COINTELPRO campaign to sabotage Robert Merritt’s book

[Douglas Caddy]

Whenever a whistle-blower emerges publicly with explosive knowledge, vested forces that do not want this information known invariably mount a campaign to undermine his credibility. This appears to be the case with Robert Merritt’s attempt to tell what he knows about Watergate and other government scandals in a book about his life. A COINTELPRO campaign been mounted in recent weeks that alleges Robert Merritt died years ago and that the person behind the book project is a fraud and impersonator. The purpose of this smear by officials of certain government agencies is to prevent the book from being published and to suppress the valuable information and evidence possessed by Robert Merritt.

In my capacity as original attorney for the Watergate Seven defendants, I wish to take this opportunity to quash such rumors by asserting that I have thoroughly investigated Robert Merritt’s background and can attest that he is who he says he is – a key figure in the Watergate scandal and someone who has had a working relationship with law enforcement entities beginning in 1970.

I have collaborated with Robert Merritt, also known as Tony Merritt, over the past year in the preparation of his book. He obtained voluminous documents from the U.S. National Achieves and other government sources that support the verbal information he has given me. More relevant are personal papers and documents he has provided me that establish beyond any reasonable doubt that he is who he says he is. Among these are his birth certificate, social security card, marriage certificate, his government finger print record, and undercover Confidential Informant Identification card.

On a personal note, Robert Merritt recounted to me not long ago an incident that occurred just a few days after the Watergate arrests involving Carl Schoffler, the arresting police officer of the Watergate burglars, that took place while I was walking my dog near my residence in Washington, D.C. Shoffler drove up to within a few feet of where I was and glared at me, obviously attempting to harass or intimate me. I remember that there was one other person in Schoffler’s car – and it turns out it was Robert Merritt, who has described this event in detail to me. Only Schoffler and Robert Merritt could have known of this incident, which on its face appears trivial, but isn’t, since such action by the police against an attorney representing defendants in a criminal case violates all codes of official conduct.

We are a few short weeks away from finishing the book’s manuscript, which will quickly dispel any doubt about Robert Merritt’s credibility and will re-write the history of the origins of Watergate. It will show that Robert Merritt, in his capacity as confidential informant, informed Shoffler of the planned break-in at Watergate two weeks before the arrests at Watergate on June 17, 1972. It will also show that Shoffler subsequently devised the perfect set-up, a unique form of entrapment of those arrested that ultimately led to the downfall of President Nixon.

Nothing, not even the current COINTELPRO campaign, is going to prevent Robert Merritt’s story from being publicly told.

[William Kelly]

Whenever a whistle-blower emerges publicly with explosive knowledge, vested forces that do not want this information known invariably mount a campaign to undermine his credibility. This appears to be the case with Robert Merritt’s attempt to tell what he knows about Watergate and other government scandals in a book about his life. A COINTELPRO campaign been mounted in recent weeks that alleges Robert Merritt died years ago and that the person behind the book project is a fraud and impersonator. The purpose of this smear by officials of certain government agencies is to prevent the book from being published and to suppress the valuable information and evidence possessed by Robert Merritt.

In my capacity as original attorney for the Watergate Seven defendants, I wish to take this opportunity to quash such rumors by asserting that I have thoroughly investigated Robert Merritt’s background and can attest that he is who he says he is – a key figure in the Watergate scandal and someone who has had a working relationship with law enforcement entities beginning in 1970.

I have collaborated with Robert Merritt, also known as Tony Merritt, over the past year in the preparation of his book. He obtained voluminous documents from the U.S. National Achieves and other government sources that support the verbal information he has given me. More relevant are personal papers and documents he has provided me that establish beyond any reasonable doubt that he is who he says he is. Among these are his birth certificate, social security card, marriage certificate, his government finger print record, and undercover Confidential Informant Identification card.

On a personal note, Robert Merritt recounted to me not long ago an incident that occurred just a few days after the Watergate arrests involving Carl Schoffler, the arresting police officer of the Watergate burglars, that took place while I was walking my dog near my residence in Washington, D.C. Shoffler drove up to within a few feet of where I was and glared at me, obviously attempting to harass or intimate me. I remember that there was one other person in Schoffler’s car – and it turns out it was Robert Merritt, who has described this event in detail to me. Only Schoffler and Robert Merritt could have known of this incident, which on its face appears trivial, but isn’t, since such action by the police against an attorney representing defendants in a criminal case violates all codes of official conduct.

We are a few short weeks away from finishing the book’s manuscript, which will quickly dispel any doubt about Robert Merritt’s credibility and will re-write the history of the origins of Watergate. It will show that Robert Merritt, in his capacity as confidential informant, informed Shoffler of the planned break-in at Watergate two weeks before the arrests at Watergate on June 17, 1972. It will also show that Shoffler subsequently devised the perfect set-up, a unique form of entrapment of those arrested that ultimately led to the downfall of President Nixon.

Nothing, not even the current COINTELPRO campaign, is going to prevent Robert Merritt’s story from being publicly told.

[William Kelly]

Whenever a whistle-blower emerges publicly with explosive knowledge, vested forces that do not want this information known invariably mount a campaign to undermine his credibility. This appears to be the case with Robert Merritt’s attempt to tell what he knows about Watergate and other government scandals in a book about his life. A COINTELPRO campaign been mounted in recent weeks that alleges Robert Merritt died years ago and that the person behind the book project is a fraud and impersonator. The purpose of this smear by officials of certain government agencies is to prevent the book from being published and to suppress the valuable information and evidence possessed by Robert Merritt.

In my capacity as original attorney for the Watergate Seven defendants, I wish to take this opportunity to quash such rumors by asserting that I have thoroughly investigated Robert Merritt’s background and can attest that he is who he says he is – a key figure in the Watergate scandal and someone who has had a working relationship with law enforcement entities beginning in 1970.

I have collaborated with Robert Merritt, also known as Tony Merritt, over the past year in the preparation of his book. He obtained voluminous documents from the U.S. National Achieves and other government sources that support the verbal information he has given me. More relevant are personal papers and documents he has provided me that establish beyond any reasonable doubt that he is who he says he is. Among these are his birth certificate, social security card, marriage certificate, his government finger print record, and undercover Confidential Informant Identification card.

On a personal note, Robert Merritt recounted to me not long ago an incident that occurred just a few days after the Watergate arrests involving Carl Schoffler, the arresting police officer of the Watergate burglars, that took place while I was walking my dog near my residence in Washington, D.C. Shoffler drove up to within a few feet of where I was and glared at me, obviously attempting to harass or intimate me. I remember that there was one other person in Schoffler’s car – and it turns out it was Robert Merritt, who has described this event in detail to me. Only Schoffler and Robert Merritt could have known of this incident, which on its face appears trivial, but isn’t, since such action by the police against an attorney representing defendants in a criminal case violates all codes of official conduct.

We are a few short weeks away from finishing the book’s manuscript, which will quickly dispel any doubt about Robert Merritt’s credibility and will re-write the history of the origins of Watergate. It will show that Robert Merritt, in his capacity as confidential informant, informed Shoffler of the planned break-in at Watergate two weeks before the arrests at Watergate on June 17, 1972. It will also show that Shoffler subsequently devised the perfect set-up, a unique form of entrapment of those arrested that ultimately led to the downfall of President Nixon.

Nothing, not even the current COINTELPRO campaign, is going to prevent Robert Merritt’s story from being publicly told.

Testimony of Marcus G. Raskin before Select Committee on Intelligence (Pike Committee)

Re: Earl Robert Merritt.

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...sPageId=1489947

[Douglas Caddy]

Whenever a whistle-blower emerges publicly with explosive knowledge, vested forces that do not want this information known invariably mount a campaign to undermine his credibility. This appears to be the case with Robert Merritt’s attempt to tell what he knows about Watergate and other government scandals in a book about his life. A COINTELPRO campaign been mounted in recent weeks that alleges Robert Merritt died years ago and that the person behind the book project is a fraud and impersonator. The purpose of this smear by officials of certain government agencies is to prevent the book from being published and to suppress the valuable information and evidence possessed by Robert Merritt.

In my capacity as original attorney for the Watergate Seven defendants, I wish to take this opportunity to quash such rumors by asserting that I have thoroughly investigated Robert Merritt’s background and can attest that he is who he says he is – a key figure in the Watergate scandal and someone who has had a working relationship with law enforcement entities beginning in 1970.

I have collaborated with Robert Merritt, also known as Tony Merritt, over the past year in the preparation of his book. He obtained voluminous documents from the U.S. National Achieves and other government sources that support the verbal information he has given me. More relevant are personal papers and documents he has provided me that establish beyond any reasonable doubt that he is who he says he is. Among these are his birth certificate, social security card, marriage certificate, his government finger print record, and undercover Confidential Informant Identification card.

On a personal note, Robert Merritt recounted to me not long ago an incident that occurred just a few days after the Watergate arrests involving Carl Schoffler, the arresting police officer of the Watergate burglars, that took place while I was walking my dog near my residence in Washington, D.C. Shoffler drove up to within a few feet of where I was and glared at me, obviously attempting to harass or intimate me. I remember that there was one other person in Schoffler’s car – and it turns out it was Robert Merritt, who has described this event in detail to me. Only Schoffler and Robert Merritt could have known of this incident, which on its face appears trivial, but isn’t, since such action by the police against an attorney representing defendants in a criminal case violates all codes of official conduct.

We are a few short weeks away from finishing the book’s manuscript, which will quickly dispel any doubt about Robert Merritt’s credibility and will re-write the history of the origins of Watergate. It will show that Robert Merritt, in his capacity as confidential informant, informed Shoffler of the planned break-in at Watergate two weeks before the arrests at Watergate on June 17, 1972. It will also show that Shoffler subsequently devised the perfect set-up, a unique form of entrapment of those arrested that ultimately led to the downfall of President Nixon.

Nothing, not even the current COINTELPRO campaign, is going to prevent Robert Merritt’s story from being publicly told.

Testimony of Marcus G. Raskin before Select Committee on Intelligence (Pike Committee)

Re: Earl Robert Merritt.

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...sPageId=1489947

STATE OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF NEW YORK

Affidavit of Robert N. Wall

I, Robert N. Wall, being duly sworn, depose and say on the basis of my own knowledge:

1. I am currently a resident of Buffalo, New York

2. During the period 1965-1970, I was a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and during the period 1967-1970, I was assigned to the Washington, D.C. Field Office of the F.B.I. During that time, it came to my attention that the records of banks in the Washington, D.C. area could be obtained for the purposes of our investigation. My understanding is that these records were obtained by a special agent in the Washington, D.C. Field Office who had developed relations with various officers and employees of banks in this area. These banking records were not obtained through any legal procedures (eg. Grand Jury subpoenas or otherwise), but as an accommodation to the F.B.I.

3. I, as well as other agents investigating the so-called “New Left” and “black” organizations, were able to obtain the banking records we were interested in by requesting them from the agent on this detail. In was in this context that I saw the banking records of the Institute for Policy Studies, during the period 1968-1970.

4. By banking records of the Institute for Policy Studies, I mean a list of checks issued by IPS showing check number, date of issuance, maker, payee, and endorser, if any, with respect to the Institute of Policy Studies account at the Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C.

5. While the checks written by the Institute for Policy Studies were routinely obtained, the F.B.I. was also able, on special request, to obtain comparable information with respect to the IPS account of deposits made in the Riggs National Bank.

6. In addition to the financial records of the IPS, the F.B.I. was able to secure in similar fashion the financial records of The New School for Afro-American Thought, The Drum and Spear Bookstore, the Center for Black Education, and those of selected individuals, including Stokely Carmichael and Jean Hughes.

Then personally appeared before me the above-named Robert N. Wall and made oath that the foregoing statements subscribed by him are true.

Robert N. Wall

12/16/71

Bella Greene

Notary Public, State of New York

No. 21-1351249

Qualified in Kings County

Commission expires March 30, 1973

[Douglas Caddy]

Whenever a whistle-blower emerges publicly with explosive knowledge, vested forces that do not want this information known invariably mount a campaign to undermine his credibility. This appears to be the case with Robert Merritt’s attempt to tell what he knows about Watergate and other government scandals in a book about his life. A COINTELPRO campaign been mounted in recent weeks that alleges Robert Merritt died years ago and that the person behind the book project is a fraud and impersonator. The purpose of this smear by officials of certain government agencies is to prevent the book from being published and to suppress the valuable information and evidence possessed by Robert Merritt.

In my capacity as original attorney for the Watergate Seven defendants, I wish to take this opportunity to quash such rumors by asserting that I have thoroughly investigated Robert Merritt’s background and can attest that he is who he says he is – a key figure in the Watergate scandal and someone who has had a working relationship with law enforcement entities beginning in 1970.

I have collaborated with Robert Merritt, also known as Tony Merritt, over the past year in the preparation of his book. He obtained voluminous documents from the U.S. National Achieves and other government sources that support the verbal information he has given me. More relevant are personal papers and documents he has provided me that establish beyond any reasonable doubt that he is who he says he is. Among these are his birth certificate, social security card, marriage certificate, his government finger print record, and undercover Confidential Informant Identification card.

On a personal note, Robert Merritt recounted to me not long ago an incident that occurred just a few days after the Watergate arrests involving Carl Schoffler, the arresting police officer of the Watergate burglars, that took place while I was walking my dog near my residence in Washington, D.C. Shoffler drove up to within a few feet of where I was and glared at me, obviously attempting to harass or intimate me. I remember that there was one other person in Schoffler’s car – and it turns out it was Robert Merritt, who has described this event in detail to me. Only Schoffler and Robert Merritt could have known of this incident, which on its face appears trivial, but isn’t, since such action by the police against an attorney representing defendants in a criminal case violates all codes of official conduct.

We are a few short weeks away from finishing the book’s manuscript, which will quickly dispel any doubt about Robert Merritt’s credibility and will re-write the history of the origins of Watergate. It will show that Robert Merritt, in his capacity as confidential informant, informed Shoffler of the planned break-in at Watergate two weeks before the arrests at Watergate on June 17, 1972. It will also show that Shoffler subsequently devised the perfect set-up, a unique form of entrapment of those arrested that ultimately led to the downfall of President Nixon.

Nothing, not even the current COINTELPRO campaign, is going to prevent Robert Merritt’s story from being publicly told.

Testimony of Marcus G. Raskin before Select Committee on Intelligence (Pike Committee)

Re: Earl Robert Merritt.

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...sPageId=1489947

The excerpt below is from a Xerox copy of an undated column by columnist Drew Pearson. While the column’s exact date cannot be pinpointed at this time, reference in it to former Vice President Spiro Agnew leads one to believe it was published in the Washington Post sometime in the months immediately after Agnew’s resignation as Vice President, which took place in October 1973.

Columnist Drew Pearson was one of Robert Merritt’s biggest supporters. He told Merritt that he was publishing the column as a “life insurance policy’ to protect Merritt from potential physical harm, which is one reason Merritt executed his recent affidavit regarding me and why I posted it in the forum today.

POLICE PLOT FAILS

By Jack Anderson

Washington – The Washington police attempted to plant an informant in the household of Ethel Kennedy, widow of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, in 1971 to spy on the Kennedy crowd.

The informant, E. Robert Merritt, Jr., also committed burglaries and other dirty deeds, not only for the police but for the FBI. Indeed, confidential FBI files say of him, “Nothing has developed…to indicate that the informant has furnished other than reliable information. “

The police provided Merritt with Ethel Kennedy’s private phone number and home address. He was instructed to apply for a job opening as a gardener-driver at the Kennedy residence and then to use the position to gather information about the friends, associates and members of the Kennedy family.

This particular plot fell through but he completed many even more bizarre undercover assignments. Under the guidance of his lawyer Alan Cilman, the 31-year old Merritt has now told us about some of his exploits:

+When the antiwar demonstrators descended upon Washington on May Day 1971, the police asked Merritt to infiltrate the inner circle and to spy on activist leaders Jack Davis, Rennie Davis and a young lawyer named Ray Twohig. The police gave Merritt pills and marijuana to plan on Twohig. Merritt was also instructed to distribute bad drugs, including blue-stripped capsules that caused nausea, and to disrupt the demonstrations by cutting microphone wires.

+ At the instigation of FBI agent William Tucker, Merritt entered the Red House Bookstore, which was associated with prison reform, and swiped mail which he turned over to the FBI.

+The undercover operative also picked up a box of address envelopes left outside the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and delivered them to FBI agent Terry O’Connor.

+Merritt was also instructed to spy on the Institute for Policy Studies, a respected left-wing research group. Told to take anything he “could get away with,” he walked off with a sack that turned out to contain first class letters. He turned the mail over to the FBI’s Tucker, who retained it for study and later asked him to return it.

+Both the FBI and Washington police asked Merritt for any gossip he could glean about the following members of Congress: Senator Tom Eagleton D-Mo., Hubert Humphrey D-Minn., Ted Kennedy D-Mass., Charles Mathias R-Md., George McGovern D-S.D., Lee Metcalf D-Mont., Ed Muskie D-Maine, William Proxmire D.-Wis., Abraham Ribicoff D-Conn., and Stuart Symington D.-Mo. Also Representatives Bella Abzub D-N.Y., Mario Biaggi D-N.Y., Shirley Chisholm D-N.Y,, John Conyers D-Mich., Ron Dellums D-Calif., Don Edwards D-Calif., Walter Fauntroy D-N.C., Richard Ichord D-Mo, Claude Pepper D-Fla. and Charles Wiggins D-Calif.

Footnote: The two FBI agents, William Tucker and Terry O’Connor, declined to comment. Tucker’s superior, Nick Stames, also refused to comment but promised to investigate any questions of impropriety. Some of the Washington policemen, involved with Merritt, had no comment; others did not return our calls.

WASHNGTON WHIRL

+There’s more that meets the eye to the sudden confession of Jack Ford, the President’s son, that he has smoked pot…..

+Ex-Vice President Spiro Agnew’s name may be dragged back into the headlines. The FBI is investigating reports that certain builders, with the right political connections, were granted governmental leases. One of Agnew’s cronies, the FBI has learned, wangled a questionable $45 million lease.

[Douglas Caddy]

Whenever a whistle-blower emerges publicly with explosive knowledge, vested forces that do not want this information known invariably mount a campaign to undermine his credibility. This appears to be the case with Robert Merritt’s attempt to tell what he knows about Watergate and other government scandals in a book about his life. A COINTELPRO campaign been mounted in recent weeks that alleges Robert Merritt died years ago and that the person behind the book project is a fraud and impersonator. The purpose of this smear by officials of certain government agencies is to prevent the book from being published and to suppress the valuable information and evidence possessed by Robert Merritt.

In my capacity as original attorney for the Watergate Seven defendants, I wish to take this opportunity to quash such rumors by asserting that I have thoroughly investigated Robert Merritt’s background and can attest that he is who he says he is – a key figure in the Watergate scandal and someone who has had a working relationship with law enforcement entities beginning in 1970.

I have collaborated with Robert Merritt, also known as Tony Merritt, over the past year in the preparation of his book. He obtained voluminous documents from the U.S. National Achieves and other government sources that support the verbal information he has given me. More relevant are personal papers and documents he has provided me that establish beyond any reasonable doubt that he is who he says he is. Among these are his birth certificate, social security card, marriage certificate, his government finger print record, and undercover Confidential Informant Identification card.

On a personal note, Robert Merritt recounted to me not long ago an incident that occurred just a few days after the Watergate arrests involving Carl Schoffler, the arresting police officer of the Watergate burglars, that took place while I was walking my dog near my residence in Washington, D.C. Shoffler drove up to within a few feet of where I was and glared at me, obviously attempting to harass or intimate me. I remember that there was one other person in Schoffler’s car – and it turns out it was Robert Merritt, who has described this event in detail to me. Only Schoffler and Robert Merritt could have known of this incident, which on its face appears trivial, but isn’t, since such action by the police against an attorney representing defendants in a criminal case violates all codes of official conduct.

We are a few short weeks away from finishing the book’s manuscript, which will quickly dispel any doubt about Robert Merritt’s credibility and will re-write the history of the origins of Watergate. It will show that Robert Merritt, in his capacity as confidential informant, informed Shoffler of the planned break-in at Watergate two weeks before the arrests at Watergate on June 17, 1972. It will also show that Shoffler subsequently devised the perfect set-up, a unique form of entrapment of those arrested that ultimately led to the downfall of President Nixon.

Nothing, not even the current COINTELPRO campaign, is going to prevent Robert Merritt’s story from being publicly told.

Robert Merritt received two telephone calls on Monday, September 28, from a high police officer in the Intelligence Division of the New York City Police Department.

In the first call the officer said he had been instructed by NYPD, which was acting upon orders from undisclosed government officials in Washington, D.C., to ask Merritt not to publish his book titled, “Watergate Exposed: How the Watergate Burglars Were Set-up” of which I am co-author.

In the second follow-up call the police officer made reference to what he had read about the book on the EducationForum and acknowledged that the subject matter was so detailed and credible that there was no way that the book’s eventual publication could be blocked.

[Douglas Caddy]

Whenever a whistle-blower emerges publicly with explosive knowledge, vested forces that do not want this information known invariably mount a campaign to undermine his credibility. This appears to be the case with Robert Merritt's attempt to tell what he knows about Watergate and other government scandals in a book about his life. A COINTELPRO campaign been mounted in recent weeks that alleges Robert Merritt died years ago and that the person behind the book project is a fraud and impersonator. The purpose of this smear by officials of certain government agencies is to prevent the book from being published and to suppress the valuable information and evidence possessed by Robert Merritt.

In my capacity as original attorney for the Watergate Seven defendants, I wish to take this opportunity to quash such rumors by asserting that I have thoroughly investigated Robert Merritt's background and can attest that he is who he says he is – a key figure in the Watergate scandal and someone who has had a working relationship with law enforcement entities beginning in 1970.

I have collaborated with Robert Merritt, also known as Tony Merritt, over the past year in the preparation of his book. He obtained voluminous documents from the U.S. National Achieves and other government sources that support the verbal information he has given me. More relevant are personal papers and documents he has provided me that establish beyond any reasonable doubt that he is who he says he is. Among these are his birth certificate, social security card, marriage certificate, his government finger print record, and undercover Confidential Informant Identification card.

On a personal note, Robert Merritt recounted to me not long ago an incident that occurred just a few days after the Watergate arrests involving Carl Schoffler, the arresting police officer of the Watergate burglars, that took place while I was walking my dog near my residence in Washington, D.C. Shoffler drove up to within a few feet of where I was and glared at me, obviously attempting to harass or intimate me. I remember that there was one other person in Schoffler's car – and it turns out it was Robert Merritt, who has described this event in detail to me. Only Schoffler and Robert Merritt could have known of this incident, which on its face appears trivial, but isn't, since such action by the police against an attorney representing defendants in a criminal case violates all codes of official conduct.

We are a few short weeks away from finishing the book's manuscript, which will quickly dispel any doubt about Robert Merritt's credibility and will re-write the history of the origins of Watergate. It will show that Robert Merritt, in his capacity as confidential informant, informed Shoffler of the planned break-in at Watergate two weeks before the arrests at Watergate on June 17, 1972. It will also show that Shoffler subsequently devised the perfect set-up, a unique form of entrapment of those arrested that ultimately led to the downfall of President Nixon.

Nothing, not even the current COINTELPRO campaign, is going to prevent Robert Merritt's story from being publicly told.

Robert Merritt received two telephone calls on Monday, September 28, from a high police officer in the Intelligence Division of the New York City Police Department.

In the first call the officer said he had been instructed by NYPD, which was acting upon orders from undisclosed government officials in Washington, D.C., to ask Merritt not to publish his book titled, "Watergate Exposed: How the Watergate Burglars Were Set-up" of which I am co-author.

In the second follow-up call the police officer made reference to what he had read about the book on the EducationForum and acknowledged that the subject matter was so detailed and credible that there was no way that the book's eventual publication could be blocked.

Did he give a reason why the book shouldn't be published? Stranger yet the second call....one cop - playing 'bad cop / good cop'....I guess you've not heard the last of him....

The officer from NYPD Intelligence Division, whose name I have, called Robert Merritt again yesterday. He disclosed that he had a Military Intelligence background. He said that he had thoroughly investigated Merritt's record as a confidential informant that spanned over 30 years and found him extremely credible. He told Merritt that Merritt's story about Watergate deserved to be told and that if it were told in book form it would cause a number of investigations to be launched. He confided to Merritt that he was worried about Merritt's personal safety as he could get himself killed for writing about what he knew. He also said that I should be worried about my safety but to a lesser degree.

[Douglas Caddy]

Whenever a whistle-blower emerges publicly with explosive knowledge, vested forces that do not want this information known invariably mount a campaign to undermine his credibility. This appears to be the case with Robert Merritt's attempt to tell what he knows about Watergate and other government scandals in a book about his life. A COINTELPRO campaign been mounted in recent weeks that alleges Robert Merritt died years ago and that the person behind the book project is a fraud and impersonator. The purpose of this smear by officials of certain government agencies is to prevent the book from being published and to suppress the valuable information and evidence possessed by Robert Merritt.

In my capacity as original attorney for the Watergate Seven defendants, I wish to take this opportunity to quash such rumors by asserting that I have thoroughly investigated Robert Merritt's background and can attest that he is who he says he is – a key figure in the Watergate scandal and someone who has had a working relationship with law enforcement entities beginning in 1970.

I have collaborated with Robert Merritt, also known as Tony Merritt, over the past year in the preparation of his book. He obtained voluminous documents from the U.S. National Achieves and other government sources that support the verbal information he has given me. More relevant are personal papers and documents he has provided me that establish beyond any reasonable doubt that he is who he says he is. Among these are his birth certificate, social security card, marriage certificate, his government finger print record, and undercover Confidential Informant Identification card.

On a personal note, Robert Merritt recounted to me not long ago an incident that occurred just a few days after the Watergate arrests involving Carl Schoffler, the arresting police officer of the Watergate burglars, that took place while I was walking my dog near my residence in Washington, D.C. Shoffler drove up to within a few feet of where I was and glared at me, obviously attempting to harass or intimate me. I remember that there was one other person in Schoffler's car – and it turns out it was Robert Merritt, who has described this event in detail to me. Only Schoffler and Robert Merritt could have known of this incident, which on its face appears trivial, but isn't, since such action by the police against an attorney representing defendants in a criminal case violates all codes of official conduct.

We are a few short weeks away from finishing the book's manuscript, which will quickly dispel any doubt about Robert Merritt's credibility and will re-write the history of the origins of Watergate. It will show that Robert Merritt, in his capacity as confidential informant, informed Shoffler of the planned break-in at Watergate two weeks before the arrests at Watergate on June 17, 1972. It will also show that Shoffler subsequently devised the perfect set-up, a unique form of entrapment of those arrested that ultimately led to the downfall of President Nixon.

Nothing, not even the current COINTELPRO campaign, is going to prevent Robert Merritt's story from being publicly told.

Robert Merritt received two telephone calls on Monday, September 28, from a high police officer in the Intelligence Division of the New York City Police Department.

In the first call the officer said he had been instructed by NYPD, which was acting upon orders from undisclosed government officials in Washington, D.C., to ask Merritt not to publish his book titled, "Watergate Exposed: How the Watergate Burglars Were Set-up" of which I am co-author.

In the second follow-up call the police officer made reference to what he had read about the book on the EducationForum and acknowledged that the subject matter was so detailed and credible that there was no way that the book's eventual publication could be blocked.

Did he give a reason why the book shouldn't be published? Stranger yet the second call....one cop - playing 'bad cop / good cop'....I guess you've not heard the last of him....

The officer from NYPD Intelligence Division, whose name I have, called Robert Merritt again yesterday. He disclosed that he had a Military Intelligence background. He said that he had thoroughly investigated Merritt's record as a confidential informant that spanned over 30 years and found him extremely credible. He told Merritt that Merritt's story about Watergate deserved to be told and that if it were told in book form it would cause a number of investigations to be launched. He confided to Merritt that he was worried about Merritt's personal safety as he could get himself killed for writing about what he knew. He also said that I should be worried about my safety but to a lesser degree.

The same officer from NYPD Intelligence Division, whose initials are P.C., telephoned Robert Merritt again today, October 7, 2009. This time, according to Merritt, it appeared that the officer was reading from a prepared script. He was agressive and theatening. No more Mr. Nice Guy. He claimed that publication of Merritt's book would lead to a number of investigations and that the public uproar would be defeafening. He attempted to warn Merritt that both he and I could face forceful retaliation, Merritt more than myself, and that death was an option under consideration by those powerful parties who oppose the book's publication. In any event, Merritt and I are taking precautions that if something were to happen to both of us, our manuscript, "Watergate Exposed", would be published on the Internet and copies of the manuscipt would be sent to multiple sources for distribution. In short, one way or another the truth about Watergate will be told in book form or in another form and all efforts to suppress it will ultimately fail.