Oliver North and John Poindexter Invoke Fifth Amendment During Iran Contra Hearings — Transcript

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1. 0:00Good evening from the Library of
2. 0:01Congress just across from the capital.
3. 0:03It was a day short on answers and long
4. 0:06on political theater here in Washington,
5. 0:08a city consumed by the Iran-Contra
6. 0:10scandal. Two of the principals in the
7. 0:12controversial affair appeared before the
8. 0:13House Foreign Affairs Committee and
9. 0:15refused to testify, invoking the Fifth
10. 0:18Amendment which protects them against
11. 0:19self-incrimination. Former National
12. 0:21Security Advisor John Poindexter and
13. 0:23Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North,
14. 0:25who worked together in the White House,
15. 0:27came to the committee well-rehearsed by
16. 0:28their lawyers. NBC's John Dancy was in
17. 0:31the hearing room.
18. 0:32Would you please stand up?
19. 0:33It was a moment of high drama as the
20. 0:35former National Security Advisor, a US
21. 0:38Navy Admiral, appeared before the
22. 0:39committee. Poindexter offered to
23. 0:41cooperate later.
24. 0:43I firmly believe, as the president has
25. 0:46stated several times,
26. 0:48that this committee and the American
27. 0:50people have the right to know all of the
28. 0:52relevant facts regarding the activities
29. 0:55of the NSC staff.
30. 0:56But asked two specifics of the Iran
31. 0:58operation, Poindexter said he could not
32. 1:00answer because of the possibility of
33. 1:02criminal prosecution.
34. 1:03I must decline to answer that question
35. 1:05at this time because of my
36. 1:07constitutional rights under the Fifth
37. 1:08Amendment.
38. 1:09Congressman Michael Barnes of Maryland
39. 1:11suggested that Poindexter had a duty to
40. 1:13testify, even if it meant he might later
41. 1:15be found guilty in some criminal charge.
42. 1:18My judgment is that the worst thing that
43. 1:19happened then is you'd have a very
44. 1:22short, probably suspended sentence
45. 1:23somewhere cuz no one believes that you
46. 1:25were acting out of out of your own
47. 1:27personal interest.
48. 1:29Poindexter's attorney, Richard Beckler,
49. 1:31erupted.
50. 1:32For Mr. Barnes, who's sitting up there,
51. 1:34to take a long leap forward to the end
52. 1:37of a trial and suggest that my client
53. 1:39would be convicted and then maybe only
54. 1:40get a suspended sentence is nothing less
55. 1:42than outrageous.
56. 1:45Then it was Lieutenant Colonel Oliver
57. 1:47North's turn. His chest full of
58. 1:49decorations, North looked stricken as
59. 1:51Congressman Lee Hamilton of Indiana
60. 1:53began the questioning.
61. 1:54Colonel North, um,
62. 1:56did you make the decision to put some of
63. 1:59the proceeds of the arms sales to Iran
64. 2:02into an account for the use of the
65. 2:04contras?
66. 2:05Mr. Hamilton, on the advice of counsel,
67. 2:07I respectfully and regretfully
68. 2:11decline to answer the question based on
69. 2:14my constitutional rights.
70. 2:15And I hope that you and the Congress
71. 2:19will be able to work out, as I think we
72. 2:21will in time,
73. 2:23an appropriate way in which we will have
74. 2:26the opportunity to hear from you
75. 2:29because I think you recognize how
76. 2:30important it is to the country that we
77. 2:32do that.
78. 2:34I do, Mr. Hamilton, and I don't think
79. 2:36there is another person in America that
80. 2:38wants to tell this story as much as I
81. 2:40do, sir.
82. 2:41Nevertheless, the impression is growing
83. 2:43here at the capital that North and
84. 2:45Poindexter will tell all they know about
85. 2:47the Iran arms deal only if they are
86. 2:49granted immunity from prosecution.
87. 2:51But so far, they have not asked for
88. 2:53immunity.
89. 2:54John Dancy, NBC News at the US Capitol.