Francesco/who-killed-jfk huggingface dataset:
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 109]
TOP SECRET1081 (Pause)2 Mr. Halley. No, there is no connection that I know of3 between these names and CIA. This guy Luis Toroella does not4 ring any bells with me. Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo was a leader of5 Alpha 66. He may have been in Cuba in '61. During the time6 that I was involved in Cuban affairs he was in exile for -- he7 was in Miami for a long period of time.8 Mr. Baron. Can you explain what Alpha 66 is for the9 record?10 Mr. Halley. Alpha 66 was a Cuban exile organization that11 was engaged in a number of raids against the Cuban government.12 They claimed to have attacked Cuban shipping, fishing boats, and13 claimed to have an organization in Cuba that was a resistance14 organization. Gutierrez Menoyo was therefore a well-known name15 to me. We had no direct contact with him.16 William Morgan is also a well-known name. His activities17 and exploits in Cuba are well-known to anybody that has dealt18 with Cuban affairs.19 Mr. Baron. Do you have any knowledge of a connection20 between any of these people and assassination attempts against21 Fidel Castro?22 Mr. Halley. I have none, no connection between these names23 and CIA and attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro.24 Mr. Baron. The fact that they are listed here as having25 been involved in assassination attempts whether or not theyTOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 110]
# TOP SECRET1 were connected with CIA is news to you?2 Mr. Halley. Well, no, I would not say that. If you had3 Gutierrez Menoyo sitting here and if he were to say in 1962 I4 attempted to shoot Fidel Castro, that is Gutierrez Menoyo did5 this, I would have no reason to doubt. I would have no basis6 for proving it, either.7 Mr. Baron. You have never heard of these alleged assassina-8 tion attempts before?9 Mr. Halley. No.10 Morgan's name I would have to do a file trace to get myself11 back up to date. Morgan did get himself in trouble with Fidel12 over some issue, as I recall was in prison. I do not recall,13 remember if he was executed, although this says he was executed.14 Mr. Baron. What about the last name on the list,15 Antonio Veciana?16 Mr. Halley. That is a name that rings a bell with me, but17 I do not attach anything to it. In other words, it is a name18 I have probably read in various and sundry kinds of reports.19 I remember no operational relationship with him between the Miami20 Station and this man during my tenure in Miami.21 Mr. Baron. During your tenure, would you have been in a22 position to know that these people had led assassination23 attempts against Castro, if that were indeed the fact?24 Mr. Halley. Not necessarily. I would say that the odds25 would have been high that we would have, particularly, say# TOP SECRET109
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 111]
## TOP SECRET1101 Gutierrez Menoyo. We did have a steady stream of reporting on2 the activities of all exile groups and Alpha 66 was high on the3 list of groups that had a capability of doing this kind of4 thing. Therefore, they received quite a bit of coverage from5 us, from the FBI, from Customs, and others.6 They were on everybody's sort of watch list.7 Mr. Baron. Let us turn now to a document that we will8 introduce as Exhibit 4, which is a report by Fidel Castro on9 alleged attempts to assassinate him that he connects to the10 United States government and especially to the CIA.11 (The document referred12 to was marked Halley13 Exhibit No. 4 for14 identification.)## TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 112]
TOP SECRET1111 Mr. Baron. Which was released recently by George McGovern,2 to whom Castro had sent this report.3 Mr. Halley, is it true that I had asked you to review this4 report before we began our session today?5 Mr. Halley. Yes, you did, you did ask me to look at the6 report.7 Mr. Baron. Can you point to any names or incidents in8 this report that are connected in any way in your mind to9 actual assassination attempts against Cuba: Castro?10 Mr. Halley. No, I cannot point to any names that in my11 mind are attached to an assassination attempt against Castro:12 You asked me to look at this originally to see if any of the13 names were familiar to me in any way. I made a list of some14 of the names that rang a bell with me, for various reasons.15 One name is Humberto Sori Marin. I recall that he was16 active, he was active with the DRE.17 Mr. Baron. At what page is that?18 Mr. Halley. There is no page number.19 For instance, here's a name, Humberto Sori Marin. That is20 .familiar to me. I do not know whether that was from the21 reporting showing that he was in prison, you know, we constantly22 got reporting on, or why, it is a name that I recognize in the23 counterrevolutionary sense, that it is something that crossed24 my desk, to see the name.25 All right. The other name that is familiar is Tony Varona.TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 113]
# TOP SECRET1 That was a Cuban exile leader. We talked about Tony Varona. I2 told you I did not know that Tony Varona had any connection with3 Mr. Harvey.4 There is another name in here, Manolo Ray. I mentioned5 Manolo Ray to you. He was one of two exile leaders who had a6 relationship with the Agency. You know, I told you Artime was7 one; Manolo Ray is another. He is familiar to me as a result of8 that.9 Mr. Baron. You did not know of any involvement of Manolo10 Ray in an assassination effort against Castro?11 Mr. Halley. I do not.12 Here is another name mentioned in the same paragraph,13 Aureliano Sanchez Arango. That is a name that is familiar to14 me as a prominent Cuban exile.15 Mr. Baron. You have no more specific recollection?16 Mr. Halley. I am trying to be responsive to your question,17 telling you which names ring a bell with me as I run through18 this.19 Mr. Baron. All I am trying to do is clarify for the20 record the exact nature of your recollection of each of these21 names.22 Do you have any recollection of a plot alluded to in this23 report to shoot Castro with a bazooka at the Havana Stadium?24 Mr. Halley. No, I do not have any recollection of that.25 According to this, if this is correct, it took place in October# TOP SECRET![photo of page 112]
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 114]
TOP SECRET1131 of '61 which I would not have had any knowledge of because I2 was not involved in Cuban affairs until, as I told you, early3 February 1962.4 Mr. Baron. The same would go for the shooting of a5 bazooka towards the Presidential Palace?6 Mr. Halley. I have no knowledge.7 Mr. Baron. Do you have any knowledge of any efforts to8 assassinate Fidel Castro run out of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base?9 Mr. Halley. No, I do not. As you know, Guantanamo had10 a number of Cuban exiles in it, people who had taken refuge in11 the base at one time or another. During the time that I was the12 Station Chief in Miami we did have contacts with people at13 Guantanamo. We did use them for intelligence collection14 purposes, but I do not have any linkage between that intelligence15 project and assassination.16 Mr. Baron. Were paramilitary operations run out of17 Guantanamo Bay?18 Mr. Halley. They were not during my time as Station Chief19 in Miami by CIA. There was an office of ONI, Office of20 Naval Intelligence representative on Guantanamo. I have no21 knowledge of what they may have been doing during various22 periods of time. I am talking about CIA.23 Mr. Baron. Any other names that struck a chord with you24 in this report?25 Mr. Halley. Well, you have a name here, Mario SalabarriaTOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 115]
TOP SECRET1141 Aquiar; that name rings a bell with me, for what reason, I do2 not know. You know, we would have to run a name trace to get3 a rundown of what is in the files and what is in the central4 index for me to be able to comment on it. As I told you earlier5 I know that the Agency is doing all these traces after they are6 completed and you get them and you want me to take a look at7 it, I will be glad to do so. It may trigger some response.8 This name, Ramon Grau Scerio, it rings a bell with me. It9 is quite possible that he may have been a collection agent, just10 as is written here. I am making a deduction, but again, I would11 have to look at the name traces, but it is a name that rings a12 bell with me.13 Mr. Baron. You do not remember him in connection with an14 attempt to poison the Prime Minister in June of 1965 as it says15 there?16 Mr. Halley. No, I do not.17 Then the next name that is on here, that is familiar.18 Here is one that we discussed, that is AMLASH-1. We already19 went over that one.20 The other name was Manuel Artime, whom we have talked21 about.22 Mr. Baron. Right.23 Mr. Baron. The last name on here -- I cannot find it --24 the other name is Antonio Cuesta Valle. I cannot find it now,25 but that is the last name that rang a bell.TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 116]
# TOP SECRET1151 Mr. Baron. Do you have any recollaction of Cuesta2 Valle's specific activities with the CIA?3 Mr. Halley. No. I would have to run traces on him and4 take a look at what the information is.5 Mr. Baron. Was Frank Sturgis connected with the JMWAVE6 Station?7 Mr. Halley. He was not.8 Mr. Baron. Not under the name of Frank Fiorino either?9 Mr. Halley. No, he was not. This is again one of these10 great myths. At this whole Cuba thing, Frank Sturgis was a11 soldier of fortune, was constantly involved on the periphery12 of the Cuban exile community. Ile was involved in free lance13 operations against Cuba. He was somebody that the FBI,14 Customs, CIA, everybody, reported on. He was a household name,15 but he was not on the CIA payroll during the period that I was16 involved in Cuban affairs, that is the payroll of the Miami17 Station. I remember name traces being run on this guy and so18 forth, and the Agency had no contact with him during that19 period of time.20 Ms. Baron. Are you aware of his ever having been on the21 payroll of the CIA?22 Mr. Halley. I personally am not aware of it, and I think,23 you know, if you had gone to the Agency that they must have given24 you all sorts of traces on this fellow and told you the same25 thing.# TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 117]
TOP SECRET1161 Mr. Baron. Are you aware of the AMOT program?2 Mr. Halley. Yes, I am.3 Mr. Baron. How was that spelled?4 Mr. Halley. AMOT.5 Mr. Baron. What was that program?6 Mr. Halley. That was a program involving a Cuban emigre7 group that was used as an operational support mechanism to8 support the Miami Station.9 Mr. Baron. What kind of support did they provide?10 Mr. Halley. They were interviewers of refugees who came11 out of Cuba. They provided translator personnel to translate12 the Spanish language publications that were of interest to us.13 They provided information on the various mainstream activities14 that were going on in the Cuban exile community.15 Mr. Baron. Did they provide support for paramilitary16 operations against Cuba?17 Mr. Halley. They might have identified people whom they18 thought we should interview or look to or see if they would19 fit into other paramilitary programs. In other words, they20 had the contacts in the Cuban community. Say we had a require-21 ment for a diesel engineer. We would say to the AMOT organiza-22 tion, we would say we are looking for a Cuban who is a diesel23 engineer who has a first engine's license, and they would go24 through all of their contacts until they would come up with25 one, a week or ten days or whatever, having identified:TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 118]
TOP SECRET117Phone (Area 202) 544-60001 the fellow, where he was, what he was doing. We would then2 send somebody around to talk to him independent of them and3 pick him up to work for us in our maritime activities.4 It was that kind of operational support.5 Mr. Baron. People who were part of this program were6 not used as paramilitary operatives, at least insofar as they7 operated under the aegis of this program. There were some of8 them who may have been in the paramilitary program and then9 left it and were subsequently picked up in the AMUT organiza-10 tion.11 Could we go off the record for a moment?12 (Discussion off the record.)13 Mr. Halley. We are now back on the record.14 The AMOTS also worked with us on a common project, which15 was monitoring Cuban naval traffic, things like that, so they16 were used across the board for operational support tasks.17 Mr. Baron. One more general question.18 Did the JMWAVE Station have an operational relationshipwith the FBI?19 Mr. Halley. I would not --20 Mr. Baron. Was the FBI involved in supporting your21 activities in any way?22 Mr. Halley. I would rather phrase that in my language,23 because I think --24 Mr. Baron. Go right ahead.25 TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 119]
TOP SECRET1181 Mr. Halley. I do not know if your question means the same2 thing to me. I would prefer to say we had a liaison relation-3 ship with the FBI, that is, on matters dealing with counter-4 intelligence matters. There was a regular exchange of data5 with the FBI. There was an exchange of name traces on people6 that they were conducting investigations on, for counterintelli7 gence purposes, We would trace certain individuals and with the8 FBI there were a couple of counterintelligence cases that we9 discovered that were turned over to the FBI.10 So this is in the context of the normal CIA-FBI liaison11 that existed between the two agencies.12 Mr. Baron. But the FBI was not involved in supporting13 paramilitary commando raids to the shore of Cuba, is that14 correct?15 Mr. Halley. I do not know what you are driving at16 there. I am having a little trouble with that. Are you saying17 that the FBI dispatched paramilitary teams to Cuba as18 an organization?19 Mr. Baron. Were they involved in paramilitary training20 of any of the CIA operatives?21 Mr. Halley. No. The FBI did not train any CIA personnel22 during my tenure in the Miami Station.23 Mr. Baron. Did the FBI at any point provide with you24 links to people who had gambling interests inside Cuba?25 Mr. Halley. No. We covered the gambling thing previously.TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 120]
TOP SECRET1 The one case that I mentioned is this man who gave us the ...2 lead of the two Soviets from the missile site, and that did not3 come to the Miami Station through the FBI.4 Mr. Baron. Were you ever made aware of a CIA attempt to5 secure the aid of a pilot, a Cuban pilot, to arrange for an6 "accident," to occur to Raul Castro when he flew on a Cuban7 plane?8 Mr. Halley. I read this somewhere in the record in post9 years, but I was not aware of this at the time, at the time I10 was in Miami.11 Mr. Baron. Were you aware that serious consideration had12 been given to the tactic of assassination at CIA Headquarters13 during your period of involvement with Cuban affairs?14 Mr. Halley. No, that is in the period 1962 to '65 when15 I was the Station Chief in Miami, I was not aware of any serious16 you know, program operational effort towards assassinating17 Castro.18 Mr. Baron. Were you aware that serious consideration had19 been given to the tactic or to the use of the tool of assassina-20 tion at CIA Headquarters prior to your coming on as JMWAVE21 Station Chief?22 Mr. Halley. No, I was not aware of any, you know, planned23 program effort at assassination.24 Mr. Baron. If we limit it --25 Mr. diGenova. What do you mean when you say that?TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 121]
# TOP SECRET1 Mr. Halley. I went through this before before you came2 in and explained to Mr. Baron that the subject of assassination3 was constantly being discussed in the Cuban community and was a4 part of the fabric of the times.5 Mr. diGenova. That I am aware of. You are not the only6 one who has expressed that knowledge that they were all saying7 let's kill him, let's get together...8 Mr. Halley. There was a lot of discussion of this kind of9 subject of assassination and that is why I keep trying to be10 precise that there was no programmatic operational program that11 I was aware of to assassinate Castro.12 Mr. Baron. Although the context in which we discussed the13 talk that was in the air of assassinating Castro was coffee shops14 in Miami and conversation among Cubans as opposed to conversa-15 tions among high CIA officials back in Headquarters, were you16 aware that there were at least serious discussions of the17 use of assassination against Castrc at CIA Headquarters?18 Mr. Halley. No, I was not. We are plowing the same ground19 that we covered before in this.20 As I indicated to you, people would come out of Cuba and21 discuss these kinds of things. Some of these were reported in,22 you know, traffic back to Washington. People would discuss23 what are the prospects of somebody assigned to assassinate24 Castro. In that particular context, yes, discussions on the25 assassination of Castro took place. That is why I keep coming# TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 122]
TOP SECRET1211 back, if you are saying that if anybody outlined an operational2 plan to me, did I help construct the plan, did I make a contri-3 bution to a plan, my answer is again no. We talked earlier,4 you asked me about those exploding sea shells of which I said5 I had never heard of but I had heard discussions of Castro's6 vulnerability because he was a scuba diver. And you asked me7 about bacteria, I said I had never heard of an introduction of8 bacteria, but I had heard again about Castro's vulnerability9 in this context.. Where I heard it, as I told you before, I do10 not remember.11 Mr. Baron. I realize we are plowing some of the same12 furroughs again. I am trying to be meticulous in the way you13 were before. You just now said that the subject of assassina-14 tion probably came up in the context of discussing the contin-15 gencies of Castro's death. Did it come up in terms of discus-16 sing whether or not a plan should be put together to assassinate17 Castro, whether or not an operation should be mounted --18 Mr. Halley. I cannot recall any such discussion, but in19 any state where there is a leadership dominated by one man, it20 is always a discussion of succession. That question has come21 up, you know, if something happened to Fidel Castro, if he is22 thrown over, if he does something foolish himself or if somebody23 is successful in assassinating him, somebody who decides sudden-24 ly to take his machetti and just get out in the sugar cane25 field, again, the question was, who replaces Castro, and weTOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 123]
# TOP SECRET1 generally focused on Raul. There was talk of a collective leadership.2 These are all kinds of things that are always done against3 that kind of a one-man state, whether it is, you know, a4 Communist state or whatever you want to talk, call it a5 military dictatorship or a dictatorship of the Right or the6 Left.7 Mr. Baron. Again, discussion of what to do upon the8 contingency that Castro dies, by whatever means --9 Mr. Halley. Non-Agency induced.10 Mr. Baron. As opposed to this, which is my question:11 were you aware of any kind of a discussion at CIA Headquarters12 on whether or not the CIA should induce the death of Fidel13 Castro?14 Mr. Halley. I do not recall any such discussion. That15 is why I have gone into all this background to try to explain16 the mood of the times and that is why I keep referring to, in17 my sense of the word, as a professional intelligence officer,18 of an operational plan, I was not a participant in any discus-19 'sion in which an operational plan for the assassination of20 Castro was discussed. That is, I think, the heart of the21 matter.22 Mr. Baron. I have no further questions.23 Joe, do you have any?24 Mr. diGenova. Mr. Halley, who was your immediate superior25 TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 124]
# TOP SECRET1 in terms of reporting from Miami?2 Mr. Halley. Could we go off the record?3 (Discussion off the record.)4 Mr. diGenova. Mr. Halley, we have just had a brief5 discussion here about some of the things that were covered6 before I arrived by Mr. Baron and you. I do not want to cover7 any more of that ground.8 It is my understanding in discussing the structure of9 JMWAVE's relationship with Headquarters, General Lansdale's10 name came up, and that on one occasion, General Lansdale actually11 came down to Miami to visit the Station to get firsthand12 knowledge of what was transpiring. Is that correct?13 Mr. Halley. That is correct.14 Mr. diGenova. Do you have any idea when that was?15 Mr. Halley. No. I stated earlier it was in 1962. It16 probably was in the summer of 1962 because it was after my17 family arrived in Miami. I do not remember the exact dates.18 It could be established probably from records of the Agency.19 I do not recall it specifically.20 Mr. diGenova. To your knowledge, did he travel by himself21 or was he with compatriots or aides?22 Mr. Halley. My recollection of that was that he came down23 on a special airplane. There may have been other people on the24 plane with him, I do not recall, but he landed at Homestead25 Air Force Base. As I recall, we picked him up from there.# TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 125]
# TOP SECRETPhone (Area 202) 544-6000 1241 Mr. diGenova. Did General Lansdale travel under his own name or under a cover name?2 Mr. Halley. Throughout the time that he was in contact3 with me and the Station he was operating as General Lansdale.4 Mr. diGenova. Did he have contact when he was there with5 some of the assets themselves?6 Mr. Halley. He had no contact with any Cubans that I am7 aware of. He did spend the night that he came down with some8 friends at Homestead Air Force Base, but I do not recall, I9 would have no way of knowing what he did that evening.10 Mr. diGenova. For the time that he was at JMWAVE he was11 with officials such as yourself who had a supervisory capacity12 at JMWAVE Station?13 Mr. Halley. That is correct.14 Mr. diGenova. I have no further questions.15 Mr. Baron. On the record, I just want to thank you for16 your testimony here today. It has been a long day and we have gone over a lot of things quite carefully and it has been most informative.17 I would also like to ask you, if you would, to pursue for18 us that one name of the man who was connected with gambling interests in Cuba and supplied some intelligence to JMWAVE Station.19 (Discussion off the record.)20 (Whereupon, at 5:00 o'clock the hearing was concluded.)21 410 First Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003# TOP SECRET
[157-10014-10046.pdf — page 126]
SECRET-EVES ONLYHALLEY EXHIBITbelieved he was being supported by U.S. businessmen with financial stakes in Cuba. Roselli needed Giancana and Trafficante in the first phase as a means of establishing contacts inside Cuba. He did not need them in the second phase, because he had Varona. However, it would be naive to assume that Roselli did not take the precaution of informing higher-ups in the syndicate that he was working in a territory considered to be the private domain of someone else in the syndicate.)When the pills were given to Varona through Roselli, Varona requested arms and equipment needed for the support of his end of the operation. Roselli passed the request to Earvey. Harvey, with the help of Ted Shackley, the chief of the JMWAVE Station, procured explosives, detonators, twenty .30 caliber rifles, twenty .45 caliber hand guns, two radios, and one boat radar. Harvey says that the "shopping list" included some items that could be obtained only from the U.S. Goverment. Harvey omitted those items, because Roselli, posing as a representative of private business interests, would not have had access to such equipment. The cost of the arms and equipment, about $5,000, was T/A'd to headquarters.Harvey and Shackley rented a U-Haul truck under an assumed name, loaded it with the arms and equirment, and parked it in the parking lot of a drive-in restaurant. The keys were then given to Poselli for- 9 -SECRET-VES ONLY