The Weinberger Pardon: A Blow to American Justice
| Date | 01 March 1998 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb025856 |
| Pages | 7-14 |
| Published date | 01 March 1998 |
| Author | Craig A. Gillen |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Journal of Financial Crime — Vol. 6 No. 1 — Analysis
ANALYSIS
The Weinberger Pardon: A Blow to American
Justice
Craig A. Gillen
This article addresses the propriety of President
George Bush's, 24th December, 1992 pre-trial
pardon of former Secretary of Defense, Caspar
Weinberger, an Iran/Contra defendant.
The Christmas Eve pardon effectively termi-
nated the investigation and prosecution of federal
crimes committed during the Iran/Contra Affair.
The Iran/Contra Affair concerned two highly
secret policies of the Administration of President
Ronald Reagan. The first policy concerned the
funding of insurgent activity (Contras) against the
Communist regime in Nicaragua from 1984
through 1986, which involved US secret govern-
ment support of Contra military and para-military
activities despite a prohibition of this support by
the United States Congress.
The second policy concerned the sale of US
weapons to Iran in 1985 and 1986 despite an
embargo on such sales and US public policy
towards its allies to prohibit such sales. Iranian
arms sales were linked to US efforts to obtain the
release of Americans . held hostage and then
released. Both of these secret policies were coordi-
nated by the National Security Counsel
Staff,
located in the White House complex, principally
through the efforts of Lt Col Oliver North.
Funds from the Iranian arms sales were ultima-
tely diverted to support the secret effort to deploy
prohibited military supplies to the Contras. When
these secret operations were publicly revealed in
November 1986, the linkage of the Iranian arms
sales to the prohibited Contra support became
known as 'The Iran/Contra Affair'.
As a result of the public exposure of these
operations, Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed as
Independent Counsel on 19th October, 1986.
Ultimately, 14 persons were charged with criminal
violations. All of the individuals who were tried
before
a
jury were convicted on some or all of the
charged offences.
On Christmas Eve, 1992, following his defeat
for re-election in November 1992, President Bush
issued an unprecedented pre-trial pardon to
former Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger.
Weinberger was scheduled to be tried on 5th Jan-
uary, 1993, on charges of perjury and false state-
ments. This article addresses the propriety of that
pardon. It concludes that although the pre-trial
pardon was legally within the broad stroke of con-
stitutionally mandated Presidential pardon power,
it violated public policy regarding the public's
interest in full disclosure of underlying facts of the
charged offences and diminished public perception
of the equal administration of justice.
CONTRA RE-SUPPLY
In 1979, in the throngs of the cold war, a pro-
communist Sandinista regime seized power in
Nicaragua. The opponents of the Sandinistra
regime became known as 'the Contras'. Ultima-
tely, a rift developed between President Ronald
Reagan's position of strong support for the Con-
tras and the glowingly negative view of the Con-
tras held by a majority of the
Democratic-controlled United States House of
Representatives. This Congessional disapproval of
Contra activity resulted in the passage of
a
series of
restrictions on US assistance to the Contras which
became known as the 'Boland Amendments'.1
By May 1984, the National Security Advisor,
Robert McFarlane, had convinced Saudi Arabia to
contribute $1m per month to the Contra cause
(without Congressional knowledge). Later, McFar-
lane would testify that President Reagan had
instructed him that the National Security Council
(NSC) staff had to keep the Contras alive 'body
and soul'. McFarlane, in turn, so instructed NSC
staffer, Lt Col Oliver North. The NSC, through
the efforts of Col North, began secretly coordinat-
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