Navy Not Allowing Fawn Hall to Handle Secret Information

Security clearances held by Fawn Hall, the former secretary to Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, are under review and she has not handled classified information since leaving the White House, the Navy said Tuesday.

Hall returned to the Pentagon to work for the Navy after the Iran- contra story broke last November and North was fired from his position on the National Security Council staff by President Reagan.

While working for North, Hall held clearances that allowed her to handle top secret documents.

In appearing before House and Senate committees jointly investigating the affair, Hall testified on Monday and Tuesday that she had helped North shred and alter documents when the affair was first unraveling. She disclosed also that she had removed some documents from the White House.

When asked about that testimony Tuesday, several Pentagon officials who requested anonymity said that unauthorized removal of classified documents from a secure area is grounds for suspension or revocation of a clearance.

Later, Cmdr. Ken Pease, a Navy spokesman, said: “Her clearances are being reviewed.

“In the meantime, since she came back to the Navy, she has worked in a job that does not require access to classified information. She has had no access to any classified information since returning,” he said.

Another Navy official, who requested anonymity, said the review of the secretary’s clearances began prior to her appearances before the committees.

But he said it would be fair to say that her testimony is being followed and that “there is a lot of new information that is just now coming out and that might have some bearing on the review.”

Hall worked for the Navy as a secretary from 1977 to 1983, when she left the Pentagon to join North.