Word: contra
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...will prove to be the most important witness the Iran-contra committees hear? No, not Oliver North -- at least not according to Warren Rudman, vice chairman of the Senate panel. After listening to North for four days last week, the New Hampshire Republican repeated a longstanding prediction: the crucial witness will be Ollie's old boss, former National Security Adviser John Poindexter, who follows North to the stand this week...
Even after the Iran-contra affair thrust him into the headlines last November, Poindexter maintained his silence. He quietly resigned from the National Security Council and pleaded the protection of the Fifth Amendment when initially called before congressional investigators. He accepted a lowering in rank to rear admiral and the loss of one of his three stars. To remain a vice admiral, Poindexter, 50, would have had either to take early retirement or transfer to a job requiring Senate confirmation. Said a colleague: "Can you imagine him taking the Fifth at his own confirmation hearing...
Commuting every day to a desk in the Pentagon, where he has been assigned to the Navy's long-range planning, or occupying himself with various fix-up projects at home in Rockville, Md., Poindexter at first tried to ignore all developments in the growing Iran-contra scandal. But for the past three months he has spent his time in the Washington office of his attorney, Richard Beckler, preparing for his appearance on Capitol Hill. Last week he sat glued to a TV set, watching North's testimony and expressing admiration for his former aide's assertiveness. Though Poindexter...
...York City trial lawyer whose sharp questions had already lacerated such witnesses as Richard Secord and Albert Hakim. A partner at the prestigious firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Liman (estimated annual salary: $1.1 million) is a specialist in white-collar crime. Last January he joined the Iran-contra investigation for what he calls the greatest challenge of his career. For the defense: Brendan Sullivan, 45, a partner at Washington's best-known criminal- law firm, Williams & Connolly. Despite his mild appearance, Sullivan is a tireless worker and tenacious courtroom fighter...
...Lieut. Colonel Oliver North spun out his story with a dazzling display of charm, guile and unbridled self-righteousness during his long-awaited appearance in the Iran-contra hearings, he portrayed himself as a dutiful junior officer, ever willing to "salute smartly and charge up the hill" at any order from his superiors. Yet the bemedaled Marine refused to fall on his sword and take full blame for the scandal that has wounded his Commander in Chief. Although he confessed candidly -- and defiantly -- to blatant lies and deceptions, North also threw what even he called "Ollie North's dragnet" over...