It's been long rumored that President John F. Kennedy and movie star Marilyn Monroe had an affair. Any evidence of this controversial romance would most certainly be news gold.
In September 1997, ABC News obtained a treasure trove of documents – supposedly in the late president's handwriting – depicting details of Kennedy's affair with Monroe, along with his alleged connections to mobster Sam Giancana. ABC was excited, calling the story “dynamite.”
ABC obtained the documents from legendary news reporter Seymour Hersh who wrote an expose on the Kennedy's entitled The Dark Side of Camelot. The documents helped land Hersh a $2 million TV deal. Hersh, in turn, received the documents from New York City lawyer Lawrence Cusack. Cusack claimed he got the papers from his father who worked secretly with the Kennedy family.
ABC soon discovered the hoax perpetrated by Cusack and instead of Hersh's TV special airing, ABC news program 20/20 ran a story on the fraudulent documents and confronted Cusack on the air. Cusack was sentenced to 10 years in prison on fraud charges. Hersh later told Newsweek, "Big deal, plenty of good reporters chase promising leads that fail to pan out.”
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