Alfred C. Baldwin

[Ashton Gray]

On 3/25/2018 at 9:37 PM, Michael Clark said:

A very interesting post. Could Baldwin have met with Liddy, McCord William F. Buckley, and possibly Hunt in NY or at the Buckley estate in Connecticut? Could Baldwin have been recruited by Liddy or Hunt in the summer of 1963?

I cannot answer your specific questions about specific locations where The Amazing Mr. Baldwin may or may not have met with those you name, but I think it highly likely that Baldwin met with Hunt and with Liddy in 1971 and early 1972. As carefully planned as the operation was, it would be extremely naive to believe or assume that Hunt and Liddy ever would have gone into such an operation without meeting and coordinating with Baldwin well in advance, given Baldwin's crucial, pivotal role in initially selling the fraud to the world.

I will assay now to lay out the best circumstantial case I'm able to assemble from the intentionally limited information that's available. I at least touched on all of it in my book Watergate: The Hoax, but because of publishing deadlines and far more weighty matters that had to take up the space available for the book, I regrettably never gave this that follows all the attention I felt it was due.

I'm going to start with the very bizarre trip that E. Howard Hunt took on 26 July 1971 to Warwick, Rhode Island, ostensibly to meet with a man named Clifton DeMotte. For the trip, Hunt had gone to the trouble of getting the CIA to supply him with an ill-fitting and ridiculous "disguise," and false identification as "Ed Warren." Here is the FBI's accounts of it:

Mr. Clifton DeMotte, Davisville, Rhode Island, advised that on July 26, 1971, he met with an individual who introduced himself as Ed Warren. DeMotte stated he received telephone calls from this individual who claimed that he was contacting DeMotte on the recommendation of Mr. Robert Bennett of the Robert R. Mullen Company, Washington, D. C. DeMotte met this individual at Warwick, Rhode Island. This individual told DeMotte that he was working for a group which was doing some research of the Kennedy family and on the incident at Chappaquiddick Island. Warren had a very "anti-Kennedy" attitude and asked specific questions concerning activities at the Kennedy home.

FBI, Summary of Investigative Reports in the Case James Walter McCord, Jr., and Others, Burglary of Democratic National Committee Headquarters, June 17, 1972, Interception of Communications; 23 April 1973

Like so many of the Hunt-Liddy "operations," it never produced anything, never went anywhere, and obviously was only a cover for something else. Nothing about it makes even the slightest sense—unless you look at a map and discover that Warwick, Rhode Island, is only about an hour and a half from New Haven, Connecticut, where Baldwin lived at the time. Then everything about it begins to make sense, including the timing, in late July 1971. I believe that Hunt's trip was specifically to meet somewhere, probably between Warwick and New Haven, with Baldwin, check him out, and report back to Liddy and McCord about his take on Baldwin.

After that, there is evidence that Liddy took over the clandestine liaison's with Baldwin to brief and coordinate with him into late 1971, continuing into 1972.

I invite your attention to this statement from an FBI report, one that has received precious little attention:

James Corcoran, III, 13 1/2 Kinry Road, Poughkeepsie, New York . . . advised that he is acquainted with one G. GORDON LIDDY and on numerous occasions had flown Mr. Liddy to and from the Poughkeepsie, New York, area and the Washington, D.C., area. . . . Corcoran made available his "Pilot Flight Record and Log Book" which reflected . . . information concerning aircraft flights With GORDON LIDDY . . .

On further questioning CORCORAN advised that on occasion when GORDON LIDDY was visitlng in Poughkeepsie, New York, he would use PETER MAROULIS's automobile and would on the spur of the moment leave for periods of three to six hours. When CORCORAN did inquiry of MAROULIS where LIDDY was going or what he was doing MAROULIS would not answer him and either would avoid the question or change the topic of conversation. Thereafter, LIDDY would reappear with his attache case or papers.

FBI Report of 8 [or 7; typeover] August 1972 by SA Vincent A. Alvino, New York, New York, Field Office File # 139-301, Bureau File # 139-4089.

There is no known reason or any explanation for why Liddy would be going to Poughkeepsie. He used to live and work there, but at the time of these private-plane flights back and forth from D.C. to Poughkeepsie, Liddy and his family already live outside of D.C., in Maryland. I should note here that Poughkeepsie is about an hour and 45 minutes away from New Haven—but of course there are many places where Liddy and Baldwin could have met between the two towns, such as Danbury, on Liddy's mysterious car trips using Maroulis's borrowed car.

This would have something of a symmetry, with Hunt going to a town about an hour and a half east of New Haven as cover, and Liddy going to a town about an hour and a half west of New Haven as cover for meeting with Baldwin somewhere in between.

Allow me now to weave these events into a brief timeline, along with certain events related specifically to Alfred Baldwin, all of this taken from various FBI files:

26 July 1971
E. Howard Hunt travels to Warwick, Rhode Island, using CIA-supplied disguise and false I.D. as "Ed Warren." Warwick is about half an hour from New Haven, Connecticut, where Alfred Baldwin lives.

Less than two weeks later:

6 August 1971
G. Gordon Liddy is on his first mystery trip to Poughkeepsie. James Corcoran flies him back to the D.C. area that day, to an airport in Maryland.

23 August 1971
G. Gordon Liddy takes his second mystery trip to Poughkeepsie. James Corcoran flies him back to the D.C. area that day, to an airport in Maryland.

Just over a month later:

1 October 1971
Alfred Baldwin quits Bruce Clinton Associates, a Connecticut real estate firm, where Baldwin has been working for several years as a sales agent. Baldwin gives no reason for quitting except that he wants to “get back into law enforcement.” He has no other work or job.

11 October 1971
Alfred Baldwin places his order for a new 1972 Plymouth Sebring 2-door hardtop, black. The price is $4,540.30, but with allowance for his 1971 station wagon trade-in of $3,865.30, the cash required on delivery is $625.00. Baldwin puts a $50 deposit down on this date. [NOTE: This is shortly after Baldwin has quit his job, with no new job.]

6 November 1971
G. Gordon Liddy takes his third mystery trip to Poughkeepsie. James Corcoran flies him back to  the D.C. area that day, to an airport in Maryland—but then takes Liddy back to Poughkeepsie the same day (to Duchess County Airport).

7 December 1971
Alfred Baldwin completes the purchase of and receives his new 1972 Plymouth Sebring 2-door hardtop. [NOTE: Baldwin still has no visible means of income.]

14 December 1971
G. Gordon Liddy takes his fourth mystery trip to Poughkeepsie with pilot James Corcoran.

3 January 1972
Alfred Baldwin has the radio antenna repaired on his car at Branhaven Chrysler-Plymouth in Branford, Connecticut. He tells the Service Manager, Waldemar Pallek, that he is leaving for Washington, D.C. to work, “but said nothing further as to the identity of his employer or the nature of his work.” [NOTE: Another smoking gun: Baldwin already knows he is going to be working for McCord, who won’t actually hire him for four more months. Meanwhile, Baldwin remains unemployed, yet has just bought this new car the month before.]

8 February 1972
James Corcoran flies from Duchess County Airport to Washington National airport, delivering "some papers" to Liddy.

18 March 1972
G. Gordon Liddy takes his fifth mystery trip to Poughkeepsie with pilot James Corcoran.

7 c. April 1972
Quoted from Jim Hougan's Secret Agenda: According to [Robert L. Houston, McCord's deputy at the CRP], "Baldwin had stopped in to see McCord during the first two weeks of April, 1972 (to the best of Houston's recollection), and this was the first time he (Houston) saw Baldwin." If Houston is correct about the date, then McCord and Baldwin (like McCord and Hunt) are concealing a prior acquaintance. It may be, of course, that Houston misspoke, in which case the matter remains a mystery. See the FBI's interview with Houston, conducted June 27, 1972, by special agents John E. Denton and Joseph C. Kelly.

1 May 1972
Date on which James McCord in D.C. calls Baldwin in Connecticut, supposedly having simply pulled Baldwin's name off of a list of former FBI agents, and offers Baldwin a job, sight unseen, over the phone for the next day. [Uh-hunh. Of course he did . . .]

Over to you.

Ashton Gray

Edited March 30, 2018 by Ashton Gray

[Michael Clark]

Ashton, I am very pleased to see you offering your research here, again. I grew-up in Poughkeepsie (Lagrange) and am familiar with some of the tales regarding Liddy in local lore. 

I have made a few attempts at bringing something interesting to this post but I really have nothing substantive.

I'll just add that William F. Buckley, Jr's estate was a mile from the NY border, 30 miles from Poughkeepsie. 

For the casual reader I will add that Buckley was The Godfather to three of E. Howard Hunt's children.

One thing I would like to ask Ashton or anyone else.... I read about and a NYC cop that was peripherally noted, in some way, related to the JFK assassination. He was a NYC cop, named O'Brien (I think) who retired from the force, pre-retirement, and settled in Poughkeepsie. His story may have revolved around Dorothy Kilgallen, but I can't be sure. If you know who I am referring to, please chime in.

-With regard to airports, there is another airport, called Sky Acres, in Verbank, NY. 

Thanks again Ashton, and I hope to see you around more, here. I very-much appreciate your input.

 

Regards,

 

Michael,

 

 

Edited March 31, 2018 by Michael Clark

[Michael Clark]

And, Ashton,  I have wondered, if the sketchy picture that you were developing in the attached thread, filled-out. I found this to be a very interesting post.

 

 

Edited March 31, 2018 by Michael Clark

[Ashton Gray]

Hi Michael. Happy to contribute anything I can when and as I can.

I don't have anything to add at the moment to the Liddy/Marathon Oil thread, but if I do, I will add it in that thread so this one can stay on-topic re: Baldwin.