TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/093091/0930103.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 5.3 KB | 115 lines

                                                                                NATION, Page 27

THE CIA

See No Evil, Hear No Evil


Gates' confirmation hopes brighten as charges against North are
dropped

By MICHAEL DUFFY/WASHINGTON -- With reporting by Jay Peterzell/
Washington


    Senate scrutiny of Robert Gates had barely begun when an
aide handed intelligence-committee chairman David Boren a slip
of paper. Its message: all charges against Oliver North, the
former White House aide who carried out the Iran-contra affair,
had just been dismissed by a federal judge. As Boren read the
bulletin aloud, some of the air went out of the long-awaited
hearings on Gates' appointment to head the Central Intelligence
Agency. The North dismissal, dimming any prospect of further
immunity deals for key Iran-contra players, all but ensured that
the Senate may never fully learn what Gates knew about the
arms-trading scandal.

    It was probably inevitable. Four years ago, Senate select
committees on Iran-contra granted North limited immunity from
prosecution in return for hearing his side of the story. That
gave North a large opening: though he was subsequently found
guilty of obstructing Congress and mutilating government
documents, his attorneys convinced an appeals-court judge that
the case should be reviewed "line by line" to ensure that none
of the witnesses in his trial had been influenced by the
nationally televised hearings. Two weeks ago, North's old boss,
former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, stunned
prosecutors by admitting that he had indeed been swayed by the
retired Marine lieutenant colonel's emotional testimony in the
summer of 1987.

    Independent counsel Lawrence Walsh then faced a difficult
choice. He could either prosecute North all over again or let
the matter drop. Walsh chose to write North off and concentrate
on prosecuting Clair George, the CIA's former chief of covert
operations, who was indicted three weeks ago for lying or
obstruction during a series of investigations into the
Iran-contra affair. Pronouncing himself "totally exonerated,"
North declared, "I've had my last hearing."

    Many legal experts predicted this outcome four years ago
when lawmakers granted North immunity on the ground that the
public had a right to know the Iran-contra story. Today even
some of those who supported that decision have their doubts
about its wisdom. "I think the lesson is that the Congress, when
they grant immunity now, must be very cautious," said
Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton of Indiana, "because doing
so probably defeats any criminal prosecution."

    The North dismissal has implications for other cases. The
five guilty verdicts against John Poindexter, McFarlane's
successor at the NSC, may be jeopardized by the influence of
immunized testimony. The North outcome works in Gates' favor as
well. The intelligence committee had discussed granting immunity
to George, who worked directly under Gates and allegedly knew
more about the diversion to the contras than he has admitted.
But members decided against it, fearful of meddling again with
Walsh's prosecutions -- even if that meant making a less than
fully informed decision about Gates.

    Oozing contrition, Gates emerged from the first week of
hearings bearing only a few scratches. With a nudge from
Republican panel member Warren Rudman of New Hampshire, Gates
began his testimony with an unexpected apology for not pressing
his old boss at the CIA, the late William Casey, about the
Iran-contra operation. "I should have been more skeptical of
what I was told," he said in his metallic monotone. "I should
have asked more questions, and I should have been less satisfied
with the answers I received, especially from Director Casey."
Gates also told his inquisitors that the agency had placed too
much emphasis on cloak and daggery, and he said covert
paramilitary operations should not be undertaken when the public
opposes the policy. He even vowed to resign if illegal activity
occurred on his watch.

    Gates' performance was not unblemished. He admitted to
slanting intelligence analysis in at least one case to support
the policy of higher-ups. In written answers to the panel, he
was repeatedly unable to recall key conversations or documents.
Though he had little evidence to support his hunch, former CIA
official Alan Fiers said he believed Gates knew of the existence
and perhaps the extent of North's network but kept his distance
from the operation.

    Senators were otherwise unable to puncture Gates' smooth
exterior. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, who led the Democratic
attack on the nominee, could do little more than sound indignant
that Gates had failed to predict the coup attempt in the Soviet
Union. Even Ohio Democrat Howard Metzenbaum, who derided Gates
as a "hear no evil, see no evil" bureaucrat, believed the
nominee would be confirmed.

    Throughout the week, Gates fingered a small, oblong white
stone in his left pants pocket. An avid hiker, he had picked it
up last summer while walking in the Cascades. Having put in 25
years with the agency as of last month, Gates told intimates
that the stone provided a comforting reminder of what he could
be doing a year from now if the Senate fails to confirm him.