Poindexter Now Seems to Have Played Key Role

Former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter, a low-key, bookish figure overshadowed in the Iran- contra scandal by the more flamboyant Oliver L. North, now appears to have played a central role in the White House affair, not as the man in the field but as the bureaucrat behind the desk.

Indeed, congressional investigators suspect that Rear Adm. Poindexter may prove a more valuable witness than his former aide when hearings begin next month, and they are exploring ways to force him to break his silence.

“He was in the key position, and it is inconceivable to us that he, rather than North, is not really in many ways one of the major players in this,” said Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.), vice chairman of the special Senate committee investigating the scandal.

Lingering Questions

Probably more than North, investigators believe, Poindexter also holds the answers to lingering questions about whether President Reagan knew that profits from the Iran arms sales were diverted to the Nicaraguan rebels. In the chain of command, North reported to Poindexter; Poindexter reported to the President.

“I think it still must be resolved what the President knew, and Poindexter is the one who can tell us,” said a source close to the Senate investigation who asked not to be identified.

Further enhancing Poindexter’s value as a witness are his analytical style and his reputedly computer-like memory. “Poindexter is an intelligent person with a good memory for detail and a realistic memory,” the Senate source said.

The public’s interest in the “glamorous” North put the “emphasis in maybe the wrong place,” Rudman said. The Senate panel, he added, wants to cover “in great detail” the role played not just by North but by his former boss.

‘North Is Sexier’

The Senate source added: “Let’s face it, Ollie North is a hell of a lot sexier than John Poindexter. And I think that’s why most people focused on North. Poindexter was this pipe smoker in a deerstalker’s cap, whereas North was this dashing military hero.”

Important Testimony

This source said Poindexter’s testimony will also be “very important” in helping the committee determine how the Iran-contra policy evolved. “Poindexter is more likely to be an architect of that policy than was North,” the source said.

Poindexter, in refusing to testify thus far, has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. But a congressional source said the Senate investigating committee will probably force Poindexter to answer its questions by granting him immunity from prosecution that is based on his Senate testimony.

Could Not Invoke Fifth

In that event, Poindexter could still be indicted if the independent counsel investigating the Iran-contra affair built his case on evidence collected before Poindexter’s testimony. But Poindexter could no longer use the Fifth Amendment as a reason to keep silent before the Senate committee, and he would be subject to a contempt of Congress charge if he persisted in his refusal to testify.

The congressional source, who asked not to be identified, said Poindexter will probably receive a grant of immunity before North does. Mandatory procedures involved with grants of immunity, the source said, mean that his testimony probably cannot come before May or June.

When the Iran-contra affair became public last November, Poindexter was portrayed as having little to do with the diversion of Iranian arms sale profits to the contras. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III, in his Nov. 25 press conference disclosing the diversion, said: “The only persons in the United States government that knew precisely about this, the only person, was Lt. Col. North.

“Adm. Poindexter did know something of this nature was occurring, but he did not look into it further.”

‘Hints’ From North

Poindexter, Meese later told the Senate Intelligence Committee, told him he had “enough hints” from North to know money was going to the Nicaragua insurgents but “didn’t inquire further.”

Reports From North

But reports by the Senate Intelligence Committee in January and the presidentially appointed Tower Commission last month disclosed that Poindexter received regular reports from North about his support for the contras and even ordered North to lie to hide them.

The Senate report described several instances in which Poindexter misled other Reagan Administration officials in an effort to protect the Iranian arms deal. Poindexter, according to the report, knew as early as November, 1985, that North was involved in an enterprise in Switzerland that was prepared to ship arms to Nicaragua.

Intimate Involvement

The Tower Commission later revealed Poindexter’s intimate involvement in North’s contra activities in more dramatic terms. The panel published a series of computer messages between North and Poindexter that showed that the former national security adviser knew of North’s activities, encouraged them and tried to hide them from others after Congress cut off all U.S. funds to the contras in October, 1984.

Poindexter, for example, supported a 1985 suggestion by North to inform the contras about a Nicaraguan merchant ship believed to be carrying arms for the Nicaraguan government, the panel disclosed.

In a memo obtained by the panel, North proposed approaching the rebels “on the matter of seizing or sinking the ship.” Once the ship was seized, North wrote, its arms could be turned over to the contras.

At the bottom of the memorandum outlining this plan, Poindexter wrote: “We need to take action to make sure ship does not arrive in Nicaragua.”

$12 Million for Contras

Investigators also found an unsigned April 7, 1986, memorandum that said $12 million from the arms sales should be diverted to the contras. The Tower Commission said the memo, which included a recommendation that the President approve the plan, was from North to Poindexter “for Poindexter to forward to the President.”

“The board has obtained no evidence that Poindexter showed this memorandum to the President,” the board said.

Warning to North

Congressional investigators want to know if Poindexter ever showed a similar memo to Reagan or informed him verbally that Nicaragua’s guerrillas would benefit from the arms sales. Meese has said that Poindexter told him he had informed no one that the money was going to the contras.

In May, 1986, Poindexter warned North in a written message that he was letting his “operational role” become too public. The former national security adviser ordered North to report only to him on his operations. Moreover, the Tower Commission revealed, Poindexter told North to invent a “cover story that I have insisted you stop.”

Received Regular Reports

Poindexter also received regular written reports from North about arms shipments to the contras and the contras’ military plans.

In August, 1986, North apparently lied to a congressional committee about his knowledge of the contras’ activities, the report showed. Poindexter read a staff account of North’s testimony and congratulated him on the deception. “Well done,” Poindexter said in a computer message to North.

North also sought advice from Poindexter on the contra-supply operation, the report found. In a September, 1986, message, North asked Poindexter whether he should send a ship to Israel to pick up weapons for the contras.

Poindexter advised him to “go ahead and make it happen.” But the former national security adviser insisted on secrecy. “Absolutely nobody else should know about this,” Poindexter told North.

Threat to Costa Rican

During the same month, North told Poindexter that he had telephoned and threatened Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez in an attempt to stop him from publicly disclosing and denouncing the use of a private airstrip in Costa Rica for contra supply flights. The Costa Rican president later denied he ever received a call from North.

“I recognize that I was well beyond my charter in dealing w/a head of state this way and in making threats/offers that may be impossible to deliver, but . . . it seemed like the only thing to do,” North wrote Poindexter.

Poindexter replied: “You did the right thing but let’s try to keep it quiet.”

Times staff writers Karen Tumulty and Michael Wines contributed to this report.