Ex-CIA Man to Testify on $2,000 Gate for Col. North

The Senate committee investigating the Iran- contra affair has subpoenaed a veteran CIA officer who paid for a $2,000 electronic gate at the home of Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, a key figure in the scandal.

Senate sources said today the panel’s investigators have subpoenaed Glenn Robinette to testify about the arms sales to Iran as well as how he came to pay for the electronic security gate at North’s home in suburban Virginia.

“There’s a possibility that there’s nothing more here than the purchase of a gate,” a committee source said. “But investigators are interested in learning more about Robinette’s connection with various individuals.”

Robinette, 66, who is now a security consultant, told the Washington Post that he was asked by retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord, another key figure in the affair, to talk to North.

“I think there had been some things put in the mailbox, potential explosives. And there was also some concern about cars driving onto the property,” he told the newspaper.

Robinette said he paid $2,000 in cash for the gate.

“I considered it worth it as perhaps a business venture,” he said. “I just happened to get it (the job) on assignment,” Robinette said. “There’s nothing cloudy, shaky or shady about it.”