Congress had passed legislation to prohibit U.S. government aid to the Contra organization fighting the Sandanista government in Nicaragua.
A group led by Ollie North maneuvered a sale of missiles that Iran wanted (this was during the Iran/Iraq war). In return they used their influence to get the hostages released.
In the meantime, North's group (Cap Weinberger and John Poindexter were accused of involvement in this or at least having knowledge) transfered portions of the money from the missile sale to the Contra organization.
Complications in this very twisted affair included accusations that cocaine was involved in return for that money, that the group was acting under orders from Reagan officials or Reagan himself, that the CIA knew or didn't know, that private drug dealers knew or didn't know - it gets so convoluted from there I'll let you read about it elsewhere.
A couple of political issues involved were the propriety of Congress to direct foreign policy in this manner and the propriety of NSC officials to direct foreign policy matters at all. Juicy stuff.
Good luck in your argument, but don't expect to convince a True Believer of anything.