THE MOLLENHOFF COCKTAIL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000400390020-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 2, 1999
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: August 12, 1966
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

TIME ~~NN~~
Approved For Release 1999/09/17ALtDA1Ffb -000~TTqq 1R0In401
CPYRGHT CPYRGHT
The story was right out of TV's s t?cy in a farmhouse; they fell su o--
spoofing Get Smart! When a top CIA ara,scd that they finally ahundoncd .' ~.
l
man named Hans V. Tofte advertised oscd meetings.
d
ams scan a j _.
Whcn the Sherman A
his Wash ington'basement a artment for
~'` roke, Mollenhoff adopted the relative- '`~;- ? -~ ,~
ti-n
3iocum answered inc au and then grim- ms at home. After a bit of chitchat.
lv snitched that he had soled classified . __, . ___ "
uu+:umems tying arvuna iotie s pad. in reference to the Oriental rug that r l +1'
turn, Tofte grimly complained at the 1
+l
.L _ . I _ I _ I _ dams was rumorr d t? have im
proper
dams, thereby confirming its exist-
wife's jewelry had vanished after Slo- ~,.
ce
Moll
h
ff
i
.
en
o
sa
d a polite goodbye
cum's visit. i
nd soon splashed the whole story of the
Predictably, the CIA looked daggers - , .
its
all
of. cnmet ometh
ca
. h was 11 Ruffling the Hoodlumry. Despite his
.' of i no ec~a nrrl and t that t was
all Reporter Clark Mollenhoff needed. t i;"` ""'`" zeal, mouennort is no edi- p`k'.
~ r s dream. The rewrite desk crin es'`
Last week, after piecing the details to- g
Koff s read the slot over his er the wire. 1f hough his Drake Uni-
P Y papers,- , - .... ,---- - . . . .
.. ,. , .. y ,, ,., -a.%; ,nn ti U111%; yr vv as- - 30 ''N ever:"UII" for an anIwore
ards over the years, including
ingt1~-~--? ? -. ~_ _j
on s most feared as well as respect- ,nco
_
t
a t o
not attribut- l
non, 45, cannot stand it is a secret. His -- t
i ng g statements. But once others whip.,
automatic response to the merest hint _ _ _ a nnnv ;..... I ~_, ? , MOCIENHAF/
If there is one thing Clark Molten- I helped his writing: And he has
e disconcerti 11; ~,:? ;
t h
f
~''
oks include the hard-hittin Tenta ?
cannot resist lid-lifting, Mollenhoff has ? ?
.. S _? ' . r1.
o f
inat
tng detail, It was Mol-
harrassed or exasperated Dwight Eisen-, tta in ra
hrras Shcnnan Adams, Ezra Taft I- hoff's earlier lier investigation that set:
bby Kennedy snapping on the team-;
Benson, John Kennedy. Everett Dirk- = ,_ ._-
G
.,,y "V"U,
eorge rv,cany, `-yn- Throughout his 20 years of investi
don Johnson, Bobby Baker and Robe
rt'i
i
`
~ g
ve reporting, Mollenhoff has never! .
-
McNamara, to name just a few. r b n sued for libel. In fact, he has had
4 in., 245 lbs.), mellow Midwesterner, ,l ''3be '?""y close shave. nacx in
Mollenhoff displays none of the mulish 1 , before he left for Washington .?
tenacity in private that characterizes a ide ds after ly, rubbing Mollenhoff the hides taken some
p
him in public, where he never takes ' Moines hoodlums. des vi edto
'"uh" for an answer. Last March his sni
p. lato al off, , Des he Mori told the he hoods nes that hAdvised to
- the
ing finally got to McNamara. Angrily
i Y:
,
to leave a press conference notin that omctat who had been giving him all
S hi i
9
nformation. Blurted the top hood:.,
he had already asked three questions.... at sonofabitch has got "You dodged three times
guts
" re
lied
th
;
'
m
e
,
p
,
e
d gh he
s taken fro
US.
Results an
uncowed Mollenhoff
"You seem to
'
.
.
pt r scoop for the man' .B.7: now
dodge everything. Mr. Secretary " Ex_.
you have thrown at me for five years.".J.
Three days later McNamara was off on:'
order. Muttered L.B.J. to aides: "He'
ought to know better than to tackle'
"
that s.o.b.
As Mollenhoff sees it, of course, it is.
ju
t th
h
s
e ot
er way round. Though many
of his colleagues as well as his targets;
share Johnson's view, Mollenhoff fig- i ?:,
when he is digging. He once hounded
a locked-door session of a board o.
su;,arvisors in his Dome state of Iowa
of the courthouse and Later wriggling
Approved For Release 1999/09/17: CIA-RDP75-00001 R000400390020-0