The Ultimate Fall Guy

By Ed Magnuson

The retired Navy admiral had walked the gangplank for his skipper in the 1987 congressional hearings, insisting that "the buck stops with me" in the Iran-contra affair. But once he faced trial on five charges of destroying documents and lying to Congress, John Poindexter switched signals and called Ronald Reagan as his star witness to share some responsibility for the Administration's secret policies to sell arms to Iran and assist the Nicaraguan contras. The former President failed to help his loyal National Security Adviser. Confused, forgetful and oblivious to the public record, Reagan would not even concede that Congress had been deceived. A federal jury in Washington last week thus pushed Poindexter over the side again, convicting him on all counts. The scandal's ultimate fall guy faces a maximum 25 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine.

In an ironic twist, it was the reluctant testimonies of Reagan and former National Security Council aide Oliver North, both of whom had every reason to want Poindexter acquitted, that proved devastating to the defense. Prosecutor Dan Webb, whose snapping-terrier style may have discouraged Poindexter from taking the stand, boldly ridiculed Reagan's videotaped deposition. In his closing argument, Webb contended that Reagan "didn't have the foggiest idea" whether Poindexter had broken laws. Webb charged that the ex-President was so "biased" that he winked at Poindexter while testifying, as if to say, "John, did that answer help you?" Indirectly accusing Reagan of dissembling in a TV speech claiming there had been no trade of arms for hostages in the 1985-86 weapons sales to Iran, Webb said Poindexter had destroyed a presidential finding precisely because it "put the lie" to Reagan's declaration. Attacking the credibility of a popular President was a risky tactic, but it worked.

The methodical Webb was even rougher on North, who was called by the prosecution but proved so antagonistic that Judge Harold Greene declared him a "hostile witness." Webb got North not only to admit to the jury that he had lied to Congress, but also that he had done so right after Poindexter had told him to "take care" of legislators' questions about the NSC's illegal help to the contras. On his return from the meeting, North got an electronic note from Poindexter saying "Well done."

As the final major prosecution in the long-running affair ended, Poindexter was the first defendant to be held accountable for more than specific, narrow criminal acts. North had destroyed countless NSC papers, deceived Congress and accepted the gift of a security system, which was illegal while he was on the Government payroll. Poindexter too was convicted of shredding a presidential finding and erasing 5,000 electronic messages (backup copies were discovered). But for the first time in the scandal, jurors were willing to sustain charges of a conspiracy to obstruct Congress and cover up the Iran-contra folly. "Admiral Poindexter did it because he wanted to protect the political viability of Ronald Reagan. And I consider that to be a selfish motive," Webb said after the verdict. No jury, of course, has been required to address the underlying constitutional question: To what extent can Congress limit a President in carrying out foreign policy?

So far, the sentences for those convicted have been light. As Judge Gerhard Gesell explained in putting North on probation, "You were a low-ranking subordinate working to carry out initiatives of a few cynical superiors." North had only three major bosses. Robert McFarlane, who preceded Poindexter as National Security Adviser, pleaded guilty to mere misdemeanors and was placed on probation. Whether Poindexter will be treated more severely is up to Judge Greene. That leaves Reagan, whose accountability now rests with historians rather than the courts.

The public record on Iran-contra, from the Tower commission to the congressional hearings and the various cases brought by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh, is incontestable on the key points: Reagan approved the weapons sales to Iran in the hope they would lead to the release of American hostages; he ordered that the contras be financed from private and foreign sources, even though Congress had expressed its opposition by cutting off U.S. funding. And he wanted both dealings kept secret from the American public.

Whether Reagan knew that jacked-up weapons prices had created profits that went to the contras, and whether he would have disapproved if he did know, are only peripheral uncertainties. Iran-contra, which violated laws and contradicted Reagan's proclaimed policies, was undeniably the President's doing.

With reporting by Jerome Cramer/Washington