Boren Calls Gates’ Testimony on Iran-Contra Satisfactory

WASHINGTON — Senate Intelligence Committee chairman David L. Boren (D-Okla.) said Sunday that Robert M. Gates has given satisfactory explanations about his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.

It’s “a little early to tell” whether Gates will be confirmed as CIA director, but he has “made a very positive impression,” Boren said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Gates said “that he learned . . . some important lessons” from the scandal “about being more candid with Congress, digging more deeply into suspicious information that might come his way,” said Boren, adding that he wants to see Gates’ confirmation hearings “focus on the future.”

“The next director of the CIA is going to preside over the most sweeping changes in the history of the intelligence community” with the breakup of the Soviet empire, he said.

Gates’ confirmation hearings before the Intelligence Committee began a week ago and continue Tuesday.

“I have my doubts about some of his past conduct,” said Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), appearing on the same program.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt at all that he looked the other way when hints of Iran-Contra came up,” Hamilton said. If Hamilton were in the Senate, “I would vote ‘yes’ to confirm” Gates “and then I would follow up with the most rigorous oversight. I would have him before the Intelligence Committee every week explaining to me what he has done and what he plans to do.”