by Joan Mellen
p. 174: “ some truth in the allegation”: CIA NO-43-67, To: Director, Domestic Contact Service, From: Chief, New Orleans Office, 6 February 1967, NARA.
p. 174: “I think Garrison will expose”: Memorandum To: Director, Domestic Contact Service, From: Chief, New Orleans Office (Lloyd A. Ray), March 28, 1967, NO- 112-67, NARA.
p. 174: “agreement of liaison with FBI”: CIA 104-10213-10146, JFK, 80T01357A, Title: Correspondence with FBI on CIA/ FBI Liaison Agreement in 1948, 18 pages, NARA, courtesy of Malcolm Blunt.
p. 175: “irresponsible actions . . . no comment”: To: New Orleans, From: Director, 89-69-1440, February 21, 1967.
p. 175: “Give Garrison nothing”: Memo to file, February 23, 1967, 89-69-1490.
p. 175: “the only investigation the FBI is making is of Jim Garrison whom they hate with a intense passion”: See Playboy deposition of Gordon Novel, May 23, 1969, pp. 964–966.
p. 175: The FBI investigated Jim Garrison: See To: Mr. Barefoot Sanders, From: Fred M. Vinson Jr., March 28, 1967, NARA.
p. 175: continuing to investigate . . . as they claimed they were doing: Interview with Joseph T. Sylvester, June 15, 2000. Sylvester lied in the friendliest of ways.
p. 175: John Alice can identify the figures in the photographs of Oswald: FBI, To: SAC, New Orleans, From: SA Stephen M. Callender, February 24, 1967, with Memorandum, 89-69-1603, NARA. There are dozens of incidents where the Bureau did not pass on leads that might have helped Jim Garrison.
p. 175: “Clay Shaw and Clay Bertrand”: FBI, Memorandum, To: SAC, From: ASAC Sylvester, April 26, 1967, 89-69-2055, NARA. Pizzo apparently wrote as well to Congressman F. Edward Hebert, but the letter is no longer available in the Hebert papers at Tulane University.
p. 175: Oswald frequented the Mission: R. C. Cook Sr, To Mr. Ray Berg, Papers of Joseph A. Oster. Cook was president of a firm called R & S Research of Houston, Texas. Berg ran Pacesetter Publishing on Camp Street and accused Jack Martin of using his name without authorization. See also: To: Director, FBI, From: SAC, New Orleans, March 17, 1967, 62-109060-4959.
p. 175: failed to develop any evidence: Years later, lawyer Jerry Paradis told HSCA’s Mike Ewing, with respect to witnesses who could testify that Ferrie knew Oswald: “I could have given them what they wanted”: HSCA 014374, Mike Ewing interview with Jerry Paradis, December 15, 1978, NARA.
p. 175: Hosty ordered not to attend the November 22, 1963 luncheon: SSCIA, 157-10014-10014. Hearings, File number: 04-H-01, December 12, 1975, Testimony of James Hosty. 163 pages, box 2, NARA.
p. 175: Oswald’s letter: “Oswald’s Final Letter: How Did He Know?” by Bob Allen, Paul Scott. Shreveport Times, November 20, 1967.
p. 175: for more on Oswald’s intelligence connections: Memo, 6/21/76, To: Dave Marston, From: Gaeton Fonzi, Re: Interview with Jim Garrison.
p. 176: “Oswald was allegedly linked with CIA”: To: Chief, New Orleans Field Office, From: Director, Domestic Contact Service, OSS, 20 March 1967, REF: NO- 84-57, dated 3 March 1967, Signed James R. Murphy, NARA. Three days later, Ray denied any contact with Shaw since May 1956 and denied any contact with anyone on the list Murphy had provided: W. Hardy Davis; Layton Martens; Rudolph Richard Davis; Carlos Coroga [sic]; Perry R. Russo; or Dean A. Andrews Jr.; Director, Domestic Contact Service: Att’n: Operational Support Staff, From: Chief, New Orleans Office, March 23, 1967, signed by Lloyd A. Ray, NARA. See also Diary [of James Murphy], 6 May 1967, NARA. See also Hoke May, “CIA’s Warren Panel Testimony Is Disputed by DA,” States-Item, May 6, 1967, p. 1. Commission Exhibit 237, a photograph of an obvious impostor, that stocky man who is definitely not Oswald, appears beside the article.
p. 176: Shaw was and still is a CIA agent: Notes of Hoke May, AARC.
p. 176: McCone repeated his denial: McCone quoted in “Oswald Depicted As CIA Agent; Sources Here Say,” Times-Picayune, May 6, 1967, section 1, p. 3. The CIA had been denying that they knew anything about Oswald. Notes from Raymond Rocca to Richard Helms 23 March 1964, 201-289248, 618-793. See also Memorandum for the Record, CIA, Oswald, Lee Harvey, 20 February 1964, signed by Steven L. Kuhn, Deputy Chief/Personal Security Division, 1272-1028, NARA.
p. 176: James Angleton controlled what the CIA told the Warren Commission: Memorandum to: Mr. A. H. Belmont, From: Mr. W. C. Sullivan, May 13, 1964, Subject: JAMES ANGLETON CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA), 105-82555-3689, HSCA number is 000229. Angleton enjoyed a “hot line” to the Bureau. For connections between CIA and FBI, see SSCIA (Church Committee), interview with James Angleton, February 6, 1976, 71 pages, NARA. Angleton sends a memo to the Director based on information sent by Walter Sheridan: Memorandum For: Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Attention: Mr. S. J. Papich, Subject: Alvin R. Beaubouef, Reference: Memorandum from FBI Office, Houston, Texas, 27 April 1967, Subject: Assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, November 22, 1963, Dallas, Texas, Miscellaneous, Information Concerning, CSCI-316-02153-67, May 9, 1967. Originated by: DC/CI/R&A, NARA. For more of Angleton’s liaison with FBI, see 14 June 1967, Memorandum For: Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, attention: Mr. S. J. Papich, Subject: Allegations of Unidentified Woman regarding “Mario Gracias,” et al., Reference: FBI Memorandum of 10 April 1967, file number (S) 62- 109060, signed: for the Deputy Director for Plans; James Angleton (A James R. Hunt signed this memo), NARA.
p. 176: “allay the story of CIA’s possible sponsorship”: CIA 618- 793, March 23, 1964, NARA.
p. 176: “any other US Government agency had used him: Memorandum For: Chief, CI Staff, Subject: Allegations of Lee Harvey Oswald’s Connection with the Agency, Reference: Memorandum of Conversation, Dan Rather/Les Midgley and the DCI, dated 6 December 1975, CIA 1188-1000, signed by Paul Hartman of CI/R & A staff.
p. 176: Siragusa is recruited by Angleton: See Memorandum—February 5, 1978, To: G. Robert Blakey, From: Fonzi & Gonzales, Re: Interview with CHARLES SIRAGUSA.
p. 176: “focal point”: To: CIA task force, From: The Review Staff, Walter Elder, Sub ject: SSC/HSC Request, 76-0298, March 9, 1976, NARA.
p. 177: Casasin showed “operational intelligence interest” in Oswald: Memo by Thomas B. Casasin, December 16, 1963, CIA. From: COS, Paris to: Chief, SR info Chief, WE, 104- 10429-10239, JFK Agency file: RUSS HOLMES WORK FILES, NARA.
p. 177: “this individual looks odd”: CIA 435-173A. The author, whose name is redacted, was “Chief of the 6 branch.” For the CIA denial, Memorandum For: Chief, CI/R & A. Subject: comment regarding article alleging Oswald was interviewed by CIA.employees, March 17,1964, NA RA(1993.07.21.15.32.47:340340.JFK, 80T01357A, JFK 27, folder F26).
p. 177: information about Oswald went to CI/SIG rather than to the Soviet Realities section: John Newman, Oswald and the CIA (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1995), p. 27.
p. 177: “Oswald sent to USSR”: CIA 304-113, 4 December 1963, NARA.
p. 177: a document in Oswald’s file in Mexico City about Transcontinental: CIA, October 12, 1961, 100-10461-1065, FBI number is 124- 10002-10387, Subject: Activities of Transcontinental, NARA.
p. 178: the CIA sent names to the National Security Agency for its watch list: See, for example, SSCIA, 157-10014-10188, records series: Miscellaneous Records of the Church Committee, Agency file number: 07-M-95, four pages, interview with Mabel Hoover and Ervan Kuhnke, Office of Security, CIA, July 25, 1975. See also FBI, 124-10156- 10005, HQ, 105-82555-132, From: Brennan, D. J, To Sullivan, W. C., one page, December 4, 1963, Subjects: LHO, NSA Project, NEG. See also FBI 124-10264-10216, HQ, 62-116395- 944, SSCIA re: Deposition of Assistant Director W. Raymond Wannall, October 7, 1975. Most of this document is redacted.
p. 178: “a threat to the internal security of the country”: FBI Memorandum, To: Mr. A. H. Belmont, From: Mr. W. C. Sullivan, Subject: Security Index, November 26, 1963, NARA. These intercepts would not be made available to scholars: Meeting Report, Author: Tim Wray/ARRB, January 30, 1996. Department of Defense, January 29, 1996.
p. 178: James Wilcott says that Oswald was debriefed at Atsugi: “Declaración
de James Wilcott ante el tribunal internacional, ‘La Juventud Acusa al Imperialismo,’ el 2 de Agosto de 1978 en La Habana, Cuba, NARA.” James Wilcott talks about Oswald’s connection with CIA: James Wilcott, “The Kennedy Assassination,” HSCA 105-70076, 013800, 21 pages, June 13, 1977. This is the most coherent among several statements made by Wilcott beginning in 1968. This article was written, Wilcott told the HSCA’s CIA expert Harold Leap, not for publication, but to aid investigators. He wrote it, he said, after reading Jim Garrison’s book, A Heritage of Stone. See also Transcript: Wilcott, James B. Testimony Before the Committee, 110 pages, 180-10116-10096, 014672, March 22, 1978, NARA; interview of Wilcott with Harold Leap and Betsy Wolf, January 28, 1978, 006446.
p. 178: HSCA attempts to discredit James Wilcott: HSCA 180-10142-10385. CIA Segregated Collection, Agency file, 24-2701. This document was made available with thirteen “postponements.” Handwritten HSCA staffer notes titled: “Wilcott Allegation.” See also HSCA 180-10143- 10275, CIA Segregated Collection: 2992, twenty-five “postponements.” These are Harold Leap’s handwritten notes.
p. 179: “Subject considered a very naive man”: HSCA handwritten document, Marked “Secret,” box 29, folder 9: 11110302.
p. 179: instrumental in the assassination of Martin Luther King: See William Pepper, Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1995). See especially chapter 30, “Orders to Kill.” p. 179: “highly secretive operation”: Pepper, p. 414.
p. 179: Veciana met Oswald with Bishop (Phillips): “Veciana Interviews,” To: DM From: SW. 3?/22/76, CIA document. three pages, Miscellaneous Records of the Church Committee, Agency: SSCIA, 157-10014-10041, Agency file number: 06-M-22, NARA.
p. 179: The Amlash Legacy: courtesy of Anthony Summers and James H. Lesar. The Amlash Legacy, in the hands of Phillips’ widow and writer Joseph C. Goulden, has not, Goulden says, at the insistence of the widow, been made available to historians. According to Goulden, this decision has been made in the light of suggestions by authors that Phillips had something to do with the Kennedy assassination: Conversation with Joseph C. Goulden, July 30, 2003. Other of Phillips’ papers are at the Library of Congress, but this manuscript has been withheld. Phillips’ widow and his executor, Joseph Goulden, have sealed the full outline/manuscript.
p. 180: a CIA cable: To: DIRECTOR, From: JMWAVE, ACTION: WH 8.PRIORITY MEXI INFO DIR CITE WAVE 8065, DYVOUR PBRUMEN, NARA.
p. 180: “directly linked to the Mafia”: Seymour M. Hersh, The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House (New York: Summit Books, 1983), p. 279.
p. 180: That David Atlee Phillips sometimes used the alias “Michael Choaden” is revealed in a CIA document dated 08/31/59. The text refers to Choaden’s “Operations” deemed essential, and requests a “security review” in the light of his identity as a “PBPRIME INTELLIGENCE AGENT” having been leaked in Havana. The document went “To: Habana,” From: Director, Conf: WH5. Its title reads: “CABLE: SECURITY REVIEW OF PHILLIPS . . . OPERATIONS DEEMED ESSENTIAL” (RECORD NUMBER 104-10128-10330, RECORD SERIES: JFK, AGENCY FILE NUMBER: 80TO1357A). Cable courtesy of Jim Lesar. For a discussion of Sforza/ Sloman’s CIA activities, particularly his role in the assassination of Gen. Rene Schneider in Chile, see also Peter Kornbluth, The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability (New York: New Press, 2004).
p. 181: Shawn Phillips, James Atlee Phillips, and David Atlee Phillips: Interview with Shawn Phillips, January 23, 2005. See also: research notes of Dick Russell, courtesy of Mr. Russell.
p. 181: hung up: E-mail from Shawn Phillips to researcher Gary Buell. See
p. 181: J. Garrett Underhill: “foreign positive intelligence”: Memorandum, 30 June 1967, To: DC/CI/R & A, From: Director, Domestic Contact Service, Subject: Case 49,364—Garrison Investigation: John Garrett Underhill Jr., NARA. See also Memorandum, June 19, 1967, Subject: Ramparts: John Garrett Underhill Jr., Samuel George Cummings, and INTERARMCO, NARA.
p. 181: “a small clique in the CIA”: John Donovan to Jim Garrison, April 29, 1967, NODA, NARA. Garrison’s source was Donovan, a news editor at WPIX (channel 11) in New York.
p. 181: “blow the whistle on the CIA”: Edward S. Cohen to Dear David, June 2, 1966, NARA.
p. 181: blown up a ship: JMWAVE 30 April 1962, 201-309125 (this is Gerald Patrick Hemming’s 201 file number), 100-009-014, NARA.
p. 181: “trained CIA assassin”: Interview with Gerald Patrick Hemming, October 22, 1999.
p. 181: provisional covert security approval: Memorandum For: Chief, LEOB/ SRS Subject: Highlights on the Cast of Characters Involved in Garrison’s Investigation, December 28, 1967, NARA.
p. 181: should he leave the country?: CIA Memorandum for the Record, May 11, 1967, Subject: Laborde, Lawrence J., born August 27, 1909, NARA.
p. 182: Laborde’s files: CIA asks FBI to do a records check on Laborde: CIA Memorandum For: Chief, Security Support Division, From: Chief, Investigations Branch, Subject: Laborde, Lawrence J. #241598, PSCA IB/3, 20 March 1961, signed H. K. Clayton, NARA.
p. 182: never been paid directly: CIA Memorandum For: Deputy Director for Plans, Subject: Interlocking Relationships Between Brown/Slafter and Garrison, WH/C 67-313. Signed by William V. Broe. Chief, Western Hemisphere section; HSCA number is 000178, NARA.
p. 182: Ray ordered not to see him: Cable Re: Lawrence J. Laborde Call to Talk to Agent Handling Kennedy CA, Document id. 1993.08.10.16.38:55:590015, 80T01357A, NARA. Laborde returns to CIA in September for instructions: Lawrence Houston to Honorable Walter J. Yeagley, October 20, 1967, OGC67-1993, NARA. See also Memorandum for Director, Domestic Contact Service, Subject: Lawrence J. Laborde, Reference: A. Memorandum from Director, Domestic Contact Service to C/CI/ R & A, dated 12 May 1967, Subject: DCS Case 49364—Lawrence Laborde— Claims Past Affiliation with CIA— Seeks Advice, etc., May 19, 1967, signed by Raymond G. Rocca, C/CI/R & A, NARA.
p. 182: a list of its New Orleans employees: Enclosure 28: “It has been determined that These Following Components and Individual Employees of CIA. . . .”: 104-10013-10348, 201-289248, NARA. They then did traces on “key figures in case to date:” Memorandum no. 2, Subject: Garrison and the Kennedy Investigation, Reference: CI/R & A Memorandum of 26 April 1967, Subject as above, May 8, 1967, NARA.
p. 182: Carl Trettin: Memorandum for the Record, Subject: Possible DRE Animus Towards President Kennedy, Reference: Memorandum 8 March 1967, same subject, Date of Document: 04/03/67, Subjects: AMSPELL. Record Number 104-10181-10113, Record Series: JFK, Agency file number: 80T01357A.
p. 182: CIA involvement with Cubans: Reference: Memorandum WH/COG—194 (not dated but forwarded by routing sheet dated 8 May 1967) to ADDP and C/CI/R & A, Subject: Garrison and the Kennedy Assassination, 104-10406-10022, RUSS HOLMES WORK FILE, NARA.
p. 182: CIA had a “target file”: Memorandum. To: The File. From: Kenneth D. Klein. Date: July 1, 1977. Re: telephone conversation with Chester Vigurie. NARA.
p. 182: The Agency considers F. Edward Hebert as a source: Diary, 11 May 1967, Case 49364, GSM (Musulin), NARA.
p. 182: a thousand dollar suit: Interview with Mark Lane, March 17, 1998.
p. 182: Lawrence Houston writes directly to Judge Bagert: Lawrence R. Houston to Honorable Bernard J. Bagert, 16 May 1967, NARA. Judge Bagert had issued the subpoena. Judge Bagert denies the motion to quash Kennedy’s subpoena, Re: Regis L. Kennedy, Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the Criminal Court for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana: Reasons for Denial of Motion to Quash, signed: Bernard J. Bagert, NARA. FBI considers going into federal court with a petition for removal: FILE, From: SAC, May 17, 1967, 124-10259- 10063, 89-69-3071, NARA.
p. 182: Jim Garrison subpoenas Allen Dulles: From: Bress, David, USA, To: Burnes, Richard V. Title: Memo: Re: Allen W. Dulles, March 13, 1968, Agency file: 80T01357A, record number 0-0-0, NARA.
p. 182: Dulles went on television: James Alcock at the New
Orleans conference.
p. 182: de Brueys has been transferred: FBI To: Director, FBI. From: SAC, New Orleans, May 7, 1967, 124-10237-10412, 89-69-2086, 2087.
p. 183: Garrison charges CIA was paying the lawyers: “Probe Figures’ Lawyers Paid by CIA, says DA,” States-Item, May 11, 1967. See also William Martin tells Jim Garrison that one Stephen B. Lemman handled CIA’s clandestine payroll in New Orleans: Memorandum, May 24, 1967, To: Jim Garrison, From: William Martin, Subject: Central Intelligence Agency Connections in the City of New Orleans, NODA, NARA. Burton Klein denied he knew Lemman: Interview with Burton Klein, March 3, 2002.
p. 183: “federal agents involved are taking the fifth amendment: See FBI To: Director, From: SAC, New Orleans, quoting the States-Item of May 10, 1967, 124-10259-10022, 89- 69-3027, NARA.
p. 183: “interested Agency components”: Speed letter: Case 49, 634: Garrison Investigation Newspaper Articles, signed George J. Musulin, From: Operational Support Staff, NARA.
p. 183: “Ray’s Clip Joint”: NO 218-67. 31 May 1967. To: Director, Domestic Contact Service, Attn: Services Division (Vaughan), From: Chief, New Orleans Office, Subject: Monthly Man-Hour Report, NARA.
p. 183: efforts to keep Regis Kennedy from going before the grand jury: LaCour immediately files a motion to suppress the subpoena served on Regis Kennedy, and Kennedy’s affidavit: FBI, To: Director, From: SAC, New Orleans, May 9, 1967.124-10237-10433, 89- 69-3012, NARA.
p. 183: Regis Kennedy’s reports are sealed: FBI. To: SAC, From: ASAC Sylvester, May 10, 1967, 89-69-3028, NARA.
p. 183: Ramsey Clark sends Big Regis a telegram: May 16, 1967, NARA. See also SAC Rightmyer, From: Clerk Clay Poche, Subject: Subpoena of SA Regis L. Kennedy, May 16, 1967, 89-69-3060, NARA.
p. 183: “use his own judgment”: FBI. To: Director, From: New Orleans, May 17, 1967, 124-10259- 10064, 89-69-3072, NARA.
p. 183: on the stand: Regis Kennedy testifies to the Orleans Parish grand jury: Special Investigation, May 17, 1967. Present are Garrison, Oser, Alcock, Sciambra, Burnes and William Martin, NARA.