Former CIA official Alan D. Fiers Jr. testified that there was a "common understanding" between him and Clair E. George, deputy director of CIA operations, that Oliver North was coordinating illegal arms shipments to Nicaragua in the mid-1980s.
Fiers said Tuesday that he warned George at the time that if the information was ever made public, the resulting scandal would be "worse than Watergate." He made his comments during the third day of testimony in George's trial at U.S. District Court.George is charged with nine counts of lying to Congress and other investigators about his knowledge of the arms shipments. George is the highest-ranking CIA official to be charged in connection with the affair, which is known as the Iran-Contra scandal.
Fiers, who served as chief of the CIA's Central American Task Force, is the chief prosecution witness.
In September 1985, he testified, he was introduced to North, who served on the National Security Council, by the CIA's Central American Division chief. Although Fiers was encouraged to cooperate with North, Fiers said he balked, knowing that North was involved in resupplying the Nicaraguan rebels, also known as the Contras. Government involvement in such supply efforts had been banned by Congress.
As a result of his resistance, Fiers said he was called into a meeting in November 1984, in the office of CIA Director William Casey. The meeting was also attended by Clair George and Oliver North. Casey asked North if he, North, was operating in Central America. When North said, "No," Casey added: "Good, I don't want you operating in Central America."
Fiers said he was baffled by the meaning of the brief meeting. In a hallway outside of Casey's office, he asked George, "Wow, what do you think of that?"
George explained that "some time in the dark of night" Casey had reassured then President Ronald Reagan that the CIA "would take care of Central America."
When Fiers expressed concern about a possible scandal, George calmed him down, saying, "I don't know if that will ever happen."
Fiers said he continued to keep his distance from North, but was sometimes overruled either my George or Casey.