Records of Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh relating to Iran/Contra

The records of Independent Counsel Walsh include security classified and otherwise sensitive information. Thousands of pages are currently released. Other documents may be requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

The records of Independent Counsel Walsh are NOT available online. For access to these records, contact the Special Access and FOIA Staff, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740, (301) 837-3270. Inquiries may also be sent to us electronically.

For additional information about records of Independent Counsels in the National Archives and Records Administration, please visit the Special Prosecutors and Independent Counsels Home Page.

• Administrative History
• Organization of Records
• Selected Subjects of Previously Released Records
• ASCII Version of Volume 1 of the Final Report
• Related Congressional Records

Administrative History: In October and November 1986, two secret U.S. Government operations were publicly exposed, potentially implicating Reagan administration officials in illegal activities: the provision of assistance to the military activities of Nicaraguan contra rebels during an October 1984 to October 1986 prohibition on such aid, and the sale of U.S. arms to Iran in contravention of stated U.S. policy and in possible violation of arms-export controls. In late November 1986, Reagan administration officials announced that some of the proceeds from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran had been diverted to the contras.

On November 26, 1986, the Attorney General ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to begin an investigation of the Iran/Contra episode. On December 19, 1986, Lawrence Walsh was appointed Independent Counsel to proceed with the investigation. Several members of the FBI's investigative team were assigned to Walsh's office to assist.

Judge Walsh established a three city operation (Washington, DC, New York City, and Oklahoma City), hired attorneys, and requested that staff be detailed from the Customs Service and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as the FBI. The staff divided its work among several teams: the White House/National Security Council/Department of Justice team; the Central Intelligence Agency/State Department Team; and the Flow-of-Funds/Department of Defense team. When Congressional leaders stated in early meetings between the Independent Counsel and the Congressional committees also investigating the Iran/Contra affair that Congress was likely to grant immunity to several central figures in the investigation, Judge Walsh doubled the size of his staff and took steps to focus the investigation on the gathering of as much evidence as possible before the grant of immunity tainted it. Congress granted immunity to Oliver North, John Poindexter, and Albert Hakim in May and June of 1987.

On March 16, 1988, the grand jury handed down a 23 count indictment against Poindexter, North, Hakim, and Richard Secord. Trials for each defendant were held separately. Hakim pleaded guilty on two counts. Secord pleaded guilty to one. North was convicted on three counts, but a three-judge appeals panel later vacated all counts on the grounds that immunized Congressional testimony tainted his trial. Poindexter was convicted on five counts, which the panel also vacated.

After the "case-in-chief" trials ended, the Office of the Independent Counsel focused on other individuals suspected of having assisted or having falsely denied knowledge of Iran/contra activities. The Office charged ten additional persons with criminal violations; seven of the individuals were convicted; one CIA official's case was dismissed on national security grounds; and President Bush pardoned two defendants before their trials.

On August 4, 1993, Lawrence Walsh submitted his final report to the President.

• Master Interagency
• Master Correspondence
• Master Classified
• Master Interoffice
• Master Public Correspondence
• Master Congressional Correspondence

• Indexes to Court Filings
• Criminal Case Files
• Civil Case Files
• Miscellaneous Case Files
• Exhibits, Fernandez CIPA
• Exhibits, U.S. v. Secord
• Exhibits, Kastigar, Government Defense Exhibits
• Remand Hearings
• Subpoenas
• Court Filings, U.S. v. Clair E. George
• Court Filings, U.S. v. Poindexter
• Court Filings, U.S. v. Weinberger
• Digests of Testimony
• Recordings of Depositions and Testimony
• Deposition Exhibits
• Reference Materials indirectly related to cases
• Grand Jury Exhibits
• Grand Jury Cassette Recordings

• Baker, Thomas E.
• Barrett, John Q.
• Been, Vicki L.
• Bellows, Randy I.
• Berman, Geoffrey S.
• Bever, Thomas D.
• Blaney, Bryan
• Bromwich, Michael R.
• Brosnahan, James
• Douglass, John G.
• Ellis, Steven A.
• Feldman, James A.
• Francis, Vernon
• Friedman, Paul
• Gillen, Craig A.
• Green, Bruce A.
• Harleston, Jeffrey S.
• Hassler, William T.
• Hetherton, Judith
• Jordan, Sandra D.
• Keker, John W.
• Lee, William F.
• Longstreth, Robert C.
• Loughlin, Walter P.
• Mark, Gregory A.
• Mixter, Christian J.
• Radin, Louise R.
• Roth, Kenneth
• Shtasel, Laurence S.
• Sloan, Clifford M.
• Spaulding, Christina A.
• Stewart, Geoffrey S.
• Struve, Guy Miller
• Todd, K. Chris
• Toobin, Jeffrey R.
• Treanor, William M.
• Vhay, Michael D.
• Wallach, Laurie
• Walsh, Lawrence E.
• Weingarten, Reid H.
• Wilkins, Samuel A.
• Wolfson, Evan C.
• Yannett, Bruce E.
• Zornow, David M.
• Miscellaneous-- Unknown

• Blakely, Joyce A.
• Breen, Carolyn S.
• Olsen, Fredrich
• Picker, Leonard I.
• Zelenko, Barbara S.
• Miscellaneous-- Unknown

• IRS Agent
• Foster, Michael
• Fox, Bill

• Administrative Records
• FOIA Requests
• Litigation Files
• Oliver North Notebooks, Set 1
• Oliver North Notebooks, Set 2
• Oliver North Notebooks, Set 3
• Oliver North Notebooks, Set Provided to Plaintiffs in North Notebook Suit

• Subject Files of Press Officers James Wieghart and Mary Belcher
• Working Papers of Press Officer Mary Belcher
• Subject Files of Deputy Press Officer Ruth "Sam" Witucki
• Correspondence-- with response
• Correspondence-- no response
• Press Clippings
• "Green" Press Clippings
• Miscellaneous Press Clippings Regarding Oliver L. North
• Early Contra and Iran News Stories, 1986
• Press Office Notebooks
• Interim Reports to Congress
• James Wieghart's Taint Files
• Staff Media Contacts
• Financial Work Product
• Video Cassette Tapes

• Sections 1 to 16
• Bulky Evidence

• Closed
• Open
• Enclosures
• Bulky Evidence

• Dates
• Topics
• Receipt Numbers

• Administrative Records
• FBI 302's
• FBI Audiotapes
• FBI Namechecks

• Iran/Contra Hearing Transcripts
• Exhibits to Congressional Testimony
• Videotapes of Hearings
• Federal News Service, Transcripts of North Testimony, July 1987
• Videos of 1987 Hearings
• Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Transcripts
• House Select Committee on Intelligence Transcripts

• Copies of Final Report
• Classified Section
• Report Preparation
• Page Proofs
• Exhibits to Final Report
• Exhibits to Final Report, Duplicate Set

• Crank Mail
• Visitors Logs
• OIC-FPS Reports
• Telephone Logs

• Adams, Justin
• Atkins, Liam
• Bode, William
• Bueso Rosa, Jose
• Bush, George
• Bush, George (Discovery and Production of his Transcribed Diaries in 1992)
• Bustillo, Juan Rafael
• Castillo, Celerino
• Channel, Carl Russell "Spitz"
• Christian, Barbara Bullitt
• Clark, Judge William P.
• Corr, Edwin G.
• Drugs
• Drugs-- Norwin Meneses and Danilo Blandon
• Durrani, Arif
• Earl, Robert
• Erria
• Fiers, Alan
• Golden, William T.
• Grasheim, Walter
• International Medical Centers
• Jenkins, Carl
• Jenkins, Louis ("Woody") and Diane-- Friends of the Americas; Nicaraguan Refuge Fund
• Lister, Ronald
• McDuffie, Glenn C.
• Mena, Arkansas
• Messing, F.A.
• Morabia, David
• Morabia, Nan
• Mug Shots
• North, Oliver-- Lies
• North, Oliver-- Schedule
• North, Oliver-- Mug Shots
• North, Oliver-- Notebooks
• October Surprise
• Owen, Robert
• Pino-Marina, Nestor
• Posada, Luis
• Powell, Colin
• Press Office Files
• Reagan, Ronald
• Reagan Deposition in U.S. v. Poindexter
• Rehnquist, Janet
• Richard, Mark
• Steele, Col. James
• Studley, Barbara
• Swan Island
• Weekly, David Scott
• Weld, William
• Wheaton, Milton Gene
• Yellow Fruit
• Zucker, Willard