Bellett, Gerald. Age of Secrets: The Conspiracy that Toppled Richard Nixon
and the Hidden Death of Howard Hughes. Ogdensburg NY: Voyageur North
America, 1995. 320 pages.
Gerald Bellett is a reporter for the Vancouver Sun in British Columbia.
When John Meier, a former aide to Howard Hughes, moved there from the U.S.
in the early 1970s, Bellett began writing about Meier's struggle with the
White House, the CIA, and the Howard Hughes organization. This is an
authorized biography, and while it helps fill in some historical gaps
about Watergate and the Hughes-CIA connection, it is still history as told
by yet another insider-victim, with possible axes to grind. It's a bit
suspicious. Even though he was wheeling and dealing with the spookiest and
most duplicitous people on the planet, it seems that for Meier, these were
the good old days. There is not a single mea culpa in this entire book.
But another grinding fact is that Meier was a victim of CIA and
Canadian collusion to put him behind bars. This included charges of tax
evasion, obstruction of justice, and ultimately a charge of murder. He
spent five years in prison before prosecutors emptied out their bag of
tricks. Meier argues that Watergate was a classic set-up, and it appears
that the CIA thought he had a stash of Hughes documents that might prove
his point. According to Meier, when he refused to cut a deal with the CIA
to produce the documents and keep his mouth shut, his legal problems began.
ISBN 0-921842-42-2
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