Iran-Contra Probe Is ‘Virtually Done’ : Investigation: After six years, independent counsel Walsh says some ‘cleanup work’ remains. He doesn’t rule out the possibility of more indictments.

WASHINGTON — Independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, having decided not to seek the indictment of former President Ronald Reagan and former White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal, said Wednesday that his investigation was “virtually done.”

While “some cleanup work” remains, it should be finished in about a week to 10 days, Walsh said in an interview, bringing the six-year-old probe to a close.

Walsh declined to rule out the possibility of any future indictments, noting that a few interviews remain. He likened this stage of the probe to “a supersaturated solution” in which “adding one more crystal brings it to a head.”

But his remarks in the hourlong interview indicated that future indictments are improbable, particularly because he seems intent on keeping his commitment to Congress to complete the investigation by the end of summer.

With the investigation over, the big question becomes what his final report will say about the public officials who had roles in the Iran-Contra matter but were never indicted.

Walsh’s report is expected to reach conclusions about the involvement of Reagan, his chief Cabinet officers, White House and National Security Council aides and CIA officials in the worst scandal to enmesh the Reagan Administration. The scandal involved the secret sale of arms to Iran in exchange for hostages and a diversion of some of the funds to the Nicaraguan Contra cause.

Special prosecutor reports serve as records of how they viewed their cases and often lay the groundwork for remedial legislation.

Walsh said he intends to resume work on the report immediately after the investigation ends but has not decided whether it will be issued before all trials are finished. A delay would assure that the report would not come before the November election.

In addition to Reagan and Regan, who were investigated as part of the cover-up phase of Walsh’s inquiry, the roles of former Secretary of State George P. Shultz and ex-Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III also had been under examination.

The focus on Meese involved his statements during a Nov. 24, 1986, White House meeting, which Walsh’s investigators suggested might be evidence of a systematic cover-up of the dealings with Iran.

Reagan, then-Vice President George Bush, Shultz and then- Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger all participated in that meeting. Weinberger was indicted last June on charges of perjury, obstruction and false statements, although he strongly opposed the arms-for-hostages deal.

According to the Weinberger indictment, Meese said during the meeting that a November, 1985, shipment of Hawk missiles by Israel to Iran, an element of the arms-for-hostages arrangement, might have been illegal.

Meese said, however, that Reagan had not been aware at the time of the shipment and, as the meeting ended, asked whether anyone knew anything else that had not been disclosed.

“No one contradicted Mr. Meese’s incorrect statement concerning President Reagan’s lack of knowledge, although several of those present . . . had contrary information,” the Weinberger indictment said.

Walsh gave no reason for declining to proceed against any of those under scrutiny, but a source familiar with the case said the decision reflected his belief that he had insufficient evidence for a conviction.

The close-out of the investigation leaves Walsh’s office with three trials and an appeal of a reversed conviction to complete.

These include the trial of Weinberger, now set for Jan. 5, that of former CIA official Duane (Dewey) Clarridge on seven counts of perjury and false statements about a secret shipment of U.S. Hawk missiles to Iran, and the retrial of Clair E. George, former CIA deputy chief for operations. George’s trial on nine counts of perjury, false statements and obstruction in congressional and grand jury probes of the Iran-Contra affair ended with a hung jury Aug. 26, and the retrial is set for Oct. 19. Craig A. Gillen, the chief prosecutor in that case, is expected to consider bringing a scaled-down, simpler set of charges against George.

In addition, Walsh has said he will ask the Supreme Court to review the 1991 decision of a federal appellate court that reversed the conviction on five felony counts of Reagan’s former national security adviser, John M. Poindexter. Poindexter, who had been convicted of conspiracy, false statements and obstruction of Congress, had been sentenced to six months in prison.

In a related matter, Walsh said that he and his prosecutors gave no consideration to the political consequences of disclosing information last month that raises questions about what Bush knew about the secret arms-for-hostages deal and when he knew it.

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton has repeatedly raised the issue of Bush’s knowledge about Iran-Contra in recent speeches.