Secord Asks to Testify Before Grand Jury

Richard V. Secord, a major figure in the Iran-Contra affair, has taken the highly unusual step of asking a federal court to force independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh to allow him to appear before a federal grand jury to try to persuade jurors that they should not indict him, according to a previously sealed motion made public Thursday.

Secord said in the motion that Walsh has denied his request to testify in his own defense because the retired Air Force general wants to tell grand jurors about immunized congressional testimony on his behalf that was given last summer by former White House aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter.

Seen as Tainting Indictment

Walsh believes that potential indictments against North, Poindexter and others would be tainted if Secord were allowed to tell grand jurors about congressional testimony that was given on the condition that it could not be used toward any indictments, according to attorneys familiar with the investigation.

These sources said that Walsh has been willing to allow Secord to appear before the grand jury only if he agrees to answer the questions put to him and does not volunteer information that would include the immunized testimony of others. Secord, alone among the major figures of the scandal, testified without a grant of immunity before the House and Senate committees investigating the affair.

Chief U.S. District Judge Aubrey E. Robinson Jr., in unsealing Secord’s motion, set no date for a hearing or a ruling on the issue, a spokesman said. Some attorneys said they believe that the matter is without precedent.

Secord, in papers filed by defense attorney Thomas C. Green, said that he deserves the freedom to present his own statement to the grand jury and contends that Walsh, as any prosecutor, has the duty to present exculpatory evidence to grand jurors before they vote on any indictment.

Recruited by North

Secord, who retired from the Air Force in 1983 with the rank of major general, was recruited by North to run the so-called “enterprise” that sold weapons to Iran and funneled profits to the anti-government rebels in Nicaragua, according to congressional testimony. Some officials described him as North’s top assistant for logistics.

In connection with the secret sale of U.S. arms to Iran and provision of funds to Nicaragua’s Contras, Secord’s motion says that he created “a private commercial enterprise . . . with the approval of U.S. government officials to assist covert operations in support of the President’s foreign policy goals.

“There was abundant testimony presented at the joint (congressional) hearings . . . which directly exculpates Gen. Secord” from any charges that he was part of a conspiracy to misappropriate U.S. government funds, the motion says.

Congressional testimony shows that Secord was a private citizen entitled to business profits and was not a government agent, according to the motion. The House and Senate panels concluded that this claim was supported by the testimony of North and Poindexter but that there was little documentary evidence to support it.

‘Bore Financial Risk’

Secord’s motion also declares that he “bore all the financial risk” in the arms sales to Iran, as a private businessman would. The committees declared in their final report, however, that Secord had no financial risk because he used only money that was put up by Middle East middlemen Manucher Ghorbanifar and Adnan Khashoggi.

Sources close to the case have said that Walsh will seek indictments in the next several weeks against North, Poindexter, Secord and Albert A. Hakim, an Iranian-born U.S. businessman, on grounds that they took part in a far-reaching conspiracy to violate a congressional ban on military aid to the Contras, to defraud the U.S. government of proceeds from the arms sales and to obstruct justice. Others also may be charged, the sources said.

A spokesman for Walsh said that the court-appointed prosecutor had no comment on Secord’s motion pending release of legal papers that Walsh submitted under seal to Robinson.

Staff writer Doyle McManus contributed to this story.