Poindexter Insists Reagan Would Have OKd Diversion : Stands By Original Testimony

Former National Security Adviser John Poindexter, repeatedly challenging White House denials, insisted today that President Reagan would have approved diverting Iranian arms sale proceeds to the contra rebels if he had known about it.

“I would have expected him to say that,” Poindexter told the congressional Iran-contra committees when asked about White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater’s insistence that Reagan would not have approved of the plan. “That is the whole idea of deniability.”

In the face of sharp congressional questions about his own credibility, as well as the White House denial, Poindexter stood by his earlier testimony that he approved the diversion on his own to protect President Reagan, that he didn’t tell the President and that he believed he wasn’t doing anything Reagan himself wouldn’t have approved.

At the White House, spokesman Roman Papaduik declined comment, referring reporters instead to Fitzwater’s day-old statement.

Rigorous Questioning

Under rigorous questioning by Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), Poindexter stuck to his story on his third day of testimony.

In light of Fitzwater’s statement on Thursday--that Reagan “has said on past occasions that had he been told, he would not have allowed and he should have been told”--Nunn asked if Poindexter maintained his position.

“I do,” Poindexter said. “I have not changed my mind. I felt the President would have approved that if I asked him. I still feel that way.”

However, he refused to agree when Nunn asked if that meant the White House was misleading the American public.

‘Can’t Speak for White House’

“I would want to have a personal conversation with the President, which I have not, and would not be appropriate at this time,” Poindexter said. “At this point I can’t speak for the White House. I don’t know what they’ve got in mind over there. . . . People can draw their own conclusions, I guess.”

Pressing further on the issue of credibility, Nunn questioned whether Poindexter had ever told anyone in private conversations, even his attorney or wife, that he had told Reagan of the diversion. There were some news accounts earlier this year that cited unnamed sources saying Poindexter intended to base a defense on having informed Reagan of the diversion.

“I have told no person that I ever told the President about the diversion,” Poindexter said. “I don’t know the source of those stories; they’re not true, and what I’ve testified here today is indeed true. I didn’t tell the President and I didn’t tell anyone I did tell the President.”

Poindexter, 50, fiddled with his pipe and responded in generally even tones as attorneys for the congressional investigating committees completed their examination and members of the panels began their first questioning.

Limited Immunity

A Navy rear admiral who served as national security adviser for nearly a year until his resignation last Nov. 25, Poindexter testified under a grant of limited immunity.

His wife Linda, wearing her clerical collar as an Episcopal priest, sat behind her husband.

Throughout, Poindexter has portrayed himself as a loyal staff aide who sought to shield Reagan from potential difficulty. He repeated today that he alone decided not to tell Reagan about the diversion of secret arms sales proceeds to the contras.

On another key point, Poindexter said he withheld information from Congress last fall because “I simply didn’t want any outside interference” in the secret program of support for the contras.

He said he feared revealing the truth to Congress would have destroyed the ability to secretly provide assistance to the contras and could provoke further legal restrictions on aid. Congress had already banned direct and indirect U.S. military aid to the contras.