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  • Age of Secrets

  • The Conspiracy That Toppled Richard Nixon and the Hidden Death of Howard Hughes
  • By: Gerald Bellett
  • Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
  • Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins

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Age of Secrets

By: Gerald Bellett
Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
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Publisher's Summary

An acclaimed nonfiction international political thriller exposing the real reason for Watergate, the hidden death of Howard Hughes, and the illicit activities of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with the CIA’s worldwide pursuit of John Meier trying to expose it all, including revealing information on the Robert F. Kennedy assassination and critical comments by New York Times best-selling author Jim Hougan.

The major motion picture in development Meiergate is about the life story of John Meier.

During the Watergate hearings, one man wanted to tell a spellbound nation secrets about the Nixon White House, the CIA, and Howard Hughes. He could have told them why the burglary happened, but that was not what the Committee wanted to hear. To keep him from telling his secrets, he was persecuted, jailed, and forced into exile in Canada. His name is John Meier. His employer was Howard Hughes. Age of Secrets is his story.

Former US Senate candidate John Meier had top-secret security clearance with the US government and has been referred to in the media as the man who brought down president of the United States Richard Nixon in Watergate, the greatest political scandal in US history. Meier was the right-hand man to Howard Hughes, the world’s richest individual, and Meier was the first person to expose the CIA’s connection to the Hughes Organization and the only person to call for a congressional hearing into the death of Howard Hughes.

Meier was responsible for the CIA’s creation of the legal term Glomar Response, when an agency refuses to confirm or deny the existence of records or information, he was an intelligence agent with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and he was involved with preventing the assassination of president of the Dominican Republic Joaquin Balaguer.

Howard Hughes supplied the CIA with a cover organization to hide anything they possess or do. When Meier opted out of the organization, he became an impediment to its continued existence.

John Meier was a diplomat who operated at the highest levels of government, including as vice chairman of the Humphrey-Muskie National Finance Committee, during vice president of the United States Hubert Humphrey’s presidential campaign, serving on President Richard Nixon’s Task Force on Resources and Environment and a special consultant to Nixon’s Environmental Quality Advisory Committee, and an advisor to several US senators including senators Hubert Humphrey, Robert F. Kennedy, and Mike Gravel, who credited Meier with preventing the spread of nuclear power within the United States.

The full US Senate Watergate Committee granted Meier immunity in order for Meier to testify at a public Watergate hearing on the relationships between the Nixon Administration and Howard Hughes. Meier was the next person to testify to tell the world what he knew, but the Watergate hearings went back into secret session to prevent Meier from revealing what he was going to expose, as he was told his testimony would be too damaging and that a lot of people were worried that too much would be uncovered about Howard Hughes' dealings beyond President Nixon.

Meier has been a major source to the media, including America’s top investigative reporter, The Washington Post's Jack Anderson, and attempted to then expose what he knew through the media, with the CIA pursuing Meier across the US, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia, Tonga, and the Dominican Republic to stop him at all costs, including framing him for a number of offenses (including murder), and attempting to assassinate him.

In the afterword of the book, Meier sums up his politically motivated battle by saying, “My story is one of a man devastated by a corrupt system".

"If it were a film, it would be as exciting as The Bourne Identity"—New York Times Bestselling Author Jim Hougan

"Age of Secrets is intriguing"—Las Vegas Sun

"John Meier's life straight from a John LeCarre thriller...If you are at all interested in the use and abuse of power in high places, this book is a must"—Vancouver Sun

"A spellbinding account of the Watergate break-in, corruption in the Nixon White House, and the insidious control government has over its people"—Delta Optimist

Rated one of the top 10 best books on both Watergate and Nixon and "The best inside view of what really happened to Hughes and his empire in print"—Probe Magazine

"This tragic story of international intrigue, of abuse of the political and judicial systems of two great nations did not take place in some far-away foreign land, but right here in our own back yard."—Former Member and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Canadian Politician Walter Davidson

©2022 Meier Publishing Inc. (P)2023 Meier Publishing Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic Reviews

"John Meier has been persecuted by agents of the American government and threatened by criminal elements in the U.S. and is The Man Who Knew Too Much About Too Many Bad People."—Former United States Presidential Candidate and United States Senator Mike Gravel

"An Engaging...counternarrative to the 20th century's most notorious political scandal...An award-winning journalist, Bellett is a gifted storyteller who skillfully weaves a narrative rife with intrigue and political drama. The strength of the book is the way in which it presents Meier's story from his own perspective."—Kirkus Reviews

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