1 00:00:16,271 --> 00:00:32,230 Speaker 1: Pushkin in a political scandal, the gold standard for evidence 2 00:00:32,271 --> 00:00:36,790 Speaker 1: has always been tapes. Tapes were decisive in Watergate. 3 00:00:37,071 --> 00:00:39,111 Speaker 2: We must not have any question to know on this. 4 00:00:39,311 --> 00:00:41,551 Speaker 3: You know, I'm in charge of this thinking, and I am. 5 00:00:41,511 --> 00:00:42,431 Speaker 4: Good about everything else. 6 00:00:43,351 --> 00:00:45,071 Speaker 1: They were decisive in the Clinton impeachment. 7 00:00:45,311 --> 00:00:46,111 Speaker 5: They're bagging. 8 00:00:46,271 --> 00:00:49,111 Speaker 1: Put it in a zip rock bag, and you pack. 9 00:00:48,991 --> 00:00:50,551 Speaker 6: It in with your treasures. 10 00:00:51,150 --> 00:00:54,671 Speaker 4: For though, I don't know, Amonica, it's just this nagging, 11 00:00:54,711 --> 00:00:56,551 Speaker 4: awful feeling I have in the back of my head. 12 00:00:57,031 --> 00:01:00,791 Speaker 1: In Iran Contra, there were no tapes, at least none 13 00:01:00,831 --> 00:01:03,711 Speaker 1: that the public ever got to hear, but there was 14 00:01:03,791 --> 00:01:13,750 Speaker 1: something almost as good. Notes, specifically contemporaneous notes, memos, minutes, calendars, diaries, 15 00:01:14,431 --> 00:01:18,191 Speaker 1: things that people wrote down while events were unfolding, before 16 00:01:18,231 --> 00:01:20,791 Speaker 1: they had a chance to contort or revise their accounts 17 00:01:20,791 --> 00:01:25,391 Speaker 1: of what happened. George H. W. Bush started keeping a 18 00:01:25,391 --> 00:01:29,391 Speaker 1: diary on November fourth, nineteen eighty six. He was still 19 00:01:29,431 --> 00:01:32,151 Speaker 1: the vice president then, but he was already thinking about 20 00:01:32,151 --> 00:01:36,471 Speaker 1: the future. In his first entry, Bush wrote, this is 21 00:01:36,471 --> 00:01:38,991 Speaker 1: the beginning of what I hope will be in accurate diary. 22 00:01:39,871 --> 00:01:42,391 Speaker 1: He vowed to spend between five and fifteen minutes a 23 00:01:42,431 --> 00:01:45,471 Speaker 1: day recording observations about his run for the presidency in 24 00:01:45,551 --> 00:01:50,751 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight. In his second diary entry, Bush addressed 25 00:01:50,751 --> 00:01:52,711 Speaker 1: a news story that had just found its way into 26 00:01:52,711 --> 00:01:56,471 Speaker 1: the American media after first appearing in the Lebanese magazine 27 00:01:56,551 --> 00:01:57,471 Speaker 1: called Al Chirau. 28 00:01:57,911 --> 00:02:00,391 Speaker 7: Despite repeated rhetoric from the White House that this country 29 00:02:00,391 --> 00:02:03,591 Speaker 7: would not deal with terrorists or terrorist states, that seems 30 00:02:03,631 --> 00:02:05,351 Speaker 7: to be precisely what happened with. 31 00:02:05,391 --> 00:02:06,551 Speaker 2: Sixty million dollars. 32 00:02:06,551 --> 00:02:10,231 Speaker 1: In his diary, Bush referred to the question of the hostages. 33 00:02:11,111 --> 00:02:13,991 Speaker 1: He described himself as quote one of the few people 34 00:02:14,031 --> 00:02:17,191 Speaker 1: that know fully the details. There's a lot of flak 35 00:02:17,191 --> 00:02:20,270 Speaker 1: and misinformation out there, Bush noted, it is not a 36 00:02:20,311 --> 00:02:21,431 Speaker 1: subject we can talk about. 37 00:02:24,391 --> 00:02:26,911 Speaker 3: Through all of this, there has been considerable speculation about 38 00:02:26,911 --> 00:02:29,471 Speaker 3: the role of Vice President Bush. Where was he on 39 00:02:29,551 --> 00:02:30,270 Speaker 3: the Iran affair. 40 00:02:30,511 --> 00:02:33,791 Speaker 1: Bush's public stance in the immediate aftermath of Iran Contra 41 00:02:34,151 --> 00:02:36,631 Speaker 1: was that he had been out of the loop. He 42 00:02:36,671 --> 00:02:38,791 Speaker 1: didn't know that the Iran weapons sales were part of 43 00:02:38,831 --> 00:02:41,671 Speaker 1: a straight armed for hostages deal. He didn't know what 44 00:02:41,711 --> 00:02:44,911 Speaker 1: the secret program to aid the contras, and he definitely 45 00:02:44,951 --> 00:02:47,431 Speaker 1: didn't know about the diversion of profits from one operation 46 00:02:47,551 --> 00:02:47,990 Speaker 1: to the other. 47 00:02:48,471 --> 00:02:51,231 Speaker 4: I was aware of our Iran initiative, and I support 48 00:02:51,311 --> 00:02:54,871 Speaker 4: the President's decision, and I was not aware of and 49 00:02:55,031 --> 00:03:00,311 Speaker 4: I oppose any diversion of funds and he ransom payments 50 00:03:00,431 --> 00:03:01,710 Speaker 4: or any circumvention. 51 00:03:01,991 --> 00:03:05,191 Speaker 1: By the spring of nineteen eighty seven, Bush was preparing 52 00:03:05,191 --> 00:03:08,511 Speaker 1: to compete in the Republican primary. He ran as a 53 00:03:08,511 --> 00:03:12,911 Speaker 1: heavy favorite against Televangelis Pat Robertson and Kansas Senator Bob Dole. 54 00:03:13,471 --> 00:03:14,711 Speaker 6: No, what do you think about eighty eight? 55 00:03:14,751 --> 00:03:17,471 Speaker 7: You got your mind made up? Or this is still open? 56 00:03:17,551 --> 00:03:18,511 Speaker 8: Now, it's still open. 57 00:03:18,911 --> 00:03:21,831 Speaker 9: It is those open minds and even some minds that 58 00:03:21,911 --> 00:03:26,071 Speaker 9: are already made up, that the six Republican presidential candidates 59 00:03:26,151 --> 00:03:29,031 Speaker 9: all hope to influence over the next three months. 60 00:03:29,071 --> 00:03:32,631 Speaker 3: A major issue emerging in the Republican presidential campaign is 61 00:03:32,671 --> 00:03:35,311 Speaker 3: how much Vice President George Bush knew about the Iran 62 00:03:35,391 --> 00:03:36,151 Speaker 3: contra affair. 63 00:03:39,871 --> 00:03:42,071 Speaker 7: Phobs News has spent more than a month preparing to 64 00:03:42,151 --> 00:03:44,911 Speaker 7: Night's report on the Vice President and the Iran contra affair. 65 00:03:45,631 --> 00:03:48,031 Speaker 1: On the eve of the Iowa Caucuses in early nineteen 66 00:03:48,071 --> 00:03:51,631 Speaker 1: eighty eight, CBS Evening News aired a five minute segment 67 00:03:51,711 --> 00:03:55,191 Speaker 1: highlighting evidence that undermined Bush's statements on Iran contract. 68 00:03:55,311 --> 00:03:58,231 Speaker 7: Questions remain about Vice President Bush's role in the Iran 69 00:03:58,391 --> 00:03:59,071 Speaker 7: arms sale. 70 00:03:59,231 --> 00:04:02,431 Speaker 1: Dan rather pointed to paperwork that indicated Bush had sat 71 00:04:02,431 --> 00:04:04,991 Speaker 1: in on multiple meetings about the Iran weapons initiative. 72 00:04:05,311 --> 00:04:08,191 Speaker 7: Mister Bush attended more than fifteen meetings in the Oval 73 00:04:08,191 --> 00:04:10,791 Speaker 7: office at which the arms sales were discussed. 74 00:04:11,111 --> 00:04:13,871 Speaker 1: He also quoted from notes and memos that suggested Bush 75 00:04:14,031 --> 00:04:15,951 Speaker 1: knew about the Contra resupply operation. 76 00:04:16,151 --> 00:04:18,911 Speaker 7: The Vice President's office says he and his age were 77 00:04:18,950 --> 00:04:22,831 Speaker 7: never involved in directing, coordinating, or approving military aid to 78 00:04:22,871 --> 00:04:26,510 Speaker 7: the Contras, but the record is riddled with inconsistencies. 79 00:04:27,031 --> 00:04:29,111 Speaker 1: Bush had agreed ahead of time to sit for a 80 00:04:29,111 --> 00:04:33,151 Speaker 1: live interview directly after the segment aired. What followed was 81 00:04:33,191 --> 00:04:36,431 Speaker 1: a heated exchange, with Bush claiming that CBS News had 82 00:04:36,471 --> 00:04:38,191 Speaker 1: set him up by telling him the segment would be 83 00:04:38,231 --> 00:04:41,031 Speaker 1: a political profile and rather trying to pin the Vice 84 00:04:41,071 --> 00:04:44,311 Speaker 1: President down on what exactly he had known about Iran Contra. 85 00:04:44,511 --> 00:04:46,551 Speaker 7: You said these you had known this was an arms 86 00:04:46,551 --> 00:04:49,351 Speaker 7: for hostages squap, that you would have opposed it. You 87 00:04:49,511 --> 00:04:50,671 Speaker 7: also said exactly that. 88 00:04:50,631 --> 00:04:51,510 Speaker 10: You did not know that. 89 00:04:51,591 --> 00:04:54,071 Speaker 2: May I answered that that was a question. It was yes, 90 00:04:54,071 --> 00:04:54,911 Speaker 2: statement a statement. 91 00:04:55,071 --> 00:04:58,351 Speaker 4: Let me ask the question if created this program, As 92 00:04:58,471 --> 00:05:02,271 Speaker 4: testifiers stated publicly, he did not think it was arms 93 00:05:02,271 --> 00:05:05,031 Speaker 4: for hostages and later and that's me. 94 00:05:05,431 --> 00:05:08,150 Speaker 7: I don't want to be ugumented, mister, the same questions. 95 00:05:08,151 --> 00:05:11,111 Speaker 4: A whole career is It's not fair to judge my 96 00:05:11,191 --> 00:05:13,991 Speaker 4: whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you 97 00:05:14,151 --> 00:05:16,471 Speaker 4: like it if I judge your career by those seven 98 00:05:16,511 --> 00:05:18,391 Speaker 4: minutes when you walked off the set in New York? 99 00:05:19,551 --> 00:05:22,671 Speaker 1: As Dan Rather noted in his report, a CBS News 100 00:05:22,751 --> 00:05:25,190 Speaker 1: New York Times poll had found that almost a third 101 00:05:25,231 --> 00:05:29,991 Speaker 1: of all Republicans believed Bush was hiding something CNN Election 102 00:05:30,311 --> 00:05:34,830 Speaker 1: Right eighty eight. But Iran Contra couldn't stop George Bush. 103 00:05:35,431 --> 00:05:38,471 Speaker 1: He eventually ran away with the Republican nomination, and that 104 00:05:38,591 --> 00:05:41,591 Speaker 1: fall he defeated his Democratic rival Michael Dukakis in the 105 00:05:41,591 --> 00:05:42,231 Speaker 1: general election. 106 00:05:42,791 --> 00:05:46,591 Speaker 3: The state of Michigan has just put George Bush over the. 107 00:05:46,471 --> 00:05:49,631 Speaker 9: Top and the number of electoral votes needed to take 108 00:05:49,711 --> 00:05:50,511 Speaker 9: the White House. 109 00:05:51,191 --> 00:05:54,951 Speaker 1: After two terms as VP, Bush would succeed Ronald Reagan 110 00:05:54,991 --> 00:06:01,711 Speaker 1: as president. All the while, Bush maintained his diary. I 111 00:06:01,751 --> 00:06:04,471 Speaker 1: say maintained because he didn't actually write his entries out 112 00:06:04,511 --> 00:06:08,311 Speaker 1: by hand. He dictated them into a tape recorder. His 113 00:06:08,391 --> 00:06:10,831 Speaker 1: assistant would then deliver the cassettes to the Vice President's 114 00:06:10,831 --> 00:06:15,591 Speaker 1: office in Houston, Texas. There, Bush's Houston based secretary would 115 00:06:15,631 --> 00:06:21,311 Speaker 1: transcribe them and file them away. Besides those two intermediaries, 116 00:06:21,471 --> 00:06:24,191 Speaker 1: plus the head of Bush's Houston office, no one knew 117 00:06:24,271 --> 00:06:28,190 Speaker 1: that Bush was keeping a diary. Not Ronald Reagan, not 118 00:06:28,271 --> 00:06:32,071 Speaker 1: the Attorney General, and not Lawrence Walsh, the Independent Council 119 00:06:32,111 --> 00:06:35,751 Speaker 1: who was investigating Iran contra. Walsh and his team of 120 00:06:35,791 --> 00:06:38,271 Speaker 1: prosecutors had started working on the case about a month 121 00:06:38,311 --> 00:06:41,511 Speaker 1: after Bush dictated his first entry, and a few months 122 00:06:41,551 --> 00:06:44,431 Speaker 1: after that, the Office of the Independent Council had submitted 123 00:06:44,431 --> 00:06:48,231 Speaker 1: a document request to the White House asking for any notes, diaries, 124 00:06:48,311 --> 00:06:50,911 Speaker 1: or audio tapes that might be relevant to their investigation. 125 00:06:51,471 --> 00:06:55,751 Speaker 11: All the document requests sought contemporaneous documents and were very 126 00:06:55,791 --> 00:07:00,271 Speaker 11: carefully written and encompassed notes and jottings and dictations and diaries. 127 00:07:00,751 --> 00:07:04,071 Speaker 1: This is John Q. Barrett, who worked on the Independent 128 00:07:04,071 --> 00:07:07,991 Speaker 1: Council's investigation under Lawrence Walsh. Barrett is now a professor 129 00:07:07,991 --> 00:07:10,031 Speaker 1: at Saint John's University's School of Law. 130 00:07:10,551 --> 00:07:14,590 Speaker 11: Contemporaneous documents do speak for themselves. The notes that people 131 00:07:14,591 --> 00:07:17,111 Speaker 11: are taken when they're not trying to shade their story. 132 00:07:17,271 --> 00:07:20,631 Speaker 11: It gives you a roadmap that was highly valuable evidence. 133 00:07:21,111 --> 00:07:24,151 Speaker 1: Highly valuable evidence that Bush did not hand over to 134 00:07:24,191 --> 00:07:28,471 Speaker 1: the Independent Council's Office. Whether Bush made that decision personally 135 00:07:28,711 --> 00:07:30,951 Speaker 1: or whether someone else in his orbit made it for him, 136 00:07:31,151 --> 00:07:37,751 Speaker 1: the move would have lasting consequences. Bush's diary and his 137 00:07:37,831 --> 00:07:40,751 Speaker 1: failure to disclose it would become part of a showdown 138 00:07:40,751 --> 00:07:43,271 Speaker 1: between the Independent Council's Office and the President of the 139 00:07:43,351 --> 00:07:47,111 Speaker 1: United States. In the end, it wasn't Reagan who would 140 00:07:47,111 --> 00:07:48,711 Speaker 1: define the legacy of Iran Contra. 141 00:07:49,951 --> 00:07:52,551 Speaker 12: It was Bush. 142 00:07:52,911 --> 00:07:57,591 Speaker 1: I'm Leon Nafok from Prologue Projects and Pushkin Industries. This 143 00:07:57,791 --> 00:07:59,711 Speaker 1: is fiasco Iran Contra. 144 00:08:00,831 --> 00:08:03,831 Speaker 2: Iran Contra is the creature that just won't die no 145 00:08:03,831 --> 00:08:06,591 Speaker 2: matter how many times George Bush tries to drive us 146 00:08:06,591 --> 00:08:09,271 Speaker 2: a stake through its heart. Some top Republicans are urging 147 00:08:09,311 --> 00:08:09,991 Speaker 2: Bush to retire. 148 00:08:10,671 --> 00:08:13,871 Speaker 12: I was in fact interviewed by the FBI. 149 00:08:13,991 --> 00:08:16,831 Speaker 13: Well President acted as he faces a demand for notes 150 00:08:16,831 --> 00:08:19,591 Speaker 13: that could still be embarrassing. Now he may try to 151 00:08:19,631 --> 00:08:22,951 Speaker 13: resist on the grounds that Iran contract is all over. 152 00:08:23,231 --> 00:08:25,671 Speaker 5: I think it's the last card in the cover. He's 153 00:08:25,671 --> 00:08:26,791 Speaker 5: played the final card. 154 00:08:28,031 --> 00:08:33,511 Speaker 1: Episode eight, our season finale. Pardon me how George H. W. 155 00:08:33,711 --> 00:08:40,751 Speaker 1: Bush tried to close the loop on Iran Contra. We'll 156 00:08:40,790 --> 00:08:48,910 Speaker 1: be right back. Mary Belcher was a reporter covering the 157 00:08:48,910 --> 00:08:51,551 Speaker 1: White House for the Washington Times when the Iran Contra 158 00:08:51,590 --> 00:08:53,910 Speaker 1: scandal broke in November of nineteen eighty six. 159 00:08:54,271 --> 00:08:57,631 Speaker 12: The Press Corps was covering Reagan on a I believe 160 00:08:57,670 --> 00:09:01,230 Speaker 12: it was a cross country trip that ended in California, 161 00:09:01,430 --> 00:09:05,430 Speaker 12: and he was sort of giving a farewell even though 162 00:09:05,511 --> 00:09:08,111 Speaker 12: he had still two years left in office in nineteen 163 00:09:08,151 --> 00:09:08,670 Speaker 12: eighty six. 164 00:09:09,351 --> 00:09:12,310 Speaker 1: As luck would have it, Belcher was actually on Air 165 00:09:12,351 --> 00:09:15,591 Speaker 1: Force one when reports about Bud McFarlane and Oliver North's 166 00:09:15,590 --> 00:09:19,430 Speaker 1: secret Tehran trip started trickling out. Belcher and a colleague 167 00:09:19,430 --> 00:09:22,751 Speaker 1: from Time magazine had accompanied the President to California. They 168 00:09:22,830 --> 00:09:25,190 Speaker 1: ended up filing the Pool Report that day on behalf 169 00:09:25,271 --> 00:09:27,511 Speaker 1: of all the journalists in the White House Press Corps. 170 00:09:27,631 --> 00:09:32,111 Speaker 12: We asked the president spokesperson about these reports, and we 171 00:09:32,151 --> 00:09:34,951 Speaker 12: didn't get much of any answer. One thing he did 172 00:09:35,310 --> 00:09:40,111 Speaker 12: say to us was be careful about repeating these sorts 173 00:09:40,151 --> 00:09:42,351 Speaker 12: of reports. Because you could be wrong. 174 00:09:43,391 --> 00:09:46,591 Speaker 1: Soon Belcher stopped thinking of herself as a White House reporter. 175 00:09:47,430 --> 00:09:51,111 Speaker 1: She was now on the Iran Contribute. She covered the 176 00:09:51,111 --> 00:09:54,830 Speaker 1: congressional hearings, the indictments of Oliver North and John Poindexter, 177 00:09:55,111 --> 00:09:58,910 Speaker 1: as well as north trial. Then Belcher was presented with 178 00:09:58,910 --> 00:10:02,311 Speaker 1: an opportunity to change careers and get a very different 179 00:10:02,310 --> 00:10:03,550 Speaker 1: perspective on the story. 180 00:10:04,790 --> 00:10:09,391 Speaker 12: And at that point, the spokesperson for Special Counsel Lawrence 181 00:10:09,430 --> 00:10:14,151 Speaker 12: Walsh was leaving to return home to Michigan, and I 182 00:10:14,430 --> 00:10:19,631 Speaker 12: was invited to join the office. And I think, as 183 00:10:19,670 --> 00:10:21,830 Speaker 12: a reporter, you're a voyeur and you want to know 184 00:10:21,871 --> 00:10:26,231 Speaker 12: what goes on inside an investigation you've been covering. And 185 00:10:26,271 --> 00:10:27,111 Speaker 12: I took the job. 186 00:10:28,670 --> 00:10:31,910 Speaker 1: When Belcher became the spokesperson for the Independent Council's office, 187 00:10:32,151 --> 00:10:35,751 Speaker 1: the Walsh team was focused on John Poindexter, Reagan's former 188 00:10:35,830 --> 00:10:39,751 Speaker 1: national security advisor. In March of nineteen ninety, it was 189 00:10:39,790 --> 00:10:41,591 Speaker 1: Poindexter's turn to face trial. 190 00:10:41,991 --> 00:10:44,790 Speaker 13: He is charged with five felony counts in connection with 191 00:10:44,790 --> 00:10:48,391 Speaker 13: the Iran Contra scandal. If convicted, he faces a maximum 192 00:10:48,391 --> 00:10:49,871 Speaker 13: of twenty five years in prison. 193 00:10:50,190 --> 00:10:52,991 Speaker 1: Poindexter was accused of lying to Congress about the US 194 00:10:53,030 --> 00:10:56,471 Speaker 1: government's role in the Contra War. He was also accused 195 00:10:56,511 --> 00:10:58,990 Speaker 1: of lying to the Senate about the first US sanctioned 196 00:10:59,070 --> 00:11:02,910 Speaker 1: arms shipments to Iran, and of deleting electronic messages he 197 00:11:02,950 --> 00:11:07,391 Speaker 1: had sent over an internal White House computer network. Ronald Reagan, 198 00:11:07,670 --> 00:11:11,910 Speaker 1: now out of office, testified at poindexter trial. He did 199 00:11:11,950 --> 00:11:14,831 Speaker 1: not appear in person in the courtroom. Instead, he was 200 00:11:14,871 --> 00:11:18,631 Speaker 1: beamed in by way of a videotaped deposition. Over approximately 201 00:11:18,670 --> 00:11:22,351 Speaker 1: eight hours of testimony, the former president used variations on 202 00:11:22,391 --> 00:11:25,111 Speaker 1: the phrase I don't recall at least eighty eight times. 203 00:11:25,550 --> 00:11:28,471 Speaker 14: I can't say that I specifically recall. I don't have 204 00:11:28,511 --> 00:11:31,190 Speaker 14: a clear recollection of what might have been discussed. I 205 00:11:31,231 --> 00:11:35,790 Speaker 14: don't recall ever mentioning anyone else. I don't recall that 206 00:11:35,790 --> 00:11:36,430 Speaker 14: that coming. 207 00:11:36,271 --> 00:11:36,670 Speaker 2: Up at all. 208 00:11:36,710 --> 00:11:38,750 Speaker 14: As matter of fact, to this day, I don't know 209 00:11:39,271 --> 00:11:42,430 Speaker 14: who finished the delivery of the missiles. 210 00:11:42,631 --> 00:11:45,190 Speaker 12: Really, the overriding message of this is not what did 211 00:11:45,231 --> 00:11:46,950 Speaker 12: the president know and when did he know it? 212 00:11:46,991 --> 00:11:49,071 Speaker 1: But what did he not know and when did he 213 00:11:49,310 --> 00:11:49,830 Speaker 1: not know it? 214 00:11:49,910 --> 00:11:51,591 Speaker 10: I mean the list of things that he didn't know. 215 00:11:51,710 --> 00:11:52,070 Speaker 12: You heard. 216 00:11:52,111 --> 00:11:56,350 Speaker 1: Poindexter was convicted on all counts, but like Oliver North, 217 00:11:56,590 --> 00:11:59,710 Speaker 1: he immediately appealed the verdict, arguing that the evidence against 218 00:11:59,790 --> 00:12:02,151 Speaker 1: him was tainted because it was based in part on 219 00:12:02,151 --> 00:12:05,190 Speaker 1: his testimony before Congress. Here's Mary Belcher again. 220 00:12:05,550 --> 00:12:08,711 Speaker 12: The word taint refers to the fact that both Oliver 221 00:12:08,830 --> 00:12:13,550 Speaker 12: North and John Dexter received immunity from Congress to give 222 00:12:13,590 --> 00:12:17,670 Speaker 12: their testimony. Nothing that they said in those Congressional hearings 223 00:12:17,710 --> 00:12:20,430 Speaker 12: could be used against them in any prosecution. 224 00:12:21,590 --> 00:12:24,831 Speaker 1: This was a huge problem for Lawrence Walsh, and in 225 00:12:24,830 --> 00:12:27,871 Speaker 1: a lead up to North and Poindexter's trials, he and 226 00:12:27,910 --> 00:12:30,990 Speaker 1: his prosecutors had to take borderline comical steps to prevent 227 00:12:31,030 --> 00:12:34,471 Speaker 1: themselves from becoming tainted by coverage of the Iran Contra scandal. 228 00:12:35,271 --> 00:12:37,871 Speaker 1: They couldn't talk about the hearings with their families and 229 00:12:37,950 --> 00:12:40,190 Speaker 1: literally had to turn off the TV or change the 230 00:12:40,271 --> 00:12:43,311 Speaker 1: channel when any mention of North or Poindexter's testimony came on. 231 00:12:43,910 --> 00:12:47,070 Speaker 1: When Mary Belcher joined Walsh's office, part of her job 232 00:12:47,190 --> 00:12:49,551 Speaker 1: was to make sure the prosecutors on staff did not 233 00:12:49,670 --> 00:12:50,310 Speaker 1: get tainted. 234 00:12:50,710 --> 00:12:53,030 Speaker 12: Every day we would get all the press reports and 235 00:12:53,070 --> 00:12:56,870 Speaker 12: gather them in the press office and mark out any 236 00:12:57,471 --> 00:13:02,511 Speaker 12: statements or any information that could arguably be derived from 237 00:13:02,590 --> 00:13:07,431 Speaker 12: either Oliver North through John Poindexter's congressional testimony, not just 238 00:13:07,511 --> 00:13:10,831 Speaker 12: direct quotes, but background information and so so. Sometimes I 239 00:13:10,871 --> 00:13:16,351 Speaker 12: would circulate to the non tainted prosecutorial team press clips 240 00:13:16,351 --> 00:13:19,550 Speaker 12: that were entirely almost entirely blacked out. 241 00:13:20,231 --> 00:13:24,310 Speaker 1: But it wasn't enough. As it turned out, defense attorneys 242 00:13:24,310 --> 00:13:26,951 Speaker 1: for North and Poindexter didn't have to argue that walsh 243 00:13:27,030 --> 00:13:29,831 Speaker 1: Or's prosecutors had been tainted. They could just say that 244 00:13:29,910 --> 00:13:32,631 Speaker 1: witnesses in both trials have been influenced by seeing North 245 00:13:32,631 --> 00:13:36,550 Speaker 1: and Poindexter's testimony in front of Congress. The attorneys took 246 00:13:36,590 --> 00:13:40,110 Speaker 1: a broad definition of influenced. Even if a witness had 247 00:13:40,151 --> 00:13:43,511 Speaker 1: only subconsciously shaped their understanding of events by watching the 248 00:13:43,511 --> 00:13:47,830 Speaker 1: congressional testimony, that was a violation of North and Poindexter's 249 00:13:47,830 --> 00:13:51,511 Speaker 1: Fifth Amendment rights. Here's John Q. Barrett again. 250 00:13:51,871 --> 00:13:54,991 Speaker 11: How do you negate the possibility that hearing some piece 251 00:13:55,030 --> 00:13:59,830 Speaker 11: of ammunized testimony didn't stimulate you to recall something that 252 00:13:59,950 --> 00:14:03,151 Speaker 11: stimulated you, to recall something else that stimulated something else, 253 00:14:03,271 --> 00:14:06,950 Speaker 11: that motivated you to sort of have a certain inflection 254 00:14:07,271 --> 00:14:11,790 Speaker 11: or confidence or tone as you recounted what you believed 255 00:14:11,871 --> 00:14:15,270 Speaker 11: was from your authentic memory without drawing an immunized testimony. 256 00:14:16,151 --> 00:14:19,711 Speaker 1: North successfully challenged his convictions on appeal in nineteen ninety. 257 00:14:19,991 --> 00:14:23,631 Speaker 10: A federal judge today dismissed all charges against former White 258 00:14:23,631 --> 00:14:26,791 Speaker 10: House Aid Oliver North in connection with the Iron Contra affair. 259 00:14:27,191 --> 00:14:31,750 Speaker 5: This, I think is a very very serious warning that 260 00:14:32,710 --> 00:14:34,791 Speaker 5: immunity is not to be granted lightly. 261 00:14:35,071 --> 00:14:37,431 Speaker 1: The following year, Poindexter did too. 262 00:14:37,871 --> 00:14:40,990 Speaker 9: The ruling was nearly identical to one that dismissed charges 263 00:14:41,151 --> 00:14:43,511 Speaker 9: against former White House Aid Oliver North. 264 00:14:43,911 --> 00:14:45,631 Speaker 12: Poindexter had been By. 265 00:14:45,551 --> 00:14:49,791 Speaker 1: This point, George H. W. Bush was well into his presidency. 266 00:14:49,871 --> 00:14:51,391 Speaker 1: It had been an eventful period. 267 00:14:51,590 --> 00:14:54,471 Speaker 13: The Iron Curking between East Germany and West Berlin has 268 00:14:54,551 --> 00:14:55,551 Speaker 13: come tumbling down. 269 00:14:55,671 --> 00:14:58,511 Speaker 1: The Berlin Wall had come down. In Central America, the 270 00:14:58,590 --> 00:15:01,751 Speaker 1: US had invaded Panama and arrested its leader Manuel Noriega 271 00:15:01,871 --> 00:15:03,111 Speaker 1: on drug trafficking charges. 272 00:15:03,391 --> 00:15:07,871 Speaker 3: American military forces a nighttime invasion of Panama and sporadic 273 00:15:07,871 --> 00:15:09,431 Speaker 3: fighting continuing this evening. 274 00:15:09,710 --> 00:15:12,951 Speaker 1: In the least, Bush had ordered air strikes on Iraq 275 00:15:13,271 --> 00:15:15,751 Speaker 1: and deployed half a million ground troops as part of 276 00:15:15,791 --> 00:15:17,791 Speaker 1: the Gulf War against Saddam Hussein. 277 00:15:17,991 --> 00:15:20,951 Speaker 3: President Borch says it will not stop until Iraq gives 278 00:15:21,031 --> 00:15:21,471 Speaker 3: up Kooi. 279 00:15:22,911 --> 00:15:27,591 Speaker 1: Throughout all this, the Walsh investigation continued, the prosecutors weren't 280 00:15:27,631 --> 00:15:29,951 Speaker 1: just interested in the people who had overseen the eurot 281 00:15:29,991 --> 00:15:33,911 Speaker 1: initiative or had been in on the secret contray supply effort. 282 00:15:34,271 --> 00:15:37,151 Speaker 1: They were interested in anyone who had lied to investigators 283 00:15:37,151 --> 00:15:40,791 Speaker 1: about either scheme after the fact. In other words, they 284 00:15:40,830 --> 00:15:43,631 Speaker 1: were interested in the possibility of a cover up, the 285 00:15:43,791 --> 00:15:46,071 Speaker 1: very thing that some of Reagan's advisors had hoped to 286 00:15:46,111 --> 00:15:49,631 Speaker 1: avoid after the Iran weapons sales became public and in 287 00:15:49,671 --> 00:15:52,591 Speaker 1: November of nineteen ninety one, that led Walsh and his 288 00:15:52,671 --> 00:15:55,951 Speaker 1: team to focus on a very senior member of Reagan's cabinet, 289 00:15:56,671 --> 00:15:59,031 Speaker 1: former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger. 290 00:15:59,590 --> 00:16:02,391 Speaker 11: Casper Weinberger was the Secretary of Defense from the start 291 00:16:02,391 --> 00:16:06,231 Speaker 11: of the Reagan administration into nineteen eighty seven, so for 292 00:16:06,311 --> 00:16:09,870 Speaker 11: the long run of years that included this activity. 293 00:16:10,031 --> 00:16:14,351 Speaker 1: Biberger's personal hero was Winston Churchill, and like Churchill, he 294 00:16:14,391 --> 00:16:18,631 Speaker 1: could be confrontational and stubborn. Weinberger had strongly opposed the 295 00:16:18,671 --> 00:16:21,431 Speaker 1: Iran weapons program, and he had tried to convince the 296 00:16:21,431 --> 00:16:25,470 Speaker 1: President it was a bad idea. Later, when testifying before Congress, 297 00:16:25,631 --> 00:16:28,871 Speaker 1: Weinberger said he believed he had been successful, only to 298 00:16:28,911 --> 00:16:31,471 Speaker 1: find out that Reagan had gone ahead with the arms tipments. 299 00:16:31,511 --> 00:16:35,871 Speaker 11: After all, he was strongly opposed to the initiative. If 300 00:16:35,911 --> 00:16:38,671 Speaker 11: he will, the idea that we should make arms deals 301 00:16:38,671 --> 00:16:41,311 Speaker 11: with Iranians, the question was did he know it was 302 00:16:41,351 --> 00:16:43,830 Speaker 11: going forward or not? Despite his opposition. 303 00:16:44,871 --> 00:16:47,631 Speaker 1: Walsh's team had asked Weinberger to provide them with any 304 00:16:47,671 --> 00:16:50,791 Speaker 1: contemporaneous notes he had taken about the Iran weapons sales, 305 00:16:51,511 --> 00:16:54,511 Speaker 1: but Weinberger said he hadn't taken systematic notes on meetings 306 00:16:54,590 --> 00:16:57,311 Speaker 1: during the years in question. He may have jotted things 307 00:16:57,351 --> 00:17:00,031 Speaker 1: down on an informal basis, but he was too busy 308 00:17:00,071 --> 00:17:02,751 Speaker 1: to produce a comprehensive record of events as they unfolded. 309 00:17:03,391 --> 00:17:09,191 Speaker 11: And his general story was that he didn't have personal records, 310 00:17:09,271 --> 00:17:12,671 Speaker 11: that he wasn't a diary keeper, that he didn't have notes. 311 00:17:12,951 --> 00:17:16,071 Speaker 5: It's perfectly conceivable that it may have reflected something at 312 00:17:16,110 --> 00:17:18,390 Speaker 5: the meeting which I didn't make notes on. I don't 313 00:17:18,390 --> 00:17:19,311 Speaker 5: take short end and. 314 00:17:19,830 --> 00:17:22,631 Speaker 7: I do not recall that particular subject coming up, had 315 00:17:22,630 --> 00:17:23,151 Speaker 7: it come up. 316 00:17:23,191 --> 00:17:26,911 Speaker 1: But then in nineteen ninety, Walsh's office obtained a document 317 00:17:26,991 --> 00:17:30,350 Speaker 1: in which former Secretary of State George Schultz expressed frustration 318 00:17:30,431 --> 00:17:33,150 Speaker 1: at having to share his personal notes with the Independent Council, 319 00:17:33,350 --> 00:17:36,590 Speaker 1: while his colleague Casper Weinberger had managed to keep his 320 00:17:36,751 --> 00:17:37,391 Speaker 1: to himself. 321 00:17:38,031 --> 00:17:40,711 Speaker 11: And then he says, and the note taker writes it down. 322 00:17:41,191 --> 00:17:44,751 Speaker 11: Capp never referred to his notes, so he never had 323 00:17:44,751 --> 00:17:48,151 Speaker 11: to cough them up. And cap is Casper Weinberger. That's 324 00:17:48,191 --> 00:17:53,590 Speaker 11: a incredibly direct statement and a tantalizing lead. And we 325 00:17:53,671 --> 00:17:54,190 Speaker 11: pursued that. 326 00:17:55,350 --> 00:17:58,870 Speaker 1: When pressed on the issue, Weinberger's lawyer told prosecutors that 327 00:17:58,951 --> 00:18:01,590 Speaker 1: anything his client had written down had either been turned 328 00:18:01,630 --> 00:18:05,430 Speaker 1: over already or was in the Library of Congress. It 329 00:18:05,511 --> 00:18:08,510 Speaker 1: turned out that a cash of Weinberger's personal papers had 330 00:18:08,511 --> 00:18:11,230 Speaker 1: been sent there after he stepped down as Secretary of 331 00:18:11,271 --> 00:18:14,991 Speaker 1: Defense in nineteen eighty seven. It was amid those personal 332 00:18:15,031 --> 00:18:19,710 Speaker 1: papers at Walsh's prosecutors discovered something surprising about Casper Weinberger. 333 00:18:20,350 --> 00:18:23,870 Speaker 11: And it turned out that Casper Weinberger was a habitual, 334 00:18:24,071 --> 00:18:27,031 Speaker 11: meticulous note taker. You know, lived each day with a 335 00:18:27,031 --> 00:18:31,510 Speaker 11: white pad at his side and logged his activities and 336 00:18:31,590 --> 00:18:34,630 Speaker 11: sometimes added detail of what he learned in a meeting, 337 00:18:34,751 --> 00:18:38,430 Speaker 11: what he heard from a caller. In addition, in every 338 00:18:38,511 --> 00:18:41,511 Speaker 11: meeting he took his white pad and he kept meeting notes, 339 00:18:42,271 --> 00:18:46,190 Speaker 11: and those also were really sort of informal transcripts of 340 00:18:46,191 --> 00:18:48,031 Speaker 11: who said what as a meeting went around the room, 341 00:18:48,791 --> 00:18:50,831 Speaker 11: and none of that had been produced. 342 00:18:51,991 --> 00:18:55,031 Speaker 1: There were more than seventeen hundred pages of Iran contra 343 00:18:55,150 --> 00:18:59,150 Speaker 1: notes in Weinberger's Library of Congress archive. They offered a 344 00:18:59,191 --> 00:19:01,630 Speaker 1: window onto the internal debates that took place while the 345 00:19:01,711 --> 00:19:05,710 Speaker 1: Iran arms initiative was revving up. One note quoted Reagan 346 00:19:05,751 --> 00:19:08,430 Speaker 1: saying that he could answer charges of illegality, but he 347 00:19:08,431 --> 00:19:11,830 Speaker 1: couldn't answer charges that bigs strong. President Reagan had passed 348 00:19:11,911 --> 00:19:15,750 Speaker 1: up a chance to free hostages. Another note indicated that 349 00:19:15,791 --> 00:19:19,071 Speaker 1: members of the National Security Council staff intended to present 350 00:19:19,110 --> 00:19:21,590 Speaker 1: the arm sales as a means of quote helping a 351 00:19:21,630 --> 00:19:24,071 Speaker 1: group that wants to overthrow the government in Iran. 352 00:19:25,231 --> 00:19:29,511 Speaker 11: The notes were really a transcript of cabinet level knowledge 353 00:19:30,031 --> 00:19:33,230 Speaker 11: in real time as the initiatives are going forward, and 354 00:19:33,271 --> 00:19:34,991 Speaker 11: then as the investigations are occurring. 355 00:19:40,231 --> 00:19:43,191 Speaker 1: So there was a lot of information in Weinberger's notes. 356 00:19:44,071 --> 00:19:46,870 Speaker 1: But even if you put that aside, and even if 357 00:19:46,911 --> 00:19:49,190 Speaker 1: you put aside the question of whether Weinberger hid the 358 00:19:49,231 --> 00:19:52,191 Speaker 1: notes in the library of Congress on purpose. The mere 359 00:19:52,271 --> 00:19:54,751 Speaker 1: existence of the notes suggested that he had been lying 360 00:19:54,791 --> 00:19:57,710 Speaker 1: when he said he didn't have them. The truth was 361 00:19:57,751 --> 00:20:02,431 Speaker 1: that Weinberger took notes obsessively and systematically. As Walsh would 362 00:20:02,471 --> 00:20:05,511 Speaker 1: later write in his memoir, Weinberger often stood at a 363 00:20:05,551 --> 00:20:07,751 Speaker 1: reading desk and wrote on a five x seven inch 364 00:20:07,830 --> 00:20:11,271 Speaker 1: government notepad or a legal pad. He always kept both 365 00:20:11,311 --> 00:20:13,590 Speaker 1: on his desk, and when a pad was full, he 366 00:20:13,630 --> 00:20:16,071 Speaker 1: would put it into a desk drawer. When the desk 367 00:20:16,150 --> 00:20:18,350 Speaker 1: drawer was full, he would move the pads into the 368 00:20:18,350 --> 00:20:20,110 Speaker 1: bedroom that was attached to his office. 369 00:20:20,630 --> 00:20:25,311 Speaker 11: The analogy that mister Weinberger's attorneys used was it was 370 00:20:25,390 --> 00:20:30,071 Speaker 11: unconscious he took notes like he brushed his teeth. I 371 00:20:30,110 --> 00:20:32,991 Speaker 11: do remember Judge Walls saying at one point, I often 372 00:20:33,071 --> 00:20:36,110 Speaker 11: don't remember when I brush my teeth, but I know 373 00:20:36,191 --> 00:20:39,551 Speaker 11: I do brush my teeth. And what Weinberger was asked 374 00:20:39,711 --> 00:20:41,710 Speaker 11: was not you know when did you last take notes? 375 00:20:41,791 --> 00:20:43,111 Speaker 11: But do you take notes? 376 00:20:43,431 --> 00:20:43,630 Speaker 15: You know? 377 00:20:43,711 --> 00:20:48,150 Speaker 11: Obviously to deny that, given the physical evidence and so forth, 378 00:20:48,350 --> 00:20:51,271 Speaker 11: was false. It couldn't be anything other than false. And 379 00:20:51,311 --> 00:20:54,031 Speaker 11: I think he had a I'm a good guy and 380 00:20:54,110 --> 00:20:56,830 Speaker 11: it's none of your damn business attitude. That really was 381 00:20:56,870 --> 00:20:59,351 Speaker 11: his motivation to lie to those investigators. 382 00:21:00,791 --> 00:21:04,111 Speaker 1: In June of nineteen ninety two, a grand jury indicted 383 00:21:04,150 --> 00:21:05,791 Speaker 1: Weinberger on felony charges. 384 00:21:05,951 --> 00:21:09,791 Speaker 9: Former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger was indicted today by a 385 00:21:09,791 --> 00:21:13,551 Speaker 9: fel federal grand jury on five criminal charges related to 386 00:21:13,590 --> 00:21:15,071 Speaker 9: the Iran contra scandal. 387 00:21:15,350 --> 00:21:15,711 Speaker 8: They aimed. 388 00:21:15,830 --> 00:21:18,990 Speaker 1: The charges included withholding his notes and making false statements 389 00:21:19,031 --> 00:21:22,471 Speaker 1: about them, and claiming falsely that he had been unaware 390 00:21:22,551 --> 00:21:26,390 Speaker 1: of the first armstreapments to Iran. Weinberger, who by this 391 00:21:26,431 --> 00:21:30,391 Speaker 1: point was the publisher of Forbes magazine, rejected Walsh's accusations. 392 00:21:30,511 --> 00:21:33,311 Speaker 13: Werenberger again portrayed himself as a man who had no 393 00:21:33,431 --> 00:21:35,991 Speaker 13: knowledge of early arm sales to Iran and called the 394 00:21:36,110 --> 00:21:37,231 Speaker 13: charges grotesque. 395 00:21:37,350 --> 00:21:40,751 Speaker 2: The decision to indict me is a grotesque distortion with 396 00:21:40,830 --> 00:21:43,991 Speaker 2: a prosecutorial power and the moral and a legal outrage. 397 00:21:44,191 --> 00:21:47,350 Speaker 1: The indictment of Casper Weinberger signaled that more than five 398 00:21:47,431 --> 00:21:51,431 Speaker 1: years after Walsh's appointment, the Independent Council was still actively 399 00:21:51,431 --> 00:21:54,590 Speaker 1: pursuing new targets, and that he was aiming at the 400 00:21:54,671 --> 00:21:56,590 Speaker 1: upper echelons of the Reagan administration. 401 00:21:56,830 --> 00:22:00,151 Speaker 9: Weinberger is the highest ranking member of the Reagan administration 402 00:22:00,231 --> 00:22:01,031 Speaker 9: to be charged. 403 00:22:01,431 --> 00:22:03,870 Speaker 7: It appears that the Independent Council believes that there's been 404 00:22:03,911 --> 00:22:06,390 Speaker 7: an ongoing cover up starting in November. 405 00:22:06,311 --> 00:22:09,630 Speaker 16: Of nineteen eighty six that goes on through today. 406 00:22:10,071 --> 00:22:13,511 Speaker 1: Weinberger's indictment catapulted Iran Contra into the middle of yet 407 00:22:13,551 --> 00:22:17,390 Speaker 1: another presidential election, this one pitting George H. W. Bush, 408 00:22:17,431 --> 00:22:19,830 Speaker 1: who was running for a second term, against the Democratic 409 00:22:19,911 --> 00:22:24,951 Speaker 1: challenger Bill Clinton. Republicans were outraged by the indictment. Some 410 00:22:25,031 --> 00:22:27,910 Speaker 1: called on Walsh to voluntarily close his office and stop 411 00:22:27,991 --> 00:22:31,991 Speaker 1: wasting taxpayer money. Others called on President Bush to fire him. 412 00:22:32,191 --> 00:22:35,470 Speaker 17: You've got a tired special prosecutor and some aggressive on 413 00:22:35,551 --> 00:22:38,710 Speaker 17: the federal payroll and scalp hunters who are out to 414 00:22:38,791 --> 00:22:41,390 Speaker 17: get Ronald Reagan. I think that's clear, and the means 415 00:22:41,431 --> 00:22:43,511 Speaker 17: they've chosen to do it is to try to intimidate 416 00:22:43,630 --> 00:22:45,590 Speaker 17: the cap Weinberger, and that's. 417 00:22:45,630 --> 00:22:48,751 Speaker 1: The most vocal critic of the Weinberger indictment was Bush's 418 00:22:48,791 --> 00:22:52,511 Speaker 1: one time rival for the Republican nomination, Bob Dole, was 419 00:22:52,551 --> 00:22:56,390 Speaker 1: now serving as Senate Minority Leader. He described Walsh and 420 00:22:56,431 --> 00:22:59,271 Speaker 1: his staff as a squad of highly paid assassins and 421 00:22:59,311 --> 00:23:02,751 Speaker 1: accused them of trying to pressure Weinberger into testifying against Reagan. 422 00:23:03,031 --> 00:23:06,110 Speaker 16: Spent five years now on somewhere between thirty and fifty 423 00:23:06,110 --> 00:23:08,031 Speaker 16: million dollars, and he haven't got much to show for. 424 00:23:08,110 --> 00:23:11,830 Speaker 16: And they keep perpetuating themselves in office, hoping they might 425 00:23:12,031 --> 00:23:14,150 Speaker 16: sooner or later be able to get something on Ronald Reagan. 426 00:23:14,671 --> 00:23:16,791 Speaker 16: They should have been closed up two or three years ago. 427 00:23:16,830 --> 00:23:20,390 Speaker 16: If Congress spent fifty million dollars in this kind of chicanery, 428 00:23:21,311 --> 00:23:23,791 Speaker 16: the liberal media around this town would be investigating. 429 00:23:25,191 --> 00:23:29,791 Speaker 1: But Walsh's office did not shut down. Instead, two months later, 430 00:23:30,150 --> 00:23:32,791 Speaker 1: the prosecutors dropped a second bomb when they filed a 431 00:23:32,791 --> 00:23:36,190 Speaker 1: brief that contained an intriguing footnote. It quoted from a 432 00:23:36,191 --> 00:23:40,031 Speaker 1: previously undisclosed memo about a nineteen eighty seven phone conversation 433 00:23:40,350 --> 00:23:43,631 Speaker 1: between Weinberger and then Secretary of State George Schultz. 434 00:23:43,791 --> 00:23:46,751 Speaker 2: Iran contrary is the creature that just won't die no 435 00:23:46,830 --> 00:23:49,511 Speaker 2: matter how many times George Buyce tries to drive a 436 00:23:49,590 --> 00:23:50,670 Speaker 2: stake through its heart. 437 00:23:51,150 --> 00:23:53,870 Speaker 1: The memo dated to when Bush was still Reagan's VP. 438 00:23:55,150 --> 00:23:58,311 Speaker 1: In an interview with The Washington Post, Bush claimed not 439 00:23:58,350 --> 00:24:01,390 Speaker 1: to have realized that both Weinberger and Schultz had been 440 00:24:01,431 --> 00:24:06,111 Speaker 1: against the Iran arm sales. The memo indicated Weinberger had 441 00:24:06,150 --> 00:24:10,631 Speaker 1: seen Bush's comments and called Schultz to complain. Why did 442 00:24:10,630 --> 00:24:13,910 Speaker 1: he say that, Weinberger asked, he was on the other side. 443 00:24:15,311 --> 00:24:18,430 Speaker 1: The phone call suggested that Bush had actively supported the 444 00:24:18,471 --> 00:24:23,231 Speaker 1: Iran weapons program. When the memo came out, Democratic lawmakers 445 00:24:23,231 --> 00:24:24,390 Speaker 1: were quick to pounce on it. 446 00:24:25,350 --> 00:24:28,390 Speaker 18: Well, it turns out that the president's recollection of affairs 447 00:24:28,431 --> 00:24:30,751 Speaker 18: of state a mere six years ago when he was 448 00:24:30,830 --> 00:24:34,911 Speaker 18: vice president of the United States a contradicted by Secretary 449 00:24:34,951 --> 00:24:39,150 Speaker 18: Weinberger and Secretary Schultz. Well, on the floor of the House, 450 00:24:39,191 --> 00:24:41,751 Speaker 18: I can't say that the President of the United States lied, 451 00:24:42,110 --> 00:24:44,471 Speaker 18: but the case is clear from the Washington vot. 452 00:24:48,390 --> 00:24:50,390 Speaker 1: Bush tried to dodge questions about the memo. 453 00:24:50,830 --> 00:24:54,430 Speaker 4: I don't know about that. I've told very openly everything 454 00:24:54,511 --> 00:24:56,151 Speaker 4: I have to say about it. I don't know about 455 00:24:56,150 --> 00:24:56,670 Speaker 4: that memo. 456 00:24:57,231 --> 00:24:58,870 Speaker 10: So I saw a story on it. 457 00:24:58,911 --> 00:25:00,230 Speaker 4: To be honest with you, I didn't read it. 458 00:25:00,671 --> 00:25:01,870 Speaker 6: Do you know what they're talking about? 459 00:25:04,630 --> 00:25:06,991 Speaker 1: Bill Clinton started bringing up the memo on the trail, 460 00:25:07,791 --> 00:25:10,470 Speaker 1: offering it as a retort questions about his draft deferment, 461 00:25:10,751 --> 00:25:13,151 Speaker 1: which he called a hill of beans. Compared to Bush's 462 00:25:13,191 --> 00:25:16,590 Speaker 1: support for a legal conduct. Clinton's running mate Al Gore 463 00:25:16,711 --> 00:25:19,031 Speaker 1: got it on the action too well. 464 00:25:19,191 --> 00:25:21,951 Speaker 6: The new evidence came out in the form of notes, 465 00:25:22,951 --> 00:25:24,551 Speaker 6: and they asked him about it, and he just sah, 466 00:25:24,590 --> 00:25:28,551 Speaker 6: I didn't read that story and just brushed it off. Well, 467 00:25:28,590 --> 00:25:31,950 Speaker 6: I would like for him to concentrate on that and 468 00:25:32,071 --> 00:25:38,031 Speaker 6: see whether he can remember what he said and what 469 00:25:38,150 --> 00:25:38,511 Speaker 6: he did. 470 00:25:40,191 --> 00:25:43,950 Speaker 1: On October thirteenth, nineteen ninety two, Bush was interviewed by 471 00:25:44,031 --> 00:25:44,670 Speaker 1: Katie Kirk. 472 00:25:45,191 --> 00:25:48,951 Speaker 9: Do you have any knowledge of the Iran contra ars 473 00:25:48,991 --> 00:25:50,031 Speaker 9: for hostages deal? 474 00:25:50,191 --> 00:25:50,870 Speaker 5: While you went. 475 00:25:50,870 --> 00:25:53,831 Speaker 4: Ars Topay one hundred and fifty times under oath, some 476 00:25:53,870 --> 00:25:56,590 Speaker 4: of them in our staff thirty five hundred. 477 00:25:56,791 --> 00:25:57,071 Speaker 19: Yes. 478 00:25:57,390 --> 00:26:00,950 Speaker 4: I said all along that I knew about the arms 479 00:26:00,991 --> 00:26:04,150 Speaker 4: going and I supported the present. I gave speeches about it. 480 00:26:05,110 --> 00:26:07,830 Speaker 1: Remember, up to this point, Bush had insisted that he 481 00:26:07,870 --> 00:26:10,031 Speaker 1: did not know the weapons sales were part of an 482 00:26:10,150 --> 00:26:13,430 Speaker 1: armed for hostages trade. Now he seemed to be admitting 483 00:26:13,431 --> 00:26:15,830 Speaker 1: that he did and pretending that he had been saying 484 00:26:15,870 --> 00:26:16,590 Speaker 1: so all along. 485 00:26:17,231 --> 00:26:21,231 Speaker 2: Late today, Whinehouse aide said Bush misunderstood Katie Kurk's question 486 00:26:21,830 --> 00:26:23,990 Speaker 2: the AIDS say when the arms deal was cooked up? 487 00:26:24,231 --> 00:26:26,551 Speaker 2: He did not fully understand it because he was not 488 00:26:26,751 --> 00:26:27,390 Speaker 2: in the loop. 489 00:26:27,870 --> 00:26:31,031 Speaker 1: While Bush and Clinton battled over Iran Kantra in the media, 490 00:26:31,590 --> 00:26:35,231 Speaker 1: defense lawyers for Casper Weinberger battled Walsh and his prosecutors 491 00:26:35,231 --> 00:26:38,711 Speaker 1: in court. By the end of October, the Independent Council's 492 00:26:38,711 --> 00:26:42,190 Speaker 1: Office was preparing to file a superseding indictment against Weinberger, 493 00:26:43,031 --> 00:26:45,871 Speaker 1: essentially an addendum that introduced more specifics to the case 494 00:26:45,911 --> 00:26:49,110 Speaker 1: against him. One of those specifics came from a note 495 00:26:49,150 --> 00:26:54,071 Speaker 1: discovered in Weinberger's files. Weinberger's note said the President had 496 00:26:54,071 --> 00:26:57,271 Speaker 1: decided to go with the Israeli Iranian offer to release 497 00:26:57,311 --> 00:27:00,430 Speaker 1: our five hostages in return for the sale of four 498 00:27:00,471 --> 00:27:05,471 Speaker 1: thousand TOE missiles. George Schultz and I opposed VP favored 499 00:27:06,711 --> 00:27:11,071 Speaker 1: VP favored. Here was something better than a huffy phone 500 00:27:11,110 --> 00:27:14,630 Speaker 1: call between two cabinet members. It was a contemporaneous record 501 00:27:14,791 --> 00:27:17,751 Speaker 1: of Bush's support for the arms for hostages scheme. 502 00:27:18,511 --> 00:27:20,991 Speaker 8: And there we were faced with the question do we 503 00:27:21,071 --> 00:27:24,710 Speaker 8: take out the VP favors or do we leave it in. 504 00:27:25,751 --> 00:27:30,470 Speaker 1: This is Jim Brosnahan, a prosecutor on Walsh's team. He 505 00:27:30,511 --> 00:27:33,311 Speaker 1: remembers reading a draft of the superseding indictment before it 506 00:27:33,350 --> 00:27:36,670 Speaker 1: was filed, and talking to Walsh about whether VP favored 507 00:27:36,711 --> 00:27:40,590 Speaker 1: should be taken out. Under normal circumstances, they might not 508 00:27:40,630 --> 00:27:43,791 Speaker 1: have even considered it. But this was the last week 509 00:27:43,830 --> 00:27:47,271 Speaker 1: of October, just days before Americans would be going to 510 00:27:47,311 --> 00:27:51,311 Speaker 1: the polls. Was VP favored too explosive to release so 511 00:27:51,431 --> 00:27:52,431 Speaker 1: close to election day? 512 00:27:53,031 --> 00:27:58,470 Speaker 8: And my decision was, and I take responsibility for a 513 00:27:58,511 --> 00:28:03,390 Speaker 8: lot of a lot of Washington peoples thought this was wrong. 514 00:28:03,671 --> 00:28:07,031 Speaker 8: I respect their opinion, but I thought it. I wasn't 515 00:28:07,031 --> 00:28:12,231 Speaker 8: going to remove it. May may successful the Vice president's 516 00:28:12,311 --> 00:28:17,590 Speaker 8: cover up. He had been dissembling with the American public. 517 00:28:17,630 --> 00:28:18,711 Speaker 8: I wasn't going to take it out. 518 00:28:19,350 --> 00:28:21,671 Speaker 1: In the press room at the Federal Courthouse in Washington, 519 00:28:22,110 --> 00:28:25,350 Speaker 1: reporters combed through the indictment for new information. 520 00:28:25,431 --> 00:28:28,591 Speaker 8: And everybody in the press room was going about their 521 00:28:28,711 --> 00:28:31,911 Speaker 8: business and doing other things, and over in the corner 522 00:28:32,471 --> 00:28:37,590 Speaker 8: is a reporter and he's typing furiously. All the other 523 00:28:37,671 --> 00:28:42,031 Speaker 8: reporters went over to see what he was madly typing about, 524 00:28:42,391 --> 00:28:45,111 Speaker 8: and so they all looked at it, and they saw 525 00:28:45,271 --> 00:28:52,791 Speaker 8: VP favors. And that Friday night, the three leading television 526 00:28:53,111 --> 00:28:58,911 Speaker 8: channels ran the story of the Vice President and all 527 00:28:58,991 --> 00:28:59,751 Speaker 8: help broke. 528 00:28:59,591 --> 00:29:05,911 Speaker 3: Loose new material that directly contradicts President Bush's claim that 529 00:29:06,031 --> 00:29:08,351 Speaker 3: he was out of the loop in the Iran Contra affair. 530 00:29:08,791 --> 00:29:12,751 Speaker 2: George schultzen I posed Bill Casey Etmees, and Vice President 531 00:29:12,791 --> 00:29:13,991 Speaker 2: Bush favored. 532 00:29:13,951 --> 00:29:15,031 Speaker 8: Campaigning in Pittsburgh. 533 00:29:15,071 --> 00:29:18,151 Speaker 9: Clinton quickly interrupted his schedule to pounce on the revelations 534 00:29:18,151 --> 00:29:19,391 Speaker 9: in the Weinberger indictment. 535 00:29:19,591 --> 00:29:24,391 Speaker 7: Secretary Weinberger's notes clearly show that President Bush has not 536 00:29:24,471 --> 00:29:26,631 Speaker 7: been telling the truth when he says he was out 537 00:29:26,631 --> 00:29:27,631 Speaker 7: of the loop. 538 00:29:27,831 --> 00:29:30,391 Speaker 1: As Bush and Clinton were making their closing arguments in 539 00:29:30,431 --> 00:29:34,871 Speaker 1: the campaign, Bush's claims about Iran Contra were under scrutiny. 540 00:29:35,111 --> 00:29:38,271 Speaker 1: Had he lied about his involvement, and if so, was 541 00:29:38,311 --> 00:29:42,710 Speaker 1: he lying to protect Reagan or himself. Bush responded to 542 00:29:42,711 --> 00:29:44,791 Speaker 1: the news the same way he had been responding to 543 00:29:44,871 --> 00:29:48,791 Speaker 1: questions about Iran Contra since nineteen eighty six, by insisting 544 00:29:48,831 --> 00:29:52,151 Speaker 1: that he had never been inconsistent and denying that Weinberger's 545 00:29:52,191 --> 00:29:54,470 Speaker 1: notes on the meeting were in any way revelatory. 546 00:29:54,991 --> 00:29:56,471 Speaker 8: We have a call from Little Rock. 547 00:29:57,111 --> 00:30:00,190 Speaker 1: During an appearance on Larry King Live, Bush was confronted 548 00:30:00,231 --> 00:30:02,871 Speaker 1: on the air by one of Clinton's top aides. 549 00:30:03,191 --> 00:30:04,511 Speaker 8: From George Stephanopolis. 550 00:30:04,591 --> 00:30:07,431 Speaker 2: Oh no, oh, no, guy ahead. 551 00:30:07,431 --> 00:30:09,671 Speaker 16: He has Governor Clinton's campaign manager. This is an open 552 00:30:09,711 --> 00:30:11,471 Speaker 16: phonet ess and he dialed in directly. 553 00:30:11,511 --> 00:30:12,950 Speaker 2: It was lucked in at number. 554 00:30:13,231 --> 00:30:17,031 Speaker 19: Go ahead, George, the president you asked us to find 555 00:30:17,071 --> 00:30:20,351 Speaker 19: out what the smoking gun was, and this memo clearly 556 00:30:20,471 --> 00:30:24,751 Speaker 19: shows that it wasn't these arms for hostages, five hostages 557 00:30:24,791 --> 00:30:27,431 Speaker 19: in return for the sale of four thousand total missiles, 558 00:30:27,631 --> 00:30:30,791 Speaker 19: and that she knew it then, according to mister Weinberger. 559 00:30:30,591 --> 00:30:31,831 Speaker 8: Yeah reply now. 560 00:30:31,911 --> 00:30:34,231 Speaker 4: Let me let me tell you now, mister Stephanopp, let's 561 00:30:34,351 --> 00:30:36,991 Speaker 4: very able, young man. It is the Democrats who have 562 00:30:37,071 --> 00:30:40,231 Speaker 4: been pushing to the tune of some forty million dollars. 563 00:30:40,311 --> 00:30:44,151 Speaker 1: These hearings, Bush suggested that Walsh had included VP favored 564 00:30:44,151 --> 00:30:46,831 Speaker 1: in his indictment in order to help the Clinton campaign. 565 00:30:46,911 --> 00:30:50,351 Speaker 8: Are you implying or saying that Walsh did that today politically? 566 00:30:50,431 --> 00:30:54,190 Speaker 4: No, I'm asking, isn't it strange? I'm not implying anything. 567 00:30:54,271 --> 00:30:57,751 Speaker 4: Let the American people. Let the American people be the judge. 568 00:30:58,271 --> 00:30:59,271 Speaker 10: Let's the American people. 569 00:30:59,271 --> 00:31:01,511 Speaker 1: Four days later, Bush lost the election. 570 00:31:01,831 --> 00:31:05,911 Speaker 14: The American people have voted to make a new beginning. 571 00:31:06,551 --> 00:31:11,190 Speaker 17: A landslide victory ushers in the Clinton era Today Wednesday, November. 572 00:31:11,591 --> 00:31:13,751 Speaker 6: It's been a humiliating defeat for Republicans. 573 00:31:13,911 --> 00:31:15,911 Speaker 10: The landslide was in the electoral votes. 574 00:31:16,271 --> 00:31:18,191 Speaker 2: Maybe you didn't read the election returns. 575 00:31:18,191 --> 00:31:20,191 Speaker 4: It didn't work out quite the way we wanted it. 576 00:31:20,311 --> 00:31:22,751 Speaker 6: He told his supporters He's going to finish the job 577 00:31:23,271 --> 00:31:23,831 Speaker 6: with style. 578 00:31:24,111 --> 00:31:26,151 Speaker 1: Bush had been voted out of office as a one 579 00:31:26,271 --> 00:31:28,791 Speaker 1: term president, but he still had more than two months 580 00:31:28,871 --> 00:31:37,351 Speaker 1: left in the White House. Speculation began almost immediately that 581 00:31:37,471 --> 00:31:41,391 Speaker 1: Walsh's superseding indictment of Weinberger had cost Bush the White House. 582 00:31:42,191 --> 00:31:44,831 Speaker 1: Bob Dole called it a deliberate hit job by the 583 00:31:44,871 --> 00:31:48,311 Speaker 1: anti Reagan, anti Bush. Independent Council's Office. 584 00:31:48,191 --> 00:31:51,111 Speaker 2: Aide say Bush is not angry at Clintonland, but there 585 00:31:51,231 --> 00:31:54,591 Speaker 2: is anger at a ran contra prosecutor Lawrence Walsh for 586 00:31:54,711 --> 00:31:57,391 Speaker 2: what the White House claims is a witch hunt that 587 00:31:57,511 --> 00:31:58,710 Speaker 2: hurt Bush in the election. 588 00:31:59,231 --> 00:32:00,911 Speaker 1: Here's John Q. Barrett again. 589 00:32:01,271 --> 00:32:04,631 Speaker 11: You know whether it was sincerely believed or just was 590 00:32:04,711 --> 00:32:08,591 Speaker 11: a convenient punching bag. A lot of people said that 591 00:32:08,671 --> 00:32:13,911 Speaker 11: the Walsh receiving indictment in the phrase VP favored had 592 00:32:13,951 --> 00:32:14,991 Speaker 11: caused Bush to lose. 593 00:32:15,871 --> 00:32:18,711 Speaker 1: A Los Angeles Times exit poll found that the recent 594 00:32:18,791 --> 00:32:22,911 Speaker 1: Iran contrain news had not swayed many voters. The truth 595 00:32:23,031 --> 00:32:26,190 Speaker 1: was Bush had been trailing Clinton since the summer, but 596 00:32:26,511 --> 00:32:29,591 Speaker 1: he had been gaining momentum in recent weeks, and it 597 00:32:29,671 --> 00:32:33,431 Speaker 1: did fade away after Walsh's big reveal. At a meeting 598 00:32:33,471 --> 00:32:37,111 Speaker 1: of Republican Party leaders, Bob Dole accused Walsh of being 599 00:32:37,111 --> 00:32:38,271 Speaker 1: in the tank for Clinton. 600 00:32:38,911 --> 00:32:40,711 Speaker 16: I'd say to mister Walsh, why don't you have a 601 00:32:40,751 --> 00:32:44,751 Speaker 16: little in house investigation. Why don't you take a look 602 00:32:45,751 --> 00:32:48,271 Speaker 16: see if you can find one Republican on your staff, 603 00:32:48,311 --> 00:32:49,671 Speaker 16: mister Walsh. 604 00:32:51,151 --> 00:32:55,031 Speaker 1: In fact, Walsh himself was a lifelong Republican. He was 605 00:32:55,031 --> 00:32:57,831 Speaker 1: appointed to serve as a federal judge by President Eisenhower 606 00:32:58,031 --> 00:33:02,751 Speaker 1: and later served as his deputy attorney General. Nevertheless, four 607 00:33:02,831 --> 00:33:05,951 Speaker 1: Senate Republicans made a formal request the Department of Justice 608 00:33:05,951 --> 00:33:09,071 Speaker 1: appoint a new independent council to investigate. 609 00:33:08,591 --> 00:33:10,191 Speaker 4: The old one. 610 00:33:10,391 --> 00:33:14,151 Speaker 1: It was an ironic move. Republicans had recently killed the 611 00:33:14,191 --> 00:33:17,911 Speaker 1: independent council law put in place after Watergate. The law 612 00:33:17,991 --> 00:33:20,591 Speaker 1: was set to expire in a few weeks, which meant 613 00:33:20,631 --> 00:33:23,751 Speaker 1: there was just enough time to get one more independent council. 614 00:33:23,791 --> 00:33:29,071 Speaker 1: Investigation started Bob Dole prepared a list of criminal statutes 615 00:33:29,071 --> 00:33:31,671 Speaker 1: he thought Walsh may have violated, and he sent it 616 00:33:31,711 --> 00:33:36,591 Speaker 1: to Bush's Attorney General, Bill Barr. In a memo. Barr 617 00:33:36,631 --> 00:33:40,671 Speaker 1: was advised against appointing another independent council. The author of 618 00:33:40,671 --> 00:33:44,591 Speaker 1: the memo was the head of DOJ's Criminal Division, Robert Muller. 619 00:33:45,551 --> 00:33:49,151 Speaker 1: In the end, Barr decided Muhller had it right. Instead 620 00:33:49,151 --> 00:33:51,991 Speaker 1: of appointing a new Independent Council, he referred the Walsh 621 00:33:52,031 --> 00:33:56,871 Speaker 1: matter to the Criminal Division. Around the same time, the 622 00:33:56,911 --> 00:34:00,791 Speaker 1: Independent Council's spokesperson, Mary Belcher was asked to come in 623 00:34:00,871 --> 00:34:04,311 Speaker 1: for an interview with the FBI. They wanted to know 624 00:34:04,351 --> 00:34:07,311 Speaker 1: if she had given the Clinton campaign advance warning that 625 00:34:07,391 --> 00:34:10,151 Speaker 1: the superseding indictment of Casper Weinberger was coming. 626 00:34:11,071 --> 00:34:14,551 Speaker 12: And I don't know if anybody knows this, but I 627 00:34:14,631 --> 00:34:18,790 Speaker 12: was in fact interviewed by the FBI to ask me 628 00:34:18,911 --> 00:34:22,311 Speaker 12: whether or not I had leaked information to the Clinton campaign. 629 00:34:23,111 --> 00:34:25,671 Speaker 1: Republicans had been raising the possibility of a leak in 630 00:34:25,710 --> 00:34:29,111 Speaker 1: the media. They were suspicious because a statement issued by 631 00:34:29,151 --> 00:34:32,310 Speaker 1: the Clinton campaign about the VP favored memo had been 632 00:34:32,391 --> 00:34:36,511 Speaker 1: dated October twenty ninth, one day before the indictment of 633 00:34:36,551 --> 00:34:40,631 Speaker 1: Casper Weinberger was filed. The explanation from the Clinton camp 634 00:34:40,750 --> 00:34:43,311 Speaker 1: was that someone had simply entered the wrong date by mistake. 635 00:34:44,591 --> 00:34:48,471 Speaker 1: In a Virginia FBI field office. Agents asked Mary Belcher 636 00:34:48,471 --> 00:34:52,430 Speaker 1: if she was personally acquainted with Clinton's communications director George Stephanopolis. 637 00:34:53,311 --> 00:34:55,911 Speaker 1: How did it come to be that FBI agents were 638 00:34:55,951 --> 00:34:56,591 Speaker 1: asking about this? 639 00:34:57,071 --> 00:35:00,710 Speaker 12: I don't know. I assume somebody high up thought that 640 00:35:01,230 --> 00:35:04,391 Speaker 12: there was a story there, there was something worth investigating, 641 00:35:04,431 --> 00:35:09,111 Speaker 12: some criminal activity, that Judge Walsh's office was somehow working 642 00:35:09,151 --> 00:35:12,831 Speaker 12: in concert with presidential hopeful Bill Clinton. 643 00:35:13,391 --> 00:35:15,511 Speaker 1: I asked Belcher if she thought her questioning had been 644 00:35:15,551 --> 00:35:19,190 Speaker 1: part of an FBI investigation into Walsh's office. She said 645 00:35:19,190 --> 00:35:21,270 Speaker 1: it had never really occurred to her to wonder, and 646 00:35:21,311 --> 00:35:23,391 Speaker 1: that she had never discussed it with any of her colleagues. 647 00:35:23,831 --> 00:35:26,270 Speaker 12: You know, I guess I could request the FBI three 648 00:35:26,351 --> 00:35:28,631 Speaker 12: OHO two with my name on it. A three O 649 00:35:28,750 --> 00:35:32,951 Speaker 12: two is a record of an investigation. It's generally a 650 00:35:32,991 --> 00:35:35,190 Speaker 12: one or two sheet thing. It would be kind of 651 00:35:35,190 --> 00:35:37,831 Speaker 12: funny to see it, but it was serious business. I 652 00:35:37,871 --> 00:35:40,511 Speaker 12: don't want to make light of it, but I really 653 00:35:40,591 --> 00:35:43,270 Speaker 12: don't know anything more about it. 654 00:35:44,671 --> 00:35:48,111 Speaker 1: With the integrity of their office under attack, Walsh and 655 00:35:48,111 --> 00:35:51,671 Speaker 1: his prosecutors continued to prepare for the trial of Kasper Weinberger, 656 00:35:52,111 --> 00:35:53,830 Speaker 1: in which they would try to convince a jury that 657 00:35:53,871 --> 00:35:58,710 Speaker 1: he had illegally withheld his notes from Iran Contra investigators. Then, 658 00:35:59,230 --> 00:36:03,391 Speaker 1: on December eleventh, nineteen ninety two, the Walsh team received 659 00:36:03,391 --> 00:36:08,190 Speaker 1: an astonishing piece of information. George H. W. Bush had 660 00:36:08,270 --> 00:36:14,231 Speaker 1: kept a diary. A few months earlier. One of Bush's 661 00:36:14,230 --> 00:36:17,431 Speaker 1: administrative assistants had found the diary while taking inventory in 662 00:36:17,471 --> 00:36:20,351 Speaker 1: the White House. She thought it looked relevant to the 663 00:36:20,391 --> 00:36:24,071 Speaker 1: Independent Council's investigation, so she shared it with Bush's White 664 00:36:24,111 --> 00:36:27,831 Speaker 1: House Council. He kept a diary to himself until after 665 00:36:27,871 --> 00:36:31,270 Speaker 1: the election. When Walsh found out about the diary, he 666 00:36:31,311 --> 00:36:34,111 Speaker 1: didn't say anything about the matter publicly, and it was 667 00:36:34,190 --> 00:36:38,671 Speaker 1: unclear what, if anything, he was going to do about it. Meanwhile, 668 00:36:39,190 --> 00:36:42,311 Speaker 1: George H. W. Bush was now a lame duck president, 669 00:36:43,391 --> 00:36:47,071 Speaker 1: but he was still in charge, and, as conservative commentators 670 00:36:47,071 --> 00:36:49,430 Speaker 1: reminded him over and over again in the weeks after 671 00:36:49,471 --> 00:36:52,911 Speaker 1: his defeat, that meant he had the power to issue pardons. 672 00:36:53,270 --> 00:36:57,190 Speaker 2: Some top Republicans are urging Bush to retaliate by pardoning 673 00:36:57,270 --> 00:37:02,071 Speaker 2: former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger and other Iran Contra defendants. 674 00:37:02,270 --> 00:37:05,351 Speaker 17: I think what happened to Cap Weinberger is one of 675 00:37:05,351 --> 00:37:08,390 Speaker 17: the most disgusting things I have seen in fourteen years 676 00:37:08,431 --> 00:37:09,151 Speaker 17: in Washington. 677 00:37:09,270 --> 00:37:09,871 Speaker 8: He should do. 678 00:37:10,031 --> 00:37:12,431 Speaker 1: He be crowned with gar respector of pardons for the 679 00:37:12,471 --> 00:37:15,910 Speaker 1: Iran Contra defendants had been hanging over Walsh's investigation from 680 00:37:15,951 --> 00:37:19,711 Speaker 1: the very beginning. Some had expected Ronald Reagan to issue 681 00:37:19,710 --> 00:37:24,350 Speaker 1: pardons before leaving office, but Reagan didn't do it, and 682 00:37:24,431 --> 00:37:27,830 Speaker 1: the idea that Bush should started gaining purchase among Republicans. 683 00:37:27,871 --> 00:37:34,111 Speaker 1: After his loss, Attorney General Bill Barr gave an interview 684 00:37:34,111 --> 00:37:36,350 Speaker 1: in which he said the Iran Contra defendants had been 685 00:37:36,351 --> 00:37:40,270 Speaker 1: treated very unfairly. Barr declined to say at the time 686 00:37:40,311 --> 00:37:43,431 Speaker 1: whether he was advising the president to issue pardons, but 687 00:37:43,591 --> 00:37:46,631 Speaker 1: years later he would confirm that he was strongly in favor. 688 00:37:47,911 --> 00:37:50,270 Speaker 1: John Barrett says he didn't think pardons were likely. 689 00:37:51,151 --> 00:37:54,911 Speaker 11: The things that were kind of in play between the 690 00:37:54,951 --> 00:37:57,591 Speaker 11: election and the end of nineteen ninety two, or between 691 00:37:57,631 --> 00:38:00,431 Speaker 11: the election and Christmas, where that George Bush had withheld 692 00:38:00,471 --> 00:38:04,310 Speaker 11: responsive documents that the White House Counsel's Office had been 693 00:38:04,391 --> 00:38:08,911 Speaker 11: part of wittingly or unwittingly withholding those documents, and that 694 00:38:08,991 --> 00:38:11,631 Speaker 11: George Bush was on notice that he was likely to 695 00:38:11,631 --> 00:38:14,551 Speaker 11: be called as a witness in the Weinberger trial. All 696 00:38:14,591 --> 00:38:18,511 Speaker 11: of that added up to a situation where I thought 697 00:38:18,551 --> 00:38:22,551 Speaker 11: it would be unlikely, because of the self interest, that 698 00:38:23,391 --> 00:38:27,831 Speaker 11: is palpable, that President Bush would exercise his pardon power. 699 00:38:28,631 --> 00:38:29,191 Speaker 2: I was wrong. 700 00:38:30,551 --> 00:38:31,710 Speaker 1: We'll be right back. 701 00:38:39,270 --> 00:38:42,031 Speaker 10: The Christmas Eve bombshall from President Bush today. 702 00:38:42,111 --> 00:38:45,710 Speaker 13: It ended President Bush pardon Casper Weinberger, accused of lying 703 00:38:45,750 --> 00:38:48,790 Speaker 13: to Congress and five others in the scandal. Bush called 704 00:38:48,791 --> 00:38:50,911 Speaker 13: it an act of healing the Iran Contra. 705 00:38:50,951 --> 00:38:54,710 Speaker 1: Prosecutor pardons were announced on Christmas Eve. There were six 706 00:38:54,750 --> 00:38:57,631 Speaker 1: in all, three of them going to people associated with 707 00:38:57,671 --> 00:39:01,911 Speaker 1: the CIA, and one to former State Department official Elliott Abrams. 708 00:39:02,270 --> 00:39:05,310 Speaker 1: Another went to Bud McFarlane, who had pleaded guilty to 709 00:39:05,351 --> 00:39:09,990 Speaker 1: withholding information from Congress. MacFarlane's colleagues Oliver North and John 710 00:39:10,111 --> 00:39:13,911 Speaker 1: Poindexter didn't need pardons because their convictions had been overturned. 711 00:39:14,911 --> 00:39:19,471 Speaker 1: That left Casper Weinberger, who was still awaiting trial. Bush's 712 00:39:19,471 --> 00:39:21,031 Speaker 1: sixth pardon went to him. 713 00:39:21,270 --> 00:39:24,310 Speaker 13: By barring a Weinberger trial and pardoning others who he 714 00:39:24,351 --> 00:39:27,310 Speaker 13: said had acted out of patriotic motives. Bush tried to 715 00:39:27,351 --> 00:39:29,911 Speaker 13: put the Iran Contra prosecutors out of business. 716 00:39:30,471 --> 00:39:34,430 Speaker 1: In announcing the pardons, Bush called Casper Weinberger a true 717 00:39:34,551 --> 00:39:38,031 Speaker 1: American patriot. Some may argue that this will prevent full 718 00:39:38,071 --> 00:39:40,871 Speaker 1: disclosure of some new key facts to the American people. 719 00:39:40,911 --> 00:39:45,111 Speaker 1: Bush said that is not true. The matter has been 720 00:39:45,151 --> 00:39:53,910 Speaker 1: investigated exhaustively. Lawrence Walsh wasted no time in reacting, and 721 00:39:54,031 --> 00:39:55,071 Speaker 1: he held nothing back. 722 00:39:55,551 --> 00:40:00,031 Speaker 10: Prosecutor Walsh responded today, saying the pardons undermined the principle 723 00:40:00,071 --> 00:40:01,551 Speaker 10: that no man is above the law. 724 00:40:02,111 --> 00:40:05,111 Speaker 1: Walsh called the pardoners the last card in the cover up. 725 00:40:06,190 --> 00:40:09,111 Speaker 1: He also disclosed for the first time the existence of 726 00:40:09,111 --> 00:40:12,031 Speaker 1: Bush's diaries and the fact that they had been withheld 727 00:40:12,111 --> 00:40:13,951 Speaker 1: from prosecutors until after the election. 728 00:40:14,671 --> 00:40:18,230 Speaker 5: He is pardoning a person who committed the same type 729 00:40:18,871 --> 00:40:23,071 Speaker 5: of misconduct that he did. President Bush withheld notes that 730 00:40:23,111 --> 00:40:25,991 Speaker 5: should have been made available to Congress in the spring 731 00:40:26,031 --> 00:40:28,830 Speaker 5: of nineteen eighty seven and into my office at the 732 00:40:28,871 --> 00:40:29,511 Speaker 5: same time. 733 00:40:30,511 --> 00:40:33,190 Speaker 1: To some, it looked an awful lot like Bush had 734 00:40:33,230 --> 00:40:36,551 Speaker 1: pardoned Casper Weinberger in order to avoid further scrutiny of 735 00:40:36,551 --> 00:40:40,710 Speaker 1: his own role in Iran contrat and his newly discovered diaries. 736 00:40:41,071 --> 00:40:43,831 Speaker 13: The President acted as he faces a demand for notes 737 00:40:43,871 --> 00:40:46,591 Speaker 13: that could still be embarrassing. Now he may try to 738 00:40:46,671 --> 00:40:49,990 Speaker 13: resist on the grounds that Iran contract is all over. 739 00:40:50,911 --> 00:40:54,871 Speaker 11: I can't speak to President Bush's thought process or the 740 00:40:54,951 --> 00:40:57,551 Speaker 11: lawyers who are advising him, Boyden Gray and Bill Barr, 741 00:40:57,951 --> 00:41:01,471 Speaker 11: but it's a sure thing that if Bush had testified 742 00:41:01,911 --> 00:41:05,951 Speaker 11: in the Weinberger trial and his diary had been produced, 743 00:41:05,991 --> 00:41:07,951 Speaker 11: I mean, we would have gotten and produced it and 744 00:41:07,951 --> 00:41:12,071 Speaker 11: shared with the defense, he would have been examined or 745 00:41:12,111 --> 00:41:17,710 Speaker 11: cross examined or refreshed based on those diary entries. And 746 00:41:17,791 --> 00:41:20,350 Speaker 11: a pardon made it a sure thing that there would 747 00:41:20,391 --> 00:41:22,911 Speaker 11: be no trial, and thus that he would never have 748 00:41:22,991 --> 00:41:25,870 Speaker 11: to testify, and thus that those diary entries would never 749 00:41:25,911 --> 00:41:27,671 Speaker 11: be used in trial evidence. 750 00:41:28,631 --> 00:41:31,271 Speaker 1: Walsh was asked if he might bring criminal charges against 751 00:41:31,311 --> 00:41:35,190 Speaker 1: Bush after he left the White House. Walsh indicated that 752 00:41:35,230 --> 00:41:36,471 Speaker 1: he had not ruled it out. 753 00:41:36,710 --> 00:41:40,071 Speaker 10: Is it remotely conceivable there could be a prosecution of 754 00:41:40,151 --> 00:41:41,351 Speaker 10: President Bush? 755 00:41:41,391 --> 00:41:45,071 Speaker 5: I could not comment on that. He's a subject now 756 00:41:45,151 --> 00:41:46,270 Speaker 5: of our investigation. 757 00:41:47,270 --> 00:41:50,031 Speaker 1: Bush, meanwhile, was devastated by his loss in the election. 758 00:41:50,911 --> 00:41:53,391 Speaker 1: In his diary, he noted that he had slept well 759 00:41:53,551 --> 00:41:55,270 Speaker 1: except for waking up in the middle of the night 760 00:41:55,631 --> 00:42:00,431 Speaker 1: thrashing around about the prosecutor. But after some consideration, the 761 00:42:00,471 --> 00:42:03,511 Speaker 1: prosecutor and his team decided not to charge Bush with 762 00:42:03,631 --> 00:42:03,991 Speaker 1: a crime. 763 00:42:05,151 --> 00:42:09,551 Speaker 11: We had extensive discussions. We all of course reassembled, you know, 764 00:42:10,111 --> 00:42:12,270 Speaker 11: right after Christmas or right after the first of the year, 765 00:42:12,750 --> 00:42:17,711 Speaker 11: and the consensus of the office was that, you know, really, 766 00:42:17,750 --> 00:42:21,750 Speaker 11: this was the conclusion. A former president of the United 767 00:42:21,791 --> 00:42:27,271 Speaker 11: States is a very special category of subject. It's almost 768 00:42:27,270 --> 00:42:31,631 Speaker 11: inconceivable that one would be charged with a federal crime. 769 00:42:32,591 --> 00:42:34,111 Speaker 11: Almost inconceivable. 770 00:42:37,311 --> 00:42:40,591 Speaker 1: For the prosecutors in Walsh's office. The only thing left 771 00:42:40,631 --> 00:42:43,591 Speaker 1: to do was assemble their findings and present them to Congress. 772 00:42:44,831 --> 00:42:48,031 Speaker 1: Their twelve hundred page report was released in January of 773 00:42:48,111 --> 00:42:52,270 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four, seven years after Walsh was first appointed. 774 00:42:52,671 --> 00:42:56,871 Speaker 10: After a seven year investigation, Independent Council Lawrence Walsh concluded 775 00:42:56,911 --> 00:42:59,671 Speaker 10: that there was a cover up by the Reagan administration 776 00:43:00,071 --> 00:43:02,911 Speaker 10: of its nineteen eighty five arms sales to Iran for 777 00:43:02,991 --> 00:43:05,951 Speaker 10: the purpose of releasing hostages and its funding of the 778 00:43:06,071 --> 00:43:07,631 Speaker 10: Nicaraguan contras. 779 00:43:07,750 --> 00:43:11,591 Speaker 1: Walsh's conclusion was that President Reagan had not committed any crime, 780 00:43:12,871 --> 00:43:15,151 Speaker 1: but that he had quote set the stage for the 781 00:43:15,151 --> 00:43:18,471 Speaker 1: illegal activities of others by encouraging and in general terms, 782 00:43:18,631 --> 00:43:23,671 Speaker 1: ordering support of the contras. Bush hadn't committed any crimes either, 783 00:43:23,750 --> 00:43:27,271 Speaker 1: Walsh said, and it turned out his diaries didn't contain 784 00:43:27,431 --> 00:43:30,950 Speaker 1: much new information. Despite that first entry, in which Bush 785 00:43:30,991 --> 00:43:33,471 Speaker 1: called himself one of the few people who knew the details, 786 00:43:34,151 --> 00:43:37,951 Speaker 1: most of what followed was pretty anodyne. In a press conference, 787 00:43:38,230 --> 00:43:41,391 Speaker 1: Walsh emphasized that Iran Contra had not been the work 788 00:43:41,431 --> 00:43:44,631 Speaker 1: of a few rogue operators, that it had come from 789 00:43:44,671 --> 00:43:48,031 Speaker 1: the top. Even if Reagan himself wasn't fully engaged in 790 00:43:48,071 --> 00:43:49,391 Speaker 1: the details of what was happening. 791 00:43:49,951 --> 00:43:52,951 Speaker 5: They didn't run off by themselves to violate the law. 792 00:43:53,471 --> 00:43:56,750 Speaker 5: They thought they were carrying out his wishes. They had 793 00:43:56,791 --> 00:44:01,151 Speaker 5: the backing of very high government officials in the agencies, 794 00:44:01,270 --> 00:44:05,230 Speaker 5: in the State Department, the Defense Department, and the CIA, 795 00:44:05,351 --> 00:44:07,511 Speaker 5: so it is in no sense of rogue operation. 796 00:44:08,391 --> 00:44:12,271 Speaker 1: Walsh reserved his harshest criticism from Bush's decision to issue pardons. 797 00:44:13,071 --> 00:44:15,471 Speaker 5: I think President Bush will always have to answer for 798 00:44:15,511 --> 00:44:19,551 Speaker 5: his pardons. I think that was the most unjustifiable act. 799 00:44:20,111 --> 00:44:23,711 Speaker 5: There was no public purpose served by that President. Reagan, 800 00:44:23,951 --> 00:44:27,111 Speaker 5: on the other hand, was carrying out policies that he 801 00:44:27,270 --> 00:44:30,791 Speaker 5: strongly believed in. He thought he was serving the country 802 00:44:30,831 --> 00:44:34,951 Speaker 5: and what he did, and the fact that he disregarded 803 00:44:35,591 --> 00:44:38,750 Speaker 5: certain laws and statutes in the course of it was 804 00:44:38,791 --> 00:44:42,831 Speaker 5: not because of any possibly self centered purpose. 805 00:44:45,591 --> 00:44:49,111 Speaker 1: By the time Walsh's report was published, George H. W. 806 00:44:49,351 --> 00:44:52,711 Speaker 1: Bush was living as a retiree in Houston, and Ronald 807 00:44:52,710 --> 00:44:57,910 Speaker 1: Reagan was suffering privately from the early stages of Alzheimer's Bill. 808 00:44:57,951 --> 00:45:00,711 Speaker 1: Clinton was dealing with the fallout from a magazine article 809 00:45:00,911 --> 00:45:03,350 Speaker 1: in which a group of Arkansas state troopers alleged that 810 00:45:03,391 --> 00:45:05,470 Speaker 1: he had had a sexual encounter in a hotel room 811 00:45:05,551 --> 00:45:10,551 Speaker 1: with a woman named Paula. Meanwhile, in Central America, the 812 00:45:10,671 --> 00:45:13,471 Speaker 1: leader of the Sandinistas, Don yell Or Tega, had been 813 00:45:13,551 --> 00:45:16,631 Speaker 1: voted out as president of Nicaragua and succeeded by the 814 00:45:16,750 --> 00:45:21,391 Speaker 1: US back candidate Violetta Chamorro. As for the American hostages 815 00:45:21,431 --> 00:45:25,511 Speaker 1: in Lebanon, most of them had been released. Two who 816 00:45:25,551 --> 00:45:29,350 Speaker 1: never came home, including CIA station chief William Buckley, had 817 00:45:29,391 --> 00:45:32,431 Speaker 1: died in captivity and their bones had been found on 818 00:45:32,471 --> 00:45:37,031 Speaker 1: the side of the road in Beirut Iran contra was over. 819 00:45:38,391 --> 00:45:41,391 Speaker 1: Any remaining questions about why it happened and who deserved 820 00:45:41,391 --> 00:45:43,991 Speaker 1: the blame would have to be examined through a rear 821 00:45:44,071 --> 00:45:53,390 Speaker 1: view mirror. On March first, two thousand and three, just 822 00:45:53,431 --> 00:45:56,791 Speaker 1: over ten years after Bush issued as Christmas Eve Pardons, 823 00:45:56,871 --> 00:45:59,671 Speaker 1: Oliver North was scheduled to set sail for the Caribbean. 824 00:46:00,991 --> 00:46:03,631 Speaker 1: North was hosting a week long celebration billed as the 825 00:46:03,671 --> 00:46:06,671 Speaker 1: Freedom Cruise to mark the twentieth anniversary of the US 826 00:46:06,710 --> 00:46:10,671 Speaker 1: invasion of Grenada. As you heard in our first episode, 827 00:46:10,831 --> 00:46:14,071 Speaker 1: Grenada was taken over by hardline communists during a coup 828 00:46:14,190 --> 00:46:18,271 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty three. A group of American medical students 829 00:46:18,311 --> 00:46:20,631 Speaker 1: studying on the island were believed to be in danger. 830 00:46:21,190 --> 00:46:24,430 Speaker 1: The Reagan administration saw an opportunity to intervene and strike 831 00:46:24,471 --> 00:46:28,271 Speaker 1: a blow against communism in the Western Hemisphere. Oliver North 832 00:46:28,351 --> 00:46:32,991 Speaker 1: had helped plan the operation. Twenty years later, North was 833 00:46:33,031 --> 00:46:35,591 Speaker 1: set to lead a private tour of Grenada as part 834 00:46:35,631 --> 00:46:39,191 Speaker 1: of the Freedom Cruise. Other special guests would include Ronald 835 00:46:39,190 --> 00:46:43,111 Speaker 1: Reagan's Attorney General, Ed Meese, but at the last minute 836 00:46:43,190 --> 00:46:46,911 Speaker 1: Oliver North had to cancel his trip target Iraq. 837 00:46:47,511 --> 00:46:48,831 Speaker 17: Here is Tom Brokaw. 838 00:46:49,631 --> 00:46:50,511 Speaker 9: Good evening everyone. 839 00:46:50,591 --> 00:46:53,471 Speaker 8: It has been an evening of tense expectations. 840 00:46:53,511 --> 00:46:55,631 Speaker 3: The forty eight hour doubline for Saddam Hussein. 841 00:46:55,671 --> 00:46:58,831 Speaker 1: President George W. Bush was preparing to invade Iraq. 842 00:46:59,511 --> 00:47:02,231 Speaker 14: Saddam Hussein will be stopped. 843 00:47:02,911 --> 00:47:05,551 Speaker 1: For the past two years, North had been hosting a 844 00:47:05,591 --> 00:47:09,351 Speaker 1: show on Fox News called War Stories, about extraordinary events 845 00:47:09,391 --> 00:47:10,191 Speaker 1: in military head. 846 00:47:10,631 --> 00:47:11,430 Speaker 2: I'm Oliver North. 847 00:47:11,591 --> 00:47:12,871 Speaker 7: Welcome to War Stories. 848 00:47:13,230 --> 00:47:16,431 Speaker 11: This is the deck of the USS New Jersey now permanently. 849 00:47:16,791 --> 00:47:19,431 Speaker 1: Now Fox News was sending North to the Middle East. 850 00:47:19,591 --> 00:47:20,071 Speaker 5: Now Oli. 851 00:47:20,190 --> 00:47:21,431 Speaker 12: North joins us on the phone. 852 00:47:21,471 --> 00:47:23,750 Speaker 11: He is on the east bank of the Tigris River 853 00:47:23,831 --> 00:47:24,870 Speaker 11: looking into the city. 854 00:47:24,871 --> 00:47:27,351 Speaker 15: In fact, the camera's probably panning around towards oli. 855 00:47:27,831 --> 00:47:29,111 Speaker 12: Oli, of course, is with the. 856 00:47:29,351 --> 00:47:32,031 Speaker 1: On March twelfth, while the Grenada Freedom crewise went on 857 00:47:32,071 --> 00:47:35,351 Speaker 1: without him, North appeared on the Fox News show Hannity 858 00:47:35,391 --> 00:47:37,351 Speaker 1: and Colmes to talk about the mood on the ground. 859 00:47:38,591 --> 00:47:40,831 Speaker 1: These marines have been out here for almost two months 860 00:47:40,951 --> 00:47:41,591 Speaker 1: and they're ready. 861 00:47:41,671 --> 00:47:44,471 Speaker 15: North said, We're kind of like divers at the end 862 00:47:44,511 --> 00:47:47,911 Speaker 15: of the board, poised and ready to plunge and waiting 863 00:47:47,951 --> 00:47:50,190 Speaker 15: for somebody to give us the signal to jump off 864 00:47:50,230 --> 00:47:51,671 Speaker 15: the board we've got. 865 00:47:51,671 --> 00:47:53,671 Speaker 1: North said, one of the nice things about being with 866 00:47:53,710 --> 00:47:56,911 Speaker 1: the troops was that everyone was blissfully unaware of anti 867 00:47:56,951 --> 00:48:01,911 Speaker 1: war protesters and the machinations of politicians in Washington. Out Here, 868 00:48:02,071 --> 00:48:04,790 Speaker 1: the focuses on the mission, North said, and what they 869 00:48:04,831 --> 00:48:07,270 Speaker 1: really want to do is simply get on with it. 870 00:48:19,311 --> 00:48:22,430 Speaker 1: And that is it for this season of Fiasco. Keep 871 00:48:22,471 --> 00:48:24,951 Speaker 1: an eye out for our season on the Bengazi scandal, 872 00:48:25,111 --> 00:48:29,391 Speaker 1: which will soon be appearing in this feed. For a 873 00:48:29,431 --> 00:48:32,711 Speaker 1: list of books, articles, and documentaries we used in our research, 874 00:48:33,071 --> 00:48:35,951 Speaker 1: follow the link in the show notes. Fiasco is a 875 00:48:35,991 --> 00:48:39,551 Speaker 1: production of Prolog Projects, and it's distributed by Pushkin Industries. 876 00:48:40,311 --> 00:48:43,911 Speaker 1: The show is produced by Andrew Parsons, Madeline kaplan, Ula Kulpa, 877 00:48:44,071 --> 00:48:48,350 Speaker 1: and me Leon Mayvock. Our editor was Camilla Hammer. Our 878 00:48:48,391 --> 00:48:52,710 Speaker 1: researcher was Francis Carr. Additional archival research from Caitlin Nicholas. 879 00:48:53,710 --> 00:48:56,511 Speaker 1: Our music is by Nick Silvester. Our theme song is 880 00:48:56,511 --> 00:48:59,870 Speaker 1: by Spatial Relations. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at 881 00:48:59,911 --> 00:49:03,991 Speaker 1: Chips and y Audio, mixed by Rob Buyers, Michael Rayphiel 882 00:49:04,111 --> 00:49:08,111 Speaker 1: and Johnny Vince Evans. Copyright council provided by Peter Yassi 883 00:49:08,230 --> 00:49:12,871 Speaker 1: at Yassi Butler PLOC. Thanks to Brian Bonnell, Carrie Baker, 884 00:49:13,071 --> 00:49:18,471 Speaker 1: Melissa Kaplan, TC Winter, Alice Gregory, Marcella Nadel, Caitlin Phillips, 885 00:49:18,750 --> 00:49:23,311 Speaker 1: ed Winsteed, Ryan Swikert, Mark Feeney, Shane Harris, Malcolm Burne, 886 00:49:23,710 --> 00:49:28,791 Speaker 1: Joe Weisberg, Jacob Weisberg, Stephen Fisher, Ed Claris, Alexia Badott, 887 00:49:29,311 --> 00:49:34,311 Speaker 1: Jessica Hanson, Evan Bell, Lisa de Leone, Jennifer Valdez, Adam Davidson, 888 00:49:34,391 --> 00:49:38,551 Speaker 1: Laura Mayer, Michael Wright and Jill Burkhart, Richard Plepler, Ken 889 00:49:38,591 --> 00:49:42,271 Speaker 1: Druckerman and everyone at left right, Jill Abramson, John Davidson 890 00:49:42,311 --> 00:49:46,190 Speaker 1: and Interface Media Group, Matt Sachs, Jamie Lynes, Becky ver 891 00:49:46,270 --> 00:49:49,991 Speaker 1: Haey and everyone at Luminary. Thanks also to Sam Graham, Felsen, 892 00:49:50,190 --> 00:49:54,310 Speaker 1: Kotzikam Kova, Sirea Shockley, and Sam Lee Special thanks to 893 00:49:54,351 --> 00:49:58,311 Speaker 1: Alexandra Garretton, Sarah Bruguer and the whole team at Pushkin Industries, 894 00:49:58,791 --> 00:50:00,231 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening,