President Reagan authorized both the arms sales and military aid that became the focus of the Iran-Contra scandal and "knowingly participated or at least acquiesced" in a coverup by his top aides, the prosecutor concluded in his final report released Tuesday.
Independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh said in the 566-page report, which concluded his seven-year investigation, that there was "no credible evidence that President Reagan violated any criminal statute.""Nevertheless, he set the stage for the illegal activities of others by encouraging and in general terms ordering" military aid to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua at a time when Congress banned such aid, the report said.
Reagan also authorized the sale of arms to Iran in an attempt to win the release of American hostages despite warnings that such transactions might be illegal, the report said.
And when the operation became public in 1986, Reagan "knowingly participated or at least acquiesced in the efforts" of his top aides to cover up the arms sales to Iran, the report said.
The report concluded that Attorney General Edwin Meese's November 1986 investigation, launched after the scandal became public, was "more of a damage-control exercise than an effort to find the facts."
The report was expected to draw an aggressive response from those named in it. Theodore Olson, head of Reagan's legal team, has maintained that Reagan's conduct in the scandal "was above reproach."
Meese called Walsh's conclusions "outrageous," and said he plans to "confront Walsh's false statements head-on."
Walsh's report, completed last August, had been sealed in the files of a federal appeals court to allow those named in it time to respond. Among its other conclusions:
- Large numbers of "highly relevant" documents "were systematically and willfully withheld from investigators by several Reagan administration officials."
- There was no evidence that Vice President George Bush violated any laws, but Walsh concluded that "contrary to his public pronouncements" Bush "was fully aware of the Iran arms sale." Bush's lawyers maintain their client never misled the public about his role in the affair.
- Bush failed to produce a diary of his notes he took during the Iran-Contra affair despite repeated attempts for such documents.
- Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of State George Shultz and White House chief of staff Donald T. Regan withheld information from Congress that would have helped lawmakers get "a much clearer view of the scope of the Iran-Contra matter."
- Notes that Regan and Weinberger took, plus those dictated by Shultz, were withheld from investigators until late in the investigation.