Reagan Opposes Pardons but Won’t Rule Them Out : Still Wants 2 Ex-Aides to Testify

President Reagan has no plan to use his power of granting pardons to lure former aides John M. Poindexter and Oliver L. North to the congressional witness table, a White House spokesman said today.

“I don’t what to get into a ‘refused to rule out’ scenario,” spokesman Larry Speakes told reporters. “The President is not planning a pardon for them, but of course as chief executive, always retains the right to executive clemency.”

Poindexter, who was Reagan’s national security adviser, and North, who was on the National Security Council staff, were named Nov. 25 by Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III as the only two people in the government who knew that Iran arms money was being slipped to the contras in Nicaragua.

Speakes noted that a pardon “would not necessarily compel testimony.” If the two men were granted so-called use immunity by congressional committees, they could face jail for contempt if they refused to testify.

Speakes said Reagan had been advised last week of “staff discussions of various means to encourage them to talk” before he decided to ask congressional committees to provide limited immunity for the men. White House staffers did not recommend a pardon for either man, and Reagan said no pardon would be given, Speakes said.

No Public Statement

Reagan agrees with Vice President George Bush’s recent call for Poindexter and North to come forward now and tell the truth, Speakes said, but the President has no specific plans to make a public statement asking them to speak out.

The spokesman also rejected suggestions that Reagan, as commander in chief, call North and Poindexter into the White House and demand an explanation of what was going on.

“The Oval Office is not the proper way to go, because their constitutional rights would prevail in the Oval Office the same as they would in court or in Congress . . . and the President would be open to criticism for what he may or may not have asked them in that room,” Speakes said.

Earlier, the chairman of the special Senate panel investigating the U.S. arms sales to Iran said the panel might consider limited immunity for White House officials and seek help from Iran to learn the truth about the transactions.

‘Not Closing Any Doors’

“I’m not closing any of the doors,” Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Select Committee, said Sunday. (Story, Page 12.)

North was fired from the National Security Council staff and Poindexter resigned as national security adviser. Both refused to answer questions about the matter before congressional panels, citing their constitutional rights against self-incrimination.

The House Intelligence Committee planned to call retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Secord for closed-door testimony Tuesday. Secord has been reported to have played a role in both the Iran weapons deals and efforts to bolster the Nicaraguan rebels, whom Reagan has hailed as “the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers.”