North came to the forefront of American politics in the mid-1980s during the Iran-Contra scandal. As a military aide to the National Security Council during the Reagan administration, he was eventually exposed for his role in arranging the secret sale of weapons to Iran and for diverting the proceeds to the anti-revolutionary Contra rebels in Nicaragua. At televised congressional hearings during the summer of 1987, he admitted to shredding documents associated with the affair and acknowledged that he had lied during previous meetings with members of Congress.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 09, 2018 01:18 UTC