It was one of America's most notorious presidential scandals

that almost cost Ronald Reagan his presidency.

The Iran-Contra Affair.

In the early 1980s, the US was still in a Cold War

with Russia, and anti-communist sentiment was strong.

In his presidential campaign, Reagan

promised to assist anti-communist insurgencies

around the world.

For a brief time under Reagan, the CIA

trained and assisted groups fighting

communist leaders abroad.

Reagan was particularly interested in a group

called the Contras and their battle in Nicaragua.

The Contras were a group battling

the Cuban back Sandinistas, a communist group

who had seized power in 1979.

Reagan called the Contras the moral equivalent

of our founding fathers.

But much of the funding came from the cocaine trade.

Because of this, Congress passed the Boland Amendment,

specifically aimed at keeping American money

from funding the group.

That happened in 1982, shortly after Reagan took office.

The amendment restricted the CIA and the Department of Defense

from using funds to provide military assistance to groups

that were trying to overthrow Nicaragua's government, groups

like the Contras.

This didn't stop Reagan.

The president told his national security advisor,

Robert McFarlane, to help the Contras

anyway, regardless of the cost.

McFarlane found opportunity in Iran.

In 1985, an Iranian backed terrorist group held seven

American hostages in Lebanon.

Reagan insisted his advisors find a way

to bring the hostages home, saying, "I want you to do

whatever you have to do to help these people

keep body and soul together."

So with permission from Reagan, McFarlane made a deal that.

The US would give Iran weapons, and Iran would broker

the release of the hostages.

This happened even though Reagan publicly insisted he would not

negotiate with terrorists, and despite the fact

that there was a trade embargo with Iran.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The deal with Iran didn't just secretly

secure the release of the hostages

in exchange for weapons.

There money involved.

While $30 million have been allocated for the weapons,

the CIA funneled a portion of that money to the Contras

in Nicaragua, the group Reagan supported

in their guerrilla fight against the Sandinista government.

In 1986, the Lebanese newspaper, Al-Shiraa, reported the arms

deal, and everything began to unravel that prompted

an investigation by the US attorney general, who

discovered that only $12 million of the $30 million actually

went toward weapons for Iran.

The rest of the money was sent to the Contras in Nicaragua.

The revelations were explosive.

Reagan denied the allegations that he

had negotiated with terrorists.

But Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North

came forward, and acknowledged that he

diverted funds to the Contras.

North also said Reagan knew about it.

North's testimony would inspire the press and Congress

to launch investigations against Reagan

for the rest of his presidency.

Texas Senator John Tower led the investigation into the scandal.

The Tower Commission determined it was Reagan's lack

of oversight that allowed Iran-Contra to happen,

but did not implicate Reagan directly.

It wasn't until another congressional investigation

in 1987 that Reagan finally testified.

On May 5, 1987, joint hearings were televised investigating

the covert arms deal with Iran, and the assistance

to Nicaragua.

The hearings would go on for 41 days.

Reagan was never charged, but McFarlane, Oliver North,

four CIA officers, five government contractors,

and Reagan's National security advisor, John Poindexter,

were all found guilty.

Yet speculation about Reagan's involvement lingered on.

Press investigations would go on for years to follow.

While Reagan's image suffered a bit,

he still left office with one of the highest

approval ratings of any presidents in US history.