Context of 'April 1981: President Reagan’s Counsellor Praises PROMIS to Prosecutors'

Edwin Meese, Counsellor to President Ronald Reagan, praises the PROMIS application at a gathering of prosecutors. He calls it “one of the greatest opportunities for [law enforcement] success in the future.” PROMIS is a database search system to help prosecutors find information about cases and people involved in them. [Wired News, 3/1993]

Attorney General Edwin Meese becomes directly involved in the Reagan administration’s secret plan to sell arms to Iran, when he is asked to render a legal opinion supporting the plan. [United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 8/4/1993] Months later, Meese will conduct an “investigation” of the Iran-Contra affair (see November 21-25, 1986), a possible conflict of interest in light of his legal opinion to justify the arms sales.

Former Attorney General Edwin Meese is interviewed by the House Judiciary Committee about the Inslaw affair. He says that he cannot recall any discussions with former Justice Department official Lowell Jensen about office automation or case tracking at the department. He adds that if there were such a discussion, it would have been casual conversation. [US Congress, 9/10/1992] However, Jensen previously said he discussed the “whole Inslaw matter” with Meese (see June 19, 1987).