Broad Powers Asked for Iran Deal Special Counsel

The Justice Department today released a broadly worded four-page document seeking appointment of an independent counsel to investigate Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and “other U.S. government officials” in connection with Reagan Administration arms sales to Iran and diversion of the profits to Nicaraguan guerrillas.

The application, filed Thursday with the federal appeals court in Washington and publicly released today with the consent of the court, would give the special prosecutor, who has not yet been appointed, wide latitude to investigate an array of possible criminal behavior.

“The independent counsel should have jurisdiction sufficiently broad to investigate and prosecute any and all violations of U.S. federal criminal law which his or her investigation may establish in this matter,” the application said.

“The questions which will need to be resolved . . . will demand an appreciation of complex issues and principles in the areas of international relations, national security and defense, intelligence, counterterrorism, foreign aid and foreign military sales,” the document said.

It said the special prosecutor must “investigate whether violations of federal criminal law were committed” by former National Security Council staff member North, other U.S. officials or “other individuals acting in concert with” them beginning in January, 1985.

Unlike other applications for an independent counsel filed earlier this year, including one concerning the lobbying activities of former White House official Michael K. Deaver, the document released today contains no details of possible criminal behavior or what criminal violations might have occurred.