Secord Tells Court Giving Up Bank Data Would Violate Treaty

Retired Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord, a principal middleman in the Iran- contra affair, told a federal judge Monday that giving Senate investigators access to his foreign bank accounts would violate both the Constitution and a U.S.-Swiss treaty.

The Senate select committee’s request that he sign a waiver freeing the documents is a “plain and simple violation of Mr. Secord’s rights under the First and Fifth amendments to the Constitution,” his lawyer, Thomas Green, said.

In responding to a request from the Senate panel investigating the arms scandal for a federal court order compelling Secord to release his records, Green said the evidence in the foreign accounts could incriminate his client.

“If the committee is permitted to force Mr. Secord to sign the consent directive, Mr. Secord would be compelled to provide potentially incriminating testimony against himself.”