Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Bush again put in 'loop' Date: Sat, 31 Oct 92 14:00:15 EST Message-ID: \SE A;CAMPAIGN '92 \HD Bush again put in 'loop' \SH Jury indicts Weinberger \BY Jerry Seper \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Four days before the election, an indictment saying President Bush was not "out of the loop" in the arms-for-hostages deal prompted another round of charges from Bill Clinton and denials from the Bush administration. The grand jury's indictment was the second of former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. It is based on his notes that place Mr. Bush in a January 1986 meeting in which the arrangement was discussed. Sought by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh to replace a similar indictment dismissed last month by a federal judge, the new indictment refers to efforts to obtain five U.S. hostages held in Beirut in return for providing anti-tank missiles to Iran. "There's nothing contradictory in there of what I've said. . . . I know nothing contradicts what I've said under oath. So it's a little flurry here," Mr. Bush said in a television interview in Racine, Wis., hours after the indictment was announced. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, traveling with Mr. Bush, said the Weinberger notes introduce "no new facts" and do not change the president's position in the matter "one iota." "I figure there's no such thing as a new document or memo that hasn't been looked at," he said. "All these issues have been looked into by hundreds of lawyers, spending some $40 million, and there's just no change in the situation." Margaret Tutwiler, assistant to White House Chief of Staff James A. Baker III, said she was unaware of the memo and declined comment. Mr. Clinton, campaigning yesterday in Pittsburgh, said the new indictment "not only directly contradicts" the president's claims that he did not know about the arms deals, but "diminishes the credibility of the presidency." Mr. Clinton, who has been attacked by the GOP on the issues of character and trust, said the allegations have "seriously called into question" Mr. Bush's trustworthiness and "now he has to answer your questions." "He has flat-out denied repeatedly that he was ever at a meeting in which arms for hostages was discussed in his presence," Mr. Clinton said. "I don't see how the American people could think that it is irrelevant when he has repeatedly, repeatedly said something that is not true." Mr. Clinton resisted calling Mr. Bush a liar but said the "facts seem to contradict what he has said." He said Mr. Bush may have violated "stated United States government policy," describing the allegations as "the first clear evidence from somebody who was taking notes, who was there." "This is a very very serious piece of evidence," he said. Mary Belcher, a spokeswoman for Mr. Walsh, yesterday denied that the indictment or its timing are politically motivated. She said the independent counsel's office was seeking to meet a trial date and that the indictment was presented and decided in its normal course. "This office has no political agenda," she said. "We are moving to meet a very tight schedule and a Jan. 5 trial date and have given no consideration whatsoever to the timing of this or any other indictment. "We announced earlier this month we would have a second indictment by month's end," she added. Critics of Mr. Walsh, however, said the indictment may be timed to help Mr. Clinton. They contended he may want to help a Democrat into the White House to salvage the independent counsel law. The law expires in December. According to legislative officials, it might survive if Mr. Clinton is elected. They said the law could be approved by Congress and signed in the first 100 days of a new administration. The law, which spawned 11 special prosecutions in the past 14 years, has to be renewed every five years. Democrats in the Senate said Mr. Clinton has vowed to sign the law if he is elected. The Weinberger case has become a symbol of what GOP legislators claim is Mr. Walsh's overstepping of his mandate. He also has been under fire for questionable spending practices and claims of per-diem expenses by his staff. The independent counsel law was enacted in 1978, five years after President Nixon fired Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox. It was renewed in 1983 and 1988. Mr. Weinberger, who served as defense secretary for seven years, is the highest-ranking Reagan administration official indicted in the so-called Iran-Contra case. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM