a MEMORANDUM 1 FOR: | Inspector Generai SUBJECT: oS we - Office of General Counsel Contacts with ue: (OE Howard Hunt REFERENCE: Memorandum for All Employees from . - ES/CIA Mgt Com, dtd 23 May 73; Subj: Agency Involvement in the Watergate Case a 1. To the best of my recollection, I first met Mr. E. Howard Hunt in Japan in 1954 at which time he was stationed in Tokyo and i _was there for several weeks TDY.. I had no official business with Mr. Hunt as I recall and the meetings were casual office or office party meetings. I must have run into him casually from time to time there- after in the office as some time in the middle 1960s when he had re- turned to Washington he invited me and my wife to a cocktail buffet. I cannot remember the year let alone the month and day but.I remember ' the house was out of town in a rather secluded area up the Potomac. 2. Ido not remember any further meetings with Mr. Hunt although it is probable I saw him from time to time in or around the office until 1969 when his daughter was in a very serious series of automobile accidents. This involved Mr. Hunt.in a complicated series of legal involvemegts in which the Offic: of General Counsel tried td give him legal advice and assistance. Most of the work was done by Mr. James B. Ueberhorst who left the Office of General Counsel in 1972 to become the Administrative Officer of the courts of the State of Florida. We have queried Mr. Ueberhorst who said he has had no contact with Mr. Hunt since working with him on these legal matters except for a letter of appreciation from Mr.. Hunt for Mr. Ueberhorst's efforts. RETUR aN ra GIA Bacwproynad Ueo Cay. Do Rat Ropreduce =
3. -My next contact with Mr. Hunt was a letter from him dated April 5, 1971, stating that on his retirement he had elected an “to take full annuity instead of reduced annuity with survivor benefits «=. '.vand asked if he could now change his election. I replied in the a negative and he wrote again on White House stationery asking ifhe- “ gould change the election if he were re-employed and I wrote that -.’ ‘this could be done but I saw ao p-obability of re-employment at that time. Copies of this exchange are attached. Some time during the 2) ', period of this exchange and cez tainly after my first letter of 6 May° 1971, I'remember running into Mr, Hunt at the National Airport and | expressing regret that I had to turn him down. He. said he quite understood and appreciated my interest and went on to gay he was doing very well and recovering from his financial reverses resulting from the daughter's injuries and hospital care, - oo 4. My last contact with Mr. Hunt was a telephone call to my home on 19 August 1972 in which he said he bad received:a call from a lawyer in Los Angeles named rho had - been called to appear before the Gran ury in Alexandria and was ' concerned as to whether he might be questioned about a confidential '. relationship he had with the Agency in 1952. I told Mr. Hunt to have Met pal me and I would handle the matter. My memoranda for on this episode are attached. This is the last com- munication Ihave had with Mr. Hunt. After his conviction and sentencing I saw him standing on a street corner as I drove by and | I waved but did not speak to him. 5. There appears to have been one indirect contact with Mr. Hunt in connection with a law suit about which we have no direct knowledge. All we know is that the plaintiff requested some documents and submitted a check which we returned as evidencea by the attached copy of the documents invaived, 6. Mr. Lansdale has a vague recollection of some business contact with Mr. Hunt when he was on the CA Staff, possibly in the 1950s or a little later. He has no recollection of seeing him in the past eight to ten years. . « ee cons $7 Heual De LL Srsste> Ce a[ Wee LAWRENCE R. HOUSTON General Counsel Atts a/s Orig - Adse. ; A - Watergate Case - Chrono — - OGC:LRH:mks . ae me ;