Presidential Present

GEORGE BUSH HAS BEEN BUSY LATELY TIDYING UP his presidency for the history books. But his decision to grant pardons to six Iran-contra defendants may have the opposite effect. If anything, Bush's Christmas Eve gift is likely to make historians more curious than ever about his own role in the scandal -- especially in view of independent counsel Lawrence Walsh's charge that the President has withheld "highly relevant" Iran-contra notes.

The most prominent of those pardoned was former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who was awaiting trial in January. The President also absolved former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, former Assistant Secretary of State Elliot Abrams and three ex-CIA officials: Duane Clarridge, Alan Fiers and Clair George. Conspicuously absent from Bush's list were other Iran-contra defendants, including Richard Secord, deemed by the President to have gained financially from the affair.

Walsh, whose six-year Iran-contra investigation has cost more than $32 million, and who is still working on a final report to Congress, was asked if the pardons meant that government officials are above the law. "That," replied the prosecutor, "depends on the President you work for."