Barnes, now 85 years old, told reporter Peter Baker that he and former Texas governor John Connally visited one Middle Eastern capital after another in the summer of 1980, “meeting with a host of regional leaders to deliver a blunt message to be passed to Iran: Don’t release the hostages before the election. Mr. Reagan will win and give you a better deal.” At the end of the trip, Barnes said Connally reported to William J. Casey, the chairman of Reagan’s campaign and later CIA director, “briefing him about the trip in an airport lounge.”
Source: Once Ridiculed, the October Surprise Deal Is Now Confirmed
