Iran-Contra

 November 1986  Confirmed reports the United States secretly sold arms to Iran  Portion of the proceeds from the arms sale had been diverted to finance the Contras

Who were the Contras?  “freedom fighters” who were working to overthrow the democratically elected Sandinista government of Nicaragua

 Congress had explicitly prohibited aid to the Contras  Secret diversion of the secret arms profits was illegal and unconstitutional

 group of Israelis had approached National Security Advisor Robert MacFarlane with a scheme in which Iran would use its influence to free the U.S. hostages in Lebanon in exchange for arms

 Secretary of State George Schultz and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger objected to the plan but (MacFarlane testified) Reagan agree to it

 July U.S. would send 508 American made TOW anti-tank missiles from Israel to Iran for the safe exchange of a hostage- Reverend Benjamin Weir

 After that successful transfer- Israelis offered to ship 500 HAWK surface to air missiles to Iran in Nov 1985, in exchange for the release of all remaining American hostages being held in Lebanon

 Eventually the arms were sold with proceeds going to the Contras, and the hostages were released

 February TOW missiles were shipped to Iran. From May to Nov there were more shipments of various weapons and parts

 Hezbollah terrorists who had kidnapped the original hostages planned to kidnap more hostages following the release of the previous ones- which made any further dealings with Iran meaningless

 Oliver (Ollie) North (U.S. Marine Lt. Col) proposed the plan to funnel arms money to the Contras

 word got out about secret transactions  Lebanese magazine published a series of articles that exposed the weapons for hostages deal

 November 18, Congress issued a report on the affair that stated the president bore “ultimate responsibility.”

 Hearings about the scandal were televised from May to August 1987  Found that National Security Advisor Poindexter had personally authorized the diversion of money to the Contra rebels

 Poindexter was withholding information from President Reagan  CIA’s William J. Casey played a part in conspiracy, but he died during hearings

 North had been a military aide to the National Security Council- he had been the main negotiator  During his hearings he repeatedly explained he was “under orders from his superiors”

 In the end- President was not charged with any offense  North was convicted on 3 of 12 criminal counts, but convictions were set aside on appeal

 Convicted of obstructing Congress, unlawfully destroying government documents  Conviction was expunged on grounds he had acted strictly out of patriotism

 Poindexter convicted in April 1990 on five counts of deceiving Congress and sentenced to six months in prison  Weinberger convicted of five counts of deceiving Congress  Convictions overturned

 All were pardoned by George H. W. Bush- Christmas Eve 1992