Around 1949, Meyer started working for the
Central Intelligence Agency, joining the organization in 1951 at the invitation of
Allen Dulles. At first he worked at the
Office of Policy Coordination under former
OSS man,
Frank Wisner. In 1953, Meyer came under attack by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which claimed he was a security risk for having once stood at the same podium of a "notorious leftist", and refused to give him a security clearance. An internal CIA inquiry summarily dismissed the claims. According to Deborah Davis in her 1979 book
Katharine the Great, Meyer became the "principal operative" of
Operation Mockingbird, an alleged plan to secretly influence domestic and foreign media. Meyer befriended
James Angleton, who in 1954 became the CIA's
counter-intelligence chief. From 1954 until 1962, Meyer led the agency's
International Organizations Division. and from 1973 to 1976 was
CIA station chief in
London. Some insiders incorrectly suspected that Cord Meyer was
Deep Throat, a key informant in the
Watergate Scandal whose identity was a mystery for more than 30 years.
Alleged involvement in JFK assassination After the death of former CIA agent and
Watergate figure
E. Howard Hunt in 2007, Saint John Hunt and David Hunt revealed that their father had recorded several claims about himself and others being involved in a
conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy. In the April 5, 2007 issue of
Rolling Stone, Saint John Hunt detailed a number of individuals implicated by his father including Meyer, as well as
Lyndon B. Johnson,
David Sánchez Morales,
David Phillips,
Frank Sturgis, an assassin, he termed "French gunman grassy knoll" who many presume was
Lucien Sarti, and
William Harvey. The two sons alleged that their father cut the information from his memoirs,
"American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond", to avoid possible perjury charges. According to Hunt's widow and other children, the two sons took advantage of Hunt's loss of lucidity by coaching and exploiting him for financial gain. The
Los Angeles Times said they examined the materials offered by the sons to support the story and found them to be "inconclusive". == Personal life ==