'Hughes offered $1m to Nixon and Johnson’

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33446, 30 January 1974, Page 24

'Hughes offered $1m to Nixon and Johnson’

Bj RICHARDS the United lntcrnar;OLa. awpa.’e iCA'.pa.* jfa through X. Z. P. .A f

LAS VEGAS

The American millionaire recluse. Mr Howard Hughes, wanted to make million-dollar pax-offs to both President Johnson and President .\ixon so they would halt nuclear testing near his Nevada properties, one of Mr Hughes's closest associates has sworn in a court deposition.

The pay-offs apparently were never made, but Mr Hughes's protests about the testing aroused such concern in Washington that Mr Nixtn once offered to send Dr Henry Kissinger to Las A egas to discuss I the testing programmel with him, il was reported.

The 1505-page deposition was filed in a United States District Court in Los Angel- ; es by Mr Robert Maheu, the 'former manager of Mr' ! Hughes's extensive Nevada enterprises, in connection with lawsuits the two men filed against each other afterj Mr Hughes dismissed Mr; Maheu in December, 1970. Mr Maheu, who refused to elaborate on his deposition during an interview in the i office of his Las Vegas lawyer. said in his testimony i that Mr Hughes pressed him : to forward SUSIm. to President Johnson in 1967 and to President Nixon in 1970. Mr Maheu said he told an-' Oother Hughes aide, Mr Frank? J Gay, that he refused to . I carry out Mr Hughes's in.lstructions because “I was! I concerned about the desire II of Mr Hughes to want to own the Presidents of the: : United States, choose his! successors, or members of! the Supreme- Court, gover-i nors, senators, congressmen! ■ and politicians at all levels”, o The reported offer of a 1 SUSIm. pay-off to Mr Nixon was unrelated to I the SUSIOO,OOO Hughes con■tribution delivered to the? President’s close friend. Mrii

(Charles “Bebe' Rebozo, 11 jtwo instalments in 1969 an< 11970. That contribution i (being investigated by th< (Senate Watergate committee land the Watergate specia iprosectuor, .Mr Leon Ja worski.

S4OOM. EMPIRE In his deposition, Mi iMaheu said: “In 1967 1 re ceived a handwritten memt from Mr Hughes wherein Mi Hughes was asking me U make a million-dollar payoff to a President of the United States (Johnson)". Other sources familial 'with the case said Mi Hughes wanted to make the payment as part of his effort to get the Atomic Energy Commission to halt nuclear testing in Nevada partly for environmental

reasons and partly because lof his fears the test exI plosions would physically damage his SUS4OOm. gambling and hotel empire in the (state. I “Again in 1970. I talked iwith Hughes relative to a (matter that Mr Hughes (wanted me to handle forthIwith and fly to Key Biscayne, Florida,'' Mr Maheu said. "I went to Key Biscayne, met. with Rebozo, and I categorically refused to (carry on the instructions of Howard Hughes.” The court record is un- ; clear about, the purpose of the Florida visit, but one isource still close to the Hughes organisation said ■that Mr Maheu’s assignment I was to offer Mr Rebozo iSUSIm, in exchange for a ■ promise to call off the testing.

EMISSARY

According to Mr Maheu, Mr Hughes's public lobbying for a halt to nuclear testing in Nevada caused consid-

in crable concern in the Nixon id Administration. is "President Nixon had offered le to either see or conxerse on e. the telephone with Mr al Hughes in order to explain i- the posture of the United States Government vis-a-vis the atomic energy testing. Mr Maheu said. “Mr Nixon lr offered to send Dr Kissingc j- to Las Vegas to discuss the o matter with Mr Hughes r either in person or on the o telephone.” - There is no indication in e court documents that such a meeting ever took place ,r In Washington, the deputy r White House press secre e;tary. Mr Gerald Warren, did >'not comment. Along with his deposition .-[Mr Maheu filed a number of i, i undated memos, each handil written on legal-sized yellow e pads. purportedly from Mr -i Hughes. The millionaires have not denied he i-1 wrote them. e One. apparently written in 1970, said: "Someone should d start negotiating with the aIA.E.C. (the Atomic Energy Si Commission) just like buy -jing a hotel... I am ready to - dedicate the rest of my life i and every cent I possess m -,a complete fight to outlaw i.all nuclear testing of every t’kind and everywhere.” f Another memo, addressed to "Bob" and signed "H . - said there was "one man f who can accomplish out ; objective through Johnson, t and that man is H.H.H.”, an Lapparent reference to the tithen Vice-President, Hubert )H. Humphrey. t “Why don’t we get word -Ito him on a basis of secrecy that is really, really reliable that we will give him immediately full, unlimited . support for his campaign to ; enter the White House if h» '‘will just take this one on • for us. Let me know.”