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
§ 1985 - group of Israelis had approached National Security Advisor Robert Mac. Farlane 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 (Mac. Farlane testified) Reagan agree to it
§ July 1985 - 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 1986 - 1000 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
§ 1986 - word got out about secret transactions § Lebanese magazine published a series of articles that exposed the weapons for hostages deal
§ November 18, 1987 - 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
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