The whole seamy saga surrounding the hostages started to unravel in 1987, when the Miami Herald published an article quoting some statements from a CIA agent, Alfonso Chardy, about the secret October meetings. Also that year, Bani-Sadr wrote a book that was published in Europe and got into some of what he knew. Playboyand Esquire followed up with articles.

In 1989, Barbara Honegger came out with her book October Surprise; shed been a loyal Reagan staffer until she left out of disillusionment with some of the practices shed observed. Honegger said she was present on inauguration day when she heard Reagan say to tell the Iranians that the deal is off if that [last] hostage is not freed.

In early November 1989, Ari Ben-Menashe was arrested in L.A. The Mossad agent was charged with having violated the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, by attempting to sell Iran three C-130 transport planes with a false end-user certificate. Israeli master spy Rafi Eitan was worried that Ben-Menashe was in a position to blow wide open the U.S.-Israeli arms-to-Iran network, whose tentacles had extended everywhere: down to Central and South America, through London, into Australia, across to Africa, deep into Europe. Sure enough, Ben-Menashe was soon squawking to reporters. He implicated Bush and Gates in the October Surprise. [Watch Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura on truTV]

[I]n 1990, PBSs Frontline aired a program on the October Surprise that included a sound bite of Reagan playing golf with Bush in Palm Springs and saying hed tried some things the other way to free the hostages but that the details were classified. Oops, open mouth and insert foot, Mr. Former President.