Word: secord
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When he testified on Capitol Hill as the first witness in the Iran-contra hearings, retired Air Force Major General Richard Secord portrayed himself as a patriotic private citizen recruited by the White House to help support the Nicaraguan contras after Congress had cut off U.S. Government assistance. Although Secord told his story without insisting on immunity from prosecution, last week he assailed the hearings in a Wall Street Journal column, calling the proceedings an "obscene spewing of information and misinformation" and an example of the nation's "periodic, spasmodic flirtation with self- destruction...
There are, to be sure, some parallels. F.D.R. was hamstrung by a congressional ban on gifts of military equipment to foreign nations. But Roosevelt put together the destroyer deal with an openness totally at odds with the actions of Oliver North and Richard Secord. The plan was debated in a full Cabinet meeting. Even though he was in the midst of a hard-fought re- election campaign, Roosevelt felt compelled to consult Wendell Willkie, his G.O.P. rival. In cooperation with Winston Churchill, the Administration constructed a legal loophole: trading the destroyers for military bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda and the West...
Walsh might also charge some people, particularly North, Richard Secord and others who shredded documents, with conspiracy to obstruct justice. Legal experts predict Walsh will further seek indictments against officials, including North and possibly Robert McFarlane, who helped draft a chronology of the Iran-contra affair that contained serious inaccuracies. The chronology was intended to prepare the President for his Nov. 19 press conference and to help guide the late CIA Director William Casey through his congressional testimony. Here the charge would be conspiracy to suborn perjury. Walsh would not have to prove that Casey or anyone else actually gave...
...Secord's activities, and those of Government officials who assisted him, violate the law? The principal statute at issue is the Boland amendment, which from October 1984 to October 1986 banned direct or indirect Government military aid to the contras. Secord insisted that the Boland amendment did not apply to private citizens like him unless those citizens used money appropriated by Congress, which Secord said they did not do. He testified, however, that his network had received extensive help from Government officials; in addition to North, who oversaw the whole operation, these included several CIA agents and former Ambassador...
...inquiry into a politician' s private behavior legitimate, and when is it an unfair intrusion that says nothing about his qualifications for public office? -- One of the central figures in the underground sale of U. S. weapons to the contras and Iran, retired Air Force Major General Richard Secord, testifies that he was told Reagan was aware of the rogue operation' s illegal dealings. -- Secretary of State George Shultz responds to criticism from Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger of the Administration' s imminent arms- control deal. See NATION...