Ex-national security adviser pleaded guilty in Iran-Contra
WASHINGTON — Former White House national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane, a top aide to President Ronald Reagan who pleaded guilty to charges for his role in an illegal arms-for-hostages deal known as the Iran-Contra affair, has died. He was 84.
McFarlane, who lived in Washington, died Thursday from complications of a previous illness at a hospital in Michigan, where he was visiting family, according to a family statement.
“As his family we wish to share our deep sadness at the loss of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, and note his profound impact on our lives,” the family said in the statement.
McFarlane, a former Marine lieutenant colonel and Vietnam combat veteran, resigned his White House post in December 1985. He was later pressed into service by the administration as part of secret — and illegal — plan to sell arms to Iran in exchange for the freedom of Western hostages in the Middle East and pass along proceeds to the contra rebels in Nicaragua for their fight against the Marxist Sandinista government.
He played a major role in the affair, leading the secret delegation to Tehran, then as now a U.S. adversary, to open contact with socalled moderate Iranians who were thought to hold influence with kidnappers of American hostages. The scheme began to unfold after a cargo plane carrying a CIA-arranged shipment of arms was shot down in October 1986 by the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.
McFarlane was rushed to a Washingtonarea hospital in February 1987 after taking an overdose of Valium the day before he was scheduled to testify before a presidential commission investigating the Iran-Contra scheme.
He pleaded guilty in March 1988 to four misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress. His lawyer said he was unfairly singled out because he, unlike other key figures, testified willingly before investigative panels. He also admitted his role.
He was pardoned by President George H.W. Bush, along with five other scandal figures.