Many of us remember the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, and it’s aftermath.  It was ugly, so ugly that I eventually split with a number of my conservative friends over the issue of Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North’s lying to Congress.  True, it was a Congress controlled by Democrats, all working toward the goal of diminishing the Reagan presidency, but I drew the line at lying to Congress.  The system cannot work if a President’s minions are allowed to lie in sworn testimony before Congress, as is being amply re-demonstrated during the Obama presidency.

In fact, from my perspective, the best thing to come out of the whole affair was Fawn Hall’s Playboy magazine centerfold some months later.  Say what you will about Ollie North, but he sure could pick a secretary.

In relation to the Iran-Contra investigation, the largest thorn in President Reagan’s side, and in the side of many within his administration, was the Iran-Contra special prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh, a Democrat.  Walsh’s zeal in the pursuit of illegal activity was exceeded only by his eagerness to besmear President Reagan and his close underlings, and as usual, he had the unflagging cooperation of the print media, particularly the Washington Post and the New York Times.

Lawrence’s name is in the news again because he passed away recently.  Paul Kengor has up a well written piece in The American Spectator about how Walsh was perceived by one of his contemporaries, William P. Clark.  Bill Clark was a long-time friend of Ronald Reagan from his California days, and served pro-bono on the defense team of many accused in the Iran-Contra affair and it’s coverup.  Here is a short excerpt from Kengor’s article:

As Weinberger’s pro bono legal counsel, Clark went to Oklahoma to meet with Walsh.  Speaking as a former judge to judge, Clark tried to persuade the independent counsel that his actions were unjust—or, as Weinberger later put it, “absurd and terribly damaging.”

Clark was shocked by Walsh’s response.  He concluded that Walsh was interested in only one thing: some kind of admission of guilt by Weinberger, or as Weinberger put it: “preferably something—anything—that implicated President Reagan or even Vice President Bush.  If I would give that, the independent counsel’s office could then arrange for no indictment and a light sentence.”

Weinberger and Clark concluded that Walsh’s team wanted Weinberger to be “cooperative” as Walsh and his lawyers pursued Ronald Reagan.

For the full article, click HERE.