Republican Admits to Sabotaging Jimmy Carter's Election

[blackhawk]

Oh by the way Ben Barnes was a Democrat so this tells you how seriously you should take this story.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

This is huge. I guess he wanted it off his chest before he died. And it looks like the New York Times has made this available with no paywall.

A Four-Decade Secret: One Man’s Story of Sabotaging Carter’s Re-election​

A prominent Texas politician said he unwittingly took part in a 1980 tour of the Middle East with a clandestine agenda.

WASHINGTON — It has been more than four decades, but Ben Barnes said he remembers it vividly. His longtime political mentor invited him on a mission to the Middle East. What Mr. Barnes said he did not realize until later was the real purpose of the mission: to sabotage the re-election campaign of the president of the United States.

It was 1980 and Jimmy Carter was in the White House, bedeviled by a hostage crisis in Iran that had paralyzed his presidency and hampered his effort to win a second term. Mr. Carter’s best chance for victory was to free the 52 Americans held captive before Election Day. That was something that Mr. Barnes said his mentor was determined to prevent.

His mentor was John B. Connally Jr., a titan of American politics and former Texas governor who had served three presidents and just lost his own bid for the White House. A former Democrat, Mr. Connally had sought the Republican nomination in 1980 only to be swamped by former Gov. Ronald Reagan of California. Now Mr. Connally resolved to help Mr. Reagan beat Mr. Carter and in the process, Mr. Barnes said, make his own case for becoming secretary of state or defense in a new administration.

What happened next Mr. Barnes has largely kept secret for nearly 43 years. Mr. Connally, he said, took him to one Middle Eastern capital after another that summer, meeting with a host of regional leaders to deliver a blunt message to be passed to Iran: Don’t release the hostages before the election. Mr. Reagan will win and give you a better deal.

Then shortly after returning home, Mr. Barnes said, Mr. Connally reported to William J. Casey, the chairman of Mr. Reagan’s campaign and later director of the Central Intelligence Agency, briefing him about the trip in an airport lounge.

Mr. Carter’s camp has long suspected that Mr. Casey or someone else in Mr. Reagan’s orbit sought to secretly torpedo efforts to liberate the hostages before the election, and books have been written on what came to be called the October surprise. But congressional investigations debunked previous theories of what happened.

Ben Barnes, a life-long Democrat, told Iran to keep the hostages until Carter left office?

Makes sense.

Durr.

 

[meaner gene]

Ben Barnes, a life-long Democrat, told Iran to keep the hostages until Carter left office?

Makes sense.

Durr.

What happened next Mr. Barnes has largely kept secret for nearly 43 years. Mr. Connally, he said, took him to one Middle Eastern capital after another that summer, meeting with a host of regional leaders to deliver a blunt message to be passed to Iran: Don’t release the hostages before the election. Mr. Reagan will win and give you a better deal.

He didn't do the deal, he witnessed the deal.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

What happened next Mr. Barnes has largely kept secret for nearly 43 years. Mr. Connally, he said, took him to one Middle Eastern capital after another that summer, meeting with a host of regional leaders to deliver a blunt message to be passed to Iran: Don’t release the hostages before the election. Mr. Reagan will win and give you a better deal.

He didn't do the deal, he witnessed the deal.

Was he in the room?

 

[meaner gene]

Was he in the room?

Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, who heard President Trump's July phone call with Ukraine's president and was alarmed, testified that he tried ...

An example of being in the room as a witness, not a participant.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, who heard President Trump's July phone call with Ukraine's president and was alarmed, testified that he tried ...

An example of being in the room as a witness, not a participant.

An example of a liar.

 

[Lesh]

Tell it to the hostages that had to remain in Iranian custody for over a year because republicans wanted the white house.

That's traitorous

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Tell it to the hostages that had to remain in Iranian custody for over a year because republicans wanted the white house.

They remained in custody because Carter was weak.

 

[Synthaholic]

This is new??? I thought this was well known.

It was always suspected, but never confirmed.

 

[Synthaholic]

They remained in custody because Carter was weak.

They remained in custody because the military fucked up the rescue mission, pissing off the Iranians even further. They hated Carter because he gave sanctuary to the Shah of Iran, a long-time partner of the U.S., through many administrations, Republican and Democratic.

But I don't expect much from you in the knowledge department.

 

[Lesh]

They remained in custody because Carter was weak.

They remained in custody because Reagan was USING them to get elected

 

[Doug1943]

It was always suspected, but never confirmed.

Ah, ok. I just assumed it must be true, especially in light of what came after, the unbelievable 'Iran-Contra' thing.

 

[Moonglow]

The GOP was the best ally the Ayatollah ever had.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

They remained in custody because the military fucked up the rescue mission, pissing off the Iranians even further. They hated Carter because he gave sanctuary to the Shah of Iran, a long-time partner of the U.S., through many administrations, Republican and Democratic.

But I don't expect much from you in the knowledge department.

They hated Carter because he gave sanctuary to the Shah of Iran

Sounds like they didn't need a deal with Reagan to want to keep the hostages.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

They remained in custody because Reagan was USING them to get elected

Carter was a weak ass bitch.

 

[Lesh]

Carter was a weak ass bitch.

They were released minutes after Reagan was in inaugurated.

It was a fucking deal.

 

[meaner gene]

That's traitorous

It has always been a rumor, but without witnesses, it wasn't investigated seriously

Senate investigation

The US Senate's November 1992 report concluded that "by any standard, the credible evidence now known falls far short of supporting the allegation of an agreement between the Reagan campaign and Iran to delay the release of the hostages."

 

[Lesh]

It has always been a rumor, but without witnesses, it wasn't investigated seriously

Senate investigation

The US Senate's November 1992 report concluded that "by any standard, the credible evidence now known falls far short of supporting the allegation of an agreement between the Reagan campaign and Iran to delay the release of the hostages."

Well now we have a witness

 

[Doug1943]

The GOP was the best ally the Ayatollah ever had.

Yes. Here is a picture of that fascist Richard Nixon toasting the Shah.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

They were released minutes after Reagan was in inaugurated.

It was a fucking deal.

Reagan probably said, if they aren't released, I'll bomb you into the stone age.