Clark Reportedly Urged Pardons for Poindexter, North

WASHINGTON — Former National Security Adviser William P. Clark urged President Reagan in a personal letter last August to grant pardons to Rear Adm. John M. Poindexter and Lt. Col. Oliver L. North “before the independent counsel concludes his investigation” of the Iran-Contra scandal, White House sources said.

Clark, a longtime friend and adviser to Reagan, wrote the letter at the conclusion of congressional hearings into the scandal. Clark said Poindexter, a former national security adviser, and North, the key White House figure in the scandal involving the National Security Council staff, had undertaken their initiatives at “considerable professional risk” and “without consideration for personal gain,” the sources said.

President Responded

It was learned that Reagan read Clark’s letter and had personally responded. It could not be learned what the President’s response was.

However, White House counsel Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. responded to Clark in an Aug. 21 letter that said: “We believe that this is not the time for us to engage in a discussion of pardons.”

Clark, now in private law practice, said he has never discussed his communications with the President and would not comment on the letter he sent.

While other people have publicly called for a pardon, Clark’s appeal to Reagan is significant because it was delivered privately and because of Clark’s standing with the President, the sources said.

Clark’s suggestion for a pardon comes as independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh is presenting evidence to a federal grand jury here with North and Poindexter publicly identified as targets of the investigation. Walsh has indirectly cautioned against using the pardon to short-circuit his inquiry.