FBI releases Watergate planner E. Howard Hunt's file

The FBI files on E. Howard Hunt, who orchestrated the Watergate break-in, are thin, according to the AP, which received the data after filing an FOIA request. About 100 pages of his file weren't released because they're National Archives property. What was released included FBI background checks from when he joined the CIA and when he was hired as a White House consultant. Most of the files, however, concern Hunt's request for a presidential pardon from President Ronald Reagan.

Watergate break-in planner E. Howard Hunt sought a presidential pardon by saying he thought the infamous burglary had "executive authorization," according to FBI documents released two years after his death. He died without getting a pardon.

The FBI released 167 pages of Hunt's files following a Freedom of Information Act request by The Associated Press. Wednesday marks 37 years since police caught the burglars in the Washington break-in. The case ultimately made Hunt a household name and led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Despite working as a CIA agent for more than two decades and his role in Watergate, Hunt's file is remarkably thin. As a CIA agent Hunt was involved in a U.S.-backed coup in Guatemala in 1954 and the botched Bay of Pigs attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. He worked in China, Mexico, Japan and Spain, among other places.

More here.