The CIA agent who wrote lousy spy novels later masterminded the Watergate burglary

....the CIA concocted an ill-conceived scheme to boost their image: Why not create a James Bond of their own? And thus, the Agency tasked a career spy named Howard Hunt with a confidential mission to 'become the Ian Fleming of the American clandestine service.' Off Hunt went on a tax-payer funded writers retreat to Madrid where he churned out three nove…