Robert McFarlane, a White House adviser who tapped Saudi royals to fund a covert war in Nicaragua and flew on a secret mission to sell arms to Iran in the scandal that shook Ronald Reagan’s presidency, has died, the Washington Post reported. He was 84.

McFarlane died on Thursday after an exacerbation of a previous lung condition, his son, Scott McFarlane told the newspaper. McFarlane lived in Washington and was hospitalized while visiting with family in Michigan.