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North used the fear that his family was not safe in their home as an effective excuse for one of the most damaging charges against him: his acceptance of the gift from Secord of a security system, in apparent violation of laws prohibiting Government employees from accepting compensation beyond their salaries. The Marine said he had received a death threat from Abu Nidal, the infamous Palestinian terrorist. Glenn Robinette, a former CIA technician who directed the installation of a $13,900 set of security devices at the house, had testified that two guards had been living in North's garage, but the North family had found this inconvenient and wanted less intrusive protection. Never mentioning the guards, North contended that he had turned to the FBI for protection and was told the agency could not provide it. He asked his "superiors," who told him that a secure phone could be installed and then expanded into a more elaborate system. This proved "not feasible," North said; he was about to leave on a secret mission to Tehran, a venture so risky that Casey had told him to take along the means to kill himself in the event that he was tortured to divulge secrets. North then mentioned the problem to Secord, who recommended Robinette's services and paid the bill.
In what North described as "probably the grossest misjudgment that I have made in my life," he admitted, "I tried to paper over that whole thing by sending two phony documents back to Mr. Robinette." North backdated two offers to pay for the system in response to two equally false invoices from the former CIA hand. Never entirely contrite, however, North declared, "Thank you, General Secord." And turning to the committees, he added, "You guys ought to write him a check because the Government should have done it to begin with."
North also linked the perils of the Tehran trip to an offer by Secord's partner Albert Hakim to "do something for my family" if he failed to return from Iran. North said he knew that Hakim was wealthy, and he was grateful for his assistance as a translator in the Iran negotiations. That is why, when Willard Zucker, one of Hakim's lawyers, asked Mrs. North to visit him in Philadelphia, the colonel advised her to do so. Hakim had testified that North would be the beneficiary of a $2 million will if both Secord and Hakim were to die; Hakim had also sought a "proper way" to funnel $200,000 to North's family.
But when Betsy North met Zucker, North testified, "there was no money mentioned, no will mentioned, no arrangement." The lawyer just asked about the family. After North returned from Tehran, the lawyer called again and inquired about the name of a family executor. North said he told his wife not to provide it, and they did not hear from the lawyer again.
North also explained why he had cashed traveler's checks, given to him by Contra Leader Adolfo Calero, at such places as a tire shop and a hosiery store. The checks, he said, were meant for use in his contra resupply and other covert operations. He kept "meticulous" records in the now destroyed ledger about his expenses, and when no funds were at hand, he spent his own money. Then he reimbursed himself when new checks arrived.