Francesco/who-killed-jfk huggingface dataset:
[157-10011-10078.pdf — page 20]
# STATEMENTMr. Vice-President, Governor Reagan, distinguished members of this Commission. I am here willingly at your invitation; I shall answer all of your questions fully and candidly.My federal service has extended over a 32 year period, 27 of those years were spent with the Central Intelligence Agency. I am proud of my service with the C.I.A., and I am proud of the thousands of dedicated men and women with whom I worked in the C.I.A. I retired from the C.I.A. on December 31, 1974, after having been on sick leave from March 8, 1974, until the date of my retirement. My last ten years of active service with the C.I.A. were spent as the Director of Security. I was responsible to the Director C.I.A. and to other senior C.I.A. officials for personnel security and for the security and protection of classified information, data and installations, both in the United States and abroad. During my tenure as Director of Security, I served successively under Mr. John A. McCone, Admiral William Raborn, Mr. Richard Helms, Mr. James R. Schlesinger and Mr. William F. Colby.I am aware of allegations given recent prominence by the news media that C.I.A. conducted improper activities in the United States. Since my departure from active status in March, 1974, I have had no access to Agency files or records with which to verify or refute such charges. I can assure the members of this Commission my full cooperation but it is possible that my recollection of dates and details may be imprecise or unclear without access to particular files and records of the C.I.Α.
[157-10011-10078.pdf — page 21]
the best of my knowledge and belief, all of the actions andactivities in which participated, or which I rected arerecorded and documented in C.I.A. files.At all times, while serving as Director of Security Iacted with the knowledge and approval and at the instructionof the Director of C.I.A., and in many, if not most instances,with the knowledge and approval of other senior Agency officialsin the chain of command. I should like to emphasize that Securityin the Agency is a service and support function and its activities-are not self-generated. Among other services, the Office ofSecurity provided guidance and assistance to employees withpersonal problems; it provided support to other Agency componentsupon authorized request and performed tasks and special inquiriassigned to it by the Director of C.I.Α. The Director of C.I.A.was empowered and directed by the National Security Act of 1947to "protect intelligence sources and methods". By virtue of andextension of that authority, those actions and activities withinmy purview were designed to prevent potential penetration of theAgency by hostile intelligence services, afford protection tothe Agency's domestic installations and to determine the sourcesof unauthorized disclosure of classified and sensitive intelligenceinformation to public media.While I am not now privy to precise statistical data,I believe the United States Government Agencies involved inintelligence activities can document the fact that the numberof hostile foreign intelligence representatives in our country.has increased significantly in the last ten years. One oftheir prime targets is the United States Intelligence Community.NW 50955 DocId:32203846 Page 22
[157-10011-10078.pdf — page 22]
-3-Any investigation and review of C.I.A., or any other elementof that community should be made within that context.After many years of service in the security field, Ican fully understand the extreme sense of frustration amongthe United States Government officials regarding unauthorizeddisclosure of classified information. It is devastating toread the contents of a highly classified document disseminatedin the intelligence community and then a day or two later, toread the same information ad literatum in the press. I believemost firmly in freedom of the press, but I believe also thatthere should be a sense of responsibility accompanying suchfreedom; that sense of responsibility seems often to be buriedor absent in the publication of classified information whichcould endanger our national security.I welcome the opportunity to appear before this Commissionand to assist it in acquiring facts relevant to its investigation.In the course of developing such facts, I am hopeful the Commissionwill look at the possible consequences of the Agency's failure toact even if the Commission should find fault with individualconclusions or judgments made by Agency officials.I shall endeavor to answer all of your questions and Ishall put aside my citizen's schield against self-incrimination.That decision is based on my desire to assist the Commission tothe full extent of my ability and for the equally cogent reasonthat I do not believe that any action I performed was unlawfulor in derogation of my duties to the United States Government.![signature of HOWARD J. OSBORN]HOWARD J. OSBORNNW 50955 DocId:32203846 Page 23
[157-10011-10078.pdf — page 23]
TOP SECRET- 2 -d. Polygraphs of job applicants and some contractors have been routinely covertly recorded;e. The field offices of the CIA have from time to time installed covert recording devices to record conversations of CIA employees with others where there was some reason to be concerned about the loyalty of such employees.## 3. Physical SurveillancePhysical surveillance of individuals in this country has been very rare as far as the Office of Security is concerned. Circumstances under which surveillance has been conducted have been limited to the following:a. CIA employees and contract agents believed to be divulging classified information to unauthorized persons;b. Victor Marchetti to find out if he was getting information from current employees of the CIA;c. Jack Anderson, Les Whitten and another legman to determine their sources of classified information, and Michael Gettner, a staff writer for the Washington Post, for the same purpose;d. A female contact of the Latin American Division (and some of her associates) who reported to the CIA the existence of a plot to assassinate the Vice President and to kidnap the Director of Central Intelligence.## 4. Watergate Contactsa. The McCord Lettersb. The Pennington Matterc. Assistance to E. Howard Hunt and White House re Ellsberg## 5. Covert Informers Employed by the Agencya. Within the Agency and Its ContractorsThe Office of Security employs a wide range of confidential informers from among the general roster of employees of the Agency. Included here are plumbers, chauffeurs, guards, telephone maintenance men, electricians, members of the char force, etc. TheseTOP SECRET
[157-10011-10078.pdf — page 24]
# TOP SECRET- 5 -## Physical SurveillanceMr. Osborn states that physical surveillance of individuals in this country has been very rare as far as the Office of Security is concerned. He doubts that it has exceeded ten times during his tenure in the Office of Security.He describes those circumstances under which surveillance has been conducted as being limited to the following:1. CIA employees and contract agents believed to be divulging classified information to unauthorized persons;2. Victor Marchetti to find out if he was getting information from current employees of the CIA;3. Jack Anderson, Les Whitten and another legman to determine their sources of classified information, and Michael Getler, a staff writer for the Washington Post, for the same purpose;4. A female agent of the Latin American Division who reported to the CIA the existence of a plot to assassinate the Vice President and to kidnap the Director of Central Intelligence. This surveillance was conducted under the supervision of Mr. Ober, of the Directorate of Operations, with the full knowledge of the FBI.Also included in this surveillance was some of the contacts of this agent in Detroit, Miami, and New York City. The agent involved here was Thelma King, and the surveillance took place in 1971. (Mr. Osborn reports that a conversation between Miss King and her case officer in a New York hotel was also covertly recorded.)Mr. Osborn is emphatic to the fact that every instance of physical surveillance in his experience was authorized by the Director of Central Intelligence except that Mr. Brownman, the Deputy Director for Administration, may have been the official to authorize the surveillance of employees, but it is possible that these also were approved by Mr. Colby as DCI. Mr. Osborn is also emphatic to the effect that no member of Congress has ever been placed under physical surveillance, has ever had his telephone tapped, has ever been covertly monitored with respect to any conversations or communications, or has ever had a security check performed on him by the CIA.## Watergate Contacts1. The McCord Letters: Mr. Osborn states that a letter directed to Mr. Helms in late June 1972 was referred to his office as a part of the "crank mail" received that day. He recognized the signature on the letter as being that of a former employee of the Office of Security, Mr. James McCord. Mr. McCord had shortly before that been arrested in connection with the breakin at the Democratic National Headquarters on June 16, 1972. Mr. Osborn states that he immediately brought this letter to the attention of Richard Helms, the DCI.TOP SECRET
[157-10011-10078.pdf — page 25]
# SECRETMcCord Letters (continued)Mr. Helms directed that the letter should be retained in the file, but that nothing further should be done about it and that he would take care of it. Thereafter a series of letters were received from Mr. McCord by Paul Gaynor, then the Chief of Security Research Staff within the Office of Security. These letters were received by Mr. Gaynor at his home. Each letter was promptly brought to the attention of Mr. Helms. The thrust of these letters was that the Committee to Re-elect the President and high officials within the Nixon Administration were planning to blame the CIA for the Watergate break-in. Mr. Helms directed that these letters not be referred to the Justice Department and that he would take care of them. Mr. Osborn recalls being present when the matter was discussed with the General Counsel of the CIA, Mr. Houston, who advised that the CIA was not obligated to reveal these letters to the Justice Department.At a much later date, Mr. Osborn gave full testimony with respect to these McCord letters and the actions regarding them to the Nedzi Subcommittee of House Appropriations Committee and to the counterpart Senate Subcommittee.2. The Pennington Matter: For many vears a man named Lee Pennington, a former FBI agent, has been retained by the CIA as a confidential informant. His compensation from the CIA has been $250 per month. Mr. Osborn stated that he has no idea what kind of information has ever been supplied to the Agency by Mr. Pennington in exchange for the compensation paid him.In August 1972 Mr. Osborn was on vacation during the time his deputy, Bramell Geiss was in charge of the Office of Security. (The Office of Security had been designated by the DCI as the liaison with all other governmental agencies and departments relating to Watergate matters.)While Mr. Osborn was on vacation anFBI agent named Arnold Parham contacted the Office of Security and requested information on a man simply named "Pennington". The request was directed to Steve Kuhn of the Office of Security. Mr. Kuhn's deputy, Hollis Whitaker, took the request of agent Parham to Ermal Ceiss and asked whether the FBI should be given the names of both Penningtons or just one of them. Miceiss instructed Whitaker that Parham should be supplied only with the name of Cecil Pennington, a retired employee of the CIA, who was not related in any way to Lee Pennington. <ceiss instructed Whitaker that Lee Pennington's name should not be given to Parham.Mir. Geiss would have known that James McCord while he was employed in the Office of Security had acted as the case officer for Lee Pennington, that McCord was involved with the Watergate break-in, and that the FBI was really interested in Lee Pennington.Mr. Osborn states that all of the above information came to his attention in February 1974 and that he had no knowledge of it until that time.TOP SECRET
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 0]
# JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM## IDENTIFICATION FORM### AGENCY INFORMATIONAGENCY: SSCIARECORD NUMBER: 157-10011-10083RECORDS SERIES:AGENCY FILE NUMBER:### DOCUMENT INFORMATIONORIGINATOR: ROCKEFELLER COMMISSIONFROM:TO:TITLE:DESPOSITION/TRANSCRIPT OF STURBITTS, WILLIAM C.DATE: 04/16/75PAGES: 114SUBJECTS:DEPOSITION OF STURBITTS, WILLIAM C.DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENTCLASSIFICATION: SRESTRICTIONS: REFERREDCURRENT STATUS: PDATE OF LAST REVIEW: 09/29/93OPENING CRITERIA:COMMENTS:SSCI Box 292, Folder 1[R] - ITEM IS RESTRICTEDDate: 10/06/93Page: 1
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 1]
292-1ORIGINALCIA HAS NO OBJECTION TODECLASSIFICATION AND/ORRELEASE OF THIS DOCUMENTAS SANITIZEDCIA HAS NO OBJECTION TODECLASSIFICATION AND/ORRELEASE OF THIS DOCUMENTAS SANITIZED6 APR5-7(EI-W)SSCI Box 292, Folder 1Record Number 157-10011-10083Deposition ofOFWednesday, April 16, 1975Langley, VirginiaWARD & PAUL![image of an opened book, the left page has "Verba volant- scripta manent", the right page has "Spoken words fly-written words endure"]WASHINGTON, D.C.410 First Street, S.E., 20003PhoneNW 50955 DocId:82205031 Page 2FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA4055 Chain Bridge Rd., 22030Phone(703) 273-7400
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 2]
SECRETCONTENTSDeposition of Examination by CounselFor the CommissionWilliam C. Sturbitts 2(AFTERNOON SESSION Page 58)William C. Sturbitts (Resumed) 58
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 3]
SECRETPRESIDENT'S COMMISSIONON CIA ACTIVITIESLangley, VirginiaWednesday, April 16, 1975Deposition of WILLIAM C. STURBITTS, called for examination by Counsel for the Commission on CIA Activities, the witness being duly sworn by Thomas C. Hogan, a Notary Public in and for the State of Virginia, in the offices of the Central Intelligence Agency, Langley, Virginia, at 9:50 o'clock a.m., on Wednesday, April 16, 1975, the proceedings being taken down in stenotype by Ruth G. McClenning, and transcribed under her direction.APPEARANCES:On behalf of the Commission:GEORGE MANFREDI, ESQ.,ROBERT B. OLSEN, ESQ.
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 4]
SECRETPROCEEDINGSThereupon, WILLIAM C. STURBITTS,called as a witness by Counsel for the Commission on CIA Activities, and having been first duly sworn by the Notary Public, was examined and testified as follows:EXAMINATION BY COUNSEL FOR THE COMMISSIONBY MR. MANFREDI:Q Mr. Sturbitts, will you state your full name for the record?A William C. Sturbitts.Q Mr. Sturbitts, do you recall when we spoke some weeks ago you signed a document entitled, "Advice and Waiver"?A Right.Q You understand that document is still in effect?A Sure.Q Mr. Sturbitts, by whom are you currently employed?A You mean the Agency or --Q That is right.A Central Intelligence Agency.Q And what is your current position with the Agency?!A I am a Special Assistant, Latin America, for Economic Intelligence Collection and Operations.Q And would you briefly review for me the history of:
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 5]
SECRETyour employment with the Agency?A When I first came in I was in the Intelligence Directorate for approximately ten years and I was put on special detail, special indefinite detail, in the Deputy Director, Plans, which is now the Directorate of Operations.Q What year were you put on that detail?A I guess it was 1964, January, I believe.Q And what did that detail involve?A Cuban operations, economic warfare.Q And how long were you on that detail?A I was in the Cuban operations for nine years.Q Between 1964 and 1973?A (Nods in affirmative.)Q And in 1973 did you assume your current position?A Yes, January.Q Now, while you were on special detail -- to the DOD?A Yes.Q Were you stationed in Washington?A Yes.Q And did you commute with some frequency to !!iami?A Yes.Q Were your activities in Miami in any way connected with the operations of the Miami Station?A In some way. My responsibilities were worldwide.I took temporary duty predominantly in Europe, and then Miari.
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 6]
# SECRETMost of my operations were run out of Europe.Q Run out of --A Europe. Some were run out of Miami but the big ones were run out of Europe.Q Well, in the course of your activities with respect to Cuba did you have occasion to become familiar with the operations of the Miami base?A Yes.Q And the situation in the Cuban community in Miami?A Yes, sir.Q During the nine years you were with DDO's Cuban operations, who was -- who were the chiefs of the Miami Station?A I think in 1963 Ted Shackley was the Chief and he was followed by -- I can't think of his name. I should know it. Well, I will come back to that.Then, the next Chief of Station was Paul Henze.Q What years was he Chief?A I think Paul was there about a year and a half. He left in 1968 when we reduced the size of the Station. Let's say Henze was there from 1966 to 1968. And then Jake Esterling.He was Chief of Station from 1968 to 1973.Q Now, what was the formal title of the group to which you were assigned for the 9-year period?A Well, when I first came in it was known as the# SECRET
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 7]
SECRET5Special Activities Staff. It was headed by Desmond Fitzgerald. And then, I believe after that it became the Cuban Operations Group.Q Now, was this a special group within the DDO or was it attached to one of the area divisions?A No. Following the Bay of Pigs, they created a thing called Task Force W which was headed by Bill Harvey. And that -- when Harvey left, *he went to Chief of Station, Rome, and* Fitzgerald took over, it became Special Activities Staff.It wasn't attached to anything except -- it reported to the Deputy Director, Plans.Q And that was Mr. Karamessines?A Yes. Well, it was Helms at that time back when it was first created. Helms was DDP at that time.Q And Task Force W was created immediately after the Bay of Pigs?A Well, not immediately. I think sometime around in the Bay of Pigs was in April. I think this was created in September, something like that, 1961.Q And that subsequently became the Special Activities Staff?A Special Activities Staff and consequently became the Cuban Operations Group. As the Cuban Operations Group it went back into the Western Hemisphere Division.Q And what was the date of that reorganization?SECRET
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 8]
# SECRETPhone (Area 202) 544-60001 A Well, let's see. I would say that was probably around1965 because Fitzgerald then became Chief, W.IH., and thenlater DDP.4 Q Now, Mr.Harvey -- do you recall what position Mr.5 Harvey held after he left Task Force W?6 A Yes. He was Chief of Station, Rome,7 Q And is he still with the Agency?8 A Oh, no. He retired a long time ago.9 Q Do you know where he lives at the present time?10 A Frankly, I don't. I have an idea where he lives.11 He went to work for a friend of mine who had a law firm.12 Harvey is a lawyer.13 Q Indianapolis area?14 A Yes, some place around there. It is in the midwest,Indiana.16 Q What was the role that was assigned to Task ForceW?18 A It was the overall Cuban operations.19 Q Did the Miami -- when was the Miami Station estab-lished?21 A Well, I think they had a forward operatio-s base downthere about 1960 which was small, in Coral Gables.23 Q This was, then, prior to the Bay of Pigs?24 A Oh, yes.25 Q Now, in addition to Task Force W, was the MiamiSECRET
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 9]
SECRETStation running any operations against Cuba?A You mean prior to the Bay of Pigs?Q Yes.A I really don't know. It was a small -- it was a forward base and it was more or less as I recall, a support type thing.Q Well, after the Bay of Pigs when Task Force W was established, did it have sole responsibility for Cuban operations?A Yes.Q Or was that shared with the Miami base, Miami Station?A No. The Miami Station was under Task Force W.Q All right. Would that also be true of the Special Activities Staff, the Cuban Operations Group?A Right, except that at the present time the Station has no Cuban operations.Q I understand that. When were Cuban operations termi- nated?A At the Station? Let's see. Sternfield went down there in 1972. It was during fiscal year '72. I think it was in early 1973. It was a gradual reduction.Q And have those operations been terminated entirely or are they now run out of the Washington area?A All Cuban operations are run out of Washington.
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 10]
SECRET                                                                                                   8There are no more paramilitary operations, that type of thing.Q   But there are some Cuban operations being run out of the Washington area?A   Right.Q   Is that correct?A   Right. Worldwide.Q   Mr.Sturbitts, in the last couple of weeks you may have seen some allegations in the press about possible assassination attempts that have been mounted or alleged assassination attempts that have been mounted --A   Right.Q   -- against Fidel Castro. In the course of your activities with respect to Cuba, did you ever learn of any such attempts?A   Well, let me answer it this way. I wouldn't say attempts. I know there was discussion. "Attempts" is too strong a word.Q   Well, can you place in time your first knowledge of any such discussions?A   Well, the first knowledge I had of any discussions, I was on TDY and this was October, November, 1963, with Fitzgeral in Paris. And I knew that he was going to meet -- let me put it another way. I had overheard that discussions were going on with a member of Castro's military but that he wanted, as I recall, he wanted some British -- I mean Belgian rifles and
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 11]
SECRETa telescopic sight.Q Who wanted them?A This military guy that was in Fidel's -- I think at one time he was a commandante. Now, I knew that was going on. I didn't participate in it because I was there for another reason. And I know that subsequent to that time that Fitzgerald met with him again and as I recall, as the personal representative of the Attorney General, Bobby Kennedy.I provided all those files. There are 19 volumes that we gave to your people. But I don't know who was reviewing them. I think Belin was going to do it himself.Q Yes. He is. He is doing it himself.You said there were 19 volumes of documents with respect to this.A 19 files, manila.Q All having to do with possible assassination?A All having to do with this whole time period and -- can we go off the record for a minute?(Discussion off the record.)BY MR. MANFREDI:Q The first knowledge of such conversations that you had, I take it you obtained on a trip to Europe with Mr. Fitzgerald?A I simply overheard it, that is right.Q And who were the parties to the conversation you over-
[157-10011-10083.pdf — page 12]
SECRETheard?A A fellow named *Nestor Sanchez*Q And Mr. Fitzgerald?A Yes, and I really can't recall some of the other people. We were -- we had just moved the Station at that time, in Paris, out of the Embassy into the old Rothschild Palace and we felt that it was probably bugged, so all conversations took place -- we walked around the garden and tyat type of thing, and, you know, I was walking with somebody, somebody was in front of me, and you just overhear conversations.Q This was in Paris?A Yes.Q I see.Mr. Sanchez -- was he a member of the military?A No. Mr. Sanchez was in the Special Activities Staff.He was stationed in Washington. And he was in contact with Cuban military type.Q Was it your understanding that the Agency had received instructions with respect to this activity from another component of the Government?A Well, let me put it this way. I don't know whether they received instructions. I have to assume, and I am pretty positive, that this was a result of a Special Group decision. And at this time you have to remember that Bobby Kennedy was overseeing this deal, presumably for his brother, and he was