Betsy North Says ‘No’ to U.S. Grand Jury : Also Refuses to Cooperate With Congressional Investigators

Lt. Col. Oliver L. North’s wife, Betsy, recently refused to answer questions before the federal Iran- contra grand jury, citing her constitutional right against self-incrimination, it was reported today.

She also is refusing to cooperate with congressional committees investigating the Iran-contra scandal, the Washington Post said, citing unidentified sources.

Betsy North’s name came up in the congressional hearings two weeks ago when Albert Hakim, an Iranian-American middleman who worked with North, testified about what he said were efforts to channel money to the North family.

Congressional investigators questioned Hakim extensively on the subject, and apparently they and special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh would like to talk to Betsy North concerning what she had been told.

North himself, having been granted limited immunity from prosecution, has refused to begin answering questions in private for the congressional committees. His wife has been granted no such immunity.

$200,000 Set Aside

Hakim testified in the public hearings that $200,000 had been set aside for the North family in case of North’s death.

And he testified that he also sought to give money to the family for use in educating the North children, using a Swiss lawyer to set up a meeting between Betsy North and another lawyer in Philadelphia and coming up with a plan to channel money through a real estate firm where she could be given a part-time job. None of the plans was ever realized, he said.

Lawyers for the congressional committees suggested Hakim was trying to buy North’s loyalty for further weapons dealings in the Iran- contra affair--or to compromise North’s position and thereby keep his business--but Hakim repeatedly said he was acting out of affection with no business motive in mind.