Backers Cheered, Devastated by Verdict

Oliver L. North’s ever-loyal supporters rallied to his side and belittled the jury’s verdict following his conviction Thursday on charges arising from the Iran-Contra scandal. But Democratic lawmakers and others troubled by North’s activities said the verdict proved that North had obstructed Congress and undermined the Constitution.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Lomita), a close North friend and ally, described the former Marine lieutenant colonel as “absolutely elated” by his acquittal on 9 of the 12 charges he faced.

“He was found guilty of cutting corners and found innocent of all criminal wrongdoing,” contended Rohrabacher, a former White House aide for whom North campaigned extensively last year. “This has been a political trial since day one and it’s time for President Bush to end the sham and the circus and give Ollie North a pardon.”

But another North friend called the felony conviction a “devastating” personal blow to the former White House aide, who won the Silver Star and two Purple Hearts for service in the Vietnam War.

“Here’s a man of great personal pride and honor, who spent his entire life trying to live up to a set of standards, trying to serve his country faithfully,” said Patrick Korten, a Justice Department spokesman during the Ronald Reagan Administration. “And now, to be convicted of a felony--think of it, a soldier who served his country in war, who can no longer legally possess a firearm.”

No Comment From Reagan

Former President Reagan, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the verdict. In Los Angeles, spokesman Mark Weinberg said that “because of the likelihood of further legal proceedings, it would not be appropriate for President Reagan to comment at this time.”

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), the Senate’s president pro tem, read off the three guilty verdicts on the chamber’s floor, then congratulated the jury for its diligence.

Lawmakers who conducted the gripping hearings that made North a national icon, adored as a hero by millions of Americans, condemned as a misguided zealot by many others, said that the verdict vindicated their previous--and highly contradictory--opinions of the man and his actions.

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate select committee on the Iran-Contra scandal, said that the North verdict “reaffirms the conclusion” of the Senate and House investigating panels that “fundamental processes of governance were disregarded and the rule of law was subverted.”

Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), chairman of the House Iran-Contra committee said: “I don’t feel any sense of elation. I don’t feel any sense of disappointment. My feeling is that Col. North had a fair trial.”

Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.), also a member of the Senate panel, called North a “tragic” figure but added: “He did some things which in America today you have to be held accountable for.”

Sen. Orrin K. Hatch (R-Utah) said: “If you look at it objectively, Oliver North has been largely vindicated. . . . The jury, because of all the hype on this thing, felt it had to come up with a conviction. They came up with a compromise verdict that was the least offensive verdict for Col. North.”

Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), an ardent North supporter who was in the courtroom when the jury read the verdict, said that the former National Security Council aide was “very tranquil,” despite the guilty verdicts on three counts.

Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) minimized the severity of the verdict, saying that North already had admitted shredding documents to protect a covert operation and had accepted the gift of a home security system because his family was getting death threats at the time.

Dornan said he was the first to announce the verdict to a throng of reporters gathered on the steps of the U.S. courthouse Thursday afternoon. A fervent North supporter, he said he didn’t have a seat and was being escorted out of the courtroom as the jury announced its verdict. Judge Gerhard A. Gessell kept reporters locked in the courtroom to prevent an unseemly scramble for the telephones.

Others were left unsatisfied by the verdict.

Robert C. McFarlane, North’s former boss at the White House who has already pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the scandal, said: “We are no closer to solving the basic issues that led to Iran-Contra than we were two years ago. It will be very sad if five years from now our children and grandchildren look back at Iran-Contra as simply a criminal matter. It was a very serious breach of process.”

North’s friend Korten also said that the verdict obscured a larger lesson.

“I’ve always felt at bottom this was a political dispute between the executive and the legislature. Whatever he (North) may have done, he was drawn into it because of political factors that were far bigger than he was.

“Policy disputes are policy disputes,” Korten added. “Dammit, don’t throw people in jail for them. Settle them in a public arena where the outcome is clear and individuals are not forced to take a criminal rap for what is clearly not criminal conduct.”

Sen. Brock Adams (D-Wash.), saw a constitutional precedent in the North case. “This is Watergate all over again. Mr. North is a person who believed that he was above the law because he was working in the White House for the President and therefore could do anything. That is not true and never has been.”

The liberal group, People for the American Way, which consistently has opposed U.S. aid for the Contras, said in a statement: “The central lesson of the Iran-Contra episode, a lesson that we can only hope is not lost on the Bush Administration, is that governmental deception and excess secrecy are invitations to scandal.

Staff writers Robin Wright, Douglas Jehl and Don Shannon contributed to this story.