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Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up
In this historic, first-person account, the independent counsel in the Iran-Contra investigation exposes the extraordinary duplicity of the highest officials of Ronald Reagan's administration and the paralyzing effects of the cover-up that Judge Lawrence Walsh and his associates unraveled.
Iran-Contra was far more than a rogue operation conceived and executed by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North with the backing of National Security Advisor John Poindexter , as the Reagan administration claimed. It was instead a conspiracy that drew in the chief actors of that administration: President Reagan, Vice President George Bush, Director of Central Intelligence William Casey, Secretary of State George Schultz, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, and Attorney General Edwin Meese, among others. With the president's support, the United States attempted to trade arms for hostages held by Iranian terrorists, then retained part of the proceeds from these undercover sales in Swiss bank accounts, where the secret money funded the guerrilla activities of the Nicaraguan Contras, a counter-revolutionary group that Congress had specifically forbidden the administration to support.
An experienced and steely prosecutor, Judge Walsh built a powerful team of young lawyers to pursue the truth of the Iran-Contra affair through painstaking interrogations and reviews of hundreds of thousands of documents. His team confronted daunting barriers: some of the key players were given grants of immunity by Congress's own (and sometimes hindering) investigation, government agencies twisted claims of national security in order to hide the true nature of their activities, administration officials told outright lies in sworn testimony, and Republican leaders attempted to drown the investigation in a massive flow of often irrelevant material.
In Firewall, Judge Walsh discloses the strategy that led to the felony convictions of North and Poindexter, and the blow to their investigation when these convictions were overturned on appeal. Persevering, judge Walsh and his associates successfully prosecuted six more officials, including former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane and Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, and obtained an indictment of Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, all of whom were eventually pardoned by President Bush in the waning days of his presidency.
Firewall draws on testimony and evidence that place ultimate responsibility for the Iran-Contra scandal and its cover-up where it belongs--at the top of two administrations. It leaves no lingering doubts that the "honorable men" who pretended to be out of the loop were actually caught in a web of deception for which they only had themselves to blame. In its chilling and unsparing revelations, Firewall is certain to become the definitive account of the most dangerous breach of presidential authority since Watergate.
Iran-Contra was far more than a rogue operation conceived and executed by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North with the backing of National Security Advisor John Poindexter , as the Reagan administration claimed. It was instead a conspiracy that drew in the chief actors of that administration: President Reagan, Vice President George Bush, Director of Central Intelligence William Casey, Secretary of State George Schultz, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, and Attorney General Edwin Meese, among others. With the president's support, the United States attempted to trade arms for hostages held by Iranian terrorists, then retained part of the proceeds from these undercover sales in Swiss bank accounts, where the secret money funded the guerrilla activities of the Nicaraguan Contras, a counter-revolutionary group that Congress had specifically forbidden the administration to support.
An experienced and steely prosecutor, Judge Walsh built a powerful team of young lawyers to pursue the truth of the Iran-Contra affair through painstaking interrogations and reviews of hundreds of thousands of documents. His team confronted daunting barriers: some of the key players were given grants of immunity by Congress's own (and sometimes hindering) investigation, government agencies twisted claims of national security in order to hide the true nature of their activities, administration officials told outright lies in sworn testimony, and Republican leaders attempted to drown the investigation in a massive flow of often irrelevant material.
In Firewall, Judge Walsh discloses the strategy that led to the felony convictions of North and Poindexter, and the blow to their investigation when these convictions were overturned on appeal. Persevering, judge Walsh and his associates successfully prosecuted six more officials, including former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane and Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, and obtained an indictment of Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, all of whom were eventually pardoned by President Bush in the waning days of his presidency.
Firewall draws on testimony and evidence that place ultimate responsibility for the Iran-Contra scandal and its cover-up where it belongs--at the top of two administrations. It leaves no lingering doubts that the "honorable men" who pretended to be out of the loop were actually caught in a web of deception for which they only had themselves to blame. In its chilling and unsparing revelations, Firewall is certain to become the definitive account of the most dangerous breach of presidential authority since Watergate.
544 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 22, 2016
Bold in its exhaustiveness, though perhaps the pace suffers for it. I am impressed by the law (good law, I mean) for its fetishization of rigor and Walsh proudly struts this trait here, eager for a forum where he can be applauded for it, instead of criticized by impatient media and Congress.
I picked up the book because I suspected that the topic was more important and more complex than the forty-five minutes we spent on it in 12th grade American History, and boy was I right. If you've got two months to spend completing the education you should have already received, this is precisely the right book.
I picked up the book because I suspected that the topic was more important and more complex than the forty-five minutes we spent on it in 12th grade American History, and boy was I right. If you've got two months to spend completing the education you should have already received, this is precisely the right book.
January 9, 2020
I read this book after being told that the Ukraine affair that currently plagues the nation is more like a Iran-Contra than it is like Watergate or the Clinton impeachment. Reading this help me understand that this comparison is absolutely true.
It’s uncanny to hear the same arguments - sometimes by the same people - in this book about an old scandal as what we hear daily from the House and Senate. Overall, given the similarity between that historical moment and this one, this shows me that the United States and our people have come through horrible times like these before, and that we can do so again.
It’s uncanny to hear the same arguments - sometimes by the same people - in this book about an old scandal as what we hear daily from the House and Senate. Overall, given the similarity between that historical moment and this one, this shows me that the United States and our people have come through horrible times like these before, and that we can do so again.
April 12, 2023
Walsh was the independent counsel who prosecuted the Iran-Contra conspiracy. The events of the conspiracy itself are disposed of in the first chapter, and the remainder of this thick (500+ page) volume consists of of an intensely detailed account of the investigation, and the ways in which many in government (notable George Bush and Bob Dole) tried to interfere with the investigation in order to prevent Reagan for being held to any accountability.
Consisting primarily of discussions of legal strategies, this is not at all a casual read, but a vital document for anyone researching Republican interference with the rule of law.
Consisting primarily of discussions of legal strategies, this is not at all a casual read, but a vital document for anyone researching Republican interference with the rule of law.
December 25, 2012
Incredibly detailed story of the experiences of the Independent Council, Lawrence E. Walsh, and his team in unraveling the details in the Iran-Contra conspiracy. These cases took a long time, because the deck was really stacked against Walsh. It is not a light read, being 544 pages on the Iran-Contra investigation, but this well-organized book really explained the scandal, the coverup, and the court cases.
August 2, 2026
I started wondering about Iran Contra when I started hearing that Epstein was involved in the conspiracy. He does not pop up in this book, but you get a full account of Walsh's journey to hold political officials responsible. The actions of the mid 80s are a small part of the book, the majority of the book is Walsh's pursuit of those responsible and who lied to protect Reagan. For me, the book was simultaneously fascinating and boring. You have to go through a lot of repetitive legal stuff. I was just born when Israel shipped those weapons to Iran, but it was fascinating to see a lot of familiar characters that come up again in the 2000s. Bob Dole is a real turd and a particular foreign country has been a problem for a long time. Colin Powell even makes an appearance! My first political memory is my dad taking me to a Bush rally in 92. I don't remember Iran-Contra being a part of that campaign, so it was interesting for the gaps to be filled in my memory. Much of Walsh's battle is with the federal bureaucracy (some refer to it as the deep state) which seems incredibly relevant to the current events of today.
June 8, 2017
Repetitive and lifeless.
March 23, 2019
Good lord this book is boring. Honestly, if you’re interested in Iran-Contra just read the Wikipedia page.
October 28, 2014
A fascinating account but definitely one for the cognoscenti, if not perhaps only for those with legal minds. This is an exhaustive and exhausting narrative, going into the sort of detail needed to assess the legal niceties. But it does give a strong impression of the sheer weight of evidence about the Iran-Contra conspiracy, and the complicity of everyone from Reagan and Bush downwards.
Strangely, given subsequent events, there is no mention of drugs. I've just moved on to Gary Webb's 'Dark Alliance', on which the film 'Kill the Messenger' is partly based. This shows there was a whole other side to the Contra scandal that Lawrence walsh never touched. It also shows that - contrary to the impression he sometimes gives - the Contras were not 'freedom fighters' so much as freedom destroyers, blowing up schools, torturing captives and generally attempting to create hell on earth in the parts of Nicaragua in which they marauded during the 1980s.
Strangely, given subsequent events, there is no mention of drugs. I've just moved on to Gary Webb's 'Dark Alliance', on which the film 'Kill the Messenger' is partly based. This shows there was a whole other side to the Contra scandal that Lawrence walsh never touched. It also shows that - contrary to the impression he sometimes gives - the Contras were not 'freedom fighters' so much as freedom destroyers, blowing up schools, torturing captives and generally attempting to create hell on earth in the parts of Nicaragua in which they marauded during the 1980s.
June 17, 2009
gets three stars for going into incredible detail on an interesting topic. which it well should considering author was Special Counsel in investigation of Iran Contra. But man... get a ghost-writer. Reads like a 500 page legal brief.
March 11, 2009
so much information i could not even decide whether Reagan himself should have been impeached....
August 1, 2016
Very good first hand-account of the special committee's investigation of the Iran-Contra scandal
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews