Lawmaker Says CIA’s Casey Lied About Iran Deal

A key lawmaker charged today that CIA Director William J. Casey lied to Congress last month in testifying about the Iran arms- contra aid scandal and that conflicting stories about the affair are only creating more “major inconsistencies.”

Rep. Larry Smith (D-Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also said he believes that former National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane was far more deeply involved with the clandestine overture to Iran than he describes.

McFarlane, in an interview Tuesday on ABC’s “Nightline,” said he warned President Reagan to scrap the arms sales to Iran because they were not achieving the desired objective of currying favor with “moderate” elements in the radical Islamic government of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Shultz Testifies Again

At the same time, Vice President George Bush said Reagan is “certain to this very day” that the dealings were not a gambit to purchase the freedom for American hostages held by pro-Iran extremists in Lebanon.

Congress is not so certain about that motive, however, and summoned Secretary of State George P. Shultz to Capitol Hill today to answer more questions about the policy.

Smith, after hearing from Shultz for almost two hours today, said the comments from the secretary of state to the House panel makes “other people’s testimony appear much less than truthful.”

Smith said before Shultz’s testimony that Casey lied to the committee when he testified on the affair last month--and that other U.S. officials have not been forthcoming with details, either.

‘Things Which Conflict’

“Mr. Casey, as far as I’m concerned, lied to the committee when he was here. Casey lied, and now Shultz’s testimony indicates to us that other people have now said things which conflict significantly with Shultz,” he said.

Casey is recuperating from Dec. 18 surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor.

Smith said Shultz gave no revelations but “fleshed out a lot of things.”

“I’m getting fed up with listening to these various stories, and they’re all different, about material facts,” he said.