President Calls Testimony ‘Honest’

President Reagan watched Secretary of State George P. Shultz testify about disarray in the White House policy-making apparatus and thought his statements were “honest and sincere and helpful,” White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Friday.

“The President saw part of the testimony and he feels Secretary Shultz did an excellent job,” Fitzwater said.

He said Reagan did not accept any of Shultz’s three offers to resign because “he wants him on the team. He did a good job then; he’s doing a good job now.”

Fitzwater said: “He felt his testimony was honest and sincere and helpful” and “very similar” to the Tower Commission’s analysis of White House mismanagement of the Iran- contra affair.

When asked about Shultz’s portrayal of a White House in “total disarray,” Fitzwater replied: “It was a picture that was not new to him.”

He said the President was “aware of the facts” relating to Shultz’s testimony of how he was cut out of some decision-making and that fired national security aide Oliver L. North had proposed an exchange of American hostages for terrorists held by Kuwait.