---
category: Iran-Contra
summary: Wilcher was working daily for Russbacher and wanted to ask Janet Reno, the
  new Attorney General, to grant immunity from prosecution to Russbacher so that he
  might testify to the government about activities inside the CIA.
tags:
- Person
- IranContra
- CIA
---

[Gunther Karl Russbacher](/people/gunther-karl-russbacher/) was a client of attorney [Paul Wilcher](/people/paul-wilcher/). Wilcher believed Russbacher to be a political prisoner, persecuted because he allegedly flew former President [George H.W. Bush](/people/george-hw-bush/) to [Paris](/places/paris/) to meet with leading Iranians to make a deal to supply [Iran](/places/iran/) with weapons in exchange for that government keeping the 52 American hostages until after the November election, ensuring [Ronald Reagan](/people/ronald-reagan/)'s victory. The deal was that the hostages would be delivered to [Ronald Reagan](/people/ronald-reagan/) as soon as Reagan was inaugurated in 1981. This came to be known as the [October Surprise](/events/october-surprise/).[^1]

Wilcher was working daily for Russbacher and wanted to ask [Janet Reno](/people/janet-reno/), the new Attorney General, to grant immunity from prosecution to Russbacher so that he might testify to the [government](/places/united-states/) about activities inside the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/).[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.