Hearing Set on Independent Counsel Law
WASHINGTON — A federal judge Wednesday scheduled a public hearing next Wednesday on Lt. Col. Oliver L. North’s challenge to independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh’s authority to investigate the Iran- contra affair.
The issue is the central aspect of North’s otherwise secret court battle resisting a grand jury subpoena for a sample of his handwriting.
North had been held in contempt of court for refusing to provide the sample, but the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals here overturned the citation and ordered U.S. District Judge Aubrey E. Robinson Jr. to consider the broader question North raised.
The former National Security Council official contends that the independent counsel statute is unconstitutional and that Walsh thus lacks authority to investigate the Iran-contra affair.
North’s lawyers also argued that Walsh’s appointment March 5 by Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III was invalid. Meese promulgated special regulations to appoint Walsh an independent counsel in the Justice Department to blunt an earlier legal challenge by North.
Robinson directed Walsh to file a brief explaining why the backup appointment was valid.
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