contributions,' ,"248 the phrase used to cover money for political contributions.249 Nadine Henley acknowledged sending the cash to Maheu at his request. She did not, however, know why Maheu requested the money and apparently did not make a note on the purpose of the transaction as she had done on the December 5, 1968 withdrawal.250

Maheu told Select Committee investigators that this cash may have been the source of the first contribution to Rebozo.251 When first asked about the source of the first delivery, Maheu said that the source was the December 5, 1968 money from Henley, 252 which he said he gave to his son, Peter, immediately after his return from Palm Springs on December 6 or 7.

In a later staff interview, Maheu stated that, based upon his son's recollection that he held the money he received from his father only a short time,253 the June-July 1969 money was the source of the delivery.2 254 Maheu was not able to place the July 1969 date in relation to any other events, as he had done for the December 1968 money he received from Henley. He assumed it was the date only because he rejected the December 1968 date. There is no independent evidence corroborating the date.

When questioned about the July 11 money by the IRS (in March 1973), Maheu, through his lawyer, professed complete ignorance of the transaction.255 Nevertheless, less than one year later he said it was the source of a delivery to Rebozo. Further, when he told Select Committee investigators that the July 11 money was the source of the first delivery after discounting the December 5 money from Henley, the investigators were not yet aware of the Sands withdrawal, and Maheu did not mention it. As the discussion on the Sands withdrawal showed, it is a likely source for the first delivery.256

5. Silver Slipper Casino-October 26, 1970. On October 26, 1970, Thomas Bell, a Hughes lawyer in Las Vegas, withdrew $115,000 from the Silver Slipper casino in Las Vegas.257 248. Henley Exhibit 6, Danner Executive Session, June 11, 1974. 249. Robert Maheu interview, Jan. 20, 1974.

250. Nadine Henley interview, Jan. 22, 1974. The note is part of Henley Exhibit 4 in the June 11 Danner Executive Session. See p. 000 supra. 251 Robert Maheu, Interview, January 20, 1974. 252. Robert Maheu, Interview, January 20, 1974.

253. Peter Maheu interview, Nov. 29, 1973.

254. Robert Maheu interview, Jan. 28, 1974.

255. IRS memorandum of interview with James Rogers, Maheu's lawyer, March 15, 1973.

256. See pp. 460-2.

257. Exhibit 26 is the withdrawal slip. Bell related his version of the withdrawal in an interview on Dec. 17, 1973. A fuller explanation of Bell's story is set forth at pp. 456-7.

According to Bell, he immediately gave $50,000 of that sum to Richard Danner in Danner's office with no one else present. Bell's withdrawal and delivery to Danner were made at Robert Maheu's request, according both to Bell 258 and Maheu.259 This was the only time, Bell said, that he was asked to deliver money to Danner. Bell assumed, but was not told by Maheu or Danner, that the money was for a political contribution. Bell had no idea what Danner did with the money.

In his latest testimony, Danner denied ever receiving any money from Bell,260 although he earlier testified that it was possible that Bell delivered money to him.261 Danner and Maheu were in Key Biscayne shortly after the $50,000 was allegedly given to Danner.262

This money could be the source only of the second delivery; all other potential delivery dates were before October 26, 1970.

6. A Note on Storage of the Money Before Delivery to Rebozo. As the earlier section on the roles of key participants shows, 263 there is some question about where the money for at least one of the deliveries, most likely the first, was held and for how long between the time it was put together and the time it was delivered to Rebozo. Before the Select Committee, Danner testified as follows:

My recollection is one, perhaps the first one, had been locked in a box in the Frontier cage. And it was obtained from that source. Whether I got it or Mr. Maheu got it or one of the secretaries got it, I don't recall.

The second contribution, again, I don't recall whether it was Robert Maheu or his son, Peter Maheu, who delivered it to me, either in their office or my office. But I am reasonably certain that this is the way the two deliveries were made to me.264

In his November 29, 1972 telephone conversation with IRS Special Agent Skelton, according to the IRS memorandum, Danner told Skelton that the first delivery was in Key Biscayne in September 1969265 and that the money that was delivered then had been kept intact in the Frontier cage "for

258. Bell Interview, Dec. 17, 1973.

259. Robert Maheu Interview, Jan. 20, 1974.

260. Richard Danner Executive Session, June 11, 1974, p. 186. 261. Danner Executive Session, December 19, 1973, p. 2.

.262. See p. 475.

263. See p. 452.

264. Danner Executive Session, June 11, 1974, pp. 188-189. 265. Ibid.

a[t] least six months," 266 which would mean at least since March 1969. The spring of 1969 was about the same time, according to Danner, that Rebozo was chiding him about Hughes' failure to support President Nixon.267 Danner was apparently involved in storing the money. He told Skelton that he, Danner, had personally supervised the transfer of the money while it was in the cage from a manila envelope to a locked box.268 The only sources for money that were intact as early as March 1969 were (a) the Sands in early December 1968 or (b) Nadine Henley on December 5, 1968. Thus, Danner's story to Skelton tends to support the view that the money for the first delivery was the same money that had been obtained in December 1968.

C. An Analysis of Possible Delivery Dates. 1. The Bahamas -December 1968. On the disbursement form Lawrence Ryhlick prepared regarding the withdrawal from the Sands in early December 1968,269 Ryhlick wrote (at some later date) the following notation:

The money was taken by John Ianni and given to Bob Maheu. I was told he was to give this to President Nixon on Maheu's trip to the Bahamas.270

That observation was hearsay information, and the Select Committee has been unable to determine conclusively the accuracy of the remark. According to Ryhlick,271 he made the handwritten entry regarding the Bahamas as one of his periodic attempts to make a record of the purposes for cash withdrawals given to Maheu, should he later be questioned by Hughes officials or anyone else regarding his role in obtaining funds for Maheu. Ryhlick was not sure who told him the money was intended for then President-elect Nixon, but he thought it might have been Nigro himself or Jack Hooper, Chief of Security for the Hughes operation. Nigro is dead, and Hooper has apparently been seriously ill since at least the fall of 1973 and has not been questioned.2 272

266. Ibid. Danner told the Select Committee that Maheu told him the undelivered money from 1968 was in a safe deposit box at the Frontier and that he, Danner, was "fairly certain" that it was the 1968 money. Danner Executive Session, Dec. 18, 1973, p. 91.

267. See p. 451.

268. Ibid.

269. See p. 460.

270. Notes taken from the copy of the record in the possession of the IRS. The record itself is in the possession of the Summa Corp. A written request from the Select Committee staff, dated May 31, 1974, for a copy of it has gone unanswered.

271. Ryhlick Interview, May 21, 1974.

272. His doctor has consistently attested to Hooper's illness in communication with the Select Committee staff.

There is no evidence that Maheu was in the Bahamas after the Sands withdrawal. Danner originally testified that he visited Rebozo and President-elect Nixon on Robert Abplanalp's Bahamian island, Grand Cay, sometime between the 1968 election and the inauguration in 1969.278 President-elect Nixon visited that island on November 18-19, 1968, and on December 26, 1968.274 Danner's diary does not show him in the Bahamas or nearby at either time Mr. Nixon was there in late 1968. He was in Spanish Cay and Freeport in the Bahamas from December 10-15, 1968,275 a visit that, Danner testified, had nothing to do with political contributions or the delivery of money to President-Elect Nixon or Rebozo.276 Danner's latest testimony, based upon an examination of his 1968 diary, is that (1) he saw President Nixon in the Bahamas only once in 1968 and (2) that visit was on April 10-12, 1968, at Walkers Cay, part of Abplanalp's property.277 Further, Danner testified that he did not receive any money from Hughes' representatives in December 1968.278

Danner was in Las Vegas from December 5-8, 1968,279 which was the same time period as (1) the receipt by Maheu of $100,000 in cash,280 (2) the unsuccessful delivery of $50,000 to President-elect Nixon or an aide in Palm Springs, 281 and (3) the shipment to the Las Vegas bank used by the Hughes-owned casinos of 50 consecutively numbered $100 bills that were in the money Rebozo returned and identified as the first delivery.282 While no firm conclusions can be drawn, this evidence and Ryhlick's note establish an interesting set of coincidences.

2. April 2-10, 1969-Key Biscayne. No one has testified to this date as a delivery date. This was Danner's first trip to Miami after he joined the Hughes organization 283 and, according to Danner, it concerned business dealings in the Bahamas.284 Maheu told Select Committee investigators that the first delivery was made in Key Biscayne not long after 273. Danner Executive Session, December 19, 1973, p. 22. Danner testimony in Maheu v. Hughes Tool Co., No. 72-305-HP (C. D. Cal.), May 3, 1974, p. 7781-82.

274. New York Times, November 19, 1968, p. 30; New York Times, November 20, 1973, p. 15; New York Times, November 27, 1968, p. 18. 275. Danner Diary. Exhibit No. 00.

276. Danner Executive Session, June 11, 1974, p. 104-06.

277. Ibid. at 151.

278. Ibid. at 141-44.

279. Danner Travel Records. Exhibit 25.

280. See p. 437.

281. See pp. 438-9.

282. See p. 461.

283. Danner travel records. Exhibit 27.

284. Danner Executive Session, Dec. 19, 1973, p. 56. The trip concerned business dealings regarding CaySal island, as reflected on his travel records.

Danner joined the Hughes operation,285 but he was unable to pinpoint the date. There is no indication from available travel or hotel records that Maheu was with Danner in Florida at this time. In summary, this is a possible delivery date without substantial support.

3. June 26, 1969-Key Biscayne. Like the April 2-10 date, there was no testimony supporting this specific date. Danner had no specific recollection of this trip,286 although he testified that in the Spring of 1969 Rebozo was "more or less needling" him about Hughes' financial support of Hubert Humphrey and Hughes' failure to contribute to President Nixon.287 Danner testified that "around May, possible early in June" 288 1969, after Rebozo had once refused a $50,000 contribution, Danner and Rebozo began discussing the possibility that Hughes would contribute funds for the 1970 Congressional campaign.289

4. September 11-12, 1969-Key Biscayne. There is evidence that makes this the most probable delivery date for the first contribution. The factors suggesting this as a delivery date include the following:

1. The Rebozo-Danner discussions about Hughes' failure to contribute had set the stage for a delivery.

2. According to Danner, Maheu, who was aware of the Danner-Rebozo conversations about a contribution, authorized a delivery to Rebozo "sometime during the summer . . . maybe as late as August [1969].290

3. By this time, Maheu had obtained an additional $50,000 in cash from Nadine Henley.291

4. When first questioned about the first delivery (by the IRS on May 15, 1972), Danner made statements that fit with a number of facts about the September 11-12 trip. He stated as follows:

Maheu showed me the envelope. I saw that it contained packets of money, I did not count it. As I recall, it was in his office in the Frontier Hotel. We took the DeHaviland, flew to Miami, went to Key Biscayne, met Rebozo at his house, Maheu handed him the package and says here's fifty thousand dollars, first installment. Rebozo thanked him, he told . . . Maheu told him then that there

285. Robert Maheu interview, Jan. 20, 1973.

286. Danner Executive Session, Dec. 18, 1973, p. 75-76. Danner's travel records show him in Key Biscayne on June 26, 1969. Exhibit 28. 287. Danner Executive Session, Dec. 18, 1973, p. 42.

288. Ibid. at 51.

289. Ibid. at 51-52.

290. Ibid. at 88.

291. See pp. 462-3.