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[12]| 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992 |
[14].
[16]@) Occ 74-1755
[17]30 September 1974
[19]MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
[21]SUBJECT: Meeting with E. Howard Hunt Re His Memoirs, "Undercover"
[23]1, On 28 September 1974 Ray Rocca, Deputy Chief/CI Staff, °
[24]and I met in the DCD Washington Field Office with E. Howard Hunt,
[25]his attorney William A. Snyder, Jr., and Snyder's associate
[26]Thomas W. Coons. As the meeting began, Hunt asked if it was -
[27]being tape-recorded; I assured him that it was not. He said he did |
[28]not care; but that, if it were to be recorded, he would like to know.
[29]We then embarked upon the review according to the plan under which
[30]we would demand the deletion of three items as classified and then
[31]proceed to the remaining 29 items, only if Hunt was cooperative on
[32]the first three. He and his lawyers appeared very cooperative, and
[33]accordingly, the meeting continued to cover all 32 items.
[35]Pe 2. Changes were agreed to in the items set forth in paragraphs
[37]° 12, 14, and 25 of the CI Staff memorandum of 19 September 1974.
[38]These appear at pages 73, 80-83, and 115 of the galley proof and
[39]concern the fabrication of the Shanghai post for a Mexican operation,
[40]the entry into the Guatemalan Embassy in Mexico City, and the joint
[41]CiA-Uruguayan telephone monitoring operation. The wording of the
[42]agreed changes is as' shown on the attached copies of the pertinent
[43]pages of the galley proof. Essentially, these changes disguise the
[44]identity of the fabricated newspaper and remove a reference to
[45]journalists as agents; delete the word "Guatemalan"! to make the
[46]entered embassy non-specific; and delete the reference to listening
[47]posts and telephone monitoring to make that paragraph refer in more
[48]general terms to our ability to cover targets without referring to the
[49]use of electronic surveillance.
[51]. E-2 IMPDET
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[62]3. We then proceeded to the 29 items which we would like to
[64]see modified but which we could not consider classified. We made
[65]this clear to Hunt and went through them one by one, discussing our
[66]concern with each. Hunt contended that most of these items. should
[67]not be considered sensitive since they had been publicized extensively;
[68]in some cases confirmed in testimony; and,in the case of other ;
[69]items, the principals involved were dead. However, he agreed to
[70]changes in the items referred to in paragraphs 1, 3, 17, and 32 of
[72]the Cl Staff memorandum of 19 September. These involve the deletions
[73]of the names of Henry Pleasants and Frank Holcomb, both now
[74]retired under cover; a direct reference to joint operations with the
[75]British in Hong Kong against China; and the wording of his reference
[76]to CIA alias documentation used by the Watergate burglars. The
[77]language of this last item will be changed so that it no longer leaves
[78]the impression that the documentation was prepared by the Agency
[80]for this operation. 2
[82]4. When we had finished, Hunt and his lawyers emphasized
[83]as they had mentioned earlier in the meeting that it might be very
[84]difficult to get the publisher to agree to changes in the unclassified
[85]items. Mr. Snyder offered to present all of the items to the publisher
[87]| for change without distinguishing between the classified and unclassi-
[89]fied items. He said he would do this without implying they were all
[91]gu classified. I felt it necessary to turn down his offer because of the
[92], risk of the publisher being unwilling to accept that many changes
[93]with the result that we would have to go back to him on the three
[94]classified items, thus presenting a situation similar to our retraction
[95]of previously demanded deletions in the Marchetti book. I think
[96]there would be some danger of the publisher using this in his adver-
[97]tising and through reviewers for publicity purposes.
[99]5. As we were leaving, Hunt showed me what was described
[100]as a "comfort letter." This was a letter written by him to the
[101]publishers on 17 May 1974 at the publisher's request which said
[102]that in his opinion nothing in the manuscript violated any agreement
[103]between himself and the CIA, nor would subject him to prosecution
[104]under the espionage laws. As the meeting was ending, Hunt expressed
[105]his hope that no publicity would be given to it and that the Agency
[106]would not issue any kind of a'press release. In view of the Director's
[107]decision that we shall issue a press release, I took pains to persuade
[108]Hunt that public acknowledgment of the fact that we had reviewed his
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[121]‘manuscript would be in his interest as well as ours. He had referred
[123]more than once during the meeting to the need to avoid the appearance
[124]of "a bear hug"; in other words, collusion or cooperation between him
[125]and the Agency, leaving an inference that the book was designed to be
[126]a whitewash of CLA. In view of this, it was easy to convince Hunt
[127]that an Agency press release would be in his interest. I would note
[128]here, however, that both Mr. Rocca and I felt that Hunt and his
[129]lawyers were genuinely cooperative and that a press release which
[131]is too harsh or denigrates the book or Hunt's motives might be unfair —
[132]and considered by him to be in bad faith. Hunt appears to retain
[133]admiration and respect for the Agency and seems convinced that
[134]nothing in his book will harm our operations or personnel.
[136]NO <.
[137]. io :
[138]Ve / \ COMA LE
[139]HN DA RRISON, IR. (
[140]Acting General Counsel
[142]Attachments
[144]ec: Acting DDO
[145]SAB/DDO
[146]DC/CI Staff
[147]O/Security
[148]Asst. to DCI
[149]Mr. Walter Pforzheimer
[151]OGC:JDM:sin
[152]Original - OGC Subj: PUBLICATIONS
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