Subpoena Voted for Poindexter in Security Case
A House subcommittee voted today to subpoena former national security adviser John M. Poindexter and an assistant after they refused to testify at a panel hearing on computer security.
The vote to issue the subpoenas for Poindexter and his former assistant, Kenneth deGraffenreid, to appear March 4 was by voice vote.
Poindexter’s successor as National Security Council adviser, Frank Carlucci, also refused to appear before the House Government Operations subcommittee on national security hearing, but he was not subpoenaed.
Rep. Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), chairman of the full committee and the subcommittee, said that he has been told by the committee’s lawyer that Poindexter and DeGraffenreid “have no legal basis to refuse appearing before this subcommittee.”
Brooks said the panel informed the invited witnesses that the subject of the Iran arms- contra aid scandal would not come up. Poindexter is a key player in that controversy and has so far refused to testify about his role.
The hearing was on legislation taking some control over government computer security from the Defense Department to the civilian-controlled National Bureau of Stadards--a move Brooks supports and the Reagan Administration opposes.
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