Francesco/who-killed-jfk huggingface dataset:
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 86]
to get the funding through to the organizations.These people were normally prominent people and --Q. And did they get funded by the Agency, then, through the mdeium of prominent and well-to-do people?A. These well-to-do people ostensibly would call a friend of theirs that had been made trustee of another type of activity and say, you know, we are trying to assist these Cubans in this type of thing. Could your organization give us any money, and the guy on the other end would say, sure, we can probably lend you $25,000 or something like that, or donate $25,000. This is the way the funding went into the fronts.Q. And was some of that funding arranged through people in New Orleans?A. I would think so. I believe so.Q. Were any of the people in New Orleans through whom that funding operation was effected people who turned out to be involved in the investigations conducted by Jim Garrison?A. Not to my knowledge.Q. How about David Ferrie? Was he ever connected with the Agency in any manner at all in providing funds or assistance to Cubans or Cuban groups?A. I couldn't say. I am just not familiar with -- we had a great many people that did this.Q. How about Clay Shaw? Was Clay Shaw ever used as a funding source?
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 87]
1. A. This I do not know either.2. Q. Pardon?3. A. This I don't know.4. BY MR. MANFREDI:5. Q. Where would that information be available?6. A. Well, we have a guy that used to work with me who was down in New Orleans at that time. He would probably know.7. Q. Is he in the building?8. A. Yes.9. Q. What is his name?10. A. Bill Kent.11. Q. Bill Kent'12. A. Yes.13. BY MR. OLSEN:14. Q. Who is Bill Kent with now? Which department?15. A. He is still with the DDO.16. BY MR. MANFREDI:17. Q. Western Hemisphere Division?18. A. No. He is on one of the staffs. He is on the -- I think Career Management Group Staff.19. Q. Is he officed near you?20. A. No. He is down in the basement.21. BY MR. OLSEN:22. Q. Do the Agency files reveal who the intermediaries were that were used to provide funds to the --
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 88]
A. Oh, yes.Q. -- to the Cuban movements?A. Yes.Q. Do you know whehter -- do you know the identity of any of them in New Orleans?A. No. No. Totally unfamiliar with anything that took llace in New Orleans.Q. I take it that Frank Sturgis was never an intermediary for providing funds to the Cuban fronts?A. The files that I have don't reflect it.Q. I think we covered this already just a few minutes ago but let me make sure that we have got it on the record.Q. I understood you to say that it was your impression in 1963 that large numbers of Cuban exiles, Cuban people in the southern United States, talked about and believed that they were involved in the CIA sponsored activities. Is that true?A. That is right.Q. Was it also your understanding and your impression that there was a good deal of talk among this Cuban element in the southern United States about plans or prospects for the assassination of Fidel Castro?A. I would say no. I don't think there was -- you have got to remember that these people were embittered. They lost their homeland, their possessions, they lost everything and they blamed it all on one man.> Photocopy from Gerald Ford Library
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 89]
Q. That is Fiedl Castrc?A. That is right, and they would probably verbally do anything they could to get rid of him.Q. Was there a lot of talk about killing Castro among these Cubans?A. I would say among the Cuban exiles there probably was a lot of talk about that.Q. Did you participate yourself in the overhearing of such conversations?A. No.Q. Was this a matter of something that was reported to you?A. Well, it was -- I really don't remember what the source of it was but I know in my discussions with people at the Station and from my visits down there and that type of thing that this subject always came up. What were they going to do with Fidel? How are they going to get rid of him and this type of thing. I don't mean the Agency people. This is what the Cuban exile community was discussing.Q. Yes. Do you know what Howard Hunt was doing for the Agency in 1963?A. Well, it seems to me he was here at Headquarters in '63 and I think he was assigned to the European Division of the DDP.Q. This is your best recollection --
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 90]
1A. Yes.2Q. -- at the moment. Is it possible that he was with3Domestic Operations Division in the field of proprietaries4 engaged --5A. I guess you are right, yes. I believe he was there.6Q. Did you personally know Howard Hunt?7A. No.8Q. Never met him?9A. I met him. That is all. I can't say I know him.10Q. You would not have known anything about his where-11abouts on any particular day, then. Is that true?12A. Can we go off the record?13(Off the record discussion.)14THE WITNESS: Let's go back on the record.15BY MR. OLSEN:16Q. I would like to have it on the record.17A. Do you have a particular day?18Q. No. I am just asking you if your acquanitance withHunt was such that you would have known of his whereabouts on20any particular day.21A. No.22Q. Was it very infrequently that you ever saw him?23A. Oh, I would see him in the halls, this type of thing,24but -- bump into him perhaps downtown on the street.25Q. But you would have no occasion for knowing from one> [Figure: SECRET watermark at the bottom of the page]> [Figure: Photocopy from Gerald Ford Library]
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 91]
day to the next where he was?A.No.Q. Have you ever conducted any kind of inquiry on behalf of the Agency as to where he was on November 22, 1963?A. Yes.Q. And when did you conduct that inquiry?A. I have done it twice that I recall and the most recent one was I guess -- I am just trying to think. Well, it wasn't too long ago because we did have an inquiry and we obtained the time and the attendance records from the Office of Finance which showed that Howard Hunt was on sick leave on that day.Q. Was this just fairly recently?A. Yes.Q. I understood from what files I have seen, Mr. Sturbitts, that the only records that were available from the Office of Finance showed that he had had nine hours of sick leave during the two-week pay period ending the 23rd of November but that the records were not available as to how much sick leave or annual leave had been taken on any particular day.A. Well --Q. Am I mistaken?A. As I recall, he was in a duty status one day and a sick leave status the next day and back to duty the next day. I would have to check that with my Budget and Fiscal Officer. He is the chap that got that for me..Photocopy from Gerald Ford Library
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 92]
1 Q. Can you check that for us?2 A. Sure.3 Q. And give us the results of that?4 A. Yes.5 Q. Because this is much more detailed information than6 I have been previouly aware is available in the files of the7 Agency.8 A. All right. I will do that.9 BY MR. MANFREDI:10 Q. Do you want to make a note of that?11 A. Let me have a piece of paper.12 Q. You might also want Mr. Sturbitts' phone number which13 is 351-5106.14 THE WITNESS: That was 22 November, right?15 BY MR. MANFREDI:16 Q. That is the day.17 A. 1963.18 Q. In response to whose inquiry was that investigation made?19 A I don't know. I would have to look that up, too. I don't recall exactly who asked for it. I don't know whether --20 I will just have to check that. I don't know who it was.21 Q. And the date? Do you have any idea when you made the inquiry?22 A. No. But Ican find out from the B and F guy, hopefully
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 93]
1 Q. You said there was a previous inquiry?2 A. Yes. The previous inquiry came from Archie Roosevelt who is now retired and was at that particular time the Chief of European Division.5 Q. When was that inquiry received?6 A. That was about a year ago, I guess.7 BY MR. OLSEN:8 Q. About the first time these photographs began to be circulated?9 A. Yes.11 Q. About the bums in Dallas?12 A. Yes, and actually I think this -- Archie's inquiry came from some magazine or newspaper man in Europe. Archie was Chief of Station, London, for a long time and he apparently made a lot of acquaintances over there among the media.16 Q. This is something you are relating to Der Sterm Magazine?17 A. That is right.18 Q. And did I understand you to say that in checking with the Office of Finance that it was positively ascertained that Hunt was on sick leave on November 22nd?21 A. Well, I will have to check that. That is the way I understood it but I did get this through our Budget people who have the contact with the Office of Finance.25 Q. And that he was on annual leave the day before?
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 94]
A. No. He was on a duty status the day before, on sick leave, and then on duty status the following day.BY MR. MANFREDI:Q. Was there any effort to determine what Mr. Hunt's previous pattern with respect to sick days had been?A. (Nods in negative)BY MR. OLSEN:Q. November 22, 1963, was a Friday. When you say that records reveal that he was on a duty status the next day --A. It was a Friday. Then I was mistaken.Q. Does that mean he was on duty the following Monday or on the next day, Saturday?A. No. On the following Monday. I didn't realize the 22nd was a Friday.Q. Will you check that thing for us and give us a brief memo together with whatever supporting -- copies of supporting documents you can find?A. Okay.Q. As promptly as possible on this question.I think that covers the subject matter.MR. MANFREDI: I can give you another moment if you want. Can you think of anything else?MR. OLSEN: I think that is all.MR. MANFREDI: Okay. Off the record.(Off the record discussion)
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 95]
BY MR. MANFREDI:Ω. I am sorry for the interruption but over the long.I think probably I saved you some time.We are talking about newspaper editors when we were inte rupted -- or when I invited the interruption. I guess I ough to be fair.Is it not a fact that the Agency had some relationship w: some prominent newspaper officials in the Miami area?Ω. And what was the nature of that relationship?A. Yes.A. Traditionally the Chief of Station maintained the relationship with officials of the Miami Herald, particularly t Latin American editor, as well as relationships with staff 'members of it, I think it is the Miami News and stringers for the other newspapers and periodicals stationed in Miami.Ω. What was the purpose of those relationships?A. I really couldn't say what the prupose of the relationship was. I mean, the same reason that we establish a relation- ship with the press in this town. There were certain things that might come to the attention of the press involving true names and incidents that we felt should perhaps not be surfaced at any particular time.Ω. Do you have any knowledge of use of the press in Miami for propaganda purposes?A. No. No.
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 96]
folosmslPhone (Area 202) 544-600095Q Would you know if that were the case?A No. I really wouldn't know, but the relationship wasa two-way street. It wasn't simply that we assisted thesepeople as well as they were assigint us.Q What assistance would you render for members ofthe press in Miami?A Well, in the case of the Latin American editorwe would put him in contact with the Chiefs of Stations ofareas he periodically visited and the Chiefs of Stationswould give him background briefings and this type of thingon the developments within a given country.Q Was that done evenhandedly for various newspapers?A Predominantly, I would say probably the MiamiHerald received probably a little more attention than theother papers, principally because it was a large paper andtheir Latin American editor traveled a great deal throughoutthe Hemisphere.Q Was he also used as a source?A No.Q Do newspapermen in Washington, D.C., receivesimilar briefings?A Yes.Q We talked with Mr.Olsen for a short period of timeabout fronts, revolutionary fronts. How large were theseorganizations?SECRETPhotocopy fromGerald Ford LibraryWARD & PAUL410 First Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003NW 50955 DocId:32275454 Page 97
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A Well, the membership varied. As I said, we were principally interested in the leadership of the organizations. Once the organization was established and the leadership took over, then they would take care of enlisting the, I guess, getting membership from the Cuban exile community to join.Q What were their functions, the fronts?A Well, it was to bring some unity out of this chaotic thing of the splinter groups and get -- as I said, it was a political organization in exile.Q Did they conduct any operations?A No, not that I know of.Q Just like a political party?A Like a political party.Q How many of these fronts were there?A There were several of them. I really don't remember the names of them. The FRD was one. The Revolutionary Democratic Front. I guess that was probably the biggest one. And there were some others.Q The RDF?A FRD.Q I see.A Front Revolutionary Democratic. It is the Democratic Revolutionary Front.
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 98]
Q Is there a CIA station in Puerto Rico?A No. There was but there isn't any more. There hasn't been one there for years.Q When was it disbanded?A I think the station was established around 1958 and -- perhaps it was established before that. I think it went out of existence in 1958.Q Do you know why it went out of existence?A No, I don't. I don't have any idea.Q Do you know what function it was performing?A (Nods in negative.)Q You mentioned earlier that Bernard Barker worked in the Cuban community for the CIA?A He worked with these fronts, too.Q Was he performing any intelligence function in the community?A Intelligence functions. Well --Q Was he collecting information?A Sure. If he got information that he thought was worthwhile he would pass it on.Q Now, would he have been considered one of the three or 500 persons employed or assigned to the Miami Station?A Yes. He was a contract employee.Q And were intelligence requirements levied on such contract employees?
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 99]
## SECRETA Normally, the requirements are pretty standard, or they were at that time. But here again, you always have ad hoc type things that pop up from time to time, and have to be surfaced.Q Some of these contract employees were, then, in the business of ccilecting intelligence information in the Cuban communities in Miami.A Right.Q Now, I think we finished with the AMOTS but can you think of any other functions performed by the AMOTS that we have not discussed in the course of the afternoon?A No, not really. No.Q I think you previously described them for me as the eyes and ears into the Cuban community.A Right.Q And they actually had a physical facility in Miami which was their headquarters, did they not?A Exactly.Q And there was a CIA Case Officer who managed to supervise that facility.A Yes.Q Now, what has happened to the AMOTS?A The AMOTS were gradually phased down and will go out of existence -- the AMOTS are out of existence, aren't they? Isn't it the AMDUKES or -- these are the radio people.Photocopy fromGerald Ford Library
[178-10002-10279.pdf — page 100]
Q And the AMDUKES are the AMOTS?A The AMDUKES are AMOTS but they are radio people.Q They are the ones that conducted the intercept for NSA?A Yes. The only reason we use two different names is that in each of these things in those days we had to have a project which had to be renewed every year to get the funding.Q So AMDUKE and AMOT --A Synonymous.Q -- are cryptonyms?A Yes.Q Do the initials stand for anything other than --A No. Just pick them out. If you want to encrypt somebody you just call downstairs and they give you a crypt. You don't have anything to do with it. The AM happened at that particular time to be the Cuban diograph.Q Now, turning to the Miami Station's involvement for assistance to the Secret Service in connection with the political conventions in 1968 and 1972, would you briefly describe for me the nature of the assistance provided by the Agency to the Secret Service?A At the request of the Secret Service we conducted name traces on individuals whom the Secret Service wanted traced. These includedthe employees of all hotels in Miami
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100Beach where any convention activities were to take place,employees of catering services, limosine service, employeesin -- what do they call it, the Civic Center in Miami. Itis a big auditorium down there. I forget what they call it.Foreign news people and media, television, radio people.Q Were these people on whom name traces were requestedall foreign nationals?A All foreign nationals.Q Was there any check made to determine whetherany of them were American citizens?A We levied on the Secret Service as a requirementthat they have identified these people by nationality beforewe would run a name trace. Inadvertently, at one timethey did submit a list, a rather long list of American citizenswhich we promptly sent back to them and told them we couldnot trace.Q And this practice was followed both in 1968 and1972?A That is right.Q And where were these names traced?A They were traced back here and also in Miami. TheMiami Station did their name check and we did our name checkhere. In the case of Cubans, probably the Miami Station hadmore information on the Cubans than we would have back here.Q But the names were traced through Agency files?
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1 A Through Agency files.2 Q Was Secret Service receiving cooperation from FBI on this as well?4 A Oh, yes.5 Q And in effect, they were getting an all-Agency name check --7 A Right.8 Q -- on people who might pose a security threat --9 A Yes.10 Q -- to a candidate?11 A Well, they were just trying to determine who might be a security threat.12 Q That is right. Potential threat.14 A Yes.15 Q For what political parties -- strike that.16 Q In 1968 was this service provided for both political conventions?18 A Both political conventions.19 Q Were they both held in Miami that year?20 A No. I guess it was in 1972 they were both held there. I think it was just the Democratic in 1968.22 Q These requests did come from the Secret Service rather than --24 A From the Secret Service and it was -- the Director of the Secret Service came to the DCI and asked him for