secord. col. north: i do not know the substance of his testimony. >> is it fair to say it was or someone else to have the responsibility to decide what was fair and just compensation? col. north: yes. >> did mr. secord or mr. hakim sit down with you to give you accounting of their profits? col. north: no. >> did they ever sit down with contra leaders over their activities? col. north: i do not know. >> what you are telling us, if there was no financial oversight by the u.s. government -- col. north: i have given the records i maintained, those that remain, anyway. au also have from my files number of the messages which refer in gross terms to funds remaining in various overseas entities. that is about the level i had specific knowledge on. i did not do any accounting, i do not hire an accounting firm to do it. i am not trying to be lighthearted about it. it was simply a matter of, things were moving quickly. and that kind of accounting was not done. obviously, you are a busy man, relying on t

secord investedveals they each sums. did inform you that they invested $150,000 in time american arms? north: i do not think i heard about it until the same started. sen. trible: so the answer is no? north: no. sen. trible: feels a testified that another $100,000 of residuals were invested in washington timberland from which theyexpected to make millions -- his words -- in the residuals were used as collateral for the purchase price of $1.5 million. digital about that? -- did you know about that? north: no. sen. trible: is that a use of appropriate funds in this judgment? north: i was unaware of these transactions. sen. trible: i understand and i am not citizen you about it. the record establishes that is how the money was used. anm asking you if it is appropriate use of those funds? north: you're asking me to make judgments on transactions, the sort of which i have no knowledge. i do not think it be fair to me to characterize anybody's decisions based onlack of that kind of knowledge. what i am saying, and i will repeat

because north -- first, secord testifies. a lot of people are favorably impressed with him. he sits up right. he says i'm proud of what i did. i'm a businessman and patriot. i don't think i did anything wrong. i was told to do what i did by high officials, i did what the president wanted to do. and a lot of people, even if they did not like what secord did, come away with a somewhat favorable impression of him. then, north testifies. it's off to the races. it's a huge media spectacle. north becomes to a lot of people, certainly not everybody, but to a lot of people, this folk hero. in his uniform, off with the business suit, on with the uniform. took it out of the closet. he's got medals. highly decorated for bravery in service in combat in the vietnam war and, you know, in an atmosphere, in the 1980's, when people are hungry for a kind of old-fashioned patriotism and a belief in the goodness of the american military is resurgent. north seems to embodied this, and he puts on this very impressive performance. the members of the committee are not so impressed with him, because

. >> do you recall that you told him that admiral poindexter knew, that richard secord new comment that mr. mcfarland knew? lt. col. north: that sounds right. >> the recall that you did not tell the attorney general of the united states that director casey knew? lt. col. north: i don't recall that i didn't. >> was a part of the plan at that stage that you would not name rector casey? lt. col. north: it had always been part of the plan that director casey would know nothing about the support of the plan for the nicaraguan resistance. >> who else was a part of the plan who would not know anything about that support to the nicaraguan resistance? lt. col. north: other cabinet officers who had to testify and appear -- things like that. it was a very closed circle of people who knew. >> which other cabinet officers ? lt. col. north: people who didn't know. i told you who i thought new -- knew, and you have seen who i've set memoranda to. you know the record of medication i have had with officials. i do not know who else knows. i told you that. >> you testified a moment ago unless you -- we wi