Iran Probe’s Counsel Selects 11 Associates

Independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh announced Wednesday that he is opening a New York City office to investigate the Iran- contra affair, and he appointed the prosecutor from the Ronald W. Pelton spy trial as a top-level assistant.

Walsh announced the hiring of 11 associate counsels, including six current or former federal prosecutors. Five other lawyers selected are members of law firms that Walsh has been associated with over the years.

In a three-page announcement, the independent counsel gave no explanation for opening a New York office in addition to the office in Washington at the federal courthouse, where Walsh will be based.

Among members of the Walsh team are John G. Douglass, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Maryland who served as prosecutor in the Pelton espionage case. Pelton was sentenced on Dec. 16 to life imprisonment for supplying the Soviet Union with information on highly sensitive U.S. intelligence gathering projects.

Also chosen by Walsh was David M. Zornow, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, who was a member of the prosecution team in the trial of Stanley Friedman, the former Bronx Democratic boss.