Who Knew What and When Did They Know It?

Donald Regan

The President's chief of staff attended two meetings of the National Security - Council, in December 1985 and January 1986, at which the proposed Iran initiative was discussed. But, while aware of the Iran operation, Regan had no suspicions of any contra connection, he told aides, until Friday, Nov. 21, when Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed the preliminary results of his inquiry. According to the Los Angeles Times, however, Lieut. Colonel Oliver North has told several people that he briefed Regan about the diversion of funds to the contras in January and kept him regularly informed afterward. Regan vehemently denied the report, calling it "ridiculous." He protests, saying he does not have control over the NSC, which reports directly to the President. "Does a bank president know whether a bank teller is fiddling around with the books?" he asked rhetorically last week. "No." Yet Regan is a powerful chief of staff who has tried to gain control over all White House doings; until last week he often boasted of his success.

William Casey

As director of Central Intelligence, Casey has known of the Iran arms initiative at least since the NSC proposed the idea in June 1985. On Jan. 17, when Ronald Reagan signed a secret Executive Order lifting the ban on arms shipments to Tehran, the CIA officially became the middleman for the weapons sales. Casey reportedly told congressional investigators that his agency had set up a Swiss bank account to receive Iranian payments, but insisted he had no knowledge of where the money was going. Meese asserted at last week's press conference that Casey had no prior knowledge of the contra connection. But according to the Washington Post, Casey (known as one of the Administration's strongest backers of the contras) does acknowledge that he was aware of "gossip" about the secret funneling of money to the rebels. A Senate intelligence-

committee staffer contends that Casey was in a position to know more. Says he: "The first thing Ollie North did was go to the CIA."

Caspar Weinberger

The Secretary of Defense learned of the Iran initiative in June 1985, when the NSC suggested that "allies and friends" could supply arms to the Tehran regime. He opposed the idea, calling it "absurd." But when President Reagan authorized arms sales to Iran in January 1986, Weinberger instructed the Army to cooperate by making available the weapons requested by the CIA. First, however, he insisted on access to all intelligence relating to the operation. Weinberger continued to complain privately about the initiative, but -- unlike Secretary of State George Shultz -- never made his objections public. Like most other members of Reagan's staff, Weinberger claims he did not find out about the contra connection until it was uncovered by Meese's investigation. Aides say that Weinberger had long suspected the contras had a secret source of funds, but since the matter was outside his jurisdiction he did not pursue it. Says a Pentagon official: "Of course, he didn't believe the contra funding came from the tooth fairy."