doc_text: In addition, a subpoena was authorized for Clair George, the CIA's former deputy director for operations, but no decision is expected to be made on immunity for him until Iran-Contra independent counsel Lawrence Walsh has completed whatever case he is making against Mr. George, who was Mr. Fiers's superior.
  The decision to postpone the hearings, now scheduled to begin Sept. 16, follows behind-the-scenes discussions between committee leaders and the Bush administration, which last night concurred with the decision.
  "A start-and-stop hearing and confirmation process dragging out over a number of weeks would not be fair to Mr. Gates," said White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater.
  The statement reflects a calculated retreat after demands by President Bush for quick action, and administration officials said the committee spurned a White House request to free Mr. Gates to speak out publicly to defend himself against any future charges that might arise during a break in the hearings.
  Traditionally, congressional committees require nominees to maintain a public silence outside the committee room on issues pertaining to their confirmation until the process is complete.
  Mr. Gates met privately late Monday with Sen. Boren, an Oklahoma Democrat, and Sen. Frank Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking Republican on the panel.
  As a practical matter, the White House needs time itself to regroup and prepare its case for the nomination.
  Mr. Fiers's recent guilty pleas have provoked renewed interest in the role played by CIA officials -- including Mr. Gates -- in the sales of arms to Iran and the use of profits to supply Nicaraguan guerrillas.
  Mr. Gates served then as deputy to William Casey, the late CIA director and a central figure in the scandal.
  Mr. Fiers's court statements indicate that people in the agency's operations division had knowledge as well of both the diversion of funds and supply operation.
  Mr. George is among those implicated in Mr. Fiers's pleadings, and a central issue is whether Mr. Gates failed as deputy director to oversee what was happening in the agency.
  Mr. Gates has repeatedly denied knowledge of the diversion, but evidence collected by House and Senate IranContra Committees in 1987 indicates that he received early warnings from those under him in the summer and fall of 1986.
  As significant, there is interest in a White House staff memo describing the agenda for a May 1986 meeting between the then-national security adviser, Adm. John Poindexter, and Messrs. Casey and Gates regarding a proposal for the CIA to lease a ship controlled by the secret arms-supply network.
  The vessel, a small coastal freighter, had been purchased for $312,000 in April with funds generated partly by the sale of arms to Iran.
  Adm. Poindexter's aide, Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, was seeking to lease it to the CIA for $1.2 million for six months.
  The memo makes clear that the freighter -- dubbed "Ollie's ship" -- was already known to CIA officials and Mr. Casey was coming to the meeting with Mr. Gates with a briefing paper prepared by the CIA on the proposed lease.
  Though there is no evidence Mr. Gates knew then of how the ship was financed, the prospect of such a large asset's being put forward by Col. North's network indicated the size of the operation being run from the White House.
  Among those opposing the proposed lease arrangement -- which was ultimately squelched -- was Mr. George, who served under Mr. Gates but often reported directly to Mr. Casey.
  The former operations director deeply distrusted some of the private operatives used in Col. North's network, and his own testimony to Iran-Contra investigators is revealing of the tension facing CIA officials at the time.
  At one level, officers sought to shield themselves from knowledge of the operation, but at the same time there was professional concern that the administration was relying on people who had been associated with the renegade former CIA agent, Edwin Wilson.
  Apart from Mr. George, the committee also authorized a subpoena for the testimony of a senior CIA official identified by Mr. Boren as Jerry Gruner.
  Mr. Gruner, currently serving overseas, is one of two CIA officials, as well as Mr. George, cited in a government statement describing those who Mr. Fiers said knew about the diversion before it became public.
  The statement, issued in connection with Mr. Fiers's guilty plea, doesn't specifically name Mr. Gruner and describes him only as Mr. Fiers's superior and chief of the CIA's Latin American division.
  The statement says Mr. Fiers told the CIA superior about the diversion in the summer of 1986 and the official instructed him to report the information to Mr. George.
  William Hundley, a Washington lawyer who represents Mr. Gruner, disputed the government's account and said his client didn't learn of the diversion from Mr. Fiers until "the whole matter started to unravel" in the fall of 1986.
  Mr. Hundley said that if Mr. Gruner were subpoenaed by the Intelligence Committee, "I would ask the committee to defer until his status with the independent counsel is a little clearer."
  --- Edward T. Pound and Walter S. Mossberg contributed to this article.
summary_text: Senate hearings on the nomination of Robert Gates to be Director CIA were postponed until September.
  In the interim former CIA officials will be questioned regarding Iran-Contra.
  Bush concurs, saying a start-and-stop confirmation process would be unfair to Gates.
  At issue is whether Gates failed as deputy director to oversee what was happening at CIA.
  Gates denies Iran-Contra knowledge but records show in May 1986 he attended a meeting with CIA Director Casey and Admiral Poindexter regarding a proposal by Col. Oliver North for CIA to lease a ship later known to be controlled by the secret Iran-Contra arms-supply network.
  The proposal was rejected.