Francesco/who-killed-jfk huggingface dataset:
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 90]
A. Yes.Q. -- at the moment. Is it possible that he was with Domestic Operations Division in the field of proprietaries engaged --A. I guess you are right, yes. I believe he was there.Q. Did you personally know Howard Hunt?A. No.Q. Never met him?A. I met him. That is all. I can't say I know him.Q. You would not have known anything about his whereabouts on any particular day, then. Is that true?A. Can we go off the record?(Off the record discussion.)THE WITNESS: Let's go back on the record.BY MR. OLSEN:Q. I would like to have it on the record.A. Do you have a particular day?Q. No. I am just asking you if your acquanitance with Hunt was such that you would have known of his whereabouts on any particular day.A. No.Q. Was it very infrequently that you ever saw him?A. Oh, I would see him in the halls, this type of thing, but -- bump into him perhaps downtown on the street.Q. But you would have no occasion for knowing from one
[178-10002-10091.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 chan that got that for me..> Photocopy from Gerald Ford Library
[178-10002-10091.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 previously 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. I20 don't recall exactly who asked for it. I don't know whether --21 I will just have to check that. I don't know who it was.22 Q. And the date? Do you have any idea when you made the23 inquiry?24 A. No. But Ican find out from the B and F guy, hopefully
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 93]
Q. You said there was a previous inquiry?A. Yes. The previous inquiry came from Archie Roosevelt who is now retired and was at that particular time the Chief of European Division.Q. When was that inquiry received?A. That was about a year ago, I guess.BY MR. OLSEN:Q. About the first time these photographs began to be circulated?A. Yes.Q. About the bums in Dallas?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.Q. This is something you are relating to Der Sterm Magazine?A. That is right.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?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.Q. And that he was on annual leave the day before?
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 94]
A. No. He was on a duty status the day before, on sickleave, and then on duty status the following day.BY MR. MANFREDI:Q. Was there any effort to determine what Mr. Hunt'sprevious 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 thatrecords 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 Mondayor on the next day, Saturday?A. No. On the following Monday. I didn't realize the22nd was a Friday.Q. Will you check that thing for us and give us a briefmemo together with whatever supporting -- copies of supportingdocuments 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)
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 95]
BY MR. MANFREDI:QI 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 interrupted -- 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?A. Yes.Q And what was the nature of that relationship?A. Traditionally the Chief of Station maintained the relationship with officials of the Miami Herald, particularly Latin American editor, as well as relationships with staff members of it, I think it is the Miami News and stringers for he other newspapers and periodicals stationed in Miami.Q 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 relationship 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.Q Do you have any knowledge of use of the press in Miami for propaganda purposes?A. No. No.
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 96]
## 95Q Would you know if that were the case?A No. I really wouldn't know, but the relationship was a two-way street. It wasn't simply that we assisted these people as well as they were assigint us.Q What assistance would you render for members of the press in Miami?A Well, in the case of the Latin American editor we would put him in contact with the Chiefs of Stations of areas he periodically visited and the Chiefs of Stations would give him background briefings and this type of thing on the developments within a given country.Q Was that done evenhandedly for various newspapers?A Predominantly, I would say probably the Miami Herald received probably a little more attention than the other papers, principally because it was a large paper and their Latin American editor traveled a great deal throughout the Hemisphere.Q Was he also used as a source?A No.Q Do newspapermen in Washington, D.C., receive similar briefings?A Yes.Q We talked with Mr.Olsen for a short period of time about fronts, revolutionary fronts. How large were these organizations?
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 97]
96A 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.Q All right. Are these groups still in existence?A I would think not. I really don't know.
[178-10002-10091.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?
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 99]
A 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.Ω 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.? And there was a CIA Case Officer who managed to super- vise that facility.A Yes.2 Now, what has happened to the AMOTS?A The AMOTS were gradually phased down and will go out of existence -- che AMOTS are out of existence, aren't they? Isn't it the AMDUKES or these are the radio people.
[178-10002-10091.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
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 101]
Beach 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?
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 102]
SECRET                                                                                                         1011  A   Through Agency files.2  Q   Was Secret Service receiving cooperation from FBI on this as well?3  A   Oh, yes.4  Q   And in effect, they were getting an all-Agency name check5  A   Right.6  Q   -- on people who might pose a security threat --7  A   Yes.8  Q   -- to a candidate?9  A   Well, they were just trying to determine who might be a security threat.10 Q   That is right. Potential threat.11 A   Yes.12 Q   For what political parties -- strike that.13 In 1968 was this service provided for both political conventions?14 A   Both political conventions.15 Q   Were they both held in Miami that year?16 A   No. I guess it was in 1972 they were both held there. I think it was just the Democratic in 1968.17 Q   These requests did come from the Secret Service rather than --18 A   From the Secret Service and it was -- the Director of the Secret Service came to the DCI and asked him forSECRETPhotocopy fromGerald Ford Library
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 103]
1 support.Ω Do you still maintain the records with respect to that tracing activity?A I have all the names that have been traced.Ω And they are on little cards down in your files?A Yes.Ω Why have those records been maintained? Is there any reason those records have been maintained?A Well, because we were told to maintain them when the Watergate thing broke.Ω I see.A And since then nobody will destroy anything.Ω OK. Are you aware of any picketing at various places in the country that has been conducted by Cuban groups?A I was not aware of it until I was told of it. I still don't know whether this was a spontaneous action on the part of these people or whether they were instructed to do it. I tried to run that down and I have been unable to.Ω At what locations has it been reported that pickets were located?A Airline offices in New York, Miami. I think another place. I forget where it was.Ω Have you in fact been able to verify that these persons were Cubans?> [Figure: SECRET. Photocopy from Gerald Ford Library]
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 104]
1 A Well, it is a matter of record in the AMOT historythat this indeed did take place. Now, what I have been tryingto determine is whether the On-Site Case Officer authorizedthis, which I fully doubt.5 Q Who was the On-Site Case Officer?.6 A At that time it was a fellow by the name of Tony7 Sforza.8 Q Is he still alive?9 A Yes, he is down in Miami. But I just do not knowwhether this was a unilateral action on the part of theAMOTS against the countries that were then trading withCuba, notably Spain and Great Britain and France.13 Q Other than this incident which we -- strike that.14 What kind of an investigation have you conducted?15 A I have talked to people, which is really all youcan do. There is no other way you can do it.17 Q You have been unable to determine who, if anyone,authorized this activity? Have you been able to identifyany of the persons who participated in the picketing?20 A No.21 Q With what frequency did this activity occur?22 A I don't have any idea. I only know of one instance.23 Q This was in New York City?24 A New York City and Miami.25 Q Do you know of any organized political activity that
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 105]
1 the AMOTS engaged in?2 A To my knowledge, they didn't engage in any.3 Q Any political activity.4 Do you know of any other activities that they have5 conducted within this country, they or any of their members6 have conducted within this country that we have not already7 discussed this afternoon?8 A No.9 Q Any political activities? Any operations?10 A No. Not really. Of course, we have used certain11 select individuals to what we call hand-hold defectors, Cuban12 defectors. In other words, live with them until they are13 resettled and this type of thing. And this is another activity14 they engaged in. But other than that, I can't think of any-15 thing else.16 Q Do you know of any criminal activities that have17 been attribited to --18 A I have heard of some allegations which have never19 been proven.20 Q What are the allegations?21 A The allegations concern break-ins and surveillances22 and this type of thing.23 Q Have those allegations been made with any fre-24 quency?25 A Well, I forget who it was. It was during the
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 106]
1051 Watergate trial. Some of these allegations that came out2 and I think they were carried in the Anderson column but we3 made file checks and this type of thing. One particular4 activity was supposed to have been carried out in Rockefeller5 Center in New York and is turns out it was taken out of6 context. It was a training mission and -- training exercise.7 These guys were being trained in surveillance in New York8 and they were simply asked to go into a branch of the Manhatta9 -- Chase Manhattan and to come back out and then they were10 supposed to diagram the layout of the bank. And this to some11 of them meant casing the bank when in fact it was just a12 memory exercise.13 Q With what frequency were those kinds of training14 exercises conducted?15 A Well, whenever there was an -- whenever it was felt16 that these people, selected individuals, were to be trained17 in trade craft.18 Q And did their trade craft training include such19 things as surveillance?20 A Sure.21 Q And break-ins?22 A No. Not break-ins. Nor surreptitious entry. As I23 said, in the case of this particular thing, it was misinter-24 preted as casing the bank. These exercises were given -- they25 could have walked into your office, your outer office andSECRETPhotocopy fromGerald Ford LibraryNW 50955 DocId:32204971 Page 107
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 107]
1 said -- the instructor could have said two hours later tell2 me what is in that outer office? What is the layout of it?3 This is just for observation.4 Q You stated earlier none of those allegations have5 been proven. Have any of them been proved to your6 satisfaction?7 A No. I think we disproved them to my satisfaction.8 Q I take it you do not believe they took place other9 than the training exercise?10 A Oh, no. No. I don't believe they did.11 Q Do you know of any instances where members of that12 group have broken in, made any other type of illegal entry13 in this country?14 A No.15 Q Have you ever been present at any discussions of16 the legality or illegality of maintaining stations like the17 Miami Station within this country?18 A Legality? No.19 Q How about the propriety?20 A Well, to my knowledge, that really never came up.21 No one to my knowledge, has ever questioned the legality or22 the propriety of having the Station.23 Q There have been some allegations in the press and24 elsewhere about possible misuse of Cuban exiles, members of25 that community, by the CIA. Are you aware of those?
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 108]
1071 A No.2 Q We received some correspondence and I have seen some articles that suggest that the Cuban community is sort of a resource that is occasionally tapped by the CIA for various operations in this country.6 A You mean this country?7 Q Yes. Picketing was one example. There were also some other examples of unusual activities. Do you have any knowledge of use by the CIA of Cuban nationals or exiles for any type of operation within this country?11 A No.12 Q Do you know whether or not the Agency has provided any financial support for Cuban businessmen in this country?14 A No. Not to my knowledge.15 Q Other than the maintenance of cover?16 A No.17 Q Establishment of businesses?18 A No.19 Q No?20 A No.21 Q In the course of our discussions today we discussed the AMOTS, the AMDUKES, various political front groups, revolutionary front groups. Are there any other emigre, Cuban emigre groups in the Miami area which have been supported by the Agency, either financially or otherwise?
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 109]
1 A Not to my knowledge.2 Ω Are you familiar with the appendix that was attached to Mr. Colby?s statement?4 A Yes.5 Ω Did you have some role in drafting that?6 A You mean the Miami Station thing?7 Ω Appendix J, entitled, "The Miami Station".8 A Yes.9 Ω You wrote it?10 A Yes.11 Ω It has a familiar ring about it. There are references to indigenous organizations, emigre organizations. Are there any others other than the ones we have been discussing?14 A Not to my knowledge. There are, you know, if you want to call it an organization, we did, you know, subsidize the hell out of Juanita Castro.17 Ω Yes, I am familiar with that.18 A You are familiar with all that and that is by the board now, too.20 Ω She was doing --21 A Propaganda.22 Ω -- propaganda broadcasts..23 A Yes.24 Ω Do you have any personal knowledge of what kind of intelligence-gathering activities are conducted in the Miami
[178-10002-10091.pdf — page 110]
1 area now by the Miami Station?2 A There are no domestic activities at all in the3 Miami Station. All Cuban activities have been moved back4 here to Headquarters. The Miami Station now is completely5 and solely involved in the intelligence in the Caribbean.6 Q Does the Miami Station -- I beg your pardon --7 does the Headquarters component that now handles the Cuban8 situation in Miami run any agents in the Cuban community?9 A No. Well, let me explain that to you. We do have10 a career agent who has been with us for a good many years11 in Miami and we do use him to contact relatives of Cubans12 who are still in Cuba. I mean, relatives who are in the U.S.13 who have relatives in Cuba.14 Now, this is done principally with the idea of a15 recruitment target, determine weaknesses or strengths, this16 type of thing. Ile does contact these people all over the17 United States. If we come across an individual that looks like18 he might be recruitable, or perhaps we could even double him,19 we will, after we make our preliminary assessment, and we20 find out where relatives and these types of people are, we21 will ask this career agent or instruct him to go contact22 these people, be it New York, New Jersey, Chicago, or what-23 ever.24 Q So you use Cuban, now citizens or aliens in this25 country, as access agents.
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1 A Right.2 Q Just like foreign associates would do.3 A Exactly.4 Q Are there any more people like Bernard Barker who5 are contract employees of the Agency who still work in the6 Miami-Cuban community?7 A No. None.8 Q That entire apparatus has been --9 A Has been dismantled.10 Q -- dismantled. What is the current size of the11 Miami-Station?12 A I really don't know but it runs between 11 and 14,13 as far as I know. I think it will be 11 by the next fiscal14 year.15 MR. MANFREDI: Off the record.16 (Discussion off the record.)17 MR.MANFREDI: Let's go back on the record.18 BY MR. MANFREDI:19 Q There are presently no Cuban Ops being conducted out20 of Miami?21 A No. All Cuban Ops. are being conducted out of22 Headquarters.23 Q And even from the Headquarters location there are24 no paramilitary operations?25 A No.Photocopy fromGerald Ford Library