Why did U. S. participation in the Iran-Contra Affair become a scandal?

A. President Reagan’s unsuccessful negotiations with Nicaragua failed to retrieve U. S. hostages from Iran.
B. It contradicted government policy by negotiating with terrorists and illegally funding the Contras.
C. President Reagan’s support of terrorist groups in Lebanon weakened U. S. relations with other Middle Eastern nations.
D. It violated U. S. principles by refusing to fund the Contras despite promises to assist them.

B

Explanation:

Soon after taking control of Congress, the Democrats passed the Boland Amendment, which restricted the activities of the CIA and the Department of Defense in foreign conflicts.

The Amendment was specifically aimed at Nicaragua, where anti-communist Contras were battling the communist Sandinista government.

Reagan had described the Contras as "the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers." But much of their funding, to that point, had come via Nicaragua's cocaine trade, hence Congress' decision to pass the Boland Agreement.

Still, the president instructed his National Security Advisor, Robert McFarlane, to find a way to assist the drug-dealing Contras, regardless of the cost-political or otherwise.

sitting in that one chair where he could get shot at was his worst decision.