Probe Hasn’t Shown Laws Were Broken, Reagan Says

After almost 11 weeks of congressional hearings on the Iran- contra scandal and voluminous testimony of document shredding and attempts to cover up the diversion of U.S. funds to the Nicaraguan rebels, President Reagan said Friday that he has heard nothing indicating that any laws were broken.

But other government sources said the hearings clearly have indicated that laws have been broken and that an independent counsel’s investigation should result in indictments against several principals in the scandal by early fall.

Independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, who has been presenting evidence to a grand jury here, has been focusing on several possible illegalities that also have been aired during the hearings: the diversion of U.S. funds from the sale of arms to Iran, the shredding of documents and compilation of false chronologies of the Iran initiative and the supplying of aid to the contras in violation of a congressional ban.

A conspiracy to defraud the government of funds realized from the arms sale is likely to be the major charge resulting from Walsh’s inquiry, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Testimony at the hearings disclosed that, while Iran paid about $24 million for the arms, the United States collected only the $12 million that the weapons originally cost. Another $3.5 million was diverted to Nicaragua’s rebels, and the rest was used to pay expenses or remains in Swiss bank accounts controlled by Albert A. Hakim, an Iranian-born American who was a middleman in the transactions.

Reagan, responding to questions about the hearings during a photo session Friday at the White House, said: “I haven’t heard a single word that indicated in any of the testimony that laws were broken.”

However, Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Iran-contra committee, said: “I would suggest that the President of the United States confer with his attorney general and look over the transcript of the hearings.”

And Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.), the committee’s vice chairman, said: “I would only add that two people have already pleaded guilty. But as far as criminal conduct is concerned, that’s best left to the independent counsel.”

Tax-Exempt Foundation

The two guilty pleas were from conservative fund-raiser Carl R. (Spitz) Channell and public relations executive Richard C. Miller on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government of taxes through the use of a tax-exempt foundation to funnel private contributions to the contras.

Walsh’s continuing investigation probably will produce further indictments by early October, according to a source who said that the independent counsel hopes to complete any trials by the end of next spring.

Reagan also sidestepped a question Friday about whether he would grant pardons to any of the figures in the case, including Rear Adm. John M. Poindexter, his former national security adviser, and Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, a Poindexter assistant who directed the secret Iran-contra project.

Poindexter and North testified before the committees under grants of limited immunity, and attorneys for both have said that the officers are targets of a grand jury investigation into possible criminal violations.

Will Speak Out

When asked whether he would grant any pardons in the case, Reagan said only: “I’m going to speak out on that whole subject and the subject of this whole affair when the hearings are over.”

Reporters directed the questions to Reagan during a photo session in the Oval Office with President Omar Bongo of Gabon, Africa.

Earlier, former White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan, concluding two days of testimony at the congressional hearings, said that Reagan had immediately “shot down” a suggestion last December that he consider granting Poindexter and North pardons as a means of compelling them to tell their stories.

‘Wouldn’t Even Listen’

A proposal to pardon Poindexter and North was “something the President wouldn’t even listen to,” Regan said, because a pardon would have suggested that the two were guilty of a crime.

Regan quoted the President as saying: “Not only is it premature but I’ll be darned if I’m going to accuse them of a crime in advance.”

“He put his foot down hard, and it never came up again,” Regan said.

On Nov. 25, 1986, Poindexter resigned as national security adviser and North was relieved of his duties as a National Security Council staff member when it was disclosed that profits from the sale of weapons to Iran had been diverted to Nicaragua’s rebels.

Reagan Plans Speech

Reagan and his aides generally have avoided substantive comments on the Iran-contra hearings since they began almost 11 weeks ago. But a White House official said that Reagan would address the matter, probably in a televised address from the Oval Office, during the week of Aug. 9 before he leaves for a 25-day California visit to his ranch northwest of Santa Barbara and to Los Angeles later in the month.

With the hearings scheduled to end Monday, a senior Reagan aide said: “We’re just glad to be getting through this. We’re basically in the same position we were in when it started 10 weeks ago. A lot of the information was already in the public arena, in the Tower Commission report and elsewhere. Public perceptions were set then and they haven’t changed.”

Even though there has been uncontradicted testimony backing up Reagan’s assertion that he had no knowledge of the diversion of funds, public opinion polls show that most Americans still believe he was not telling the truth.

‘Won’t Be Accused’

“That’s unfortunate,” said the Reagan aide, “but at least with the hearings ending, we won’t be accused of trying to divert people’s attention from the Iran-contra affair every time we try to do something.”

Reagan, who has vowed to “stand on the roof and yell” once the hearings are over, has no plans for a news conference or to respond to lengthy questioning on the Iran-contra issue until after he returns from his California visit, according to White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater.

Reagan has not been questioned at length on the issue since June 11, when he met the press in a 30-minute news conference at the end of the economic summit meeting in Venice, Italy.

He has had only three press conferences since the scandal was disclosed eight months ago. “Under the circumstances,” Fitzwater told reporters, “that’s an adequate record.”