(4 of 6)
Poindexter said he cautioned North against putting any information about contra support on paper. Nevertheless, North testified that he sent Poindexter five memorandums, each outlining the details of a specific transfer of arms proceeds to the contras. Each paper recommended briefing the President and seeking his approval of the transaction. North said he never knew if Reagan saw the memos, but he shredded all his copies of the documents when he learned that the arms deals might come to light. One memo, however, escaped the shredder and was discovered by investigators from the Justice Department.
Poindexter not only denied showing Reagan the surviving memo but said he could not recall receiving any diversion memos from North. Under questioning by Liman, Poindexter said that even if North had sent him the memos, he would not have discussed any aspect of the diversion with the President; he had made a "deliberate decision" not to do so.
The first time the admiral could remember seeing the infamous diversion memo at all was when Meese directly confronted him with it last Nov. 24. Poindexter said he promptly offered to resign; on the following day the Attorney General instructed him to do so. Strangely, however, Meese never asked Poindexter who approved the transfer of arms profits to the contras. Nor did White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan question Poindexter about the diversion.
< An incredulous Liman asked the witness why he did not say, "I, Admiral Poindexter, made the decision and did not tell the President of the United States." Poindexter's lame reply: although he gave the notion "a lot of thought," he waited to consult his attorneys. The result, as Senator Rudman pointed out, was "the agony that we've had for the last eight months" as Reagan was battered with questions about his role in the scandal.
At the time of the Meese inquiry, Poindexter said, one of his aides turned up a finding that authorized U.S. facilitation of a November 1985 sale of 18 Hawk antiaircraft missiles from Israel to Iran. Poindexter testified that he watched Reagan sign the document on or about Dec. 5, 1985, his first day as NSC chief. The problem with this finding, said Poindexter, was that it depicted the transaction as a trade of arms for the release of Americans being held hostage in Lebanon. The paper would be superseded in January by a finding that explained the weapons sales and freedom for the hostages as part of a broad initiative to re-establish diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Iran. Poindexter said he had forgotten about the year-old document until his aide handed it to him last Nov. 21. Moments later Poindexter ripped it up and had the scraps incinerated. Explained the admiral: "I simply didn't want this document to see the light of day."
Poindexter was not alone in forgetting the 1985 finding. Last winter Reagan told the Tower commission that he had approved the initial Hawk shipment before the fact. The President later told the board members that he had had no prior awareness of the transaction. Finally, he wrote a note to the Tower board saying, "The simple truth is I don't remember -- period." After Poindexter's disclosure last week, the President still said he does not remember signing the finding.