Weinberger Pleads Not Guilty on 1 Count : Iran-Contra: Former defense secretary assails prosecutors, charging that he’s ‘a pawn in a clearly political agenda.’

WASHINGTON — Former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the latest charge stemming from the Iran-Contra scandal, claiming he had become “a pawn in a clearly political agenda.”

The former Californian, who faces trial Jan. 5 on five Iran-Contra charges, entered his plea in federal court and afterward assailed prosecutors for producing the pre-election indictment that also cast President Bush in an unfavorable light.

Prosecutor James J. Brosnahan disputed Weinberger’s claim that the charge was politically motivated, telling reporters the decision to file it four days before the election was dictated by a court-imposed schedule, not by politics.

“This case has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with government,” said Brosnahan, a San Francisco lawyer whom independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh appointed last month to prosecute the case.

The additional single count was added on Oct. 30 to replace an obstruction charge that U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan dismissed last month because of an appellate court ruling in another Iran-Contra case.

On all five counts, Weinberger is charged with lying and misleading Congress in its investigation of the arms-for-hostages deal that became known as Iran-Contra.

The original indictment was returned last June. The new count accuses Weinberger, 75, of making a false statement to congressional investigators in June, 1987, when he denied taking notes of key meetings on the arms-for-hostages deals with Iran.

Extensive notes taken by Weinberger have been discovered by the prosecution among papers he turned over to the Library of Congress and form the basis for most of the charges against him.

Among these notes were jottings taken at a Jan. 7, 1986, meeting at which President Ronald Reagan and his aides discussed trading arms to Iran in exchange for the release of U.S. hostages. The notes indicate that then-Vice President Bush attended the meeting and favored the exchange of arms for hostages.

The indictment implies that Bush lied about his role in the Iranian arms sales. He has long denied taking any position on the deal, saying he was “out of the loop” on the discussions.

Weinberger’s attorneys are attempting to have the latest count thrown out, contending the statute of limitations ran out. But federal law often allows prosecutors to replace one charge with another. Hogan has scheduled a Dec. 7 hearing to consider the issue.

Meanwhile, in another Iran-Contra case, a jury completed its third day of deliberations Tuesday without reaching a verdict in the perjury case against former CIA official Clair E. George.