Oliver North and Fawn Hall, who were at center of Iran-Contra Scandal, tie the knot four decades after being found guilty

Former Marine and onetime national security aide in the Reagan administration, Oliver L. North, and his former secretary, Fawn Hall, who were at the center of the arms-for-cash scandal known as the Iran-Contra affair around four decades ago, tied the knot in Virginia in August 2025.

According to the NYT News Service, North, 81, and Hall, 65, got married on August 27, 2025, in a civil ceremony in Arlington County. A copy of their marriage certificate revealed that the ceremony was officiated by Dean S. Worcester, a retired Virginia district court judge.

North and Hall emerged as two of the most prominent figures in the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s. At the time, North was a lieutenant colonel in the Marines and a National Security Council aide who riveted Americans with his defiant testimony about the sale of American arms to Iran.


According to CNN, North was involved in selling weapons to Iran and then using the proceeds to fund anti-communist rebels, known as the Contras, in Nicaragua. After the scandals were revealed in 1986, those involved defended their actions as necessary to secure the release of American hostages being held in Lebanon by Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia.

The profits were secretly diverted to right-wing Nicaraguan rebels known as the Contras, who were fighting the country's leftist government. Congress had cut off military aid to the Contras in 1984. North, who was a veteran of the Vietnam War, testified before the congressional committees investigating the matter while wearing a uniform pinned with ribbons.

Fawn Hall’s role in the Iran-Contra scandal

Hall was North's loyal secretary. She acknowledged hiding documents under her clothing and shredding papers in a frantic effort to protect North. North's testimony, in 1987, included questions about his purchases, with money earmarked for the covert operation, from a store called Parklane Hosiery.

Was not aware of father’s relationship with Hall, said North’s daughter Sarah Katz

Sarah Katz, one of North's daughters, said she and her three siblings were "not aware" that their father was in a relationship with Hall. She said they had not seen Hall in decades until Hall attended their mother's funeral late last year.

"We were not at the wedding because we didn't know it was happening," Katz said in an interview Tuesday night. "And mostly we hope it won't impact our relationship with our dad because we do love him, and we're still in the process of mourning our mother." Elizabeth North, Oliver North's wife of 56 years and the mother of their four children, died in November, 2024 at age 80.

North was found guilty of destroying official documents

In 1989, North was found guilty of destroying official documents, accepting a $13,800 home security system as a gift, and obstructing Congress by preparing a false chronology of the arms sales to Iran, according to the NYT News Service. He was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to perform 1,200 hours of community service. A federal judge later dismissed the case, and North said he felt "fully, completely" vindicated.

He went on to become an author, president of the National Rifle Association, and a conservative commentator, including as host of a Fox News Channel show called "War Stories with Oliver North."