QUOTE (John Simkin @ Nov 6 2008, 03:12 PM)

There does not seem to be much evidence linking Howard Hughes with the assassination of JFK. The main connection is through Robert Maheu and E. Howard Hunt.
In 1956 Hughes began to employ Maheu, a former FBI agent and veteran of CIA counter-espionage activities, on a freelance basis. This included intimidating would be blackmailers and obtaining information on business rivals. According to the author of Howard Hughes: The Secret Life (2004), Maheu "was his most trusted telephone companion apart from Jean Peters".
Maheu was asked to spy on Ava Gardner and Stuart W. Cramer, the former husband of Jean Peters. Maheu discovered that Cramer was a CIA agent. Cramer is an interesting figure and later married Terry Moore, who claimed that she married Howard Hughes in a secret ceremony in 1949.
In 1956 Hughes employed Maheu to undermine the campaign to replace Richard Nixon with Christian Herter, as President Eisenhower's running-mate. That year the Hughes Tool Company provided a $205,000 loan to Nixon Incorporated, a company run by Richard's brother, Donald Nixon. The money was never paid back. Soon after the money was paid the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reversed a previous decision to grant tax-exempt status to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The Hughes loan to Donald Nixon was revealed by during the Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson during the 1960 presidential campaign. Richard Nixon initially denied the loan but later was forced to admit that this money had been given to his brother. It was claimed that this story helped John F. Kennedy defeat Nixon in the election.
In 1960 Richard Bissell and Allen W. Dulles decided to work with the Mafia in a plot to assassinate Fidel Castro. Maheu was employed by the CIA to organize the conspiracy. On 25th September, Maheu arranged for two CIA agents to meet Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana, at the Fountainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach. Maheu told Roselli and Giancana that the CIA was willing to pay $150,000 to have Castro killed. Some people believe this plot was connected to the assassination of JFK.
In 1992 Bernard Barker claimed that Hughes was personally involved with the activities of E. Howard Hunt. This included Operations Pluto and Mongoose, the CIA's anti-Castro operations.
Hughes sold his TWA stock in 1966 for $546m. He now moved to Las Vegas where he used his money to buy up four hotels and six casinos. He employed Robert Maheu to oversee this business.
This is a summary of the OFFICIAL STORY. In studying CIA activities, it is unwise
to accept "official stories". The CIA use of doppelgangers is well known. The official
Hughes story is as absurd as the single bullet theory.
Jack