THE IRAN--CONTRA HEARINGS : ‘I’m Waiting to Hear as Much as Anyone Else’ : Knows of No Illegal Fund Raising, Reagan Says

President Reagan said Tuesday that no illegal fund raising was carried out to benefit the Nicaraguan contras “as far as I know,” and that he was unaware of any improper efforts by his aides to raise money for the rebels.

As the congressional hearings on the Iran-contra affair got under way, the President said: “I hope I’m finally going to hear some of the things I’m still waiting to learn.”

The President’s remarks, made to reporters at the end of a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, seemed to run counter to the declared White House strategy for the period of the televised hearings. Under the White House plan, the President and his aides would say as little as possible about the Iran affair to avoid engaging in what could appear to be day-to-day arguments with the congressional witnesses.

But, as he passed reporters outside the Oval Office at a ceremony marking the creation of a White House commission on drug abuse, the President paused to respond to shouted questions, appearing alternately peeved at them and eager to give answers.

‘Waiting to Hear’

Asked whether he was worried about what the hearings may reveal as they explore the Administration’s sale of U.S. weapons to Iran and the diversion of the arms sale profits to the anti-Sandinista rebels, Reagan said:

“I’m waiting to hear as much as anyone else. I’ve told you over and over again everything that I know about all that took place, and I’m waiting to find out.”

Before the hearings got under way, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate investigative committee, said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Reagan “should look over the facts” before asserting that he was unaware of any questionable Administration solicitations of money to arm the contras.

But the President, asked about the Inouye statement, said: “There was no illegal fund raising as far as I know at this point. I know, and I think everyone else, I think, knows that out there in the country there were people contributing privately and in groups giving money to aid the contras.”

Last Wednesday, Carl R. (Spitz) Channell, a conservative fund-raiser, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the government by providing the rebels with more than $2 million he raised through a tax-exempt foundation. The fund raising occurred at a time when Congress had cut off government funding for the contras.

Channell Implicates North

“I don’t know about how that money (raised by Channell) was to be used and I have no knowledge that there was any solicitation by our people,” the President said. However, Channell has identified Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, who was then a National Security Council official, as a co-conspirator in the scheme.

Reagan defended the efforts of Secretary of State George P. Shultz and others in his Administration to obtain donations for the rebels from the Sultan of Brunei, from Saudi Arabia and from other sources while the aid ban was in effect, saying the actions were not illegal or improper.

Although none of the leaders of the congressional committees investigating the Iran-contra affair have called the President to testify before the panels, Reagan said in response to a question about whether he would be willing to make such an appearance: “I have to wait and find out.”

His spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, said later that “he just meant he hadn’t been asked yet.”

The President broke off the questioning by telling reporters: “I know what I did and I have told all of you repeatedly what I did and now I’m going to quit talking to you and go to the office.”