ELLIS RuEIN LA.w 0F:FICES, P.A.

28!1 NO ~THE A ST ;;?ST,. T E R RA C E

MIAMI, f' L ORJOA 3 31 37

1305) 157 45 - 54500

Eu.ts S . R11lS I N
Clt l .. IN AL I.AW
l'UOSONAL t HJ Ull Y A NO W RO NG,U L DU.TH
lll[G t S T l:lll:O G CHC,.AL P RACT tCI:

Nz ~soN A . FA~KBZB , JB .

Ca. .un..zs H . SIN CLAill

August 31, 1978

Honorable Louis Stokes, Chairman.

Select Committee on Assassinati ons
U. S . House ·of Representatives
3331 House Office Building, Annex 2
Washington, D. C. 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman :
This office is legal counsel for E . Howard Hunt, Jr . , who
you have subpoenaed during the current year regarding your
. __ . investigations. It is mY understanding that several sched-
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. .:. .· ..··.uled appearances by Mr. Hunt have been cancelled by your
-.·. -.;· -·· .. committee, although Mr. Hunt remains most anxious to clarify
· the, situation, and to respond to any of the committee's
. · . ··:"".< questions.
·.:_-~?·<·' ~~.:{-N£;/ ·i t appears . most· imperative that you allow my_ to cl~ent
· . ,; :.: . app-ear before your- committee in the public sessions that
: . ::. ··you· _are scheduling for the: balance of this year . I enclose
' . - a::· copy of what purports: to. be. disclosures from your coumittee
· ·· .. p~i;sonnel to reporters and staff correspondents employed by
-- ·· . ~he · Sunday News Journal of Wilmington , Delaware . The article
·speaks · for itself, and-was picked up and carried by the wire
. _,: . services. It . is e"'{ident to _this reader that your credibility
and· that of ·your· committee members and staff has been com-
:.- . __·_ pletely compromised , refuted . and destroyed - not to mention
~~:.:~-=-~.·-~hat of E . . H~ar~ Hll!lt ,.: :Jr . . You are the Chairman. and the
tf~'i~:co~ttee , that liay~.:; been p~omis~ng the public no prior. re- .
~ :. · :"":-: ·· ·· leases ~ no leaks ;~ no : ·smearing of witnesses before they appear·
::~ ..:~-. - · before . ·your counnittee . .. AND- NOW THIS. Since you have seen
-~.::-,,~ -~ ~ . ~Jt._. to release : this ~· infopnation ~o a . news source., may I . re-
) ~ ~::·:~~ .--_-Ci~ st - -. nay·, . demand i:: th:at ..yo·~ innnediately send this writer
-- -:=-'~:,?_:-::;:- . ::- a~-' true - facsimile· ·of·. the~. ;·secret CIA memorandum .- . . initialed"
. · _'/·:._-:~ "~" -'-' b'y'· Richard _M.-:: Helms : and.- Jcimes·-J. Angleton .. It is also . re-
·: .._. : ··... quested that.., you provide· me·_ with· a list of -the names. and
.- ·-~~:· ... · -.. addresses. of the. CIA_ sources : .'.'who- have ·provided the assassi-
. . ·.-.-.· :~ :~- riation· connnittee__with ma_t erial pertaining to Hunt's alleged
. -- . :·P.resence
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·· in Dallas . " ·
 Honorable Louis Stokes, · chairzrian · August . 31, 1978
Select -Committee 6n Assassinations Page Two

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. . .
I. realize -that a-. spqkeswoman fo.r your colmnittee·; ', Dawn Miller,
has refused comment on the _alleged memo "because :.. of · colnmittee
rules"; hqwever, since your- release ·of the- memo and .report ·
of your - CIA sources to newspaper reporters, it appears to me
that you have ·already waived such rules. _ The least · the com~
mittee could do now is - to provide the accused with copies of
the "indictment."
Will you also be kind enough to provide me with a copy of
the resolutions ·establishing your committee and its juris-
diction, and a copy of any rules of procedure pertaining to
the rights of witnesses and their attorneys, .forthwith . I

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IT IS HEREBY REQUESTED THAT E. HOWARD HUNT ·,~ · JR. , BE CALLED AS
A WITNESS BEFORE . YOUR COMMITTEE AT THE. EARLIEST POSSIBLE TIME,
AT A PUBLIC SESSION,·' IN ORDER THAT HE MAY ATTEMPT TO SALVAGE
WHAT IS LEFT"- OF- HIS NAME ~ AND CAREER SO GRIEVOUSLY DAMAGED · BY
THE ACTIONS OF . YOUR COMMITTEE. ..'. '- .- --
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. :.

May _I hear from you~-- i~~~i~tely;:~~- ! .:must· arra~ge my_._schedules -

accordi~gly .-" · · ,. · · ··· -.: -_,.. :_-, . _. . _ . . _·: . _.
. ·v~ry _ t~uly · yours :, --~- -., . -. · <·<,·;_
:·. .
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C.ntral In~ Aoency
WothUigtot1, D.C. 20'°-'
(703) 351·7616

21 August 1978
Herbert E. Hetu
Director of Nile Affairs

MEMORANDUM FOR: See Distribution

FROM :

SUBJECT: Joe Trento Story

of the
ar 1c e Joe Trento has wr tten en 1 e , "Was
Howard Hunt in Dallas the Day JFK Died." It
drags out the old "mole" story 1s well 1s the
one on Hunt.

The Director was asked about the story today •

in Dal las.

We will need to consider what response the

Agency should make to inquiries.
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Distribution: •
~enridge
OLC
,OGC

AtprQ d {,or Releas e

. . OA\o • !'P.A.R 18SJ .

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U N.OAY NEWS JOURNAL of 20 August 1978, Wilmington, Delaware
----..:.::~-..~;~H~~~D_ lfUNT IN DALLAS -lHE--DAY 41-l__Ql[il>y~-- irentofeacqule Powe-rs
·- -- - ~ --=---- ---- -
- -~ A.secret CIA 111emo says that E. Howard-Hunt '"was fn D~lla~. the day John f.
- -- • • :~ -· :::: ...=:--

Kennedy was murdered and that top Agency officials plotted to cover up Hunt's
presence there. Some CIA sources speculate that Hunt thought he was assigned
by higher ups to arrange the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. Sources say Hunt.
convicted in the Watergate conspiracy in 1974. was acting chief of the CIA
station in Mexico City 1n the weeks prior to the Kennedy assassination.
Oswald was in Mexico City and met with two Soviet KGB agents at the Russian
enf>assy there innediately before leaving for Dallas. according to the official
Warren Corrmission Report. The 1966 secret memo~ now in the hands of the
House Assassination Conlnittee places Hunt in Dallas November 22. 1963.
Richard H. Helms, fonner CIA director and James J. Angle~on, former Cl chief,
initialed the memo according to investigators who made the fnfonnation available
tothe 511tnday News Journal. According to sources close to the Select Cornnittee
on Assassinations, the document reveals: Three years after Kenndy's murder
and shortly after Helms and Angleton were elevated to their highest position
in CIA they discussed the fact that Hunt was in Dallas on the day of the
assassination and that his presence there had to be kept secret; Helms and
Angleton thought that news of Hunt's presence in Dallas would be damaging
to the ~gency should it leak out; Helms and ~ngleton felt that a cover story
givi_ng Hunt an alibi for bei_ng elsewhere the d~ of the assassination"ought to
be considered".
Hunt, reached Friday at his Miami, Florida home, denied that he was in
Dallas on November 22, 1963 and denied that he had been in Mexico City anytime
ater 1961. Hunt sa1d that he was in tlash1.ngton the day of the Kenne_dy murder.
• ••• I have plenty of witnesses. l took off at noon that day and went
shoppi_ng and had a chinese dinner in downtown Washi_ngton with my wife.•
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never heard ofttte Rlemo's exfstence. - CIA

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sources who hav~. provided the
assassination comnittee with material pertaining to Hunt's alleged presence
1n Dallas. say that Hunt's story about shopping in downtown Washington was a
c~ver stor1 concoc~d as a result of the memo. ~hey say_. ail Hunt's witnesses
are CIA arra.nged and th.at hts wife cannot be questioned because she was killed
1n a plane crash. '!he assass1nat1on conrnittee will open hearings this fall
on the Kennedy murder. Dawn Mtller. spokeswoman for the c~f ttee, s11d that
there would be •no consnent on the report of a memo.• We w111 be holding detailed
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beari.ngs in Septeniler. Because of conrnittee rules. that is 111 I am permitted
to s~.·

Conrntttee sources told the Sunday News Journal that both Helms and
Angleton had be~n questioned b¥ COl'IJlli~tee 1nyest1gators but that the issue
of the memo was not raised .with either witness. Sources say H~lms told
the con1nittee he could not answer specific questions on the CIA's involvement
because of "tnability to remember dates." Helms faulty memory on Ill's 1nvolve-
inent tn Chile. led to his sentencing
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last year on two counts "of withholdi_ng
1nfonnation from Co_ngress, a ch~r9e reduced from perjury by order~of
President Carte-r. Helms could not he reached for conJnent. A secretary said
that ne was out of town and would not be available,
When Angleton was que~tio~ed by commi~~e staffers, h~ was •evasive"
accord1_n9 to a sourc~ \ilhQ was p~sent. ~91eton could not be reached for
c()J11llent. ~ked to explain wtey a pot~nti. ally da~agi_ng coverup plot would be
put out on paper. one ~igh leyel CIA sourc~ said, "The memo is very odd. It
was almost os 1f Angleton was informi.ng Helms, who had just become Director,
that there was • skeleton 1n the family closet th~t had to be. ~aken care of

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--- - -- -... --- --- ·-- - · -==:==-===-==
was his response~-==:=====::::.;:_;: ===- -:.

__ One corrmi ttee source s~ ~the memo "shows ·:the CIA 1-;.volvement in th~
Kennedy case could run into the CIA hierarchy. lie are "trying not to-get
ahead of ourselves but the mind boggl~s . •

As llaxk part of its $5 million expenditure on the Kennedy and Martin

Luther King assassinations. the COf11111ttee contracted a Cambridge. mass •.
sonics finn to review tape recordings made as shots were fired at the Kennedy
mtorcade. The fim has provided the comn ittee's technical staff with new
evidence which shows that four shots and not three were fired at the Kennedy
car.
Sources say this would have made it mpossible for Oswald to act alone •
. •combined with th.e memo covering up Hunt's involvement in Dallas that day,
what"' have so far puts a real dent in the Harren Consnissfon version,• a
conmittee source contends.
Helms and ~gleton currently are targets of an internal CIA probe and
a new Senate intelligence co111T1ittee investigation into the possibility of
that the Soviet KGB penetrated the CIA with a mole, or higher level double agent.
· Cleveland Cram, the former CIA station chief in Ottawa, Canada, was called
out of retirement to inves~fgate ~ngleton's and Helms' role in the penetration.
Cram came across the Hunt memo in his "mole study" one investigator.suspects.
The urgency of the mole investigation within the Agency has reached •a more
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intense level since the memo was discovered" according to a source close to the
internal inves~igation . Herbert E. Hetu, public affairs director of the CIA~
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told the Sunday News Journal, MJ had heard rumors of such a memo but have been
unable to track them down. I checked with our liaison with the assassination
corrmittee and he didn't know about it. • The possibility of a •mole" or double
agent 1n the CIA 1n connection ~ith Oswald was first brought to light in Edward

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~ , :~·te-tti~ JiOOK;_~Cl~~c~ -iior-!d-=Of~-Oswal~t boOt_
details Oswal-d's ties with,. U~ ~v1et and -Cuban-;; nt~l-ttgen~·: --Acc~-;in~--~;;-~
- ...:::.. -
Epstein's editor at Reader's Digest Press which published the book, Angleton'·
was a main source for the author. In. 1964, a Soviet defector named Uri Nosenko
told the CIA that Oswald did not act as a Russian agent 1n the Kennedy
assassination. for year, accordi.ng to the book, a battle within· the Agency
ensued as to whether or not Nosenko w~s te111pg the truth . That battle ended
tn 1976 when Nosenko w~s accepted as ~ genuine defector and put on the CIA
payroll and given a new identity.
Accordi_ng to the book, Angl~ton urge~ ~at Nosenko not be accepted because
he believed the Russian to be a double agent. Hunt's appearance on the scene
1n Dallas and in Hexf co City et the time of the DJrder adds stre.ngth ·to a theory
shared by some internal ClA 1nves~igators. They believe Oswald.was working for
US 1nte11.1gence that he was ordered to infiltrate the KGB and that this

explains his life in Russ1a.

They alsQ believe ~at Oswald proved to be so unstable that he was
•handled by the KGB into becomi.ng a triple agent and assigned for the Dallas
job . • The same inves~igators theorize that Hunt was-in Dallas that day on the
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orders of a high level CIA official who in reality was a KGB mole. Hunt allegedly .;
tho.ught he was to arrange that Oswald be murdered because he had turned traitor.
Actually he was to kill Oswald to prevent him from ever testifying and revealing
the Russians had ordered him to kill Kennedy. the CIA sources speculate.
CIA f nyes~igators are most concerned that either Helms or ~gleton might
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be th.~t mole. Hunt first detailed the existence of a small CIA assassination
tearo in an interview with the New York Times while fn prison 1n Deced>er 1975

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_.._ " .·- for
- -·- - in- Watergate.
his-role
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1'he-assassination 5quad, allege dly 1'eade·d bi:--
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Carl Boris Pash, was ordered to eliminate suspected double agents and
low ranking officials. Pash's assassination unit was assigned to Angleton,
other CIA sources say. Hunt's fondness for strange ·plots has been widely
reported. He is alleged to have concocted schemes ranging from Watergate
to a plot to assassinate columnist Jack Anderson . Hunt is also th~ author

of 45 spy novels.
It was also learned from CIA and conmittee sources that during the time
that the Warren Comnission was investi.gating the Kennedy assassination, Angleton
met regularly with a member of the Conmission--the late Allan Dulles, then head

of the CIA and Angleton's boss.

Dulles, on a weekly basis, briefed Angleton about the direction of the

investigation.
Angleton, according to sources, in turn briefed Raymond Rocca, his closest
aid and the CIA's offici al liaison with the corrmission . Rocca, now retired,
was unavailable for conment. His fonner wife, who also worked for Angleton,
is now working for Cleveland Cram as part of the CIA mole investigation team."

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