kk kt A RD WIS WY EINVAL OL 13-00000 Memorandum _ . \ TO : Mr. DeLoach"S _ So DATE: March 22, \1967 - Mr. DeLoach FROM : A, Rosen Mr. Rosen. Mr, Malley Mr. Shroder | . . RIT » ee The attached sets sorth the results of an an’ interview! f- with Edward P,. Morgan (former Bureau Inspector) on 3/20/67 ae ENE ce ESO, vegan time PIPerARe Scinme « pens Sheets SUBJECT: ASSASSINATION OF. PRESIDENT jj». JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY. _ NOVEMBER 22, 1963 mrs eee DALLAS, TEXAS By way of background, during February,’ 1967, ‘James Je Rowley, U. S. Secret Service, advised that Drew Pearson, . cone O06) tacted Chief Justice Warren concerning information in possessions, of Edward P,. Morgan, The Chief Justice refused to see Morgan;ibs however, it was determined Morgan alleged that. former. Attorney. General Robert F, Kennedy organized a group to go‘to Cuba to kill Castro. All of this group were killed or imprisoned -. except. one person. who escaped,..and subsequently, after. Castro. — uo - -tTearning ofthe plot,’ deéided to utilize the samé procedure too oe ' | KILL. President Kennedy and that he hired Oswald to do the job. 7 This information allegedly came from a client of Morgan's, | . | Secret Service made an. appointment . to talk to- Morgan; however. a he never “showed UP. a Be, . 3: a . _ “On. 3/17/67, Mr. ‘Watson at: the White House | “advised. ‘that: ‘\President Johnson desired the FBI to interview Morgan: concern-— - [ES any. knowledge. he. might . have had concerning. ‘the. -assassination~ jot. President Kennedy. . 7 ’ Morgan was interviewed on . 3/20/67. by ‘Washington Field" Office Agents, © Due’ to attorney-client relationship, Morgan. -_ would not identify ‘the persons who furnished him information - concerning: the assassination, He stated*his clients, while not’. directly involved in the assassination, had. knawledge of. the _ tplot. Morgan alleges his clients were used by a Government ot ]yAgency (obviously Central Intelligence Agency, CIA} to plot © 1 the assassination of Fidel Castro, and that Castro learned of the plot, and.thereafter, dispatched teams of assassins to the U. S. for the purpose of assassinating President Kennedy. He said his clients were aware of the identity of some of these individuals, and he understood that two such individuals were in the State of New Jersey. RECUR wo 7 MEF Lot Dom Li re KMR ides eo . RM.ET Deere 3 LApRploseres- aces on 227 OS? | - A PERS. REC. UNITE AB heath ae i aa omen rr nT oat o quege: ep vem
*-00008 r Memorandum Rosen to DeLoach. RE: ASSASSINAT?ON OF PRES IDENT JFK Morgan also stated that one of the clients he repre- sented was a high type individual of the Catholic faith, When he queried this individual as to why he became involved in such a project as the assassination of Castro, his client indicated the project was so highly patriotically motivated that this overrode personal ethical or moral considerat:. ons. - During 1961, we conducted an investigation of a violation of Unauthorized Publication or Use of Communication. Statute on the part of Arthur James Balletti, arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, by local authorities on.a wire tapping . . charge. Our investigation determined this involved Robert A.. ‘Maheu,* private detective, that coverage was- ‘instituted in behalf of CIA's efforts to obtain Cuban intelligence data through hocdlun- element . _ on . We. checked. with CIA. and learned. CIA. was - utilizing Maheu as an intermediary with Sam Giancana, relative to CIA's “dirty business" anti-Castro activities, On. 5/22/61 we fur- nished the then Attorney General. Kennedy a memorandun containing i rundown of CIA's involvement of this: which involved Maheu, _ To . “ o 4 WT B79762" Kennedy. avail ‘Had issied~orders that cia abate, never undertake... such steps again. without first. checking: with the Department of Justice. eo, ; ‘This information. is briefly ‘net forth ; in the enclosure | as it’ appears to relate to information in Morgan's posSession. ~~] 1Since-CIA furnished information on a°strictly highly confidential “| ~ ‘need-to-know" basis and requested that it be handled on a most restrictive basis, this is being ‘set. forth in the ‘Communications | attached. , mode, Ds . Le ACTION: oo “Attached for approval ‘4s a” letter ‘to. Mrs: ‘Stegall. at. - the White House, the Attorney General, and James J. Rowley, U. S. Secret Service, enclosing a memorandum setting forth the . information. furnished by Morgan, and information received from. CIA. The enclosures to these communications are classified ' Top Secret. ; *former Special Agent
13-00000. oo wa an Tern : TOP SECRET ) a March 21, 1967 ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY : NOVEMBER 22, 1963, DALLAS, TEXAS i . On the evening of March 20, 1967, Attorney Edward Morgan, = «300. Farragut Building, Washington, Da C., furnished the. following ~ oe information. relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He advised that while this covered a wide range or field, ' . probably arose as the result of comments he made during conversations - . ........ in which he-suggested Lee Harvey Oswald was_not the only person |. ae coaaes’ ° 7+, involved in the crime. He stated that he did have information pertaining _ So ' - - tg the assassination which he considered pertinent and relevant.» He ~~ said it was necessary for him, in his capacity of attorney, ‘to invoke the _.. . attorney-client privilege, since the information in his possession. was | '. derived as a result of that relationship. He added that it was. still’ “. possible for his clients to be prosecuted.” He pointed out that he was riot” stating or. implying his clients were either directly or indirectly involved ’ in the death of President Kennedy or could be ‘prosecuted in this regard. | oo .! However, they definitely face possible prosecut tion for a.crime not... ‘related to. the assassination of Kennedy... Due to their participation i in. - this crime,.. his clients learned of information pertaining to the President's. . assassination. ‘Mr, Morgan. said he represented these clients on this” '... specific matter. He-did- not ‘elaborate on. when they. sought, his: legal counsel. _ _, and he indicated he could.not fulfill his responsibility and identify them. . 7 _ ,..- He said he gave considerable thought to finding some way to make. this . '- . information available to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but as yet -: «; had not:come.up with a ‘solution. _He considered a possible waiver. from. _ . his clients but decided against. this because the type of protection they .” ~ needed:was for some competent authority to grant them complete immunity, - ' oe not only from prosecution but from the publicity that would surely follow. ~ Jf in the future it becomes possible to overcome all legal obstacles, he will _ immediately make this information available to the Government and, more — particularly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. - . - TOP SECRET :o GROUP 1 Excluded from automatic Jowngrading and eclassification |...
13-00000 TOP SECRET ASS ASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY) oo He related that when he fir’ t heard the story from his clients he. did not believe it, but conducted enough inquiry to. satisfy himself that his clients had some basis.in fact for their position and he felt they were telling the truth. He pointed out he represented substantial citizens, . . people who “loved their country and had a high regard for the then President, - If their story came out now, they would be damaged: by the resultant’. publicity, and some prosecutor of the same type as District Attorney — ‘Garrison of. New Orleans could conceivably attempt to initiate prosecution against them. At this point he noted that the charge against them might = well be conspiracy to kil, whichis a crime, and in. 1. the case. of his. clients _ aoa the Statute. of Limitations “has not run. In explaining this remark he pointed out that if hey were a. Ta Government investigator assigned to unravel. all facets: of the assassination: | ; _ of President Kennedy, he would first concern himself with reading the . newspaper articles dealing. with the topic. of.a Castro plot... He’said he would: - examine the Castro plot to-determine precisely: what. bearing it had.on, the: . assassination of the President. He indicated the newspaper articles had — _ considerable merit and were. on. the right t track in p regard to, the theory of. «the a assassination, a - Without making ¢ any factual: -i representations, and. continuing: to theorize, he went on to relate that. his clients, whom he again c characterized as” respectable citizens, were called upon by a Governmental. agency to, , - assist in a project which was said to have the highest. Governmental al approval. The project had as its purpose the assassination of ‘Fidel Casi astro, ‘Premier of Cuba, Elaborate plans involving many people were made. a - These plans included the infiltration of the Cubari Government and the ~~ 7 ' placing of informants in key posts within Cuba, The project chnagt eeached oo fruition when Castro became aware of it and arrested a number of suspects. By pressuring captured suspects he was able to learn the full details. of the plot against him and decided "if that was the way President Kennedy _ wanted it, he too could engage in the same tactics." Castro thereafter — employed teams of individuals who were dispatched to the United States for _ the purpose of assassinating President Kennedy. Mr. Morgan further _ 2 .. TOP SECRET
13-00000 TOP SECRET ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY e- explained that his cliente (here noting that he, Morgan, was employed. by more than one of those involved) obtained information concerning -: Castro's dispatch of these assassins from "feed back" furnished by — sources close to Castro. Continuing, he said‘his clients were aware 6f the identity of some of the individuals who came to the United States for this purpose and he understood that two such individuals were now in the State of New Jersey. . Mr. Morgan further noted that one of the clients he. represented . was a high type individual of the Catholic faith. Morgan said he queried — him as to why a person with his high ethical standard had ever become _ involved in such. a project as the assassination of Fidel Castro. The ~~ client indicated that his conscience bothered him; however, the-proj ect "was so highly patriotically motivated that this, in his mind, over- rode personal ethical.or moral considerations.. He further described -. how one client, when hearing the statement that Lee Harvey Oswald was __. -_ the sole assassin of President Kennedy, "laughs with tears ‘in his eyes” a . and. shakes his head in. apparent disagreement. nh i sabia i Mr: Morgan said if he were free of the: attorney-client privilege es to furnish full details, the information that. he would be able to supply - _ would not directly identify the alleged conspirators to kill President © - Kennedy. However, because of the project to kill Fidel Castro, ‘those. . participating in the project whom he represents developed through feed . back information that would identify Fidel Castro's counter-assassins in . this country, who could very well be considered suspects in such a conspiracy. Morgan pointed out that from the information available to - him from his clients he could not declare or conclude that Lee Harvey — -. Oswald could not have committed this assassination alone. Mr. Morgan pointed out that it was inconceivable to him that an agency of the Government which engages in the type of operations which he has described has not come forth to make this most important data available to the Warren Commission. He declined to identify the 3. | TOP SECRET
oe ~ we 7, an * 13-00000 . +} TOP SECRET ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY © name of the agency but indirectly described it as the investigative agency which conducts intelligence-type investigations cutside the United States. : .- In conclusion, Mr. Morgan reiterated that he would immediately.” contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation if he discovered ahy way to reveal the full details of this matter. In connection with the above it may be of interest to note that | ‘during 1961, an investigation was conducted concerning a violation of - the Unauthorized Publication or Use of Communications Statute on the part . of Arthur James~Balletti, who had been arrested by local authorities in Las Vegas, Nevada, on a wire tapping charge. During the course of the»  Balletti investigation it was ascertained that Robert A-“Maheu, a private _ detective, was involved./M Maheu claimed he placed wire taps in behalf a of CIA's” ‘eiforts to obtain intelligence information in Cuba through the © \ {hoodlum element, including Sam*Giancana, Maheu said he was placed in { ; contact with Gighcana in connection with these intelligence activities 7 f {through John n Roselli, a Los Angeles hoodlum. ao | —_— OA representative of the CIA stated he personally contacted 1 Maheu . ae during the Fall of 1960 for the purpose of using Maheu as a "cutout" in _ contacts with Sam Giancana in connection with. “CIA's clandestine efforts 7 (2 against Castro. oo . a Rel nee FE. _ On May 9, 1962, former Attorney General Kennedy advised that”) a few days prior thereto he had been advised by CIA that Robert A. Maheu | _had been hired by CIA to approach Sam Giancana with a proposition of paying $150, 000 to hire some gunmen to go into Cuba and kill Castro. He further | ‘ _ stated CIA admitted having assisted Maheu in making the "bugging" installa-. - tion in Las Vegas (referred to above) which uncovered this clandestine | operation and for this reason CIA could not afford to have any action taken against Giancana or Maheu. Mr. Kennedy stated that upon learning CIA had _ not cleared its action in hiring Maheu and Giancana with the Department of Justice he issued orders that CIA should never again take such steps without first checking with the Department of Justice. i TOP SECRET