WASHINGTON, July 12: Robert Earl, who destroyed national security documents during the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal, is working as chief of staff to acting Deputy Defence Secretary Gordon England, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Earl destroyed and stole national security documents while working for Lt. Col. Oliver North during a secret arms deal with Iran in which the United States passed money from those weapons sales to Contra guerillas in Nicaragua, according to a report to Congress by independent counsel Lawrence Walsh.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman confirmed Earl was a senior England aide, a fact first reported in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday. He added, “I wonder why it’s an issue now.”

“It was a long time ago,” Whitman said. “He has served ably for many years in the department and in industry.”

Earl was granted immunity for his testimony in the Iran-Contra scandal and was never prosecuted.

But congressional watchdog groups raised questions about the administration’s decision to give such a senior job to a person with a record of tampering with the very kinds of classified national security documents he will now oversee.—Reuters