MORE ON THE HUNT CONFESSION

[Tim Gratz]

For what they are worth, I found these comments on a blog. The first comes from "The Hunt Estate":

There is no such thing as E. Howard Hunt’s “Last Confession,” contrary to claims currently being circulated by Mr. Hunt’s two elder sons, Howard St. John and David Hunt in recent articles published in the Los Angeles Times and in Rolling Stone magazine following Mr. Hunt’s death. Motivated by an apparent need for notoriety and financial gains, these theories regarding Mr. Hunt’s alleged knowledge of a JFK assassination conspiracy involving the late President Johnson and now dead CIA agents have no basis in fact and are not credible. There is nothing inherently newsworthy in the sad tale of rogue relatives sewing seeds of dissension after the death of a well-known public figure. What is true is that in his lifetime, E. Howard Hunt’s two elder sons were a deep disappointment to their father and family. If these theories rest on the credibility of the two elder sons, then their own backgrounds and reliability are well worth investigation. St. John Hunt has actually revealed his decades of drug use, abuse and drug dealing in the Rolling Stone article. Considering their source, reputable journalists should dismiss these claims as entirely lacking in credibility.

The theories advanced by his two elder sons after his death are totally inconsistent with Mr. Hunt’s tireless efforts to fight any and all conspiracy allegations during his lifetime. The Warren Commission report investigating the Kennedy assassination is a matter of public record. Unhappy with its findings that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, a veritable conspiracy industry has arisen, and because of Mr. Hunt’s CIA background, some theorists have speculated that Mr. Hunt was connected in some way. Allegations caused Congress to act and the JFK investigation was renewed in the early 1970’s. In 1974, Mr. Hunt repudiated and rejected these absurd theories as part of a 90-page sealed deposition before the Senate investigative committee. In that recently declassified and released transcript, which is available online, Mr. Hunt detailed each and every CIA assignment and every contact during his 21-year CIA career. During Mr. Hunt’s deposition, each bizarre conspiracy theory involving President Kennedy was detailed exhaustively, and Mr. Hunt testified that he had absolutely no knowledge of anything pertaining to the assassination. In addition, Mr. Hunt engaged in protracted litigation against Liberty Lobby, a political newspaper that had published conspiracy allegations concerning him. Although he won at trial the verdict was overturned on appeal. Mr. Hunt continued to fight against defamatory accusations, and specifically repudiated each one in detail in a chapter included in his final memoirs. Mr. Hunt also resisted several Hollywood “big money” offers to “cash in” on assassination speculations by lending credibility to CIA-connected JFK assassination scenarios. It is curious indeed, and perhaps sinister, that his elder sons would wait until after their father’s death to propagate conspiracy theories in an alleged “last confession” when Mr. Hunt is no longer able to personally repudiate them. All of Mr. Hunt’s knowledge concerning LBJ and any CIA agents is dealt with extensively by him in his new book American Spy (Wiley, 2007). Mr. Hunt had also always firmly rejected any and all conspiracy theories involving the death of his first wife. The National Transportation Board and Federal Aviation Administration exhaustively investigated her accidental death on board a United Airlines passenger plane in 1972. Should there have been a conspiracy to murder her, the opportunities were many, and it is ludicrous to believe that the most effective method was to cause an airliner to crash, killing more than a hundred others. The verdict of the inquiry into the causes of the crash was that it was pilot error combined with extremely poor weather conditions, a verdict on which rational persons agree.

In 2005, Mr. Hunt’s two elder sons proposed a book project in conjunction with an individual with film industry connections. Unfortunately, as things developed, it was clear that the project was not about the interesting details of Mr. Hunt’s life. Rather, it was a vehicle to promote further conspiracy-fueled speculations involving rogue CIA agents and LBJ in the Kennedy assassination. Mr. Hunt definitively rejected that project, and he specifically rejected the theories it contained, both to his attorney, William A. Snyder, Jr. and to his youngest son, Austin, who was living at home and finishing his college courses. When that project did not proceed because of the bizarre conspiracy theories initially promoted, the elder brothers’ opportunities for financial gain faded. Their resulting reaction has been to continue to exploit Mr. Hunt, to create conflict and division within the family, to threaten their siblings and worst of all, to further a very selfish and greedy personal agenda. In the interests of truth and fairness, Mr. Snyder and Mr. Austin Hunt should be consulted as the family’s spokespersons on this issue as their first-hand accounts are critical to emphatically contradict these spurious claims on behalf of Mr. Hunt, his widow and his remaining four children.

Sincerely,

The Hunt Estate and the Hunt Family

The Hunt Estate | Thursday April 5, 2007 | #

If you believe what is written above, I have a magic bullet I want to tell you about. The truth is my fathers second family which came about post kennedy,post watergate and post prison never knew the person that his first four children knew. We werent allowed to bring up anything about the past infront of his new wife and children. It is as if he was reborn, he knew the mistakes he made with his first family and did not wish to repeat. I can understand that. My father puposely kept them in the dark because when he was released from prison he had changed. For them to comment on what he disclosed to either me or my brother in private is mute because it didnt involve them. The truth is my father asked me to find someone interested in doing a book project. I did that and the only ones to benefit from that book was Laura, Hollis and Austin Hunt. I didn’t even recieve a finders fee. The biggest ommision of the above comment is that I brought Eric Hamberg on board because I knew that this information coming me or my brother would be suspect and our past would be used to discredit us. Eric Hamberg was the man responsible for the passage of the Kennedy records act of 1992. He is a seeker of TRUTH and beyond suspicion of making up history for profit. It was only after Eric interviewed my father and reported back to me that there was in fact new and important information about JFK that I believed. Was I a dissapointment to my father? I suspect , yes but surely not as dissapointed as I was that my fathers choices resulted in my being orphaned at 8years old. In closing people that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. You have far more to lose than either me or my brother should I choose to expose the indiscretions and illegal activity I have personally witnessed. Hopefully this will be the last post or comment I read that discredits myself or my brother.

David Hunt | Monday April 9, 2007 | #

To all of the Hunt Family,

I am so very sorry that you were on the receiving end of your father’s passion to be a patriot. I’m sure that he started out in earnest believing and wanting to give his life for his country. However, what followed was inevitable. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Karma is the first law of physics. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The sad fact is that the family of the patriot is usually on the receiving end. I can only imagine how hard it must be to live the rest of your life in a vacuum. But, whatever is left of your life belongs to you. You still have free will and choice. As Oliver Stone so eloquently put it in his movie, “JFK”, the rest is up to you. Don’t keep looking for someone to fix it or feel like you are still owed something. If you do, you’ll be crippled by all this for the rest of your lives. It is , undeniably a heavy burden to bear. But, you could be in a third world country, holding your child, listening to a death rattle. Someone you love could be in the last stages of AIDS in a hospice. Your son or daughter could be in a Veteran’s hospital with a brain injury. I have to agree that both families that E. Howard Hunt fathered are and have been luckier than most. If you feel cheated, it’s because you’ve cheated yourselves. Be a family and stop bickering. When it comes right down to it, half /step or whatever brothers and sisters are all we have. If nothing else, both sides should be ashamed that they can’t reach out to each other to help with the pain of all of this.

Sad for you all | Friday April 13, 2007 | #

see the Final Conclusions of the Elliott Study at:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dd4rmh69_21cpcrqd

Jonathan Elliott | Sunday April 15, 2007 | #

I had the pleasure of going to school with Mr. Austin Hunt. I never witnessed any activity that could have jeopardized his reputation or future. I too have been on the receiving end of being in a patriot’s family. There are always speculations and odd conspiracy theories floating around about my family as well, in our country. I must also suffer the consequences of being loyal to your president and country until the very end, as my family was. My family was also involved with some of the international activities with Mr. Hunt. Therefore I sympathize with the comment made by the Hunt estate. Things should be left the way they are because the people involved are now deceased. I personally think some things are better left untouched and we must put an effort to forget about the things that hurt us and strive to move on. Mr. E. Howard Hunt was a patriot whose actions should not be judged by anybody. For it is difficult to serve one’s country under the circumstances in which he did. Therefore he should be shielded from his own mistakes, if any, by a nurturing american public. E. Howard Hunt did what he thought was best for his country sacraficing himself and his country. He is on the same level as Macarthur, Eisenhower, and all those who have sacraficed themselves for our freedom. Even if the allegations published in Rolling Stone are true, it should have been well hidden from the public because such comments can only hurt the american people in the long run. I personally belive his family should be left alone. I wish them the best!

Mr. Spook | Saturday April 21, 2007 | #

[John Simkin]

I have reposted this here:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3841

It will help researchers in the future if we can keep relevant material in the same thread.