THE IRAN-CONTRA HEARINGS : Reagan Held Pleased With Unfolding Testimony

While President Reagan and his assistants are remaining silent in public about the testimony of Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, they are described as very pleased with his four days before Congress and a national television audience.

Still, said one source familiar with White House deliberations, there is concern about the upcoming testimony of Rear Adm. John M. Poindexter, North’s former boss on the National Security Council staff, who is described as “the wild card they don’t know about.”

‘Making Policy Case’

In the view of a former senior White House official who has maintained close contact with his old colleagues, North has been “making the policy case they want to make” to encourage support for the Nicaraguan rebels, while having a positive impact on the public and not damaging the President with embarrassing revelations.

“It has not been a bad week,” said a senior White House official, hesitant to appear overly optimistic.

Polls showing strong public endorsement for the central figure of the Iran- contra affair have tested the White House’s policy of not commenting and seeming oblivious to the congressional committees’ daily proceedings.

Privately, one former Administration official said, the President’s assistants have been “bragging about the number of phone calls” to the White House switchboard in support of North, the President and the Administration’s contra policy. By Friday morning, such calls totaled 4,961 this week, with only 220 expressing opposition.

Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, who said early in the week that the President was too busy to watch any of the televised testimony, said Friday that Reagan now has tuned in on some of North’s testimony and was reading news accounts, as well as reviewing the two-page testimony synopses being prepared by the White House legal staff.

‘Well Aware of Hearings’

He “is well aware of all of the hearings, of all the major conclusions by the witnesses,” Fitzwater said.

While Reagan early had discounted some committee testimony as hearsay, Fitzwater and other officials indicated the President now believes the hearings are proceeding well, noting: “The facts are being delivered.”

But White House officials are trying to avoid any open expressions of optimism, for fear they could backfire later.

North, the central figure in the Iran arms sale and contra support programs, compellingly defended Reagan’s foreign policy efforts and did not dent the President’s assertion that he did not know about the diversion of arms sale proceeds to the contras.

However, “You’ve got to resist the temptation when you’re having a good day to jump on it, because you might have a bad day tomorrow,” a senior White House official said.

Contradictions Possible

Standing by the policy of not commenting on North’s testimony, Fitzwater reflected the concern that North could be contradicted by subsequent witnesses, particularly Poindexter. “One set of facts today may not hold up tomorrow,” he said.

The anticipation over Poindexter’s testimony is considerable. In North’s appearances before the committee, the Marine officer asserted repeatedly that his direct superior was fully aware of all his activities in support of the contras, and Poindexter, who is the next to take the stand, will be pressed on whether his superior--Reagan--was informed as well.