Rockefeller Aide's Tie to 1980 'October Surprise' Mystery

Some of the most intriguing documents discovered in the House “October Surprise” Task Force files related to Joseph Verner Reed, a longtime aide to Chase Manhattan Bank Chairman David Rockefeller. Starting in early 1979, Reed played a key role in getting the Carter administration to let the Shah of Iran into the United States, the act that sparked the seizure of the U.S. Embassy and 52 American hostages in November 1979.

The Task Force documents suggest that Reed also knew about attempts by the Reagan-Bush campaign to disrupt President Jimmy Carter’s negotiations to free the hostages before Election 1980, preventing what then-vice presidential candidate George H.W. Bush dubbed Carter’s “October Surprise” of a last-minute hostage release.