The Lincoln Project is holding accountable those who would violate their oaths to the Constitution and would put others before Americans
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The Lincoln Project is holding accountable those who would violate their oaths to the Constitution and would put others before Americans
Eideard 
“President Reagan acknowledged last night in a nationally televised speech that he had traded U.S. arms for American hostages and said he accepted the “honest, convincing and highly critical” findings of the Tower special review board that investigated the Iran-contra affair.
“A few months ago I told the American people that I did not trade arms for hostages,” Reagan said in a 13-minute speech from the Oval Office. “My heart and my best intentions still tell me that is true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not.”
This statement contradicted Reagan’s previous statements about the Iran arms deals and came a week after the Tower report faulted both the initiative and Reagan’s management of it.
While the president did not directly apologize for what he had done, as a number of his supporters and friends had urged him to do, he did say he took “full responsibility” for what had occurred. He also for the first time acknowledged that the initiative conflicted with his oft-declared policy of not bargaining with terrorists to win the freedom of hostages.
“As the Tower board reported, what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated in its implementation into trading arms for hostages,” Reagan said. “This runs counter to my own beliefs, to administration policy and to the original strategy we had in mind. There are reasons why it happened, but no excuses. It was a mistake.” (Washington Post March 5, 1987) https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/03/05/reagan-acknowledges-arms-for-hostages-swap/7a5cd7cc-a112-4283-94bd-7f730ad81901/
See also President’s Special Review Board (“Tower Commission”) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Commission