Jimmy Carter is dead, and the U.S. has never reckoned with the "October Surprise" scandal — the fact that the 1980 Reagan campaign colluded with the Iranian government to make sure the American hostages weren't released before the election. This was genuine treason by the GOP. 
Last year Ben Barnes, a prominent Texas politicians, revealed that he'd participated in the Reagan campaign's efforts to keep the US hostages in Iran until after the election. Barnes said he wanted to tell the truth before Carter died. nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/…
Beyond Ben Barnes, others who've said the Reagan campaign colluded with the Iranian government in 1980 include Iranian president Bani-Sadr, Yitzhak Shamir, Yasser Arafat, French intelligence head Alexandre de Marenches & in a way the Bush Sr. White House theintercept.com/2023/03/24/oct…
Iran's former president Abolhassan Bani-Sadr died in 2021. He'd said the 1980 Reagan campaign colluded with Iran to keep the American hostages in Iran until after the election. Almost no obituaries mentioned this. Let's see what happens with Carter. theintercept.com/2021/10/11/ban…
To the credit of the NY Times, its Carter obituary does mention the paper's own blockbuster 2023 story about Ben Barnes's confession about the 1980 Reagan campaign. The obituary was co-written by @peterbakernyt, who also wrote the Barnes article. nytimes.com/2024/12/29/us/…
@peterbakernyt The Washington Post Carter obituary mentioned the October Surprise story and the Ben Barnes revelations as well. Generally the WP and NYT feel that it's safe to report on reality after 40 years or so have passed. washingtonpost.com/obituaries/202…
I'd bet a lot of money Biden, Harris, etc will not now say anything about the 1980 treason by the Reagan campaign. In 1968 LBJ & co knew the Nixon campaign was conspiring with South Vietnam to keep the war going, but refused to say anything because it would disillusion Americans.
The perspective of Reagan's superfans is split between "It's insane to say his campaign cut a deal with Iran!" to "They did it and it was AWESOME"
https://x.com/NatalieJastow/status/1873729850370052587
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