This picture is from the Ronald Reagan Library.
February 8, 1990
By David Johnston
Clarifying an earlier court filing, (click here) lawyers for Ronald Reagan said today that they were invoking executive privilege in refusing to turn over excerpts from the former President's private diaries to John M. Poindexter, the former national security adviser who faces trial in the Iran-contra affair.
The explanation by Mr. Reagan's lawyers came in
response to an order earlier in the day by Judge Harold H. Greene of
Federal District Court, who said he needed clarification on whether they
intended to assert a ''formal claim by the former President of
executive privilege.''
In legal papers filed on Monday, Mr. Reagan's
lawyers cited executive privilege, without using the term, in refusing
to comply with a previous order by Judge Greene to surrender the
diaries.
On Tuesday, Mr. Poindexter's lawyers said the former
President had violated the court's order because his lawyers had failed
to use the term specifically. ''Whatever it is Mr. Reagan has claimed,
and his pleading is deliberately opaque on this issue, it does not
amount to a formal claim of executive privilege,'' Mr. Poindexter's
lawyers said.
Executive Privilege Was Intended...
So, January 1981 the hostages come home on Reagan's inauguration. April of 1985 Reagan is standing in the Oval Office with Oliver North and a leader of the Nicaraguan Contras by name of Adolfo Calero.
The pieces of the puzzle would not come together until later and Reagan declares Executive Privilege in February 1990 to his diaries that is a record of his activities in regard to the Iran - Contra triangle.
After serving as National Security Adviser (click here) Robert McFarlane’s deputy for two years, Navy Vice Admiral John Poindexter was appointed by President Reagan as national security adviser in December 1985. He held that position for less than a year, as he was forced to resign in November 1986 when the diversion of profits from the Iran arms sales to the Contras was exposed and Attorney General Edwin Meese III revealed that Poindexter had known of it.
The Independent Counsel won a joint indictment against Poindexter, his deputy Oliver North, retired Air Force Major General and businessman Richard Secord, and Secord’s business partner Albert Hakim in March 1988. However, because the four claimed the need for the testimony of the others in their trials, which was a problem because of their Fifth Amendment right to protect against self-incrimination, their cases were separated....
So, January 1981 the hostages come home on Reagan's inauguration. April of 1985 Reagan is standing in the Oval Office with Oliver North and a leader of the Nicaraguan Contras by name of Adolfo Calero.
The pieces of the puzzle would not come together until later and Reagan declares Executive Privilege in February 1990 to his diaries that is a record of his activities in regard to the Iran - Contra triangle.
After serving as National Security Adviser (click here) Robert McFarlane’s deputy for two years, Navy Vice Admiral John Poindexter was appointed by President Reagan as national security adviser in December 1985. He held that position for less than a year, as he was forced to resign in November 1986 when the diversion of profits from the Iran arms sales to the Contras was exposed and Attorney General Edwin Meese III revealed that Poindexter had known of it.
The Independent Counsel won a joint indictment against Poindexter, his deputy Oliver North, retired Air Force Major General and businessman Richard Secord, and Secord’s business partner Albert Hakim in March 1988. However, because the four claimed the need for the testimony of the others in their trials, which was a problem because of their Fifth Amendment right to protect against self-incrimination, their cases were separated....
