Poindexter to Subpoena Reagan, Bush in Attempt to Obtain Diaries

WASHINGTON —  John M. Poindexter will subpoena former President Ronald Reagan and President Bush in an attempt to obtain their diaries and notes, the former national security adviser said in court papers released Tuesday.

Poindexter, who is facing a criminal trial next year in the Iran-Contra scandal, said that he needs the records for his defense.

“Former President Reagan believes that his diaries and notes are ‘personal’ records,” Poindexter said in the papers filed late Monday and made available Tuesday.

“President Reagan’s ‘personal’ diaries and notes remain in the former President’s possession and were not transferred to the National Archives” when he left the White House, the court papers said.

Poindexter’s lawyers said in court on Sept. 6 that Reagan’s notes will reflect that he authorized some activities for which the former national security adviser was indicted in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Poindexter said vice presidential records at the National Archives have yet to be processed and that, to date, no personal diary from Bush’s tenure as vice president has been discovered.

Poindexter asked that U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene set a pretrial return date for subpoenas of presidential and vice presidential records and personal records of Reagan and Bush.

The former national security adviser is charged with one count of conspiracy, two counts of obstructing Congress and two counts of making false statements in the Iran-Contra affair.