1 00:00:16,271 --> 00:00:31,511 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Oliver North had no formal training in covert operations. 2 00:00:32,351 --> 00:00:36,391 Speaker 1: He had never seriously studied diplomacy either, or international relations 3 00:00:36,511 --> 00:00:40,431 Speaker 1: or political science. He was a soldier. So when he 4 00:00:40,431 --> 00:00:44,231 Speaker 1: found himself in charge of two top secret foreign policy programs, 5 00:00:44,591 --> 00:00:47,711 Speaker 1: one in Nicaragua, the other in Iran, he kind of 6 00:00:47,711 --> 00:00:51,870 Speaker 1: had to make it up as he went along. In Nicaragua, 7 00:00:52,271 --> 00:00:55,231 Speaker 1: North was counting on Contra rebel leaders to allocate the 8 00:00:55,271 --> 00:00:58,791 Speaker 1: millions of dollars he was raising on their behalf. Remember, 9 00:00:58,831 --> 00:01:01,791 Speaker 1: the CIA had been forced by Congress to stop helping 10 00:01:01,791 --> 00:01:05,711 Speaker 1: the Contras. Now in their absence, it seemed like a 11 00:01:05,711 --> 00:01:10,111 Speaker 1: lot of money was being wasted or worse stolen. 12 00:01:10,351 --> 00:01:14,351 Speaker 2: The problem was the Contress didn't know how to run 13 00:01:14,551 --> 00:01:17,751 Speaker 2: their war. They were very bad managers. 14 00:01:17,951 --> 00:01:21,311 Speaker 1: This is journalist Doyle McManus. You've heard from him before. 15 00:01:22,071 --> 00:01:24,471 Speaker 1: He covered the Contra war for the Los Angeles Times 16 00:01:24,711 --> 00:01:28,591 Speaker 1: and co authored a book about the Reagan administration called Landslide. 17 00:01:28,671 --> 00:01:32,591 Speaker 2: The weapons were piling up in warehouses in Miami. The 18 00:01:32,671 --> 00:01:37,191 Speaker 2: Contress had no reliable way to ship them to the battlefield, 19 00:01:37,431 --> 00:01:40,871 Speaker 2: and there were persistent reports that there was corruption going on, 20 00:01:40,991 --> 00:01:44,631 Speaker 2: that the Contras were either taking kickbacks from arms, merchants 21 00:01:44,751 --> 00:01:47,071 Speaker 2: or just skimming money off the top. 22 00:01:48,391 --> 00:01:52,191 Speaker 1: Oliver North and his superiors needed more control in Nicaragua, 23 00:01:52,431 --> 00:01:54,631 Speaker 1: and they no longer wanted to rely on people they 24 00:01:54,671 --> 00:01:57,871 Speaker 1: couldn't trust, so they enlisted the help of someone they 25 00:01:57,871 --> 00:02:00,951 Speaker 1: could count on and who had the experience that North lacked. 26 00:02:02,111 --> 00:02:03,831 Speaker 1: His name was Richard Seacord. 27 00:02:04,551 --> 00:02:09,471 Speaker 2: Richard Seacord had precisely the expertise that Ali North and 28 00:02:09,550 --> 00:02:13,591 Speaker 2: the Contra needed. He knew how to move equipment from 29 00:02:13,591 --> 00:02:16,991 Speaker 2: one country to another in airplanes secretly. 30 00:02:17,871 --> 00:02:21,391 Speaker 1: Richard Seacord was a retired Air Force general. He was 31 00:02:21,431 --> 00:02:25,191 Speaker 1: known for his extensive experience with covert operations and as 32 00:02:25,231 --> 00:02:27,710 Speaker 1: a strong believer in giving the president broad powers to 33 00:02:27,791 --> 00:02:31,591 Speaker 1: undertake them. For his master's thesis at the Naval War College, 34 00:02:32,191 --> 00:02:35,231 Speaker 1: Seacord wrote that when it came to covert ops, quote, 35 00:02:35,631 --> 00:02:40,270 Speaker 1: bureaucratic obstacles should be dismissed out of hand. After carrying 36 00:02:40,311 --> 00:02:44,151 Speaker 1: out secret missions in Vietnam and Laos, Seacords served in 37 00:02:44,151 --> 00:02:48,551 Speaker 1: the Department of Defense. Then in nineteen eighty three he 38 00:02:48,671 --> 00:02:51,351 Speaker 1: was forced to retire from government service under a cloud 39 00:02:51,391 --> 00:02:54,431 Speaker 1: of scandal when one of his associates was convicted of 40 00:02:54,431 --> 00:02:57,991 Speaker 1: illegally selling plastic explosives to Muimar Kadafi. 41 00:02:57,911 --> 00:03:00,911 Speaker 3: Of interest to the Grand Jury. Sources say Major General 42 00:03:00,991 --> 00:03:04,671 Speaker 3: Richard Seacord, a deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. 43 00:03:04,551 --> 00:03:08,150 Speaker 1: With his career in Washington cut short. Seacord went into 44 00:03:08,151 --> 00:03:10,711 Speaker 1: the private sector fascination, and while some of his former 45 00:03:10,751 --> 00:03:13,031 Speaker 1: colleagues and government viewed him with suspicion due to the 46 00:03:13,071 --> 00:03:15,871 Speaker 1: Kadafi scandal, there were those who felt he had been 47 00:03:15,951 --> 00:03:18,951 Speaker 1: unfairly tarnished by it. Among them was the director of 48 00:03:18,991 --> 00:03:22,071 Speaker 1: the CIA, who suggested to Oliver North that he brings 49 00:03:22,111 --> 00:03:23,951 Speaker 1: Seacord in to help with the Contra war. 50 00:03:24,631 --> 00:03:28,791 Speaker 4: I was asked if I could help out logistically keeping 51 00:03:29,551 --> 00:03:31,871 Speaker 4: the contras in the field resupplied. 52 00:03:32,391 --> 00:03:36,111 Speaker 1: I interviewed Major General Richard Seacoord in Florida in twenty nineteen. 53 00:03:36,791 --> 00:03:38,151 Speaker 1: He died in twenty twenty four. 54 00:03:39,151 --> 00:03:42,311 Speaker 4: They were next to Despert, you know, they knew that 55 00:03:42,831 --> 00:03:44,951 Speaker 4: I knew Air and so forth, and so that was 56 00:03:44,991 --> 00:03:45,831 Speaker 4: the beginning of it. 57 00:03:46,911 --> 00:03:49,391 Speaker 1: In the summer of nineteen eighty five, about a year 58 00:03:49,431 --> 00:03:52,591 Speaker 1: after Congress forced the CIA to stop funding the contras, 59 00:03:53,151 --> 00:03:55,911 Speaker 1: Seacord and a business partner created a Swiss bank account 60 00:03:55,911 --> 00:03:59,231 Speaker 1: to hold money being donated to the Contra cause. Using 61 00:03:59,231 --> 00:04:02,391 Speaker 1: that money, Sea Court set about building a resupply operation 62 00:04:02,511 --> 00:04:05,911 Speaker 1: for the Contras from scratch. That meant putting together what 63 00:04:05,991 --> 00:04:10,071 Speaker 1: was essentially a mini CIA, or at least a mini airline. 64 00:04:10,151 --> 00:04:12,911 Speaker 1: The operation required Seacord to buy a fleet of small 65 00:04:12,951 --> 00:04:16,510 Speaker 1: planes and organize a network of airstrips near the Nicaraguan border. 66 00:04:17,070 --> 00:04:20,190 Speaker 1: He jokingly called it Air Contra. It wasn't action hero 67 00:04:20,271 --> 00:04:22,551 Speaker 1: type work, but it was exactly the kind of work 68 00:04:22,591 --> 00:04:23,591 Speaker 1: Seacord was good at. 69 00:04:24,151 --> 00:04:28,671 Speaker 4: Logistics are the senews of war military history writers going back. 70 00:04:28,711 --> 00:04:32,751 Speaker 4: I know is far as Napoleon's time, right about that, 71 00:04:33,231 --> 00:04:36,271 Speaker 4: but people tend to forget it because it's not very glamorous. 72 00:04:37,551 --> 00:04:41,551 Speaker 4: The logistics is the chore. It's the long pole in 73 00:04:41,591 --> 00:04:41,951 Speaker 4: that tent. 74 00:04:43,711 --> 00:04:46,510 Speaker 1: A few months after Seacord started working with the Contras, 75 00:04:46,951 --> 00:04:49,231 Speaker 1: Oliver North came to him for help with another matter, 76 00:04:49,951 --> 00:04:52,751 Speaker 1: the White House's secret program to sell arms to Iran. 77 00:04:53,951 --> 00:04:57,431 Speaker 1: As you heard in episode two, Ronald Reagan had approved 78 00:04:57,471 --> 00:04:59,551 Speaker 1: the sale of missiles to Iran as part of an 79 00:04:59,591 --> 00:05:03,991 Speaker 1: effort to free American hostages in Beirut. The administration was 80 00:05:03,991 --> 00:05:07,070 Speaker 1: relying on Israel to serve as a go between, meaning 81 00:05:07,151 --> 00:05:10,351 Speaker 1: Israel would sell American made weapons to Iran and then 82 00:05:10,391 --> 00:05:13,231 Speaker 1: get their stocks replenished by the US Department of Defense. 83 00:05:14,111 --> 00:05:17,991 Speaker 1: But the Israelis were making mistakes. In November of nineteen 84 00:05:18,031 --> 00:05:21,031 Speaker 1: eighty five, a shipment of missiles to Iran had ended 85 00:05:21,031 --> 00:05:24,271 Speaker 1: in disaster after Israel fumbled just about every aspect of 86 00:05:24,271 --> 00:05:27,031 Speaker 1: the delivery. Here's Doyle McManus again. 87 00:05:27,591 --> 00:05:31,111 Speaker 2: The Israeli plane got stuck in Portugal. The Portuguese couldn't 88 00:05:31,151 --> 00:05:33,390 Speaker 2: figure out what this shipment was or why they should 89 00:05:33,511 --> 00:05:36,390 Speaker 2: let it go through. A CIA plane had to be 90 00:05:36,471 --> 00:05:40,111 Speaker 2: called in to take the arms to Iran. And when 91 00:05:40,191 --> 00:05:44,190 Speaker 2: the Iranians opened the shipment, they were very unhappy because 92 00:05:44,231 --> 00:05:48,071 Speaker 2: there weren't as many missiles as they expected. They were 93 00:05:48,071 --> 00:05:50,991 Speaker 2: the wrong model, and some of the missiles even had 94 00:05:51,311 --> 00:05:53,950 Speaker 2: the Israeli Star of David on them, and so the 95 00:05:53,991 --> 00:05:59,311 Speaker 2: Iranians erupted in fury and refused to release any hostages 96 00:05:59,391 --> 00:05:59,791 Speaker 2: at all. 97 00:06:02,671 --> 00:06:06,151 Speaker 1: Oliver North briefed his boss, John Poindexter on what had 98 00:06:06,191 --> 00:06:11,630 Speaker 1: gone wrong. Poindexter was Reagan's new National security advisor. In 99 00:06:11,671 --> 00:06:14,911 Speaker 1: a memo, North acknowledged that the Iran initiative was a mess, 100 00:06:15,471 --> 00:06:18,111 Speaker 1: but he argued we are now so far down the 101 00:06:18,151 --> 00:06:21,991 Speaker 1: road that stopping could have even more serious repercussions. In 102 00:06:22,031 --> 00:06:25,631 Speaker 1: a follow up memo to Poindexter titled Next Steps, North 103 00:06:25,671 --> 00:06:28,471 Speaker 1: proposed they cut Israel out of the deal and sell 104 00:06:28,511 --> 00:06:31,791 Speaker 1: the weapons to Iran themselves, bringing in Richard Seacord as 105 00:06:31,791 --> 00:06:34,311 Speaker 1: the middleman. So that's what they did. 106 00:06:34,791 --> 00:06:37,190 Speaker 4: We're running a successful air up down there. Why not 107 00:06:37,351 --> 00:06:42,151 Speaker 4: this one? Yeah? And I guess point to extra figured 108 00:06:42,191 --> 00:06:45,831 Speaker 4: that good old Dick Secord, the can't do guy. He'll 109 00:06:45,871 --> 00:06:46,591 Speaker 4: get her done. 110 00:06:48,391 --> 00:06:48,671 Speaker 5: With that. 111 00:06:49,111 --> 00:06:54,151 Speaker 1: Seacord's responsibilities expanded. In addition to managing money and supplies 112 00:06:54,191 --> 00:06:57,831 Speaker 1: for the Contras, this private citizen would now also be 113 00:06:57,911 --> 00:07:03,070 Speaker 1: facilitating the sale of American weapons to Iran. This was 114 00:07:03,111 --> 00:07:05,871 Speaker 1: the moment when the twin Engine scandal, now known as 115 00:07:05,911 --> 00:07:12,071 Speaker 1: Iran Contra took off. I'm Leon Nahan from Prologue Projects 116 00:07:12,111 --> 00:07:15,991 Speaker 1: and Pushkin Industries. This is fiasco Iran Contra. 117 00:07:16,231 --> 00:07:19,191 Speaker 6: The issue is back paid for the Contras fighting the 118 00:07:19,231 --> 00:07:20,311 Speaker 6: Nicaraguan government. 119 00:07:20,351 --> 00:07:22,871 Speaker 7: North was very excited he had pulled it off. 120 00:07:22,911 --> 00:07:24,871 Speaker 2: His secret visit to TAYHRANI. 121 00:07:24,631 --> 00:07:26,311 Speaker 3: These kinds of escapades. 122 00:07:26,351 --> 00:07:28,991 Speaker 7: He and had suicide pills and I had nothing. 123 00:07:29,111 --> 00:07:32,191 Speaker 8: I was very convinced the President would agree it was 124 00:07:32,551 --> 00:07:33,471 Speaker 8: the right thing to do. 125 00:07:33,671 --> 00:07:36,031 Speaker 6: The President has thrown himself into this battle. 126 00:07:36,151 --> 00:07:39,191 Speaker 9: I was going to go ahead and tell them my story. 127 00:07:42,431 --> 00:07:47,671 Speaker 1: Episode four diverted, how Oliver North and Richard Seacord put 128 00:07:47,671 --> 00:07:51,191 Speaker 1: the hyphen in Iran Contra, and how North ended up 129 00:07:51,231 --> 00:07:52,471 Speaker 1: on a plane to Tehran. 130 00:07:55,111 --> 00:07:55,871 Speaker 4: We'll be right back. 131 00:08:01,751 --> 00:08:04,431 Speaker 1: In order to build the resupply operation for the Contras, 132 00:08:05,071 --> 00:08:07,671 Speaker 1: Richard Seacord needed to hire a crew of airmen who 133 00:08:07,671 --> 00:08:10,151 Speaker 1: could fly planes and knew how to make air drops. 134 00:08:11,191 --> 00:08:14,551 Speaker 1: In December of nineteen eighty five, the word reached Ian Crawford, 135 00:08:14,911 --> 00:08:16,991 Speaker 1: a soft spoken twenty nine year old who had served 136 00:08:16,991 --> 00:08:20,471 Speaker 1: as part of the Army's elite Delta Force Unit. Crawford 137 00:08:20,471 --> 00:08:23,791 Speaker 1: had recently returned to civilian life in Fayetteville, North Carolina, 138 00:08:24,431 --> 00:08:27,551 Speaker 1: and he had started a business sowing custom vests, backpacks, 139 00:08:27,551 --> 00:08:28,831 Speaker 1: and other military. 140 00:08:28,391 --> 00:08:33,151 Speaker 9: Equipment and out of the field blue. At a New 141 00:08:33,231 --> 00:08:37,591 Speaker 9: Year's Eve party, somebody is talking to my mother in law, 142 00:08:37,631 --> 00:08:42,271 Speaker 9: of all people, and this person said that they needed 143 00:08:42,751 --> 00:08:47,590 Speaker 9: to find some ex military people with a parachute background. 144 00:08:48,070 --> 00:08:52,030 Speaker 1: Crawford just happened to be a certified parachute specialist, so 145 00:08:52,070 --> 00:08:53,511 Speaker 1: his mother in law put him in touch with the 146 00:08:53,511 --> 00:08:55,631 Speaker 1: guy from the party, who in turn put him in 147 00:08:55,631 --> 00:08:58,191 Speaker 1: touch with a guy in Washington who worked for Richard Seacoord. 148 00:08:59,151 --> 00:09:00,830 Speaker 1: That guy offered Crawford a job. 149 00:09:01,590 --> 00:09:04,751 Speaker 9: He told me, I was going to air drop equipment 150 00:09:05,271 --> 00:09:09,630 Speaker 9: to a newly formed group somewhere in the world he 151 00:09:09,670 --> 00:09:13,030 Speaker 9: wouldn't tell me, and that I was being hired for 152 00:09:13,231 --> 00:09:16,310 Speaker 9: my parachute and air drop specialties. 153 00:09:17,950 --> 00:09:21,550 Speaker 1: A few months later, Crawford boarded a southbound plane packed 154 00:09:21,550 --> 00:09:26,190 Speaker 1: with military fatigues, jungle boots, and tents. When the plane landed, 155 00:09:26,391 --> 00:09:29,710 Speaker 1: he found himself standing on a dirt airstrip in Honduras. 156 00:09:30,151 --> 00:09:33,871 Speaker 1: He had arrived at Aguacat, a bare bones military encampment 157 00:09:33,910 --> 00:09:36,790 Speaker 1: that was being used as part of Secord's new resupply operation. 158 00:09:37,670 --> 00:09:43,871 Speaker 9: When we finally landed in Awacati, Honduras, we knew that 159 00:09:43,950 --> 00:09:48,670 Speaker 9: we were in a contract camp. It was a confined, 160 00:09:50,030 --> 00:09:55,351 Speaker 9: primitive and secret base. The Hondurans knew about it, but 161 00:09:55,950 --> 00:09:59,431 Speaker 9: they didn't want to advertise that they were allowing the 162 00:09:59,511 --> 00:10:02,310 Speaker 9: contries to be on their side of the border. 163 00:10:04,111 --> 00:10:07,351 Speaker 1: When Crawford first got to Aguacata, there was just one 164 00:10:07,391 --> 00:10:11,030 Speaker 1: plane available to fly missions. It was a C seven 165 00:10:11,151 --> 00:10:15,431 Speaker 1: Cariboo cargo plane, the same kind that was used in Vietnam. 166 00:10:15,751 --> 00:10:19,111 Speaker 10: Soon you will be flying the C seven a Cariboo 167 00:10:19,430 --> 00:10:21,791 Speaker 10: in remote, underdeveloped areas of the world. 168 00:10:22,391 --> 00:10:25,231 Speaker 1: Crawford's job was to help the contras pack supplies into 169 00:10:25,231 --> 00:10:29,151 Speaker 1: bundles and load them onto the Cariboo. Inside the bundles 170 00:10:29,190 --> 00:10:33,631 Speaker 1: was a mix of food, ammunition, grenades, rockets, mortar shells, 171 00:10:33,670 --> 00:10:37,111 Speaker 1: and AK forty sevens. Crawford would use a forklift to 172 00:10:37,111 --> 00:10:39,751 Speaker 1: get them into the Cariboo, then line them up side 173 00:10:39,751 --> 00:10:43,111 Speaker 1: by side and attach parachutes to them. Then he would 174 00:10:43,111 --> 00:10:45,310 Speaker 1: take a seat as the plane took off for Nicaragua. 175 00:10:46,271 --> 00:10:50,391 Speaker 10: Short primitive runways hacked from the jungle and desolate terrain 176 00:10:50,590 --> 00:10:53,231 Speaker 10: make these parts of the world Cariboo country. 177 00:10:54,590 --> 00:10:58,910 Speaker 9: I would fly in the back of the aircraft. We'd 178 00:10:58,950 --> 00:11:02,910 Speaker 9: fly for twenty or thirty minutes to a drop zone. 179 00:11:03,190 --> 00:11:05,751 Speaker 1: The pilot flying the Cariboo would get down as low 180 00:11:05,790 --> 00:11:08,551 Speaker 1: as possible over the drop zones, which were located over 181 00:11:08,631 --> 00:11:12,670 Speaker 1: sandbars in the Rio Cocoa. Contraforces would then pick up 182 00:11:12,670 --> 00:11:13,271 Speaker 1: the supplies. 183 00:11:14,151 --> 00:11:17,470 Speaker 10: If no airstrip exists or it is under enemy fire, 184 00:11:17,991 --> 00:11:20,831 Speaker 10: a personnel drop maybe the only way to reinforce a 185 00:11:20,871 --> 00:11:22,590 Speaker 10: Special Forces camp, and. 186 00:11:22,590 --> 00:11:26,391 Speaker 9: I'd take a very large knife and cut a nylon 187 00:11:26,631 --> 00:11:31,991 Speaker 9: strap that was holding these bundles back, and the pilot 188 00:11:32,030 --> 00:11:36,631 Speaker 9: would raise the aircraft nose up and the bundles would 189 00:11:36,751 --> 00:11:38,430 Speaker 9: roll out the back of the aircraft. 190 00:11:39,430 --> 00:11:43,111 Speaker 1: Sometimes as the caribou flew over the jungle, Crawford would 191 00:11:43,151 --> 00:11:44,991 Speaker 1: sit with his legs dangling from the back of the 192 00:11:44,991 --> 00:11:53,711 Speaker 1: aircraft and watch for Sandinista helicopters. It was dangerous work. 193 00:11:54,550 --> 00:11:57,671 Speaker 1: The threat of being shot down was real, but Crawford 194 00:11:57,670 --> 00:12:00,190 Speaker 1: and his crew were also worried about their own plane 195 00:12:00,231 --> 00:12:01,030 Speaker 1: giving out on them. 196 00:12:01,430 --> 00:12:07,471 Speaker 9: And there were actually holes in the dashboard where gauges 197 00:12:07,511 --> 00:12:11,271 Speaker 9: had been taken out and sent back for maintenance, and 198 00:12:11,430 --> 00:12:15,910 Speaker 9: we were all kind of shocked at the level of 199 00:12:15,950 --> 00:12:18,151 Speaker 9: maintenance that the aircraft actually needed. 200 00:12:18,790 --> 00:12:21,510 Speaker 1: Crawford chucked this up to penny pinching by the operation's 201 00:12:21,590 --> 00:12:24,310 Speaker 1: top brass, and he wasn't happy about it. 202 00:12:24,910 --> 00:12:31,711 Speaker 9: Management was trying to cut corners, spend the least amount 203 00:12:31,710 --> 00:12:36,511 Speaker 9: of money to get whatever mission done the cheapest possible. 204 00:12:37,190 --> 00:12:39,991 Speaker 1: When I asked Seacort about this, he flatly rejected the 205 00:12:40,030 --> 00:12:41,830 Speaker 1: notion that his planes were in poor condition. 206 00:12:42,351 --> 00:12:46,670 Speaker 4: Those airplanes were well equipped and being operated by a 207 00:12:46,670 --> 00:12:49,551 Speaker 4: professional airmen who knew what the hell they were doing, 208 00:12:49,991 --> 00:12:51,751 Speaker 4: which is why we had him. 209 00:12:52,111 --> 00:12:56,071 Speaker 1: That's at least half true, as Seacoorts top operations manager 210 00:12:56,070 --> 00:12:59,991 Speaker 1: would later testify, the airmen's Seacorts Company had recruited were 211 00:13:00,190 --> 00:13:02,951 Speaker 1: fortunately the kinds of guys that could put together an 212 00:13:02,991 --> 00:13:07,511 Speaker 1: operating aircraft with baling wire and chewing gum. In any event, 213 00:13:07,830 --> 00:13:11,470 Speaker 1: there's no question that Seacord's budget was modest. As far 214 00:13:11,471 --> 00:13:14,991 Speaker 1: as he was concerned, the resupply operation was only viable 215 00:13:15,030 --> 00:13:19,071 Speaker 1: as a short term proposition. At some point the CIA 216 00:13:19,111 --> 00:13:21,310 Speaker 1: would have to step back into the role it played 217 00:13:21,351 --> 00:13:23,230 Speaker 1: before the Boland Amendment made it illegal. 218 00:13:23,830 --> 00:13:26,070 Speaker 4: My belief was it was just a short term, a 219 00:13:26,151 --> 00:13:31,711 Speaker 4: stopgap operation, a bridging operation. It became a bridge too far. 220 00:13:35,070 --> 00:13:38,590 Speaker 1: Oliver North was feeling the pressure too. I'm not complaining, 221 00:13:38,670 --> 00:13:40,391 Speaker 1: and you know that I love the work, he wrote 222 00:13:40,430 --> 00:13:42,951 Speaker 1: to John Poindexter, but we have to lift some of 223 00:13:42,991 --> 00:13:44,750 Speaker 1: this onto the CIA so that I can get more 224 00:13:44,751 --> 00:13:47,870 Speaker 1: than two or three hours of sleep at night. Unfortunately 225 00:13:47,871 --> 00:13:51,310 Speaker 1: for North, the CIA could not step back into Nicaragua 226 00:13:51,631 --> 00:13:55,151 Speaker 1: unless Congress changed its mind about funding the Contras, and 227 00:13:55,190 --> 00:13:57,231 Speaker 1: that didn't seem like it was in the cards, at 228 00:13:57,310 --> 00:14:01,190 Speaker 1: least not yet. By the end of nineteen eighty five, 229 00:14:01,670 --> 00:14:04,590 Speaker 1: the Contra aid program and the Iran weapons program were 230 00:14:04,590 --> 00:14:07,830 Speaker 1: being managed by the same group of people. Oliver North 231 00:14:07,871 --> 00:14:09,951 Speaker 1: was running the day to day with supervision from that 232 00:14:10,190 --> 00:14:14,151 Speaker 1: security advisor John Poindexter, and Richard Seacord, the Air Force 233 00:14:14,190 --> 00:14:18,230 Speaker 1: general turned arms deer, was overseeing logistics, procuring the weapons, 234 00:14:18,310 --> 00:14:21,230 Speaker 1: and moving the money. All three of them had their 235 00:14:21,271 --> 00:14:26,631 Speaker 1: own set of motivations, particularly when it came to Iran. North, 236 00:14:26,671 --> 00:14:28,751 Speaker 1: by his own account, was dead set on bringing the 237 00:14:28,751 --> 00:14:31,710 Speaker 1: hostages back from Beirut because he knew how strongly the 238 00:14:31,751 --> 00:14:34,830 Speaker 1: President felt about it. North declined to be interviewed for 239 00:14:34,871 --> 00:14:37,551 Speaker 1: this podcast, but here's how he explained himself. In nineteen 240 00:14:37,590 --> 00:14:38,311 Speaker 1: eighty seven. 241 00:14:38,671 --> 00:14:41,751 Speaker 11: The President very clearly articulated in the meetings I was 242 00:14:42,151 --> 00:14:45,031 Speaker 11: in with him in the Oval Office on this issue. 243 00:14:45,311 --> 00:14:47,751 Speaker 11: It was very clear that the President wanted as many 244 00:14:47,791 --> 00:14:51,031 Speaker 11: Americans home, all of them home, as fast as possible. 245 00:14:51,871 --> 00:14:55,830 Speaker 1: Richard Seacord had more personal reasons for getting involved. One 246 00:14:55,871 --> 00:14:58,830 Speaker 1: of them was surely financial. He and his partner stood 247 00:14:58,830 --> 00:15:01,871 Speaker 1: to make millions of dollars and commissions. But there was 248 00:15:01,871 --> 00:15:06,111 Speaker 1: something else too. Remember, Seacord's career in the intelligence community 249 00:15:06,191 --> 00:15:09,471 Speaker 1: had been cut short by scandal. He thought that helping 250 00:15:09,511 --> 00:15:11,831 Speaker 1: out with the operation could help him get back in 251 00:15:11,871 --> 00:15:12,271 Speaker 1: the fold. 252 00:15:12,830 --> 00:15:17,031 Speaker 4: I was thinking about the possibility of taking over the CIA, 253 00:15:18,231 --> 00:15:21,951 Speaker 4: no question about that. That was the right age, They 254 00:15:21,951 --> 00:15:24,831 Speaker 4: had the right background. I would not have taken a 255 00:15:24,911 --> 00:15:29,311 Speaker 4: job by than the director, but they needed some operator 256 00:15:30,271 --> 00:15:34,311 Speaker 4: to run that place, and not a bunch of shoe clerks. 257 00:15:34,951 --> 00:15:37,751 Speaker 1: So that's at least part of what was driving sea Cord. 258 00:15:38,991 --> 00:15:42,431 Speaker 1: Then there was John Poindexter, who inherited the Iran initiative 259 00:15:42,431 --> 00:15:47,231 Speaker 1: from his predecessor, Bud McFarlane. Poindexter's reasons for continuing to 260 00:15:47,271 --> 00:15:51,631 Speaker 1: pursue the program have remained remarkably consistent over time. As 261 00:15:51,671 --> 00:15:54,551 Speaker 1: he told me in late twenty nineteen, he saw the 262 00:15:54,551 --> 00:15:57,031 Speaker 1: decision to sell weapons to Iran as part of the 263 00:15:57,071 --> 00:15:59,791 Speaker 1: Reagan administration's plan to win the Cold War. 264 00:16:00,751 --> 00:16:05,591 Speaker 8: I ran, from a geographic standpoint, occupies a very important 265 00:16:05,631 --> 00:16:07,271 Speaker 8: position in the Middle East. 266 00:16:07,951 --> 00:16:09,431 Speaker 1: This is John Poindexter. 267 00:16:10,031 --> 00:16:13,911 Speaker 8: There on the east side of the what used to 268 00:16:13,951 --> 00:16:18,470 Speaker 8: be called the Persian Gulf, and at the end the 269 00:16:18,511 --> 00:16:21,791 Speaker 8: south end of the Gulf are the straits of Hormus, 270 00:16:22,791 --> 00:16:26,671 Speaker 8: which is a very narrow body of water that connects 271 00:16:27,151 --> 00:16:30,990 Speaker 8: the Gulf to the Indian Ocean. So the Soviet Union 272 00:16:31,031 --> 00:16:36,911 Speaker 8: has always wanted access to the Indian Ocean, and one 273 00:16:36,951 --> 00:16:40,711 Speaker 8: way for them to get that is to develop a 274 00:16:40,751 --> 00:16:43,671 Speaker 8: cooperative relationship with Iran. 275 00:16:44,471 --> 00:16:48,071 Speaker 1: Poindexter believed that in the long run, Iran would probably 276 00:16:48,191 --> 00:16:51,111 Speaker 1: end up aligning itself with either the United States or 277 00:16:51,151 --> 00:16:54,831 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union. Even though the Komanian regime was fiercely 278 00:16:54,871 --> 00:16:59,350 Speaker 1: anti American, Establishing a diplomatic opening with more moderate elements 279 00:16:59,351 --> 00:17:01,871 Speaker 1: in the Iranian government was a way to make sure 280 00:17:01,911 --> 00:17:04,151 Speaker 1: the United States came out on top in a post 281 00:17:04,191 --> 00:17:04,991 Speaker 1: Komani world. 282 00:17:05,391 --> 00:17:09,031 Speaker 8: We always thought that eventually there would be some kind 283 00:17:09,071 --> 00:17:14,711 Speaker 8: of transition in Iran as Amede whenever he died, and 284 00:17:14,991 --> 00:17:19,470 Speaker 8: it would have been foolish for us to think that 285 00:17:19,511 --> 00:17:24,631 Speaker 8: the Soviet Union was not also interested in some future 286 00:17:24,711 --> 00:17:30,511 Speaker 8: transition of the Iranian government. And it has never been 287 00:17:30,590 --> 00:17:35,590 Speaker 8: in our strategic interest that the Soviet Union would gain 288 00:17:35,711 --> 00:17:37,830 Speaker 8: that foothold in the Middle East. 289 00:17:38,951 --> 00:17:42,390 Speaker 1: Later, when the Iran Contra scandal exploded into public view, 290 00:17:42,991 --> 00:17:46,430 Speaker 1: Poindexter's high minded rationale for the weapons sales was buried 291 00:17:46,511 --> 00:17:50,071 Speaker 1: under the simpler, more unsavory explanation that the White House 292 00:17:50,071 --> 00:17:53,191 Speaker 1: had been trying to buy back hostages by paying ransom 293 00:17:53,271 --> 00:17:57,791 Speaker 1: to terrorists, which explanation you believe comes down to how 294 00:17:57,870 --> 00:18:01,470 Speaker 1: much credit you're willing to give the Reagan administration. But 295 00:18:01,830 --> 00:18:06,110 Speaker 1: as even Poindexter concedes, the person who authorized the arm shipments, 296 00:18:06,471 --> 00:18:08,511 Speaker 1: the only person who had the power to do so, 297 00:18:08,951 --> 00:18:11,031 Speaker 1: was pretty clear about what was driving him. 298 00:18:11,791 --> 00:18:17,630 Speaker 8: The President was probably more interested in the short term 299 00:18:17,830 --> 00:18:23,670 Speaker 8: objectives than the long term objectives. So I've convinced that 300 00:18:23,751 --> 00:18:26,511 Speaker 8: he believed in what we were trying to do, but 301 00:18:26,590 --> 00:18:31,830 Speaker 8: he probably, in hindsight, did put more emphasis on the hostages. 302 00:18:33,191 --> 00:18:36,311 Speaker 1: This question of who was motivated by what takes on 303 00:18:36,511 --> 00:18:39,430 Speaker 1: even more significance when you consider how badly the Iran 304 00:18:39,471 --> 00:18:41,870 Speaker 1: initiative was going By the start of nineteen eighty six. 305 00:18:43,350 --> 00:18:47,751 Speaker 1: The White House's key Iranian contact, Minuture Garboni Phar, had 306 00:18:47,791 --> 00:18:51,991 Speaker 1: revealed himself to be erratic and unreliable. The moderates Gorbonifar 307 00:18:52,110 --> 00:18:54,990 Speaker 1: was supposedly speaking for had given no indication that they 308 00:18:54,991 --> 00:18:59,590 Speaker 1: even existed. On multiple occasions, the US had sent Iran weapons, 309 00:18:59,630 --> 00:19:01,830 Speaker 1: only to have the terms of the deal change in 310 00:19:01,830 --> 00:19:05,991 Speaker 1: the middle and yet the negotiations continued, just as Bud 311 00:19:06,031 --> 00:19:10,511 Speaker 1: McFarlane had feared they would. From the outside, and with 312 00:19:10,590 --> 00:19:12,991 Speaker 1: the benefit of hindsight, you look at all these red 313 00:19:12,991 --> 00:19:16,711 Speaker 1: flags and think, how could this have continued? How could 314 00:19:16,711 --> 00:19:20,230 Speaker 1: Poindexter and North and Reagan all have convinced themselves that 315 00:19:20,271 --> 00:19:23,470 Speaker 1: this was a good idea? I think the answer probably 316 00:19:23,511 --> 00:19:25,430 Speaker 1: lies and what drove each of them to pursue it 317 00:19:25,471 --> 00:19:28,910 Speaker 1: in the first place. Whatever it was, it seems to 318 00:19:28,951 --> 00:19:31,951 Speaker 1: have made them all either giddy with optimism or deluded 319 00:19:32,031 --> 00:19:41,071 Speaker 1: by desperation. Not long into John Poindexter's tenure as National 320 00:19:41,071 --> 00:19:44,670 Speaker 1: Security Advisor, the determination was made that the US needed 321 00:19:44,711 --> 00:19:48,471 Speaker 1: to speak directly with the Iranian moderates that Manuchaerir Gurbanifhar 322 00:19:48,590 --> 00:19:53,871 Speaker 1: claimed to represent. After months of negotiation, North and Gurbanifhar 323 00:19:54,071 --> 00:19:57,511 Speaker 1: finalized plans for an in person meeting between senior American 324 00:19:57,551 --> 00:19:59,910 Speaker 1: officials and a group of high ranking members of the 325 00:19:59,951 --> 00:20:03,311 Speaker 1: Iranian government. The meeting would take place in a hotel 326 00:20:03,390 --> 00:20:04,590 Speaker 1: room in Tehran. 327 00:20:05,431 --> 00:20:09,711 Speaker 8: Because of the importance of establishing some kind of working, 328 00:20:09,711 --> 00:20:15,110 Speaker 8: real life relationship with Iran, it made sense to send 329 00:20:15,150 --> 00:20:19,510 Speaker 8: a delegation to Tehran to try to meet with people 330 00:20:19,590 --> 00:20:24,511 Speaker 8: that we hoped would be moderate and began a dialogue. 331 00:20:25,071 --> 00:20:28,471 Speaker 1: Poindexter's understanding was that this would be the final exchange 332 00:20:28,471 --> 00:20:32,350 Speaker 1: of weapons for hostages. As North explained the agreement to 333 00:20:32,390 --> 00:20:35,511 Speaker 1: Poindexter in a memo, the US delegation would bring a 334 00:20:35,511 --> 00:20:38,591 Speaker 1: load of spare missile parts to Tehran, and the Iranians 335 00:20:38,630 --> 00:20:40,951 Speaker 1: would bring about the release of the hostages still being 336 00:20:41,031 --> 00:20:45,311 Speaker 1: held in Beirut. The American delegation to Tehran would include 337 00:20:45,431 --> 00:20:48,870 Speaker 1: Oliver North, a CIA officer who could serve as a translator, 338 00:20:49,551 --> 00:20:55,711 Speaker 1: and strangely enough, former National Security Advisor Bud McFarlan. McFarlan 339 00:20:55,751 --> 00:20:57,991 Speaker 1: had been out of government for months at this point, 340 00:20:58,271 --> 00:21:01,231 Speaker 1: and as you heard in episode two, he had profound 341 00:21:01,231 --> 00:21:04,910 Speaker 1: misgivings about the Iran initiative. But when Poindexter asked him 342 00:21:04,951 --> 00:21:07,151 Speaker 1: to go to Tehran, McFarlan accepted. 343 00:21:07,951 --> 00:21:10,350 Speaker 8: You know, he sort of was a secret emissary. He 344 00:21:10,431 --> 00:21:14,911 Speaker 8: wasn't in government. He had been a former senior government official, 345 00:21:15,390 --> 00:21:19,750 Speaker 8: so he had credentials and it would be clear to 346 00:21:19,830 --> 00:21:25,791 Speaker 8: the Iranians that this was a presidentially approved mission. So 347 00:21:25,870 --> 00:21:28,511 Speaker 8: Bud was a logical person to go, and so we 348 00:21:28,590 --> 00:21:29,190 Speaker 8: sent him. 349 00:21:29,911 --> 00:21:32,350 Speaker 1: Also along for the trip was a senior staffer from 350 00:21:32,390 --> 00:21:35,751 Speaker 1: the National Security Council named Howard Titcher, an expert on 351 00:21:35,791 --> 00:21:40,110 Speaker 1: the Middle East. Like Poindexter, Tycher saw the arm sales 352 00:21:40,110 --> 00:21:42,791 Speaker 1: as a path to improving relations with Iran in a 353 00:21:42,791 --> 00:21:45,311 Speaker 1: way that would serve the US's long term goal of 354 00:21:45,350 --> 00:21:47,351 Speaker 1: protecting the Middle East from Soviet influence. 355 00:21:48,711 --> 00:21:51,951 Speaker 7: Actually was exciting, you know, this was the chance to 356 00:21:52,071 --> 00:21:55,751 Speaker 7: change the course of history and protect American interest in 357 00:21:55,791 --> 00:21:59,031 Speaker 7: a very fundamental way. And you know, so this was 358 00:21:59,031 --> 00:22:00,150 Speaker 7: a risk worth taking. 359 00:22:00,951 --> 00:22:04,071 Speaker 1: Tycher's wife was more apprehensive. She was a lawyer in 360 00:22:04,110 --> 00:22:06,430 Speaker 1: the State Department, and based on what her husband was 361 00:22:06,471 --> 00:22:09,830 Speaker 1: telling her, she suspected that the arms deal might be illegal. 362 00:22:10,791 --> 00:22:13,431 Speaker 1: She also thought it was possible, if not downright likely, 363 00:22:13,911 --> 00:22:16,670 Speaker 1: that in their quest to free the hostages, her husband 364 00:22:16,751 --> 00:22:18,630 Speaker 1: and the other members of the delegation would end up 365 00:22:18,630 --> 00:22:20,511 Speaker 1: getting kidnapped themselves, you know. 366 00:22:20,551 --> 00:22:23,910 Speaker 7: And I talked to Colonel North about this and he said, 367 00:22:24,071 --> 00:22:27,630 Speaker 7: I want you to know everything's taken care of. And 368 00:22:27,671 --> 00:22:29,671 Speaker 7: I said, so there's a plan, And all he would 369 00:22:29,671 --> 00:22:32,551 Speaker 7: say was, don't worry, everything's taken care of. So he 370 00:22:32,590 --> 00:22:35,430 Speaker 7: did his best to assure me that that was a case. 371 00:22:35,751 --> 00:22:38,471 Speaker 7: That there was some rescue plan in the event that 372 00:22:38,551 --> 00:22:42,350 Speaker 7: we were not allowed to leave, and in the circumstances 373 00:22:42,350 --> 00:22:45,190 Speaker 7: I later learned that he and McFarlane had suicide pills 374 00:22:45,711 --> 00:22:48,791 Speaker 7: and I had nothing. So I presume that was the plan, 375 00:22:49,551 --> 00:22:51,791 Speaker 7: that they would take their lives and the rest of 376 00:22:51,870 --> 00:22:54,791 Speaker 7: us would be left to deal with the Iranians. 377 00:22:55,590 --> 00:22:59,231 Speaker 1: According to Oliver North's memoir, he actually had enough suicide 378 00:22:59,231 --> 00:23:02,071 Speaker 1: pills for everyone, and he got them directly from the 379 00:23:02,110 --> 00:23:05,791 Speaker 1: head of the CIA. That underscore is just how big 380 00:23:05,830 --> 00:23:08,910 Speaker 1: a risk the administration was taking. Who knew what was 381 00:23:08,951 --> 00:23:12,910 Speaker 1: waiting for North, farl And and Titcher in Tehran. There was 382 00:23:12,951 --> 00:23:15,710 Speaker 1: no longer an American embassy there. The country was a 383 00:23:15,751 --> 00:23:19,470 Speaker 1: black box. All the Americans had to go on was 384 00:23:19,471 --> 00:23:22,990 Speaker 1: the word of Manuture or Bonifi, and so far that 385 00:23:23,031 --> 00:23:24,791 Speaker 1: had not proven to be worth very much. 386 00:23:25,471 --> 00:23:31,031 Speaker 8: We hadn't had any kind of a diplomatic approach to 387 00:23:31,231 --> 00:23:35,071 Speaker 8: Iran up to that point that I'm aware of today, 388 00:23:36,390 --> 00:23:41,430 Speaker 8: and so it was momentus to decide to send a mission. 389 00:23:42,511 --> 00:23:45,710 Speaker 8: You know, the odds were not in our favor of 390 00:23:45,751 --> 00:23:50,151 Speaker 8: it working out, but we thought because of the importance 391 00:23:51,071 --> 00:23:58,191 Speaker 8: of returning Iran to a more constructive physician, it was worth. 392 00:23:57,991 --> 00:24:01,791 Speaker 1: The risk, as it happened. Days before North and his 393 00:24:01,911 --> 00:24:05,071 Speaker 1: team embarked on their trip, French officials were working to 394 00:24:05,110 --> 00:24:07,710 Speaker 1: free their citizens who had been kidnapped in Lebanon by 395 00:24:07,830 --> 00:24:12,031 Speaker 1: Islamic militants. According to news report Sort, France was negotiating 396 00:24:12,031 --> 00:24:12,830 Speaker 1: with the Iranians. 397 00:24:12,991 --> 00:24:15,751 Speaker 5: US officials fear of the French willingness to negotiate will 398 00:24:15,751 --> 00:24:19,871 Speaker 5: only harden the kidnappers resolve and encourage others to kidnap 399 00:24:19,911 --> 00:24:24,471 Speaker 5: for ransom. 400 00:24:24,711 --> 00:24:28,231 Speaker 1: The journey to Tehran began Washington's Dallas Airport on May 401 00:24:28,271 --> 00:24:32,430 Speaker 1: twenty third, nineteen eighty six. It would involve multiple legs, 402 00:24:32,551 --> 00:24:34,750 Speaker 1: with stops at an air Force base in Frankfurt and 403 00:24:34,791 --> 00:24:38,710 Speaker 1: in Tel Aviv. Everyone in the group carried fake passports. 404 00:24:39,271 --> 00:24:41,671 Speaker 1: The plan was that if anyone asked, they would say 405 00:24:41,671 --> 00:24:45,031 Speaker 1: they were part of a trade delegation from Ireland. Here's 406 00:24:45,031 --> 00:24:45,911 Speaker 1: Howard Titcher again. 407 00:24:46,551 --> 00:24:49,950 Speaker 7: That was the cover, they decided. And so I was 408 00:24:50,071 --> 00:24:53,311 Speaker 7: asked to come up with a legend that, you know, 409 00:24:53,390 --> 00:24:57,351 Speaker 7: I could remember about being born in Ireland. So if 410 00:24:57,350 --> 00:25:00,470 Speaker 7: somebody in iranset, so why are you here? I'm Irish traders? 411 00:25:00,511 --> 00:25:02,630 Speaker 7: Where are you from? Are you from Dingle Oh? I 412 00:25:02,671 --> 00:25:05,350 Speaker 7: never went to Dingle. What's it like in Dingle? You know? 413 00:25:05,551 --> 00:25:09,910 Speaker 7: So I became Tim mcgahann and that became the the 414 00:25:10,071 --> 00:25:10,991 Speaker 7: Irish passport. 415 00:25:11,630 --> 00:25:15,111 Speaker 1: Titcher asked the obvious question, would they have to use 416 00:25:15,110 --> 00:25:18,991 Speaker 1: fake Irish accents? The answer was eh. 417 00:25:19,110 --> 00:25:21,510 Speaker 7: They told us that they didn't think anybody who we 418 00:25:21,511 --> 00:25:23,950 Speaker 7: were going to encounter would have any idea what an 419 00:25:23,991 --> 00:25:25,390 Speaker 7: Irish accent sounded like. 420 00:25:26,231 --> 00:25:30,511 Speaker 1: In Tel Aviv, the delegation with rendezvous with Richard Seacord, who, 421 00:25:30,551 --> 00:25:33,950 Speaker 1: as usual, would be in charge of logistics. It was 422 00:25:33,991 --> 00:25:37,110 Speaker 1: not an easy assignment. Seacord had to ensure that the 423 00:25:37,110 --> 00:25:40,590 Speaker 1: trip was one hundred percent secret. 424 00:25:43,711 --> 00:25:46,470 Speaker 4: We borrowed an airplane from Israel. 425 00:25:46,751 --> 00:25:48,231 Speaker 1: Here's Seacord again, one of. 426 00:25:48,150 --> 00:25:53,590 Speaker 4: Their VIP airplanes, and sanitized it. We went over every 427 00:25:53,791 --> 00:25:57,511 Speaker 4: bit of that airplane and anything that would indicate it 428 00:25:57,551 --> 00:26:02,230 Speaker 4: was Israeli, an aeroplane with the marks or stars of 429 00:26:02,350 --> 00:26:05,190 Speaker 4: David or whatever. We got rid of it. 430 00:26:06,191 --> 00:26:09,471 Speaker 1: Seacord himself was not going to Tehran. He would stay 431 00:26:09,471 --> 00:26:11,991 Speaker 1: in his hotel room in Tel Aviv, managing the trip 432 00:26:12,031 --> 00:26:14,311 Speaker 1: remotely and staying in touch with the pilots through a 433 00:26:14,350 --> 00:26:18,791 Speaker 1: secure communications rig set up in his window. The plane 434 00:26:18,870 --> 00:26:21,751 Speaker 1: was set to take off at midnight from Ben Gurion Airport. 435 00:26:22,471 --> 00:26:24,910 Speaker 1: In addition to its human cargo, it would also be 436 00:26:24,951 --> 00:26:27,630 Speaker 1: carrying some, but not all, the spare missile parts the 437 00:26:27,630 --> 00:26:31,191 Speaker 1: Americans had promised the Iranians. As soon as the hostages 438 00:26:31,231 --> 00:26:34,390 Speaker 1: were freed, Secord would send a second plane to Iran 439 00:26:34,471 --> 00:26:41,150 Speaker 1: with the rest of the weapons parts. Before takeoff, North 440 00:26:41,191 --> 00:26:43,911 Speaker 1: decided he wanted to bring some kind of gift to Tehran. 441 00:26:44,951 --> 00:26:48,031 Speaker 1: As Tyer understood it, North wanted something that would break 442 00:26:48,071 --> 00:26:50,511 Speaker 1: the ice and serve as a gesture of goodwill. 443 00:26:51,630 --> 00:26:54,590 Speaker 7: At one point, North had said to Gorbani far what 444 00:26:54,630 --> 00:26:58,191 Speaker 7: should we bring, you know, as a gift, and he goes, oh, 445 00:26:59,031 --> 00:27:05,350 Speaker 7: bring the weapons and bring a cake. It is a 446 00:27:05,431 --> 00:27:09,751 Speaker 7: tradition among Persians when you've had us a feud or 447 00:27:09,791 --> 00:27:13,870 Speaker 7: a or a spat with your girlfriend or friends, you 448 00:27:13,991 --> 00:27:16,431 Speaker 7: make up by bringing each other pastries. 449 00:27:17,110 --> 00:27:20,590 Speaker 1: So, according to Titcher, North boarded the plane carrying a 450 00:27:20,671 --> 00:27:24,751 Speaker 1: chocolate cake purchased from an Israeli bakery. He decorated the 451 00:27:24,751 --> 00:27:27,271 Speaker 1: cake with a key intended to represent the opening of 452 00:27:27,271 --> 00:27:29,071 Speaker 1: relations between the US and Iran. 453 00:27:29,830 --> 00:27:32,671 Speaker 7: North was, you know, very excited again. You know, he 454 00:27:32,751 --> 00:27:36,150 Speaker 7: had started this process some months before. You know, and 455 00:27:36,271 --> 00:27:39,710 Speaker 7: he had had a couple of probably dodgy meetings with 456 00:27:40,031 --> 00:27:44,271 Speaker 7: you know this arms merchant Manu shark or Banifhar, and 457 00:27:44,830 --> 00:27:46,110 Speaker 7: now he had pulled it off. 458 00:27:51,350 --> 00:27:55,911 Speaker 1: North's jubilation was premature, which became obvious almost as soon 459 00:27:55,911 --> 00:27:58,991 Speaker 1: as the plane landed in Tehran. He was a little 460 00:27:58,991 --> 00:28:01,710 Speaker 1: after seven in the morning on May twenty fifth, but 461 00:28:01,751 --> 00:28:05,111 Speaker 1: when North, McFarlane, and Tycher got off the plane, the 462 00:28:05,150 --> 00:28:07,590 Speaker 1: only person there to greet them was an airport worker 463 00:28:07,751 --> 00:28:12,511 Speaker 1: who didn't know who they were. Finally, Gorbanifar showed up, 464 00:28:12,711 --> 00:28:16,190 Speaker 1: apologizing for the delay. He led the delegation to a 465 00:28:16,191 --> 00:28:18,711 Speaker 1: caravan of old, beat up cars that were waiting outside 466 00:28:18,711 --> 00:28:22,551 Speaker 1: the airport. The cars were driven by armed revolutionary guards. 467 00:28:23,271 --> 00:28:26,110 Speaker 1: In his memoir, North described the vehicle's belching blue and 468 00:28:26,191 --> 00:28:29,991 Speaker 1: black smoke from their exhaust pipes. As they drove through Tehran, 469 00:28:30,551 --> 00:28:33,471 Speaker 1: they passed landmarks once associated with the Shah that were 470 00:28:33,511 --> 00:28:37,951 Speaker 1: now covered in graffiti praising the Iyatola Comani. After half 471 00:28:37,991 --> 00:28:40,230 Speaker 1: an hour, the cars pulled up to the entrance of 472 00:28:40,231 --> 00:28:43,311 Speaker 1: the Independence Hotel and the Americans were taken to a 473 00:28:43,351 --> 00:28:50,591 Speaker 1: suite on the fifteenth floor. Gorbanifhar did not make a 474 00:28:50,631 --> 00:28:52,591 Speaker 1: powerful first impression on Howard tier. 475 00:28:53,391 --> 00:28:55,711 Speaker 7: He struck me as someone in his early fifties, early 476 00:28:55,751 --> 00:29:00,671 Speaker 7: to mid fifties, very nondescript, balding, no tie, sort of 477 00:29:00,671 --> 00:29:04,871 Speaker 7: typical Iranian garbed, you know, suit shirt, no tie, overweight. 478 00:29:05,471 --> 00:29:07,671 Speaker 7: He didn't come across like the people we see in 479 00:29:07,751 --> 00:29:11,591 Speaker 7: movies of these vicious evil arms merchants, you know, with 480 00:29:11,671 --> 00:29:15,151 Speaker 7: giant mustaches and bandoliers. I mean, he looked like a 481 00:29:15,151 --> 00:29:15,871 Speaker 7: business person. 482 00:29:16,911 --> 00:29:19,470 Speaker 1: It seemed like Gorbanifard just wanted to make everyone happy. 483 00:29:20,271 --> 00:29:22,311 Speaker 1: At one point, when it turned out the hotel was 484 00:29:22,311 --> 00:29:24,951 Speaker 1: short on food, he had his mother cook the group 485 00:29:24,991 --> 00:29:29,031 Speaker 1: an elaborate Persian feast. But hospitality was not what the 486 00:29:29,071 --> 00:29:33,071 Speaker 1: Americans were worried about. As morning turned to afternoon on 487 00:29:33,111 --> 00:29:36,190 Speaker 1: their first day in Tehran, there was no sign of 488 00:29:36,231 --> 00:29:41,111 Speaker 1: any high ranking Iranian officials. Instead, at five PM, a 489 00:29:41,191 --> 00:29:43,951 Speaker 1: man entered the suite and introduced himself by a name 490 00:29:43,991 --> 00:29:49,230 Speaker 1: the Americans didn't recognize. He brought a disconcerting message, no 491 00:29:49,431 --> 00:29:52,391 Speaker 1: hostages could be released until after the Americans handed over 492 00:29:52,431 --> 00:29:55,551 Speaker 1: the spare weapons parts they had promised. In fact, he 493 00:29:55,631 --> 00:29:58,391 Speaker 1: said there was no certainty that Iran would be able 494 00:29:58,431 --> 00:30:01,190 Speaker 1: to get the hostages released at all, but if all 495 00:30:01,231 --> 00:30:03,551 Speaker 1: the weapons were delivered, they would be willing to try. 496 00:30:04,431 --> 00:30:08,951 Speaker 7: We now understood that the Iranian government had not committed 497 00:30:09,391 --> 00:30:11,831 Speaker 7: to it, certainly not guaranteed that it was going to 498 00:30:11,831 --> 00:30:14,671 Speaker 7: bring about the release of the hostages. And yet we 499 00:30:14,751 --> 00:30:16,871 Speaker 7: had shown up and we had given them a palette 500 00:30:16,871 --> 00:30:20,071 Speaker 7: load half of the load of hawk spare parts. And 501 00:30:20,671 --> 00:30:24,591 Speaker 7: you know, we faced considerable embarrassment because you know, we 502 00:30:24,591 --> 00:30:25,911 Speaker 7: were not going to succeed. 503 00:30:26,671 --> 00:30:30,271 Speaker 1: Bud McFarlane was furious. It was now clear that the 504 00:30:30,271 --> 00:30:32,991 Speaker 1: Iranian emissaries who had been sent to meet the American 505 00:30:33,031 --> 00:30:36,511 Speaker 1: delegation were not nearly a senior as the officials Garbanifar 506 00:30:36,591 --> 00:30:37,911 Speaker 1: had told North to expect. 507 00:30:38,231 --> 00:30:42,471 Speaker 7: North confronted Gorbani Phar, and he made him tell us, 508 00:30:43,111 --> 00:30:47,151 Speaker 7: he goes, well, I basically, you know, exaggerated a little 509 00:30:47,151 --> 00:30:49,791 Speaker 7: bit in order to you know, get you guys here. 510 00:30:50,671 --> 00:30:51,711 Speaker 7: And we were appalled. 511 00:30:54,911 --> 00:30:58,071 Speaker 1: So began a standoff that would last three long days 512 00:30:59,151 --> 00:31:03,471 Speaker 1: over the course of several torturous meetings. McFarlane was uncompromising. 513 00:31:04,191 --> 00:31:06,991 Speaker 1: There would be no more weapons delivered to the Iranians 514 00:31:07,071 --> 00:31:09,271 Speaker 1: until the hostages in Beirut were free. 515 00:31:10,071 --> 00:31:14,031 Speaker 7: Farland was just fed up and believe that the appropriate 516 00:31:14,111 --> 00:31:16,791 Speaker 7: posture to take was you guys have misled us. You 517 00:31:16,871 --> 00:31:19,671 Speaker 7: did not deliver what you said. You could say whatever 518 00:31:19,671 --> 00:31:21,671 Speaker 7: you want about what we were going to do. What 519 00:31:21,751 --> 00:31:23,671 Speaker 7: Colonel North told or Bonnie faire we were going to do, 520 00:31:23,751 --> 00:31:26,271 Speaker 7: we did it. You didn't do what we were told 521 00:31:26,271 --> 00:31:27,631 Speaker 7: you're going to do. We're out of here. 522 00:31:28,951 --> 00:31:32,071 Speaker 1: Oliver North had a different read on the situation. He 523 00:31:32,151 --> 00:31:34,351 Speaker 1: thought there was still a chance for a positive outcome 524 00:31:34,591 --> 00:31:37,190 Speaker 1: despite the false pretenses that had brought both parties to 525 00:31:37,231 --> 00:31:40,751 Speaker 1: the table. He really wanted the deal to work. 526 00:31:41,351 --> 00:31:43,591 Speaker 7: He and where Bonnie Faarr had similar interest. Right, they 527 00:31:43,591 --> 00:31:47,111 Speaker 7: both wanted it to work. North was patient, right, he 528 00:31:47,151 --> 00:31:49,871 Speaker 7: had worked months to get to this point. You know, 529 00:31:49,951 --> 00:31:52,551 Speaker 7: it's like, let's give him a little more time. 530 00:31:55,831 --> 00:32:00,191 Speaker 1: But McFarlane's patience was running out. We'll be right back. 531 00:32:04,791 --> 00:32:09,231 Speaker 1: After three days of negotiation in Tehran Bud, McFarlane decided 532 00:32:09,271 --> 00:32:12,591 Speaker 1: the time to cut bait. He made arrangements for the 533 00:32:12,631 --> 00:32:15,591 Speaker 1: American delegation to be taken to the airport and back 534 00:32:15,631 --> 00:32:19,551 Speaker 1: to Tel Aviv. One of the Iranian officials MacFarlane had 535 00:32:19,551 --> 00:32:22,191 Speaker 1: been dealing with begged him to stay and work it out, 536 00:32:22,831 --> 00:32:26,591 Speaker 1: but McFarlane was firm, it's too late. He said, you're 537 00:32:26,631 --> 00:32:32,911 Speaker 1: not keeping the agreement. We are leaving. When the Americans 538 00:32:32,991 --> 00:32:35,951 Speaker 1: landed on the tarmac and Tel Aviv, North could tell 539 00:32:35,951 --> 00:32:40,031 Speaker 1: that MacFarlane was disappointed. According to North Spmoir, he tried 540 00:32:40,031 --> 00:32:43,431 Speaker 1: to cheer McFarlane up. Well, Bud, it's not a total loss. 541 00:32:43,511 --> 00:32:46,151 Speaker 1: North quotes himself saying part of the money from these 542 00:32:46,191 --> 00:32:50,351 Speaker 1: transactions is going to help the Nicaraguin resistance. McFarland would 543 00:32:50,431 --> 00:32:53,151 Speaker 1: later testify that the comment left him a little startled, 544 00:32:53,911 --> 00:32:55,871 Speaker 1: but as they made their way off the plane, he 545 00:32:55,911 --> 00:33:03,151 Speaker 1: did not ask North to elaborate. It's worth pausing here 546 00:33:03,231 --> 00:33:06,111 Speaker 1: to talk about that offhand comment Oliver North made on 547 00:33:06,151 --> 00:33:09,710 Speaker 1: the tarmac because the idea of taking money generated by 548 00:33:09,751 --> 00:33:12,031 Speaker 1: the ear Ran weapons sales and spending it on the 549 00:33:12,031 --> 00:33:15,431 Speaker 1: Contra war would end up becoming the single most explosive 550 00:33:15,471 --> 00:33:19,671 Speaker 1: aspect of the Iran Contra scandal. In fact, without it, 551 00:33:19,951 --> 00:33:23,631 Speaker 1: there wouldn't be an Iran Contra scandal. The money was 552 00:33:23,711 --> 00:33:27,711 Speaker 1: the thing that joined the two operations together. It came 553 00:33:27,751 --> 00:33:31,071 Speaker 1: to be known simply as the diversion, and there are 554 00:33:31,111 --> 00:33:34,471 Speaker 1: a few conflicting accounts of when and where the idea originated, 555 00:33:35,231 --> 00:33:38,071 Speaker 1: but according to Oliver North, it happened in January of 556 00:33:38,151 --> 00:33:43,391 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six, five months before the Tehran trip. In 557 00:33:43,511 --> 00:33:46,071 Speaker 1: North's version of the story, he was in London for 558 00:33:46,111 --> 00:33:48,991 Speaker 1: a meeting with Manuchair Gorbonifar aimed at getting the arms 559 00:33:48,991 --> 00:33:52,710 Speaker 1: for Hostages deal back on track. During that meeting, as 560 00:33:52,751 --> 00:33:56,551 Speaker 1: part of a private conversation in a hotel bathroom, Gorbonifar 561 00:33:56,591 --> 00:33:58,871 Speaker 1: suggested to North that he could use the profits from 562 00:33:58,871 --> 00:34:03,190 Speaker 1: the arm sales to fund the Contras. Gorbonifar made the 563 00:34:03,231 --> 00:34:06,111 Speaker 1: comment in an apparent effort to convince North that continuing 564 00:34:06,111 --> 00:34:09,071 Speaker 1: with the weapons sales would be worth the trouble, and 565 00:34:09,271 --> 00:34:12,710 Speaker 1: it worked. North was into it, and when he came 566 00:34:12,751 --> 00:34:14,951 Speaker 1: back to the United States he put the idea in 567 00:34:14,991 --> 00:34:16,151 Speaker 1: front of John Poindexter. 568 00:34:17,391 --> 00:34:22,431 Speaker 8: Ali suggested, since Dick was also running the logistics pipeline 569 00:34:22,471 --> 00:34:29,231 Speaker 8: to the Contras, that Dick used those excess profits to 570 00:34:29,270 --> 00:34:33,710 Speaker 8: provide funding for the Contra support program. Would you think 571 00:34:34,111 --> 00:34:35,191 Speaker 8: I thought it was a good idea. 572 00:34:37,351 --> 00:34:39,551 Speaker 1: You have to admit there's a certain elegance to it. 573 00:34:40,071 --> 00:34:44,270 Speaker 1: By combining their two covert operations, financially, the US would 574 00:34:44,270 --> 00:34:46,151 Speaker 1: be able to take money they weren't supposed to be 575 00:34:46,151 --> 00:34:48,831 Speaker 1: making in Iran and spend it on something they weren't 576 00:34:48,831 --> 00:34:51,071 Speaker 1: supposed to be spending it on, the Contra war. 577 00:34:51,951 --> 00:34:54,511 Speaker 8: I knew it was going to be controversial, but I 578 00:34:54,551 --> 00:34:57,911 Speaker 8: also didn't see anything illegal about it. It was not 579 00:34:58,190 --> 00:35:02,391 Speaker 8: US government money. The Defense Department was being paid exactly 580 00:35:02,431 --> 00:35:05,991 Speaker 8: what they asked for for the weapons, so that there 581 00:35:06,031 --> 00:35:09,671 Speaker 8: was no cost to the US government, and so I 582 00:35:09,671 --> 00:35:13,631 Speaker 8: thought it It was perfectly legal on the one hand. 583 00:35:13,871 --> 00:35:17,350 Speaker 8: But on the other hand, I knew the Democrats, if 584 00:35:17,391 --> 00:35:21,471 Speaker 8: they found out about it, would object and claim all 585 00:35:21,511 --> 00:35:25,551 Speaker 8: sorts of wild theories, which is typical of the Democrat Party. 586 00:35:26,151 --> 00:35:28,911 Speaker 1: Poindexter says this was why he made the decision not 587 00:35:28,991 --> 00:35:30,991 Speaker 1: to tell the President about the diversion. 588 00:35:31,391 --> 00:35:34,790 Speaker 8: I was very convinced the President would agree that it 589 00:35:34,871 --> 00:35:38,270 Speaker 8: was the right thing to do, but I thought it 590 00:35:38,311 --> 00:35:41,950 Speaker 8: was better to keep him out of that direct loop. 591 00:35:43,791 --> 00:35:46,830 Speaker 8: It was a judgment called on my part, and I 592 00:35:46,911 --> 00:35:51,350 Speaker 8: wanted to give the President some deniability of authorizing it. 593 00:35:53,111 --> 00:35:56,270 Speaker 1: In the end, investigators concluded that at least three point 594 00:35:56,391 --> 00:35:59,431 Speaker 1: six million dollars were diverted from the Iran weapons sales 595 00:35:59,431 --> 00:36:02,190 Speaker 1: to the Contras. It was a modest sum in the 596 00:36:02,190 --> 00:36:05,190 Speaker 1: grand scheme of things, But for Richard Seabord, who was 597 00:36:05,230 --> 00:36:08,671 Speaker 1: struggling to keep the Contra resupply operation going, it was 598 00:36:08,710 --> 00:36:10,870 Speaker 1: a welcome bit of additional funding at a time when 599 00:36:10,911 --> 00:36:14,990 Speaker 1: resources were running low. It was May of nineteen eighty six, 600 00:36:15,911 --> 00:36:18,711 Speaker 1: about a year had passed since Seacourt accepted the Contra 601 00:36:18,750 --> 00:36:23,510 Speaker 1: aid assignment, and he was getting fed up. One flight 602 00:36:23,551 --> 00:36:26,191 Speaker 1: to Nicaragua's southern border had ended with a plane getting 603 00:36:26,230 --> 00:36:29,471 Speaker 1: stuck in the mud. Another faltered due to unexpected fog, 604 00:36:29,710 --> 00:36:31,551 Speaker 1: which caused the pilot to clip the top of a 605 00:36:31,591 --> 00:36:34,991 Speaker 1: tree and knock out one of his plane's engines. The 606 00:36:35,031 --> 00:36:40,551 Speaker 1: operation needed more money, and soon, luckily, the Reagan White 607 00:36:40,551 --> 00:36:43,230 Speaker 1: House was gearing up to persuade Congress to lift the 608 00:36:43,230 --> 00:36:46,831 Speaker 1: Bowland Amendment and allow the administration to once again start 609 00:36:46,831 --> 00:36:47,871 Speaker 1: funding the Contras. 610 00:36:48,151 --> 00:36:51,151 Speaker 6: The issue is back aid for the contrast fighting the 611 00:36:51,190 --> 00:36:54,431 Speaker 6: Nicaraguan government. President Reagan reported he has decided that the 612 00:36:54,471 --> 00:36:57,671 Speaker 6: CIA should have day to day's supervision of the renewed 613 00:36:57,710 --> 00:37:00,190 Speaker 6: and widened, undeclared war against Nicaragua. 614 00:37:00,431 --> 00:37:03,471 Speaker 1: As John Poindexter wrote in a memo to NSC staff 615 00:37:03,511 --> 00:37:06,551 Speaker 1: in May of nineteen eighty six, the President is ready 616 00:37:06,551 --> 00:37:09,510 Speaker 1: to confront the Congress on the constitutional question of who 617 00:37:09,631 --> 00:37:11,111 Speaker 1: controlled foreign policy. 618 00:37:11,270 --> 00:37:14,511 Speaker 6: The President has thrown himself into this battle, claiming that 619 00:37:14,551 --> 00:37:17,351 Speaker 6: a defeat will mean the establishment of a Soviet military 620 00:37:17,351 --> 00:37:20,391 Speaker 6: beachhead within the defense perimeter of the United States. 621 00:37:21,391 --> 00:37:23,991 Speaker 1: More than a year had passed since Congress forced the 622 00:37:24,031 --> 00:37:28,071 Speaker 1: CIA to stop helping the Contras. In that time, the 623 00:37:28,111 --> 00:37:32,111 Speaker 1: situation in Nicaragua had changed. The Sandinista government had become 624 00:37:32,111 --> 00:37:37,591 Speaker 1: increasingly repressive against suspected Contra sympathizers. The Sandinistas also seemed 625 00:37:37,591 --> 00:37:40,750 Speaker 1: to be growing closer to the Soviet Union. President Don 626 00:37:40,791 --> 00:37:44,671 Speaker 1: yell Ortega had recently visited Moscow and the Nicaraguan army 627 00:37:44,831 --> 00:37:48,631 Speaker 1: was receiving Soviet made weapons. By the summer of nineteen 628 00:37:48,671 --> 00:37:51,591 Speaker 1: eighty six, Congress had become more receptive to the idea 629 00:37:51,631 --> 00:37:55,711 Speaker 1: of supporting the Contras. Sensing an opportunity, the administration asked 630 00:37:55,750 --> 00:37:58,230 Speaker 1: for one hundred million dollars in aid and the issue 631 00:37:58,230 --> 00:37:59,230 Speaker 1: went up for a vote. 632 00:37:59,511 --> 00:38:01,991 Speaker 6: The President's men feel aid to the Contras as a 633 00:38:02,031 --> 00:38:05,830 Speaker 6: top priority, and in the coming congressional battle, they'll use 634 00:38:05,871 --> 00:38:07,390 Speaker 6: every advantage they can. 635 00:38:08,031 --> 00:38:11,151 Speaker 1: The stakes for the Contras were high. If the US 636 00:38:11,270 --> 00:38:14,350 Speaker 1: pumped one hundred million dollars worth of guns, grenades, and 637 00:38:14,431 --> 00:38:17,271 Speaker 1: food to the rebels. It would be a huge boost 638 00:38:17,311 --> 00:38:21,390 Speaker 1: to the anti Sandinist to movement. Also, getting a green 639 00:38:21,471 --> 00:38:24,911 Speaker 1: light from Congress would mean the US Contra aid operation 640 00:38:25,031 --> 00:38:28,071 Speaker 1: could be taken over by the actual government again instead 641 00:38:28,071 --> 00:38:30,831 Speaker 1: of a network of private citizens recruited by Oliver North. 642 00:38:32,710 --> 00:38:35,391 Speaker 1: Just before Congress was set to vote, Reagan gave a 643 00:38:35,391 --> 00:38:38,631 Speaker 1: televised dress from the White House imploring Congress to back 644 00:38:38,671 --> 00:38:39,270 Speaker 1: the Contras. 645 00:38:40,791 --> 00:38:44,471 Speaker 12: My fellow citizens, Members of the House, let us not 646 00:38:44,591 --> 00:38:47,711 Speaker 12: take the path of least resistance in Central America again. 647 00:38:48,511 --> 00:38:51,151 Speaker 12: Let us keep faith with these brave people struggling for 648 00:38:51,190 --> 00:38:56,031 Speaker 12: their freedom. Give them, give me your support. Let us 649 00:38:56,071 --> 00:38:59,991 Speaker 12: send this message to the world that America is still 650 00:39:00,111 --> 00:39:05,631 Speaker 12: a beacon of hope, still alight under the nations. Thank you, God, 651 00:39:05,631 --> 00:39:06,031 Speaker 12: bless you. 652 00:39:08,951 --> 00:39:12,191 Speaker 1: On June twenty fifth, nineteen eighty six, the House voted 653 00:39:12,190 --> 00:39:13,271 Speaker 1: on the President's proposal. 654 00:39:13,511 --> 00:39:16,311 Speaker 6: The House of Representative has approved one hundred million dollars 655 00:39:16,351 --> 00:39:18,311 Speaker 6: in additional American aid for the Contras. 656 00:39:18,671 --> 00:39:21,231 Speaker 1: The aid package passed the House two hundred and twenty 657 00:39:21,230 --> 00:39:24,671 Speaker 1: one to two hundred and nine, with fifty one Democrats voting. 658 00:39:24,671 --> 00:39:25,430 Speaker 1: The President's way. 659 00:39:25,631 --> 00:39:28,551 Speaker 6: The vote was a political triumph for President Reagan. 660 00:39:28,671 --> 00:39:31,071 Speaker 1: The era of the Bowlan Amendment was coming to an end. 661 00:39:32,190 --> 00:39:35,671 Speaker 1: For Richard Seacord. That meant he could finally disentangle himself 662 00:39:35,710 --> 00:39:38,871 Speaker 1: from the mess in Central America. As soon as the 663 00:39:38,871 --> 00:39:41,790 Speaker 1: new funding was approved, sea Court started pushing for the 664 00:39:41,831 --> 00:39:45,551 Speaker 1: CIA to take over the resupply operation he had built. 665 00:39:45,871 --> 00:39:48,230 Speaker 1: How this handoff was supposed to work is a matter 666 00:39:48,270 --> 00:39:52,671 Speaker 1: of some disagreement. One of Seacord's associates testified before Congress 667 00:39:52,710 --> 00:39:55,750 Speaker 1: that Seacord wanted the CIA to buy his assets in 668 00:39:55,791 --> 00:39:59,191 Speaker 1: Central America. The assets were valued at around four million 669 00:39:59,270 --> 00:40:03,311 Speaker 1: dollars that consisted of five airplanes, an airstrip in Costa Rica, 670 00:40:03,391 --> 00:40:06,190 Speaker 1: and a ship. It was all stuff sea Court had 671 00:40:06,230 --> 00:40:09,230 Speaker 1: bought using money either donated to the Contract Cause or 672 00:40:09,311 --> 00:40:12,870 Speaker 1: generated through this sale of weapons to Iran. Seacord has 673 00:40:12,871 --> 00:40:15,671 Speaker 1: always held firm that he was desperate to hand everything 674 00:40:15,671 --> 00:40:18,871 Speaker 1: over to the CIA as soon as possible, free of charge. 675 00:40:19,591 --> 00:40:22,151 Speaker 4: We never proposed to sell it to see. I proposed 676 00:40:22,151 --> 00:40:25,310 Speaker 4: to give it to him. The bowl And Amendment was 677 00:40:25,351 --> 00:40:29,511 Speaker 4: repealed in the summer of eighty six. Time marches on 678 00:40:30,551 --> 00:40:34,111 Speaker 4: the CIA can't get their act together to take over 679 00:40:34,391 --> 00:40:38,591 Speaker 4: my operation. They were just dilly dow ain't around. They 680 00:40:38,631 --> 00:40:42,390 Speaker 4: could have if they wanted to, they really motivated, were 681 00:40:42,511 --> 00:40:45,671 Speaker 4: ordered to, they could have taken over my operation in 682 00:40:46,351 --> 00:40:47,031 Speaker 4: a day or two. 683 00:40:47,631 --> 00:40:50,190 Speaker 1: The reason Seacord sounds upset when he talks about this 684 00:40:50,471 --> 00:40:52,750 Speaker 1: is that he can still picture an alternate reality in 685 00:40:52,750 --> 00:40:55,710 Speaker 1: which the CIA did take over the contrary supply as 686 00:40:55,750 --> 00:40:59,750 Speaker 1: soon as Congress restored the AID, And in that alternate reality, 687 00:41:00,031 --> 00:41:03,111 Speaker 1: it's possible that Seacord and the White House could have 688 00:41:03,190 --> 00:41:04,591 Speaker 1: avoided what happened next. 689 00:41:06,151 --> 00:41:09,431 Speaker 6: Who is cargo plane carrying ammunition to the anti government 690 00:41:09,471 --> 00:41:13,551 Speaker 6: countries were shot down I inside Nicaraguay yesterday. 691 00:41:13,351 --> 00:41:16,870 Speaker 1: On the afternoon of October fifth, nineteen eighty six, a 692 00:41:16,911 --> 00:41:20,790 Speaker 1: young Sandinista soldier patrolling the jungles of southern Nicaragua looked 693 00:41:20,831 --> 00:41:22,951 Speaker 1: up at the sky and saw a plane covered in 694 00:41:22,951 --> 00:41:27,111 Speaker 1: camouflage paint. He raised his Essay seven rocket launcher, took 695 00:41:27,151 --> 00:41:30,991 Speaker 1: aim and fired. The plane went down in flames, killing 696 00:41:31,071 --> 00:41:34,511 Speaker 1: three of the four people aboard. The lone survivor was 697 00:41:34,551 --> 00:41:37,790 Speaker 1: taken prisoner by the Sandinistas, who quickly determined that he 698 00:41:37,831 --> 00:41:38,471 Speaker 1: was an American. 699 00:41:38,710 --> 00:41:41,710 Speaker 6: Market camera crews were taken to the crash site. They 700 00:41:41,750 --> 00:41:45,190 Speaker 6: were shown a loan survivor who was identified as Eugene Haw. 701 00:41:45,511 --> 00:41:49,071 Speaker 1: His name was Eugene Hasenfuss. He was forty five years 702 00:41:49,111 --> 00:41:51,151 Speaker 1: old and he was originally from Wisconsin. 703 00:41:51,270 --> 00:41:53,871 Speaker 3: The man captured by the Sandinista is it from Marinette, 704 00:41:53,871 --> 00:41:57,151 Speaker 3: Wisconsin and apparently joined the mercenary operation this summer. 705 00:41:57,431 --> 00:41:59,471 Speaker 1: Hassenphuss was paraded in front of reporters. 706 00:41:59,791 --> 00:42:02,431 Speaker 3: My name is Jeen Hausenfuss. 707 00:42:02,471 --> 00:42:04,950 Speaker 7: When I was captured. 708 00:42:04,750 --> 00:42:08,031 Speaker 1: Yesterday, Hassenfuss said that he had been delivering weapons to 709 00:42:08,031 --> 00:42:11,310 Speaker 1: the Contras as part of an operation overseen by US 710 00:42:11,351 --> 00:42:12,230 Speaker 1: government officials. 711 00:42:12,631 --> 00:42:15,591 Speaker 3: Eugene Hassenfuss said today he was paid three thousand dollars 712 00:42:15,591 --> 00:42:18,511 Speaker 3: a month to smuggle arms to the Nicaraguan control rebels. 713 00:42:18,791 --> 00:42:22,071 Speaker 1: The Reagan White House categorically denied that Hastenfuss had any 714 00:42:22,071 --> 00:42:25,870 Speaker 1: connection to the government. They maintained this stance even as 715 00:42:25,911 --> 00:42:29,511 Speaker 1: the Sandinistas charged Hastenfuss with terrorism and threatened him with 716 00:42:29,511 --> 00:42:35,270 Speaker 1: a thirty year prison sentence. As American journalists scrambled to 717 00:42:35,311 --> 00:42:39,111 Speaker 1: find out anything they could about Hassenfuss, the young parachute 718 00:42:39,151 --> 00:42:41,871 Speaker 1: rigger Ian Crawford received a phone call in his sewing 719 00:42:41,871 --> 00:42:43,671 Speaker 1: shop in Fayetteville, North Carolina. 720 00:42:44,190 --> 00:42:47,311 Speaker 9: I pick up the phone and the guy started asking 721 00:42:47,351 --> 00:42:51,151 Speaker 9: me all these questions about who I was, how I 722 00:42:51,230 --> 00:42:54,790 Speaker 9: had a connection to Eugene Haussenfuss, and such like that. 723 00:42:55,351 --> 00:42:57,271 Speaker 9: I ended up hanging up the phone. 724 00:42:57,591 --> 00:43:00,871 Speaker 1: Crawford had quit working for Richard Seacord's resupply operation just 725 00:43:00,951 --> 00:43:05,031 Speaker 1: a few months earlier. Crawford says Hassenpfuss had replaced him, 726 00:43:05,111 --> 00:43:07,671 Speaker 1: and as it turned out, he'd kept Crawford's business card 727 00:43:07,710 --> 00:43:12,151 Speaker 1: in his wallet. Soon more reporters tracked Crawford down, and 728 00:43:12,230 --> 00:43:14,351 Speaker 1: he came around to sharing with them what he knew. 729 00:43:15,031 --> 00:43:17,910 Speaker 9: I decided I was going to go ahead and tell 730 00:43:17,951 --> 00:43:19,031 Speaker 9: them my story. 731 00:43:19,391 --> 00:43:22,751 Speaker 3: Ian Crawford is a master parachute rigger, a former member 732 00:43:22,791 --> 00:43:25,431 Speaker 3: of Delta Force, and one of the first men hired 733 00:43:25,471 --> 00:43:28,151 Speaker 3: for the covert effort to fly guns to the Contras. 734 00:43:28,511 --> 00:43:31,830 Speaker 5: There were three individuals who I later recognized as being 735 00:43:32,431 --> 00:43:36,190 Speaker 5: Colonel North and Richard Seacourd, and a third member I 736 00:43:36,230 --> 00:43:37,350 Speaker 5: still haven't recognized. 737 00:43:39,591 --> 00:43:43,591 Speaker 1: The shootdown of Eugene Hasenphuss's plane had exposed Ronald Reagan's 738 00:43:43,631 --> 00:43:47,830 Speaker 1: secret war in Nicaragua again, and it had happened just 739 00:43:47,951 --> 00:43:50,911 Speaker 1: days before one hundred million dollars in federal aid money 740 00:43:51,111 --> 00:43:54,710 Speaker 1: was supposed to start flowing legally to the Contras. But 741 00:43:54,831 --> 00:43:57,671 Speaker 1: before the issue could provoke yet another round of debate 742 00:43:57,750 --> 00:44:02,431 Speaker 1: in Congress, something else happened. A month after the Hassenphuss crash, 743 00:44:03,031 --> 00:44:06,271 Speaker 1: one of the remaining American hostages in Beirut was released. 744 00:44:06,951 --> 00:44:11,471 Speaker 1: The very next day, a Lebanese magazine called Chirau published 745 00:44:11,511 --> 00:44:15,231 Speaker 1: a stunning article. It revealed that the US had sold 746 00:44:15,270 --> 00:44:19,111 Speaker 1: missiles to Iran and that former National Security Advisor Bud 747 00:44:19,190 --> 00:44:22,511 Speaker 1: McFarlane had recently traveled to Tehran as part of a 748 00:44:22,511 --> 00:44:23,431 Speaker 1: diplomatic mission. 749 00:44:23,871 --> 00:44:27,190 Speaker 3: In a bizarre tale worthy of a thriller, Robert McFarlane, 750 00:44:27,311 --> 00:44:31,151 Speaker 3: President Reagan's former national security advisor, recently made a secret 751 00:44:31,230 --> 00:44:32,151 Speaker 3: visit to Tayarai. 752 00:44:32,710 --> 00:44:36,230 Speaker 1: When American newspapers picked up the al Cherral report, they 753 00:44:36,270 --> 00:44:39,231 Speaker 1: made no mention of the Contra War, because at this point, 754 00:44:39,511 --> 00:44:42,111 Speaker 1: no one had any clue the two stories were connected. 755 00:44:42,991 --> 00:44:59,151 Speaker 1: That was about to change. Up Next on Fiasco, a 756 00:44:59,190 --> 00:45:02,830 Speaker 1: special bonus episode featuring two journalists, Martha Honey and her 757 00:45:02,911 --> 00:45:06,511 Speaker 1: husband Tony Avrigan, who found themselves in the crossfire of 758 00:45:06,551 --> 00:45:07,230 Speaker 1: the Contra War. 759 00:45:07,991 --> 00:45:11,031 Speaker 12: Anybody who had their mouth close that the moment of 760 00:45:11,111 --> 00:45:14,350 Speaker 12: glass went off had their ear drums punctured because of 761 00:45:14,391 --> 00:45:15,151 Speaker 12: the force. 762 00:45:16,190 --> 00:45:18,991 Speaker 1: For a list of books, articles and documentaries we used 763 00:45:19,031 --> 00:45:21,471 Speaker 1: in our research, follow the link in the show notes. 764 00:45:22,190 --> 00:45:25,431 Speaker 1: Fiasco is a production of Prolog Projects and it's distributed 765 00:45:25,431 --> 00:45:29,071 Speaker 1: by Pushkin Industries. The show is produced by Andrew Parsons, 766 00:45:29,151 --> 00:45:33,751 Speaker 1: Madeline kaplan Ula Culpa and me Leon Mayfock. Our editor 767 00:45:33,791 --> 00:45:37,710 Speaker 1: was Camilla Hammer. Our researcher was Francis Carr, with additional 768 00:45:37,831 --> 00:45:42,071 Speaker 1: archival research from Caitlin Nicholas. Our music is by Nick Sylvester. 769 00:45:42,591 --> 00:45:45,831 Speaker 1: Our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Our artwork is 770 00:45:45,831 --> 00:45:49,310 Speaker 1: by Teddy Blanks at Chips and y Audio, mixed by 771 00:45:49,351 --> 00:45:53,831 Speaker 1: Rob Buyers, Michael Rayfield and Johnny Vince Evans. Copyright council 772 00:45:53,911 --> 00:45:57,991 Speaker 1: provided by Peter Yassi at Yassi Butler PLC. Thanks to 773 00:45:58,031 --> 00:46:02,551 Speaker 1: Malcolm Byrne, Shane Harris, Kathy Hoyt, Richard Murphy, Paul Richter, 774 00:46:02,951 --> 00:46:06,471 Speaker 1: An Rowe, as well as Sam Graham Felsen, Sireya Shockley 775 00:46:06,710 --> 00:46:10,750 Speaker 1: and Katcha kum Kova. Special thanks to Luminary and thank 776 00:46:10,791 --> 00:46:27,511 Speaker 1: you for listening. Binge. The entire season of Fiasco Iran 777 00:46:27,591 --> 00:46:31,591 Speaker 1: Contra AD free by subscribing to Pushkin Plus. Sign up 778 00:46:31,631 --> 00:46:34,431 Speaker 1: on the Fiasco show page on Apple Podcasts, or at 779 00:46:34,471 --> 00:46:39,071 Speaker 1: pushkin dot fm slash Plus. Pushkin Plus subscribers can access 780 00:46:39,111 --> 00:46:43,351 Speaker 1: ad free episodes, full audiobooks, exclusive binges, and bonus content 781 00:46:43,431 --> 00:46:44,870 Speaker 1: for all pushkin podcasts