Selects: Iran-Contra Affair: Shady in the 80s, Part 2

The Iran-Contra scandal involved a clandestine operation where the Reagan administration secretly sold missiles to Iran to facilitate the release of American hostages held by Lebanese terrorists, directly contradicting official policy against negotiating with terrorists. Profits from these illegal arms sales were diverted to fund the Contras in Nicaragua, bypassing a congressional ban on such support. The operation collapsed after the capture of Eugene Hasenfuss, whose supply plane was shot down over Nicaragua, and subsequent media reports exposed the arms-for-hostages scheme. Despite congressional hearings and the appointment of the Tower Commission, the administration maintained that high-level officials were unaware of the diversion. The scandal concluded with the shredding of incriminating documents and preemptive pardons issued by President George H.W. Bush, which effectively shielded key figures from legal accountability and obscured the full extent of executive involvement.