by Joan Mellen
p. 132: “the exposure of Shaw’s connections”: CIA. From: J. Walton Moore to Chief, Domestic Collection Division. Attn: Deputy Chief of Operations (Ed Watts). June 3, 1976. NARA.
p. 132: “limited to Domestic Contact Service activities”: Memorandum For: Deputy Director of Support. Subject: Claimed Agency Affiliation by Conspiracy Case Figures. May 1, 1967. 104-10106-10466. 80T01357A. NARA. CIA found what it wanted to find. At one point Donovan Pratt, working under Raymond Rocca, nicknamed “the Rock,” could find no Agency records for Joseph Rault, who had at least two contacts a month with JMWAVE: See: Memorandum For: Director, Domestic Contact Service, attention: Mr. George Musulin. Subject: Garrison Investigation: Cecil Maxwell Shilstone. 19 June 1967. Signed by Donovan E. Pratt. DC/CI/R & A. NARA.
p. 132: the highest of six CIA categories: DCD-670/78. June 5, 1978. Memorandum for: DDO/ISS/ IP/EIS. From: Ruth Ellif DCD/FIO/ PAO. Subject: House Select Committee on Assassinations Request (OLC 78- 1179/1). NARA.
p. 132: cleared for Project QKENCHANT: September 18, 1998. Memorandum for: Laura Denk, Executive Director, ARRB. From: J. Barry Harrelson JFK Project Officer, HRP/ OIM. Subject: CIA- IR-06 QKENCHANT. NARA.
p. 132: J. Monroe Sullivan is utilized under Project QKENCHANT: Memorandum for: File. From: M. D. Stevens. Subject: Sullivan, J. Monroe. #280-207. March 16, 1967. 201- 813493. NARA.
p. 132: “used for intelligence procurement”: August 3, 1976. Memorandum for Associate Deputy Director for Administration. From: Robert W. Gambino, Director of Security. Subject: High Chisholm McDonald. NARA.
p. 132: QKENCHANT was an “operational project”: The Directorate of Operations in reply to a FOIA request determined that “a disclosure of additional information (records) concerning QKENCHANT or ZRCLIFF would tend to identify the full meaning of the cryptonyms.” CIA repeats: the records “would reside in the DO’s operational files,” which they were under no obligation to release”: Memorandum for: Kathryn I. Dyer, Information Privacy Coordinator. Information: Office of General Counsel, from: Redictated. DO/ IMS; Subject: F-1993-02469—Litigation— William A. Davy v. CIA Re: Request for Records Pertaining to and/or Captioned QKENCHANT and ZRCLIFF—Nine (9) Documents, Reference; IRG Taskings, 28 Sept. and 1 Nov. 2000, courtesy of James H. Lesar. This demonstrates that Clay Shaw was hardly one among thousands of businessmen routinely briefed by the Agency after travel: Priority Handling FOIA request. DDO/DDA/DST/DCI. Info re: PROJECT QKENCHANT and PROJECT ZRCLIFF. Date sent: 22 February 1994. Request number F93-2469; Confidential. Memorandum for: Chief, Information Privacy and Classification Review Division. Via: Eldon I. Hatch, DDA/IRO. From: Chief, Office of Personnel Security. Subject: Freedom of Request-William Davy (Requester) for “ZRCLIFF and QKENCHANT” (Subject). Reference: IP & CRD (F) 93-2469. The denial reads: “this request should be coordinated in full with the Directorate of Operations (DO) prior to any affected release.”
p. 133: Shaw’s QKENCHANT records reside in CIA’s operational files: See Declaration by William H. McNair, Information Review Officer, Directorate of Operations, U. S. Central Intelligence Agency. Case No. 1:00CV02134 (RCL). May 22, 2002.
p. 133: “covert security approval”: Memorandum For: Chief, Central Cover Staff, Corporate Cover Branch. Attention: Mr. Martin Lukoskio. Subject: Hunt, E. Howard. #23 500. Signed by Victor R. White, Deputy Director of Security (IOS). NARA.
p. 133: Richard Burnes telephones Shaw: “who are you from?”: Memorandum. February 10, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: Richard V. Burnes. Re: Preliminary Report—Clay Shaw—1313 Dauphine Street, New Orleans, LA. NODA. NARA.
p. 133: a peculiar form of salutation: diary of Richard N. Billings.
p. 133: Banister recruited “for QKENCHANT purposes”: CIA. 104-10109-10374. JFK. 80T01357A. From: Chief, CCD/NC. To: Chief, OS/SSD/I & S. Title: Memorandum: Request For Special Inquiry—Guy W. Banister Associates—New Orleans. 08/26/60. Subjects: Banister, Guy. This is a 6/16/04 release. NARA. A formal investigative report vetting Banister was filed by the CIA’s Los Angeles Field Office. (CIA. 104- 10109-10379. JFK. 80TO1357A. From: Los Angeles Field Office. To: Headquarters. Date: 09/13/60. Pages: 16. Subjects: Investigation. Report. GWBA, Inc. NARA).
p. 133: “not a policy-making Agency”: “CIA Must Keep Quiet— Cabell.” Times- Picayune, May 10, 1961, Section 1, p. 3.
p. 133: no questions from the floor: NO 155-67. Att’n: Director, Domestic Contact Service, Operational Support Staff (Musulin). From: Chief, New Orleans Office. Case 49364—Garrison’s Investigation into Alleged Conspiracy to Assassinate John F. Kennedy (formerly HH- 18123). Ref: Your memorandum of 11 April 1967. Lloyd A. Ray. NARA.
p. 133: “as a CIA observer”: Att’n: Chief, Contact Division. From: Chief, New Orleans Office. August 6, 1955. NARA.
p. 133: CIA pays Shaw to go to an exhibition in Czechoslovakia: Chief, Contact Division. Attn: McHugh. From: Chief, New Orleans Office. Case 18751. Signed by William P. Burke. August 8, 1955. NARA.
p. 133: Shaw’s relations with Czech intelligence: CIA shared information with the FBI on this, as per the 1948 agreement: FBI To: Director, FBI. From: SAC, New York. 124-10167-10113. 89-69-1573. 62-109060-4663. NARA.
p. 134: Shaw spies on mercury producers: Chief, New Orleans Office. Attn: H. C. Leake. Chief, Contact Division (WE/N). Case 20791. June 4, 1956. From: E. M. Ashcraft. File: Clay Shaw: A12274. The International Trade Mart itself had a separate CIA designated number: A-13027. See also: Chief, Contact Division. Attn: WE/N Branch (Sommerville). Chief, New Orleans Office. May 25, 1956. Case: 20791. William P. Burke.
p. 134: Shaw is briefed in advance: Attn: Chief, Contact Branch. Operations Section. From: Chief, New Orleans Office. Case No. 1046. June 7, 1949. NARA. See also: Attn: Chief, Contact Branch, Operations Section. From: Chief, New Orleans Office. Case No. 1646. Re: (a) New Orleans Office teletype NO 102. (b) Evans’ memorandum of February 19, 1949. By 1949, Clay Shaw was speaking fluent Spanish.
p. 134: in each country to which he traveled: February 18, 1949. Memorandum to Chief, New Orleans Office. From Chief, Contact branch. Subject: Case 1646. Reference (a) New Orleans Office teletype no. 102 by Leake. SOUTH AMERICA— Economic, Political. NARA. Shaw’s CIA records contain descriptions of each of these assignments in Latin America.
p. 134: Garrison concluded that Clay Shaw worked for CIA: Jim Garrison to Zach Sklar, August 9, 1988. AARC.
p. 135: Freeport Sulphur: See: “David Atlee Phillips, Clay Shaw and Freeport Sulphur” by Lisa Pease. PROBE magazine. Vol. 3, No. 3. March- April 1996. See also: Ken Elliot confirms Kimble’s story about Shaw’s flight to Canada for Freeport Sulphur with Ferrie at the helm: Memorandum. June 27, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: Sal Scalia. Re: Interview with Perry Russo. NODA. NARA. For the investigation into Shaw, Ferrie, Oswald and Freeport Sulphur see also: Memorandum. October 1, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Interview with James J. Plaine. NODA. Memorandum. October 9, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Clay Shaw; Memorandum. October 23, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Shaw—Ferrie & White [sic] (Freeport Sulphur). Undated memo beginning “In ’63 or 64: Reported that Dick White [sic], Pres—1st Natl— Gretna . . . .”
p. 135: Ferrie pilots Shaw and a man from Freeport Sulphur: See Memorandum. October 9, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. RE: Clay Shaw & Mr. Plaine. NODA. NARA; Memorandum. October 23, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Shaw—Ferrie & White. [sic] NODA. NARA.
p. 135: For Kimble’s relations with the Klan, See Hoke May, “Death and Terror Wear Klan Hood,” States-Item. September 8, 1967. Section 1, p. 1.
p. 135: Kimble went on to report on Jim Garrison to Lloyd Ray: Memorandum for: The General Counsel. Subject: Garrison Investigation. Reference: OGC Memorandum 67- 1811, 22 September 1967. Subject as above. September 26, 1967. Donovan E. Pratt, DC/CI/R & A. NARA.
p. 135: Kimble tells Lou Ivon he had done special assignments for CIA: Memorandum. September 6, 1967. To: Jim Garrison. From: Louis Ivon. Re: Conversati
on with Jules Ricco Kimble. NODA.
p. 135: James J. Plaine: Memorandum. October 1, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Interview with James J. Plaine. See also: Memorandum. October 9, 1968. To: Jim Garrison. From: Andrew J. Sciambra. Re: Clay Shaw & Mr. Plaine.” See also Unsigned memo beginning “in ’63 or ’64. Reported that Dick White [sic], Pres. 1st Nat’l.- Gretna.” NODA.
p. 136: the Paese Sera articles of March 4, March 6, March 11- 12 and March 18th are available at NARA. See also Clark Blaise, “Neo-Fascism and the Kennedy Assassins,” Canadian Dimension, and Louis Wiznitzer, “Will Garrison’s Inquiry into Kennedy’s Assassination Lead to Montreal?” Le Devoir. March 16, 1967.
p. 136: “most notorious fascist organizations in French history”: James D. Le Sueur, Uncivil War: Intellectuals and Identity Politics During the Decolonization of Algeria (Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), p. 56.
p. 136: “those who killed John F. Kennedy”: Tommy Baumler, interviewed by Gary Shaw and Bud Fensterwald, December 30, 1981. AARC.
p. 136: “shady speculation”: Foreign Service Despatch. From: American Consulate, Basel. To: The Department of State, Washington. Ref: Our D-55, April 8, 1958. D-63, May 21, 1958, November 7, 1958. Signed by Elias A. McQuaid, American Consul. AARC.
p. 137: ten million dollars of CIA money: Joseph Trento, The Secret History of the CIA, (Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing, Forum, 2001), p. 408.
p. 137: the French: Author Gary Aguilar has collected the French sources in an article on Max Holland available on the Internet. See also. Andrew Tully, CIA—The Inside Story (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1962), pp. 48, 53. See also James Reston, “Pentagon To Get Some C.I.A. Duties,” The New York Times, April 29, 1961, p. 3.
p. 137: for the Hungarian political career of Nagy, see Jorg Hoensch, A History of Modern Hungary: 1967-1994. Thank you to John McAdams for suggesting this reference.
p. 137: “cleared contact”: Memorandum For: Chief, CI/R & A. Subject: Trace Results on Persons Connected with Centro Mondiale Commerciale (World Trade Center). Reference: Our memorandum of 8 March 1967 on Italian aspects of the Clay Shaw affair. CIA 104-10181- 10114. Date: March 24, 1967. NARA. ARRB release.
p. 137: Nagy is a CIA asset of Frank Wisner: CIA. 104-10213- 10146. Title: Correspondence with FBI On CIA/FBI Liaison Agreement in 1948. 18 pages. One wag dubbed this set of documents a “treaty” between the FBI and CIA. In particular, see: 13 September 1948. Memorandum For: Admiral Sidney W. Souers, Executive Secretary, NSC. VIA. Admiral R. H. Hillenkoetter, Director of Central Intelligence. From: Frank G. Wisner, Assistant Director, CIA. Subject: Cooperation with FBI. NARA.
p. 137: Nagy contributed: Nagy contributes to Jacques Soustelle: See Paris Flammonde, The Kennedy Conspiracy: An Uncommissioned Report on the Jim Garrison Investigation. (New York: Meredith Press, 1969), pp. 216ff.
p. 137: all but identical to OAS: See, for example, Benjamin Stora, La gangrene et l’oubli: La memoire de la guerre d’Algerie (Paris: La Decouverte, 1991).
p. 137: advocated overthrowing De Gaulle: James D. Le Sueur, Uncivil War, p. 4.
p. 137: Delphine Roberts recognizes Ferenc Nagy: Robert Buras Interview with Delphine Roberts. 5 pages. August 27, 1978. 12:30 p.m.
p. 138: Seligman banking family: See Peter Seligman-Schurch to Clay Shaw, May 2, 1960. Papers of Clay Shaw. Involved as well was the Schroder Banking Corporation: Memorandum Concerning The Permindex Project, January 15, 1957. Foreign Service Despatch. From: John A. Lehrs, American Consul. AARC.
p. 138: “widespread public suspicion”: Foreign Service Despatch. From: Amconsul Basel To: The Department of State, Washington, April 9, 1958. Ref: Basel’s D-32. October 8, 1957, and related correspondence. AARC.
p. 138: “insufficient confidence in the business integrity”: Foreign Service Despatch. From: American Consulate, Basel. To: The Department of State, Washington, ref: Basel’s D-37 of January 15, 1957. January 16, 1957. AARC.
p. 138: Spring of 1958: For E. Wegmann’s file. Memo from Clay Shaw. Papers of Edward F. Wegmann.
p. 138: Shaw helps PERMINDEX gain credibility: See Enrico A. Mantello to Clay Shaw, May 31, 1960. Papers of Clay Shaw.
p. 138: “to strengthen US control”: Foreign Service Despatch. From: AmEmbassy, Rome. To: The Department of State, Washington. Ref: Dept. Instruction CA- 10596. July 18, 1956. AARC.
p. 138: Shaw is “delighted” to join PERMINDEX: Clay Shaw to Enrico Mantello. August 7, 1958. Papers of Clay Shaw.
p. 138: Mantello’s urgings: George Mantello to Clay Shaw, November 18, 1958.
p. 138: “this shadowy organization”: Arthur Leonard to Clay Shaw, December 8, 1958. LHM U. S. Department of Commerce, Field Services. New Orleans, Louisiana. Papers of Clay L. Shaw. NARA.
p. 138: CIA’s Shaw files with PERMINDEX materials: PERMINDEX-related materials surface in Shaw’s CIA file three years before the Kennedy assassination. The CIA compiled a list which included a March 18, 1960, Memorandum regarding Ferenc Nagy and an 00-A-3, 154,897 1 April 1960 CIA Information Report regarding Enrico Mantello aka Imre Mandel [sic]. These items emerged in the March 24, 1967, memorandum cited above, Subject: persons connected with Centro Mondiale Commerciale (World Trade Center), Italian subsidiary of PERMINDEX. Examining a document of March 16, 1967, Victor Marchetti deciphered the line 12haw has #402897-A.”
p. 139: expelled from Italy: The demise of Centro Mondiale Commerciale was engineered by a member of its own Board of Directors named Mario Ceravolo, a Christian Democrat who had resigned because “it was no longer possible to understand the sources of great sums of money obtained abroad by Mr. Giovanni (Giorgio) Mantello, and the real destination of this money.” Ceravolo, obviously invited onto the Board of Directors to provide it with some veneer of liberal cover, could get no reply when he asked where the money was going. He contacted Paese Sera after the appearance of its first article on March 4th, and became a source. The CMC attempted to bribe Ceravolo with a parcel of land, but he turned them down. At least since November 19th: Memorandum No. 8 is dated 1/11/68 and was prepared by the R & A division of Counter Intelligence.
p. 139: New Orleans- Rome air tickets: Paese Sera, March 14, 1967.
p. 139: “there must have been blackmail”: Interview with Patricia Chandler, May 27, 1998.
p. 140: Max Holland spreads the disinformation that Jim Garrison was the victim of KGB disinformation dispensed by Paese Sera: Holland’s articles are: “The Lie That Linked CIA to the Kennedy Assassination” by Max Holland. Winter 2001. Studies in Intelligence available at the CIA website, cia.gov/csi/studies/fall_ winter_2001/article02.html. “The Demon in Jim Garrison” appeared in Wilson Quarterly. Spring 2001, pp. 2-9. See also: “Was Jim Garrison Duped by the KGB?” by Max Holland. New Orleans magazine. Volume 36, number 5. February 2002. Holland changed publishers from Houghton Mifflin to the more distinguished Alfred A. Knopf, and won the prestigious Anthony J. Lukas memorial prize for an unpublished work. See also Holland’s “How Moscow Undermined The Warren Commission,” Washington Post, November 21, 2003, and Holland, “The Assassination Tapes,” The Atlantic Monthly, June 2004, pp. 82–94. As if the destruction of Jim Garrison’s work were his own life project, Holland here calls Garrison “a cunning demagogue the likes of which had not been seen since the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy.”
p. 140: Helms charged, falsely: See Senate Judiciary Committee, Communist Forgeries (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1961). See also “Preparato in accordo con Washington il colpo di stato militare in Algeria?” Paese Sera, 22-23 April 1961. By the late 1970s, Helms had been convicted in federal court as a perjurer, having lied about the CIA’s role in the overthrow of President Salvador Allende in Chile. “You dishonored your oath and you now stand before this court in disgrace and shame,” Judge Barrington D. Parker told Helms. See “Helms Is Fined $2000 and Given Two-Year Suspended Prison Term,” The New York Times, November 5, 1977, p. 1. See also Mark Lane, Plausible Denial: Was the CIA Involved in the Assa
ssination of JFK? New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1991), pp. 222-223.
p. 141: despised CIA and KGB equally: Interview with Jean- Franco Corsini, October 1, 2002. Corsini was on the Paese Sera staff at the time.
p. 141: Neither the Italian Communist Party, nor the KGB, had any influence on Paese Sera: Ralph Schoenman Interview with Edo Parpalione. February 23, 2002. Parpalione was with Paese Sera from 1949 to 1989.
p. 141: “the usual manipulation of the CIA”: Interview with Jean Franco Corsini, October 1, 2002.
p. 141: Europeans see the Kennedy assassination as an “internal plot within the United States government”: See “De Gaulle Viewed Death of JFK as a Conspiracy,” International Herald Tribune. October 26, 1967, p. A1. Hoover forwarded a copy of this article at once to Cartha DeLoach.
p. 141: “Countering Criticism of the Warren Report”: From: Chief (CA Staff) To: Chief, Certain Stations and Bases.” Document ID number (NARA Identification Aid): 1993.06.18.17:48:53:180000. The document was created by CA staff and CIA’s Counter Intelligence, Research and Analysis Division.
p. 141: “volunteered information to the CIA”: Max Holland, “The Demon in Jim Garrison,” Wilson Quarterly. Spring 2001, pp. 8-9.
p. 142: Clay Shaw at one time: See Patricia Lambert, False Witness: The Real Story of Jim Garrison’s Investigation and Oliver Stone’s Film JFK (New York: M. Evans and Company, 1998), p. 142.
p. 142: “routine information”: False Witness, p. 204. The Phelan article was in the Saturday Evening Post of April 23, 1967, and was called “Rush to Judgment in New Orleans.”
p. 142: Phelan is both an FBI and CIA informant: For CIA: “a sensitive SPS activity”: Subject: Special Projects Staff matter. June 25, 1974. Mr. Paul Evans, Security Officer, Special Projects Staff/DD/SST requests that office of security records be checked regarding a Mr. James R. Phelan and Mr. Wallace Turner. CIA 104-10122-10141. JFK agency file: 80T01357A. From CIA to DCI, CIA title. Memo: Re: Relationship between CIA and Robert Maheu. Prepared for DCI. 01/01/75. NARA; Phelan an FBI informant: See for example, : FBI: From: R. E. Wick to Mr. DeLoach. April 3, 1967. Airtel To: Director, FBI. From SAC, New Orleans, April 19, 1967.