Robert Aime Maheu (October 30, 1917 – August 4, 2008) was an American businessman and lawyer, who worked for the FBI and CIA, and as the chief executive of Nevada operations for the industrialist Howard Hughes.

Early life

Maheu was born in Waterville, Maine, the son of Christine and Ephrem Maheu, who were of French-Canadian descent. He held degrees from

Holy Cross Holy Cross or Saint Cross may refer to: * the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus * Christian cross, a frequently used religious symbol of Christianity * True Cross, supposed remnants of the actual cross upon which Jesus was crucified * Feast ...

and Georgetown University. 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. 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 Howard Hughes hired him to investigate an alleged suitor of his fiancé 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, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced ...

letter to Chester Davis and

Bill Gay Bill Gay (November 12, 1927 – August 8, 2008) was a professional American football player who played defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball wh ...

which was published in facsimile by ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' 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; 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 Vice President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...

's office in 1954 at the behest of the National Security Council. Nixon gave Maheu a green light to employ a series of dirty tricks to wreck a pending agreement between Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

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Central Intelligence Agency

Maheu also worked for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

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

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' 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 (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

. 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'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

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