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From: cdp!christic%labrea.Stanford.EDU@DARTCMS1.DARTMOUTH.EDU
Subject:      CENSORED: NORTH CONFLICT
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/* Written  4:29 pm  Feb 25, 1991 by christic in cdp:christic.news */
/* ---------- "28 TOP CENSORED STORIES OF 1990" ---------- */
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NORTH ACQUITTAL: ALL IN THE FAMILY

Project Censored: Nomination for the ``Ten Best Censored Stories of
1990''

Substantial questions of conflict of interest should be raised in
connection with the July 20, 1990 decision by the U.S. Court of
Appeals in Washington to void the three-count conviction of former
White House aide Oliver North on charges stemming from the Iran-
contra scandal. Judge Laurence H. Silberman, a member of the three-
judge panel that threw out the convictions, has ties to at least
one of North's co-conspirators, and participated in activities that
closely paralleled and possibly even initiated North's arms-for-
hostages dealings.

Silberman's vote proved decisive in the court's 2-1 ruling to throw
out North's convictions.

A key Iran-contra figure linked to Silberman is Robert McFarlane,
former-President Reagan's National Security Advisor, and North's
former boss. In the fall of 1980, Silberman and McFarlane took part
in a controversial meeting to discuss the possible release of the
52 American hostages being held in Teheran in exchange for U.S.
military equipment. Silberman, at the time, was a top advisor to
the Reagan-Bush presidential campaign. McFarlane was on the staff
of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Also present at the meeting
was Richard Allen, Silberman's immediate superior and chief foreign
policy analyst for the Republican campaign, and another man who
claimed to be a representative of the Iranian government.

The four men met in the lobby of the L'Enfant Hotel in Washington
D.C., shortly before the 1980 presidential election. Significant
details remain sketchy, however. ``All I can remember was that
there was discussion about somehow releasing the hostages to the
Reagan campaign or under the auspices of the Reagan campaign...to
humiliate Carter and influence our election,'' Silberman told the
San Jose Mercury News.

In 1988, Houshang Lavi, an Iranian-born arms dealer, stepped
forward claiming to be the ``emissary'' who met with Silberman,
McFarlane, and Allen. Silberman does not deny knowing Lavi, but in
an interview in Newsday, he stated that he was ``sure'' that Lavi
was not the emissary at L'Enfant Plaza. After being confronted with
Lavi's notes from the meeting, however, Silberman downgraded his
disclaimer to being ``virtually certain.''

As we now know, both Allen and McFarlane went on to become
President Reagan's National Security Advisor, and interestingly
enough, Silberman went on to become the Reagan-Bush transition
team's liason to the CIA during the period between the election and
the inauguration before being appointed to the federal judiciary by
President Reagan in 1985.

At this point, Judge Silberman, who made North's acquittal
possible, isn't returning phone calls, and independent counsel
Lawrence Walsh has refused comment on the matter. And so, it seems,
has the press.

SOURCE: RANDOM LENGTHS, 8/16/90, ``North Verdict Tainted,'' by
David Armstrong, pp 1-6.