Clearly, the White House has been rattled by the Rove/Plame scandal, but let’s also take a moment to note how unconcerned they are by the seriousness of the last important presidential scandal: Iran-Contra.
In 1987, Robert L. Earl told a grand jury that he had destroyed and stolen national security documents while working for Lt. Col. Oliver L. North during the Iran-Contra scandal.
Now, he sits in one of the most coveted offices in the Pentagon as chief of staff to Gordon R. England, acting deputy secretary of Defense. Earl has clearance to review the kinds of classified documents he once destroyed.
Independent counsel Lawrence Walsh once told Congress, “Earl attempted to conceal evidence regarding the arms sales to Iran and the diversion of profits…. He destroyed [National Security Council] documents, assisted [Oliver] North in the destruction of documents … and made false statements to the FBI.” And now he’s poised to get Paul Wolfowitz’s old job.
It’s really amazing when you think about it. Common Cause’s Mary Boyle noted that some of Clinton’s nominees got into trouble for hiring illegal immigrants for domestic work, but Bush is hiring people who helped orchestrate a massive, illegal international conspiracy, and it hardly raises an eyebrow.
Indeed, we see a whole team of Reagan-era officials who were integral players in a major White House scandal, but who have been welcomed with open arms by the Bush White House, regardless of culpability and/or criminal background.
* Elliott Abrams, who pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress about the illegal funding of the Nicaraguan Contras during the Reagan administration, serves on Bush’s National Security Council as head of the Mideast bureau.
* Retired Adm. John M. Poindexter was directly involved with diverting money from Iranian arms sales to Nicaragua, and admitted to shredding and destroying records. Poindexter was tried and convicted of five felonies, including obstructing official inquiries and lying to Congress. Bush hired him to head the Pentagon’s Information Awareness Office.
* Laurence Silberman had first-hand knowledge of Oliver North’s activities, but when North’s case went to federal court, Silberman didn’t recuse himself, despite a conflict of interest. Walsh later said Silberman was so biased during the oral arguments of North’s appeal that he nearly prevented an appellate counsel “from presenting a coherent argument.” Bush hired Silberman to direct an “independent” commission to investigate the nation’s intelligence failures in 2001 and 2002.
* Otto Reich ran a State Department office during the Iran/contra affair that “engaged in prohibited covert propaganda,” according to a government inquiry. Bush hired him to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America.
* John Negroponte was Ambassador to Honduras and facilitated a clandestine quid pro quo deal, under which the Reagan Administration sent aid to Honduras in return for Honduran assistance to the contras, at a time when Congress had banned the Administration from assisting the contras. Negroponte’s embassy also suppressed information about human rights abuses committed by the Honduran military. Bush hired Negroponte to be Ambassador to the UN, Ambassador to Iraq, and the first ever National Intelligence Director.
As David Corn explained so well a couple of years ago, “The Bush Administration is turning into one big rehab center for the Iran/contra schemers of the Reagan/Bush White House.”