Reagan to Give Diary Excerpts to Lawmakers : Investigators Hope Personal Notes Will Reveal What President Knew of Iran-Contra Events

President Reagan agreed Wednesday to let congressional investigators see excerpts from almost three years of his personal diaries, allowing them to delve into thoughts he may have had on a wide range of subjects related to the U.S. arms sales to Iran and aid to the Nicaraguan rebels.

Although the arrangement is similar to one that Reagan had with the special commission he appointed to investigate the Iran- contra operation, lawmakers said that the excerpts they will see probably will hold significantly more information than those obtained by the commission headed by former Sen. John Tower (R-Tex.).

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate committee investigating the controversy, said that the presidential notes “will help settle” the most basic issue concerning the House and Senate panels: how much Reagan knew about the apparently illegal diversion of Iran arms sale funds to the contras during the period when Congress had banned U.S. aid to them. Reagan has denied knowing about the fund diversion until it was discovered by Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III last November. Rep. Dick Cheney (R-Wyo.), the ranking Republican on the House panel, described the agreement as “unprecedented in terms of the degree of cooperation he is offering us.”

Avoid Setting Precedent

Presidents of both political parties historically have guarded the amount of private information they would share with Congress, in part to avoid setting a precedent that could hamper future chief executives. Former President Richard M. Nixon, for example, went to the Supreme Court in an unsuccessful effort to keep private tapes that were made of conversations in his office.

Although Reagan has reserved the right to review the excerpts and withhold any he wishes, the leaders of both committees said that they are convinced the President plans to be forthcoming. Inouye described it as “a matter of good faith.”

Moreover, added House committee Chairman Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), “you’ve got to look at the alternative. The alternative is you don’t get access to anything.”

Under the agreement, White House counsel Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. will scan Reagan’s diaries--which the counsel described in a letter to congressional investigators as handwritten notes the President made from time to time of “his impressions, recollections and thoughts about events and persons.” He will excerpt any entries that relate to nine topics.

In addition to the arms sales and aid to the rebels, these include such broad subjects as Nicaragua and Iran in general, any assistance that was given the contras and “the goals of freedom and democracy in Central America as they relate to Nicaragua.” Hamilton said that the excerpts also would include entries relating to any “key personnel” involved in the controversy.

Panel Information Limited

By comparison, a Senate source noted, the Tower Commission received only information that related directly to the arms sales and diversion of funds.

If Reagan agrees, the entries then will be made available in typewritten form to only the Democratic and Republican leaders of the congressional committees or their designated staff members. They would be required to examine them at the White House and would not be allowed to photocopy them. It was not clear whether the lawmakers would be permitted to jot down notes about the entries.

Culvahouse wrote in the letter to the committees: “The President anticipates that the information disclosed pursuant to this procedure will be treated with due regard to the privacy rights not only of himself but of those who may be referenced.”

Separately, the two panels agreed upon a format for their public hearings, which are scheduled to begin on May 5. The hearings will take place in the same rooms where the Senate Watergate committee met.

Sources said that the House committee also voted to grant immunity to Shirley Napier and Joan Corbin, two clerical employees of retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord and his Iranian-American business associate, Albert A. Hakim. Secord and Hakim are seen as central figures in both the delivery of arms to Iran and in a private network that supplied the contras.