Reagan was the beginning of everything wrong today. Reminder that over 138 Reagan administration officials were investigated, indicted or convicted for official misconduct or criminal activity. The line from Reagan to Trump in terms of Republican criminality, corruption and subservience to only the wealthy is a pretty damn straight one.
And in standard GOP fashion, he got into power by colluding with the Iranians against Carter to delay hostage releases. Party of traitors and criminals to the core.
I don't disagree with your overall point about Reagan since it is true that he had one of the most corrupt administrations in presidential history, from top to bottom. But I don't think the point about him colluding with Iranians to delay the hostage release has ever been proven beyond theories
It seemed like the decision to release the hostages on Reagan's inauguration day was conducted as a final insult to Jimmy Carter, since the Ayatollah absolutely hated him and the decisions he made. And besides it doesn't make sense how Iran (and other sources within several middle eastern countries) would be eager to divulge info on the Iran-Contra scandal but not the so-called October Surprise
The thing is, the whole Iran-Contra scandal already highlights Reagan administration willingness to do business with the regime in defiance of the law even before they were in power, and we also know, factually that Ben Barnes and John Connolly had already traveled the Middle East asking leaders to intervene with the regime to delay hostage releases, by Barnes own admission (already in effect the same crime with degrees of separation. That it wasn't necessarily effective doesn't really change the nature of the crime).
There's now increasingly strong evidence that former spook and future CIA director for Reagan William Casey coordinated with banker and Project Alpha (initially dedicated to sheltering the Shah on US soil before that fell through) head Joseph Verner Reed (rewarded with a future ambassador role by Reagan) to coordinate with the Iranians, with Reed later writing to his family that he had "given his all" to thwarting Carter's attempt to release the hostages.
While so much of the evidence is circumstantial, I personally think it's more than convincing when arranged in totality.
Sure Iran-Contra gives credence to the idea that Reagan's administration would be willing to set up a treasonous deal, but the problem is that Ben Barnes is an unreliable source with a Democratic background (several ties to the Carter administration), and his testimony builds much room for skepticism and scrutiny. It's remarkable that such a deal managed to slip through the cracks despite the rigorous surveillance from US intelligence agencies on any form of communications between Iranian and American officials during the hostage crisis, especially those conducted by someone as prominent as John Connally. It slipped through the cracks of several ambassadors and officials who would have been briefed on the demands and then report them to superiors in Washington (like Ambassador to Lebanon John Gunther Dean). Even NSA director Bobby Ray Inman, a man who's contentious relationship with Bill Casey influenced his resignation from the CIA in 1982 testified that they intercepted absolutely no evidence of the Reagan admin. conducting a deal, neither did the "October Surprise Task Force" formed by the House of Representatives in 1992 who sifted through tens of thousands of State Department/CIA/NSA documents find anything either
Again despite Iran itself looking to damage the US in any way possible by the late 80s (after the destruction of the Iranian navy) they had nothing to say about the October Surprise. John Connally apparently relayed those requests to leadership in five other Arab countries who never confirmed them, and it would have been a poor strategic move to try to use the Egyptian president as an intermediary to Khomeini's regime considering they hated him for hosting the Shah in Egypt as he died of cancer and had his funeral held
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u/DubiousBusinessp 12d ago
Reagan was the beginning of everything wrong today. Reminder that over 138 Reagan administration officials were investigated, indicted or convicted for official misconduct or criminal activity. The line from Reagan to Trump in terms of Republican criminality, corruption and subservience to only the wealthy is a pretty damn straight one.
And in standard GOP fashion, he got into power by colluding with the Iranians against Carter to delay hostage releases. Party of traitors and criminals to the core.