St. John Hunt talks about Roger Stone

[Douglas Caddy]

St. John Hunt wrote on Facebook yesterday (June 20, 2017):

To answer certain comments regarding my friendship with Roger Stone I say this: I've known Roger for about 3 years. Met him at a Dallas JFK conference. I had never heard of him before other than his book about LBJ. We got to talking and I told him what a hard time I was having with my job which was parking cars, competing with 20 something year olds. I was 60 at the time and starting to feel my age. He hired me to research and write for him. He saved my life in a sens...e because I had been having thoughts of ending it at times. He invited my wife and me to thanksgiving dinner at his house. Roger liked my writing so much he wanted me to write the Bush book with him. He has always been polite, truthful, a gentleman and a friend to me. I can say we don't agree on all things political but I don't discard someone's friendship because of their political, religious, or other beliefs. We all have many sides to our personalities. Since few people have ever seen Roger's private side you can only judge by his public side. Roger respects who I am and I respect who he is. This is what friendship is about.

 

[Douglas Caddy]

St. John's life was forever changed when the burglars were arrested around 1 a.m. at Watergate on June 17, 1972. His father, Howard Hunt, about six hours later returned home and immediately awakened his teenage son, St. John, and ordered him to assist in the destruction of key criminal evidence by tossing it into the Chesapeake Canal, never to be recovered. Howard would use people, such as his son, his Cuban-Americans friends as burglars, his wife, Dorothy, as reluctant "hush" money courier who six months later died (some would say killed), and others close to him in total disregard to the danger in which he put these unsuspecting souls who trusted him. Thus patriotic Howard Hunt was the consummate CIA agent and operative wherein the ends justified the means.

Edited June 22, 2017 by Douglas Caddy

[Paul Brancato]

What an odd story. 

[Douglas Caddy]

Paul, you write that you find the story odd. Perhaps more information is needed. After Dorothy died (or was assassinated through the plane crash in Chicago in December 1973), Hunt called his four children together and told them he was going to plead guilty the next month at the first Watergate trial for fear that if he did not the children would next be killed. He so pled. When he went to prison the children no longer had a father or mother to raise them and they were separated and farmed out to others. Their sudden and drastic change in circumstance affected their lives forever. St. John above tells part of what happened to him.

Of course, it is even more complex. Dorothy was vehemently opposed to Howard participating in what later became Watergate. She even threatened divorce. But once Watergate occurred she was forced to keep her family intact by reluctantly agreeing to become the courier for the limited amount of "hush" money that was distributed. In my opinion she was killed in December 1972 because a few weeks earlier Howard had threatened the White House that he might go public if the promised "hush" money was not forthcoming. Dorothy's death was intended to send a message to Howard. He got the message and pleaded guilty at the first Watergate trial. But all this was for naught because a few months later James McCord wrote his famous letter to Judge Sirica that exposed the cover-up and the "hush" money. Nixon's fate was sealed.

Edited June 22, 2017 by Douglas Caddy

[Paul Brancato]

Thanks Douglas. I can see how the children grew up without financial support. That's what I meant. What a turn of fate to be the child of such a famous father.