Urged Congress Be Told of Deals, Secord Asserts

President Reagan turned to private citizens in the Iran- contra affair because increasing congressional oversight on national security matters made it impossible to keep secrets, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord said Friday.

Secord, the chief manager of the “enterprise”--the private operation that ran the U.S. arms sales to Iran and the clandestine military supply effort for the Nicaraguan contras--said also that he had told National Security Council officials twice last year to tell Congress about the deals. However, he did not identify those NSC officials.

Lawyers Protest Speech

Secord addressed the State Bar of Texas convention, while about 20 lawyers protested his appearance, some carrying signs calling him “the Jim Bakker of arms deals.”

He was being paid $7,500 to address the convention’s general assembly and answer questions.

One of the lawyers protesting Secord’s appearance, Julie Howell of Austin, said: “It’s an embarrassment to me as a lawyer because he represents people who would subvert the Constitution of the United States.”

In his speech, Secord sharply criticized Reagan and said there probably would have been no Iran-contra affair had the President gone public with the activities and notified Congress much sooner.

‘Weak Administration’

“I think it’s generally been a weak Administration,” Secord said. “I think that his style of management has been a detriment.”

He described the state of national security decision-making as “near gridlock. We can’t seem to keep secrets any more.”

He said national security has suffered greatly in the last 15 or 20 years and cited reporting requirements in recent legislation that he said have hampered the nation’s national security planners.