The Nation - News from Oct. 12, 1988

Charges that former White House aide Oliver L. North lied about aiding Nicaraguan rebels broke a tradition against prosecuting officials for informally misleading Congress about covert operations, defense lawyers said. Until North’s indictment March 16 with three Iran-Contra co-defendants, “no executive branch official had ever been prosecuted based on unsworn statements to Congress,” defense lawyers said in one of a series of motions to dismiss charges.