McFarlane Confirms He Misled Congress

WASHINGTON--Former Reagan aide Robert C. McFarlane pleaded guilty yesterday to misdemeanor charges that he misled Congress by assuring lawmakers the administration was not helping arm Nicaraguan rebels during a ban on U.S. military aid.

The president's former national security adviser pleaded guilty to four counts of withholding information from Congress when questioned about news reports that members of his staff, particularly Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, were helping to raise money and ship arms to the Contra rebels.

McFarlane, who agreed to cooperate fully with independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh's investigation, could be sentenced to up to four years imprisonment and fined as much as $400,000 for the guilty pleas he entered before U.S. District Judge Aubrey E. Robinson Jr.

Robinson released McFarlane on his own recognizance and did not schedule a sentencing date. McFarlane was subdued and spoke in a soft voice when responding to questions posed by the judge.

McFarlane played a major role in the Iran-Contra affair, even after he resigned as national security adviser in December 1985. The following May, he led a secret mission to Tehran to open contact with so-called moderate Iranians who were thought to hold influence with kidnappers of American hostages in Lebanon. He brought with him a cake and a Bible signed by President Reagan.

McFarlane attempted suicide in February 1987 by taking an overdose of a tranquilizer the day before he was scheduled to testify before a presidential commission investigating the affair.

Yesterday, after the hearing before Robinson, Walsh acknowledged that McFarlane could have been charged with perjury, a felony that carries a five-year sentence for each charge.

But Walsh said he agreed to the misdemeanor plea because of the former national security adviser's willingness to cooperate with Walsh's investigation and his "undisguised expressions of remorse after the false testimony."

"He tried to correct his testimony and actually imposed injury upon himself in a fit of depression," Walsh said of McFarlane's suicide attempt.

Walsh called McFarlane's guilty plea a "very important" development in his 14-month investigation. In the coming weeks, the investigation is expected to yield a round of indictments against North and others, including Rear Adm. John M. Poindexter, who was McFarlane's successor as national security adviser.

"It furthers the work of the Office of Independent Counsel because he has agreed to cooperate fully with our office in the pursuit of the remainder of our investigation," Walsh said.

McFarlane told reporters that "my actions were motivated by what I believed to be in the foreign policy interest of the United States."