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@ -3,63 +3,301 @@ title: Lawrence Walsh
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aliases:
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- Lawrence Walsh
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- Lawrence E. Walsh
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- Lawrence Edward Walsh
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- Walsh, Lawrence E.
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- Judge Walsh
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created: 2026-05-17
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updated: 2026-05-17
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updated: 2026-10-09
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category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
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tags:
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- Person
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- IranContra
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- Law
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- IndependentCounsel
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- BushPardons
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- ParisPeaceTalks
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- Law
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- 1980s
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- 1990s
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summary: "Lawrence E. Walsh (1912-2014) served as Iran-Contra Independent Counsel from December 1986 to August 1993, producing 14 criminal cases, 11 convictions, and a final report documenting Reagan administration Iran arms sales and Contra funding, before President Bush pardoned six defendants three weeks before Walsh's release of key findings."
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summary: "Lawrence E. Walsh (1912-2014) was Iran-Contra Independent Counsel from December 1986, charging fourteen persons, obtaining eleven convictions, and releasing a final report in January 1994 after Bush pardoned six defendants on December 24, 1992."
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born: 1912-01-08
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died: 2014-03-19
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location: "Fort Sill, Oklahoma"
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location: "Oklahoma City, Oklahoma"
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relations:
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Oliver North]]"
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start: 1988-03-16
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end: 1991-09-16
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role: "Independent Counsel; convictions vacated 1990, indictment dismissed 1991"
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fn: 11
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[John Poindexter]]"
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start: 1988-03-16
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end: 1993
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role: "Independent Counsel; convictions reversed 1991, indictment dismissed 1993"
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fn: 11
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Richard Secord]]"
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start: 1988-03-16
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end: 1990-01-24
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role: "Independent Counsel; guilty plea 1989, sentenced 1990"
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fn: 15
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Albert Hakim]]"
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start: 1989-11-21
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end: 1990-02-01
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role: "Independent Counsel; guilty plea 1989, sentenced 1990"
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fn: 16
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Tom Clines]]"
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start: 1990-02-22
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end: 1992-02-27
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role: "Independent Counsel; convicted on tax counts 1990, affirmed 1992"
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fn: 17
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Joseph Fernandez]]"
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start: 1988-06-20
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end: 1989-11-24
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role: "Independent Counsel; dismissed after classified information was withheld"
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fn: 18
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Clair George]]"
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start: 1991-09-06
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end: 1992-12-24
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role: "Independent Counsel; convicted December 1992, pardoned before sentencing"
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fn: 19
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Dewey Clarridge]]"
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start: 1991-11-26
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end: 1992-12-24
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role: "Independent Counsel; indicted 1991, pardoned before trial"
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fn: 21
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Alan Fiers]]"
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start: 1991-07-09
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end: 1992-12-24
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role: "Independent Counsel; guilty plea 1991, pardoned 1992"
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fn: 22
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Caspar Weinberger]]"
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start: 1992-06-16
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end: 1992-12-24
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role: "Independent Counsel; indicted 1992, pardoned before trial"
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fn: 11
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Elliott Abrams]]"
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start: 1991-10-07
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end: 1992-12-24
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role: "Independent Counsel; guilty plea 1991, pardoned 1992"
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fn: 11
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- type: prosecuted
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with: "[[Robert McFarlane]]"
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start: 1988-03-11
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end: 1992-12-24
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role: "Independent Counsel; guilty plea 1988, pardoned 1992"
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fn: 11
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- type: investigated
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with: "[[George H.W. Bush]]"
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start: 1986-12-19
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end: 1992-12-24
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role: "Independent Counsel inquiry into knowledge of Iran arms sales; no charge brought, interview ended after the pardons"
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fn: 26
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- type: investigated
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with: "[[Ronald Reagan]]"
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start: 1986-12-19
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role: "Independent Counsel inquiry; no credible evidence of a criminal statute violated by Reagan"
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fn: 27
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[Office of Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters]]"
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start: 1986-12-19
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role: "Independent Counsel"
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fn: 9
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[Davis Polk & Wardwell]]"
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start: 1961
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end: 1982
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role: "senior partner"
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fn: 2
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- type: head_of
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with: "[[American Bar Association]]"
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start: 1975
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end: 1976
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role: "president"
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fn: 2
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- type: participant_in
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with: "[[Paris Peace Talks]]"
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start: 1969
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end: 1969-11-20
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role: "deputy head of the U.S. delegation, rank of ambassador"
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fn: 7
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[Thomas E. Dewey]]"
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start: 1943
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end: 1951
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role: "assistant counsel, then counsel, to Governor Dewey of New York"
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fn: 1
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor]]"
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start: 1953
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end: 1954
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role: "general counsel and executive director"
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fn: 1
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- type: appointed
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with: "[[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 1954-04-06
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end: 1957-12-29
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role: "U.S. district judge, Southern District of New York"
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fn: 1
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[United States Department of Justice]]"
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start: 1957
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end: 1960
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role: "Deputy Attorney General"
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fn: 2
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- type: director_of
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with: "[[Richardson-Merrell]]"
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role: "director"
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fn: 5
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- type: participant_in
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with: "[[Iran-Contra Affair]]"
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start: 1986-12-19
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end: 1994-01-18
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role: "Independent Counsel; Final Report released January 18, 1994"
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fn: 3
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---
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Lawrence Edward Walsh was born January 8, 1912, in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He died March 19, 2014, in [[Oklahoma City]]. He served as a federal prosecutor and judge in New York, as Deputy Attorney General under Eisenhower, as a deputy U.S. representative to the United Nations under Eisenhower and briefly under Kennedy, and as a senior partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York before his appointment as Iran-Contra Independent Counsel in December 1986. His investigation was the most extensive Independent Counsel inquiry in American history to that date.[^1]
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Lawrence Edward Walsh (January 8, 1912 to March 19, 2014) was a New York prosecutor, federal judge and Wall Street lawyer who served as [[Iran-Contra Affair]] Independent Counsel from December 1986. His final report was issued in 1993 and 1994 and released complete on January 18, 1994.[^1][^2][^3] He was born in [[Port Maitland, Nova Scotia]], grew up in [[Queens]], and died at his home in [[Oklahoma City]], where he had lived since leaving New York practice.[^4]
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### Appointment and Mandate
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### Early Career
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Walsh was appointed Independent Counsel for Iran-Contra on December 19, 1986, by a three-judge Special Division panel under the Ethics in Government Act, following the revelation of the arms-for-hostages scheme and Contra funding diversion in October-November 1986. His mandate covered potential crimes arising from the sale of weapons to Iran, the diversion of proceeds to the Nicaraguan Contras, and related obstruction of congressional investigations.[^1]
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Walsh worked as a merchant seaman during summers to pay for his undergraduate and law degrees at [[Columbia University]], receiving an A.B. in 1932 and an LL.B. in 1935.[^1][^2] From 1936 to 1938 he was special assistant attorney general on the Drukman investigation. From 1938 to 1941 he was deputy assistant district attorney in New York County, where he worked under District Attorney [[Thomas E. Dewey]].[^1][^2]
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Walsh was a Republican who had been considered for federal judicial appointment under Nixon. His selection for what became an adversarial investigation of a Republican administration created persistent accusations of partisanship from administration defenders, which Walsh consistently denied.[^1]
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Walsh followed Dewey to the governor's office as assistant counsel from 1943 to 1949 and as counsel from 1950 to 1951. He then served as counsel to the New York State Public Service Commission from 1951 to 1953 and as general counsel and executive director of the [[Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor]] from 1953 to 1954.[^1]
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### Indictments and Convictions
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Walsh was a lifelong Republican and an early supporter of [[Ronald Reagan]]. Judge George E. MacKinnon, one of the three judges of the Special Division who chose Walsh as Independent Counsel, said to National Public Radio in 1995: "The reason Republicans are against him is because he convicted Republicans."[^5]
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The Walsh investigation produced 14 criminal cases:
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### Judicial Service and Justice Department
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- [[Oliver North]] (NSC staff): indicted on 12 counts; convicted on 3 in May 1989 (making false statements, obstructing Congress, destroying documents). Conviction reversed in 1990 by the D.C. Circuit on immunized testimony grounds; charges dismissed in 1991.
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- [[John Poindexter]] (National Security Adviser): convicted on 5 counts in April 1990. Conviction reversed in 1991 on immunized testimony grounds.
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- [[Richard Secord]]: pleaded guilty November 1989 to one count of making false statements.
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- [[Albert Hakim]]: pleaded guilty November 1989 to one misdemeanor count.
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- [[Tom Clines]]: convicted September 1993 of four tax offenses.
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- Elliott Abrams (Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs): pleaded guilty October 1991 to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress. Pardoned December 1992.
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- Robert McFarlane (National Security Adviser): pleaded guilty February 1988 to four misdemeanor counts. Pardoned December 1992.
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- Duane "Dewey" Clarridge (CIA European Division chief): indicted November 1991 for perjury and false statements; pardoned before trial.
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- Clair George (CIA Deputy Director for Operations): convicted December 1992 of two counts of perjury; pardoned before sentencing.
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- Alan Fiers (CIA Central American Task Force chief): pleaded guilty July 1991 to two misdemeanor counts; pardoned December 1992.
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- [[Caspar Weinberger]] (Secretary of Defense): indicted June 1992 for perjury and obstruction; pardoned December 24, 1992.[^1]
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President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] nominated Walsh on April 6, 1954, to a new seat on the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]. The Senate confirmed him on April 27, and his commission was issued the following day. He resigned on December 29, 1957.[^1]
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The North and Poindexter convictions being overturned on immunized testimony grounds - because testimony they had given to Congress under grants of immunity may have influenced witnesses who testified against them at trial - was the most significant legal obstacle Walsh faced. It effectively prevented full judicial resolution of the central criminal events.[^1]
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From 1957 to 1960 he was Deputy Attorney General in the [[United States Department of Justice]]. The American Law Institute's memorial profile states that he was charged with overseeing the continued desegregation of public schools and that he was a principal draftsman of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which provided for the appointment of referees to help African Americans register to vote.[^2]
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### Private Practice and Paris
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Walsh joined [[Davis Polk & Wardwell]] in New York as a senior partner in 1961.[^2] The Federal Judicial Center directory lists his New York private practice as ending in 1981, while the American Law Institute memorial gives 1982 as the year he retired from the firm.[^1][^2]
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In 1969 Nixon appointed Walsh to the U.S. delegation to the [[Paris Peace Talks]] on Vietnam. He served as deputy head of the delegation, with the rank of ambassador.[^2][^6] The Federal Judicial Center directory lists the post as "Ambassador, U.S. delegation, Paris Peace Talks, 1969."[^1] On November 21, 1969, President [[Richard Nixon]] wrote to Walsh that "It is with special regret that I accept your resignation as Deputy Head of our Delegation to the Paris Meetings on Vietnam." The resignation letter is dated November 20, 1969.[^7]
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Walsh was president of the [[American Bar Association]] in 1975 and 1976 and of the [[New York State Bar Association]] in 1966 and 1967.[^2] From 1968 to 1972 he chaired the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which during that period found President Nixon's Supreme Court nominees [[Clement Haynsworth]] and [[G. Harrold Carswell]] to be qualified. The Senate rejected both nominees, and Walsh later expressed regret over the ABA endorsement of Carswell.[^6] The New York Times obituary of Walsh reported that he was criticized for endorsing the two nominees, in 1969 and 1970. Nina Totenberg wrote that Walsh concluded from the Carswell experience that the ABA had wrongly given its approval, and that he persuaded Nixon, for a short time, to let the ABA vet potential nominees before their names were announced.[^5][^8]
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As deputy attorney general under [[William P. Rogers]], Walsh oversaw the selection of federal judges, including the recommendation of Potter Stewart for the Supreme Court, and the desegregation of the Little Rock public schools. After the 1960 election he returned to Davis Polk, where he represented General Mills, AT&T and ITT, and he served as a director of [[Richardson-Merrell]], the manufacturer of the morning-sickness drug Bendectin; plaintiffs' lawyers criticized his tactics in the Bendectin litigation.[^5]
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After retiring from New York practice, Walsh moved to Oklahoma City, where he was of counsel to [[Crowe & Dunlevy]].[^2][^6]
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### Appointment
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On December 19, 1986, the Special Division of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit]] appointed Walsh Independent Counsel under the Independent Counsel statute. [[Edwin Meese III]] had requested the appointment on December 4, 1986, nine days after the White House disclosed the contra diversion on November 25. The Justice Department gave Walsh a parallel appointment on March 5, 1987.[^9][^10] The Special Division charged him with five areas: the sale of arms, materiel or funds to Iran and its intermediaries since about 1984; the financing of those sales; the diversion of proceeds to any person, organization, foreign government or insurgent faction, including in [[Nicaragua]]; and the provision or coordination of support for insurgents in armed conflict with the Nicaraguan government since 1984.[^9]
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The executive summary of the Final Report records that the Justice Department under Reagan took the position after November 1986 that the 1985 shipments of U.S. weapons to Iran did not violate the law, and it states that this position "does not correspond with the contemporaneous advice given the President."[^9]
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### Prosecutions
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The Final Report's summary of prosecutions counts fourteen persons charged, eleven convicted, two convictions overturned on appeal, two persons pardoned before trial, and one case dismissed when the Bush administration declined to declassify information needed for trial.[^11] The fourteen included two private fundraisers, [[Carl R. Channell]] and [[Richard R. Miller]], who pleaded guilty in 1987 to conspiracy to defraud the United States through the illegal use of a tax-exempt foundation to raise money for the contras.[^11][^12]
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[[Oliver North]] was indicted on March 16, 1988, on sixteen felony counts and tried on twelve. On May 4, 1989, the jury convicted him on three counts: accepting an illegal gratuity, aiding and abetting the obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and destruction of documents. Judge [[Gerhard Gesell]] sentenced him on July 5, 1989, to a three-year suspended prison term, two years of probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours of community service.[^11] On July 20, 1990, the D.C. Circuit vacated North's convictions on all three counts and remanded them for a Kastigar hearing to determine whether the Independent Counsel had made use of his immunized congressional testimony. The panel also reversed the conviction on Count 9.[^13] Gesell dismissed the case on September 16, 1991, on the motion of the Independent Counsel.[^11]
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[[John Poindexter]] was indicted on March 16, 1988, on seven felony counts. After a trial on five, a jury found him guilty on April 7, 1990, on all of them: conspiracy (obstruction of inquiries and proceedings, false statements, and falsification, destruction and removal of documents), two counts of obstructing Congress and two counts of false statements. Judge [[Harold H. Greene]] sentenced him on June 11, 1990, to six months in prison on each count, to be served concurrently.[^11] On November 15, 1991, the D.C. Circuit reversed the convictions on all counts because Poindexter's immunized testimony may have influenced the trial testimony of witnesses.[^11][^14] The Supreme Court declined review on December 7, 1992, and the indictment was dismissed in 1993 on the motion of the Independent Counsel.[^11]
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[[Richard Secord]] was indicted on March 16, 1988, on six felony counts. A second indictment of May 11, 1989, charged nine counts of impeding and obstructing the Select Iran/Contra Committees. He pleaded guilty on November 8, 1989, to one felony count of false statements to Congress, admitting that he had falsely denied that North personally benefited from the [[The Enterprise (Iran-Contra)|Enterprise]]. Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr., sentenced him on January 24, 1990, to two years' probation.[^11][^15]
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[[Albert Hakim]] pleaded guilty on November 21, 1989, to a misdemeanor of supplementing North's salary. [[Lake Resources Inc.]], in which Hakim was the principal shareholder, pleaded guilty to a corporate felony of theft of government property in diverting arms sale proceeds to the contras and other activities. Judge Gesell sentenced Hakim on February 1, 1990, to two years' probation and a $5,000 fine, and the company was ordered dissolved.[^11][^16]
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[[Tom Clines]] was indicted on February 22, 1990, on four felony counts of underreporting his income to the Internal Revenue Service for 1985 and 1986 and of falsely stating on his returns that he had no foreign financial accounts. He was found guilty of all charges on September 18, 1990. Judge Norman P. Ramsey sentenced him on December 13, 1990, to sixteen months in prison and $40,000 in fines, and the Fourth Circuit upheld the convictions on February 27, 1992.[^11][^17]
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[[Joseph Fernandez]], a CIA officer whose work in [[Costa Rica]] was central to the charges, was indicted in the District of Columbia on June 20, 1988. That case was dismissed there for venue reasons on the Independent Counsel's motion. A four-count indictment followed in the Eastern District of Virginia on April 24, 1989. Judge Claude M. Hilton dismissed it on November 24, 1989, after Attorney General [[Richard Thornburgh]] blocked the disclosure of classified information the court had found relevant to the defense. The Fourth Circuit upheld Hilton's rulings on September 6, 1990, and on October 12, 1990, the Attorney General filed a final declaration that he would not disclose the information.[^11][^18]
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[[Clair George]], the CIA deputy director for operations, was indicted on September 6, 1991, on ten counts. His first trial ended in a mistrial on August 26, 1992. He was convicted on December 9, 1992, of two felony counts of false statements and perjury before Congress, and was pardoned on December 24, 1992, before sentencing.[^11][^19]
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[[Dewey Clarridge]], chief of the CIA European Division, was indicted on November 26, 1991, on seven counts of perjury and false statements about the secret shipment of U.S. HAWK missiles to Iran. Judge Harold H. Greene had set a trial date of March 15, 1993. He was pardoned on December 24, 1992.[^11][^20][^21]
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[[Alan Fiers]], chief of the CIA Central American Task Force, pleaded guilty on July 9, 1991, to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress. He was sentenced on January 31, 1992, to one year's probation and 100 hours of community service, and was pardoned on December 24, 1992.[^11][^22]
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[[Elliott Abrams]], assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, pleaded guilty on October 7, 1991, to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress about government efforts to support the contras during the aid prohibition, including his solicitation of $10 million to aid the contras from the Sultan of Brunei.[^23] He was sentenced on November 15, 1991, to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service, and was pardoned on December 24, 1992.[^11]
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[[Robert McFarlane]] pleaded guilty on March 11, 1988, to four misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress. He was sentenced on March 3, 1989, to two years' probation, $20,000 in fines and 200 hours of community service, and was pardoned on December 24, 1992.[^11]
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[[Caspar Weinberger]] was indicted on June 16, 1992, on five counts of obstruction, perjury and false statements in connection with the congressional and Independent Counsel investigations. The obstruction count was dismissed on September 29, 1992. A second indictment of October 30 charged one false statement count, and it was dismissed on December 11, leaving four counts. Judge Thomas F. Hogan had set a trial date of January 5, 1993.[^11]
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The executive summary states that Weinberger's handwritten notes, which he had deliberately withheld from Congress and from the Independent Counsel until they were discovered in late 1991, showed that his early testimony, that he had only vague and generalized information about the Iran arms sales in 1985, was false. The notes also showed that Gen. [[Colin Powell]], Weinberger's senior military aide, and [[Richard Armitage]], assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, had detailed knowledge of the 1985 shipments from Israeli stocks. The Independent Counsel declined to prosecute Armitage because the office's limited resources were focused on the Weinberger case and the evidence, while substantial, did not reach the threshold of proof beyond a reasonable doubt; the report states that there was little evidence that Powell's early testimony was willfully false.[^9]
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In describing the Enterprise, the report's overview of the private operatives states that the principals, with North's backing, assembled a private air force of small planes, pilots and crews to supply the contras, built a secret airstrip in Costa Rica, and "worked practically unfettered on a Salvadoran military airbase."[^24] The report states that in July 1986 the Enterprise paid Defex (Portugal) $2.6 million and $500,000 to another dealer, [[Monzer Al-Kassar]], for contra weapons, and that Al Kassar was not available to testify at trial.[^25]
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### Bush and Reagan
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The executive summary concludes that the Independent Counsel did not develop evidence proving that Vice President [[George H.W. Bush]] violated a criminal statute. It also states that, "Contrary to his public pronouncements, however, he was fully aware of the Iran arms sales." The White House informed the Independent Counsel on December 11, 1992, that Bush had kept diaries relevant to Iran-Contra that had never been produced to investigators, despite requests made in 1987 and again in early 1992.[^10] Bush refused to be interviewed for a final time, and the summary states that his pardon of Weinberger "pre-empted a trial in which defense counsel indicated that they intended to call Bush as a witness."[^9]
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The chapter on Bush records the report's view that the Weinberger pardon was the first time a president had pardoned someone in whose trial he might have been called as a witness, because the president knew the underlying facts.[^26]
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On Ronald Reagan, the report found no credible evidence that he violated any criminal statute. It concluded that he "created the conditions which made possible the crimes committed by others by his secret deviations from announced national policy as to Iran and hostages."[^27] The chapter on [[William Casey]], the CIA director, states that "There is evidence that Casey played a role as a Cabinet-level advocate" both in setting up the covert network to resupply the contras during the Boland funding cut-off and in promoting the secret arms sales to Iran in 1985 and 1986.[^28]
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The report's account of the Iran arms sales also covers the Israeli role. It states that [[Michael Ledeen]] denied profiting from the sales and that the Independent Counsel found no evidence that he did. It further states that "Israel never gave OIC access to financial accounts or records," in the context of the [[Al Schwimmer]] arrangements.[^29]
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### Bush Pardons
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On December 24, 1992, six weeks after losing re-election and three weeks before Walsh was to release key findings relating to the knowledge of senior Reagan administration officials, President George H.W. Bush issued pardons to Caspar Weinberger (whose trial had been scheduled for January 1993), Elliott Abrams, Robert McFarlane, Clair George, Alan Fiers, and Duane Clarridge. Walsh issued a statement calling the pardons "a misuse of presidential pardon power" and stated that Bush had sought to "undermine a criminal investigation of which he himself was a subject."[^2]
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On December 24, 1992, seven weeks after losing the November 1992 presidential election, President George H.W. Bush issued Proclamation 6518, granting executive clemency to Weinberger, Abrams, McFarlane, George, Fiers and Clarridge for offenses charged or prosecuted by Walsh's office.[^30] The proclamation called the prosecutions "the criminalization of policy differences." It said that the common denominator of the men's motivation was patriotism, that they did not profit, and that each has a record of long and distinguished service to the country.[^30]
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Walsh had been investigating Bush's role in the Iran-Contra affair, including notes Bush claimed not to exist that were subsequently produced showing his knowledge of the arms-for-hostages scheme. The pardons prevented Walsh from completing that aspect of his investigation. Walsh later wrote that the pardons constituted a cover-up rather than executive clemency.[^2]
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Walsh responded the same day. A statement quoted by Brown University's Iran-Contra archive said that the pardon of Weinberger and the other defendants "undermines the principle that no man is above the law," and that "Weinberger, who faced four felony charges, deserved to be tried by a jury of citizens." It concluded: "The Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has now been completed with the pardon of Caspar Weinberger."[^31] United Press International reported that Walsh delivered that sentence at a hastily called news conference. At the same news conference Walsh said he had learned thirteen days earlier that Bush had not turned over requested notes from his years as vice president, and that "The production of these notes is still ongoing and will lead to appropriate action." He said that Weinberger's early and deliberate decision to conceal and withhold extensive contemporaneous notes had radically altered the official investigations and possibly forestalled timely impeachment proceedings against Reagan and other officials, and that he would soon make a "full report" to Congress and the public "describing the details and extent of this cover-up." Asked whether the pardons sent a message that those in government are above the law, he said, "That depends on the president you work for." Asked whether he might pursue Bush, he said, "I don't want to speculate on that." President-elect [[Bill Clinton]] said that day, "I am concerned by any action which sends a signal that if you work for the government you are above the law."[^32] On the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour that evening, Walsh accused Weinberger of lying and said that he had deliberately hidden his notes, according to a 1994 essay in [[The New York Review of Books]].[^33] The Independent Counsel issued a Fourth Interim Report to Congress on the Weinberger case and the pardons on February 8, 1993.[^10]
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The pardon of Weinberger came twelve days before his trial was due to begin.[^26] The Final Report describes the criminal investigation of Bush as regrettably incomplete. It states that after the pardons Bush refused to be interviewed unless the interview was limited to his non-production of the diary and personal notes.[^26]
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### Final Report
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Walsh's Final Report was released in three volumes in August 1993 and in its complete form in January 1994. It concluded that Reagan's senior advisers had undertaken the Iran arms sales and Contra diversion with the knowledge of and in service to administration policy, and that the subsequent cover-up - including the destruction of documents and false testimony - was directed at the highest levels of government. The report documented what Walsh called "the criminalization of policy differences" - the use of secret operations and lying to Congress as substitutes for lawful policymaking when the administration could not obtain congressional approval for its objectives.[^1]
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The Final Report was issued in three volumes. Volume I, Investigations and Prosecutions, is dated August 4, 1993 and runs 572 pages. Volume II, Indictments, Plea Agreements, Interim Reports to the Congress and Administrative Matters, is dated the same day and runs 785 pages. Volume III, Comments and Materials Submitted by Individuals and Their Attorneys Responding to Volume I of the Final Report, is dated December 3, 1993 and runs 1,150 pages.[^34] The letter of transmittal that accompanies Volume I lists Volume III as Classified Materials, and states that materials not contained in the three volumes were deposited with the National Archives, with some held under seal in federal district and appellate courts.[^35]
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### Publications
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The complete report was released on Tuesday, January 18, 1994, and The New York Times reported on it on January 19. The Christian Science Monitor described three volumes totaling 2,507 pages, priced at $60, and an investigation that cost $37.6 million.[^3][^33] The Times obituary of Walsh put the cost at about $37 million and the length of the investigation at more than six years.[^5]
|
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|
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Walsh published a memoir, *Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up* (W.W. Norton, 1997), documenting the investigation's obstacles including executive branch obstruction, the immunized testimony problem, and the Bush pardons. The book remains one of the primary insider accounts of the Iran-Contra independent counsel investigation.[^1]
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The executive summary's overall conclusion was that "high-ranking Administration officials violated laws and executive orders in the Iran/contra matter," and that the sales of arms to Iran "contravened United States Government policy and may have violated the Arms Export Control Act."[^9]
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### Firewall and Later Life
|
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Walsh's memoir, *Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-up*, was published by [[W. W. Norton]] in New York in 1997.[^1] In it he concluded that Reagan must have known of the basic details of the operation and that the president's advisers had tried to shield him by concealing records and personal notes. He wrote: "What set Iran-contra apart from previous political scandals was that a cover-up engineered in the White House of one president and completed by his successor prevented the rule of law being applied to perpetrators of criminal activity of constitutional dimension."[^5] He also wrote an autobiography, *The Gift of Insecurity: A Lawyer's Life*.[^2][^6]
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|
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Walsh died on March 19, 2014, at his home in Oklahoma City following a brief illness, at the age of 102.[^2][^4][^5]
|
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### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Walsh, Lawrence E. *Iran-Contra: The Final Report*. Random House, 1994. Walsh, Lawrence E. *Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up*. W.W. Norton, 1997.
|
||||
[^2]: Walsh, Lawrence E. Statement on Presidential Pardons, December 24, 1992. Independent Counsel press release archived at Department of Justice.
|
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[^1]: Federal Judicial Center, "Walsh, Lawrence Edward," Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, including the bibliography entry for Walsh, Lawrence E., Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-up (New York: Norton, 1997). https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/walsh-lawrence-edward
|
||||
[^2]: American Law Institute, "In Memoriam: Lawrence E. Walsh." https://www.ali.org/news/articles/memoriam-lawrence-e-walsh
|
||||
[^3]: "Iran-Contra's Final Page," Christian Science Monitor, January 20, 1994. https://csmonitor.com/1994/0120/20182.html
|
||||
[^4]: Martha Neil, "Iran-Contra prosecutor and former ABA president Lawrence Walsh is dead at 102," ABA Journal, March 20, 2014. https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/former_federal_judge_and_aba_president_lawrence_walsh_is_dead_at_102
|
||||
[^5]: Neil A. Lewis, "Lawrence E. Walsh, Iran-Contra Prosecutor, Dies at 102," The New York Times, March 21, 2014, as reprinted by Boston.com. https://www.boston.com/news/national-news/2014/03/21/lawrence-e-walsh-iran-contra-prosecutor-dies-at-102
|
||||
[^6]: "Lawrence E. Walsh, 1912-2014," ABA Journal, June 2014. https://abajournal.com/magazine/article/lawrence_e._walsh_past_aba_president_and_independent_counsel_on_iran-contra
|
||||
[^7]: Richard Nixon, Letter to Lawrence E. Walsh Accepting His Resignation as Deputy Head of the U.S. Delegation to the Paris Meetings on Vietnam, November 21, 1969. The American Presidency Project. https://presidency.ucsb.edu/node/240151
|
||||
[^8]: Nina Totenberg, foreword to Lawrence E. Walsh, The Gift of Insecurity, excerpted by National Public Radio, March 20, 2014. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/03/20/291998891/lawrence-walsh-his-judgment-came-not-from-confidence-but-insecurity
|
||||
[^9]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Executive Summary, including the Special Division appointment of December 19, 1986, the Overall Conclusions and the footnote on the Justice Department position. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/execsum.htm
|
||||
[^10]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Chronology of Key Public Events (entries for November 25, December 4 and December 19, 1986, March 5, 1987, October 30, December 11 and December 24, 1992, and February 8, 1993). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chron.htm
|
||||
[^11]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Summary of Prosecutions. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/summpros.htm
|
||||
[^12]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 13, Private Fundraisers (United States v. Carl R. Channell and United States v. Richard R. Miller). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_13.htm
|
||||
[^13]: United States v. North, 910 F.2d 843 (D.C. Cir. July 20, 1990). https://static.case.law/f2d/910/cases/0843-01.json
|
||||
[^14]: United States v. Poindexter, 951 F.2d 369 (D.C. Cir. November 15, 1991). https://static.case.law/f2d/951/cases/0369-01.json
|
||||
[^15]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 9, United States v. Richard V. Secord. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_09.htm
|
||||
[^16]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 10, United States v. Albert Hakim. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_10.htm
|
||||
[^17]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 11, United States v. Thomas G. Clines. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_11.htm
|
||||
[^18]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 20, United States v. Joseph F. Fernandez. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_20.htm
|
||||
[^19]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 17, United States v. Clair E. George. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_17.htm
|
||||
[^20]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Summary of Prosecutions, "Pre-trial Pardons" (Clarridge and Weinberger entries). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/summpros.htm
|
||||
[^21]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 18, United States v. Duane R. Clarridge. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm
|
||||
[^22]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 19, United States v. Alan D. Fiers, Jr. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_19.htm
|
||||
[^23]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Executive Summary, section on Elliott Abrams and the Sultan of Brunei solicitation. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/execsum.htm
|
||||
[^24]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Part V, The Flow of Funds: The Prosecution of the Private Operatives, Overview. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/part_v.htm
|
||||
[^25]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 8, The Enterprise and Its Finances, text and note 51. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_08.htm
|
||||
[^26]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 28, George Bush. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_28.htm
|
||||
[^27]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 27, Ronald Reagan. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_27.htm
|
||||
[^28]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 15, William J. Casey. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_15.htm
|
||||
[^29]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Vol. I, Chapter 1, the Iran arms sales (Ledeen and Schwimmer passage). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
|
||||
[^30]: George Bush, Proclamation 6518, Grant of Executive Clemency, December 24, 1992. The American Presidency Project. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-6518-grant-executive-clemency
|
||||
[^31]: Brown University, "Understanding the Iran Contra Affair," "The Pardons," quoting Walsh's response to the December 24, 1992 pardons. https://webhelper.brown.edu/cheit/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/thepardons.php
|
||||
[^32]: Thomas Ferraro, "Bush pardons Weinberger, draws fire," United Press International, December 24, 1992. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/12/24/Bush-pardons-Weinberger-draws-fire/8973725173200/
|
||||
[^33]: "Walsh's Last Stand," The New York Review of Books, March 3, 1994. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1994/03/03/walshs-last-stand/
|
||||
[^34]: Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Division No. 86-6 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993), Volumes I-III, title-page volume descriptions and dates "August 4, 1993" (vols. I-II) and "December 3, 1993" (vol. III), ISBN 0160430097, with page counts. https://www.abebooks.com/9780160430091/Final-Report-Independent-Counsel-IranContra-0160430097/plp
|
||||
[^35]: Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters, Final Report, Letter of Transmittal to Volume I. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/letter.htm
|
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