Byrd Sees Cover-up in Iran Scandal : Suspects Top Aides in White House Try to Shield Reagan

Top White House officials are involved in a well-orchestrated campaign of “lying” and “deceit” designed to cover up the extent of President Reagan’s role in the Iran arms affair, Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) charged Friday.

Byrd’s remark was prompted by the news that Reagan had given two versions of his actions in August, 1985, to members of the Tower Commission, the special presidential panel investigating the Iran- contra scandal. Byrd’s reaction reflects a growing suspicion among congressional investigators that Administration officials are actively trying to shield the President from any more embarrassing disclosures.

Not Blaming President

In a breakfast interview with The Times’ Washington bureau, Byrd emphasized that the President does not appear to be directing any cover-up.

“The President himself is probably confused,” he said. “He can’t keep his tale straight. He can’t remember what he said or when he said it.”

While Byrd declined to name the White House officials who he suspects are responsible for a cover-up, he hinted strongly that he was referring to White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan, among others. It was on Regan’s advice, sources say, that the President recanted his original testimony that in August, 1985, he had approved an Israeli shipment of arms to Iran.

“I think there’s been a great deal of lying and cover-up--not by the President himself, I’m not saying that--but it’s obvious that those around him have engaged in a great deal of cover-up and deceit in an effort to protect the presidency,” Byrd said.

Others Express Suspicions

Like Byrd, both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee recently have expressed suspicions that differing versions of what happened in August, 1985, are evidence of a cover-up. Some say the evidence indicates an attempt to give the President a plausible way to deny that he had approved the initial shipments of arms from Israel to Iran. Robert C. McFarlane, former national security adviser, claims that the President approved the Israeli shipments but Regan contends that he did not.

The senator also characterized the alleged cover-up as “too methodical, systematic and planned” to be viewed as accidental. “I doubt that it’s all spontaneous,” he said. “It doesn’t appear to me to be entirely effortless.”

At the White House, spokesman Marlin Fitzwater strongly denied that the President was aware of a cover-up, but he acknowledged that he could not vouch for what others in the Administration might have done. “As far as the President’s concerned, there is no cover-up,” Fitzwater said. “He certainly wasn’t aware of any.”

Although Byrd’s charges were reminiscent of those made during the Watergate scandal, the senator said that the current effort differs from the cover-up undertaken by the Richard M. Nixon Administration because it is not being directed by the President. He noted that Nixon “knew the details” of Watergate.

“In this situation, I have not yet seen any evidence that the President has ordered any cover-up or has participated in any cover-up or has wanted any cover-up. I can’t say that I’ve seen such evidence,” said Byrd, who served on the special Senate committee that investigated Watergate.

On the contrary, he added, Reagan appears to have no real grasp of the matter.

Question of Nonfeasance

“In the case of Mr. Nixon,” Byrd said, “as the evidence finally came out, there’s no question that he was guilty of malfeasance. If there’s anything wrong in this situation, thus far it’s nonfeasance, rather than malfeasance. I think the President has simply not immersed himself into details enough to question and to form a judgment that this was wrong or that was wrong . . . . I don’t think he has been in control.”

Byrd added that he was not surprised that the President does not remember whether he approved an Israeli arms shipment in 1985 because he has personally observed that Reagan in White House meetings does not fully understand the subject being discussed. The President always reads from a prepared script when discussing legislative issues with members of Congress, he said.

As an example, Byrd recalled a recent White House meeting on the subject of ratification of the Threshold Test Ban and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions treaties, which Reagan has not endorsed. The treaties would limit all U.S. and Soviet underground nuclear tests to no more than 150 kilotons, or the equivalent of a blast of about 300 million pounds of TNT.

The senator said that, after he made his case for ratification of the treaties, the President turned to an aide and asked: “What’s wrong with what he’s saying? Isn’t that what we want?”

Byrd concluded: “I came away from there believing that he sincerely didn’t understand what this was all about.”

Sided With McFarlane

In his testimony to the Tower Commission, the President first sided with McFarlane and later switched his story to conform with Regan’s account. According to sources, McFarlane has told the Tower Commission that, when the scandal began to unfold last year, he helped the White House prepare a false chronology of events that omitted Reagan’s decision in August, 1985.

“I’m prone to believe McFarlane,” Byrd said, echoing the opinion of many members of the congressional investigating committees.

When asked if he believes that a cover-up was being directed by the White House chief of staff, Byrd replied: “I hesitate to get into personalities, but it’s obvious that when McFarlane says one thing and the President agrees to that, and Mr. Regan says another thing and the President agrees to that, somebody is lying.”

Fitzwater, asked whether Regan was involved in a cover-up, said: “I’m not going to try to investigate the issue or to comment on any one of the hundred or so people who have been involved in this case and what they did or didn’t do, or whether or not they were involved in a cover-up.”

Similar Charges Raised

Charges of a top-level Administration cover-up also were raised earlier this week when the Senate Intelligence Committee asked acting CIA Director Robert M. Gates why his predecessor, William J. Casey, had misled the committee last November about the extent of CIA involvement in the Iran arms affair and why he had failed to mention evidence that profits from the sales were being diverted to the Nicaraguan rebels.

Byrd said he feared that the whole affair had damaged the credibility of the Reagan presidency, both at home and abroad. “I think the American people are badly confused and that is easily understood when we hear from day to day differing accounts, some 180 degrees the opposite of what the former was,” he said.