MAHEU TO REVEAL CIA ROLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000300510069-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2004
• Sequence Number: 69
• Publication Date: July 30, 1975
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2d3-wg~rCp i - P88-013158000300510069-1
Mah
CHURCH INDICATED
that one of the problems in
! calling Nixon as a witness
CtUt
L
Truman when he refused to
appear before a congres-
sional committee seeking
his testimony after he left
office.
According to a commit
Negotiations are under tee spokesman, the case in-
way between. the Senate valved efforts of a House
intelligence committee and. committee to obtain
former President Richard
M. Nixon over whether. he
will testify about U.S. cov-
ert operations in Chile, ac-
cording to Chairman Frank
Church, D-Idaho.
"We're trying to deter=
mine . whether he... has
anything to offer" as well
as "his willingness to testi-
fy and in. what. manner,"
Church said yesterday after
Vice Chairman John Tower,
R-Texas, revealed that he
had been' in contact with
Nixon.
Meanwhile, Robert A.
Maheu, a former aide to
billionaire Howard Hughes,
has promised to reveal the
details of his alleged role as
a liaison between the CIA
and the Mafia in plots to kill
Cuban Premier Fidel Cas-
tro. Maheu promised to
meet with reporters after
he completes his testimony
before the Senate commit-
tee today.
MAHEU SPENT. `two
hours-before the committee
yesterday.
Maheu, who invoked the`
5th Amendment when first
subpoenaed as a witness,. is
testifying under a grant of
limited immunity.
Tower refused to reveal
the substance of his 20-
minute phone conversation
with Nixon on Saturday ex-
cept to say that the former
president sounded strong
and in good spirits and ex-
pressed concern that inves-
tigations of the CIA could
damage U.S. intelligence
abilitities. Tower indicated
that if Nixon is called as a
witness he would probably
be interviewed under oath
in California.
Tower added that he has -
no' plans to contact Nixon
again although he said he
''may be in communication
with" Nixon's lawyer, Her-.
~l is a precedent set by the {
v+:. late President Harry S.
::ury Department official
was a Communist.
In refusing. to 'appear,
Truman involked executive
privilege,, saying that even
though he had left office,
his appearance before a
concressional. committee
might inhibit the actions of
.other presidents, the
spokesman said.
CHURCH CALLED the
Truman precedent an "unt-
ested assertion of executive
privilege." The spokesman 1
cautioned against assuming I
that Nixon has invoked the
Truman precedent.
Both Church and Tower
sought to discount reports
of partisan strife within the
committee sparked by ef-
forts to call Nixoii as a wit-
ness. ABC News reported
Monday that some Republi-
can members view thei
move as an effort to divert
attention from alleged
Kennedy administration ef-
forts to kill Castro.
Informed sources have
said that-Nixon authorized
the CIA in September 1970
to make an all-out effort to
prevent Chilean Marxist
Salvador Allende from
coming to power. . The
agency subsequently be-
came involved in the plan-
ning of two military coups,
one of which resulted in the
death of the chief of staff of
the Chilean army, the
sources said.
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Appr df,WIFi'ele''s 1e1OA~V(~1/11 : CIA-RDP88-01315ROO0300510069-1