UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you, Richard Vernon Secord, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.</s>FRANK SESNO, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: In many ways, Iran- Contra paralyzed the White House.</s>RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The charge has been made that the United States has shipped weapons to Iran as ransom payment for release of American hostages in Lebanon. Those charges are utterly false.</s>SESNO: Iran-Contra was a turning point for Ronald Reagan because his judgment, really his integrity was being questioned publicly.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I take it both the United States and officials in Iran knew that the United States was selling arms to Iran.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.</s>OLIVER NORTH: I honestly believed that we carried out those activities within the constraints of the law.</s>SESNO: Oliver North was the face, Poindexter, to some extent, was the orchestra leader. He wasn't playing any of the instruments, but he knew who was, and the effort to shield the president was of paramount importance.</s>JOHN POINDEXTER: I made a very deliberate decision not to ask the president, so that I could insulate him from the decision.</s>SESNO: There was plenty of outrage but it never reached the boiling point. In fact, a lot of the public maybe didn't quite comprehend just the kind of constitutional clash that was taking place just below the waters.
CNN 20: Iran-Contra Hearing Opens, May 5, 1987