October Surprise

WHEN Gary Sick was on President Jimmy Carter's National Security Council, I worked closely with him on the negotiations for the return of our hostages in Tehran from late 1980 to January 1981.I admire Sick and agree with him that Congress should fully investigate the alleged efforts of the Reagan-Bush campaign team to delay the hostages' release until after the 1980 presidential election.But on the present evidence, much of it detailed in Sick's recent article (Other Voices, April 17), I am skeptical about whether a deal was made, or, if one was, whether it had any effect on the timing of the hostages' release.

WHEN WHITE HOUSE press secretary Marlin Fitzwater was JTC asked to comment the other day on the call in Congress for an investigation into allegations that the 1980 Reagan-Bush campaign had made a deal with Iran to withhold release of American hostages until after the presidential election, he dismissed the notion flippantly."