Word: contras
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...President's chief of staff attended two meetings of the National Security - Council, in December 1985 and January 1986, at which the proposed Iran initiative was discussed. But, while aware of the Iran operation, Regan had no suspicions of any contra connection, he told aides, until Friday, Nov. 21, when Attorney General Edwin Meese revealed the preliminary results of his inquiry. According to the Los Angeles Times, however, Lieut. Colonel Oliver North has told several people that he briefed Regan about the diversion of funds to the contras in January and kept him regularly informed afterward. Regan vehemently denied...
...weapons sales. Casey reportedly told congressional investigators that his agency had set up a Swiss bank account to receive Iranian payments, but insisted he had no knowledge of where the money was going. Meese asserted at last week's press conference that Casey had no prior knowledge of the contra connection. But according to the Washington Post, Casey (known as one of the Administration's strongest backers of the contras) does acknowledge that he was aware of "gossip" about the secret funneling of money to the rebels. A Senate intelligence...
...however, he insisted on access to all intelligence relating to the operation. Weinberger continued to complain privately about the initiative, but -- unlike Secretary of State George Shultz -- never made his objections public. Like most other members of Reagan's staff, Weinberger claims he did not find out about the contra connection until it was uncovered by Meese's investigation. Aides say that Weinberger had long suspected the contras had a secret source of funds, but since the matter was outside his jurisdiction he did not pursue it. Says a Pentagon official: "Of course, he didn't believe the contra funding...
...sure, were the other matters that Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese went on to disclose. America's secret sale of arms to Iran, distressing enough to begin with, had turned into an outright scandal: much of the money Iran paid for the weapons had been diverted to the contras in Nicaragua. There was every indication that laws had been broken. Heads were starting to roll: Reagan had accepted the resignation of National Security Adviser John Poindexter, the fourth departure from that critical post ( in six years, and fired Marine Lieut. Colonel Oliver North, Poindexter's subordinate in the National...
That had been a strong possibility even before last week's bombshells about the contra cash diversion. The sale of arms to Iran had hit a raw nerve in a public still nursing bitter memories of the violent anti-Americanism displayed during the hostage crisis of 1979-81, and the Administration's early explanations of the rationale and methodology of the shipments convinced hardly anyone. Briefings of the Senate and House intelligence committees by Poindexter, CIA Director William Casey and other officials on Friday, Nov. 21, failed to dispel congressional feelings that the full story had still not come...