Freda Reiter – E. Howard Hunt Out on Bail – Pastel Drawing

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E. Howard Hunt, onetime C.I.A. operative and prolific author of spy novels, was, along with G. Gordon Liddy, one of the “White House Plumbers” who organized the burglary of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office and the bugging of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate. Hunt had spent a month in prison for his role in the Watergate burglary before his release, pending appeal, on January 2, 1974.

Pastel drawing, 17″ x 14″

Signature (detail)

Watergate exhibition page

Freda L. Reiter

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Since cameras were banned from courtrooms, news outlets depended on professional sketch artists like Freda Reiter for visuals. When Reiter was assigned the Watergate burglary trial, in 1973, she had no idea that she would be spending the better part of two years in Washington.

Watergate Courtroom Sketches by Freda L. Reiter, 1973–75
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To provide sufficient visuals for the substantial airtime allotted to the story each night, Reiter made multiple sketches a day: close-up portraits, as well as wide-angle views of the courtroom incorporating as many as 28 figures.