On The U.S. Intelligence Community'sDrug-Dealing Treason. North complains the government spent tens of millions of dollars to investigate him on various Iran-contra charges and came up empty handed.
North is half right.
Tens of millions were spent on at least a half-dozen congressional and Justice Department investigations into various illegal contra activities. But the unfortunate fact is that a motherlode of evidence was discovered and then dutifully covered up by Reagan Administration officials, sympathetic pro-contra members of congress, and CIA infiltrators. The techniques of cover-up are old and familiar. As multiple hearings and investigations gear up to answer charges raised most recently by the San Jose Mercury News , it may be useful to examine how public officials and covert operators collaborate to suppress such serious information. Exactly a decade ago, after months of revelations about secret arms deals with the Iranians to support the contras, congressional leaders announced an investigation into North's National Security Council network by the newly formed Iran-Contra Select Committee.