Editing Howard Hughes (section)

=== Connections to Richard Nixon and Watergate ===

Shortly before the [[1960 United States presidential election|1960 Presidential election]], [[Richard Nixon]] was alarmed when it was revealed that his brother, [[Donald Nixon|Donald]], had received a $205,000 loan from Hughes. It has long been speculated<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_spectator/2012/04/robert_redford_s_watergate_documentary_will_it_explain_whether_nixon_ordered_the_watergate_break_in_.html|title=A Challenge to Robert Redford|last=Rosenbaum|first=Ron|date=April 27, 2012|work=Slate|access-date=October 4, 2017|language=en-US|issn=1091-2339}}</ref> that Nixon's drive to learn what the Democrats were planning in 1972 was based in part on his belief that the Democrats knew about a later bribe that his friend [[Bebe Rebozo]] had received from Hughes after Nixon took office.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2005/feb/28/hughes-bribe-of-nixon-alleged/|title=Hughes bribe of Nixon alleged|newspaper=[[Las Vegas Sun]]|location=Las Vegas, Nevada|date=February 28, 2005|access-date=August 13, 2018}}</ref>

In late 1971, Donald Nixon was collecting intelligence for his brother in preparation for the upcoming presidential election. One of his sources was [[John H. Meier]], a former business adviser of Hughes who had also worked with [[Democratic National Committee]] Chairman [[Larry O'Brien]].<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/research/investigations/watergate/index.html "Records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force."] ''archives.gov.'' Retrieved: February 25, 2012.</ref>

Meier, in collaboration with former Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]] and others, wanted to feed misinformation to the Nixon campaign. Meier told Donald that he was sure the Democrats would win the election because Larry O'Brien had a great deal of information on Richard Nixon's illicit dealings with Howard Hughes that had never been released;<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/research/investigations/watergate/hughes-investigation.html "Campaign Contributions Task Force #804 – Hughes/Rebozo Investigation."] ''archives.gov.'' Retrieved: February 25, 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Hughes, Nixon and the C.I.A.|magazine=[[Playboy]]|publisher=[[Playboy Enterprises]]|location=Chicago, Illinois|date=September 1976}}</ref> O'Brien did not actually have any such information, but Meier wanted Nixon to think that he did. Donald told his brother that O'Brien was in possession of damaging information that could destroy his campaign.<ref>Bellett 1995, pp. 32, 36, 160.</ref> [[Terry Lenzner]], who was the chief investigator for the [[Senate Watergate Committee]], speculates that it was Nixon's desire to know what O'Brien knew about Nixon's dealings with Hughes that may have partially motivated the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] break-in.<ref>Stahl, Lesley. [https://web.archive.org/web/20050225084353/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/24/60minutes/main676414.shtml "Watergate: 'Aviator' Connection?, Lesley Stahl Talks To Watergate Investigator About Motive For Break-In."] ''CBS News''. Retrieved: January 5, 2008.</ref>