Fund-Raising Appeals Praising North Assailed

Top Republican officials have made Lt. Col. Oliver L. North the centerpiece of recent nationwide fund-raising appeals, prompting a Democratic leader and a prominent Republican senator to assail the effort to capitalize on the former White House aide’s popularity, it was disclosed Wednesday.

“If you’re like me, you’re very proud of Ollie North,” began a July 22 letter from Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., chairman of the Republican National Committee, to prospective party contributors. He said money was needed to “help us lead the fight for continued aid to the (Nicaraguan) contras and to defeat liberal Democrats in Congress who oppose assisting the freedom fighters.”

Five days later, a nationwide mailing from Rep. Guy Vander Jagt (R-Mich.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, sought $50,000 for a North legal defense fund and said any excess cash would be used to help GOP House candidates.

“For six long days” of testimony before Congress’ Iran-contra committees, North “bravely faced the full power and might of the Democratic-controlled Congress,” Vander Jagt wrote. “For his patriotic efforts, Ollie North and his young family are now stuck with a massive legal bill. Tragically, he still faces the possibility of criminal charges by the special prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh . . . .”

Rep. Beryl Anthony Jr. (D-Ark.), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, obtained copies of the letters and sent them to news media with a blast at the GOP “gimmicks.”

“I would think, with a possible criminal indictment hanging over Col. North’s head, Republican fund-raisers might find a more suitable representative of their party,” Anthony said. “If the North appeal works, maybe they should consider using some of the Watergate characters next.”

Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N. H.), vice chairman of the Senate committee that has investigated the Iran-contra scandal, also protested the efforts in a scathing private letter to Fahrenkopf, according to a published report confirmed by a Rudman aide.

Rudman said he hoped that he was not one of the “self-serving liberal politicians and lawyers” castigated by Fahrenkopf for their “grueling interrogation” of North in the Iran-contra hearings. Stating that North had lied and deceived the President and Congress in his direction of a secret support operation for the contras, Rudman declared that “these are not actions that are representative of the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan.”

Rudman concluded: “I deeply regret the message that your letter carried.”

The senator’s press secretary, Robert G. Stevenson, said Rudman and Fahrenkopf had had a cordial conversation about Rudman’s complaint last week.

“Chairman Fahrenkopf made clear to the senator that he was not referring to Republicans on the Iran committee and that certainly he understood the senator’s position. The senator said he certainly understood the chairman’s position,” Stevenson said.

Activities Not Condoned

An aide to Fahrenkopf said the fund solicitation was meant to back what he called North’s eloquent call for more aid to the contras, not to condone his controversial activities at the White House, which included dispensing money to contra operatives and destroying potentially incriminating documents.

“The focus was on North’s testimony supporting the President’s Central American policy, not on his actions, right or wrong,” said the aide, Robert Schmermund.

Schmermund and Steve Lotterer, communications director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, refused to disclose the size of mailing lists or how much money had been raised.

In the letters from Vander Jagt and Fahrenkopf, prospective donors were asked to sign enclosed “thank you notes” that would be passed along to North.

One note read in part: “You gave a breathtaking defense of America’s efforts to support the contra freedom fighters who are trying to defeat the Communists in Nicaragua . . . . God Bless You.”

Although both GOP committees continue to raise about four times as much money as their Democratic counterparts, they are encountering financial problems. The Republican National Committee laid off 15% of its work force in July because of a $3-million shortfall in 1987 fund raising. The GOP House committee’s debt is $2.3 million, and the Democratic House unit’s is $696,000.