…and then there was the illegal Iran-Contra Arms-for-Hostages Scam Followed by the Bush Pardons.
“…Oliver North’s many lies were, in fact, the heart of the criminal charges against him. The evidence shows that he lied to Congress about the secret war he was running from inside the Reagan White House long after Congress had legislated a halt to it; that he lied to his associates about his own derring-do; that he lied to the attorney general when he came around to investigate the rumors of scandal. Once caught, North destroyed official records and altered documents, hoping to keep the lies alive…”
Two years earlier, when Congress first investigated the Iran-contra scandal, Colonel Oliver North had charmed the nation on TV. He seemed gutsy and principled, a brash patriot in a marine uniform, staring down his inquisitors with nothing-to-hide answers. Now, however, dressed in civilian blue pin stripes, testifying in his own behalf as a criminal defendant, Ollie did not look so heroic. His starchy righteousness went limp. His answers retreated to niggling legalisms; his pained tone sounded whiny.
“I was raised to know the difference between right and wrong,” North kept reminding the jury. “I knew it wasn’t right not to tell the truth on these things, but I didn’t [think] it was unlawful.”
The prosecutor, John W. Keker, pounced on Ollie’s sanctimonious distinctions. “Didn’t any moral bell go off in your head?” Keker asked. “Wasn’t there anything from your upbringing, your moral training, your marine background, that told you, ‘This does not seem right’?”
Ollie fidgeted. “Sure,” he said. “I’m not proud of this.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/what-oliver-norths-trial-means-to-us-45173/
“WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 — Six years after the arms-for-hostages scandal began to cast a shadow that would darken two Administrations, President Bush today granted full pardons to six former officials in Ronald Reagan’s Administration, including former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger..”
[follow link below]
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1224.html
Connect the Dots 101 
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