Pentagon confirms Iran-contra figure in senior job

WASHINGTON - Robert Earl, who destroyed national security documents during the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal, is working as chief of staff to United States acting Deputy Defence Secretary Gordon England.

Earl destroyed and stole national security documents while working for Oliver North during a secret arms deal with Iran in which the United States passed money from those weapons sales to Contra guerrillas in Nicaragua, according to a report to Congress by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman confirmed Earl was a senior England aide, a fact first reported in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.

"I wonder why it's an issue now," he said.

"It was a long time ago. He has served ably for many years in the department and in industry."

Earl was granted immunity for his testimony in the Iran-Contra scandal and was never prosecuted.

John Ullyot, spokesman for Senate Armed Services Committee chairman John Warner, said the Pentagon informed the committee about the issue. He declined any further comment.

But congressional watchdog groups raised questions about the administration's decision to give such a senior job to a person with a record of tampering with the very kinds of classified national security documents he will now oversee.

"That fact is that this is a very sensitive and critical job," Mary Boyle, spokesman for Common Cause said. "While it is true that people can pay their debts to society ... this is a job that should be filled by someone who is beyond reproach."

- REUTERS