colonel
SNorth suggested that surplus money
from the arms deals with Iran should
!be used for the benefit of the contras.
} 9The general provided more precise
;information about the help that his ac-
WASHINGTON, May 6 - Maj. Gen.
Richard V. Secord, a main organizer of
the Iran arms sales and the contra sup-
ply operation, testified today that he
had been told several times that Presi-
dent Reagan knew of his efforts.
General Secord, a retired Air Force
officer, in his second day, as the opening
witness before the Congressional com-
mittees investigating the Iran-contra
affair, said he had never talked with
the President personally about either
matter. But he added:
"On a few occasions, I heard Oliver
North, in an offhand and I think humor-
ous vein, remark that in some toner- tivities for the contras received from
sations with the President, he men-# William J. Case n Director of Cen-
tioned that it was very ironic that some gene, and other officials.
of the Ayatollah's money was being j 9The general destroyed some of his
used to support the contras. idocuments after the Iran arms sales
"Whether he actually said this to the became publicly known but before
President, or whether he was joking legal investigation had been an-
with me, I'm not sure." (Excerpts, page - nounced. _
Not Taken as a Joke
Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North, a forger
National Security Council official, has
been reported to exaggerate at times.
But General Secord added, "I did not
take it as a joke."
Mr. Reagan has maintained that he
never held detailed private conversa-
tions with Colonel North, who was in
charge of, the secret operations, and
that he knew nothing of the diversion of
diversion of profits to the contras was Mr. Casey died this morning.
made public and Colonel North was dis-
missed from the White House staff, the President Reported Pleased
colonel received telephone calls of sup-
port "I talked with two different national
from Mr. Reagan and Vice Presi- security advisers during the two years
dent Bush. in question here," General Secord said.
i ?Iv a been at all the projects I was
said The to President's have e referred to o call, the which colonel a a he
a a
"hero" and told him his work "would working on with Oliver North, and I
make a great movie one day," has been was told by Admiral Poindexter in
widely reported. But this was the first January of '86 that not only was he
mention of a similar call from Mr. pleased with the work that I had been
Bush- doing, but the President was as well."
The general then recounted how
Mostly Matter of Fact Colonel North had told him how he and
As he had Tuesday in his opening' the President had joked about using
on the investigation, apparently did not
get the allusion to former Senator Gary
Hart's travails. When the spectators
laughed, Mr. Nields turned to Repre-
sentative Michael DeWine, a Ohio Re-
publican who sat to his left, to have the
joke explained to him.
The hearings are expected to last at
least through most of the summer, and
General Secord was called as the first
'witness to provide an overview of the
affair. His testimony is meant to set the
stage for witnesses to follow.
Most of the day's interest focused on
his answer to a single question Mr.
Nields asked in midafternoon about his
"understanding of - the President's
knowledge of the issue."
"I have no direct, first-hand knowl-
edge about what the President knew or
didn't know," the general replied. "As I
think everyone knows, I never spoke
with the President on this."
But he went on to say what officials
including Colonel North, Mr. Casey,
Robert C. McFarlane and Admiral
Poindexter told him during the period.
Mr. McFarlane, who resigned in
December 1985, preceded Admiral
Poindexter as security adviser. Mr.
McFarlane is due to testify next week.
"I was told on a number of occasions,
and I even recorded it once in a Decem-
ber 1984 rt