Editing John Poindexter (section)

===Iran–Contra affair===
{{main|Iran–Contra affair}}
In the [[Iran–Contra affair]], Poindexter and Oliver North sent aid to the [[Contras]] and money and weapons to Iran to secure the release of American hostages from Lebanon. This violated the [[Boland Amendment]], which forbade the United States from directly or indirectly being involved with the Contras.<ref>{{cite book|title=Out of Many|year=2000|publisher=Prentice Hall|isbn=0-13-949760-9|pages=956, 957|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/outofmanyhistory00john}}</ref> Evidence revealed that Poindexter was a leader in the organization of the transfer of the weapons to Iran and oversaw other people involved in the affair, such as [[Oliver North]].

Poindexter and North communicated through a channel known as the "Private Blank Check" which Poindexter set up on a National Security Council (NSC) computer. Through this system, Poindexter and North were able to send messages called [[PROFS]] notes<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/17/world/poindexter-charged-with-deleting-files.html|title=Poindexter Charged With Deleting Files|first=Stephen Engelberg and Special To the New York|last=Times|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 17, 1988}}</ref> back and forth without being intercepted by other NSC staff members. This system was not successful. Even though both Poindexter and North attempted to delete the messages, the White House Communications Agency was able to recover some of them, later used in trying Poindexter and North in court. On November 25, 1986, after the public disclosure of the Iran–Contra affair, Poindexter was forced to resign from his position as National Security Advisor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chapter 3: United States v. John M. Poindexter |url=https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_03.htm|publisher=Federation of American Scientists}}</ref>

Poindexter was convicted on April 7, 1990, of five counts of lying to Congress and obstructing the [[Congressional committees investigating the Iran–Contra affair]], which were investigating the Reagan Administration's covert arms sales to Iran and the diversion of proceeds to insurgents fighting to overthrow the [[Sandinista]] government in Nicaragua. The convictions were reversed in 1991 on appeal on the grounds that several witnesses against him had been influenced by his testimony before Congress, even though Congress had given him immunity for that testimony.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=United States v. Poindexter |vol=951 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=369 |court=[[United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit|D.C. Cir.]] |date=November 15, 1991 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3415688127241263298&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr |access-date=January 29, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Johnson |first=David|title=Poindexter Wins Iran-Contra Case in Appeals Court|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/06/29/reviews/iran-poindexter.html|access-date=July 26, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 16, 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Linda Greenhouse |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/us/supreme-court-roundup-iran-contra-appeal-refused-by-court.html |title=Supreme Court Roundup; Iran-Contra Appeal Refused by Court |work=New York Times |date=December 8, 1992 |access-date=February 1, 2013}}</ref>

To protest his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair, [[Bill Breeden (Minister)|Bill Breeden]], a local minister and political activist, stole a street sign bearing Poindexter's name in his home town of Odon, Indiana. The sign was eventually returned but not before making national headlines and resulting in Breeden's arrest.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Andrew Glass|title=Grand jury indicts former White House aides, March 16, 1988|url=http://politi.co/2FVXB6G|access-date=August 5, 2021|website=POLITICO|date=March 16, 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Vest|first=Jason|date=December 1, 1991|title=AMERICA AT A CROSSROADS|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/12/01/america-at-a-crossroads/b3b5518f-9857-4cbc-a5b2-f56f92187602/|access-date=August 5, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>