John M Poindexter

Twenty-one people, including a lawyer who worked for the Bush presidential campaign, were chosen as prospective jurors Monday for the Iran-Contra trial of former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter. Poindexter is charged with five felony counts--one of conspiracy, two of obstructing Congress and two of making false statements to congressional committees--in connection with accusations that he covered up Oliver L.

John M. Poindexter will appear in federal court this morning as the last and highest-ranking former government official to be tried in the Iran-Contra scandal that became the biggest blot on the presidency of Ronald Reagan. The trial of Reagan's former national security adviser, who faces five charges of conspiracy and lying to Congress in connection with the secret arms shipments to Iran and diversion of profits to Nicaraguan rebels, is expected to take six to eight weeks.

As former President Ronald Reagan began eight hours of videotaped testimony, he winked at defendant John M. Poindexter, immediately establishing himself as the first character witness for the former White House national security adviser.

Former President Ronald Reagan's testimony in the case of his former national security adviser, Adm. John M. Poindexter, occurred under unusual circumstances and was released Thursday in an equally unusual manner. Out of deference to the former President, Reagan was allowed to give his testimony in the form of a deposition before Poindexter's trial rather than being required to attend the trial itself, which is scheduled to begin early next month.

Here are excerpts from former President Ronald Reagan's testimony as a defense witness in the Iran-Contra trial of his former national security adviser, John M. Poindexter . Richard W. Beckler, Poindexter's lead attorney, questioned Reagan about internal Administration meetings on the "Iran initiative": Question: Maybe you could tell the jury a little bit about what you recall about those meetings and the fact that there was disagreement and so on? Answer: Yes.

For George Bush, the Iran-Contra affair has offered a paradoxical, nagging and potentially embarrassing question: Was it possible that a vice president who spent eight years at the side of President Ronald Reagan and claims involvement in all major decision to have also been uninformed about one of the most crucial events of those years?

A comparison of some of former President Ronald Reagan's answers to his interrogators in the case against John M. Poindexter, his former national security adviser, and what has been said previously on the subject. QUESTION: "Did you authorize the diversion of funds from the Iran arm sales to the Contras?" REAGAN: "I had no knowledge then or now that there had been a diversion . . . .

Former President Ronald Reagan says in videotaped testimony released Thursday that he pressured Honduras in 1985 to help Nicaragua's Contra rebels in return for U.S. military and economic aid, providing the first high-level confirmation of what some White House documents called a "quid pro quo" arrangement. "In return for our help in the form of security assurances as well as aid . . .

It was the old Gipper that reporters saw entering the federal courthouse one week ago--the jaunty smile, the cheery wave from the passing limousine. And, as the tape and transcript of Ronald Reagan's testimony showed when it was released Thursday, the former President retains the self-deprecating wit that helped charm the nation during his eight years in the White House. Early in the testimony for the trial of Reagan's former national security adviser, John M. Poindexter, Judge Harold H.

Former President Ronald Reagan, discussing the Iran-Contra affair under oath for the first time, said in testimony released Thursday that he did not authorize the diversion of funds from the Iran arms sales to the Nicaraguan resistance and declared he still doubts whether it actually ever happened.