William Casey

The former director of Central Intelligence failed to question the shaky assumptions behind the approach to Iran and apparently never explained to the President the risks if the initiative became public or the operation failed. Nor did he make clear to Reagan that North, rather than the CIA, was running the operation. "The President does not recall ever being informed of this fact," said the commission. "Indeed, Casey should have gone further and pressed for operational responsibility to be transferred to the CIA. Because congressional restrictions on covert actions are both largely directed at and familiar to the CIA, Casey should have taken the lead in keeping the question of congressional notification active." Casey may also have had evidence that funds were being diverted to the contras at least a month before the diversion was uncovered, yet he failed in his "clear" responsibility to raise the matter with Reagan.