Abrams Says He’s Not Target of Arms Deal Prosecutors

Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams said today he has been informed he is not a target of criminal prosecutors in the Iran- contra affair.

“That’s correct,” Abrams said when asked by reporters about a report to that effect that appeared in the New York Times. “But they talk about that to your lawyer, not to you.”

Abrams declined to elaborate but said his office, like the rest of the State Department, is fully cooperating with the investigation by special prosecutor Lawrence E. Walsh.

Abrams, assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, had been reported under investigation for lying to Congress about U.S. involvement with a private network aiding the contras. That private network received some of the profits from secret U.S. arms sales to Iran, it was disclosed in just-concluded joint House-Senate hearings.