A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination

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A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination Page 69

by Philip Shenon


  In June, Warren met privately: Ibid.

  “If the suicide incident”: Memo from Slawson to Specter, March 13, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  In a memo to his colleagues: Memo from Slawson to Hubert and Griffin, “Re: Silvia Odio,” April 6, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  “Einspruch stated that”: Memo from Griffin to Slawson, “Interview with Dr. Burton C. Einspruch,” April 16, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  CHAPTER 34

  Rankin remembered Liebeler: Rankin Deposition, passim.

  “Mr. Redlich and I have”: Testimony of Wesley Liebeler, HSCA, November 16, 1977 (hereafter Liebeler Testimony).

  Slawson recalled him: Slawson, Griffin, Specter interviews. See also Specter memoir transcripts.

  “It was a great, beautiful”: Rankin Deposition.

  Over the years, his younger: Eric Liebeler interview.

  “I finally decided to”: Liebeler Testimony.

  While Liebeler was: Specter interviews; Specter memoir transcripts.

  Back in Chicago: For background on Jenner, see New York Times obituary, June 25, 1974.

  Alfred Goldberg recalled: Goldberg interviews, Specter interviews, Slawson interviews.

  If there was any: Memo from Ely to Jenner and Liebeler, March 9, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  Ely was next asked: Memo from Ely to Jenner and Liebeler, “Lee Harvey Oswald’s Military Career,” April 22, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  A Dallas homicide detective: Testimony of Guy Rose, April 8, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 7, pp. 227–31.

  “We were very close”: Testimony of George S. de Mohrenschildt, April 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 9, pp. 166–264.

  “Mrs. Paine, are you”: Testimony of Ruth Hyde Paine, March 18, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 2, pp. 430–517.

  “All sorts of speculation”: Testimony of George S. de Mohrenschildt, April 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 9, pp. 166–264.

  The commission later determined: Although Moore was not identified by name in the central volume of the commission’s final report, apparently in deference to the CIA, his name does appear in the commission’s internal paperwork and in the official public transcript of de Mohrenschildt’s testimony.

  CHAPTER 35

  They joked about: Specter interviews; Specter memoir transcripts.

  Slawson, the staff lawyer: Slawson interviews, Specter interviews.

  The FBI agent who attended: Specter, Passion, pp. 83–84.

  “I don’t think the commissioners”: Specter interviews.

  “I raised hell with Rankin”: Specter, Passion, p. 87; Specter interviews.

  The Kennedys, Belin said: Belin, You Are the Jury, p. 347.

  “It wasn’t a”: Specter interviews; Specter memoir transcripts.

  The memo, dated April 30: Memo from Specter to Rankin, “Autopsy Photographs and X-Rays of President John F. Kennedy,” April 30, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  “The staff feels that”: Warren Commission Executive Session, April 30, 1964, pp. 5860–92.

  Thomas Kelley, the Secret Service: Specter, Passion, pp. 88–89; Specter interviews.

  Back in Washington, Alfred: Goldberg interviews.

  CHAPTER 36

  In a speech on the House: For Gurney quotations, see nationally syndicated column by Fulton Lewis Jr., as published in the Lebanon Daily News, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, May 8, 1964 (accessed through www.newspaperarchive.com).

  “It is absolutely”: See republication of St. Louis Globe-Democrat editorial in the News Tribune of Jefferson City, Missouri, May 10, 1964 (accessed through www.newspaperarchive.com).

  “The commission knows of no”: Eisenberg interviews.

  A script was prepared: Undated copy of the script is found in the staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  The FBI’s background: For additional background, see obituary of Redlich in the New York Times, June 11, 2011.

  Eisenberg, as close to: Eisenberg interviews, Slawson interviews.

  Redlich’s wife, Evelyn: Evelyn Redlich interview.

  Warren opened the meeting: Warren Commission Executive Session, May 19, 1964.

  Redlich’s gratitude was: Griffin interview.

  CHAPTER 37

  The phone rang: Hosty interviews; Hosty, Assignment: Oswald, pp. 117–20.

  Hosty spent much of: Hosty, Assignment: Oswald, pp. 139–56.

  “Did it occur”: Testimony of James Hosty, May 5, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 4, pp. 440–76.

  On May 5, Rankin: Letter from Rankin to Hoover, May 5, 1965, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  On Thursday, May 14: Testimony of J. Edgar Hoover, May 14, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 97–119.

  That same day: Testimony of John A. McCone and Richard M. Helms, May 14, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 120–29.

  In Dallas, Hugh: Dallas Morning News, June 27, 1964.

  Two weeks after: Life, July 10, 1964.

  Slawson worried, in particular: Memo from Slawson to Rankin, “Publication of Oswald’s Historic Diary,” September 6, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  Life insisted: Life, July 10, 1964.

  In a July 8: Letter from Hart to Captain W. P. Gannaway of the Dallas police department, July 8, 1964, Dallas Municipal Archives, Office of the City Secretary.

  The statement was drawn: Memo from DeLoach to Mohr, “Lee Harvey Oswald,” August 24, 1964 (referring to interview with Ford on August 17, 1964), FBI.

  The truth: Aynesworth interviews; Aynesworth, November 22, 1963: Witness to History, pp. 134–135.

  CHAPTER 38

  “Warren was dead-set”: Specter interviews; Specter memoir transcripts.

  Specter got other welcome: Warren Report, p. 95.

  The army’s Edgewood Arsenal: Olivier and Dziemian, Wound Ballistics of 6.5-MM. Mannlicher-Carcano Ammunition, May 1964, published by Edgewood Arsenal, Department of the Army, found in staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  Like his colleagues: Specter interviews; Specter memoir transcripts.

  There was “frustration”: Letter from Belin to Willens, October 20, 1966, Belin correspondence files, Belin papers, Ford Library.

  “If she would”: Memo from Belin to Rankin, “Examination of Marina Oswald,” January 29, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  Belin thought it was: Belin, You Are the Jury, pp. 431–33.

  CHAPTER 39

  David Slawson knew: Slawson interview.

  After consulting with: Memo from Willens to Rankin, “Proposed Exchange of Letters,” June 4, 1964, and memo from Willens to Katzenbach, “Proposed letters to the President’s Commission,” June 12, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  Warren’s letter: Letter from Warren to Robert Kennedy, June 11, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  Other than the attorney general: Specter, Passion, pp. 120–22.

  O’Donnell’s account: Testimony of Kenneth P. O’Donnell, May 18, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 7, pp. 440–57.

  Specter guessed that O’Donnell: Specter, Passion, pp. 120–22.

  In conversations behind: Ibid., p. 107.

  Shortly after four p.m.: Testimony of Mrs. John F. Kennedy, June 5, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 178–81.

  “I’ll share him”: The quotation appeared in the original manuscript of Manchester’s Death, but was cut out during negotiations in 1966 between Manchester and the Kennedy family. Manchester interviewed Ethel Kennedy in April 1964. See Thomas, Robert Kennedy, pp. 278, 451.

  The transcript of: For a description of how the exact wording from the transcript was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by a Canadian filmmaker, see Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, Canada), August 14, 2001.

  CHAPTER 40

  “I could smile at it”: Oral history of Chief Justice Earl Warren, September 21, 1971, LBJ Library, p. 12. Also see Warren, Memoirs.

  However reluctantly, Warr
en: Specter, Passion, pp. 105–8.

  From the book depository: Ford report on trip and Ruby testimony, “Dallas Trip, June 7, 1964,” as found in congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

  “As the Chief Justice”: Specter, Passion, p. 112.

  “Without a lie detector”: Testimony of Jack Ruby, June 7, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 181–213.

  Down the hall: Specter interviews; Specter, Passion, p. 113.

  Ford could see that: Ford report on trip, “Dallas Trip, June 7, 1964,” as found in congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

  “You see,” Tonahill: Specter, Passion, p. 114.

  “Instead of turning left”: Specter interviews; Specter memoir transcripts.

  On the plane home: Specter, Passion, p. 115.

  CHAPTER 41

  The Bronx-born: See the New York Times obituary of Rowley, November 3, 1992.

  Shortly after nine a.m.: Testimony of James Rowley, June 18, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 449–85.

  The department had not only: Warren Report, p. 113. The exact amount was $435.71.

  Secretary of State Dean Rusk: See the New York Times obituary of Rusk, December 22, 1994.

  “Rusk seemed to be”: Slawson interviews.

  Kennedy had chosen Rusk: Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, p. 435.

  Jacqueline Kennedy told: Michael Beschloss, ed., Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy, p. 112.

  After Rusk’s testimony: Memo from Slawson to Rankin, “Subject: Taking Testimony of Remaining State Department Witnesses,” June 12, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  CHAPTER 42

  When FBI documents arrived: Eisenberg interviews, Slawson interviews, Griffin interviews.

  On Wednesday, June 17: Letter from Hoover to Rankin, June 17, 1964, CIA, NARA. (This document appears in declassified files of the CIA, not of the files of commission stored at the National Archives.)

  Years later, the FBI would reveal: Barron, Operation Solo, pp. 112–14. The FBI has declassified many of its internal documents involving Operation Solo, and they are available online at the FBI’s Web site, http://vault.fbi.gov/solo.

  Phillips, a forty-one-year-old: See the New York Times obituary of Phillips, July 10, 1988.

  He had two formal: Testimony of David Atlee Phillips, April 25, 1998, HSCA.

  The Cuban embassy there: Testimony of David Atlee Phillips, November 27, 1976, HSCA.

  The CIA was not authorized: Phillips, The Night Watch, pp. 162–64.

  Before the assassination: Testimony of David Atlee Phillips, November 27, 1976, HSCA, pp. 103–35.

  More significant, perhaps: Testimony of David Atlee Phillips, April 25, 1978, HSCA, pp. 51–53.

  “I was one of the two case officers”: Morley, Our Man, p. 336. Also see Kaiser, The Road to Dallas, p. 288 (who reported that he had obtained the outline from Morley), and Anthony and Robbyn Summers, “The Ghosts of November,” Vanity Fair, December 1994. The author obtained a copy from a source who insisted on anonymity.

  CHAPTER 43

  William Coleman wrote nothing: Coleman interviews.

  They had first been introduced: Coleman, Counsel, p. 58.

  At Paul Weiss, Coleman began: Coleman interviews; Coleman, Counsel, passim.

  When it came time: Coleman, Counsel, p. 149.

  In 1952, Coleman finally: Coleman, Counsel, passim.

  The leaks first went: See the New York Times obituary for Lewis, March 25, 2013.

  Within days of the book’s: New York Times, June 1, 1964.

  Although it was impossible to identify: Julia Eide phone and appointment logs for Rankin, May 29, 1964, 2:00–2:40 p.m., staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  Warren immediately turned: Warren Commission Executive Session, June 4, 1964.

  “She became a chain-smoker”: Manchester, Death, p. 635.

  Marina Oswald returned: Testimony of Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald, June 11, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 387–408.

  By Thursday, July 2: Testimony of Mark Lane, July 2, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 546–61.

  CHAPTER 44

  “The Warren Commission was a”: Transcript of interview with Cavanaugh found in Fry, Hunting and Fishing with Earl Warren, pp. 1–69. Available online through www.openlibrary.org, http://openlibrary.org/books/OL7213177M/Hunting_and_fishing_with_Earl_Warren.

  On May 29, the last Friday: Testimony of Howard Willens, November 17, 1977, HSCA.

  “I share your view”: Letter from Warren to Carl L. Shipley, July 6, 1964, personal correspondence files, Warren papers, LOC.

  The Supreme Court: New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254; Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478.

  Warren said later that he: Warren interview with Alfred Goldberg, March 26, 1974, as found in Warren Commission files, Warren papers, LOC.

  Rankin reserved for himself: Testimony of J. Lee Rankin, August 17, 1978, HSCA.

  But after meeting with: Given the effects of inflation, $1 million in 1964 would equal about $7.5 million in 2013.

  On May 12: Laulicht interviews.

  Another late arrival: Weinreb interviews.

  Before departing, he completed: Memo from Mosk to Redlich, June 7, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  Mosk reviewed the testimony: Testimony of Eugene D. Anderson, July 24, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 301–4.

  An FBI firearms: Testimony of Robert A. Frazier, Warren Appendix, Vol. 3, pp. 390–441, and Vol. 5, pp. 58–74.

  CHAPTER 45

  “It brought a lot of problems”: Testimony of Silvia Odio, July 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 367–89.

  Her father, Amador: Dallas Morning News, May 5, 1962.

  He turned in the ninety-eight: Liebeler draft chapter, “Possible Personal Motive,” June 23, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  At the same time, it appeared: Warren Report, pp. 407, 727–29.

  On August 5, the FBI determined: Testimony of Carlos Bringuier, April 7–8, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 10, pp. 32–50.

  This included Dean Andrews: Testimony of Dean Adams Andrews Jr., July 21, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 325–39.

  Liebeler took what he thought of: Testimony of Evaristo Rodriguez, July 21, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 339–45.

  Liebeler remembered that in her: Testimony of Silvia Odio, July 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, p. 383.

  CHAPTER 46

  The first documented case: Memo from FBI Baltimore field office to FBI Headquarters “TO: DIRECTOR FBI, FROM SAC BALTIMORE, RE: ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY,” April 7, 1964, FBI. Also, memo from FBI Washington, DC, field office to FBI Headquarters, “TO DIRECTOR FBI, FROM SAC WFO,” April 8, 1964, FBI.

  The FBI chief learned: Memo from Belmont to Rosen (“Subject: James R. David, Information Concerning Security Violation”), June 9, 1964, FBI.

  And Hoover sent a personal: Letter from Hoover to James R. David, June 9, 1964, FBI.

  Other staff lawyers said they: Slawson interviews.

  He had slaved: Testimony of Wesley J. Liebeler, November 15, 1977, HSCA.

  Ford passed his copy: Memo from Fallon to Ford, July 31, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

  “We want to ask you”: Testimony of Silvia Odio, July 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 367–89.

  She handed him a one-page: Letter from Hoover to Rankin, August 7, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  What happened in Dallas: Notes by HSCA investigator Gaeton Fonzi from his interview with Silvio Odio, January 16, 1976, staff files, HSCA, RIF: 180–10001–10132, NARA.

  He announced that he had tried: Slawson interviews; staff interviews with other staff members on condition of anonymity.

  CHAPTER 47

  “I would like to ask you”: Testimony of Abraham Zapruder, July 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 7, pp. 569–76.

  Years later, Life would: Los Angeles Times, August
4, 1999.

  Richard B. Stolley, Life’s: Richard Stolley, “Shots Seen Round the World,” Entertainment Weekly, January 17, 1992.

  Walker, an outspoken: See the New York Times obituary of Walker, November 2, 1993.

  “I was sitting behind”: Testimony of Major General Edwin A. Walker, July 23, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 404–28.

  Specter was annoyed: Specter interviews; Specter memoir transcripts.

  “That will conclude”: Testimony of Jack Ruby, July 18, 1964, Warren Report, pp. 807–13.

  The combined lists were: Specter interviews; Specter, Passion, pp. 116–17.

  The commission had not been: Report of interview with Captain W. B. Frazier by FBI Special Agents James W. Bookhout and George W. H. Carlson in Dallas, December 7, 1963, FBI; Letter from Hoover to Rankin, July 30, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  CHAPTER 48

  “There is no other way”: Letter from Belin to Willens, August 25, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  “I have been led”: Warren Commission Executive Session, June 23, 1964.

  A copy was uncovered decades: Summary was found in J. Lee Rankin papers donated to the National Archives in 1999, box 22, folder 350, Warren Commission, NARA.

  David Slawson urged one last: Memo from Slawson to Rankin and Willens, “Re: Possible Medical Testimony on Oswald,” June 2, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  He was not surprised: Memo from Pollak to Rankin, “Subject: Comments on Volumes 1–4, 6, 7,” June 18, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  He asked that “the words”: Memo from Rankin to Willens, August 17, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  In a brief note to the commission: Memo from Rankin to Stern, June 30, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

  CHAPTER 49

  The Polish man looked: New York Times, June 30, 1964.

  Kennedy literally wrapped: See Thomas, Robert Kennedy, pp. 282, 333.

  Kennedy had been aware: Church Committee report, “Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders,” November 20, 1975, pp. 98, 126–34.

  The CIA’s inspector general: Ibid., pp. 88–89.

  In June 1964: Associated Press, October 12, 2012.

  In the spring of 1964: Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy, pp. 649, 615. Also, Califano interview.

 

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