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Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, was only slightly less caustic. Said he: "I can see why the Administration won't tell Congress about it. If they had, they would certainly have heard from both Republicans and Democrats, 'Don't do anything so stupid.' "
Eventually, the Administration will have to tell Congress a good deal about the Iranian operation. It made a start last week by holding a briefing for selected Senators on the intelligence committee and convinced at least some that it had not been engaged in a crude arms-for-hostages swap. Already, though, House members are clamoring for information too. Democrats Dante Fascell of Florida, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Lee Hamilton of Indiana, chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, on Wednesday addressed a letter to Reagan asking "your immediate cooperation in fully briefing the Congress." Briefings aside, there is talk on Capitol Hill of holding full-scale hearings on Iranian policy when the newly elected 100th Congress convenes in January.
One question sure to come up at any hearings or briefings is whether the Administration violated a number of laws that restrict transfers of U.S. arms abroad. The Arms Export Control Act of 1976 requires the Administration to notify Congress -- which of course it did not do in the case of Iran -- of any exports of "substantive items" of military equipment. Substantive items were given the catchall definition of those "that might enhance the military potential of the receiving country." The Export Administration Act of 1979 flatly prohibited export of military equipment to any country deemed to be fomenting terrorism, and the Reagan Administration formally added Iran to the list of terrorist countries in 1984. It also agreed to the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Anti-Terrorism Act passed this year, which added still more restrictions on arms transfers to terrorist countries.
Possibly the Administration can come up with some explanation of why its dealings with Iran technically did not violate these and other laws. But the intent of all these laws clearly is to ban any shipments of U.S. arms to Iran directly or indirectly. Moreover, the Administration's own Justice Department has been interpreting the laws that way and zealously prosecuting private citizens suspected of arms dealings with Iran. For example, in April the department secured indictments against 17 people, including a retired Israeli general, on charges of arranging the sale of U.S. military equipment to Iran -- precisely when the White House itself was at least winking at arms sales.