Bush Asks Ex-Aides to Waive the 5th : Says Nation ‘Cannot Wait,’ Calls on North, Poindexter to Tell All

Declaring that “the country cannot wait any longer,” Vice President George Bush pleaded publicly with former National Security Council officials John M. Poindexter and Oliver L. North on Friday to waive their Fifth Amendment rights and tell America the truth about the contra aid scheme.

At the very least, Bush said, they should “come forward now, before Christmas, to answer just one key question: Did you tell the President about the diversion of funds?” from Iranian arms sales profits to the Nicaraguan rebels

“I am satisfied the answer will be ‘No,’ ” Bush said. “The people will know then, to the last man, that our President has told the truth.”

White House Releases Text

Bush’s plea to Poindexter and North--putting more Administration pressure on them to break their silence--came in a speech to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy in Altoona, Iowa. White House senior officials reviewed the vice president’s speech in advance and then released a text here.

Reagan is said by confidants to be deeply distressed by public skepticism about his statement that he knew nothing of the contra aid scheme--reportedly ramrodded by North with some knowledge by Poindexter--until Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III discovered it four weeks ago. A recent Los Angeles Times Poll, for example, showed that 82% of those surveyed thought the President knew at least “something” about the scheme, which possibly was illegal.

Poindexter, a vice admiral, resigned as Reagan’s national security adviser, and North, a Marine lieutenant colonel, was fired as an NSC staff member after Administration disclosure of the diversion of profits from the secret Iranian arms sales. Both Poindexter and North have invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid answering the questions of congressional investigators.

North Responds Angrily

North reacted angrily Thursday to a comment by First Lady Nancy Reagan that the President wished that he and Poindexter would tell all they know about the scandal. “People have died face down in the mud all over the world defending those individual (constitutional) rights,” he told reporters.

But in his speech, Bush said that “anyone who has ever taken the oath to serve this country knows the oath they swear to may summon them to make a great sacrifice. Those who wear the uniform of their country take on a special obligation.”

Bush told his audience that Poindexter and North “are accused of condoning things they should have condemned. They are at the center of a terrible controversy. And only they know all the facts, all the details. Well, you have a right to know them, too. We all do. The country cannot wait any longer. Both Adm. Poindexter and Col. North should now step forward and tell us the truth.”

“And I’d add this,” Bush continued: “If this is too complex or if all the facts can’t be mustered in the next few days or if full disclosure now would truly jeopardize their constitutional rights, then I’d urge them to come forward now, before Christmas, to answer just one key question: Did you tell the President about the diversion of funds?”

Urges Declassifying Testimony

Bush also urged the congressional investigating committees to declassify all testimony taken in closed session, except for disclosures “that would impair our legitimate national security requirements.” He urged: “Do it now, make it available to the public. . . . Let the chips fall where they may.”

On Friday, Chairman Dave Durenberger (R-Minn.) said that results of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s three-week investigation would be made public only with the approval of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the new Senate select committee that will be created in January to investigate the Iranian arms scandal.

Although Democratic leaders in Congress insist that they share the President’s desire to make the information public, Inouye said in an interview that a “preliminary report would be adding confusion to confusion.”

In his speech, Bush also proposed that the National Security Council in the future be limited to developing foreign policy and prevented from executing it, as it did in the Iran-contra affair.

This marked the second major speech Bush has given on the scandal. Earlier, he was the first major White House official to publicly acknowledge that mistakes were made in the arms sale dealings. Bush is a probable 1988 presidential candidate whose political stock has been damaged by the Administration scandal, aides concede.

Taping Systems Confirmed

Meanwhile, the White House confirmed a published report that it maintains systems in the basement Situation Room to tape-record the President’s telephone calls and to link by video the room with the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon. Because the Situation Room is the site of National Security Council meetings, the disclosures raised speculation that there may be recordings that could shed light on the Iran-contra scandal.

Referring to the congressional and FBI investigators looking into the affair, White House spokesman Larry Speakes said: “If anybody wanted to see whatever tapes remained of these things, or whatever files remained, then we’d be glad to let them do it.”

Speakes said the telephone recording system has been used only in “a small percentage of presidential phone calls” when Reagan has spoken with foreign leaders. “We’re not trying to bug anyone here,” he said.

Times staff writer James Gerstenzang contributed to this story.