e. howard hunt dead at 88

from raw story: E. Howard Hunt, an enigmatic figure in 20th-century American political subterfuge, has died at age 88, the Associated Press is reporting.

Hunt, who had a key role in the Watergate Hotel break-in that led to the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon, "succumbed after a lengthy bout of pneumonia," the AP quoted his son, Austin.

Aside from his part in Watergate, Hunt was a World War II veteran, longtime officer in the Central Intelligence Agency, and a prolific author of spy novels.

According to an online biography, "In 1951, he hired William F. Buckley, Jr. as a CIA agent working within the Mexican student movement. Buckley and Hunt remained life-long friends."

Earlier this month, RAW STORY reported on Hunt's upcoming book, in which he speculates that President Lyndon Johnson "may have played a role in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy." Hunt was often implicated by conspiracy theorists as having a part himself in the assassination.