MY MEMO, 17 JULY 73, TO IG VIA DDO (SANITIZED) AND MR. ROBERT R. MULLEN" (W/ATTACHED ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET)

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00506612
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: August 14, 2020
• Case Number: F-2016-01299
• Publication Date: July 23, 1973

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TO: (Officer designation, icseni;.:isUMbe'r;:;: a
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EDITIONS
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UTING AND RECORD SHEET
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UNCLASIFIED
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23 July 1973
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Operations
SUBJECT:
REFERENCE: My Memo, 17 July 73, to IG via DDO
and Mr. Robert R. Mullen"
Mr. Robert R. Mullen
1. ) Attached hereto is a Memorandum for the Record by
of a meeting with Mr. Robert R. Mullen on 20 July
1973 during which I asked him for a copy of Mr. Helms' letter in- -
regard to Mr. E. Howard Hunt. I would like to emphasize the
following points:
a. Mr. Mullen's response to the request for a copy of the
letter was immediate and without any reservation. His
subsequent explanation why he cannot make a copy of the
. letter available appears to me to be the truth and not to
constitute a change of mind on his part.
b. Mr. Mullen was not sure of the addressee of the second
letter from Mr. Helms, of which Mr. Hunt also gave him
a copy. Instead of having been addressed to
it may very well have been a copy of a letter to
of which, �I understand, a copy is
in CIA's files.
2. You may want to consider having Mr. John Warner approach
Mr. Archibald Cox'for a copy of Mr. Helms' letter to Mr. Munen which,
in the light of Mr. Mullen's statement, was probably drafted by Mr. Hunt.
Att: /S
cc: 1G
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Chief, Cover & Commercial Staff
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20 July 1973
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MEMORANDUM FOR: The Record
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SUBJECT: Letter of Recommendation Written
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by Mr. Helms to Robert R. Mullen
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& Company for E. Howard Hunt
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I. Mr. Robert R. Mullen of Robert R. Mullen & Company,
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Chief, CCS and the undersigned, case officer
for the company, met in a park near 20th & " H " Streets. Northwest. -
Washington, D.C. on 20 July 1973, at 9:15 AM, to discuss several
matters relating to the company's past cooperation with the Agency.
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2. recalled our meeting with Mr. Mullen
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on 20 April 1973 when he informed Mr. Mullen that
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Would be given a meaningful Agency job in
upon his return from
apologized for his inability to be present in a subsequent meeting on
4 June 1973 when the undersigned had to inform Mr. Mullen that the
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assignment for had fallen through and that
Instead was to be terminated by the Agency.
began to explain the reasons for the change in plans and Mr. Mullen
Interrupted to say that he completely understood why had to
be terminated by the Agency and did not in any way bold
responsible for the termination nor did he doubt veracity
or integrity. Mr. Mullen said that had naturally been
disturbed and unhappy because of the termination, but Mr. Mullen had
reminded him that he had certain gains from his Agency assignment
and particularly mentioned that night still be in
working at some unexciting job except for his Agency employment.
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3. Mr. Mullen then reported that he has postponed his
vacation because of a new business Opportunity involving the sale
of freight cars worth $135 million to the Yugoslav government.
Mullen and Company's commission on this deal if it is consummated
will be about $400,000. Mr. Mullen said that he had yesterday received.
a telephone call from an official of the Pullman Company. which Is to �
supply the freight cars, reporting that Mr. Stankovitz (phonetic) of the
Yugoslav .Erabassy had contacted the Pullman Company. Mr. Stanlawitz
had told the Pullman Company official that he had heard rumors that
Mullen and. Company is involved with the CIA and that the whole deal
would be off if this proved true. Mr. Mullen wondered whether there
might be some leak within the Agency, but agreed with our comment
that the Yugoslays had probably read about Mtdlen's alleged association
with the Agency in TIME Magazine because of Mullen and Company's
employment of E. Howard Bunt.
4. at this point mentioned the letter written
by Mr. Helms on behalf of Mr. Hunt to Mullen and Company. Mr.
Mullen said that Mr. Hunt, in addition to giving Mr. Mullen the above
letter of recommendation, had also exhibited a cow of a letter of
_recommendation byj4r. Helms to -- Mr. Mullen thought --
5. Mr. Mullen readily agreed to make a cow of Mr. Helms'
letter of recommendation available to the Agency. A letter was not
written by Mr. Helms following Mr. Hunt's employment by Mullen and
Company. Mr. Mullen recalled that at a function at the Kennedy Center he
had seen Mr. Helms. They were not able to converse. but Mr. Helms had
winked and given a hand signal to Mr. Mullen which Mr. Mullen Interpreted
as an approbation of Mullen and Company's hiring of Mr. Hunt. Mr. Mullen
explained that his hiring of Mr. Hunt had been a rather natural one as Mr.
Make knew both Howard and Dorothy Hunt in !trig from about 1948 to-1950
when Mr. Hunt and Mr.' Mullen were employed .by the Marshall Rani and
Dorothy Hunt was employed by Mr. AvereU Harriman, then in Paris.
When then with the Retirement Affairs Branch,
requested Mr. Mullen's assistance in securing employment for Mr. Hunt,
Mr. Mullen had arranged several interviews for Mr. Hunt. Mr. Mullen
subsequently decided to have Mullen and Company hire Mr. Hunt because
of his excellent writing abilities, and he had proved a splendid addition
to the staff prior to the Watergate incident.
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� 6. Mr. Mullen advised the undersigned telephonically at
11:45 AM on 20 July 1973 that when he attempted to get Mr. Helms'
'letter of recommendation concerning Mr. Hunt, he had been reminded - -
by his secretary that the entire Mullen & Company file concerning
Mr. Hunt had been given to the U.S. Attorney's office by Mr. Robert
Bennett of Mullen & Company during the investigation of the Watergate
incident during the Summer and Fall of 1972. Mullen & Company had
not kept any copies of material in its Howard Hunt file and, consequently,
no copy of Mr. Helms' letter is available through Mullen & Company.
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