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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Robert R. Mullen Company.md
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@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ summary: "Washington public relations firm that gave cover to CIA officers abroa
start: 1963-06
location: "Washington, D.C."
created: 2026-09-21
updated: 2026-09-21
updated: 2026-10-15
---
Robert R. Mullen and Company was a public relations firm in Washington whose founder, [[Robert R. Mullen]], placed officers of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] in its overseas offices. [[Howard Hunt|E. Howard Hunt]] was on its payroll when he organized the break-in at the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]]. The agency's cryptonym for the arrangement was QKENCHANT.[^1][^2]
@ -39,6 +39,14 @@ In March 1972, while employed by the firm, Hunt went to [[Denver]] in a wig and
Director [[William Colby]] reported to [[Henry Kissinger]] on the use of the firm for cover on February 9, 1974. Mullen was released from his secrecy agreement for a single interview with the [[Senate Watergate Committee|Senate Watergate committee]] on February 5, 1974.[^5]
### The Senate Select Committee's account
The final report of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities states that the firm had maintained a relationship with the agency since its incorporation in 1959 and provided cover for an agent in Europe and an agent in the Far East at the time of the break-in. Hunt left the agency in 1970 and joined the firm with what Mullen understood to be the blessing of Director Helms; his covert security clearance was extended by the agency, and he remained witting of the Mullen cover and negotiated with the agency about it after he joined the White House.[^8]
Robert F. Bennett, the son of Senator [[Wallace F. Bennett]], became president in 1971 and brought the Hughes Tool Company account. The committee wrote that agency records indicated consideration was given to using Mullen's Hughes relationship for a cover arrangement in South America and to gather information on Robert Maheu. Robert Oliver, the firm's Washington lobbyist for Hughes Tool, is the father of R. Spencer Oliver Jr., whose telephone was tapped at the Democratic National Committee, and Bennett met with the Olivers after the break-in to discuss the bugging.[^9]
According to the case officer's memorandum of July 10, 1972, forwarded to Helms on or before July 14, Bennett had established a "back door entry" to E. B. Williams, the Democratic National Committee's attorney, in order to "kill off" revelations of the agency's relationship with the firm in the course of the committee's lawsuit, and agreed to check with the agency before contacting Williams. The committee staff confirmed that Bennett funneled information to Williams through the attorney [[Hobart Taylor]], and that the flow was more extensive than what Bennett had given the grand jury. The agency acknowledged paying one-half of Bennett's attorney fee for his grand jury appearance.[^10] A contact report of July 24, 1972 shows that the agency persuaded Mullen to withdraw its Far East cover through an "agreed upon scenario" that included a falsified Watergate publicity crisis, and the memorandum refers to a "WH flap" that the agency told the committee concerned a matter threatening Western Hemisphere operations, deleted at its request. A memorandum of March 1, 1973 records that Bennett felt he could handle the Ervin Committee if the agency could handle Hunt, and that he was feeding stories to [[Bob Woodward]] without attribution to Bennett.[^11]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Central Intelligence Agency, Central Cover Staff, "CIA Utilization of the Robert R. Mullen Company," memorandum to the Office of Security, June 20, 1972, CIA Reading Room documents C00573275 and C00320174.
@ -48,3 +56,7 @@ Director [[William Colby]] reported to [[Henry Kissinger]] on the use of the fir
[^5]: Central Intelligence Agency, contact report, July 10, 1972, C03210463; "Meeting with Senator Baker, 11 December 1973," C01482353; "Select Committee Testimony of 5 February 1974," C01474422; Colby, W.E., memorandum to Henry Kissinger, February 9, 1974, C01474417.
[^6]: House Committee on Armed Services, Special Subcommittee on Intelligence, *Inquiry into the Alleged Involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Watergate and Ellsberg Matters,* 93rd Cong., 1973; "Whispers About Colson," *Newsweek,* March 5, 1973.
[^7]: Ruth, Henry S., Jr., Watergate Special Prosecution Force, letter to John S. Warner, July 26, 1973, CIA Reading Room document C01482382; Chief, Cover and Commercial Staff, "Inquiry Regarding Possible ITT Association with CIA and Robert R. Mullen and Company," August 7, 1973, C01367838.
[^8]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company", p. 1121, citing the executive session testimony of Robert R. Mullen (February 5, 1974) and the CIA memorandum "Wrap-Up of Agency's Association with Robert R. Mullen and Company." https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^9]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company", pp. 1121-1123, citing the executive session testimony of Robert F. Bennett (February 1, 1974) and E. Howard Hunt (December 18, 1973) and staff interviews. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^10]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company", p. 1124, citing the Mullen case officer's memorandum for record of July 10, 1972 and the Hobart Taylor interview report of February 11, 1974. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities
[^11]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, *Final Report*, S. Rept. 93-981 (June 1974), section "Robert Bennett and the Mullen and Company", pp. 1125-1128, citing the case officer's memoranda of July 10 and July 24, 1972 and the memorandum for the Deputy Director for Plans of March 1, 1973. https://archive.org/details/FinalReportOfTheSenateSelectCommitteeOnPresidentialCampaignActivities