Meese Probe Let North, Others in Scandal Confer

Last November, when President Reagan first ordered Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III to begin investigating the Iran arms-and-hostages affair, Meese gave White House aide Oliver L. North a full day’s notice before questioning him about the diversion of arms profits to the contras , the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday.

And North used the delay--which he obtained by saying he wanted time to go to church with his family--to confer secretly with a lawyer and two other key figures in the scandal, former National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord, the committee said.

This episode and others, described in a report issued Thursday, present a portrait in which Meese’s initial inquiry into the scandal appears to have been frenetic, haphazard and lacking many of the normal safeguards of a criminal investigation.

Contacts Poindexter

In addition to giving North an opportunity to meet with McFarlane and Secord, the report said, Meese failed to prevent the White House aide from contacting then-National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter, who also was involved in the deal, before Poindexter was questioned.

And when Meese did meet with Poindexter, it was only for 10 minutes--and the attorney general took no notes on the session, the report said. Poindexter, like North, later refused to testify before the Intelligence Committee about his role in the deal, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

The Senate Committee questioned the attorney general about the way he had conducted his inquiry, the report indicates, but Meese told the panel he did not realize that criminal violations might have been involved until three days after the diversion of funds was discovered.

Thursday night, a spokesman for Meese defended the attorney general’s conduct. “Procedures that would accompany a criminal investigation were not used because this was not a criminal investigation,” said the spokesman, Patrick V. Korten.

“The committee is operating with the benefit of hindsight--a wonderful position to be in. But it does not treat the fact-finding inquiry in light of what it was, and that is not especially fair,” Korten said.

The committee report did note that, when Meese and other Cabinet officers told President Reagan last Nov. 21 that something was amiss in the Iranian arms deal, Reagan did not order a formal investigation but merely asked Meese “to pull the facts together so they could have a coherent account.”

Meese said he himself “didn’t smell (that) something was wrong,” the report said, but was “bothered” that there were inconsistencies in different officials’ accounts of the deal.

Examine Council Records

The next day, Saturday, Nov. 22, Meese aides examined National Security Council records--with North present, the report said. In the files, the Justice Department officials discovered an undated memorandum from North that described the use of funds from the Iranian arms sales to aid the Nicaraguan contras.

Assistant Atty. Gen. William Bradford Reynolds told Meese of the discovery at lunch, the report said, and later that afternoon Meese called North to set up an appointment for an interview on Sunday.

“Meese testified that he had planned to interview North in the morning but agreed to a delay until 2 p.m. because North wanted to have time to go to church and be with his family,” the report said.

What North actually did, however, was meet at 12:30 p.m. with McFarlane--who already knew about the diversion of funds--and tell him of the Justice Department inquiry, the report said.

“McFarlane testified that, after their private meeting, an attorney named Tom Green arrived; as the meeting ended, Secord arrived. McFarlane testified that he learned later that Green was Secord’s lawyer,” it said.

North Interview

Only after that meeting with the others involved in the arms deals did North submit to his interview with Meese.

“Meese testified that it never occurred to him that there would be any collusion of an untoward nature and that it was at the time still not a criminal matter,” the report said.

Secord, like North and Poindexter, has refused to testify about his part in the deals.

“Meese was asked by the committee if he sought out Poindexter immediately so as to prevent any communication between Poindexter and North on what North had just told Meese and the other Justice Department officials,” the report said. “Meese testified that he did not.”

In his interview with Meese, North admitted aiding in the diversion of funds. But, according to the report, Meese apparently failed to press the NSC aide for specific answers on several key points, including who set up the bank accounts used for the diversion and how much Poindexter knew about the scheme.

“Meese testified that North did not explain how he reported the arms sale matter to Poindexter,” the report said.

Reports to Reagan

The next day, Monday morning, Meese told President Reagan that North had admitted diverting funds from the arms sales. Meese then asked his staff to review what criminal laws might be applicable to the case, the report said.

But North was still in his office at the NSC. In fact, on that same day, CIA Director William J. Casey called North to ask him if he could help determine where the money from the Iranian deals had gone. Casey made the inquiry at the urging of Casey’s former business partner, Roy M. Furmark, who was representing investors who had financed the deal, the report said.

Not until Monday afternoon did Meese ask Poindexter, North’s superior at the NSC, about the diversion of funds.

“Meese testified that he talked to Poindexter in the latter’s office very briefly on Monday afternoon,” the report said. “No notes were taken and Meese was alone. Meese recalled telling Poindexter what had been learned from North and asking if he knew about the matter. According to Meese, Poindexter said yes, he knew about it generally . . . .

“Meese testified that he asked Poindexter if he had told anyone about the money going to the contras, and Poindexter said he had not. Their conversation lasted about 10 minutes, because Meese needed to get back to see the President. Meese testified that he did not consider his talk with Poindexter an “investigation” or a “criminal investigation,” and Meese said he did not consider the matter a law violation “on its face.”

“He was trying, he said, to find out what happened from a respected member of the Administration.”

Meese Meets Casey

On Tuesday morning, Nov. 25, Meese met with Casey--at Casey’s request, the report said. The session was at Casey’s home at 7 a.m., and again, apparently no notes were taken.

“Meese could not recall the conversation, except that it was generally about the situation and what Meese had learned,” the report said. Casey has been unable to testify since he was hospitalized in December for removal of a brain tumor.

At 9 a.m. on that Tuesday, Meese met with Reagan and White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan. This was three days after his aides had first discovered that North had diverted funds from the arms sales.

For the first time, the attorney general told the President that a criminal investigation was “probably” needed. “According to Meese, they realized this was ‘a very momentous occasion’ and that the worst thing for the President would be the appearance of covering up,” the report said.

Meese ordered a criminal investigation begun on that Tuesday afternoon. That evening, for the first time, a security officer entered North’s office to secure records and documents, the report said.

By that time, officials have said, North had already destroyed some of the records in his office. The White House says it does not know what the documents were, but it says it has no evidence that they were important to the investigation.