North, Ollie

=oddly neglected/inc?cancer? prez nra=<div>=</div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/court-filings-show-the-nra-is-in-shambles-and-wayne-lapierre-hopes-his-lawyer-can-keep-him-out-of-jail/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/court-filings-show-the-nra-is-in-shambles-and-wayne-lapierre-hopes-his-lawyer-can-keep-him-out-of-jail/</a></div><div>
</div><div>igor d</div><div>a year after being re-elected as the executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre has seen his group go from an <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/10/10/waterloo-for-the-nra-its-donations-to-gop-candidates-plunge-90-percent/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">electoral kingmaker</a> to the edge of financial ruin. He and other NRA executives have urged laid-off employees to <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/03/26/leaked-memo-nra-tells-employees-to-seek-government-aid-as-coronavirus-forces-cuts-layoffs/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">seek public assistance benefits</a>. The nation’s most prominent pro-gun lobby has <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/04/22/wayne-lapierre-reveals-that-nra-cut-budget-to-survive-after-losing-100-million-leaked-audio/" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">lost tens of millions of dollars</a> amid numerous legal woes and investigations that have exposed its questionable financial dealings. Now, the longtime NRA leader hopes his lawyers can “keep him out of jail,” according to previously unreported allegations in court documents in the group’s legal battle against its longtime public relations firm, Ackerman McQueen.The documents, which were published in full on <a href="https://nrawatch.org/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">NRA Watch</a>, a new database launched by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, allege that LaPierre has grown “preoccupied with going to jail.” Ackerman’s allegations paint a picture of an executive who “didn’t trust his own accounting department” and instructed associates not to disclose important information to the group’s auditors.The documents also include allegations about the NRA’s search for a <a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/08/17/document-shows-nra-money-helped-its-chief-search-for-a-personal-mansion_partner/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">personal mansion</a> for LaPierre, whose alleged obsession with “purchasing a lavish home for himself” led Ackerman to pull out of the deal. They also allege that LaPierre may have violated his own group’s bylaws by improperly using Ackerman to pay off the group’s former president, Lt. Col. Oliver North, who left the organization after what it described as a <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/nra-marches-ex-leader-to-court-on-failed-coup/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">“failed coup attempt.”</a>Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, the grassroots arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, told Salon that NRA Watch aimed to show that LaPierre “used member dues for what looks like personal reasons” while “only 10% of NRA funds in 2018 were even spent on gun safety.”“NRA is losing at the ballot box, in courts, on the balance sheet,” Watts said. “We always talk about shining a light under the refrigerators and forcing the cockroaches to run out, and that’s really what this website does.“It’s important to point out why the NRA is underwater reputationally and financially,” Watts continued. The NRA’s policy priorities are killing us, so stopping the NRA is our top priority. But when it comes to legal issues, the secret to our success is that we let the NRA beat itself.”The NRA worked with Ackerman McQueen, creators of the <a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/10/29/gun-lobby-tells-judge-its-own-nratv-channel-was-distasteful-and-racist/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">now-defunct online video channel NRATV</a>, since the 1980s, paying them as much as <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nra-files-suit-against-ad-agency-in-rift-with-key-partner-11555320601" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$42 million</a> a year. But the NRA <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/business/nra-nratv-lawsuit.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">sued the firm</a> in Virginia in 2019, accusing Ackerman of overbilling for its services. More recently, the NRA <a href="https://nrawatch.org/case/nra-v-ackerman-texas/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">filed a lawsuit in Texas</a> alleging that Ackerman continues to improperly use the NRA’s brand and properties. The NRA later filed an <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/nras-answer-to-ackermans-counterclaims/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">amended complaint</a> in October alleging that Ackerman had breached its fiduciary duties, engaged in fraudulent billing and failed to maintain adequate records. The NRA has also accused Ackerman of a pattern of corruption, including its “failed” NRATV venture, for the purpose of collecting millions in fees.Some of the new allegations were made in Ackerman’s bid to have the law firm of Bill Brewer, a longtime friend of LaPierre, disqualified as the NRA’s legal team.Brewer’s firm responded to Salon’s questions with a statement from Linda S. Eads, professor emerita at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.“After my review, it is my initial opinion that this request for disqualification provides no legal basis for the relief sought,” Eads said. “Factually, it appears to be supported only by assumptions and innuendo. Also, it is based on allegations that have not been factually established. It is too early in the litigation process to use such unsupported claims as a basis for disqualification, which is one of the most serious actions a court can take against a litigation party — to cause the party to lose its lawyer.”Brewer’s firm is expected to issue a formal response to the new allegations next week. The response comes after Ackerman successfully asked the court in Virginia to stay the litigation pending a resolution of the Texas case, against the objections of the NRA, according to a <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/court-order-granting-stay-in-proceedings/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">previously unreported court order</a>.LaPierre was elected to a second term as the NRA’s CEO at the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/29/politics/nra-wayne-lapierre-oliver-north-carolyn-meadows/index.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">group’s annual convention in 2019</a>, one year ago this week. It was not the party that the longtime gun activist had expected. What was supposed to be a coronation quickly devolved into a civil war that has since led to the ouster of multiple top NRA officials.Before that meeting, North — then the NRA president — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-a-hard-charging-lawyer-helped-fuel-a-civil-war-inside-the-nra/2019/09/18/9ae0a01e-a986-11e9-a3a6-ab670962db05_story.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">began to raise concerns</a> about the large legal fees the NRA was paying to Brewer. By the first day of the meeting, LaPierre <a href="https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/LaPierreletter042519.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">wrote a letter</a> to the NRA board claiming that North had attempted to force him to resign by threatening that Ackerman would release a “devastating account” of the NRA’s financial dealings.Hours after LaPierre, North and President Trump appeared on stage together at the meeting, news of North’s attempted coup had leaked. On the third day of the meeting, North <a href="https://apnews.com/d5d90ab1596f478c8f20d4dbe3f73979" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">issued a statement</a> announcing that he would not seek another term. The statement was read by another board member as LaPierre, who had reportedly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-a-hard-charging-lawyer-helped-fuel-a-civil-war-inside-the-nra/2019/09/18/9ae0a01e-a986-11e9-a3a6-ab670962db05_story.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">orchestrated North’s ouster</a>, looked on next to an empty chair reserved for the group’s president.Though LaPierre was successful in beating back the alleged coup attempt, the NRA’s legal entanglements in the year since have laid bare its devolving financial situation and threatened its tax-exempt status. Along with multiple lawsuits involving Ackerman, the attorneys general in New York state and Washington, D.C., have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/dc-attorney-general-issues-subpoenas-to-nra-its-charitable-foundation/2019/07/12/835bb30e-a4bb-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">launched investigations</a> questioning the group’s tax status. New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating whether the group violated the state’s charities law, which some legal experts and NRA insiders believe could result in a criminal referral related to LaPierre’s “use of nonprofit funds for personal expenses,” according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/magazine/wayne-lapierre-nra-guns.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the New York Times</a>.A <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/ackermans-amended-answer-counterclaims/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">previously unreported court filing</a> by Ackerman alleged that “[s]ometime in early 2018, LaPierre became preoccupied with going to jail.”LaPierre later allegedly told Angus McQueen, Ackerman’s longtime chief executive, that he believed “Brewer was going to keep him out of jail,” according to another <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/declaration-of-revan-mcqueen-appendix-to-ackerman-brief-to-disqualify-nra-attorney-bill-brewer-from-the-case/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">previously unreported court filing in March</a>.The NRA roundly rejected Ackerman’s claims.“This is the same stale, desperate and contrived narrative Ackerman has been peddling for a year,” Andrew Arulanandam, managing director of public affairs at the NRA, told Salon. “In any event, it does nothing to diminish the confidence the NRA has in Bill or his law firm — or our commitment to hold this former vendor accountable.”“The simple truth is, Ackerman is desperate to distract from the agency’s woes and alleged improper actions,” Arulanandam added. “It seems the agency has resorted to unhinged rants, based on non-existent communications and allegations from terminated employees.”The group’s finances have taken a huge hit as a result of its legal woes.According to a secret recording obtained by <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/04/21/839999178/secret-recording-reveals-nras-legal-troubles-have-cost-the-organization-100-mill" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">NPR</a>, LaPierre recently told members that the NRA took a “$100 million hit” over the past two years and had to cut “about $80 million” from the budget and “took it down to the studs.”“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he warned in the recording. “We still gotta wrestle with this financial situation.”Internal documents obtained by <a href="https://www.thetrace.org/features/nra-financial-misconduct-ackerman-mcqueen/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">The Trace</a> show that the group’s finances soured as it spent millions in member donations on salaries for executives, legal bills and lavish travel, while spending less than 10% of its funds on its supposed core mission: gun safety, education and training.The NRA’s members have begun to raise questions about the group’s spending after it was reported that LaPierre spent <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nra-chief-wayne-lapierre-questioned-on-travel-expenses-11556834268" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">hundreds of thousands</a> on Italian suits and luxury vacations. Brewer <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/nra-chief-wayne-lapierre-questioned-on-travel-expenses" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">has argued</a> that the “vast majority of travel involved donor outreach, fundraising and stakeholder engagement.”NRA board member Allen West, a former Republican congressman from Florida, slammed LaPierre after NRA officials defended their CO. West argued the defense was filled with <a href="https://theoldschoolpatriot.com/statement-regarding-nra/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">“outright lies”</a> and said he was removed from key committees for daring to “challenge the cabal of cronyism.”More than <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/dan-boren-national-rifle-association-1469333" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">10% of the organization’s board</a> has resigned in the past year.“If you’re surprised by this you don’t know Wayne LaPierre,” Watts said, “because he has a long history of overseeing sweetheart deals and self-dealing to himself, friends and family and others.”Many of the more lurid allegations of impropriety came from Ackerman in response to the NRA’s lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed weeks ahead of the 2019 annual meeting, in what appeared to be an attempt to get ahead of the allegations raised by North.North <a href="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Oliver-North-and-Richard-Childress-Memo-on-Brewer-Attorney-Fees.pdf" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">warned officials</a> that the legal fees paid to Brewer were “draining NRA cash at mind-boggling speed” and “pose[d] an existential threat to the financial stability of the NRA.” North claimed that LaPierre had rejected multiple attempts to request a full audit of the legal fees.After North’s ouster, several NRA members spoke out against LaPierre and NRA leaders and <a href="https://www.thetrace.org/2019/05/was-the-nras-reelection-of-wayne-lapierre-really-unanimous/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">initiated motions for a no-confidence vote</a> in LaPierre, though that effort was defeated.Since then, mounting allegations of wrongdoing have consumed the group. But executive compensation has continued to rise. In 2018, LaPierre’s salary increased by 57% to <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/03/26/leaked-memo-nra-tells-employees-to-seek-government-aid-as-coronavirus-forces-cuts-layoffs/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$2.15 million per year</a>. Other “senior staff cashed in, too,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/magazine/wayne-lapierre-nra-guns.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the New York Times</a> reported,” while oversight “has been complicated by paydays to the 76-member board.”Court <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nra-promised-6-5-million-to-buy-mansion-for-ceo-wayne-lapierre-document-shows-11565714149" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">filings suggest</a> that shortly after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, the NRA considered buying LaPierre and his wife a $6.5 million mansion through Ackerman. The NRA <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/check-for-dallas-mansion-raises-new-questions-about-nra-plans-11565626607?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">sent a $70,000 check</a> to a newly formed LLC to facilitate the transaction.In a <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/declaration-of-william-winkler-dj-investments/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">previously unreported declaration</a>, Ackerman’s chief financial officer, William Winkler, said that he refused to move ahead with the acquisition when “it became apparent … that Mr. LaPierre was more interested in purchasing a lavish home for himself” than in addressing “alleged safety concerns.”The NRA has dismissed the allegations.“The agency introduced Mr. LaPierre to its preferred local real estate agent, directed a tour of multiple homes, and established a company to manage the investment,” Arulanandam said in a statement to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/documents-show-nra-discussions-to-purchase-luxury-mansion-for-use-of-its-chief-executive/2019/08/06/eb8b0490-b7ce-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the Washington Post</a> last year. “No matter, Mr. LaPierre ultimately rejected the opportunity and not one dime of the NRA’s money was spent on this venture.”In a separate transaction that even the NRA’s own accountants described as “vague and deceptive,” the NRA paid $1.8 million to rent a house in Southern California from a production company that worked on a show featuring LaPierre, according to <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/an-internal-memo-raises-new-questions-about-self-dealing-at-the-nra" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">The New Yorker</a>.The NRA also “used unorthodox means to arrange [LaPierre’s] travel, including his use of private jets for almost every trip,” according to <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/05/01/exclusive-nra-chief-wayne-lapierres-no-good-very-bad-year-according-to-new-court-filings/%5C" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the Wall Street Journal</a>. The group’s accountants were “instructed to pay” for certain trips “without the usual detailed supporting documentation, which was held in a private file in the NRA treasurer’s office,” including private flights that “totaled about $2 million in one recent year.”The big spending extended to other officials as well. A <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/ackermans-response-to-the-nras-motion-to-compel/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">previously unreported February court filing</a> by Ackerman alleged that LaPierre convinced North to “leave his paid position at Fox and become the next President and an employee of [Ackerman] by hosting a television show on NRATV.”“The NRA agreed to compensate [Ackerman] for Col. North reimbursing [Ackerman] for his work,” the filing claimed.The contract may have violated the group’s bylaws, Everytown for Gun Safety said.“The pass-through nature of the contract raises serious questions about whether the NRA was attempting to conceal its payments to its board president, especially since the NRA’s organizational bylaws do not provide for compensation of the board president,” <a href="https://nrawatch.org/report/nra-in-crisis-2020/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">according to a report from NRA Watch</a>. “One concerned NRA employee wrote a memo shortly afterward, warning that ‘using a vendor to provide compensation to’ North ‘does not work to hide disclosure of the compensation.’ Months later, the NRA audit committee retroactively approved North’s contract.”The NRA’s relationship with vendors like Ackerman sparked concern within the group’s audit committee, which held an emergency meeting in 2018 to discuss the spending. Documents obtained by <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/secrecy-self-dealing-and-greed-at-the-nra" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">The New Yorker</a> show that the group’s accountants were concerned that the “NRA pays overbilled, deceptive, vague invoices to ‘preferred’ vendors and contractors” and “decisions are made in the best interests of vendors,” not the organization.A <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/ackermans-amended-answer-counterclaims/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">previously unreported filing</a> by Ackerman alleged that “[t]hroughout his tenure with the NRA, LaPierre has routinely used third-party vendors like [Ackerman] to conceal his penchant for personal spending, seemingly with the NRA’s blessing.”The filing goes on to allege that LaPierre “on many occasions, told [Ackerman] that he didn’t trust his own accounting department within the NRA” and that “on several occasions, LaPierre would specifically instruct [Ackerman] not to disclose certain information to certain auditors” in the NRA’s accounting department.The relationship with Brewer also drew scrutiny after the NRA paid the firm more than $24 million in legal fees, according to North. Ackerman has <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/ackermans-response-to-the-nras-motion-to-compel/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">alleged that Brewer’s firm</a> is a “PR firm masquerading as a law firm to try cases in the ‘court of public opinion,’ not the courtroom.” The filings also raise questions about the firm’s methods. Revan McQueen, the son of former Ackerman CEO Angus McQueen (who died in July of 2019), alleged in a <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/declaration-of-revan-mcqueen-appendix-to-ackerman-brief-to-disqualify-nra-attorney-bill-brewer-from-the-case/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">previously unreported declaration</a> that attorney Bill Brewer “had detailed knowledge about Angus’s cancer treatment and used that information to time his litigation and media attacks.”Another <a href="https://nrawatch.org/filing/ackermans-motion-to-compel-documents-and-motion-for-sanctions/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">filing by Ackerman</a> alleged that Brewer “engaged in deeply personal and calculated attacks on the McQueen family … at times strategically coordinated with Angus [McQueen’s] medical treatment, his final family events, his declining health, and ultimately the period of grief following his death.”The past year has also seen several congressional investigations aimed at the NRA. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., called for the IRS to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/national-rifle-association-congress-report-1486056" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">investigate the organization’s nonprofit status</a> after a yearlong probe into allegations of self-dealing and corruption. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., separately <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/16/nra-criminal-investigation-sought-house-democrats/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">urged the IRS to investigate</a> financial fraud by the NRA. Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., Dwight Evans, D-Pa., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., followed with their <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/nra-nonprofit-status-irs-investigation-house-ways-means-democrats-1422752" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">own call for an IRS probe</a>.In the Senate, Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, <a href="https://apnews.com/8109bcc1e3fd47979d21ecc82c861c0a" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">led an investigation</a> that found that “NRA leaders may have violated tax laws that prohibit use of organization resources for personal benefit.” Wyden and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer have <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/02/irs-audit-nra-tax-exemption-019896" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">called on the IRS</a> to investigate the group’s tax-exempt status.Raskin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., have <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/429003-dems-probing-whether-nra-made-illegal-contributions-to-trump" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">separately called for an investigation</a> into whether the NRA violated campaign finance laws by coordinating communications with the Trump campaign and other Republicans.As the investigations mounted, LaPierre <a href="https://apnews.com/1ed1a970f1c946f19665602b66b5bb1b" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">issued statements</a> warning gun owners that their rights were under attack by lawmakers who want to make “Americans less safe and less able to defend themselves.”“The NRA is mired in crisis and they’re strapped for cash and their leaders keep going back to the old playbook to bail them out: fear-mongering about the collapse of society to raise money [and] to sell guns,” Watts told Salon. “And it’s so dangerous right now given that there are increased risks of domestic violence, unintentional gun violence [and] gun suicides because of the coronavirus crisis.”The past year also saw NRATV shutter after three years after the NRA spent upwards of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/28/20936511/nra-nratv-ackerman-mcqueen-lawsuit-complaint" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$20 million annually</a> to sustain the network. The NRA later said in <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/nra-officials-found-nratv-messaging-to-be-distasteful-and-racist-lawsuit?source=twitter&via=desktop" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">court filings</a> that some NRA leaders found the network’s content to be “distasteful and racist” and described the overall effort as an “abject failure.”The past year has also seen a purge of NRA board members who had spoken out about the alleged financial misconduct. Eight of the group’s board members have resigned and multiple high-ranking officials have left the group, including former top lobbyist Chris Cox, who was executive director of the NRA Institute of Legislative Action.The NRA <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/20/us/nra-lawsuit-wayne-lapierre-chris-cox.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">suspended Cox</a> in June of 2019 after accusing him of participating in North’s attempted coup. Cox, once considered the <a href="https://www.thetrace.org/2019/06/nra-chris-cox-ackerman-mcqueen-nra-tv-newest-casualties-of-turmoil/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">“heir apparent”</a> to LaPierre, resigned days later as NRA-ILA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker insisted that “any notion that Chris participated in a coup is absurd.” Baker was <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/wayne-lapierre-nra-purge-861509/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">subsequently fired</a> as well.But the purge has not stopped the leaks about questionable spending at the group. Internal documents obtained by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/nra-2018-annual-financial-report/05b36d8c-cd64-4011-a685-e0a26eba9be6/?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_14" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the Washington Post</a> show that the organization spent $9.3 million on office supplies in 2018, roughly <a href="https://ag.ehawaii.gov/charity/attachments/irs/530116130/2018/0/T/530116130.pdf" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$12,000</a> per employee. To make up for the big spending, the NRA <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-nras-finances-deepening-debt-increased-spending-on-legal-fees--and-cuts-to-gun-training/2019/06/14/ac9dc488-8e30-11e9-b08e-cfd89bd36d4e_story.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">cut funding</a> for gun training, a key component of its purported core mission.According to the NRA’s financial report, the group ended 2018 with a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-nras-finances-deepening-debt-increased-spending-on-legal-fees--and-cuts-to-gun-training/2019/06/14/ac9dc488-8e30-11e9-b08e-cfd89bd36d4e_story.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$10.8 million deficit</a>, marking the third straight year it spent more than it brought in, even as it <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/nra-boosted-executive-pay-while-cutting-funding-for-key-programs-filing-shows/2019/11/26/da4f3f60-0c61-11ea-a49f-9066f51640f6_story.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">continued to increase executive pay</a>.This year, the NRA announced across-the-board 20% pay cuts and layoffs, urging affected employees in a <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/03/26/leaked-memo-nra-tells-employees-to-seek-government-aid-as-coronavirus-forces-cuts-layoffs/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">leaked memo</a> to “contact any germane state or federal agency to determine eligibility for any additional aid.”LaPierre in the memo blamed “extraordinary challenges resulting from COVID-19” for the cuts despite years of deficits and increased legal spending.But the revelations in the court documents and news reports make it clear, Watts said, “that the pandemic is not what’s bankrupting the NRA. “That’s its own corrupt leadership. It’s really showing that even though Wayne LaPierre is scapegoating, he and the rest of the NRA leaders have used the organization as their personal piggybank for years.”The NRA has also seen its political influence wane as its election spending has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/us/politics/nra-gun-control-fund-raising.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">dropped precipitously</a>. In the group’s home state of Virginia, voters elected a Democratic legislative majority in 2019 that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/10/politics/ralph-northam-signs-gun-bills/index.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">quickly passed a package</a> opposed by the NRA that implemented expanded background checks, a “red flag” law and other gun-control measures. The previous Republican majority had refused to take up the issue even after the mass shooting that killed 12 people at a municipal building in Virginia Beach.“We outspent the NRA eight-to-one in Virginia, we outworked them on the ground, making hundreds of thousands of calls and knocking on tens of thousands of doors,” Watts told Salon. “And as a result we flipped both chambers” of the state legislature.Watts said the Virginia elections were only one example of the NRA’s waning influence: “The NRA is weaker than it’s ever been and we are stronger than we’ve ever been. We outspent and outworked them in 2018. We were able to flip the U.S. House of Representatives and change the makeup of seven state legislatures and elect over 1,000 ‘gun sense’ candidates across the country.”Going into the 2020 elections, Watts said, her group has “already committed to spending $60 million, which is twice what the NRA spent in 2016. And the NRA is so deep underwater that even the president they worked so hard to elect no longer wants to work with them.”President Trump received more than $30 million in backing from the NRA during his 2016 run, but has recently complained to aides that the group is “going bankrupt,” according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/us/politics/trump-gun-control.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the New York Times</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1122837541084958725" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">tweeted</a> that the NRA “must get its act together quickly, stop the internal fighting, & get back to GREATNESS – FAST!”“Donald Trump talks about the Second Amendment, but he doesn’t so much talk about the NRA anymore,” Watts said. “Some of the NRA’s own board members have distanced themselves from the NRA and major donors have begun to distance themselves from the NRA, so it’s really not surprising that Donald Trump would as well if he sees them as possibly an albatross around his neck.“If you look at the way this country has been going since the 2016 election, background checks continue to pass, red-flag laws, laws that disarm domestic abusers. We have a 90% track record in the last five years of stopping the NRA’s agenda in state houses. So politically, they have not been as successful.”</div><div>=</div>=<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/oliver-north/sean-hannity-hosts-past-iran-weapons-dealer-oliver-north-talk-new-crisis" rel="bookmark" class="teaserlink" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(25, 118, 210); text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; outline: 0px; font-family: Barlow, sans-serif; font-size: 19.937px;" /><div class="teasercontent" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(58, 67, 78); display: flex; flex: 1 1 0%; flex-direction: column; justify-content: center;"><h2 class="teasertitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.05rem; color: rgb(58, 67, 78); font-family: Barlow, sans-serif; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 0.57143em;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/oliver-north/sean-hannity-hosts-past-iran-weapons-dealer-oliver-north-talk-new-crisis" rel="bookmark" class="teaserlink" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(25, 118, 210); text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; outline: 0px; font-family: Barlow, sans-serif; font-size: 19.937px;">Hannity hosts past Iran weapons dealer Oliver North to talk up new crisis</a></h2><p class="dateline-compact" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; align-items: center; color: rgb(120, 133, 146); display: flex; font-size: 0.6rem; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/oliver-north/sean-hannity-hosts-past-iran-weapons-dealer-oliver-north-talk-new-crisis" rel="bookmark" class="teaserlink" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(25, 118, 210); text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; outline: 0px; font-family: Barlow, sans-serif; font-size: 19.937px;"><svg viewbox="0 0 24 24" class="icon icon--article" aria-labelledby="icon-label--article"><use xlink:href="#article" xmlns:xlink="xlink"><svg id="article" viewbox="0 0 24 24"><path d="M0 1h24v4H0zm0 6h24v4H0zm0 6h24v4H0zm0 6h18v4H0z" fill="inherit" fill-rule="evenodd" /></svg></use></svg><time datetime="2020-01-08T12:07:29-0500" style="box-sizing: border-box;">01/08/20 12:07 PM EST</time></a></div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/oliver-north/sean-hannity-hosts-past-iran-weapons-dealer-oliver-north-talk-new-crisis" rel="bookmark" class="teaserlink" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(25, 118, 210); text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; outline: 0px; font-family: Barlow, sans-serif; font-size: 19.937px;"></a></div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/oliver-north/sean-hannity-hosts-past-iran-weapons-dealer-oliver-north-talk-new-crisis" rel="bookmark" class="teaserlink" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(25, 118, 210); text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; outline: 0px; font-family: Barlow, sans-serif; font-size: 19.937px;">tpm</a></div><div><div class="StorySlotTimeStamp" style="box-sizing: border-box; min-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="BaroqueTimeStamp " style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 275.203px;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/oliver-north/sean-hannity-hosts-past-iran-weapons-dealer-oliver-north-talk-new-crisis" rel="bookmark" class="teaserlink" style="box-sizing: border-box; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(25, 118, 210); text-decoration-line: none; display: flex; outline: 0px; font-family: Barlow, sans-serif; font-size: 19.937px;">Jun 6</a></div></div><div class="StorySlotHeadline" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/nra-subpoena-oliver-north-legal-fight" class="StorySlotHeadlineMain " style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; width: 275.203px; position: relative; display: block;"><div class="--span-9 title" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px;">NRA Subpoenas Ex-President Oliver North In Escalation Of NRA Infighting</h3></div></div></a></div><div class="StorySlot__Byline" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Cristina Cabrera</div></div><div></div>bailled? beat by lapierre, disarray russia collusion<div>
<a data-ga-action="Home Headlines: Headline" href="https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/29/headlines/oliver_north_who_illegally_funneled_weapons_to_contras_resigns_as_nra_president">Oliver North, Who Illegally Funneled Weapons to Contras, Resigns as NRA President</a></div>
NRA suddenly announced a new president this week: Fox News contributor and Iran-Contra figure <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F05%2F07%2Fdisgraced-iran-contra-figure-oliver-north-become-nra-president%2F220136&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=40&v=1353">Oliver North</a>. When people pointed out that the NRA's new president was a gunrunner, Fox News <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2018%2F05%2F08%2Fsteve-doocy-congratulates-new-nra-president-and-gunrunner-oliver-north-you-werent-gunrunner%2F220145&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=41&v=1353">hosted</a>North and tried to deny that he ran guns. If you want to <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fmmfa%2Fstatus%2F993871372924477440&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=42&v=1353">be technical about it</a>, North <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthreadreaderapp.com%2Fthread%2F993544566786715649.html&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=43&v=1353">sold</a> missiles to Iran so he could buy guns from <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Fmagazine%2F2010%2F02%2F08%2Fthe-trafficker&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=44&v=1353">a terrorist</a> and give them to death squads in Nicaragua, with the help of a Panamanian dictator. So all in all, calling what North did as just "running guns" is being extremely charitable.And North wasn't done. He called it <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2018%2Fmay%2F10%2Fnew-nra-president-oliver-north-says-gun-control-activists-are-civil-terrorists&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=45&v=1353">"civil terrorism"</a> to push for any legislation concerning guns. He <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F05%2F10%2Fnra-president-elect-oliver-north-smears-parkland-survivors-criminals%2F220180&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=46&v=1353">also called</a> Parkland survivors pushing for new legislation criminals, and complained that they were engaging in harassment. Parkland survivors <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fcameron_kasky%2Fstatus%2F994747158279704576&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=47&v=1353">promptly</a> <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fdavidhogg111%2Fstatus%2F994719496345739270&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=48&v=1353">mocked</a> North on Twitter, and the father of Jamie Guttenberg, who was murdered at Parkland, <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Ffred_guttenberg%2Fstatus%2F994732753764716544&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=49&v=1353">told North</a> that his attacks don't matter.Also: Violence against women is <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F05%2F10%2Fviolence-against-women-guns-issue-not-way-nra-wants-you-believe%2F220184&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=50&v=1353">a guns issue</a>, but the NRA has it completely backward. The truth is that the presence of a gun in a house where there is domestic violence drastically increases the likelihood that women who live there will be killed or injured.Lastly: If this all wasn't bad enough, accused child molester and NRA board member Ted Nugent <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F05%2F07%2Fnotorious-misogynist-and-accused-child-molester-ted-nugent-spoke-nra-womens-leadership-forum%2F220129&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=513weekly&n=51&v=1353">spoke</a> at the NRA Women's Leadership Forum.casey abrams and ollie keen to go into greneda, cluster from git, recover banana wars.<a href="http://time.com/2954148/iran-contra/">http://time.com/2954148/iran-contra/</a>
meh, oddly small?omfg
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/12/04/trump-white-house-weighing-plans-for-private-spies-to-counter-deep-state-enemies/">https://theintercept.com/2017/12/04/trump-white-house-weighing-plans-for-private-spies-to-counter-deep-state-enemies/</a>
<div data-reactid="203" style="box-sizing: border-box;">THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer — with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal — to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering “deep state” enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine Donald Trump’s presidency.The creation of such a program raises the possibility that the effort would be used to create an intelligence apparatus to justify the Trump administration’s political agenda.“Pompeo can’t trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him,” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official with firsthand knowledge of the proposals, in describing White House discussions. “It is a direct-action arm, totally off the books,” this person said, meaning the intelligence collected would not be shared with the rest of the CIA or the larger intelligence community. “The whole point is this is supposed to report to the president and Pompeo directly.”North, who appears frequently on Trump’s favorite TV network, Fox News, was enlisted to help sell the effort to the administration. He was the “ideological leader” brought in to lend credibility, said the former senior intelligence official.Some of the individuals involved with the proposals secretly met with major Trump donors asking them to help finance operations before any official contracts were signed.</div><div class="Alert Alert--default" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 2em -272px 2em -20px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none;"><div data-reactid="205" style="box-sizing: border-box;">The proposals would utilize an army of spies with no official cover in several countries deemed “denied areas” for current American intelligence personnel, including North Korea and Iran. The White House has also considered creating a new global rendition unit meant to capture terrorist suspects around the world, as well as a propaganda campaign in the Middle East and Europe to combat Islamic extremism and Iran.“I can find no evidence that this ever came to the attention of anyone at the NSC or [White House] at all,” wrote <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/02/12/dark-essays-by-white-house-staffer-are-the-intellectual-source-code-of-trumpism/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Michael N. Anton</a>, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, in an email. “The White House does not and would not support such a proposal.” But a current U.S. intelligence official appeared to contradict that assertion, stating that the various proposals were first pitched at the White House before being delivered to the CIA. The Intercept reached out to several senior officials that sources said had been briefed on the plans by Prince, including Vice President Mike Pence. His spokesperson wrote there was “no record of [Prince] ever having met with or briefed the VP.” North did not respond to a request for comment.According to two former senior intelligence officials, Pompeo has embraced the plan and lobbied the White House to approve the contract. Asked for comment, a CIA spokesperson said, “You have been provided wildly inaccurate information by people peddling an agenda.”At the heart of the scheme being considered by the White House are Blackwater founder Erik Prince and his longtime associate, CIA veteran John R. Maguire, who currently works for the intelligence contractor Amyntor Group. Maguire also served on Trump’s transition team. Amyntor’s role was first <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/trump-administration-mulls-private-rendition?utm_term=.hmlKz39vev#.ccw8pD0NGN" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">reported</a> by BuzzFeed News.Michael Barry, who was recently named NSC senior director for intelligence programs, worked closely with Prince on a CIA assassination program during the Bush administration.Prince and Maguire deny they are working together. Those assertions, however, are challenged by current and former U.S. officials and Trump donors who say the two men were collaborating.As with many arrangements in the world of CIA contracting and clandestine operations, details of who is in charge of various proposals are murky by design and change depending on which players are speaking. An Amyntor official said Prince was not “formally linked to any contract proposal by Amyntor.” In an email, Prince rejected the suggestion that he was involved with the proposals. When asked if he has knowledge of this project, Prince replied: “I was/am not part of any of those alleged efforts.”The former senior intelligence official with direct knowledge of the efforts scoffed at Prince’s denials. “Erik’s proposal had no company names on the slides,” this person said, “but there is no doubt that Prince and Maguire were working together.”Prince and Maguire have a long professional relationship. Maguire recently completed a stint as a consultant with Prince’s company, Frontier Services Group, a Hong Kong-based security and logistics company partially owned by the Chinese government. FSG has no known connections to the private spy plan.Prince has strong ties to the Trump administration: His sister Betsy DeVos is secretary of education, he was a major <a href="http://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00575373/1112111/sa/ALL" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">donor</a> to the Trump election campaign, and he advised the transition team on intelligence and defense appointments, as The Intercept has previously <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/17/notorious-mercenary-erik-prince-is-advising-trump-from-the-shadows/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">reported</a>. Prince has also contributed to Pence’s campaigns.Maguire spent more than two decades as a paramilitary officer in the CIA, including tours in Central America working with the Contras. He has extensive experience in the Middle East, where he helped plan the 2003 invasion of Iraq.Maguire and Prince met together in September with a senior CIA official at a Virginia restaurant to discuss privatizing the war in Afghanistan.Prince told a top fundraiser that Maguire was working on part of his Afghanistan plan, characterizing it as the first part of a multi-pronged program. The fundraiser added that Prince never directly asked him for money. But sources close to the project say Maguire did seek private funding for Amyntor’s efforts until a CIA contract materialized. “They’ve been going around asking for a bridge loan to float their operations until the CIA says yes,” said a person who has been briefed on the fundraising efforts.Beginning last spring and into the summer, Maguire and a group of Amyntor representatives began asking Trump donors to support their intelligence efforts in Afghanistan, the initial piece of what they hoped would be a broader program. Some Trump fundraisers were asked to provide introductions to companies and wealthy clients who would then hire Amyntor for economic intelligence contracts. Maguire explained that some of the profit from those business deals would fund their foreign intelligence collection. Others were asked to give money outright....rince has long admired North and viewed his role in Iran-Contra as heroic, said the Prince associate. In 2007, Prince testified defiantly before Congress following the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, in which Blackwater operatives gunned down 17 Iraqi civilians, including women and children. Shortly after his testimony, Prince’s longtime friend, conservative California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, praised the Blackwater chief. “Prince,” Rohrabacher said, “is on his way to being an American hero just like Ollie North was.”</div></div>...<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">As a result, it was with a certain trepidation that we tuned the car radio to the local public radio station as we headed back out on the highway Monday morning, July 13.<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Under rules adopted by the two select committees, most questioning of witnesses was done by committee members, not by the committee's lead attorneys; and each questioner was limited to one hour of time.  One of North's more successful tactics the previous week had been to, in effect, filibuster hostile questions, going on at great length under the guise of providing full answers.  The practical result---combined with another committee rule that dictated alternating between Democratic members and Republican members---was to deflect and evade questions about the criminal conspiracy that apparently involved much of the administration's senior foreign policy apparatus, and to allow North to launch numerous sermons and admonitions, instructing members of Congress in their duties and in the meaning of true patriotism.<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">As the junior senator from Maine, George Mitchell, <a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?9536-1/irancontra-investigation-day-27" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(184, 4, 169); padding-bottom: 0.125em; transition: all 200ms ease;">began the day's questioning</a>, it sounded like North's last day in the witness chair would be no different.  Mitchell, a soft-spoken former federal judge with thinning hair and oversized glasses, began by saying, in a voice dry as dust, "The questions last week were mostly about the facts. They're important, but it's also important to consider some of the broader policy and legal issues."  Then the familiar dance began---Mitchell attempting, with some success, to pin North down and North, also with some success, skittering away with an occasional rhetorical flourish.<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">I was not a neutral listener.  I'd grown up in Mitchell's hometown.  I knew his nieces and nephews as babysitters, classmates, teammates, friends and neighbors.  I knew to varying degrees his sister and his three brothers, all of whom had remained in Waterville and were respected members of the city's business, educational and social fabric.  Although I'd been introduced to Sen. Mitchell on occasion, and my parents knew him from their longstanding involvement in Democratic party politics (dating back to when my mother chaired the 1964 Democratic city committee and Mitchell was a top aide to Sen. Ed Muskie), I didn't know him well.  He was the Mitchell who had moved away, first to Portland and then to Washington, to pursue a career in law and politics.<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">So as the minutes ticked away and the end of Mitchell's allotted hour approached, I felt a sinking sense of despair that North---remember, I was sure I'd been able to hear all his lies that the millions watching his shiny uniform and handsome face hadn't been able to see during his previous four days of testimony---was going to slip away unscathed.<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Then it happened.<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Using the same calm, understated, reasonable (some might say, boring) tone of voice he had maintained throughout his questioning, Sen. Mitchell said, "My time is nearly up and I want to make some closing observations because you have, as I indicated, expressed several points of view with respect to which there are other points of view, and I think they ought to be expressed."<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Despite that unpromising preface, what followed was one of the best, most timely and most eloquent statements about patriotism, the rule of law, the American ideal, and the role of God in American politics from a public official I've ever heard.  At the heart of Mitchell's statement to Col. North was this paragraph:<blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px; padding: 1em; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: " plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" line-height="line-height" color="color" rgb="rgb" font-size="font-size" px="px">Of all the qualities which the American people find compelling about you, none is more impressive than your obvious deep devotion to this country.  Please remember that others share that devotion and recognize that it is possible for an American to disagree with you on aid to the contras and still love God and still love this country just as much as you do.  Although He's regularly asked to do so, God does not take sides in American politics, and in America disagreement with the policies of the government is not evidence of lack of patriotism.</blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Listening as we rolled down the highway, I could feel my spirits slowly being restored.  Without directly criticizing the man or his views, Mitchell had taken the air out of the bubble that was Oliver North's narrow, sanctimonious patriotism---and also out of the bubble that was North's soaring reputation with the American public.<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">To this day I remain grateful---as an American, as a Catholic, as someone who grew up in Waterville, Maine---for Sen. Mitchell's words and example during the Iran-contra hearings.  There's a moment almost exactly 5:00 into the video clip embedded above where Col. North nods in agreement as Mitchell describes the "most exciting thing I've ever done in my life", administering the oath of allegiance to new citizens when he had served as a federal judge.  It's the one time North's fixed expression changes during the entire speech.  I like to think that maybe, if only for that brief moment, Mitchell's description of a wider and deeper vision of patriotism, of the importance of equal justice under law, of what it means to be an American had reached across the divide Col. North had spent the previous week erecting; and that North, perhaps to his own surprise, found himself agreeing.<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1.4em 0px;" plantin="Plantin" w01="W01" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">...<a href="https://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/h-on-gallery.php">https://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/h-on-gallery.php</a><h3 style="text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">OLIVER NORTH (22) - <a href="https://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/profile-north.php" class="content_link" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Profile</a></h3>On July 7, 1987, a headline on the front of The Wall Street Journal asked a critical question: “Which Col. North Will Tell His Story to Nation: The Villain Who Deceived or Hero Who Obeyed?”  Readers of Washingtonian magazine had voted Lt. Col. Oliver North the top villain of the year—and the biggest hero.  It would have been an understatement to call “Ollie” a conundrum.  Without a doubt, North was expected to be the star witness of the hearings.  Starting the morning of the 7th, he did not disappoint.  Just as the American people were listening to North’s testimony from day one, they were also watching the spectacle.  “The day-long show proved again that Washington can still outdo Hollywood in the production of high-yield dramatic blockbusters,” declared The Washington Post.  “Was he the good guy, the bad guy or the fall guy?” asked The Chicago Tribune.  “On Tuesday he revealed himself as the wise guy.”Taking place over six straight weekdays, North provided plenty of substance, too.  At the start, he vowed, “I came here to tell you the truth—the good, the bad, and the ugly.”  He acknowledged shredding key documents, but North maintained that his actions were in line with what his superiors wanted.  North claimed that he saw a signed presidential Finding to ship arms to Iran and that President Reagan was aware of the private fundraising for the Contras.  He also disclosed that the late CIA Director William Casey was aware of North’s activities, but he deliberately kept the secretaries of state and defense out of the loop.  Indeed, North aimed to ensure “plausible deniability” among his superiors (including Reagan).
            
For all their serious topics, the North hearings will rightly be remembered in part due to their entertainment value.  When questioned about using Enterprise money for a home security system, North told a compelling story about being willing to subject himself, but not his family, to a fight with terrorists.  Referring to a prominent terrorist, he said, “I will be glad to meet Abu Nidal on equal terms anywhere in the world.”  Dramatically, he defended his actions by saying that “lying does not come easy” to him, but he had to consider “the difference between lives and lies.”  Brendan Sullivan, North’s tenacious lawyer, also joined in on the theatrics.  By far the most vocal of all the witnesses’ lawyers, Sullivan objected frequently and declared that he was there as a lawyer, “not a potted plant.”  The panel members became emotive, as well.  Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) made a public plea against future prosecution for North; Co-Chairman Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN) lectured North on patriotism.Finally, Co-Chairman Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), a World War II hero, wrapped up the six days with a memorable speech.  Inouye reminded North about cadet honor, declaring, “Members of the military have an obligation to disobey unlawful orders.”  Inouye made reference to the Nuremberg Trials, which set off Sullivan, who interrupted the co-chairman to say that his closing statement was “personally and professionally distasteful.”  Undeterred, Inouye responded and then finished his speech with a Thomas Jefferson quotation about the importance of “the spirit of resistance to government.”With that, on July 14, North’s week of testimony came to an end.  As The Washington Post wrote, this section of the hearings proved to be “suspenseful, eventful and surprising up to the last scene of the last act.”Oliver North (Yes, Oliver North) Accuses Obama Of ‘Financing A Terrorist Organization’ With Bergdahl ReleaseBy Brian Tashman | June 3, 2014 4:35 pmNewsmax host and former Republican congressman J.D. Hayworth added his voice today to the growing right-wing outrage over the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in a prisoner exchange with the Taliban, and what better person to discuss the situation with than Oliver North!North demanded that the media ask the Obama administration if there was “a ransom, a fiscal, financial, money transaction,” with the Taliban as part of the deal. “Was there a ransom paid? Did the government of the United States, either directly or indirectly, finance a terrorist organization?”[img]
North, of course, was heavily involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, in which Reagan administration officials unlawfully sold arms to Iran in hopes of releasing American hostages and used the proceeds of the sale to illegally fund Contra militants in Nicaragua, and then attempted to cover up their work.The independent counsel report of the scandal details North’s involvement:The Iran/contra affair concerned two secret Reagan Administration policies whose operations were coordinated by National Security Council staff. The Iran operation involved efforts in 1985 and 1986 to obtain the release of Americans held hostage in the Middle East through the sale of U.S. weapons to Iran, despite an embargo on such sales. The contra operations from 1984 through most of 1986 involved the secret governmental support of contra military and paramilitary activities in Nicaragua, despite congressional prohibition of this support.The Iran and contra operations were merged when funds generated from the sale of weapons to Iran were diverted to support the contra effort in Nicaragua. Although this “diversion” may be the most dramatic aspect of Iran/contra, it is important to emphasize that both the Iran and contra operations, separately, violated United States policy and law.2 The ignorance of the “diversion” asserted by President Reagan and his Cabinet officers on the National Security Council in no way absolves them of responsibility for the underlying Iran and contra operations.…
The operational conspiracy was the basis for Count One of the 23-count indictment returned by the Grand Jury March 16, 1988, against Poindexter, North, Secord, and Hakim. It charged the four with conspiracy to defraud the United States by deceitfully:(1) supporting military operations in Nicaragua in defiance of congressional controls;
(2) using the Iran arms sales to raise funds to be spent at the direction of North, rather than the U.S. Government; and
(3) endangering the Administration’s hostage-release effort by overcharging Iran for the arms to generate unauthorized profits to fund the contras and for other purposes.
…
The illegal activities of the private citizens involved with the North and Secord operations are discussed in detail in Part V. The off-the-books conduct of the two highly secret operations circumvented normal Administration accountability and congressional oversight associated with covert ventures and presented fertile ground for financial wrongdoing. There were several funding sources for the contras’ weapons purchases from the covert-action Enterprise formed by North, Secord and Hakim:
(1) donations from foreign countries;
(2) contributions from wealthy Americans sympathetic to President Reagan’s contra support policies; and
(3) the diversion of proceeds from the sale of arms to Iran.
Ultimately, all of these funds fell under the control of North, and through him, Secord and Hakim.
North used political fundraisers Carl R. Channell and Richard R. Miller to raise millions of dollars from wealthy Americans, illegally using a tax-exempt organization to do so. These funds, along with the private contributions, were run through a network of corporations and Swiss bank accounts put at North’s disposal by Secord and Hakim, through which transactions were concealed and laundered. In late 1985 through 1986 the Enterprise became centrally involved in the arms sales to Iran. As a result of both the Iran and contra operations, more than $47 million flowed through Enterprise accounts.<a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/oliver-north/" style="">http://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/oliver-north/</a><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/mike-huckabee-says-todd-akin-was-attacked-for-being-a-christian/" title="Mike Huckabee Says Todd Akin Was Attacked For Being A Christian" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">JULY 7, 2014 10:35 AM</a>Mike Huckabee Says Todd Akin Was Attacked For Being A Christian</li><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/oliver-north-yes-oliver-north-accuses-obama-of-financing-a-terrorist-organization-with-bergdahl-release/" title="Oliver North (Yes, Oliver North) Accuses Obama Of ‘Financing A Terrorist Organization’ With Bergdahl Release" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">JUNE 3, 2014 4:35 PM</a>Oliver North (Yes, Oliver North) Accuses Obama Of ‘Financing A Terrorist Organization’ With Bergdahl Release</li><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/oliver-north-thinks-obama-could-be-impeached-for-benghazi-because-nobody-died-in-iran-contra/" title="Oliver North Thinks Obama Could Be Impeached For Benghazi Because ‘Nobody Died In Iran-Contra’" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">MARCH 12, 2014 12:15 PM</a>Oliver North Thinks Obama Could Be Impeached For Benghazi Because ‘Nobody Died In Iran-Contra’</li><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/oliver-north-gop-must-oppose-marriage-equality-like-it-fought-slavery/" title="Oliver North: GOP Must Oppose Marriage Equality Like It Fought Slavery" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">MARCH 7, 2014 12:10 PM</a>Oliver North: GOP Must Oppose Marriage Equality Like It Fought Slavery</li><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/right-wing-leftovers-7113/" title="Right Wing Leftovers – 7/1/13" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">JULY 1, 2013 6:10 PM</a>Right Wing Leftovers – 7/1/13</li><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/flashback-lou-engle-prays-over-newt-gingrich/" title="Flashback: Lou Engle Prays Over Newt Gingrich" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">MAY 11, 2011 10:17 AM</a>Flashback: Lou Engle Prays Over Newt Gingrich</li><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/can-sarah-palin-please-read-past-the-first-line/" title="Can Sarah Palin Please Read Past The First Line?" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">OCTOBER 29, 2010 12:49 PM</a>Can Sarah Palin Please Read Past The First Line?</li><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/why-is-frc-selectively-editing-sgt-ratcliffs-dadt-views/" title="Why Is FRC Selectively Editing Sgt. Ratcliff’s DADT Views?" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">JULY 29, 2010 12:00 PM</a>Why Is FRC Selectively Editing Sgt. Ratcliff’s DADT Views?</li><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/frcs-webcast-exposes-the-fatuous-fraudulence-of-their-dadt-campaign/" title="FRC’s Webcast Exposes The Fatuous Fraudulence of Their DADT Campaign" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">JULY 21, 2010 1:52 PM</a>FRC’s Webcast Exposes The Fatuous Fraudulence of Their DADT Campaign</li><li class="full-image" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(239, 243, 243); list-style: none; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 1em 1em 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><p class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;" helvetica="Helvetica" light="Light" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-weight="font-weight" bold="bold" text-transform="text-transform" uppercase="uppercase" line-height="line-height"><a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/right-wing-round-up-421/" title="Right Wing Round-Up" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: background-color, border-color, box-shadow, color, opacity, text-shadow, transform, -webkit-transform; transition-timing-function: linear; background-color: transparent; outline-offset: 0.111111em; text-decoration-line: none;">APRIL 16, 2010 5:57 PM</a>Right Wing Round-Up</li>=According to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Archive" title="National Security Archive" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">National Security Archive</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North" title="Oliver North" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Oliver North</a> had been in contact with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Noriega" title="Manuel Noriega" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Manuel Noriega</a>, the military leader of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama" title="Panama" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Panama</a> later convicted on drug charges, whom he personally met. The issue of drug money and its importance in funding the Nicaraguan conflict was the subject of various reports and publications. The contras were funded by drug trafficking, of which the United States was aware.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-archive-53" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[53]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate" style="background: none; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Senator</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry" title="John Kerry" style="background: none; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">John Kerry</a>'s 1988 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Committee_on_Foreign_Relations" title="United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations" style="background: none; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Committee on Foreign Relations</a> report on Contra drug links concluded that "senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-54" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[54]</a>The Reagan administration's support for the Contras continued to stir controversy well into the 1990s. In August 1996, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jose_Mercury_News" title="San Jose Mercury News" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">San Jose Mercury News</a> reporter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb" title="Gary Webb" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Gary Webb</a> published a series titled Dark Alliance, alleging that the contras contributed to the rise of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_cocaine" title="Crack cocaine" style="text-decoration: none; outline: none; background: none;">crack cocaine</a> in California.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-55" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[55]</a> In his subsequent 1999 book, also titled <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Alliance" title="Dark Alliance" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Dark Alliance</a>, Webb asserted that the Reagan administration helped harbor known drug traffickers, offering political asylum to some, to help raise funds for the rebel effort.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-56" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[56]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: none; line-height: 1.6;">Propaganda[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Contras&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Propaganda" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>During the time the US Congress blocked funding for the contras, the Reagan government engaged in a campaign to alter public opinion and change the vote in Congress on contra aid.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-Lee_et_al.1987.2C_p.5-57" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[57]</a> For this purpose, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Security_Council" title="United States National Security Council" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">NSC</a> established an interagency working group which in turn coordinated the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Public_Diplomacy" title="Office of Public Diplomacy" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Office of Public Diplomacy</a> for Latin America and the Caribbean (managed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Reich" title="Otto Reich" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Otto Reich</a>), which conducted the campaign.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-Lee_et_al.1987.2C_p.5-57" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[57]</a> The S/LPD produced and widely disseminated a variety of pro-contra publications, arranged speeches and press conferences.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-Lee_et_al.1987.2C_p.5-57" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[57]</a> It also disseminated "white propaganda"—pro-contra newspaper articles by paid consultants who did not disclose their connection to the Reagan administration.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-58" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[58]</a>On top of that, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North" title="Oliver North" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Oliver North</a> helped Carl Channell's tax-exempt organization, the "National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty", to raise $10 million, by arranging numerous briefings for groups of potential contributors at the premises of the White House and by facilitating private visits and photo sessions with President Reagan for major contributors.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-Lee_et_al.1987.2C_p.6-59" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[59]</a> Channell in turn, used part of that money to run a series of television advertisements directed at home districts of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressman" class="mw-redirect" title="Congressman" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">Congressmen</a> considered to be swing votes on contra aid.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-Lee_et_al.1987.2C_p.6-59" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[59]</a> Out of the $10 million raised, more than $1 million was spent on pro-contra publicity.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#cite_note-Lee_et_al.1987.2C_p.6-59" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background: none;">[59]</a>reagan scandals:  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals</a><ol style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="line-height: 22.4px; margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_R._Miller&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Richard R. Miller (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Richard R. Miller</a> - Partner with Oliver North in IBC, an Office of Public Diplomacy front group, convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals#cite_note-autogenerated1-3" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[3]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals#cite_note-autogenerated3-5" style="text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[5]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">
</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"> Walsh Iran / Contra Report - Summary of Prosecutions</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ Jump up to: a b Walsh Iran / Contra Report - Chapter 15 William J. Casey</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ Jump up to: a b Walsh Iran / Contra Report - Chapter 13 Private Fundraising: The Guilty Pleas of Channell and Miller</li></ol><ol class="references" style="line-height: 20.16px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li id="cite_note-autogenerated1-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/summpros.htm" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">Walsh Iran / Contra Report - Summary of Prosecutions</a></li><li id="cite_note-autogenerated4-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals#cite_ref-autogenerated4_4-0" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up to:a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals#cite_ref-autogenerated4_4-1" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_15.htm" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) 100% 50% no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" xmlns:data="data">Walsh Iran / Contra Report - Chapter 15 William J. Casey</a></li><li id="cite_note-autogenerated3-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">^ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals#cite_ref-autogenerated3_5-0" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important; -webkit-user-select: none;">Jump up to:a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration_scandals#cite_ref-autogenerated3_5-1" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_13.htm" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" base64="base64" pd94bwwgdmvyc2lvbj0ims4wiiblbmnvzgluzz0ivvrgltgipz48c3znihhtbg5zpsjodhrwoi8vd3d3lnczlm9yzy8ymdawl3n2zyigd2lkdgg9ijewiibozwlnahq9ijewij48zyb0cmfuc2zvcm09inryyw5zbgf0zsgtodi2ljqyosatnjk4ljc5mskipjxyzwn0ihdpzhropsi1ljk4miigagvpz2h0psi1ljk4miiged0iodi2ljkyosiget0inzayljmwosigzmlsbd0ii2zmziigc3ryb2tlpsijmdzjii8="PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz48c3ZnIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyIgd2lkdGg9IjEwIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEwIj48ZyB0cmFuc2Zvcm09InRyYW5zbGF0ZSgtODI2LjQyOSAtNjk4Ljc5MSkiPjxyZWN0IHdpZHRoPSI1Ljk4MiIgaGVpZ2h0PSI1Ljk4MiIgeD0iODI2LjkyOSIgeT0iNzAyLjMwOSIgZmlsbD0iI2ZmZiIgc3Ryb2tlPSIjMDZjIi8" pgc="PGc" phbhdgggzd0ittgzms4xotqgnjk4ljc5mwg1ljiznhy1ljm5mwwtms41nzegms41ndutms4zms0xljmxltiunzi1idiunzi1ltiunjg5ltiunjg5idiuoda4ltiuoda4lteumzexlteumzexeiigzmlsbd0iiza2ziivpjxwyxroigq9ik04mzuundi0idy5os43otvsljaymia0ljg4ns0xljgxny0xljgxny0yljg4msayljg4ms0xljiyoc0xljiyocayljg4ms0yljg4ms0xljg1ms0xljg1mxoiigzpbgw9iinmzmyilz48l2c="PHBhdGggZD0iTTgzMS4xOTQgNjk4Ljc5MWg1LjIzNHY1LjM5MWwtMS41NzEgMS41NDUtMS4zMS0xLjMxLTIuNzI1IDIuNzI1LTIuNjg5LTIuNjg5IDIuODA4LTIuODA4LTEuMzExLTEuMzExeiIgZmlsbD0iIzA2ZiIvPjxwYXRoIGQ9Ik04MzUuNDI0IDY5OS43OTVsLjAyMiA0Ljg4NS0xLjgxNy0xLjgxNy0yLjg4MSAyLjg4MS0xLjIyOC0xLjIyOCAyLjg4MS0yLjg4MS0xLjg1MS0xLjg1MXoiIGZpbGw9IiNmZmYiLz48L2c" pc9npjwvc3znpg="=" background-color="background-color" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" xmlns:data="data">Walsh Iran / Contra Report - Chapter 13 Private Fundraising: The Guilty Pleas of Channell and Miller</a></li></ol>Young Rep ran ads for OPD?  http://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/<div id="content-header"><h1 class="title" style="line-height: 1.15em; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px; font-weight: normal;">Oliver North (Yes, Oliver North) Accuses Obama Of 'Financing A Terrorist Organization' With Bergdahl Release</h1></div><div id="content-area"><div id="node-47052" class="node node-type-blog"><div class="node-inner"><div class="meta"><div class="submitted" style="font-style: italic; padding-bottom: 9px;">SUBMITTED BY Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 6/3/2014 4:35 pm</div></div><div class="content" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(152, 152, 152);">Newsmax host and former Republican congressman J.D. Hayworth added his voice today to the growing right-wing outrage over the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in a prisoner exchange with the Taliban, and what better person to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QicWYSFGGxA" style="text-decoration: none;">discuss</a> the situation with than Oliver North!North <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2EiFQXTwVM&feature=youtu.be" style="text-decoration: none;">demanded</a> that the media ask the Obama administration if there was “a ransom, a fiscal, financial, money transaction,” with the Taliban as part of the deal. “Was there a ransom paid? Did the government of the United States, either directly or indirectly, finance a terrorist organization?”</div></div></div></div>- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/oliver-north-yes-oliver-north-accuses-obama-financing-terrorist-organization-bergdahl-releas#sthash.Nl571zGN.dpufNorth, of course, was heavily involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, in which Reagan administration officials unlawfully sold arms to Iran in hopes of releasing American hostages and used the proceeds of the sale to illegally fund Contra militants in Nicaragua, and then attempted to cover up their work.The <a href="http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/execsum.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">independent counsel report</a> of the scandal details North’s involvement:<blockquote style="margin: 13px 35px 13px 8px; border-left: 7px solid rgb(140, 151, 171); padding-left: 20px;">The Iran/contra affair concerned two secret Reagan Administration policies whose operations were coordinated by National Security Council staff. The Iran operation involved efforts in 1985 and 1986 to obtain the release of Americans held hostage in the Middle East through the sale of U.S. weapons to Iran, despite an embargo on such sales. The contra operations from 1984 through most of 1986 involved the secret governmental support of contra military and paramilitary activities in Nicaragua, despite congressional prohibition of this support.

The Iran and contra operations were merged when funds generated from the sale of weapons to Iran were diverted to support the contra effort in Nicaragua. Although this diversion'' may be the most dramatic aspect of Iran/contra, it is important to emphasize that both the Iran and contra operations, separately, violated United States policy and law.2 The ignorance of the diversion'' asserted by President Reagan and his Cabinet officers on the National Security Council in no way absolves them of responsibility for the underlying Iran and contra operations.

…

The operational conspiracy was the basis for Count One of the 23-count indictment returned by the Grand Jury March 16, 1988, against Poindexter, North, Secord, and Hakim. It charged the four with conspiracy to defraud the United States by deceitfully:

(1) supporting military operations in Nicaragua in defiance of congressional controls;

(2) using the Iran arms sales to raise funds to be spent at the direction of North, rather than the U.S. Government; and

(3) endangering the Administration's hostage-release effort by overcharging Iran for the arms to generate unauthorized profits to fund the contras and for other purposes.

…

The illegal activities of the private citizens involved with the North and Secord operations are discussed in detail in Part V. The off-the-books conduct of the two highly secret operations circumvented normal Administration accountability and congressional oversight associated with covert ventures and presented fertile ground for financial wrongdoing. There were several funding sources for the contras' weapons purchases from the covert-action Enterprise formed by North, Secord and Hakim:

(1) donations from foreign countries;

(2) contributions from wealthy Americans sympathetic to President Reagan's contra support policies; and

(3) the diversion of proceeds from the sale of arms to Iran.

Ultimately, all of these funds fell under the control of North, and through him, Secord and Hakim.

North used political fundraisers Carl R. Channell and Richard R. Miller to raise millions of dollars from wealthy Americans, illegally using a tax-exempt organization to do so. These funds, along with the private contributions, were run through a network of corporations and Swiss bank accounts put at North's disposal by Secord and Hakim, through which transactions were concealed and laundered. In late 1985 through 1986 the Enterprise became centrally involved in the arms sales to Iran. As a result of both the Iran and contra operations, more than $47 million flowed through Enterprise accounts.</blockquote>- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/oliver-north-yes-oliver-north-accuses-obama-financing-terrorist-organization-bergdahl-releas#sthash.Nl571zGN.dpufOliver North

AKA Oliver Laurence North

Born: <a class="proflink" href="http://www.nndb.com/lists/798/000106480/">7-Oct</a>-<a class="proflink" href="http://www.nndb.com/lists/942/000105627/">1943</a>

Birthplace: <a class="proflink" href="http://www.nndb.com/geo/693/000069486/">San Antonio, TX</a>

Gender: Male

Religion: Protestant

Race or Ethnicity: White

Sexual orientation: Straight

Occupation: <a class="proflink" href="http://www.nndb.com/lists/187/000068980/">Military</a>

Party Affiliation: Republican

Nationality: United States

Executive summary: Perjuring Iran-Contra figure

Wife: Betsy Stuart (m. 1967)

Daughter: Tait

Daughter: Sarah

Daughter: Dornin

Son: Stuart

    High School: (1961)

University: <a href="http://www.nndb.com/edu/767/000166269/">SUNY Brockport</a>

University: <a href="http://www.nndb.com/edu/726/000068522/">US Naval Academy (1968)</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/gov/269/000058095/">US National Security Council</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/org/955/000165460/">Conservative Victory Committee</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/org/700/000051547/">Council for National Policy</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/org/172/000133770/">Joe Foss Institute</a> National Advisory Board

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/org/809/000041686/">National Rifle Association</a> Board Member

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/org/403/000052247/">Nicaraguan Freedom Fund</a> North's brainchild

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/org/593/000071380/">Patrick Henry Center</a> Advisory Board

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/org/694/000120334/">Freedom Alliance</a> Founder (1990-)

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/honors/281/000043152/">Silver Star</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/honors/280/000043151/">Bronze Star</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/honors/279/000043150/">Purple Heart</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/event/776/000205161/">Waterboarded</a> SERE school

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/event/860/000080620/">Nervous Breakdown</a> hospitalized for three weeks, 1974

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/event/437/000123068/">Took the Fifth</a> (Dec-1986)

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/event/020/000135612/">Granted Immunity</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/event/349/000172830/">Issued Concealed Carry Permit</a> issued (Oct-1987), revoked (Aug-1994)

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/group/815/000044683/">Iran-Contra Scandal</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/crime/385/000050235/">Obstruction of Justice</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/crime/000/000045862/">Destruction of Evidence</a>

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/lists/223/000044091/">Scottish Ancestry</a> Paternal

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/lists/936/000043807/">Irish Ancestry</a> Maternal

Risk Factors: <a href="http://www.nndb.com/lists/781/000064589/">Depression</a>

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR

<a href="http://www.nndb.com/films/502/000089235/">The Last Party (27-Aug-1993)</a> Himself

Rotten Library Page:

<a href="http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/usa/oliver-north/">Oliver North</a>

Author of books:

One More Mission: Oliver North Returns to Vietnam (1993, with David Roth)

map

<a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=24426">http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=24426</a>

===

<h2>Iran-Contra affair</h2>

<div class="rellink relarticle mainarticle">Main article: <a title="Iran-Contra Affair" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_Affair">Iran-Contra Affair</a></div>

Oliver North</div>

</div>

North came into the public spotlight as a result of his participation in the <a title="Iran-Contra affair" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_affair">Iran-Contra affair</a>, a political scandal of the late 1980s, in which he claimed partial responsibility for the sale of weapons via intermediaries to <a title="Iran" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran">Iran</a>, with the profits being channeled to the <a title="Contras" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras">Contras</a> in <a title="Nicaragua" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua">Nicaragua</a>. He was reportedly responsible for the establishment of a covert network used for the purposes of aiding the Contras. U.S. funding of the Contras by appropriated funds spent by intelligence agencies had been prohibited by the <a title="Boland Amendment" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boland_Amendment">Boland Amendment</a>. Funding was facilitated through <a title="Palmer National Bank of Washington, D.C." href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_National_Bank_of_Washington,D.C.">Palmer National Bank of Washington, D.C.</a> It was founded in 1983 by <a title="Harvey McLean, Jr. (page does not exist)" class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harvey_McLean,Jr.&action=edit&redlink=1">Harvey McLean, Jr.</a>, a businessman from <a title="Shreveport, Louisiana" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shreveport,Louisiana">Shreveport, Louisiana</a>. It was initially funded with $2.8 million dollars to McLean from <a title="Herman K. Beebe" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_K.Beebe">Herman K. Beebe</a>. North supposedly used this bank during the Iran-Contra scandal by funneling money from his shell organization, the "National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty", through Palmer National Bank to the Contras.

According to the <a title="National Security Archive" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Archive">National Security Archive</a>, in an August 23, 1986 <a title="E-mail" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail">e-mail</a> to <a title="John Poindexter" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Poindexter">John Poindexter</a>, Oliver North described a meeting with a representative of <a title="Panama" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama">Panamanian</a> President <a title="Manuel Noriega" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Noriega">Manuel Noriega</a>: "You will recall that over the years Manuel Noriega in Panama and I have developed a fairly good relationship", North writes before explaining <a title="Noriega" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noriega">Noriega</a>'s proposal. If U.S. officials can "help clean up his image" and lift the ban on arms sales to the Panamanian Defense Force, Noriega will "'take care of' the <a title="Sandinista" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandinista">Sandinista</a> leadership for us."[<a title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a>]

North told Poindexter that Noriega could assist with sabotage against the <a title="Sandinistas" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandinistas">Sandinistas</a>, and supposedly suggested paying Noriega a million dollars cash; from "<a title="National Endowment for Democracy" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Endowment_for_Democracy">Project Democracy</a>" funds raised from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran—for the Panamanian leader's help in destroying Nicaraguan economic installations.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-1">[2]</a>

In November 1986, as the <a title="Herman K. Beebe" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_K._Beebe">sale of weapons</a> was made public, North was dismissed by President <a title="Ronald Reagan" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a>, and in July 1987 he was summoned to testify before televised hearings of a joint Congressional committee formed to investigate Iran-Contra. The image of North taking the oath became iconic, and similar photographs made the cover of Time and Newsweek, and helped define him in the eyes of the public.[<a title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a>] During the hearings, North admitted that he had lied to Congress, for which he was later charged among other things. He defended his actions by stating that he believed in the goal of aiding the Contras, whom he saw as <a title="Freedom fighter" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_fighter">freedom fighters</a>, and said that he viewed the Iran-Contra scheme as a "neat idea".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-2">[3]</a>

North was tried in 1988 in relation to his activities while at the National Security Council. He was indicted on sixteen <a title="Felony" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony">felony</a> counts and on May 4, 1989, he was initially convicted of three: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting in the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents (by his secretary, <a title="Fawn Hall" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawn_Hall">Fawn Hall</a>, on his instructions). He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge <a title="Gerhard A. Gesell" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_A._Gesell">Gerhard A. Gesell</a> on July 5, 1989, to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines, and 1,200 hours community service.

However, on July 20, 1990, with the help of the <a title="American Civil Liberties Union" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_Liberties_Union">American Civil Liberties Union</a> (ACLU),<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-3">[4]</a> North's convictions were vacated, after the appeals court found that witnesses in his trial might have been impermissibly affected by his immunized congressional testimony.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-4">[5]</a>

Because North had been granted limited immunity for his Congressional testimony, the law prohibited the independent counsel (or any prosecutor) from using that testimony as part of a criminal case against him. To prepare for the expected defense challenge that North's testimony had been used, the prosecution team had, before North's congressional testimony had been given, listed and isolated all its evidence;[<a title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed</a>] further, the individual members of the prosecution team had isolated themselves from news reports and discussion of North's testimony. While the defense could show no specific instance where any part of North's congressional testimony was used in his trial, the Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge had made an insufficient examination of the issue, and ordered North's convictions reversed. The <a title="Supreme Court of the United States" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States">Supreme Court</a> declined to review the case. After further hearings on the immunity issue, <a title="Gerhard Alden Gesell" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Alden_Gesell">Judge Gesell</a> dismissed all charges against North on September 16, 1991, on the motion of the independent counsel.

<h2>[<a title="Edit section: Allegations of involvement with drug trafficking" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_North&action=edit&section=2">edit</a>] Allegations of involvement with drug trafficking</h2>

During the early and mid 1980s, Lt. Col. North was alleged to participate in organizing the transportation of cocaine and marijuana from the various sites in Central and South America into the United States as a means of funding the Contra rebels. Congressional records show North was tasked with finding funding "outside the CIA" after the Boland Amendment cut off funding for the Contras in October, 1984.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-5">[6]</a>

On February 10, 1986, Robert Owen, North’s liaison with the Contras, wrote North regarding a plane being used to carry humanitarian aid to the Contras that was previously used to transport drugs. The plane belonged to the Miami-based company Vortex, which is run by Michael Palmer, one of the largest marijuana traffickers in the United States. Despite Palmer's long history of drug smuggling, Palmer received over $300,000 from the Nicaraguan Humanitarian Aid Office (NHAO)—an office overseen by Oliver North, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs <a title="Elliott Abrams" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Abrams">Elliott Abrams</a>, and CIA officer <a title="Alan Fiers" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Fiers">Alan Fiers</a> — to ferry supplies to the Contras.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-6">[7]</a>

During Manuel Noriega’s trial in 1991, pilot <a title="Floyd Carlton (page does not exist)" class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Floyd_Carlton&action=edit&redlink=1">Floyd Carlton</a> testified that his smuggling operation was flying weapons to the Contras at the same time he was flying drugs to the United States. When Carlton's lawyer asked about Oliver North's knowledge of these flights, federal prosecutors vehemently objected, and U.S. judge William Hoeveler became angry. "Just stay away from it", the judge snapped, refusing to allow any more questions on the topic.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-7">[8]</a>

Investigations into Lt. Col North's involvement have not been limited to the United States. One notable example is the second report of the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly's Commission on Narcotics Trafficking, which examined the explosion of cocaine trafficking in that country during the 1980s. After studying the involvement of Contras and U.S. officials with illegal arms running and drug trafficking, the commission recommended that former ambassador <a title="Lewis Tambs (page does not exist)" class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lewis_Tambs&action=edit&redlink=1">Lewis Tambs</a>, CIA station chief <a title="Joseph F. Fernandez" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_F._Fernandez">Joseph F. Fernandez</a>, and Lt. Col. Oliver North be forever denied entry in Costa Rica, a recommendation adopted by Costa Rican President <a title="Oscar Arias" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Arias">Oscar Arias</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-8">[9]</a>

North has consistently denied any involvement with drug trafficking, stating on Fox's Hannity and Colmes, "...nobody in the government of the United States, going all the way back to the earliest days of this under Jimmy Carter, ever had anything to do with running drugs to support the Nicaraguan resistance."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-9">[10]</a> Despite North's claims, Senator <a title="John Kerry" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry">John Kerry</a>'s 1988 Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations found numerous references to drug trafficking within Mr. North's own notebooks (that North and the White House had substantially edited and censored). The Subcommittee reviewed 2,848 pages of spiral-bound notes taken by Mr. North between September, 1984 through November 1986 and concluded: "In reviewing these note-books, the Committee staff found a number of references to narcotics, terrorism and related matters which appeared relevant and material to the Subcommittee's inquiry.... the Notebooks do contain numerous reference to drugs, terrorism, and to the attempts of the Committee itself to investigate what North was doing in connection with his secret support of the Contras." Pages 145–147 of the Subcommittee's report directly quote 15 North notebook entries related to drug trafficking. An entry from July 12, 1985 states "$14 million to finance came from drugs".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-10">[11]</a>

<h2>[<a title="Edit section: Shredding government documents" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_North&action=edit&section=3">edit</a>] Shredding government documents</h2>

North admitted shredding government documents related to his Contra and Iranian activities, at <a title="William Casey" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Casey">William Casey</a>'s suggestion, when the Iran Contra scandal became public. He testified that <a title="Robert McFarlane" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McFarlane">Robert McFarlane</a> had asked him to alter official records to delete references to direct assistance to the contras and that he had helped.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-11">[12]</a>

<h2>[<a title="Edit section: Later life and career" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_North&action=edit&section=4">edit</a>] Later life and career</h2>

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<h3>[<a title="Edit section: Politics" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_North&action=edit&section=5">edit</a>] Politics</h3>

In 1994, North unsuccessfully ran for the <a title="United States Senate" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate">Senate</a> as the <a title="Republican Party (United States)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party%28United_States%29">Republican</a> candidate in <a title="Virginia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia">Virginia</a>. Republican Senator <a title="John Warner" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Warner">John Warner</a> of Virginia endorsed <a title="Marshall Coleman" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Coleman">Marshall Coleman</a>, a Republican who ran as an independent, instead of North. On the eve of the election, former first lady <a title="Nancy Reagan" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Reagan">Nancy Reagan</a> told a reporter that North had lied to her husband when discussing Iran-Contra with the former president, effectively <a title="Eviscerate" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eviscerate">eviscerating</a> him. North lost by a 46% to 43% margin to incumbent <a title="Democratic Party (United States)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party%28United_States%29">Democrat</a> <a title="Charles Robb" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Robb">Charles Robb</a>,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-12">[13]</a> a son-in-law of President <a title="Lyndon B. Johnson" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson">Lyndon B. Johnson</a>. Coleman received 11%. North's candidacy was documented in the 1996 film A Perfect Candidate.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-13">[14]</a>

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In his failed bid to unseat Robb, North raised $20.3 million in a single year through nationwide direct mail solicitations, telemarketing, fundraising events, and contributions from major donors. About $16 million of that amount was from <a title="Direct mail" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_mail">direct mail</a> alone. This was the biggest accumulation of direct mail funds for a statewide campaign to that date, and it made North the top direct mail political fundraiser in the country in 1994.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-14">[15]</a>

<h3>[<a title="Edit section: Books and media" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_North&action=edit&section=6">edit</a>] Books and media</h3>

North has written several best-selling books including Under Fire, One More Mission, War Stories — Operation Iraqi Freedom, <a title="Mission Compromised" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Compromised">Mission Compromised</a>, The Jericho Sanction, and The Assassins.

His latest book, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.americanheroesbook.com">American Heroes</a>, was released nationally in the U.S. on May 6, 2008. In this book, North addresses issues of defense against global terrorism, Jihad, and radical Islam from his perspective as a military officer and national security advisor and current Middle East war correspondent.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-15">[16]</a> North is also a syndicated columnist.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-16">[17]</a>

From 1995 to 2003, North was host of his own <a title="Radio syndication" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_syndication">nationally-syndicated</a> <a title="Talk radio" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_radio">radio program</a> known as the Oliver North Radio Show or Common Sense Radio. He also served as co-host of Equal Time on <a title="MSNBC" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSNBC">MSNBC</a> for a couple of years starting in 1999. North is currently the host of the television show <a title="War Stories with Oliver North" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Stories_with_Oliver_North">War Stories with Oliver North</a>, and a regular commentator on <a title="Hannity" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannity">Hannity</a>, both on the <a title="Fox News Channel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News_Channel">Fox News Channel</a>. North appeared as himself on many television shows including the sitcom <a title="Wings (NBC TV series)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings%28NBC_TV_series%29">Wings</a> and three episodes of the TV military drama <a title="JAG (TV series)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAG%28TV_series%29">JAG</a> in 1995, 1996 and 2002.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-17">[18]</a> In addition, he regularly speaks at both public and private events.

<h3>[<a title="Edit section: Other" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_North&action=edit&section=7">edit</a>] Other</h3>

In 1990, North founded the Freedom Alliance, a <a title="501(c)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29#501.28c.29.283.29">501(c)(3)</a> foundation "...to advance the American heritage of freedom by honoring and encouraging military service, defending the sovereignty of the United States and promoting a strong national defense." The foundation's primary activities include providing support for wounded combat soldiers, and scholarships for the sons and daughters of service members killed in action.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-18">[19]</a> Beginning in 2003, Sean Hannity has raised over $10 million for the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund through Freedom Concerts and donations from the Sean Hannity Show and its listeners. Hannity, North, and other charity spokesperson claim that all of the net proceeds from the Freedom Concerts are donated to the fund.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-19">[20]</a>. The charity has recently been criticized by <a title="Daily Kos" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Kos">Daily Kos</a> and conservative-leaning blogger <a title="Debbie Schlussel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Schlussel">Debbie Schlussel</a> for distributing too little of its funds for charitable purposes.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-20">[21]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-21">[</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-21">22]</a> In response to accusations that money collected by the charity was inappropriately spent, the non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed formal complaints with the FTC and IRS against North, Hannity, and the Freedom Concerts and Freedom Alliance charities.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-22">[23]</a>

Pictures of North in the NSA buildings with former British Intelligence Officer <a title="John P. Lawrence" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_P._Lawrence">John P. Lawrence</a> were flashed around the world, when the two former colleagues were asked to help the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Although raised a <a title="Roman Catholic" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic">Roman Catholic</a>, he has long attended <a title="Protestant" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant">Protestant</a> evangelical services with his family<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-23">[24]</a>.

North is a board member in the <a title="National Rifle Association" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association">National Rifle Association</a>, and appeared at their national conventions in 2007<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-24">[25]</a> and 2008.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-25">[26]</a>

In 1995, <a title="Sliders" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliders">Sliders</a>, a Fox channel produced television show (rights were later bought by Sci-Fi Channel), aired three episodes exploring alternate dimensions where Oliver North had been elected President of the United States. The episodes were: Summer of Love (S1E04), and Exodus parts 1 and 2 (S3E17, S3E18).<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North#cite_note-26">[27]</a>

North's role in the Contra scandal was echoed in the story of "Colonel Oliver Southern," in the 2005 film about Soviet arms dealer Yuri Orlov entitled <a title="Lord of War" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_War">Lord of War</a>....

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_North</a>

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Freedom Alliance

Founded by Oliver North, the Freedom Alliance passes as a right-wing think-tank and citizens group, but mostly it's the direct-mail fundraising machine that grew out of Ollie North's legal defense mailings in the Iran-contra affair. Its newsletter, The Free American, promotes North's political ambitions and attacks gays and other unholy types. In one issue, Freedom Alliance president and former Senator Steve Symms attacked the Supreme Court for overturning Colorado's anti-gay Amendment 2 ballot measure: "Now, because of their perverted lifestyle, a minority of citizens is granted special treatment in soliciting state contracts. Does this make sense?" Funded by: Unknown.