Bu$hCo Continues to Hire the Best Money Can Buy

Confessed Iran-Contra Figure Lands Sensitive Pentagon Post

Robert Earl, who helped in the failed coverup of the '80s scandal, is now chief of staff to Gordon England, acting deputy secretary of Defense.

In 1987, Robert L. Earl told a grand jury that he had destroyed and stolen national security documents while working for Lt. Col. Oliver L. North during the Iran-Contra scandal.

Now, he sits in one of the most coveted offices in the Pentagon as chief of staff to Gordon R. England, acting deputy secretary of Defense. Earl has clearance to review the kinds of classified documents he once destroyed.

As England goes through his Senate confirmation process, his hiring of Earl has drawn criticism from government ethics watchdogs. But congressional sources said it was unlikely to affect support for England, who was popular on Capitol Hill but whose nomination was tied up over an arcane financial rule.

President Bush nominated England to replace Paul D. Wolfowitz, who left the deputy secretary's post this spring to head the World Bank.

England's chief of staff is the latest figure from the Iran-Contra scandal to play a role in the Bush administration.

Elliott Abrams, who pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress about the illegal funding of the Nicaraguan Contras during the Reagan administration, serves on Bush's National Security Council as head of the Mideast bureau.

Retired Adm. John M. Poindexter, who as national security advisor under Reagan also was implicated in the scandal, has periodically served as a consultant to the Pentagon.

The Iran-Contra case involved the U.S. supplying arms to Iran as part of a complicated deal to fund anti-Sandinista Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Congress had forbidden direct U.S. aid to the Contras.

A report to Congress by independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh stated: "Earl attempted to conceal evidence regarding the arms sales to Iran and the diversion of profits…. He destroyed [National Security Council] documents, assisted North in the destruction of documents … and made false statements to the FBI."

He was granted immunity for his testimony in the Reagan administration's most damaging scandal and was never prosecuted.

Common Cause spokeswoman Mary Boyle noted that some of President Clinton's nominees got into trouble for hiring illegal immigrants for domestic work.

Boyle said of Earl: "Allowing this guy to become the chief of staff to England sends a message … that paying your nanny under the table is grounds not to get a job, but deceiving the FBI and destroying documents will get you a job."

Thanks to Laura Rozen for the link.