John Poindexter says former President Reagan's testimony is favorable to his case, but the former national security adviser wants to delay its release until after a jury is sworn in for his Iran-Contra trial. Twelve news organizations on Tuesday suggested in a court filing that the videotape and transcripts of Reagan's testimony Friday and Saturday in Los Angeles be made available as soon as possible. Iran-Contra prosecutors told U.S. District Court Judge Harold Greene, who is presiding in the case involving Poindexter, that they have ``no objections'' to releasing the videotapes and transcripts of Reagan's deposition now. But Reagan's lawyers filed court papers asking that the tapes be withheld until the end of the trial. Poindexter's lawyers maintained in court papers that Reagan's testimony ``is favorable to the defense.'' But the former president did not support Poindexter in connection with key portions of allegedly false letters which Poindexter sent to Congress in 1986, according to sources familiar with Reagan's testimony who spoke on condition of anonymity. Poindexter's letters embraced the White House's denials the previous year that National Security Council aide Oliver North was raising money or providing military advice to the Contras. In his initial answers about the letters, Reagan focused on portions which stated the NSC staff was complying with the spirit and the letter of the Boland Amendment barring U.S. intelligence agencies from providing military aid to the Contras. Reagan, in his deposition in Los Angeles, supported those sections of the letters. The ex-president has said publicly he did not regard the NSC as being subject to the restrictions of the Boland Amendment. However, under cross-examination by Iran-Contra prosecutor Dan Webb, Reagan's attention was drawn to other statements in Poindexter's letters referring to the earlier information provided to Congress. That information included the denials that North was fundraising or supplying military advice. Reagan agreed with Webb he didn't recall seeing those earlier responses at the time Poindexter's letters were sent to Congress, according to the sources. The earlier responses led to a guilty plea by ex-national security adviser Robert McFarlane to misdemeanor charges of withholding information from Congress. Poindexter's lawyers maintained in court papers that publicizing Reagan's testimony now would have an ``incalculable impact'' on prospective jurors. Disclosing Reagan's testimony prior to the March 5 trial date could result in Iran-Contra prosecutors rejecting prospective jurors who otherwise would be favorable to the defense, lawyers for Reagan's former national security adviser said. They also said the testimony should be made public only ``after the jury in this case has been sworn and instructed regarding trial publicity.'' Alternatively, Poindexter asked that the media before the trial be provided only with a transcript of Reagan's testimony and that access to the videotape be deferred until the jury is sworn in. In their own filing, Reagan's lawyers asked that copies of the tape not be disseminated until the end of the trial, and that public access to Reagan's testimony ``be limited to reviewing the videotape at a location under control of the court.'' Any earlier distribution of copies of the tape ``goes far beyond the requirements of the First Amendment and may damage irreparably the rights of the defendant and the former president,'' the former president's lawyers argued. The news organizations told Greene that Cable News Network Inc. would act as pool representative for distribution of copies of the videotape to the news media. In addition, the news organizations suggested, transcripts should be released at the same time as the videotape through a commercial copying center selected by the news media.
