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TIME - Man of the Year
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CompactPublishing-TimeMagazine-TimeManOfTheYear-Win31MSDOS.iso
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1109994.000
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1993-04-08
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THE WEEK, Page 21NATIONAwkward Timing
A grand jury charges Weinberger anew, involving George Bush
"George Shultz + I opposed -- Bill Casey, Ed Meese + VP
favored -- as did Poindexter." With those words, taken from his
personal handwritten notes of the Jan. 7, 1986, White House
meeting about the notorious Iran arms-for-hostages deal, former
Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger contradicted both his own
sworn statements that he had any evidence relevant to the
Iran-contra affair and the assertions by George Bush that he was
not aware of the proposed swap. As a result, Weinberger was
indicted by a Washington grand jury on one additional felony
count of making false statements to Congress. The revelation
also ensured that the President, at an inauspicious time in his
effort to win re-election, will face a surge of new questions
about his oft-repeated assertions that he was "not in the loop."
Weinberger's note, discovered last spring, explicitly
describes the Oval Office discussion of the plan to sell 4,000
TOW missiles to Iran in exchange for five American hostages, as
well as his and Secretary of State Shultz's declared opposition.
Bush has repeatedly denied that he, then Vice President, was
aware that Shultz and Weinberger were opposed.
The new evidence, revealed for the first time on Friday by
the office of Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh, adds one more
count to the five issued in June. Weinberger's trial is
scheduled for January. Bush's trial is on Tuesday.