Prosecutor Sends Reagan Written Query

Special prosecutor Lawrence E. Walsh has sought information from President Reagan on the Iran-Contra affair through written questions submitted a month ago, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said today.

Fitzwater said Walsh, who is pursuing criminal indictments against principals in the scandal, sent the questions to the White House on Oct. 10 and added that Reagan intends to answer them “as soon as possible.”

At the same time, Fitzwater said Walsh has not even broached the subject with White House officials of personally questioning Reagan and emphasized that “no deals of any kind” were made with respect to the written inquiries.

‘Not a Target’ of Probe

“The President has not been asked for an interview,” Fitzwater said, “nor is he the target of an investigation.”

In September, Walsh said he would be contacting the White House to make arrangements for gaining testimony from Reagan. At that time he indicated that he was interested in a personal interview, but he did not rule out acceptance of written responses to questions.

Paramount among the issues before Walsh is whether Reagan authorized the clandestine activities of his subordinates, principally national security adviser John M. Poindexter and National Security Council aide Oliver L. North.

Poindexter testified before the congressional Iran-Contra committees that he alone gave North the go-ahead to divert funds to the Nicaraguan Contra rebels from secret arms sales to Iran. North told the same committees that he had the impression he had presidential approval for his actions.