North Says He May Subpoena High Officials

Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, saying he may summon the nation’s “highest ranking officials” to testify in his defense against criminal charges in the Iran-Contra affair, announced Friday that he will retire from the Marine Corps on May 1.

The 44-year-old former White House aide, indicted this week with three others for conspiring to defraud the United States in the Iran affair, said he could not continue his Marine career while “presenting a vigorous defense against these unfounded charges.”

“My attorney . . . has informed me that the defense against these charges may require him to issue subpoenas for the testimony, records of the highest-ranking officials of our government,” North said. “That strikes me as a course of action incompatible with my continued service as a Marine officer.

“Accordingly, with great sadness, I have tendered my request to retire from the Marine Corps.”

North refused to answer questions and did not say whom his lawyers plan to subpoena as defense witnesses, but the remark seems aimed directly at the White House. President Reagan, Vice President George Bush and Bush’s top staff are virtually the only senior officials remaining in the Administration who knew North at the time of the affair.

Neither Reagan nor Bush has criticized North’s efforts to secretly arm the Nicaraguan rebels and both men have praised North as a man motivated by love of country. The President has said he believes no laws were broken in the Iran-Contra affair.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on North’s remarks.

Large Flag Is Backdrop

North spoke at a carefully staged news conference in his attorney’s offices near the White House, backed by a large American flag that aides edged into camera view moments before he entered the room.

Private security guards who checked the credentials of those at the news conference sternly warned reporters to keep their hands out of their pockets and to make no sudden moves while North was present.

North, dressed in a dark business suit instead of his customary Marine uniform, criticized the press for loosing a 16-month “torrent of media speculation as the largest investigation in the history of our country has probed every aspect of my personal and professional life and that of my family.”

Implies He’ll Speak Out

He said he has refrained from comment on those news accounts while in the service but implied that he will speak out after leaving the Marines. “Further silence is a disservice to me, my family and the brave people I have served and worked with,” he said.

“The months ahead will be difficult and I realize that fighting a prosecutor with an unlimited budget and an enormous staff is a formidable and costly task for me and my counsel,” North said.

But he declared that “overwhelming expressions of love . . . by freedom-loving people” had sustained him since his dismissal from the National Security Council after diverting millions in arms-sales profits to the Contras and then destroying a sheaf of White House records documenting his actions.

Sad at Leaving Marines

North expressed sadness at leaving his “courageous brothers in arms” in the Marine Corps after a career that began, officially, with his commission as a Leatherneck in June, 1968.

With his trademark catch in the throat and a hint of tears in his eyes, North declared that “I love the United States Marines” and said in parting: “Thank you, I love you, and semper fidelis (always faithful),” the Marine slogan.

North’s exit from the corps will occur on the first day that he becomes eligible for a pension. His retirement pay will total about $22,000, roughly half his $43,000-a-year salary. A decision to retire earlier would have left him ineligible for benefits.

Pentagon officials said North’s clean active-duty record ensures that he will retain his pension if he is convicted on any of the 16 counts in the indictment delivered against him Wednesday.

Could Have Lost Benefits

Had he remained on active duty and been convicted, North could have been stripped of his benefits through an administrative process.

Less certain is whether North will be allowed to wear his service uniform in court, a tactic that apparently evoked a collective national swoon when he testified in televised congressional hearings last summer.

Armed forces guidelines state that retired military personnel are entitled to wear the uniform of the grade at which they retired “when the wearing of the uniform is considered to be appropriate and not specifically prohibited under the provisions.”

No provisions forbid a defendant in a criminal case to wear his or her military uniform, but the guidelines do state that wearing it is prohibited “when wearing of the uniform would tend to bring discredit upon the armed forces.”

ed Staff writer Melissa Healy contributed to this story.