Robert Aime Maheu (October 30, 1917 – August 4, 2008) was an American businessman and lawyer, who worked for the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and CIA, and as the chief executive of Nevada operations for the industrialist

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

Early life

Maheu was born in

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...

, the son of Christine and Ephrem Maheu, who were of French-Canadian descent. He held degrees from the College of the Holy Cross and

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. In 1941, during his law studies at Georgetown, he was hired by the FBI and worked as a counter-intelligence officer in Europe during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He left the FBI in 1947 and opened Robert A. Maheu and Associates, a private detective firm in Washington, DC.

Howard Hughes

Maheu's contract with the Hughes company started in 1955, after

hired him to investigate an alleged suitor of his fiancée Jean Peters. Although Maheu was for years a close confidant of Howard Hughes, he never met Hughes face-to-face, as they worked via memo and telephone. He was dismissed in 1970. As part of the power struggle with Frank William Gay, Hughes “Mormon Mafia” chief, to get rid of Maheu, Hughes wrote a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

letter to Chester Davis and Bill Gay which was published in facsimile by ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' in January 1971; this publication provided Clifford Irving with a sample of Hughes' handwriting which he later used to attempt to forge Hughes' autobiography. Stephen Fay, Lewis Chester, Magnus Linklater, "Hoax: The Inside Story of the Howard Hughes – Clifford Irving Affair", Book Club Associates, London, 1972, p. 61-63. Maheu sued Hughes for defamation of character for $50 million. In the conference call on January 7, 1972 in which he denounced Irving's supposed autobiography of him as a hoax, Hughes was also asked why he fired Maheu, to which he replied: Hughes was asked later in the conference call how he felt about Maheu, to which he replied: As a result of the first set of statements by Hughes, Maheu sued the Hughes Tool Company (which had Hughes as its sole owner) once again, this time for

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

; he won the suit, and was paid $2.8 million. However, this settlement was later overturned upon appeal. According to Maheu associate John Gerrity, he and Maheu were summoned to

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

's office in 1954 at the behest of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

. Nixon gave Maheu approval to employ a series of dirty tricks to wreck a pending agreement between Greek shipping magnate

Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; , ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975) was a Greek and Argentine business magnate. He amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and was one of the world's richest and most famous men. He was marri ...

and the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Central Intelligence Agency

Maheu also worked for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

. He would later recall: "The CIA was my first steady client, giving me ' cut-out' assignments hose jobs in which the Agency could not officially be involved" Maheu's investigative agency was said to be the model for the television series, '' Mission Impossible''. The CIA enlisted Maheu's help to secure "female companionship" requested by King Hussein of Jordan during his visit to the USA in April 1959. In the summer of 1960, the CIA recruited Maheu to approach the West Coast representative of the Chicago mob, Johnny Roselli. When Maheu contacted Roselli, Maheu hid the fact that he was sent by the CIA, instead portraying himself an advocate for international corporations. He offered to pay $150,000 to have

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

killed, but Roselli declined any pay. Roselli introduced Maheu to two men he referred to as "Sam Gold" and "Joe." "Sam Gold" was Sam Giancana; "Joe" was Santo Trafficante, Jr., the

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Florida boss and one of the most powerful mobsters in pre-revolution Cuba. Glenn Kessler of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' explained: "After Fidel Castro led a revolution that toppled a friendly government in 1959, the CIA was desperate to eliminate him. So the agency sought out a partner equally worried about Castro—the Mafia, which had lucrative investments in Cuban casinos." In testimony before the Church Committee in 1975, Maheu confirmed his role in the assassination plot against Castro, saying that he thought the United States "was involved in a just war." CIA documents released in 2007 provided additional details of the plot.

Later life

In 1992, Maheu published his autobiography, entitled ''Next to Hughes: Behind the Power and Tragic Downfall of Howard Hughes by His Closest Advisor''. Maheu died in 2008 at the age of 90 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. The official cause of death was heart failure.Goldstein, Richar
"Robert Maheu, 90, Surrogate for Howard Hughes, Is Dead".
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

References

External links

How the CIA Enlisted the Chicago Mob to Put a Hit on CastroInterview with Robert Maheu
NPR transcript.
Robert Maheu's obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maheu, Robert 1917 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American memoirists College of the Holy Cross alumni Contractees of the Central Intelligence Agency Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Georgetown University alumni Law enforcement officials from Washington, D.C. American people of French-Canadian descent