Michele Clark

[John Simkin]

Michele Clark was born in Gary, Indiana on 2nd June, 1943. She attended the University of Chicago Laboratory High School, Grinnell College in Iowa and Roosevelt University in Chicago. Michele Clark held radical political views and joined Ray Mungo's Liberation News Service.

In 1972 Michele Clark graduated from a new program at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism created to recruit, train, and place minority journalists. Upon graduating, she began work as a reporter for WBBM-TV, a CBS owned station in Chicago. It has been claimed that she was the first African American network television anchorwoman.

In July of 1972 she became a CBS News correspondent. Clark investigated the Watergate Scandal. This included interviewing Dorothy Hunt, the wife of E. Howard Hunt, one of those who was about to go on trial for his role in Watergate. According to Sherman Skolnick, Clark was working on a story on the Watergate case: "Ms Clark had lots of insight into the bugging and cover-up through her boyfriend, a CIA operative."

Hunt had been threatening to reveal details of who paid him to organize the Watergate break-in. Dorothy Hunt took part in the negotiations with Charles Colson. According to investigator Sherman Skolnick, Hunt also had information on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He argued that if "Nixon didn't pay heavy to suppress the documents they had showing he was implicated in the planning and carrying out, by the FBI and the CIA, of the political murder of President Kennedy"

James W. McCord claimed that Dorothy told him that at a meeting with her husband's attorney, William O. Buttmann, she revealed that Hunt had information that would "blow the White House out of the water". In October, 1972, Dorothy Hunt attempted to speak to Charles Colson. He refused to talk to her but later admitted to the New York Times that she was "upset at the interruption of payments from Nixon's associates to Watergate defendants."

On 15th November, Colson met with Richard Nixon, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman at Camp David to discuss Howard Hunt's blackmail threat. John N. Mitchell was also getting worried by Dorothy Hunt's threats and he asked John Dean to use a secret White House fund to "get the Hunt situation settled down". Eventually it was arranged for Frederick LaRue to give Hunt about $250,000 to buy his silence.

On 8th December, 1972, Clark and Dorothy Hunt took Flight 533 from Washington to Chicago. The aircraft hit the branches of trees close to Midway Airport: "It then hit the roofs of a number of neighborhood bungalows before plowing into the home of Mrs. Veronica Kuculich at 3722 70th Place, demolishing the home and killing her and a daughter, Theresa. The plane burst into flames killing a total of 45 persons, 43 of them on the plane, including the pilot and first and second officers. Eighteen passengers survived." Clark and Hunt were both killed in the accident.

The following month E. Howard Hunt pleaded guilty to burglary and wiretapping and eventually served 33 months in prison. Hunt kept his silence although another member of the Watergate team, James W. McCord, wrote a letter to Judge John J. Sirica claiming that the defendants had pleaded guilty under pressure (from John Dean and John N. Mitchell) and that perjury had been committed.

The airplane crash was blamed on equipment malfunctions. Carl Oglesby (The Yankee and Cowboy War) has pointed out that the day after the crash, White House aide Egil Krogh was appointed Undersecretary of Transportation, supervising the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Association - the two agencies charged with investigating the airline crash. A week later, Nixon's deputy assistant Alexander P. Butterfield was made the new head of the FAA, and five weeks later Dwight L. Chapin, the president's appointment secretary, become a top executive with United Airlines.

Several writers, including Robert J. Groden, Peter Dale Scott, Alan J. Weberman, Sherman Skolnick and Carl Oglesby, have suggested that Michele Clark and Dorothy Hunt were murdered. In 1974, Charles Colson, Howard Hunt's boss at the White House, told Time Magazine: "I think they killed Dorothy Hunt."

The Summer Program in Broadcast and Print Journalism for Members of Minority Groups at Columbia University, from which Michele Clark graduated, was named in honor of her memory. In 1974, Austin Middle School, a Chicago public school, was renamed Michele Clark Middle School.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKclarkM.htm

[Dawn Meredith]

In this internet age surely there must be some info on her. She was young, "upcoming" at CBS. This story was to be her big break. In 1974 I had an odd experience. I met an executive for CBS. Of course the conversation turned to Ms. Clark and the man was adadment that this was an accident. That CBS had turned over every rock investigating Skolnick's claims and while things looked very suspicious the view at CBS was that Skolnick was in error, Ms. Clark had not been murdered.

We agreed to disagree.

Dawn

[James Richards]

Here is the tentative passenger list.

FWIW.

James

[J. William King]

Here is a link to Sherman Skolnick's report on flight 553 called ""THE SECRET HISTORY OF AIRPLANE SABOTAGE". There are several parts.

Part 1: http://www.skolnicksreport.com/shistory.html

Part 2: http://www.skolnicksreport.com/shistory2.html

Part 3: http://www.skolnicksreport.com/shistory3.html

Part 4: http://www.skolnicksreport.com/shistory4.html

JWK

Edited August 1, 2006 by J. William King

[David Mignery]

The following is a shameless plug but here goes:

I have written a political conspiracy novel called “Small Spiders” (written under the name J.T. Conroe) which is based to a large extent on information gathered from the Education Forum and Spartacus Educational, and which I hope might be both entertaining and interesting to some of the members. The plot is tied closely to verified and alleged facts surrounding the CIA’s MK Ultra program, the assassination attempt against George Wallace, the Watergate break-in, and the crash of United Flight 553. It is definitely a work of fiction, but I have attempted to produce a reasonably plausible scenario for the interlinking of these events. The main characters are Michele Clark, Howard Hunt, Arthur Bremer, Dennis Cossini, and Dorothy Hunt. Dr. William J. Bryan, Harold Metcalf, Richard Nixon, Frank Stanton, and “the girl in the polka-dot dress” also play important roles.

Although my novel “proves” nothing, I am hoping it will provoke some renewed interest in and scrutiny of the criminal behavior of the Nixon administration. It is available from Amazon at

http://www.amazon.com/Small-Spiders-J-T-Conroe/dp/1490352651/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370953740&sr=1-1&keywords=

[David Andrews]

Was Michelle Clark traveling with Dorothy Hunt on that plane? My memory is that they were coincidentally traveling to Chicago separately.

Edited June 18, 2013 by David Andrews

[Michael Clark]

On 6/18/2013 at 3:40 PM, David Andrews said:

Was Michelle Clark traveling with Dorothy Hunt on that plane? My memory is that they were coincidentally traveling to Chicago separately.

"Mrs. Hunt got on Flight 553 with Michele Clark, CBS Network newswoman, going to do an exclusive story on Watergate. Mrs. Hunt, Mitchell, Nixon - the story could have destroyed Nixon at the time. Ms Clark had lots of insight into the bugging and cover-up through her boyfriend, a CIA operative. In the summer of 1972, prior to any major revelations of Watergate, Ms Clark tried to pick the brains of Chicago Congressman George Collins, regarding the bugging of the Democratic headquarters. Ms Clark was sitting with Collins on the plane."

That quote comes from one of the article below the main entry. This would make quite a story or book, but it has been a very long time.

http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKclarkM.htm

 

Edited January 13, 2017 by Michael Clark

[David Andrews]

There's plenty of speculation on the internet on the passenger list for the flight.  See, for instance, the work of the late Sherman Skolnick - a mystery in his own right.

[Michael Clark]

Bump

Edit***** the links, provided by J. William King, above, have been redirected. The links are to an article titled "The Secret History of Airplane Sabotage"

restored links are below.

http://www.apfn.org/skolnicksreport/shistory.html

http://www.apfn.org/skolnicksreport/shistory2.html

http://www.apfn.org/skolnicksreport/shistory3.html

http://www.apfn.org/skolnicksreport/shistory4.html

Edited July 31, 2017 by Michael Clark

[James DiEugenio]

I have to say, I forgot all about this story until I just reread The Yankee and Cowboy War.

But it seems to be true, at least according to Oglesby.  Clark was on that plane and was prepping a major story on Watergate.  And there was some really interesting stuff that occurred about the investigation into the crash.

But somehow it was all either covered up or forgotten when the Washington Post version of Watergate took over.  And was then sanctified by the movie.

 

I cannot help but wonder, did Mike revive this thread because she had the female version of his name?

Edited April 2, 2017 by James DiEugenio

[Michael Clark]

Where would she be now.... 

My female namesake

Cheers,

Michael

[Michael Clark]

On 6/18/2013 at 10:39 AM, David Mignery said:

The following is a shameless plug but here goes:

I have written a political conspiracy novel called “Small Spiders” (written under the name J.T. Conroe) which is based to a large extent on information gathered from the Education Forum and Spartacus Educational, and which I hope might be both entertaining and interesting to some of the members. The plot is tied closely to verified and alleged facts surrounding the CIA’s MK Ultra program, the assassination attempt against George Wallace, the Watergate break-in, and the crash of United Flight 553. It is definitely a work of fiction, but I have attempted to produce a reasonably plausible scenario for the interlinking of these events. The main characters are Michele Clark, Howard Hunt, Arthur Bremer, Dennis Cossini, and Dorothy Hunt. Dr. William J. Bryan, Harold Metcalf, Richard Nixon, Frank Stanton, and “the girl in the polka-dot dress” also play important roles.

Although my novel “proves” nothing, I am hoping it will provoke some renewed interest in and scrutiny of the criminal behavior of the Nixon administration. It is available from Amazon at

http://www.amazon.com/Small-Spiders-J-T-Conroe/dp/1490352651/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370953740&sr=1-1&keywords=

This post by member, David Mignery, was his last. He last checked in 2 weeks later. He was a member since 2004. He was writing a political conspiracy play at the time.

Cheers,

Michael