Offer by Casey to Personally Buy Plane for Contras Told

The late CIA Director William J. Casey, a multimillionaire, once offered to personally buy an airplane for the Nicaraguan rebels after direct U.S. military assistance was banned, according to private testimony by former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter that was made public Thursday.

Poindexter said he was told about Casey’s offer by his then-aide, Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, and recalled that North was “a little surprised that Director Casey had come to him” with the offer at a time when North’s activities on behalf of the contras were a closely guarded secret within the National Security Council.

“That led us both to believe . . . that Director Casey was pretty aware of some of Col. North’s activities,” Poindexter told staff members of the congressional committees investigating the Iran-contra affair.

500 Pages of Testimony

The former national security adviser talked to the committee staff members at several sessions in May and June, before his July public appearance before the panels. More than 500 pages of d1701014625sessions were released Thursday. They closely tracked the account Poindexter had offered in public.

North had testified that the CIA director, who died of cancer in May, was closely involved with and even directed some of the White House aide’s possibly illegal activities on behalf of the rebels.

Poindexter resigned and North was fired last November after an internal White House investigation disclosed that North had diverted to the rebels some proceeds from U.S. arms sales to Iran.

Poindexter’s public testimony marked a watershed in the summer-long committee hearings, because the rear admiral told the panels that he had made a conscious decision against telling President Reagan about the diversion.

Concerned About Casey

Poindexter, in his private testimony, suggested that he had been concerned to learn that Casey knew North was operating a secret contra supply network in apparent defiance of the congressional ban on U.S. aid in effect during most of 1985 and 1986.

“As I said before, I didn’t want him (Casey) to be in a position of having detailed knowledge and having to be evasive” about the effort during appearances before congressional committees, Poindexter said.

Indeed, Casey tried to distance himself from North. North was called on the carpet by Poindexter’s predecessor, Robert C. McFarlane, in late 1984 after Casey complained that North was telling others too much about the super-secret contra supply program. North strongly denied it in a memo to McFarlane, which was released with Poindexter’s testimony.

Although a committee spokesman said that the panel has uncovered no evidence that Casey gave the White House aide funds to buy a plane, he did refer at least one donor to North, according to earlier testimony. Colorado brewer Joseph Coors told the committees that, when he asked Casey how he could help the contras, Casey replied: “Ollie’s the guy to see.”

Coors Paid for Plane

Coors ultimately contributed $65,000 to buy the rebels a single-engine Maule aircraft.

Poindexter’s private testimony also provided richer detail regarding other issues surrounding the investigation. He told the committees that:

--Vice President George Bush asked for a delay in McFarlane’s secret mission to Iran last spring to arrange the release of the American hostages in Lebanon. Bush apparently feared that, if McFarlane’s mission went awry, it would cause him embarrassment during his visit to Saudi Arabia at the same time, according to a document released with Poindexter’s depositions. As it turned out, McFarlane’s trip was delayed anyway by hitches in the preliminary negotiations.

--Poindexter did not consider North an entirely reliable source of information. Poindexter told the committee that North had a habit of being “a little bit expansive in describing things”--frequently using the terms “our” and “we” in referring to projects that actually were not under his control. In his public testimony, Poindexter was less critical of North.

--Poindexter was far less concerned than McFarlane that North’s work for the contras might violate the law. He recalled that McFarlane had rejected a suggestion from North that the NSC solicit money from private donors to buy a helicopter for the contras, and added: “I frankly wouldn’t see anything wrong with it.”

--Poindexter knew that North and retired Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord had hired a former CIA official last year to investigate a prominent critic of the contras and apparently approved of the action, according to his testimony and documents provided to the committees.

The critic, Jack Terrell, was a self-proclaimed mercenary who told law enforcement officials and reporters that he had first-hand evidence of contra leaders’ participation in arms smuggling and assassination plots.

North told Poindexter in a memorandum that the FBI had placed Terrell under surveillance and added that the bureau “now believes that Terrell could be a paid asset of the Nicaraguan intelligence service.” On July 28, Poindexter sent a memo to Reagan informing him of the FBI investigation, pointing out that “Terrell has been a principal witness against supporters of the Nicaraguan resistance both in and outside of the U.S. government.”

--Poindexter strongly disapproved of North’s habit of keeping cash and traveler’s checks for the contras in his White House safe. Poindexter said he was assured at some point that North had stopped the practice--something that North himself never mentioned to the committee.

Ransom Money in Safe

Among the contents of the safe, Poindexter added, was money provided by Texas financier H. Ross Perot as ransom for the American hostages being held in Lebanon. Perot had pledged to provide up to $2 million for this purpose--which Poindexter described as “bribery” of the hostage-takers, and not “ransom.”

--Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams and Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger “probably” had been aware of North’s activities on behalf of the contras. All three have denied any such knowledge.

Poindexter acknowledged that he distrusted two of his White House colleagues--then Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan and then-White House counsel Peter J. Wallison. He did not explain his distrust for Wallison but criticized Regan for talking too much to the press.

Staff writer Doyle McManus contributed to this story.