End of The Affair?

IS THE IRAN-CONTRA investigation finally drawing to a close? Midweek, a source close to independent counsel Lawrence Walsh leaked word that the Oklahoma lawyer intends to halt the probe and deliver a final report to Congress. A day later, however, Walsh spokesman Mary Belcher denied the report. "Where we are is exactly as Judge Walsh described on Dec. 24," she said. "We are continuing to obtain and review the Bush notes. No decisions have been made one way or the other regarding further action because we aren't done yet."

On Christmas Eve, Walsh charged Bush with "misconduct." Specifically, Walsh demanded to know why the President withheld until last month a 1986 personal diary that might be relevant to the inquiry. Those angry words followed Bush's pardon of six Iran-contra defendants, a move that set off a noisy debate. Were the pardons a show of compassion and personal courage -- or an act of expediency and political perfidy? Most critics seemed less annoyed by the pardons than by Bush's cavalier dismissal of the defendants' actual or alleged crimes as mere "policy differences." Last week the President clarified his position. "Nobody," he said, "is above the law." In a signal that he took Walsh's warning seriously, Bush retained former Attorney General Griffin Bell to represent him.