Oliver North, the central figure in the Iran-Contra affair, asserted Tuesday that the White House used him as a scapegoat to protect President Ronald Reagan as the scandal unfolded in 1986.
In an interview promoting his new book on the affair, North said there had been "a concerted effort on the part of the administration to literally destroy me.""They disparaged my reputation in every way that they possibly could," he said on the ABC News program "Nightline."
North's remarks were his most bitter to date in public. In excerpts published Monday of his forthcoming book, North, saying he sometimes felt betrayed, complained that Reagan "sure as hell wasn't supportive" when North faced Iran-Contra-related criminal charges.
As a National Security Council staff member, North operated a covert arms pipeline to Nicaragua's Contra rebels with funds diverted from secret arms sales to Iran at a time U.S. aid to the rebels was banned by Congress.
The scandal was disclosed by then-Attorney General Edwin Meese on Nov. 25, 1986 - the same day North, then a Marine lieutenant colonel, was fired from the White House National Security Council staff for his role in it.
In the memoir being released this week, called "Under Fire: An American Story," North said he was now convinced that Reagan "knew everything" about Iran-Contra, contrary to the ex-president's account. But he cited only circumstantial evidence in the television interview and in the excerpts, which appeared in Time magazine.
A lawyer for Reagan, Theodore Olson, said the book cited no new factual evidence to support North's conclusion.