McFarlane Pleads Guilty, Cuts Deal With Prosecutor : Withheld Data From Congress

WASHINGTON —  Former national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane, in a deal struck with the Iran-Contra independent counsel, pleaded guilty today to four misdemeanor charges of withholding information from Congress about Reagan Administration efforts to help Nicaraguan Contra rebels during a statutory ban on military aid.

McFarlane, standing before U.S. District Judge Aubrey E. Robinson Jr., admitted that he withheld information about the activities of Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and other members of the National Security Council staff in three 1985 letters to House committees.

He also admitted withholding information from the House Foreign Affairs Committee when he told the panel on Dec. 8, 1986, that he was unaware of any efforts to solicit donations for the Contras from a third country.

Sentencing Not Set

Each of the four charges carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

In carrying out sentencing, Judge Robinson will take into account the extent of McFarlane’s cooperation. No sentencing date was set.

After entering his plea, McFarlane told reporters that he did withhold information from Congress on the occasions cited in the charges, but added:

“My actions were motivated by what I believed to be in the foreign policy interest of the United States.”

Independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, who is investigating the Iran-Contra affair, said he could have sought more serious perjury charges against McFarlane, but settled for the misdemeanor charges because the former White House aide had shown remorse and had agreed to testify in any future proceedings instigated by the prosecutor’s staff.

No Reagan Comment

President Reagan, boarding a helicopter for a weekend at Camp David, Md., refused to comment when asked about McFarlane. “It’s in the court,” Reagan shouted to reporters.

Robinson filed under seal a letter of cooperation that McFarlane and his attorney, Leonard Garment, had signed as part of the plea bargain struck with Walsh.

The document filed today alleges that McFarlane made false statements in letters sent in 1985 to the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees and a Foreign Affairs subcommittee.

The charges involve assurances to Congress that members of McFarlane’s National Security Council staff, specifically North, were not involved in private efforts to help the Contras.

In an Oct. 7, 1985, letter to the House Intelligence Committee, McFarlane wrote that “Lt. Col. North did not use his influence to facilitate the movement of supplies to the resistance,” the information said.

In addition, it said, McFarlane assured the committee there was “no official or unofficial relationship with any member of the NSC staff regarding fund raising for the Nicaraguan democratic opposition.”

Another charge states that on Sept. 5, 1985, McFarlane withheld information from the House Intelligence Committee when he wrote: “I can state with deep personal conviction that at no time did I or any member of the National Security Council violate the letter or spirit” of the Boland Amendment, which banned U.S. military aid to the Contras.

The Sept. 5 letter also stated that “we did not solicit funds or other support for military or paramilitary activities either from Americans or third parties.”

The letter was written in response to an Aug. 20, 1985, letter from the panel’s chairman, Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.) requesting information about news reports that the NSC staff was helping the Contras.