20-07-2013, 04:30 PM
Another aspect of Phelan's career that should have provoked some curiosity-but did not-- was Phelan's writing about Howard Hughes. In fact, the first article Phelan ever wrote for Saturday Evening Post was about Hughes. And it was through this writing that Phelan established his long term friendship with CIA agent Robert Maheu. In 1976, upon Hughes' death, Phelan did an instant book on the invisible billionaire called Howard Hughes: The Hidden Years. Loomis was again the editor. The book was a top secret project at Random House. Only Loomis and one other person there knew about it. All dealings between New York and California, where Phelan lived, were done in person or by hand delivery; no mail or phone contact. According to Phelan, two lower level members of Hughes' entourage spilled out the story of the reclusive loner's last years to him at an apartment he rented for them near Long Beach, his home at that time.[i] There are no footnotes or bibliography to the book. Not even an index. Therefore, Phelan was apparently reliant on his two lower level sources. He begins th ebook by decrying the "cult of conspiracy" that ha dgrown up around Hughes and he chides Norman Mailer, who in a recent essay, had noted Hughes' close ties to the CIA. In fact, this was a point that was not really in dispute. For example, Phelan's close friend Maheu, had gone from the CIA to running the Hughes empire. Further, some people beleive that when Maheu was unceremoniously ousted in 1970, this was really a power struggle within the Hughes holdings between two arms of the Agency. Well, in the entire book there are exactly two brief notices of the CIA in relation to Hughes: one deaing with Maheu's role as CEO, and one in which the famous Glomar Explorer episode is described. And that is it. This is the absolute bare minimum that any reporter could do in relating Hughes and the Agency. Phelan did not go an inch beyond the minimum. One could say that Phelan and Loomis were setting a paradigm for those who followed to not stray off the parameters he had outlined. (As we will see, seven years earlier, he had done the same for the coverage of the Shaw trial.)
Before Phelan ever got to New Orleans and Shaw's preliminary hearing, he had already done work for government agencies. In Garrison's files adduced for the ARRB, there is a report of a private investigator who went to visit Phelan unannounced. His pretext was that he wanted to ask him about an interview he had done for Penthouse Magazine with Clay Shaw. The investigator asked Phelan if he was familiar with reporters being used by the CIA in planting stories. Phelan said he knew of the process but that his personal ethics as a reporter would not allow him to compromise a story, or a source for a story. Further, he would never reveal the contents of any story prior to publication to anyone; especially to someone connected to a government agency. The PI now showed Phelan declassified documents revealing two reporters, one working for the Saturday Evening Post who were being used by the FBI in counterintellgience programs against the Klan. Phelan now began to grow a bit uneasy and nervously started stroking his arm.
Now the investigator showed Phelan a photocopy of an article that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in March of 1964. It was by Phelan about L. Ron Hubbard. Phelan immediately started talking about what a kook Hubbard was. He then explained how he had gotten Hubbard to open up with him during the first part of their interview by posing only softball types of questions to him. The investigator then asked who the man at Saturday Evening Post was who assigned him the article about Hubbard. Phelan said he could not recall who it was. Phelan was then asked if he was ever assigned to write an article by the FBI, CIA, or the FDA. Phelan said this had never occurred. Phelan was then shown a copy of a letter from an editor at the Post consenting for the magazine to be used by the FDA for an attack on Hubbard. Phelan read the letter slowly and again got nervous. Phelan was then asked if he had ever been asked by an agency of government to furnish either his notes for a story or his interview notes to them before his article was published. Phelan again denied this had ever happened. Again, Phelan was now shown declassified documents revealing that this was precisely what he had done in relation to his Hubbard story. In his report, the PI writes, "As Phelan read the three documents he started breathing very heavily and started making some types of moaning sounds. He then grabbed one arm and stroked it."[ii]
The reader should especially note here that not only was Phelan a willing counduit for a government agency, but he then bragged about what a good job he had done setting up Hubbard. But then when asked if he was on a covert assignment, he continually lied about this aspect of his professional life. When, in fact, to anyone who carefully examined his career, it would at the very least suggest itself. Needless to day, when the ARRB began to decalssify documents on the Garrison investigation it was revealed that Phelan again did what he had denied he had done. He had gone to the FBI and turned over documents he had attained as a result of his interview with Garrison in Las Vegas in early 1967. In an April 3, 1967 FBI memo it is revealed that R. E. Wick wrote to Cartha DeLoach that he had agreed to see Phelan reluctantly. Phelan was trying to pump Garrison for details about his investigation but was disappointed that the DA would return to criticism of the Warren Report.[iii] Having had conversations with Phelan prior to the declassification of these FBI documents, I can inform the reader that I asked him these very questions about his dealings with Garrison. That is, had he informed to any governemt agency about the DA, and had he turned over any documents from his work product. He denied doing either. He may have felt protected since in these FBi documents he requested that the FBI not reveal his name. Therefore he could maintain a false veneer of independence and deceive everyone about it. But after the ARRB review, Phelan was now exposed as lying about this crucial matter a second time. Needless to say, if the public had been informed about this past history, they would not have taken his writings about the DA at face value.
[i] Probe, Vol. 3 No. 2, p. 24
[ii] Probe, Vol. 6 No. 4, p. 5 and p. 32. A much longer version of this report was in this issue.
[iii] Probe, Vol. 3 No. 3, p. 24.
Before Phelan ever got to New Orleans and Shaw's preliminary hearing, he had already done work for government agencies. In Garrison's files adduced for the ARRB, there is a report of a private investigator who went to visit Phelan unannounced. His pretext was that he wanted to ask him about an interview he had done for Penthouse Magazine with Clay Shaw. The investigator asked Phelan if he was familiar with reporters being used by the CIA in planting stories. Phelan said he knew of the process but that his personal ethics as a reporter would not allow him to compromise a story, or a source for a story. Further, he would never reveal the contents of any story prior to publication to anyone; especially to someone connected to a government agency. The PI now showed Phelan declassified documents revealing two reporters, one working for the Saturday Evening Post who were being used by the FBI in counterintellgience programs against the Klan. Phelan now began to grow a bit uneasy and nervously started stroking his arm.
Now the investigator showed Phelan a photocopy of an article that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in March of 1964. It was by Phelan about L. Ron Hubbard. Phelan immediately started talking about what a kook Hubbard was. He then explained how he had gotten Hubbard to open up with him during the first part of their interview by posing only softball types of questions to him. The investigator then asked who the man at Saturday Evening Post was who assigned him the article about Hubbard. Phelan said he could not recall who it was. Phelan was then asked if he was ever assigned to write an article by the FBI, CIA, or the FDA. Phelan said this had never occurred. Phelan was then shown a copy of a letter from an editor at the Post consenting for the magazine to be used by the FDA for an attack on Hubbard. Phelan read the letter slowly and again got nervous. Phelan was then asked if he had ever been asked by an agency of government to furnish either his notes for a story or his interview notes to them before his article was published. Phelan again denied this had ever happened. Again, Phelan was now shown declassified documents revealing that this was precisely what he had done in relation to his Hubbard story. In his report, the PI writes, "As Phelan read the three documents he started breathing very heavily and started making some types of moaning sounds. He then grabbed one arm and stroked it."[ii]
The reader should especially note here that not only was Phelan a willing counduit for a government agency, but he then bragged about what a good job he had done setting up Hubbard. But then when asked if he was on a covert assignment, he continually lied about this aspect of his professional life. When, in fact, to anyone who carefully examined his career, it would at the very least suggest itself. Needless to day, when the ARRB began to decalssify documents on the Garrison investigation it was revealed that Phelan again did what he had denied he had done. He had gone to the FBI and turned over documents he had attained as a result of his interview with Garrison in Las Vegas in early 1967. In an April 3, 1967 FBI memo it is revealed that R. E. Wick wrote to Cartha DeLoach that he had agreed to see Phelan reluctantly. Phelan was trying to pump Garrison for details about his investigation but was disappointed that the DA would return to criticism of the Warren Report.[iii] Having had conversations with Phelan prior to the declassification of these FBI documents, I can inform the reader that I asked him these very questions about his dealings with Garrison. That is, had he informed to any governemt agency about the DA, and had he turned over any documents from his work product. He denied doing either. He may have felt protected since in these FBi documents he requested that the FBI not reveal his name. Therefore he could maintain a false veneer of independence and deceive everyone about it. But after the ARRB review, Phelan was now exposed as lying about this crucial matter a second time. Needless to say, if the public had been informed about this past history, they would not have taken his writings about the DA at face value.
[i] Probe, Vol. 3 No. 2, p. 24
[ii] Probe, Vol. 6 No. 4, p. 5 and p. 32. A much longer version of this report was in this issue.
[iii] Probe, Vol. 3 No. 3, p. 24.