- Apr 17, 2009
- 112,950
- 38,428
Wow...that is pretty unreal. The Medal of Freedom to a man who was compromised in so many ethical investigations and implicated in scandals and corruption, and forced to resign under a cloud.
Trump To Honor Former Reagan Attorney General, Who Left Government Under Ethics Cloud
Meese was on hand for the successes of Reagan's first term, then prepared to leave the White House in 1984 to be attorney general. But it took a year, and Reagan's landslide re-election, before the Senate finally confirmed his appointment. Meese was accused of unethical conduct in office at the time, and a report by the onetime Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox cited him for "blindness to the abuse of position."
Further allegations followed. He was investigated for his role in helping the Bechtel Corp. build a pipeline from Iraq to Jordan. His actions on behalf of the Wedtech Corp. were also the subject of an independent counsel's probe. Although never indicted for anything, Meese resigned as attorney general when the independent counsel's critical report was filed in 1988.
He also was in the middle of the Iran-Contra affair, a scandal involving weapons sales to Iran and then the money from those sales was used to fund anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
As Brown University noted, "Meese was investigated for his involvement in the cover-up of the scandals, namely for allegedly focusing more on limiting the damage to President Reagan than on his ostensible purpose of trying to investigate what had transpired."
Trump To Honor Former Reagan Attorney General, Who Left Government Under Ethics Cloud
Meese was on hand for the successes of Reagan's first term, then prepared to leave the White House in 1984 to be attorney general. But it took a year, and Reagan's landslide re-election, before the Senate finally confirmed his appointment. Meese was accused of unethical conduct in office at the time, and a report by the onetime Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox cited him for "blindness to the abuse of position."
Further allegations followed. He was investigated for his role in helping the Bechtel Corp. build a pipeline from Iraq to Jordan. His actions on behalf of the Wedtech Corp. were also the subject of an independent counsel's probe. Although never indicted for anything, Meese resigned as attorney general when the independent counsel's critical report was filed in 1988.
He also was in the middle of the Iran-Contra affair, a scandal involving weapons sales to Iran and then the money from those sales was used to fund anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
As Brown University noted, "Meese was investigated for his involvement in the cover-up of the scandals, namely for allegedly focusing more on limiting the damage to President Reagan than on his ostensible purpose of trying to investigate what had transpired."