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The actors |
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Here you can find addional information about the "actors" besides their involvement in the scandal. |
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Robert C. |
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Oliver |
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John M. |
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Ronald |
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William Joseph Casey - born in Elmhurst in Queens/New York, on March 13th, 1913, died on May 6, 1987 - was a U.S. government official and lawyer who served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1987. Previously, under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, he served as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1971-73), undersecretary of state for economic affairs (1973-74), president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank (1974-75), and member of the foreign intelligence advisory board (1976).
Before entering public service, Casey worked for many years as a tax attorney, packager and processor of legal and economic data for the business world, and venture capitalist. He was also the manager of Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign.
Casey earned a bachelor's degree from Fordham University in 1934, did graduate work at Catholic University in Washington, and earned a law degree from St. John's University in 1937. During World War II, he served as chief of secret intelligence in Europe for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)--the forerunner of the CIA--directing OSS agents from a base in London. In the decades after the war, he lectured on tax law at New York University, amassed considerable wealth with several business publications and personal investments, and was a founding partner of a New York law firm. As chairman of the SEC, Casey oversaw a major effort to improve regulation of the issuance and trading of stocks.
His tenure as CIA chief was highlighted by controversy over covert action in support of Nicaraguan contra rebels. He resigned the CIA post on Jan. 29, 1987, since he was unable to perform his duties because of a cancerous brain tumor. At the time of his death, he was under investigation for his role in the secret U.S. arms sale to Iran and the transfer of the proceeds to the Nicaraguan contras.
Several months after Casey's death, author Bob Woodward published a book entitled Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, 1981-1987. Woodward claimed in the book that he had interviewed Casey in his hospital room, and that Casey had admitted to Woodward that he was aware of the diversion of funds from the sale of arms to Iran for the support of the Nicaraguan contras. Casey's widow Sophia vigorously denied the allegation, saying that she or her daughter had been in the hospital room at all times, and that her husband, incapacitated by the brain tumor, was unable to speak to anyone.
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After holding numerous foreign policy positions in three U.S. presidential administrations, Robert Carl (Bud) McFarlane - born in Texas, on July 12th , 1937 - served as national security advisor to President Ronald Reagan from October 1983 until December 1985. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps and served as a military assistant to national security advisors Henry Kissinger (1973-75) and Brent Scowcroft (1976-77). After retiring (1979) from the military, McFarlane joined (1981) the State Department as an undersecretary, was named (1982) deputy national security advisor, and served (July-October 1983) as special presidential envoy to the Middle East. Reagan named him national security adviser on Oct. 17, 1983. McFarlane served in this post until his resignation on Dec. 4, 1985, at which time Vice Adm. John M. Pointdexter assumed the position. A major concern of the National Security Council during and after McFarlane's tenure in office was the question of U.S. relations with Iran and the covert shipment of arms to the Iranian regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. According to the final report of the Tower Commission, McFarlane was involved as early as August and September of 1984 in policy decisions regarding arms shipments to Iran and the clandestine diversion of revenue from the arms sales to the contra forces opposing the Marxist government of Nicaragua. In May of 1986, McFarlane traveled to Teheran, the Iranian capital, with Lt. Col. Oliver North to negotiate a deal to exchange U.S. arms for American hostages held by Islamic extremists in Lebanon. Testifying later before a joint House and Senate investigating committee, McFarlane provided further details in May of 1987 on his participation in the arms sales, hostage negotiations, U.S. government solicitation of funds from other nations to support the contra forces, and the question of the degree to which President Reagan and other administration officials were aware of the illegal diversion of funds to the contras.
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Oliver Laurence North, Jr., lieutenant colonel, United States Marine Corps, was a member of the National Security Counsil (NSC), under Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter, when he implemented plans to sell arms to the government of Iran and to use part of the proceeds to aid the contra guerrilla opponents of the Marxist government of Nicaragua.
North was born in 1943 in San Antonio, Texas, but spent his early years in Philmont, New York, a small town near the Hudson River south of Albany. His father and grandfather had operated textile mills in the area. North's father had served in World War II under General George S. Patton, and young "Larry" North was known to have a strong desire to become a Marine. After failing to win appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, North studied for a year at a New York state college at Brockport. He entered Annapolis with the class of 1968, where he was a boxer. He graduated in the middle ranks of his class.
North joined the United States Marines in June of 1968, and by December had arrived in South Vietnam. As a company commander, he won the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart. North later attended the U.S. Navy's command and staff college at Newport, R.I., where he met U.S. Navy Secretary John F. Lehman, Jr. Some observers believe that the meeting with Lehman may have led to North's later introduction to the NSC, where he became a staff member on Aug. 4, 1981.
North's initial duties were concerned with the sale of military goods, including AWACS reconnaissance aircraft, to the government of Saudi Arabia. He was later involved in the creation of an NSC crisis-management center. In June of 1983, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, North became NSC deputy director of political affairs. North reputedly played a key role in planning for the U.S. invasion of Grenada in the fall of 1983. He was also involved in the capture of the terrorists who hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, and helped plan the aerial interception of the Egyptian aircraft in which the terrorists were making their escape. North reportedly was involved in restraining the actions of anti-Communist execution squads in El Salvador. He was also allegedly involved in the mining of three ports in Nicaragua early in 1984, and in the solicitation of funds from private groups and individuals in the United States to support the contra guerrillas in Nicaragua. He played a role, moreover, in planning the U.S. air raids on Libya in the spring of 1986.
North implemented the plan to sell arms to the government of Iran, under the direction of Robert C. McFarlane, then head of the NSC, and later under Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, successor to McFarlane, in 1985 and 1986, using part of the profits from the sale to give support to the anti-Sandinista guerrillas in Nicaragua. He was dismissed from his NSC position November 25, 1986, as the controversy intensified over the Iran-Contra Affair.
In July of 1987, North testified before a joint committee of the Congress, stating that his actions throughout the operation had been authorized by his superiors in the United States government. North testified that he assumed President Reagan knew about the diversion of funds from the arms sales to the Nicaraguan contras, but that he had never personally discussed the matter with the president. North also said that CIA director William Casey had known about the diversion and had enthusiastically approved of it. North summed up by saying that he assumed all along that he was to be the "fall-guy" in the situation, whose function was to protect his superiors in the administration. McFarlane's testimony to Congress, however, differed from North's in several respects.
On Mar. 16, 1988, North was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and other counts. The 23-item indictment (which also charged Poindexter, Richard V. Secord, a retired Air Force major general, and Albert Hakim, an Iranian-American businessman) followed a l4-month investigation of the Iran-Contra affair conducted by Lawrence E. Walsh, a federal special prosecutor. North announced two days later that he would retire from the U.S. Marines on May 1, the day on which he would complete 20 years of service. North stated that his trial defense would require him to take actions that would be incompatible with his continued service as an officer in the Marines. A U.S. district court judge ruled on June 8, 1988, that North and his other co-defendants would be tried separately to make sure that the constitutional rights of each would be protected.
Opening arguments in North's trial began late in February, 1989, after 11 months of pretrial maneuvering. North gave testimony for six days in April, and on May 4, the jury convicted North on three counts, involving obstructing Congress, destroying documents, and accepting an illegal gratuity in the form of a security system for his home. On July 5, 1989, federal district judge Gerhard Gesell sentenced North, fining him $150,000, giving him a 3-year suspended prison term, placing him on probation for two years, and ordering him to perform 1,200 hours of community service work with inner-city youth. Defense lawyer Brendan V. Sullivan stated that he would appeal the sentence.
North appeared in court in March 1990 as a prosecution witness in the trial of his former superior, John M. Poindexter. On July 20, 1990, a three-judge panel of the U. S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D. C. suspended all three of North's felony convictions and overturned one of them. Independent counsel Lawrence Walsh asked a federal appeals court in September to reconsider the decision, but on May 28, 1991, the U. S. Supreme Court let stand the July 20, 1990 decision. On Sept. 16, 1991, all charges against North were dropped, as Walsh abandoned his five-year legal effort.
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