American Notes IRAN-CONTRA

A cynic might suspect that one arm of the Government had protected another. The CIA swore to Attorney General Dick Thornburgh that if Joseph Fernandez, its former station chief in Costa Rica, were to use certain classified documents to defend himself at his Iran-contra trial, the nation's security would be endangered. Thornburgh last week repeated the claim in an affidavit to Federal Judge Claude Hilton. So Hilton dismissed all charges against Fernandez, even though Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh scoffed that the "fictional secrets" had already been disclosed in the press.

Earlier, Albert Hakim, who helped divert millions of dollars in U.S. Government profits from Iranian arms sales into secret Swiss accounts and siphoned some to the contras, was permitted to cop a plea. He admitted being guilty of a mere misdemeanor: helping to buy a security fence for Oliver North's suburban Washington home. In return, felony charges against him were dropped.

That leaves only one Iran-contra defendant still facing trial: former National Security Adviser John Poindexter. He insists that testimony by former President Ronald Reagan is vital to his defense. Reagan is resisting Poindexter's subpoena. If Judge Harold Greene rules that Poindexter's ex-boss need not testify, the retired admiral presumably will ask to have his case dismissed too.