Panels Finishing Probes; Secord Appearance Left

With only one hearing left on their schedules, congressional committees have all but finished their separate investigations of the secret sale of U.S. arms to Iran and the diversion of profits to Nicaraguan rebels.

After the House Intelligence Committee attempts this week to determine what retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord knew about the operation, the broad inquiry will fall to a special investigatory committee in each chamber of Congress.

There has been speculation that Secord, who already has refused to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, may have been a key player in both the arms sales and the effort to funnel profits to the contras. It is unclear whether Secord plans to testify this week.

Meanwhile, a Justice Department spokesman said Saturday that Rep. George E. Brown Jr. (D-Colton) misinterpreted testimony given by Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III before the House Intelligence Committee. Brown told reporters Friday that Meese raised the possibility that President Reagan approved the first shipment of U.S.-made arms to Iran while ill or under sedation.

Brown quoted Meese as saying the approval may have been given shortly after the President underwent abdominal surgery in July, 1985, and added that Meese “gave us the impression it was a difficult time for the President.” Brown also said that Reagan “may have been under sedation.”

Spokesman Patrick Korten said any suggestion that Meese said Reagan had made such a decision while on medication was “a gross misrepresentation of the testimony.” He said the congressman “appears to be drawing conclusions from things that he’s heard.”

Only ‘Put Up With It’

White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan has repeatedly insisted that Reagan did not approve the shipment by Israel of the U.S.-made arms until after the fact, and even then only “put up with it.”

However, former National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane has been equally adamant that the President did orally approve the shipment. It would have been illegal for Israel to ship the U.S. weapons without presidential approval.

The Administration has insisted that the weapons were sent in an effort to make a diplomatic breakthrough with Iranian officials the White House considers to be moderate, not as ransom for U.S. citizens held hostage in the Middle East.

The Washington Post reported that even amid the furor that has arisen over the sales, the Administration in recent weeks has sent new messages to Iran, routed through Switzerland, encouraging improved relations.

Report on Hostage Talk

However, the Post quoted diplomatic sources as saying that at least some of the recent communications include “an attempt to discuss the hostage thing,” particularly inquiring about one hostage who is reported to be ill.

Secord, 54, is one of several important actors in the drama whose accounts are considered vital to discovering the whole story, but who have thus far refused to testify before Congress.

Others who have claimed their Fifth Amendment protection against being forced to give testimony by which they could incriminate themselves are fired National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, who resigned last month as Reagan’s national security adviser.

Secord has been said by Secretary of State George P. Shultz and others to have been involved with North in the negotiations that led to the arms shipments and the release of three U.S. hostages held by factions that are influenced by Iran.

Secord also is reported to be under investigation in connection with Swiss bank accounts that may have been used to funnel profits from the secret sales to the contras.

Aid to Contras Cited

Contra officials also have said Secord was important in helping them obtain private airborne supplies during the more than two years, ending this fall, when Congress had blocked any military support by the U.S. government.

Three committees on Capitol Hill--the House and Senate intelligence committees and the House Foreign Affairs Committee--have heard from dozens of other witnesses in extensive hearings over the last three weeks.

All of the congressional panels that could normally claim jurisdiction over various facets of the investigation have agreed to step aside when special Watergate-style committees in the House and Senate begin their work next year.

Both chambers plan to officially establish the panels as their first order of business when the new congressional session begins on Jan. 6.