Reagan Should Not Have Fired North--Poindexter : Also Regrets His Own Resignation

Former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter testified today that he sent Oliver L. North a “well done” note after the aide misled Congress about the secret contra supply program, and he said President Reagan made a mistake in firing North when the affair became public.

“I don’t think, with hindsight, that I should have resigned when I did” last November when contra fund diversion was made public, Poindexter also said in a second day of testimony before the congressional Iran-contra committees.

The stocky rear admiral, dressed in civilian clothes, prefaced many of his answers with, “I don’t recall,” and said several times that his memory was “fuzzy” on some events more than a year old.

He said that when Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III began an inquiry last November into the burgeoning scandal, he did not tell even Meese, the President’s emissary, the full story.

Poindexter said he told Meese that he had been generally aware of the diversion of Iranian arms sales proceeds to the Nicaraguan rebels. “I told him I was ready to resign and I trusted to him to recommend to me the timing of my resignation.”

That word came the next day, and Poindexter said he tendered his resignation in an Oval Office meeting with Reagan and his top aides.

‘Shook Hands With Everybody’

“The President responded and said that he had great regret, and that this was in the tradition of a naval officer, of accepting responsibility,” Poindexter said. “And I shook hands with everybody and left the office. That was the last time I saw the President.”

Later that same day, Reagan and Meese appeared in the White House press room to reveal the money diversion and to announce Poindexter’s resignation and North’s ouster. The admiral said North’s firing came to him as a surprise.

“To this day I don’t know how that came about,” he said. “I think it was a mistake.” But, he added, he thought that the news media were blowing the affair out of proportion and that the appointment of a special prosecutor “was a gross overreaction.”

He added, “I don’t think, with hindsight, that I should have resigned when I did” but that he should have stayed around to tell the story.

“Our objective here all along was to withhold information” from Congress, Poindexter said on another matter. “There’s no question about that.”

Poindexter was asked about congressional attempts to learn the details of the secret supply operation in 1985, while Poindexter was deputy national security adviser, and during the summer of last year, while he was the No. 1 man.

North the ‘Switching Point’

“I intended to withhold information from Chairman Hamilton” last year, Poindexter said, referring to Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), who was serving at the time as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and now is chairman of the House Iran-contra committee.

Poindexter said he authorized North, whom he described as the “switching point” in the secret White House effort to aid the contras, to meet with Hamilton last summer to respond to questions.

He said he sent his note of “well done” after North’s meeting because “I was pleased that the session was a success and that Chairman Hamilton seemed satisfied.”