[1] The Committees were constituted in January 1987, and agreed on a deadline for the investigation of August 7, when Congress was due to adjourn, with several more months to prepare the final report.
[5] During Congress' initial hearings in late 1986, before the committees were constituted, North assisted in preparation of a misleading chronology of the Iran-Contra affair.
[6] The Majority Report concluded that the "NSC staff turned to private parties and third countries to do the Government's business.
Activities normally conducted by the professional intelligence services—which are accountable to Congress—were turned over to [retired Gen. Richard ] Secord and [Albert] Hakim".
For its own part, the Administration decided to work within the letter of the law covertly, instead of forcing a public and principled confrontation that would have been healthier in the long run.