Changes

The scandal was first discovered by an assistant to Attorney General [[Ed Meese]], who found a memorandum written by Lieutenant Colonel [[Oliver North]] that documented the diversion of funds to the Contras. After the discover of the memorandum, President [[Ronald Reagan]] met with both party's of Congress to disclose their findings; Reagan then asked for the appointment of an independent counsel<ref>''An American Life, The Autobiography of Ronald Reagan, pg. 530''</ref>.

The scandal was first discovered by an assistant to Attorney General [[Ed Meese]], who found a memorandum written by Lieutenant Colonel [[Oliver North]] that documented the diversion of funds to the Contras. After the discover of the memorandum, President [[Ronald Reagan]] met with both party's of Congress to disclose their findings; Reagan then asked for the appointment of an independent counsel<ref>''An American Life, The Autobiography of Ronald Reagan, pg. 530''</ref>.

In the opinion of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, who investigated the affair, under the Arms Export Control Act <ref> http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode22/usc_sup_01_22_10_39_20_II.html </ref> such sales to foreign powers not deemed under the term of the act friendly are illegal. <ref> http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/execsum.htm </ref> Payments to the Contras from the proceeds of private sales, while not illegal, in the opinion of critics were considered highly unethical. Later such arrangements were made explicitly illegal by the [[Boland amendment]] to the Federal Appropriation Bill. The independent counsel's opinion alleged that the Reagan administration set about misleading congressional inquiries and may have withheld some documents.  

In the opinion of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, who investigated the affair, under the Arms Export Control Act <ref> http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode22/usc_sup_01_22_10_39_20_II.html </ref> such sales to foreign powers not deemed under the term of the act friendly are illegal. <ref> http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/execsum.htm </ref> Payments to the Contras from the proceeds of private sales, while not illegal, in the opinion of critics were considered highly unethical. Later such arrangements were made explicitly illegal by the [[Boland amendment]] to the Federal Appropriation Bill. The independent counsel concluded that the Reagan administration misled congressional investigators and withheld documents: "large volumes of highly relevant, contemporaneously created documents were systematically and willfully withheld from investigators by several Reagan Administration officials" and "following the revelation of these operations in October and November 1986, Reagan Administration officials deliberately deceived the Congress and the public about the level and extent of official knowledge of and support for these operations."<ref>http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/execsum.htm</ref>

The week after the story was blown open by media outlets in the wake of midterm congressional elections after [[Democrats]] retook the Senate in November 1986, President Reagan returned to the airwaves to affirm that weapons were transferred to Iran but he claimed they were not part of an exchange for hostages. In a speech in March of 1987, he acknowledged that the arms were in fact exchanged for hostages, saying that "what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages." <ref>http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/historicspeeches/reagan/irancontra.html</ref> The Reagan administration cooperated with the investigation, and no wrongdoing was ever proved. Reagan later stated in his autobiography, "until Ed Meese uncovered North's memorandum, I had not heard a whisper about funds being channeled from the Iranian arms shipments to the Contras, and I would have not approved of it if anyone had suggested it to me....Yes, I believed in helping the Contras; ''but no one, including the President, is above the law''." <ref>''An American Life, The Autobiography of Ronald Reagan, pg. 542''</ref>

The week after the story was blown open by media outlets in the wake of midterm congressional elections after [[Democrats]] retook the Senate in November 1986, President Reagan returned to the airwaves to affirm that weapons were transferred to Iran but he claimed they were not part of an exchange for hostages. In a speech in March of 1987, he acknowledged that the arms were in fact exchanged for hostages, saying that "what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages." <ref>http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/historicspeeches/reagan/irancontra.html</ref> The Reagan administration cooperated with the investigation, and no wrongdoing was ever proved. Reagan later stated in his autobiography, "until Ed Meese uncovered North's memorandum, I had not heard a whisper about funds being channeled from the Iranian arms shipments to the Contras, and I would have not approved of it if anyone had suggested it to me....Yes, I believed in helping the Contras; ''but no one, including the President, is above the law''." <ref>''An American Life, The Autobiography of Ronald Reagan, pg. 542''</ref>