Iran-contra affair
The Iran-contra affair was a political scandal that broke out in 1986, involving the administration of US President Ronald Reagan.
Since 1979, the United States government under president Jimmy Carter had destroyed all diplomatic ties with Iran. From 1984 on, US president Ronald Reagan funded the Contra rebels in Nicaragua to overthrow the socialist government of Daniel Ortega. In 1986, it was discovered that several officials in the Reagan administration had secretely faciliated the sale of weapons to Iran in exchange for hostages, so the money could be used to fund the Contra's in Nicaragua. Under the Boland Agreement, these actions had been prohibited by the U.S. Congress, making the entire affair illegal and, basically, a form of national treason, seeing that the Iranian government was officially an enemy of the US government.
Several Reagan officials were investigated and ordered to testify: Michael Deaver, Lyn Nofziger, Oliver North, Ed Meese, John Poindexter and Caspar Weinberger. They were also convicted and resigned. CIA director William J. Casey died before he could testify. In the midst of this all, President Reagan also testified, but claimed he couldn't recall many of the facts presented to him. It remains unclear to this day how much Reagan knew about these illegal proceedings (possibly a result of not really knowing or caring how the funding was organized, and his notable memory problems, which would worsen once he left the White House and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease). The Tower Commission, who investigated the case, could not find direct evidence that Reagan had prior knowledge of the program, but did claim that he as President was responsible and should've informed himself more about these activities.
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa referenced the Iran-contra affair several times during his 1988 tour, most notably in the song The Untouchables.
