Reagan Administration Law-Breaking: Who And How?

Ronald Reagan's presidency was marred by numerous scandals, with over 138 administration officials investigated, indicted, or convicted—the largest number for any US president. The most well-known scandal was the Iran-Contra affair, which came to light in 1986. Reagan revealed that the US had sold weapons to Iran to secure the release of US hostages in Lebanon. It was also disclosed that funds from the arms deal were illegally funnelled to aid right-wing Contras seeking to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. The scandal led to investigations and convictions of several Reagan administration officials, including National Security Advisors Robert McFarlane and John Poindexter, and National Security Council aide Colonel Oliver North. Reagan's administration was also marked by the HUD rigging scandal, the Wedtech scandal, and Operation Ill Wind, which involved corruption and bribery by government and military officials, and private defence contractors.

Selling weapons to Iran

The Iran-Contra Affair, also known as the Iran-Contra Scandal or Irangate, was a political scandal that centred around arms trafficking to Iran, facilitated by senior officials of the Reagan administration. It was the most well-known and politically damaging of the scandals during Reagan's presidency, resulting in the investigation, indictment, or conviction of over 138 administration officials.

The scandal involved the US selling weapons to Iran, which was subject to an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for help in freeing US hostages in Lebanon. The administration's justification for the arms shipments was that they were part of an attempt to free US hostages being held in Lebanon by Hezbollah, an Islamist paramilitary group with Iranian ties. The idea to exchange arms for hostages was proposed by Manucher Ghorbanifar, an expatriate Iranian arms dealer.

The Reagan administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras, an anti-Sandinista rebel group in Nicaragua. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by legislative appropriations was prohibited by Congress, but the Reagan administration figured out a loophole by secretly using non-appropriated funds instead. The Boland Amendment barred the CIA and any other government agency "involved in intelligence activities" from using federal funds to support "military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua".

The first arms sales to Iran began in 1981, though the official paper trail has them beginning in 1985. On 20 August 1985, Israel sent 96 US-made TOW missiles to Iran through Ghorbanifar. Subsequently, on 14 September 1985, 408 more TOW missiles were delivered. On 15 September 1985, following the second delivery, Reverend Benjamin Weir, a Presbyterian missionary, was released by his captors, the Islamic Jihad Organization. On 24 November 1985, 18 Hawk antiaircraft missiles were delivered.

In total, by the end of October 1986, Iran had received more than 2,000 TOW anti-tank missiles as well as spare parts for Hawk antiaircraft missiles. The results of these arms shipments were disappointing. Hezbollah released three US hostages but seized three more. At the end of 1986, seven Americans remained in captivity.

The scandal was compounded when Oliver North, a military aide to the US National Security Council (NSC), destroyed or hid pertinent documents between 21 November and 25 November 1986. During North's trial in 1989, his secretary, Fawn Hall, testified extensively about helping North alter and shred official US National Security Council (NSC) documents from the White House.

On 25 November 1986, Attorney General Edwin Meese admitted that profits from weapons sales to Iran were made available to assist the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. On the same day, John Poindexter, Reagan's national security advisor, resigned, and Reagan fired Oliver North.

Several investigations followed, including one by the Tower Commission, a panel appointed by Reagan, and another by Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh, who secured a dozen indictments and eight convictions or guilty pleas on charges including obstruction of justice, perjury, and withholding of evidence.

The Iran-Contra Affair threatened to bring down the presidency of Ronald Reagan and added to public mistrust of the presidency. It also raised troubling questions about the accountability of presidential power and the means the Reagan administration used to achieve its desired ends.

Funding the Contras

The Reagan administration's funding of the Contras was part of a broader scandal known as the Iran-Contra Affair, which was the most serious scandal of the Reagan presidency. The Contras were a counter-revolutionary group that fought against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

In December 1981, Reagan authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to provide covert training and assistance to the Contras, who were waging a guerrilla war against the Sandinista government and its supporters. This aid was supposed to be secret, but it was soon exposed by newspaper and magazine articles, which also revealed that the Contras' goal was to topple the Sandinista government.

In response to the revelations, Congress passed the Boland Amendment in December 1982, prohibiting the use of U.S. funds "for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Nicaragua." Despite this, Reagan was determined to continue supporting the Contras and kept the initiative alive through various funding sources. These included contributions solicited from other countries, donations from private citizens, and profits from arms sales to Iran.

The Iran-Contra scandal broke in late 1986 when a plane carrying weapons to the Contras crashed in Nicaragua, and a crew member, Eugene Hasenfus, revealed details of U.S. involvement. This was followed by reports in the Lebanese press about U.S. weapons sales to Iran, which were also part of the scandal. The scandal led to multiple investigations and indictments of several Reagan administration officials, including National Security Advisors Robert McFarlane and John Poindexter, and National Security Council aide Colonel Oliver North.

Bribes and corruption in the Navy

The Reagan administration was marred by numerous scandals, resulting in the investigation, indictment, or conviction of over 138 administration officials—the largest number for any US president. One of the most prominent scandals was the Iran-Contra affair, which involved the US selling weapons to Iran and using the proceeds to aid the Contras, a right-wing counter-revolutionary group in Nicaragua. This scandal led to the indictment and conviction of several Reagan administration officials, including National Security Advisors Robert McFarlane and John Poindexter, and National Security Council aide Oliver North.

Another notable scandal during the Reagan era was the Operation Ill Wind investigation, which exposed corruption among US government and military officials, as well as private defence contractors. One of the key figures implicated in this scandal was Melvyn Paisley, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who was found to have accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. Paisley pleaded guilty to bribery and served four years in prison. When Paisley resigned, James E. Gaines, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, took over. Gaines was subsequently convicted of accepting an illegal gratuity and theft of government property, for which he served six months in prison.

The Reagan administration was also marked by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rigging scandal, in which Secretary Samuel Pierce and his associates rigged low-income housing bids to favour Republican contributors to Reagan's campaign. This scandal resulted in sixteen convictions, including those of James Watt, Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, and Thomas Demery, an Assistant HUD Secretary.

Overall, the Reagan presidency was characterised by a commitment to deregulation, aggressive military spending, and diminished oversight, which created an appearance of corruption and resulted in numerous ethical and legal breaches by administration officials.

Lobbying scandals

The Reagan administration was marred by numerous scandals, resulting in the investigation, indictment, or conviction of over 138 administration officials—the largest number for any US president. One of the most prominent scandals was the Iran-Contra affair, which involved the US selling weapons to Iran to secure the release of US hostages and diverting the proceeds from the arms deal to fund right-wing counter-revolutionary groups in Nicaragua. This scandal led to the indictment and conviction of several Reagan administration officials, including National Security Advisors Robert McFarlane and John Poindexter, as well as National Security Council aide Oliver North.

Another notable scandal was the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant rigging, where Secretary Samuel Pierce and his associates rigged low-income housing bids to favour Republican contributors to Reagan's campaign and reward Republican lobbyists. This scandal resulted in multiple convictions, including James Watt, Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, who was indicted on 24 felony counts and pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanour.

Additionally, the Reagan administration was plagued by scandals within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Over twenty high-level EPA employees were removed from office during Reagan's first three years as president, and several Agency officials resigned amid various charges, including being unduly influenced by industry groups and rewarding or punishing employees based on their political beliefs. The most prominent EPA scandal, known as "Sewergate," involved the targeted release of Superfund grants to enhance the election prospects of local Republican officials. Rita Lavelle, an EPA administrator, was convicted of perjury and served three months in prison for her role in the scandal.

The Wedtech scandal also involved bribery and corruption in the awarding of Defence Department contracts, leading to the conviction of Wedtech Corporation. Reagan's Attorney General, Edwin Meese, resigned amid this scandal but was never convicted.

Housing and Urban Development grant rigging

The Reagan administration was marred by numerous scandals, resulting in the investigation, indictment, or conviction of over 138 administration officials—the largest number for any president in US history. One of these scandals was the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant-rigging scandal.

The HUD rigging scandal involved Secretary Samuel Pierce and his associates rigging low-income housing bids to favour Republican contributors to Reagan's campaign and rewarding Republican lobbyists. Sixteen convictions were handed down, including:

• James Watt, Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, was indicted on 24 felony counts and pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanour. He was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
• Phillip D. Winn, Assistant HUD Secretary, pleaded guilty to one count of scheming to give illegal gratuities. He was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in November 2000.
• Thomas Demery, Assistant HUD Secretary, pleaded guilty to steering HUD subsidies to politically connected donors. He was found guilty of bribery and obstruction of justice.
• Deborah Gore Dean, executive assistant to Secretary Pierce, was indicted on thirteen counts, including conspiracy, accepting an illegal gratuity, perjury, and concealing articles. She was convicted on twelve counts, and the convictions for conspiracy remained after a successful appeal on several other counts.
• Joseph A. Strauss, Special Assistant to the Secretary of HUD, was convicted of accepting payments to favour Puerto Rican land developers in receiving HUD funding.
• Silvio D. DeBartolomeis was convicted of perjury and bribery.

Despite being the "central person" in the scandal, Secretary Pierce was not charged because he made a "full and public written acceptance of responsibility".

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