Fawn Hall Had Top Role With North : ‘Super-Secretary’ Caught in Iran Scandal Spotlight

Pursued by paparazzi , pressured by investigators, Fawn Hall--the former “super-secretary” to ousted National Security Council aide Oliver L. North--has been propelled overnight into the special glare reserved for anonymous players in Washington dramas.

The bright lights and screeching headlines--”Foxy Fawn,” one New York tabloid dubbed her, the “Iranscam blonde”--underscore the important role Hall, 27, may play in the continuing investigation of the Iran arms- contra affair and the painful dilemmas she faces as the devoted aide of one of the scandal’s key figures.

Like Washington secretaries before her, Hall--described by friends as a “straight arrow” professional who understands the sensitivity of her job--no longer can rely on the circumspection her boss so prized. Granted immunity from prosecution, she has been forced to answer tough questions about the private workings of her office, which is at the heart of an intrigue that has become a national preoccupation.

“She had a sense that her work was very important, that the things being accomplished were important. She was very proud to work for the President,” said Andy Messing, executive director of the National Defense Council Foundation based in Alexandria, Va., who met Hall while he consulted with North on various issues during the last three years.

‘Near a Spotlight’

At the same time, he added, “she was conscious of the fact she was near a spotlight, and it could be shone on her at any time.”

The spotlight has blazed since it was reported this week that Hall admitted to federal investigators that she helped North alter, destroy and cart away documents dealing with the Iran-contra affair in the days leading up to his firing on Nov. 25.

Camera crews pursued her down the streets of Annandale, the northern Virginia suburb where she lives with her parents, and photographers snapped pictures through the kitchen window of the family home. On Tuesday, her lawyer arranged a photo session with the sometime-model in hopes that the media onslaught would then abate.

A smiling Hall exchanged banter with reporters, saying she found all the attention “a little overwhelming.” But friends said her relaxed manner belied the discomfort she was feeling.

“The way she’s being portrayed is as a person who’s enjoying the spotlight,” said Katy Dickey, legislative director of the National Defense Council Foundation, a conservative research organization. “She’s not enjoying it.”

Intelligent, Reliable

Dickey and other associates say that Hall, a high school graduate with 10 years of experience as a Washington secretary, is an intelligent, reliable worker whom North counted on for more than the usual skills of dictation and typing.

“She was an excellent organizer,” Dickey said. “She could organize a busy man’s day, and she did it very well.”

Messing compared Hall with Della Street, secretary and confidante to fictional attorney Perry Mason. He called her a “super-secretary,” much like her mother, Wilma, who worked in the White House as private secretary to Robert C. McFarlane and Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter when each served as President Reagan’s national security adviser.

Like her boss, Fawn Hall worked long hours. Late-night callers to North’s office found her still on duty and she often worked Saturdays as well. Friends said that the time demands of the government post forced Hall virtually to abandon a promising second career as a fashion model.

“I think she probably could have done very well at it if she’d stuck with it,” said Jay Sumner, a Washington modeling agency executive who arranged some of Hall’s early assignments 2 1/2 years ago. “It was just tricky working around her job because you have to be available at a moment’s notice.”

High Security Clearance

Alert to security considerations, Hall--who had the highest-level security clearance at her agency--never spoke outside the office of the substance of National Security Council operations, associates say. “She was even careful discussing things within the office,” one co-worker said.

Yet counterintelligence agents reportedly were concerned that she would compromise national security in the year she dated Arturo Cruz Jr., the son of one of the top leaders of the U.S.-backed rebels fighting the leftist government of Nicaragua.

One of young Cruz’s friends, lobbyist Bruce Cameron, said that the pressures of the Iran-contra scandal may have helped doom the relationship, which ended late last year. But other friends said that Hall made it a policy not to discuss office business with Cruz.

Staff writer Karen Tumulty contributed to this story.