Ex-CIA Counsel to Testify Today
Today’s witness in Congress’ Iran- contra hearings will be Stanley Sporkin, who was general counsel to the CIA when the agency arranged the first direct shipment of U.S. arms to Iran in November, 1985.
After a top CIA official protested that such covert operations were potentially illegal unless formally approved by the President, Sporkin drafted a “finding” signed by President Reagan that declared the sale to be in the national security interest. That controversial document also specified that the arms sales be kept secret from Congress, an action some critics contend was illegal.
Sporkin is now a U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia.
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