WEBVTT - Iran Contra: Episode 6 - Fault Lines 0:00:16.271 --> 0:00:33.071 Pushkin From the day the story broke in lebanon early November. 0:00:34.031 --> 0:00:41.231 All the possible outcomes and worsening scandal were immediately obvious, 0:00:41.311 --> 0:00:48.711 it seemed to me, and I reached the conclusion that 0:00:48.871 --> 0:00:53.150 at least if you can't turn things around, maybe you 0:00:53.311 --> 0:01:00.831 can atone and I won't develop for you the nature 0:01:00.911 --> 0:01:03.311 of depression and how it can worsen and lead to 0:01:03.351 --> 0:01:07.311 a cycle of decline. And yet that was what was happening. 0:01:08.511 --> 0:01:10.991 One of the most important figures in the Iran Contra affair, 0:01:11.111 --> 0:01:14.071 Robert McFarlan, is in a hospital tonight. The former National 0:01:14.151 --> 0:01:17.511 Security advisor apparently took an overdose of valium as an 0:01:17.551 --> 0:01:18.671 attempted suicide. 0:01:18.991 --> 0:01:22.031 It was shortly after seven am when Missus McFarland tried 0:01:22.071 --> 0:01:23.871 to rouse her husband and couldn't. 0:01:28.871 --> 0:01:32.511 In the months after the Iran Contra scandal broke, Bud 0:01:32.551 --> 0:01:35.271 McFarlane had felt a duty to take responsibility for it. 0:01:36.431 --> 0:01:39.311 McFarland believed he was the only one in Reagan's inner 0:01:39.311 --> 0:01:42.191 circle who could have stopped the arms for Hostages initiative, 0:01:43.151 --> 0:01:47.911 and he had failed. Still, McFarland had maintained hope that 0:01:47.951 --> 0:01:51.631 the administration could set the scandal aside and recommit itself 0:01:51.671 --> 0:01:56.071 to its foreign policy ambitions. If McFarlane could help his 0:01:56.111 --> 0:01:59.231 former colleagues in the White House make that happen, maybe 0:01:59.271 --> 0:02:00.191 he could set things right. 0:02:00.551 --> 0:02:06.031 Yeah, I still had this foolish I think believe that 0:02:06.751 --> 0:02:09.590 we shouldn't close down the government with a scandal in 0:02:09.671 --> 0:02:13.431 pre occupation with it when you had other things that 0:02:13.550 --> 0:02:14.831 still needed to be done. 0:02:15.591 --> 0:02:18.351 So McFarland wrote down the policy goals he thought the 0:02:18.351 --> 0:02:20.071 administration could still pursue. 0:02:20.591 --> 0:02:23.191 The President had achieved quite a lot, that is, he 0:02:23.311 --> 0:02:27.270 had teed up opportunities that were enormous, and I wrote 0:02:27.271 --> 0:02:32.591 down what ought to be done in four areas where 0:02:32.631 --> 0:02:35.791 we would be taking an initiative of importance to our country. 0:02:36.791 --> 0:02:39.431 When he was finished, McFarlane says that he submitted the 0:02:39.431 --> 0:02:42.031 memo to the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary 0:02:42.071 --> 0:02:42.431 of State. 0:02:43.191 --> 0:02:46.231 But I didn't even get an answer. One of the 0:02:46.431 --> 0:02:49.671 three did. I'd forgotten who it was, But I had 0:02:49.951 --> 0:02:52.431 no signal that any of it was being considered. 0:02:52.511 --> 0:02:52.911 And so. 0:02:54.431 --> 0:02:56.631 To me, that was kind of a moment of truth 0:02:56.791 --> 0:03:03.311 that your best efforts have failed. You have exhausted all 0:03:03.471 --> 0:03:09.751 possible recourse for salvaging the considerable gains that could be 0:03:09.791 --> 0:03:12.911 made aid and under President Reagan's leadership. 0:03:13.711 --> 0:03:16.951 When McFarland saw that his memo was being ignored, he 0:03:17.031 --> 0:03:19.951 became convinced that the promise of the Reagan administration had 0:03:19.991 --> 0:03:25.151 been truly squandered and that it was partly his fault. Later, 0:03:25.511 --> 0:03:28.071 McFarland explained his decision to try to take his own 0:03:28.111 --> 0:03:32.191 life by invoking the Japanese ritual of seppuku, a form 0:03:32.231 --> 0:03:35.351 of suicide practiced by disgraced samurai who wanted to restore 0:03:35.351 --> 0:03:36.391 honor to their families. 0:03:37.031 --> 0:03:40.671 It was foolish looking back, but no, it has a 0:03:40.711 --> 0:03:46.231 tradition in the Far East, and it's just more comment 0:03:46.351 --> 0:03:48.711 on how deep the depression had become. 0:03:51.911 --> 0:03:56.231 Around midnight on February eighth, nineteen eighty seven, Bud McFarland 0:03:56.271 --> 0:03:59.991 swallowed roughly thirty volume tablets. When his wife woke up 0:03:59.991 --> 0:04:02.511 the next morning, she saw that something was wrong and 0:04:02.551 --> 0:04:03.351 called an ambulance. 0:04:03.511 --> 0:04:06.351 Missus McFarland was clutching a note from her husband, which 0:04:06.391 --> 0:04:08.071 she refused to show to the medics. 0:04:08.191 --> 0:04:10.951 McFarlan has come under increasing strong as the Iran a 0:04:11.071 --> 0:04:11.711 fair defense. 0:04:13.311 --> 0:04:16.270 McFarlane, who was forty nine years old, was taken to 0:04:16.311 --> 0:04:25.190 a nearby naval hospital to recover. News of McFarland's suicide 0:04:25.190 --> 0:04:28.751 attempt came as multiple investigations into Iran Contra were lurching 0:04:28.791 --> 0:04:29.351 to life. 0:04:29.551 --> 0:04:33.950 The nation's one hundredth Congress convened today clearly preoccupied with 0:04:33.991 --> 0:04:35.431 the Iran Contra crisis. 0:04:35.471 --> 0:04:37.671 The House and the Senate had both formed committees to 0:04:37.671 --> 0:04:40.270 look into the matter, and they were preparing for public hearings. 0:04:40.631 --> 0:04:43.511 After a long debate, the Senate finally approved a resolution 0:04:43.711 --> 0:04:46.991 authorizing a bipartisan committee to investigate. 0:04:46.551 --> 0:04:50.711 Adopted overwhelmingly bipartisanly by a margin of four hundred and. 0:04:50.631 --> 0:04:51.351 Sixteen to two. 0:04:51.471 --> 0:04:54.031 The House also established its Select Committee. 0:04:54.151 --> 0:04:57.591 While Congress set its inquiry in motion, prosecutors working in 0:04:57.591 --> 0:05:01.071 the Office of the Independent Council were undertaking a separate investigation. 0:05:01.271 --> 0:05:04.511 Lawrence Walsh, a former judge and former Deputy Attorney General, 0:05:04.911 --> 0:05:07.111 demand to search for any criminal wrongdoing. 0:05:07.671 --> 0:05:11.271 Unlike Congress, the Independent Council was pursuing a criminal probe 0:05:11.711 --> 0:05:14.271 intended to identify any illegal acts that may have been 0:05:14.311 --> 0:05:15.991 committed as part of Iran contract. 0:05:16.071 --> 0:05:19.591 I think that we have a statutory basis to believe 0:05:19.671 --> 0:05:22.511 that a federal law may have been violated. 0:05:22.431 --> 0:05:25.271 And then there was the Tower Commission, a three person 0:05:25.311 --> 0:05:27.991 panel appointed by the President that included a former national 0:05:27.991 --> 0:05:30.271 security advisor and two former senators. 0:05:30.591 --> 0:05:34.671 Former Texas Senator John Tower, former National Security Advisor Brent Scolcroft, 0:05:34.791 --> 0:05:37.191 and former Secretary of State Edmund Muski are. 0:05:37.151 --> 0:05:37.871 The other members. 0:05:38.071 --> 0:05:40.471 Their job was to find out what had gone wrong 0:05:40.551 --> 0:05:42.991 in the White House and then share their findings with 0:05:43.071 --> 0:05:46.311 the public. The Tower Commission was most focused on the 0:05:46.391 --> 0:05:47.711 National Security Council. 0:05:47.871 --> 0:05:51.751 The panel reportably has expanded its investigation to include possible 0:05:51.791 --> 0:05:53.351 attempts to cover up the scandal. 0:05:54.791 --> 0:05:58.390 Looking back, it's no surprise McFarland's foreign policy memo didn't 0:05:58.391 --> 0:06:02.551 get more attention. Reagan was under siege and the notion 0:06:02.591 --> 0:06:04.431 that he could just set the scandal aside and get 0:06:04.431 --> 0:06:09.751 back to business was wishful thinking. As Congress prepared to 0:06:09.751 --> 0:06:14.431 hold hearings, the American public wanted answers. What had the 0:06:14.431 --> 0:06:17.551 President known about Iran Contra, when did he know it? 0:06:18.031 --> 0:06:21.190 And had he lied to cover it up. I'm Leon 0:06:21.271 --> 0:06:26.351 Nafok from Prolog Projects and Pushkin Industries. This is fiasco 0:06:26.671 --> 0:06:27.510 Iran contract. 0:06:27.551 --> 0:06:31.151 The full story of the Iran Contra affair begins to 0:06:31.311 --> 0:06:33.111 unfold for all of us to see. 0:06:33.031 --> 0:06:34.231 Colonel lath please rise. 0:06:34.311 --> 0:06:37.070 Oliver North has become the hottest tickets in town. 0:06:37.191 --> 0:06:39.271 The man's become an instant celebrity. 0:06:39.431 --> 0:06:44.150 I mispled the Congress secrecy, deception, and disdain for the law. 0:06:44.431 --> 0:06:47.070 We were shocked. To this day, I'm shocked. 0:06:47.391 --> 0:06:51.150 Millions of Americans have a nagging suspicion that the truth 0:06:51.271 --> 0:06:52.431 has not yet come out. 0:06:54.311 --> 0:06:59.311 Episode six fault Lines, The Iran Contra goes on trial 0:06:59.751 --> 0:07:02.871 as each of its principal architects takes a turn fielding 0:07:02.951 --> 0:07:16.351 the blame. We'll be right back, Bud. McFarlane ended up 0:07:16.351 --> 0:07:20.071 spending about two weeks in the hospital. During his recovery, 0:07:20.111 --> 0:07:24.111 he received several notable visits. One was from former President 0:07:24.191 --> 0:07:28.511 Richard Nixon, who gave McFarland advice on overcoming adversity and 0:07:28.591 --> 0:07:32.591 living with one's mistakes. McFarland was also visited by the 0:07:32.591 --> 0:07:35.591 three members of the Tower Commission, who interviewed him in 0:07:35.591 --> 0:07:39.271 his hospital room for more than six hours. They were 0:07:39.311 --> 0:07:42.431 particularly interested in whether Reagan had pre approved the very 0:07:42.471 --> 0:07:48.311 first arm sales to Iran. McFarlane told them he had. 0:07:48.671 --> 0:07:51.511 Just a few days later, the Tower Commission released its 0:07:51.551 --> 0:07:55.071 report on Iran Contra, It was more than three hundred 0:07:55.071 --> 0:07:58.671 pages long, and its conclusions were not flattering to the president. 0:07:59.511 --> 0:08:03.391 The Special Review Board has completed its work, but it 0:08:03.471 --> 0:08:05.791 might be helpful to give you the highlights of this 0:08:06.191 --> 0:08:07.991 rather lengthy report to the president. 0:08:08.551 --> 0:08:11.711 At a press conference, the commission's chairman and namesake, John 0:08:11.791 --> 0:08:16.231 Tower detailed the president's failings as a manager. Though most 0:08:16.231 --> 0:08:18.791 of the bad ideas had come from Reagan's subordinates, Tower 0:08:18.831 --> 0:08:21.311 said it was his job to watch what they were 0:08:21.351 --> 0:08:22.351 doing and rain them in. 0:08:22.911 --> 0:08:25.951 Now you can say that perhaps this president holds himself 0:08:25.951 --> 0:08:29.071 a little bit too aloof from the implementation of policy. 0:08:29.551 --> 0:08:33.111 But one thing is very very clear that members of 0:08:33.151 --> 0:08:35.310 the system who were privied of what was going on 0:08:35.790 --> 0:08:40.030 failed to the president because the president clearly didn't understand. 0:08:40.111 --> 0:08:43.191 And the President of the United States is described here 0:08:43.310 --> 0:08:45.550 generally as a man who just simply was not very 0:08:45.631 --> 0:08:49.151 much in control of the foreign policy apparatus of his administration. 0:08:49.590 --> 0:08:52.871 The Tower report would not be the final verdict underran contract. 0:08:53.391 --> 0:08:56.190 There were still congressional hearings ahead, as well as potential 0:08:56.231 --> 0:08:59.871 indictments coming out of the Independent Council's Office, but for 0:08:59.910 --> 0:09:03.670 the time being, the report spoke loudly here was a 0:09:03.670 --> 0:09:06.631 panel created by the President, and the best thing they 0:09:06.670 --> 0:09:08.831 could say about him was that he was out to lunch. 0:09:13.950 --> 0:09:17.711 This is an NBCU special President Reagan's response to the 0:09:17.710 --> 0:09:21.790 Tower Commission report. I. 0:09:22.030 --> 0:09:25.231 Fellow Americans, I've spoken to you from this historic office 0:09:25.231 --> 0:09:27.190 on many occasions and about many things. 0:09:27.790 --> 0:09:31.910 On March fourth, nineteen eighty seven, Reagan delivered a primetime 0:09:31.950 --> 0:09:34.391 speech in response to the Tower Board's findings. 0:09:34.710 --> 0:09:37.111 For the past three months, I've been silent on the 0:09:37.151 --> 0:09:40.271 revelations about Iran, and you must have been thinking of 0:09:40.550 --> 0:09:43.311 why doesn't he tell us what's happening. But I've had 0:09:43.351 --> 0:09:45.871 to wait, as you have, for the complete story. 0:09:46.590 --> 0:09:50.711 Reagan called the Tower report honest, convincing, and highly critical. 0:09:51.590 --> 0:09:54.231 Then he referred back to his first public statements about 0:09:54.271 --> 0:09:57.030 the scandal, it admitted that they had been inaccurate. 0:09:57.351 --> 0:09:59.670 A few months ago, I told the American people, I 0:09:59.751 --> 0:10:03.311 did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my 0:10:03.391 --> 0:10:06.790 best intentions still tell me that's true. But the facts 0:10:06.871 --> 0:10:10.631 and the evidence tell me it is. Not reasons why 0:10:10.670 --> 0:10:14.391 it happened, but no excuses. It was a mistake. 0:10:15.070 --> 0:10:18.831 But the time for candid self reflection had passed. As 0:10:18.910 --> 0:10:20.830 much as Reagan may have wanted to move on from 0:10:20.830 --> 0:10:24.631 Iran Contra. The scrutiny was only going to intensify as 0:10:24.670 --> 0:10:26.711 Congress prepared for televised hearings. 0:10:27.151 --> 0:10:29.710 The public and the press wanted to know what the 0:10:29.790 --> 0:10:33.590 hell happened, how high it went, who was responsible for it, 0:10:34.111 --> 0:10:36.190 and was there anything that we didn't know. 0:10:36.950 --> 0:10:40.190 This is John Neilds. He's a former prosecutor who was 0:10:40.310 --> 0:10:43.070 hired by House Democrats as chief counsel to lead their 0:10:43.070 --> 0:10:45.630 investigation and question witnesses during the hearings. 0:10:46.070 --> 0:10:49.231 Our job was to tell the story in a way 0:10:49.271 --> 0:10:53.271 that people could figure out for themselves what things were wrong, 0:10:53.790 --> 0:10:56.990 what things were arguably wrong and arguably right, and what 0:10:57.030 --> 0:10:57.831 things were fine. 0:10:58.391 --> 0:11:01.271 It's important to note that these were not impeachment hearings. 0:11:02.351 --> 0:11:05.231 Neilds was convinced it was highly unlikely that Congress would 0:11:05.231 --> 0:11:08.831 ever take that step. Reagan was too popular and his 0:11:08.910 --> 0:11:13.471 second term was almost up anyway. Also, Neilds thought it 0:11:13.511 --> 0:11:16.990 was pretty clear that whatever Reagan did, his intentions had 0:11:17.030 --> 0:11:21.711 not been malevolent. There was one circumstance in which Congress 0:11:21.830 --> 0:11:25.910 might consider impeachment. According to Neilds, the ranking Republican on 0:11:25.950 --> 0:11:29.111 the committee, Warren Rudman, took the view that impeachment would 0:11:29.111 --> 0:11:32.550 only be appropriate if Reagan had personally authorized the diversion. 0:11:33.430 --> 0:11:37.071 He made it the only issue on which Reagan could 0:11:37.111 --> 0:11:40.110 be impeached. He really wanted to find out as soon 0:11:40.151 --> 0:11:43.550 as possible the facts that, in his mind would answer 0:11:43.631 --> 0:11:46.351 the question, is anything impeachable happened here? 0:11:46.790 --> 0:11:50.351 And this survey finds that public skepticism is now very deep, 0:11:50.550 --> 0:11:53.951 and forty one percent think that President Reagan should resign 0:11:54.351 --> 0:11:56.391 if it turns out he knew that money was being 0:11:56.391 --> 0:11:58.951 diverted to the Nicaraguan contras. 0:11:59.310 --> 0:12:02.111 But as Neil saw it, the diversion, the hyphen at 0:12:02.151 --> 0:12:05.230 the center of Iran contra was only a shiny object, 0:12:05.991 --> 0:12:08.190 a diversion, you might say, from everything else that was 0:12:08.231 --> 0:12:11.631 wrong with the Iran weapons program and the country war individually. 0:12:12.190 --> 0:12:16.871 Knowing whether the president was responsible for the diversion was 0:12:16.910 --> 0:12:21.631 probably the most exciting question that we had to deal with. 0:12:22.151 --> 0:12:24.431 I don't think it has an awful lot to do 0:12:25.670 --> 0:12:30.870 with answering the question of whether this was a shocking 0:12:31.030 --> 0:12:36.670 and really serious a breakdown in the way our government functioned. 0:12:37.751 --> 0:12:39.271 That's what I thought this was about. 0:12:39.751 --> 0:12:44.511 Millions of Americans have a nagging suspicion that the truth 0:12:44.631 --> 0:12:46.030 has not yet come out. 0:12:46.271 --> 0:12:50.191 Three branches must be involved in the governing of the 0:12:50.231 --> 0:12:53.871 people of this country, and when one branch goes all 0:12:54.391 --> 0:12:59.351 wild without even including consultation with the other branches, that 0:12:59.830 --> 0:13:00.990 spells trouble. 0:13:07.471 --> 0:13:11.070 It's hard to overstate how huge an undertake these hearings were. 0:13:11.830 --> 0:13:15.551 Before Congress could publicly question a single witness, Meals and 0:13:15.550 --> 0:13:19.310 his team of investigators had to obtain documents, take depositions, 0:13:19.430 --> 0:13:23.151 and figure out which leads to pursue. That meant probing 0:13:23.310 --> 0:13:27.751 multiple government agencies, including the National Security Council, the State Department, 0:13:27.830 --> 0:13:30.831 the Pentagon, the Justice Department, and the White House itself. 0:13:31.830 --> 0:13:35.190 Then there was the international angle. The Nicaraguin thread alone 0:13:35.231 --> 0:13:37.670 involved members of the Contras who were based in Honduras 0:13:37.751 --> 0:13:41.030 and Costa Rica. On the Iran side of things, the 0:13:41.111 --> 0:13:43.950 investigators would have to make contact with Middle Eastern arms 0:13:43.950 --> 0:13:47.591 dealers and Israeli diplomats. It was hard to say where 0:13:47.590 --> 0:13:50.670 the trail would take them, but even in the simplest scenario, 0:13:51.151 --> 0:13:53.030 Meals and his colleagues were going to have to trace 0:13:53.070 --> 0:13:56.110 millions of dollars moving through a maze of Swiss bank accounts, 0:13:56.310 --> 0:13:57.991 shell companies, and foreign countries. 0:13:58.351 --> 0:14:00.991 The Senate, so like Comeree voted today to order General 0:14:01.070 --> 0:14:04.790 Richard Seacourt to disclose records of Swiss bank accounts he holds. 0:14:04.950 --> 0:14:07.830 See what happened to the money, who set the accounts up, 0:14:08.030 --> 0:14:10.151 who had access to the accounts, how much more when 0:14:10.151 --> 0:14:11.871 it was in the accounts, and where do the money 0:14:11.950 --> 0:14:12.751 go now? 0:14:12.991 --> 0:14:16.710 This was a set of issues that if I had 0:14:16.751 --> 0:14:20.311 been in an assistant US attorney, as I had been 0:14:20.431 --> 0:14:22.551 previously in my life, I would have looked at this 0:14:22.590 --> 0:14:25.471 as a one or two year investigation before you could 0:14:25.751 --> 0:14:29.391 say you've done your job. And it was very clear 0:14:29.671 --> 0:14:32.311 that we were only going to have a matter of months. 0:14:33.071 --> 0:14:35.711 The time crunch was the result of a compromise between 0:14:35.751 --> 0:14:40.031 Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress. As you might imagine, 0:14:40.111 --> 0:14:42.830 Republicans wanted to get the hearings over and done with 0:14:42.991 --> 0:14:46.791 as quickly as possible, while Democrats argued for letting them 0:14:46.791 --> 0:14:50.031 go on as long as they needed to. Hanging over 0:14:50.111 --> 0:14:54.071 this procedural debate was the upcoming presidential election, in which 0:14:54.151 --> 0:14:57.830 Ronald Reagan's vice President, George H. W. Bush was expected 0:14:57.871 --> 0:15:01.151 to run. In the end, it was decided that Congress 0:15:01.191 --> 0:15:04.631 would have until August to get through the hearings. Here 0:15:04.710 --> 0:15:07.471 is Pam Nonton, who worked on the House investigation with 0:15:07.551 --> 0:15:08.230 John Nields. 0:15:09.191 --> 0:15:14.311 It did make more difficult because when you put an 0:15:14.391 --> 0:15:16.830 end date on the investigation before you've even begun it, 0:15:17.111 --> 0:15:18.751 how in the world do you know how long it 0:15:18.791 --> 0:15:21.271 will take. It may take less than that, may take 0:15:21.271 --> 0:15:23.870 more than that. You go where the evidence leads, you 0:15:23.911 --> 0:15:24.671 don't just stop. 0:15:25.111 --> 0:15:27.831 The team divided the case up into silos and assigned 0:15:27.911 --> 0:15:31.551 investigators to each one. Notton, for instance, was put on 0:15:31.551 --> 0:15:34.071 the Department of Justice, which meant she was looking into 0:15:34.111 --> 0:15:36.191 the weekend fact finding mission you heard about in our 0:15:36.191 --> 0:15:37.150 previous episode. 0:15:37.830 --> 0:15:41.471 I mean, obviously I was there to investigate what the 0:15:41.551 --> 0:15:46.471 Attorney General did when this first broke his quote unquote 0:15:46.471 --> 0:15:50.271 investigation to you know, get their quote get their arms 0:15:50.271 --> 0:15:55.350 around the facts, but also the broader issue of what 0:15:55.391 --> 0:15:58.791 did the Department of Justice know about the arms sale? 0:16:00.391 --> 0:16:03.791 So it was sort of a wide swath of things 0:16:03.951 --> 0:16:07.111 because it involved different divisions of the department. 0:16:09.871 --> 0:16:13.311 The clock ticked, Nilds and his team encountered an obstacle 0:16:13.391 --> 0:16:16.591 that was no less daunting than their deadline. Their two 0:16:16.710 --> 0:16:20.071 would be star witnesses, Oliver North and his supervisor John 0:16:20.111 --> 0:16:24.431 Poindexter were going to plead the Fifth North and Poindexter 0:16:24.511 --> 0:16:27.791 would refuse to testify at the hearings unless Congress gave 0:16:27.830 --> 0:16:32.591 them immunity. That meant guaranteeing that North and Poindexter's words 0:16:32.590 --> 0:16:34.911 would not be used against them in a criminal inquiry. 0:16:36.191 --> 0:16:38.831 The situation put Neilds and his team on a collision 0:16:38.830 --> 0:16:42.431 course with the other big Iran contraprobe in Town, the 0:16:42.471 --> 0:16:44.551 Independent Council, Lawrence Walsh. 0:16:44.791 --> 0:16:47.551 In a strongly worded letter accompanied by a legal memo, 0:16:47.871 --> 0:16:50.911 Walsh urges the House Committee not to grant witnesses immunity 0:16:51.031 --> 0:16:54.110 until after his work is done. To do so, he writes, 0:16:54.151 --> 0:16:57.991 would quote create serious and perhaps insurmountable barriers to the 0:16:57.991 --> 0:16:59.311 prosecution of the witnesses. 0:16:59.671 --> 0:17:02.911 Walsh's mandate was to identify any criminal wrongdoing that may 0:17:02.951 --> 0:17:06.271 have occurred as part of Iran Contra. That was why 0:17:06.431 --> 0:17:09.591 North and Poindexter wanted immunity. If they could get it, 0:17:10.111 --> 0:17:12.191 nothing they said to Congress could be used against them 0:17:12.191 --> 0:17:13.351 in an indictment. 0:17:13.191 --> 0:17:15.511 And that the prosecution would have to prove its case 0:17:15.630 --> 0:17:16.951 was based on other information. 0:17:17.431 --> 0:17:21.031 As a former prosecutor, John Neilds understood how much harder 0:17:21.031 --> 0:17:23.910 that would make it for Walsh to build cases, but 0:17:23.991 --> 0:17:26.110 in the end he supported the grant of immunity. 0:17:27.511 --> 0:17:29.951 I felt conflicted. I knew that something good was going 0:17:29.991 --> 0:17:32.951 to come out of it, which was what I thought 0:17:33.031 --> 0:17:35.350 was the more important good, which is the public is 0:17:35.390 --> 0:17:37.031 going to learn everything. 0:17:37.271 --> 0:17:40.630 The Congressional committee's investigating the scandal formally approved a plan 0:17:40.791 --> 0:17:43.830 for a limited immunity for these two men, John Poindexter 0:17:43.951 --> 0:17:44.590 and Oliver. 0:17:44.431 --> 0:17:54.591 North, and here on Capitol Hill today, after months of expectation, 0:17:55.031 --> 0:17:58.710 the full story of the Iran Contra affair begins to 0:17:58.870 --> 0:18:00.511 unfold for all of us to see. 0:18:00.671 --> 0:18:04.231 The Iran contray hearings opened on May fifth, nineteen eighty seven, 0:18:04.870 --> 0:18:07.311 a little more than six months after the scandal broke. 0:18:08.471 --> 0:18:11.190 They were run by a joint committee, meaning the House 0:18:11.271 --> 0:18:14.191 and the Senate were combining their investigations so that witnesses 0:18:14.231 --> 0:18:15.710 wouldn't have to testify twice. 0:18:16.471 --> 0:18:19.590 The joint hearings of the House Select Committee to Investigate 0:18:19.630 --> 0:18:24.351 Covert Arms Transaction with Iran and the Senate Select Committee 0:18:24.390 --> 0:18:28.190 on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition 0:18:29.191 --> 0:18:30.151 will come to order. 0:18:30.551 --> 0:18:33.630 The first witness would be retired Major General Richard Seacord, 0:18:34.071 --> 0:18:36.711 who had overseen logistics for both the Contra war and 0:18:36.751 --> 0:18:38.430 the Iran weapons program. 0:18:38.431 --> 0:18:40.750 A key figure who has not been heard from before, 0:18:41.311 --> 0:18:43.910 began to tell the committees of his own involvement in 0:18:43.991 --> 0:18:47.230 sending arms to Iran and in helping the countries in 0:18:47.271 --> 0:18:48.150 Central Americas. 0:18:48.630 --> 0:18:51.590 Seacord did not demand immunity in exchange for his testimony. 0:18:52.791 --> 0:18:54.950 He insisted that his involvement was that of a private 0:18:54.991 --> 0:18:58.510 citizen and a businessman. He told the committee about how 0:18:58.551 --> 0:19:01.190 his operation had worked and said he thought he was 0:19:01.311 --> 0:19:02.911 just carrying out the president's policy. 0:19:03.191 --> 0:19:07.231 The president has certain rights in the foreign policy area. 0:19:07.271 --> 0:19:12.511 I never saw myself as being foreign policy operative. 0:19:13.951 --> 0:19:15.510 You saw nothing wrong with this operation. 0:19:15.751 --> 0:19:17.271 I did not see anything wrong with it. 0:19:17.311 --> 0:19:20.951 Then, Seacord seemed sensitive to suggestions that he had only 0:19:20.951 --> 0:19:23.031 gotten involved in ron Contra to make money. 0:19:23.311 --> 0:19:29.591 There was no intention of profiteerian. I know that some 0:19:29.630 --> 0:19:31.870 people were tossing this word around right now, and I 0:19:31.911 --> 0:19:32.431 resent it. 0:19:33.110 --> 0:19:35.870 If Seacord wasn't doing all this for profit, why wouldn't 0:19:35.911 --> 0:19:38.231 he turnover records of his Swiss bank accounts. 0:19:38.311 --> 0:19:40.551 I relied on the advice of my accounsel. Let's get 0:19:40.551 --> 0:19:41.231 off the subject. 0:19:42.711 --> 0:19:43.830 You're making the rulings. 0:19:44.311 --> 0:19:46.671 No, sir, but I did not come here. 0:19:46.511 --> 0:19:47.110 To be badger. 0:19:51.390 --> 0:19:54.231 Seacord's testimony set the tone for the rest of the hearings. 0:19:54.991 --> 0:19:56.711 Bud McFarland testified next. 0:19:56.991 --> 0:20:01.630 Our witness this morning is mister Robert Carl McFarlane, the 0:20:01.791 --> 0:20:04.551 former National Security Advisor to the President. 0:20:04.870 --> 0:20:08.230 When McFarland was asked about Oliver North's destruction of documents, 0:20:08.630 --> 0:20:11.711 the term shredding party was introduced into the national lexicon. 0:20:12.390 --> 0:20:16.791 Colonel North tell you when the car that there was 0:20:16.991 --> 0:20:20.350 going to be a shredding party that weekend. 0:20:21.231 --> 0:20:27.391 Well, just that there had to be one, the attorney. 0:20:27.431 --> 0:20:30.190 By the end of May nineteen eighty seven, the Iran 0:20:30.271 --> 0:20:34.190 contry hearings were becoming a national obsession. This is a 0:20:34.191 --> 0:20:36.791 song from a late night Cinemax show called This Week 0:20:36.911 --> 0:20:40.031 Indoors Document. 0:20:40.751 --> 0:20:41.630 Peoples Have Not. 0:20:43.390 --> 0:20:46.991 As the hearings continued, the witnesses just kept getting more exciting. 0:20:47.870 --> 0:20:51.670 About a month then America met Oliver North's personal secretary, 0:20:52.031 --> 0:20:52.631 Fawn Hall. 0:20:52.751 --> 0:20:54.671 She is twenty seven years old. She went to high 0:20:54.711 --> 0:20:57.390 school in Virginia and then on to finishing school and 0:20:57.471 --> 0:20:58.751 of course in modeling. 0:20:59.191 --> 0:21:02.670 Hall is blonde and striking. As it turned out, she 0:21:02.751 --> 0:21:03.551 was a former model. 0:21:04.110 --> 0:21:07.311 Fawn Hall's appearance on Capitol Hill was a media event. 0:21:07.671 --> 0:21:10.230 She was surrounded by cameras and security men. 0:21:10.511 --> 0:21:12.791 Paul read an opening statement, making as clear as she 0:21:12.830 --> 0:21:15.271 could that despite her looks, she is not just a 0:21:15.311 --> 0:21:16.311 pretty face. 0:21:16.551 --> 0:21:18.751 And perform my duties in exemplary manner. 0:21:19.231 --> 0:21:20.151 I can type. 0:21:20.431 --> 0:21:23.391 That last, of course, a reference to congressional sex scandals 0:21:23.431 --> 0:21:26.630 involving secretaries who admitted they could not type. 0:21:26.671 --> 0:21:29.190 Hall's looks were not the only reason people were anticipating 0:21:29.191 --> 0:21:31.911 her testimony. They also wanted to know about the so 0:21:31.991 --> 0:21:35.071 called shredding party that she and North allegedly collaborated on 0:21:35.191 --> 0:21:36.551 after the Iran scandal broke. 0:21:36.951 --> 0:21:40.830 Fawn Hall told how she altered and shredded key documents 0:21:41.110 --> 0:21:43.951 a secretary to Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North at the White. 0:21:43.791 --> 0:21:48.511 House, and as he pulled documents from each dower and 0:21:48.551 --> 0:21:50.471 placed on top of the shredder, I inserted them into 0:21:50.511 --> 0:21:50.991 the shredder. 0:21:51.511 --> 0:21:54.630 Hall also testified to sneaking documents out of North's office 0:21:54.711 --> 0:21:56.031 by stuffing them in her clothes. 0:21:56.511 --> 0:22:00.311 And then you proceeded to remove documents from your boots 0:22:00.350 --> 0:22:02.551 and from other parts of your clothing. 0:22:02.671 --> 0:22:03.351 Is that correct? 0:22:03.551 --> 0:22:04.071 That's correct? 0:22:04.150 --> 0:22:08.151 Her more than anything. Fawn Hall's testimony was about defending 0:22:08.191 --> 0:22:12.430 Oliver North. He portrayed the colonel as a patriot, a 0:22:12.511 --> 0:22:15.350 hard working idealist whose only goal was to protect the 0:22:15.511 --> 0:22:20.551 United States. According to Hall, everything North did, including the 0:22:20.551 --> 0:22:24.111 destruction of documents, was done in the name of American interests. 0:22:24.830 --> 0:22:25.351 And did you. 0:22:26.830 --> 0:22:29.791 Surmise that this was a way of trying to cover 0:22:29.951 --> 0:22:33.071 up something in conjunction with the Iran initiative or the 0:22:33.071 --> 0:22:33.871 Contra initiative. 0:22:34.590 --> 0:22:36.231 I do not use the word cover up. I would 0:22:36.311 --> 0:22:37.151 use the word protect. 0:22:40.150 --> 0:22:42.630 Vawn Hall wasn't the only witness to go to bat 0:22:42.630 --> 0:22:45.551