The Iran-Contra Affair

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“Irangate” or the Iran-Contra Affair was a secret US arms deal that traded missiles and other arms to free American hostages held by terrorists in Lebanon. However, also the funds were used to support the contras in their civil war against the Sandinista communist government. This controversial deal, with the following political scandal, threatened the viability of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The possibility that Reagan would be impeached, like Nixon, was likely.
The political climate of the early 1980’s complicated the president's agenda, which was made worse by Reagan’s promise to assist anti-communist insurgencies around the world, later being named the Reagan Doctrine. This lead to the passage of the Boland Amendment, which restricted …show more content…
In 1985, McFarlane sought to bring the hostages home. He told Reagan how Iran had approached the US about purchasing weapons for its war against neighboring Iraq, but there was a US trade embargo with Iran at the time. This lead to the taking of 52 American hostages by Iran-backed terrorist that were held for 444 days in a diplomatic standoff, or better known as the Iran hostage crisis. Although several members of Reagan’s administration opposed the deal, McFarlane argued that the arms deal would secure the release of the hostages and help improve relations with Lebanon. The arms deal would also help secure funds that the CIA would secretly funnel to the contras in Nicaragua. The deal netted $30 million, selling over 1,500 American made missiles. After the deal, three of the seven hostages were released, although the terrorist group would later take 3 more American hostages. Reagan, at first, denied that he negotiated with terrorist only to take the statement back a week later. Attorney General Edwin Meese began investigating the weapons deal and found that $18 million was unaccounted for. This is when Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North came forward and admitted that he had sent the funds that were missing to the Contras in Nicaragua. He said when he sent the $18 million to the Contras, and assumed that Reagan was fully aware of it. The American press would not leave the president …show more content…
Fourteen people were charged, including North, Poindexter, and McFarlane. Reagan was never formally charged. Robert McFarlane was convicted of four counts of withholding information from Congress, which is only a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to two years of probation and over $20,000 in fines. North was charged with 12 counts of conspiracy and making false statements. Even though he was convicted in his initial trial, the case was dismissed on appeal due to a technicality . This technicality was due to the problems of bring to trial an official who had previously been forced to testify before Congress. Additionally the evidence used to convict him had been tainted by the testimony he had given to Congress on the promise that it would not be used against him in an open court of law. North would later go on to be a conservative author, TV host, and the head of the NRA. Poindexter was initially tried on seven felonies, but was ultimately charged for five. He was found guilty on four of the charges and was sentenced to two years in prison, although his charges were later dropped due to Congress granting immunity to Mr. Poindexter. In addition to the three main figures involved in the scandal, four CIA officers and five government contractors were also prosecuted and found guilty of charges ranging from perjury to fraud. Although all were found guilty, only
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