WATERGATE JURY HEARS HELMS AGAIN

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 01482365
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: August 7, 2017
• Case Number: F-2007-00094
• Publication Date: November 28, 1973

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Approved for Release: 2017/01/18 C01482365
28 NOV 1973
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By Oswald Johnston
r.News Staff Writor
Former CIA director
Richard M. Helms has testi-
fied for a second time be-
fore the Watergate grand
jury about possible CIA
involvement in the break-in
at Democratic National
Headquarters and the sub-
sequent coverup.
Helms, now ambassador
to Iran, was recalled from
his diplomatic post for testi-
mony and appeared for
about .an hour yesterday
before the grand jury, ac-
cording to sources close to
the investigation.
Watergate special prose-
cutor Leon Jaworski's of-
fice refused any comment
on the Helms interrogation.
But it understood staff in-
vestigators, following the
lead of Archibald Cox,
wanted to examine further
a memorandum written by
Helms II days after the
June 17, 1972, Watergate
break-in in which he asked
that 'FI3BI agents "confine
themselves to the perionali-
ties already arrested or di-
rectly under investigation."
THE JUNE 28, 1972,
memo surfaced earlier this
month and stirred reports of
renewed interest at the
prosecutor's office in
Helm's -original testimony.
in some eyes, the memo
ran directly counter to
sieern te,uineny by ir.ere.:;
and other CIA eiliciels that
the agency had no connec-
tion whatsoever with E.
Howard Hunt and the other
onetime intelligence opera-
Mich., whose CI in
subcommittee o the House
Armed Services ommittee,
has probably ce ried out
the most painstaki 'study
of the relationship of Crt-I--tue
Watergate, has firmly con-
cluded that the agency was
not involved and that the
potentially damaging memo
is really innocent.
William E. Colby, the
present CIA director, earli-
ci' this month prepared at
the invitetion of See
Armed Services Commitice
actin; cirn:nhuer
D-Mo., a second
memo to explain what
Helms had in mind.
In it, Colby explained that
the original Helms memo,
lives who carried out the
June 17 break-in.
This apparent discrepan-
cy was further underlined
earlier this month by an ar-
ticle in :Harper's Magazine.
It contended that Eugenio
Martinez, one of the five
conspirators apprehended
inside the Democratic head-
quarters and admittedly a
paid CIA informant at the
time of the break-in, had
kept CIA higher-ups.fully
informed of the doings of
Hunt and his colleagues.
�
THE THESIS has been
sharply disputed by all con-
gressional investigators
who have looked into the
matter. The Senate Armed
Services Committee held
two hearings earlier in the
month in an unsuccessful
I
toi
1.7
cials confirmed yesterday
that Helms returned from
Tehran oyer the weekend.
Informed sources reported
that he conferred with Col-
by Monday, and he was
reported to have met with
Ned.zi yesterday afternoon.
When questioned, Nedzi
reiterated that the contro-
versial memo could hurt
Helms only through misin-
terpretation. "Our record is
complete," he said, adding
_that he and his subcon-unit-
. RICHARD HELMS � tee had gone through "piles-
. of mettioranda" from classi-
addressed to deputy CIA lied CIA files relating to the
effort to press the author to
director Gen. Vernon A. Watergate crew, including
Rep. Lucien edzi to, 7' ri;
authenticate his cla \I/alters
irns. mP � 13...
, was aid at pro--
age.nts undercoverMeNicofrom aet-: shred on evidence of any
involvement.
N D_ e,
s!sre 5yaTn�T111. ri
turned out
to he-d-r 'Etc:Publican 'Fina.nce
Committee money chain--
through a Mexico�City
"HE WANTED to dis-
courage a fishing expedition
into CIA operations," Colby
said.
.Nedzi has fully accepted
fins interpretation, heth in a
special subcommittee re-
p(;,::: on the
connection prel-,ared last
meith and in private con-
versation thereafter. He
repeated his conviction in
an interview
State Department offi-
/,
Approved for Release: 2017/01/18 C01482365