Title: "Bush Pardons Weinberger, Five Others Tied to Iran-Contra." President Bush granted pardons to former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other individuals fortheir conduct related to the Iran-Contra affair, calling Weinberger a "true patriot." (921224)
Author: MCDONALD, DIAN (USIA STAFF WRITER)
Date: 19921224
Text:
BUSH PARDONS WEINBERGER, FIVEOTHERS TIED TO IRAN-CONTRA
(Calls Weinberger "true American patriot") (650)By Dian McDonaldUSIA White House CorrespondentWashington -- President Bush December 24 granted pardons to formerDefense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other individuals for theirconduct related to the Iran-Contra affair.
Bush said Weinberger -- who had been scheduled to go on trial in WashingtonJanuary 5 on charges related to Iran-Contra -- was a "true Americanpatriot," who had served with "distinction" in a series of public positionssince the late 1960s.
"I am pardoning him not just out of compassion or to spare a 75-year-oldpatriot the torment of lengthy and costly legal proceedings, but to make itpossible for him to receive the honor he deserves for his extraordinaryservice to our country," Bush said in a proclamation granting executiveclemency.
The president also pardoned five other persons who already had pleadedguilty or had been indicted or convicted in connection with the Iran-Contraarms-for-hostages investigation. They were Elliott Abrams, a formerassistant secretary of state for Inter-American affairs; former NationalSecurity Adviser Robert McFarlane; and Duane Clarridge, Alan Fiers, andClair George, all former employees of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Explaining those pardons, Bush said the "common denominator of theirmotivation -- whether their actions were right or wrong -- was patriotism." They did not profit or seek to profit from their conduct, Bush said,adding that all five "have already paid a price -- in depleted savings,lost careers, anguished families -- grossly disproportionate to anymisdeeds or errors of judgment they may have committed."
Asked about the pardons at a news conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, laterin the day, President-elect Clinton said he did not have all the details onthe matter and would withhold comment until he had had a chance to studythe president's statement and related information.
However, Clinton said he was concerned "by any action which sends a signalthat, if you work for the government, you're above the law, or that nottelling the truth to Congress under oath is somehow less serious than nottelling the truth to some other body under oath."
The Iran-Contra affair involved the secret sale of weapons to Iran inexchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon bypro-Iranian terrorists and the diversion of money from that sale to providesupport for anti-communist resistance fighters in Nicaragua known as the"Contras."
Weinberger had been charged by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh with fourcounts of lying to congressional Iran-Contra investigators in 1987 and toWalsh's prosecutors in 1990. His case involved allegations that he hadconcealed from congressional investigators his personal notes that detailedevents related to Iran-Contra and which reportedly undermined whatthen-President Reagan said about the origins and operations of the covertarms-for-hostages dealings. Weinberger had pleaded not guilty and said hewas being unfairly prosecuted.
Although a president has unlimited pardon powers, it is highly unusual topardon someone before trial and conviction. The best-known precedent --following the Watergate political scandal during the Nixon administration-- was former President Ford's pardon in 1974 of former President Nixon,who was never indicted.
Bush said the prosecutions of the persons he was pardoning on Christmas Everepresent "what I believe is a profoundly troubling development in thepolitical and legal climate of our country: the criminalization of policydifferences."
The differences should be addressed in "the political arena, without theDamocles sword of criminality hanging over the heads of some of thecombatants," he said. "The proper target is the president, not hissubordinates; the proper forum is the voting booth, not the courtroom."
Bush also granted Christmas Eve pardons to 18 other individuals who were notinvolved in the Iran-Contra affair.
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File Identification: 12/24/92, POL402; 12/28/92, AEF104; 12/28/92, EPF126; 12/28/92, LEF113; 12/28/92, NEA105
Product Name: Wireless File
Product Code: WF
Keywords: BUSH, GEORGE/Domestic Issues; WEINBERGER, CASPAR W; TRIALS; LAW ENFORCEMENT; DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE; INVESTIGATIONS; PUBLIC OPINION; IRAN-CONTRA AFFAIR; PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS; CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA); ABRAMS,ELLIOTT;
Target Areas: AF; AR; EA; NE
PDQ Text Link: 260039
USIA Notes: *92122402.POL
