Byrd Calls on Abrams to Quit: No Credibility

Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) today called on Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams to quit, charging his credibility was “completely shot” by the admission he misled Congress on secret efforts to aid the contras.

Byrd said Abrams cannot continue as the “main man” of the Administration’s Central America policy because “no one” in Congress trusts him, adding still another obstacle to the White House’s request for an additional $100 million in aid to the Nicaraguan rebels.

“Whatever credibility he had is gone, shot completely,” Byrd told reporters, saying Abrams’ testimony to the joint Senate-House investigation of the Iran-contra scandal was “deceptive and shows an arrogance typical of this Administration so often.”

Asked whether the Administration’s request for additional military and humanitarian aid to the contras would be hurt if Abrams remained as assistant secretary of state, Byrd said, “This Administration has enough problems with contra aid to have a spokesman that no one believes.”

Others Support View

Others, including investigative committee members Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.) and Rep. Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), also have suggested that Abrams’ credibility on Capitol Hill has been destroyed.

Reps. Jim Moody (D-Wis.) and Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) have picked up about 70 signatures for a letter to Secretary of State George P. Shultz urging “the immediate resignation or replacement” of Abrams.

But Shultz has been adamant that Abrams remain in his post and conveyed his strong support to White House officials in Venice, Italy, for the economic summit. He expressed his “complete confidence” in Abrams Wednesday and called him a “man of integrity.”