Inouye Excoriates North for ‘Lying and Misleading’ : ‘It Was Painful to Listen to’

Lt. Col. Oliver North today came to the end of his six-day war with the Iran-contra committees, dismissed with an excoriation from Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, chairman of the Senate Iran-contra committee, for his activities in selling arms to Iran secretly, then turning over some of the profits for use by the Nicaraguan rebels.

“It was painful to all of us to sit here and listen to your testimony,” Inouye said. “It was equally painful that you lied and misled for what you believed to be a good cause.”

North’s final moments on the witness stand also prompted one last objection from his attorney, Brendan Sullivan, who complained that Inouye (D-Hawaii) was engaging in a personal attack on his client.

Although he criticized North, Inouye also said the last week had seen the “creating and developing of a new American hero. . . . I salute you, sir, as a fellow combat man.”

“You said these hearings caused serious damage to our national interest,” said Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), chairman of the House Iran-contra committee, told North just before Inouye spoke. “But I wonder whether the damage was caused by these hearings or acts which caused these hearings.”

In his summation, Hamilton said North had played a central role in a “policy (that) was driven by a series of lies.” He said he believed North’s assertions about having authority for his actions, but noted that many of the documents that would show that have been destroyed.

“I don’t see how your attitude can be reconciled with the Constitution of the United States,” Hamilton said, noting North’s statement that he earlier had misled Congress about his secret activities.

Setting the stage for the appearance late today of North’s former boss, ex-National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) earlier steered North through a series of questions and answers in which the Marine officer contradicted his former boss’ previous testimony on key points.

Did North tell McFarlane about his connections with people raising money for the contras?

Did North tell McFarlane about his own involvement with the contra resupply network, about a meeting with contra leaders in Miami?

“Yes, sir,” North said, repeatedly.

In both cases, McFarlane said North had not told him, Nunn said.

“One of the most difficult positions a person can be in,” North said, is having to contradict sworn testimony of someone else, someone he has said he respects greatly.

“I did not come here to contradict others,” he said. But he said again, “I did nothing without permission” from superiors. And he added, “Everything I testified to, Sen. Nunn, is exactly the way it happened.”

In another development, North testified that Iranian middleman Manucher Ghorbanifar had once offered him a $1-million bribe if he could help work out arms sales. The Marine officer, who has insisted repeatedly that he never broke the law, said he rejected it out of hand.

And North delivered his pro-contra monologue, a pitch modeled after the slide show he used often while working in the White House, after an open clash among members of the committees over whether the pictures should be shown. (Story on Page 2.)