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Extensions of Remarks February 26, 1992 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 3621 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS LAWRENCE WALSH DOESN'T KNOW almost immediately undercut it by giving "The reason I didn't go to trial was I was flat WHEN TO QUIT immunity at their own hearings to Lt. Col. out of money and my lawyers wouldn't go Oliver North and Adm. John Poindexter. any further. I pleaded guilty to a non-crime Both men were later convicted but had the which Walsh knew didn't exist." HON. WM. S. BROOMF1ELD charges overturned by federal appellate The former Air Force general also accuses OF MICHIGAN courts because of the immunity grants. Mr. Walsh of hounding business clients until IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Even some of Mr. Walsh's supporters con­ several ended their relationships with Mr. Wednesday, February 26, 1992 tend he should have called in the dogs at Secord's security consulting companies. "Ev­ that point and left as his primary accom­ eryone in touch with me, no matter how re­ Mr. BROOMFIELD. Mr. Speaker, once plishment a clear articulation of the prob­ mote, got called by the legions of lawyers again someone has asked Lawrence Walsh lems involved in trying to have simultaneous this guy has at his disposal." "when." congressional hearings and a federal crimi­ And Mr. Secord says $8 million belonging When will he close down his Iran-Contra nal probe. to his companies has been frozen in Swiss probe? But the prosecutor is still fighting what he banks since 1986, an embargo Mr. Walsh en­ When will the political abuse of the Office of perceives as the good fight. forces with occasional memos to the banks Mr. Walsh's latest target, former CIA offi­ saying the freeze is still justified. Independent Counsel end? cial Claire George, says of his indictment, When will the taxpayers stop footing the bill "I was financially destroyed by this, and I "[It] merely makes me a pawn in the contin­ doubt I will ever recover," Mr. Secord says. for meaningless investigations and prosecu­ uous drama of political exploitation." "And in the end, the judge gave me a $50 tions? In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal fine. That was like winning a battle And once again, Mr. Walsh's answer has called the George indictment "another after all your troops are dead.'' 'Walshing' whereby a legally bizarre prosecu­ proven disappointing. "It's perfectly clear we're THE UPSHOT talking a long time," he says. tion forces its middle-class victim to spend millions of dollars to hire lawyers to shut After spending-by his own estimate­ As Michael Hedges of the Washington about $30 million over more than five years, Times points out in a recent article, the world Mr. Walsh down." But Lawrence Walsh believes his work has Mr. Walsh's Iran-Contra cases have for the has changed dramatically since Mr. Walsh had an important legacy, despite the set­ most part gone one of three ways. began his probe in 1986. Continuing his office backs and criticism. The main targets, former National Secu­ has been compared to prosecuting a branch "We have shown that there can be effective rity Council aide Oliver North and former of bootleggers after prohibition is ended. criminal law enforcement in the national se­ National Security Adviser John Poindexter, Nonetheless, Mr. Walsh plods on, enriching curity area, albeit with enormous dif­ were convicted. But those convictions later lawyers and leaving a trail of bankrupted vic­ ficulty," he says. Such expensive efforts were overturned because they were based in should be made, he contends, "if the offense part on the pair's immunized testimony to tims in his wake .• Congress in 1986. I commend Mr. Hedges' articles to my col­ is serious enough." In an interview, Mr. Walsh makes it clear Others, like former CIA station chief Joe leagues and encourage them to sign on as co­ his purpose is to establish, for history, the Fernandez, were able to get their cases sponsors of the Independent Counsel Sunset principle that criminal prosecution is the ul­ dropped, but only after spending huge sums Act-H.R. 444-so we never again have to timate check in the system of checks and in legal fees-in Mr. Fernandez' case, $1.8 witness such a perversion of our system of balances. million. checks and balances. · "If we tolerate deliberate deception by a The third class of defendant is illustrated QUIXOTIC QUEST?-AS CRITICS STEAM, LAW­ popular and strong chief executive and false by Elliott Abrams. The former State Depart­ RENCE WALSH PUSHES ON WITH IRAN­ statements to the Congress, which is sup­ ment official says he pleaded guilty to CONTRA PROBE posed to be one of the checks upon an auto­ charges brought by Mr. Walsh to avoid spending money on defense lawyers. Mr. (By Michael Hedges) cratic executive, we have to see that the checks and balances are effective-and that, Abrams was sentenced to community service When asked how long he will pursue his in the last analysis, takes law enforcement," and the requisite $50 fine-half the amount quest, Iran-Contra special prosecutor Law­ he says. of some D.C. parking tickets. rence Walsh answers without apology or a But Mr. Walsh shows far less passion or Critics such as Mr. Secord say Mr. Walsh's trace of irony. "It's perfectly clear we're compassion in defending individuals' rights $30 million price tag is an intentional mis­ talking a long time," he says. "Months, not not to be pursued by government enforcers, representation of the true costs of the probe. weeks." his critics maiI).tain. "He lies about that all the time," Mr. Surrounded by canyons of legal documents Asked about Joe Fernandez, a midlevel Secord says. "The costs of pursuing this in­ in the small library of his offices on 13th CIA officer who spent nearly $2 million to de­ vestigation have been over $100 million." Street NW., Mr. Walsh looks to be in fighting fend himself against charges that eventually The former general says the higher figure trim, perhaps 15 years younger than the 80 he were dropped, Mr. Walsh says: "I have no re­ includes costs to the Justice Department, turned last month. He appears capable of grets because he always had the opportunity the federal courts, the CIA and other agen­ hanging in there for the long haul in his re­ to cooperate with us .... He made the cies of cooperating with the probe. duced role of overseer of the legal fallout choice to be an antagonist." Mr. Walsh-whose hourly rate of pay was from the Iran-Contra affair. HIGH COSTS capped at about $140,000 a year when he And that's what worries his critics, who worked on the case full time-won't com­ view Mr. Walsh at best as a Don Quixote on That's the attitude that infuriates Law­ ment on the future of his investigation. Offi­ a mission long since rendered irrelevant. The rence Walsh's opponents. It is what the Wall cial sources say it is following a path leading windmills are ever-receding; the cost of the Street Journal called the "Catch $2.2 mil­ from a guilty plea by former CIA official joust continues to mount. lion": Cooperate or be ruined financially in a Alan Fiers. Other indictments are antici­ "The whole world has changed but not this case that may be dropped or may result in a pated, officials say, but not of "names" from guy," one highly regarded Washington law­ $50 fine. the Reagan-Bush administration. yer says. "It seems to me this has become an Former Maj. Gen. Richard Secord was an­ When asked specifically about Oliver obsessive mission for him." other of Mr. Walsh's targets. He eventually North, Mr. Walsh says he can't comment be­ For Mr. Walsh, the mission began in De­ pleaded guilty to one count of making a false cause "we may not be through with him cember 1986, when he was appointed by three statement to Congress, was given probation yet"-indicating the former Marine lieuten­ federal judges with a broad mandate to in­ and paid a $50 fine. ant colonel could be called as a witness in a vestigate arms sales to Iran and allegations Mr. Secord says he was innocent of the future case. of money funneled illegally to the Nica­ charge, indeed claims Mr. Walsh knew he raguan resistance. was innocent. CAREER-CAPPER Congressional opponents of the Reagan ad­ "I've spent $1.2 million on legal fees so far When Mr. Walsh began his probe in 1986, ministration pushed for the probe, but then and it is not over yet," Mr. Secord says. the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire, Wash- • This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. 3622 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS February 26, 1992 ington covertly supported Iraqi President Opponents have compared the George pros­ TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM Saddam Hussein in his war with Iran, and ecution to Mr. Walsh's 1989 case against CIA ARROWSMITH then-Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega agent Joe Fernandez, which was dismissed considered himself the Castro of Central after the Justice Department declined to re­ America. lease classified documents. The prosecutor If the world has turned, Lawrence Walsh will not comment specifically on the George HON. DON EDWARDS has not let the revolutions distract him. He case. OF CALIFORNIA says he is pursuing to the letter of the broad mandate that a three-judge panel issued 63 REWARDING IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES months ago.
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