Reagan administration convictions

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In 2005 The "Daily Kos" a left wing blog compiled a list of members of United States President Ronald Reagan's administration that it says were convicted in U.S. Courts of illegal actions. Reagan supporters say the list is an exaggerated grab bag that includes civil servants who were never Reagan appointees, low level secretaries, persons unknown, and --for the most part--people who were convicted for episodes that happened after they left the government. Critics say that Reagan failed especially to clean up the Department of Housing and Urban Development (or HUD), long notorious for corrupt practices. Several million different people were employed by the Reagan administration at one time or another. The Daily Kos apparently used a white supremacy web site for information that does not otherwise appear on the WWW to attack one of Reagan's Hispanic appointees.

  1. Elliott Abrams, Reagan's appointee to head the State Department's Latin American Bureau, cooperated with Iran-Contra investigators and pled guilty to two charges that were reduced to misdemeanors. He was sentenced to two years probation and 100 hours of community service but was pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.
  2. Deborah Gore Dean, executive assistant to HUD Secretary Samuel Pierce - convicted on twelve counts[1], three counts of conspiracy to defraud the federal government, one count of having accepted an illegal gratuity, four counts of perjury, and four counts of engaging in a scheme to conceal material facts.
  3. Michael Deaver, Reagan's Deputy White House Chief of Staff from January 1981 until May 1985[2], convicted of perjury before a congressional subcommittee and a federal grand jury regarding his lobbying activities after leaving the White House.
  4. Thomas Demery, Reagan's HUD Assistant Secretary[3], pled guilty to steering HUD subsidies to politically connected donors.
  5. Alan D. Fiers, Chief of the CIA's Central American Task Force, and a career civil servant, pled guilty to two counts of withholding information from the Congress about Oliver North's activities and the diversion of Iran arms sale money to aid the Contras, and was sentenced to one year of probation and 100 hours of community service. He was pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.
  6. Clair George, Chief of the CIA's Division of Covert Operations, and a career civil servant, was convicted of lying to two congressional committees in connection with the Iran-Contra investigations, but was pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.
  7. Rita Lavelle, Reagan-appointed assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was convicted of lying to the Congress in connection with Sewergate investigations and served three months of a six-month prison sentence.
  8. Robert C. McFarlane, Reagan's National Security Advisor, pled guilty to four misdemeanors regarding withholding of information from Congress as part of Sewergate, and was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service and fined $20,000. He was pardoned by President George H.W. Bush.
  9. Lyn Nofziger, Reagan's White House Press Secretary, who was convicted on charges of illegal lobbying after leaving office, as part of the Wedtech scandal.
  10. Joseph A. Strauss, Special Assistant to the Secretary of HUD, convicted for accepting payments to favor Puerto Rican land developers in receiving HUD funding.[4]
  11. James G. Watt, Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, was indicted on 41 felony counts for using his connections, after he left office, at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to assist his clients seek federal funds for housing projects, and sentenced to five years probation and 500 hours of community service.
  12. Philip Winn, Reagan's Assistant HUD Secretary, pled guilty to one count of conspiring to give illegal gratuities and was sentenced to two years' probation and a fine of $981,975. Winn was pardoned without explanation by President Bill Clinton in 2000[5].

Convictions overturned on appeal:

  1. John Poindexter was convicted in 1990 on five felony charges of conspiracy, making false statements to Congress and obstructing congressional inquiries. Along with Oliver North, an appellate court overturned these convictions and Poindexter's six month prison term in 1991 due to their receiving immunity from prosecution.

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