Remembering Republican Crime Coverups - The Iran-Contra Pardons

We were reminded by commenter K (in comments to Sunday's post about the possible end stage of the regime of malignant nitwit Donald "Rump" Trump) of another instance when a Republican president covered up crimes and short- circuited the legal process: former President George H.W. Bush's 1992 pardons of Iran- Contra scandal figures.

Very briefly, the Iran- Contra scandal involved Reagan Administration officials who were secretly facilitating the sale of arms to Iran (which was under a U.S. arms embargo) in order to fund the right- wing Contras militia in Nicaragua (which was prohibited by the Boland Amendment). A number of high- ranking Reagan Administration officials ended up being indicted, the most prominent of whom was Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger.  But, then this happened after Bush was defeated for re- election and before he scurried out of the White House:

On December 24, 1992, President George H.W. Bush granted pardons to six defendants in the Iran-Contra Affairs. The defendants were Elliott Abrams, a former assistant secretary of state for Central America; former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane; former CIA officials Duane Clarridge, Alan Fiers, and Clair George; and former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. 

Prior to these pardons, Abrams had pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges leading to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service; McFarlane pleaded guilty to one felony charge and received two years of probation; Fiers pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and was given one year of probation and 100 hours community service; and George had been found guilty of two felony charges but had not yet been sentenced. 

However, Bush issued the pardons of Clarridge and Weinberger preemptively, a move reminiscent of President Gerald Ford’s pardon of his predecessor, Richard Nixon, following the Watergate scandal. According to the Independent Counsel, the pardon of an official as high-ranking as Weinberger, whose trial was scheduled to begin on January 5, 1993, raised questions as to what Bush might have hoped to conceal. Walsh had intended to call Bush as a witness in the trial, although Weinberger denied that any of his notes from meetings dealing with Iran-Contra contradicted past statements by Bush and former President Ronald Reagan. (our emphasis)

To think that Bush was not intimately involved in the scandal and cover- up is to beggar the imagination.  He was, after all, the foreign policy and intelligence pro who had served as Ambassador to the United Nations and as Director of the C.I.A. in a previous Republican administration.

In his defense of the pardons, Bush criticized the length of the investigation and its purported partisanship. In rebuttal, the person who brought the charges up on the Reagan officials, Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh, stated in part:

President Bush's pardon of Caspar Weinberger and other Iran-Contra defendants undermines the principle that no man is above the law. It demonstrates that powerful people with powerful allies can commit serious crimes in high office--deliberately abusing the public trust--without consequence. [snip]

... Weinberger's notes contain evidence of a conspiracy among the highest-ranking Reagan Administration officials to lie to Congress and the American public. Because the notes were withheld from investigators for years, many of the leads were impossible to follow, key witnesses had purportedly forgotten what was said and done, and statutes of limitation had expired. 

Weinberger's concealment of notes is part of a disturbing pattern of deception and obstruction that permeated the highest levels of the Reagan and Bush administrations. This office was informed only within the past two weeks, on December 11, 1992, that President Bush had failed to produce to investigators his own highly relevant contemporaneous notes, despite repeated requests for such documents. The production of these notes is still ongoing and will lead to appropriate action. 

In light of President Bush's own misconduct, we are gravely concerned about his decision to pardon others who lied to Congress and obstructed official investigations. (our emphasis)

So, it's helpful to note that this on- going Republican pattern of undermining the law to cover- up their crimes has been foreshadowed not only by the likes of Richard Nixon, but also by the more "benign" figure of George H.W. Bush. Now, we have Rump already exercising his pardon authority, signaling his crime family that they "can commit serious crimes in high office--deliberately abusing the public trust--without consequence," ultimately in an attempt to shield himself from the Special Counsel's probe.  But, as some have pointed out, law enforcement may have other options this time around.

BONUS:  Green Eagle remembers two other Republican presidential candidates prior to Rump who conspired with foreign governments to influence our elections (found via Crooks & Liars).