Reagan Might Let Probers Question Him
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WASHINGTON — The White House said today that President Reagan might consent to be questioned by investigators delving into his secret arms sales to Iran and acknowledged that an internal review is under way to locate relevant files.
At the same time, White House spokesman Larry Speakes refused to reconcile contradictions over when Reagan first gave the go-ahead for the shipments and said all such questions will be left to the investigations now under way.
“Recollections of meetings where no records were kept can differ,” Speakes said in offering a possible explanation for the contradictions. “Certainly, the President is entitled to an opportunity to refresh his memory.”
That point, he said, will come “in due course” if Reagan is approached by Congress, a yet-to-be named special prosecutor or a high-level presidential board reviewing operations of the National Security Council.
In lieu of such interrogation, the implication was that questions about what Reagan did and when could remain unanswered.
“The President will respond as openly and as truthfully and as quickly as he can,” Speakes said. “But he has to wait until the facts are determined and he has an opportunity to determine the facts for himself.”
Speakes said White House legal counsel Peter Wallison is supervising a search of “some files” that might bear on the Iran arms- contra aid connection and noted that the FBI has sealed others under the control of the NSC, “which are, in effect, the President’s files--some of them.”
As ex-aides John Poindexter and Oliver L. North cited their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination on Capitol Hill, Reagan sought to remain aloof of the furor over what he has portrayed as good intentions gone awry.
Facing reporters before a meeting with President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, he joked about watching televised hearings on the Iran arms deal only “when I can’t find a ball game” and deflected further questions by saying, “I would remind you that I am the one who told you all that we know.”
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