JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM
IDENTIFICATION FORM
AGENCY INFORMATION
AGENCY : HPSCI
RECORD NUMBER :
135-10001-10243
RECORDS SERIES :
AGENCY FILE NUMBER :
ORIGINATOR : ROCK
Date: 09/02/94
Page: 1
CIA HAS NO OBJECTION TO
DECLASSIFICATION AND/OR
RELEASE OF CIA INFORMATION
IN THIS DOCUMENT AS SANITIZED
DOCUMENT INFORMATION
FROM : OLSEN,
ΤΟ : FILE
ROBERT
TITLE
:
8/20/98 <
Kp 12 apr 99
CIA HAS NO OBJECTION TO
DECLASSIFICATION AND/OR
RELEASE OF CIA INFORMATION
IN THIS DOCUMENT AS SANITIZED
арг
Kp 12 apr 99
DATE : 03/06/75
PAGES : 10
SUBJECTS :
INTERVIEW OF MARCH 4, 1975, WITH E. HOWARD HUNT AND HIS DAUGHTER, LISA
HUNT.
DOCUMENT TYPE
CLASSIFICATION
RESTRICTIONS :
:
PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT
:
S
OPEN IN FULL
CURRENT STATUS : ○
DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 09/02/94
OPENING CRITERIA :
COMMENTS :
-
CONTAINED IN FILE ENTITLED, "HUNT, E. HOWARD INTERVIEWED 3/4/75"
O/R-I (AA)"
SANITIZED BY CIA.
2025 Release under the President John F. Kennedy
Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992
[R]
ITEM IS RESTRICTED
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 1
COMMISSION ON CIA ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES
Washington, DC 20500
Nelson A. Rockefeller,
John T. Connor
Chairman
C. Douglas Dillon
Erwin N. Griswold
Lane Kirkland
Lyman L. Lemnitzer
Ronald Reagan
Edgar F. Shannon, Jr.
―SECRET/SENSITIVE
MEMORANDUM TO:
File
FROM:
SUBJECT:
David W. Belin,
Executive Director
March 6, 1975
Robert Olsen
Interview of March 4, 1975, with E. Howard Hunt
and his Daughter, Lisa Hunt
The interview commenced at approximately 4:00 PM and was conducted
at 712 Jackson Place.
185
Mr. Hunt is presently residing at 1245 N. E. 82th Street, Miami, Florida
33138. He has a silent telephone number of 305 758-6159.
Lisa Hunt resides at 3406 Nimitz Road, Apt. A-2, Kensington, Maryland
20795. She has an unlisted telephone number which she declined to
give us.
She was born on March 9, 1951.
The interview concerned allegations that Mr. Hunt was involved in the
assassination of President John Kennedy and other public figures. He
is aware of the public statements made by Dick Gregory and Ralph
Schoenman in early February 1975 relative to his being involved in the
assassination of President Kennedy. He states that most of the infor-
mation that Mr. Gregory and Mr. Schoenman referred to is drawn from
a book by Tad Szulc entitled, E. Howard Hunt, the Compulsive Spy.
Hunt states that the book is saturated with errors. One of those errors
is the claim that Hunt was Chief of Station in Mexico City in the fall of
1963.
CIA HAS NO OBJECTION TO
DECLASSIFICATION AND/OR
RELEASE OF THIS DOCUMENT
AS CARIZED (1)(b);
12 Aug 94
SECRET/SENSITIVE
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 2
SECRET/SENSITIVE
The Bay of Pigs Background
Hunt states that in 1960 he was assigned to the job of organizing a
"government in exile" for Cuba among Cuban exiles in Florida. The
plan adopted by the National Security Council under President Eisenhower
called for the formation and training of a brigade of Cuban exiles who
would invade Cuba, establish a provisional government, receive recog-
nition by the United States and overthrow the Castro government. The
brigade had its own air force and was otherwise fully equipped by the
United States Government. The operation, however, was not supposed
to be one involving United States Government participation. The venture
was to involve training and launching from outside the United States.
In connection with his political activity and the organization of the
government in exile, Hunt went to Mexico in 1960. Shortly thereafter
the Mexican government demanded that they leave and he returned to
the United States. Richard Nixon, then Vice President, was working
closely with the CIA on the project.
When President Kennedy was elected in November 1960, he was briefed
on the project and confirmed the plans, including the plan to provide air
cover to the invading Cuban force. In early 1961, however, the Kennedy
administration decided that the political organization of the Cuban
government in exile would have to be broadened so as to include all
elements of the Cuban society. Even radical leftwingers were to be
included. Hunt was assigned the job of convincing the leaders of the
Cuban community to accept such a broadening of the political structure
of the government in exile. Hunt found this to be an impossible job to
accomplish because the Cubans recruited to make up the invasion force
had been promised that the government in exile would be solidly anti-
Castro and anti-communist. Hunt asked to be relieved of his assignment
because he thought it was an impossible one to achieve and he returned
to Washington to work on propaganda and similar non-political aspects
of the forthcoming invasion.
Within twenty-four hours prior to the time that the Cuban brigade was
to hit the beaches at the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy made two
critical decisions that affected the final outcome: he cancelled plans
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 3
SECRET/SENSITIVE
2
SECRET/SENSITIVE
3
24
remaining
for an airstrike on Cuba which would have destroyed the six r
combat planes that were available to Castro; second, the order that
there be no air cover for the invading brigade. The result was that
the invading force was chopped up while it was still in the water; the
ships carrying the armored vehicles were sunk, as were the supply
ships, and the troops were left abandoned on the shore. The remnant
of the Cuban Air Force was entirely adequate to demolish the invasion
fleet.
Hunt concedes that he was bitter about the decisions made by President
Kennedy, but he primarily blames Arthur Schlesinger, Adlai Stevenson
and Robert Kennedy for advising the President to follow the course he
chose. He particularly feels that the Cubans had been recruited with
certain promises and that those promises were withdrawn at the last
minute. Hunt says, in fact, that the decision not to make the airstrike
and not to provide air cover was made after the invasion fleet had arrived
at the point of no return, i. e., when radio communication to the invasion
fleet had already terminated for security reasons.
After the Bay of Pigs disaster, Hunt worked with Allen Dulles until early
1962 at which time Dulles was replaced as DCI. In January 1962, Hunt
was assigned to the Domestic Operations Division of the Deputy Directorate
for Plans. He was involved in handling proprietaries based in the United
States, which have their impact abroad. His immediate superior was
Stanley Gaines, who was either Chief of Operations or Executive Officer
of the Domestic Operations Division and Tracy Barnes, who was Division
Chief of DOD (Barnes is a cousin by marriage to Vice President
Rockefeller.)
24
The proprietaries which Hunt was engaged in managing were [Continental
Press which prepared news and radio broadcasts for foreign use;
[Allied-Pacific Publishing Company of Bombay] which was engaged in
publishing textbooks for Indian schools; the Rome Daily American, a
cover operation; and Fodor's Travel Guides, a proprietary which Hunt
questions as to whether it had any use. (Fodor's had been set up in
1946 as a cover operation but served no apparent use during the years
Hunt was with DOD.
24
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 4
SECRE
CRET/SENSITIVE
FUNNY
-SECRET/SENSITIVE
4
The headquarters for the DOD was at 1717 H Street, N. W., in
Washington, D. C., and then later it was on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Hunt's assignment with DOD lasted until the spring of 1965.
During the period from January 1962 until 1965, he states that he never
traveled to Mexico or any other Latin American country. His first
trip to Mexico after 1961 was in 1970, when he traveled there for the
Mullen Company after his retirement from the CIA.
Hunt's Whereabouts on November 22, 1963
Hunt states that he had never been in Dallas until 1971, with a possible
exception of a change of planes on his way to Mexico with his family in
1960. He does not recall whether that change of planes took place in
Dallas or in Houston. In any event, he and his family never left the
airport on that occasion.
He has never had any contact, directly or indirectly, with Lee Harvey
Oswald, Jack Ruby or anyone else thought to have been associated with
the assassination of the President.
He was never in New Orleans in 1963 and has never had anything whatever
to do with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, which he identifies as a
communist organization.
During the period from January 1962 to 1965, he traveled once or twice
per year to India, two or three times per year to Paris, once or twice
per year to London, and, during that period, he traveled two or three
times to Rome. His only domestic travel in 1963 was between Washington
and New York. All travel, whether domestic or international, was in his
own name.
Hunt states that in 1961 he used the pseudonym of Edward J. Hamilton in
With the
connection with his work on the Cuban project in Florida.
exception of that pseudonym and the pseudonym he used on the identifi-
cation papers provided him for the Ellsberg break in, he has never used
a pseudonym.
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 5
SECRET/SENSITIVE
T
SECRET/SENSITIVE
10
On November 22, 1963, he and his wife were driving on H Street at about
9th in Washington, D. C., when he turned the car radio on and learned
that the President had been shot. He and Mrs. Hunt had been shopping
in a Chinese grocery store in that immediate vicinity, immediately prior
to their getting into the car. The Hunts lived at 5215 Balton Road,
Sumner, Maryland. On their way home they drove to the Sidwell Friends
school on upper Wisconsin Avenue and picked up their younger daughter,
Kevan. Kevan told them that Robert and Courtenay Kennedy, children of
Attorney General Robert Kennedy, were students in the same school and
had been picked up by the Secret Service. The children in the school
knew that the President had been shot.
Mr. Hunt states that the following persons are witnesses to the fact that
he was here in Washington, D. C., at the time the President was shot
in Dallas:
1.
His son, Howard St. John Hunt, then ten years of age.
2.
His daughter, Lisa, then twelve years of age.
3.
His daughter, Kevan, then eleven years of age.
4.
The family maid, Mary Trayner, now employed by a family
living at 4806 DeRussey Parkway, Chevy Chase, Maryland,
and whose phone number is 652-2930.
Mr. Hunt believes that he was either taking the day off from work as
a part of annual leave on November 22, 1963, or he may have been
recuperating from a hospitalization for ulcers. He had been hospitalized
at about that period at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D. C.
Mr. Hunt states that he held the following oil company charge account
and credit cards in 1963 and that such accounts may provide corroboration
as to his presence in Washington, D. C., on November 22, 1963:
Esso Oil, Gulf Oil, Texaco Oil, Cities Service Oil, Brooks Brothers
(New York), Garfinkle's, Woodward and Lothrop, Sears Roebuck & Co.,
Hecht Co. He also states that telephone records might be checked with
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 6
_SECRET/SENSITIVE
SECRET/SENSITIVE
KANGEMINISEREYMA
Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Co.; that the CIA might have travel
voucher records showing his travel during that year and that CIA should
also have records on the dates on which he took sick leave or annual
leave.
Mr. Hunt categorically denies that he has been involved in any way what-
soever with the assassination of President Kennedy, Senator Robert
Kennedy, Martin Luther King, or any other person either within or without
the United States. He similarly denies any participation or involvement
whatever in the attempted assassination of Governor Wallace, the
disappearance of Congressman Hale Boggs or the shooting of Senator
Stennis.
He states that in connection with the planning for the Cuban invasion in
1961, he did suggest that Fidel Castro should be assassinated either before
or contemporaneously with that invasion, but his suggestion was not acted
upon or otherwise approved.
Attached are copies of a press statement made by Mr. Hunt in early
February 1975 in Florida, in which he denies the allegations made by
Dick Gregory and others with respect to his involvement in the assassi-
nation of President Kennedy and a letter written to Mr. Hunt by the former
family maid, Mary Traynor.
Lisa Hunt confirms her father's account that he was at home with the
family in the afternoon and evening of November 22, 1963. She recalls
that her father assembled the family in front of the television set. He
wanted them all to watch the program because it was an important
historical matter. They were all shocked about the assassination of
the President.
cc: D. Belin
Senior Counsels
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 7
SECRET/SENSITIVE
me
The allegations made by Dick Gregory and others connecting
to the murder of President John Kennedy are totally without foundati
They constitute a false and vicious libel.
These charges are bizarre
products of sick minds.
NW 78141
The Political Left has never been able or willing to accept the fact
that Kennedy's assass in was a man of the Left; thus the Leftist
Cin
preoccupation with finding an alternate assassin.
Dick Gregory's smear represents the ultimate in slander and
innuendo customarily characterized as McCarthyism.
The Rockefeller and other investigative committees will
probably examine Gregory's charges as indeed they should.
For my
part I would welcome a thorough high-level investigation and a full
airing of all relevant findings. Only if this takes place will I have
any hope of clearing my name and living free from the threats against
my life already made by neurotics.
I was not in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963; in fact I
never visited Dallas until eight years later. I did not meet Frank
Sturgis until 1972, nine years after we were allegedly together in
Dallas. I was not in Mexico in 1963, and I did not meet Lee Harvey
Oswald there or at any other place or time. Moreover, I shared the
nation's grief over the murder of our President. These are the facts.
Until authoritative investigative bodies make known their
judgment concerning my alleged involvement in the Kennedy murder I
will continue to bring libel actions against any and all parties
who repeat the libel. I must take this course because the libels are
prejudicial to my position before the Court now considering my
Appeal from the Watergate affair. And because the libels threaten my
only means of livelihood, as a writer. But of even greater concern to
me is that
continued publicity given to these reckless
charges could stimulate some yet-unpublicized maniac into violent
action against me and my family.
Docld:32201328 Page 8
FEB 5
1975
ADVICE AND WAIVER
Place 712
712 activill
Time 3/31/11/75
Date
Before you make any statement to, or answer any
questions from, the Commission or its investigators, you.
should understand 
that you have the right to remain silent.
If you 
choose to answer, anything you say can be used
against you 
in court.
You may consult a lawyer for advice before any questions
are put
, and may 
have a lawyer with you during questioning.
If you cannot 
afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you
before questioning 
if you wish. If you decide to answer
questions 
without a lawyer present, you still have the
right 
to stop answering at any time; or you may defer your
answer until 
you talk to a lawyer.
WAIVER
I have read and understand the foregoing advice. I
am willing to make a statement and answer questions (with)
[without] a lawyer at this time. No promises or threats
have been made to me, and no pressure or coercion of any
kind 
has been used against me.
Witness:
Witness:
Time:
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 9
Signed
Clic
OSZ ZORANGTUNG GENERICHEN BLENSK
Dear Me Hunt
3. writing
I
4805 De Pussey Paky
Chevy Chase 1 20015
72661878
om so glad you thought
૧
to me. I remember the day president
innedy was shot very well, and I certainly
pomember you were there.
.༣.
If you
with
recall, Mrs Hank's Aunt
Conie, (I am sorry I cuit remember her last nome)
19
you for a feur.
Chicago was staying
ays, and on the Friday Mis Hunt, her Aunt,
I the three chidden were going downtown
a movie matinée, behen Veronica Moppet
lled from the ferrish Embassy to tell Mosthet
at the President had been shot. Iremente
allstood around and stared at each ather
fut the teterisian on; and the
ist thing is heard was the News saying
but it was no 45 minutes since the slat
ен
you
nd been fired, and that they still did
at know how badly he had been impres
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 10

мек
I know that Mus Horts Autis
now dead, but it is possibule that
when she went bad to thicago the
may have mentioned that your
there widen the news care through to
her doughter! this Horts cousin Pholes)
Although she might not remember ite
She just may be able to covioliaratt
your story too.
I can of course remember lats
сні две
more details. It was
of day
f
that stays
staps 
in
your
the sort
mñel
I hope you a still getting
along well. Did
your morage to sell
the House on Riner Rel
Let
же
if ther
is anything I come do for you.
ав
your should rims
This Itelia remember me to her
Please que my requants to
the children,
P.S. My Phone
is 652-2930
Уставица
१
lincerely
home in sevening Many
NW 78141
Docld:32201328 Page 11