' DeLoren to Mohr 12-12-63 ; ge® Assassinalion of the President . [told Ford in strict confidence that the Director concurred with his =. viewpoint. I mentioned that our investigation thus far had conclusively shown that OOF ,Oswald operated by himself and that Ruby additionally was a loner, However, FBI ~™ investigation was stitl pending on a large number of rumors, speculation and gossip 4 ‘and it, therefore. -vould he quite unfair for the Commission to take a stand prior to pu the evidence being turned in. Ford siated this was his point entirely and that although he was a minority of one he intended to slick to hs point.‘ Ford told me that John McCone, Director of CIA, had, approximately one week ago, gone up to his office and told him that CLA had uncovered some : au “startling information" in the Oswald case, McCone proceeded to tell Ford that a yi source of CL\'s in Mexico had seen money exchance hands between Oswald and an “unknown Cuban Nevro, Ford stated this excited him greaily inasmuch as it definitely y. cended to show there was an international connection involved in the assassination cf 4: the President. le ewe Urey Gearnnlarya : aa (i I told Ford that apparently McCohe had failed to follow up on this matter, | mentioned that CIA's source had recanted his story and had indicated thatitayas a, iguent of his jiyition, However, tO prove ihe unstable tendencies of this source, ie HIG souree had later claimed that he was actually telling the truth, I pointed out that we, 4 © Fe stil Cinckiny Sume ansTés ol tas; however, tac CLA Source was obviously eilher {. unsi7“e or somewhat of a psyChcpathic liar., Ford stated he could_certainly see this. Ford indicated he would keep me thorouchly advised as tb the activities of ae Commission. He stated this would have to be on a confidential basis, however, he : Hought it should be done. He also asked if he could call me from time to time and nn -w traighten out questions in his mind ccncerning our investigation. I told him by all . aie ; aeans he should do this. He reiterated ihat our relationship would, of course, remain -onfidential, . = serena Ae ot ee comer, We have had excellent relations with Congressman Ford for many years, aa ‘e has been given an autographed copy of the Director's book "A Study of Communism" t:nd has been in touch with my office on numerpus occasions in the past, x Sv ies Vs ‘Cd Contact will be maintained with Congressman Ford, Qik d- we ne yk i : apy ota { CTION: . 2 \% rs rs | RP ORM fae AEF TEE GET VE ORE ah WATT EEL. COME G ~- HW 50955 DocId:32423630 Page 368
ce a Gt 8 AG oa Jw eon ves PUNETED STATES GOVERNMENT ee TON ‘ ; CUE PU ee ee nee ee | ~ . - Ae a dap pay oo. : Cotlebot ae ' Memorandum 7 (Ee . : ; to . . ’ Ls ‘Loawh Me . 1 . + . : ans . — t la i MO ye. ° ‘ ; TO, Mr. Molir DATE: | December 12, 1969 ak 7 = on ao O a — SA » Trotter v . . =~, ; « y \ . Tele. Hoon eee “ \ : ae . i. ao ! eC) Ua FROM Cc. D. DeLoach a Ceo ss ee G coli (2 Gah ene “eee . — me ne ee ee _ psd Bat pe 4 SUBJECT: ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT °y aes (om * I hada long talk this morning with Congressman Gerald 2. (Gerry) Ford (2. - Michigan) in his office, He asked that I come up to sce him. Upon arriving he _— told me he wanted to talk in the strictest of confidence. This was agreed to. — oy Cf . . a oe £G-". Ford tolid me he was somewhat disturbed about the manner in which no Chicf Juslic@ W/arren was carrying on nis Chairmanship of the Presidential Commission. He explained that the tins mistake that Warren made was his ailempt to establish a- "one man commission by appointing a Chief Counsel, Warreit Olney, that was his own. protece. Ford stated that after the mention of Olney's name by the Chief Justice, at ~~ their first meeting, Allen Qulles, former Director of CIA, protested quite violently. =. Because of Dulles’ protest, the other members told Warren that they would like to know . | ore about Olney prior to giving their consent. . oS Ne = On the occasion of their second meeting, Ford and Hale Sores joined aN wA™ pulles. Hale Boggs told Warren flatly that Clney would not be acceptable and that ~. he (Poges) weuld not work on the Commission with Olney. Warren put up a still argument wvut a compromise was.inade when the name of hee Rankin was mentioned. Warren siated he knew Rankin and could work with hime oe jf wae the Mir che che ic a oe Ford told me that he was currently having problems inasmuch as the cial majority of the members of the Commission desired to zo along with the recommendatio made in Deputy Attorney General atzenbach's Leiter to the Commission dated 12-9-63, In this Ictter, Katzenbach recommended that the Commission make an immediate | press release pointing out that the FBI report clearly showed there was no internationa : conspiracy or collusion and that Oswald was a loner. Ford stated he was a minority of None that did not want to give out any press release until the Commission had had a . i thorough opportunity to review and discuss the FLI report. (I noted that the report wasy ‘on his desk at the time of our mecting. ) i - Mr. Belmont . Np h 3 aw 7 Wy ler ter. at 8 | 1-Mr. Rosen &L. ~ q atsher sjisse “A SE | in rf. Lis # a . . 4 ir re vest CURE TN Oe A rpms TP? : l-Mr. Evans _. ment i8 prepared i Tea? ec} to yer ve fo official races ss tS His Toe it be dischayed to unauthorized pel 1- Mr. Sullivan qalgité vOUY COM ot ay fl ppr, . iT gilt the express OPP 7 , bey se doi. BO te , (- J. (OCP O “i A me = CPR:SA) i auto 4 fb SS _ - Oe \ ae ae r . “ 3 . ‘ eran eT enc a 4 aa ~ 4 . ? \ c Qn rt on DECOY yu5 ¥ t iY OJAN 5 958 DEC Ah | 22 DRC E1909 f i . ey HW 50955 Docld: 32423630 base 369 . ; : ae
4 | DeLwach to Mohr 12-12-63 q: Re Assassination of the President aaa . I told Ford in strict confidence that the Director concurred with his : viewpoint. I mentioned that our investigation thus far had conclusively shown that she .Oswald operated by himself and that Ruby additionally was a loner. However, FBI investigation was still pending on a large number of rumors, speculation and gossip | ‘and it, therefore. vould be quite unfair for the Commission to take a stand prior to juli the evidence being turned in. Ford stated this wags his point entirely and that although he was a minority of one he intended to stick to his point. Ford told me that John McCone, Director of CIA, had, approximately one week ago, gone up to his office and told him that CLA had uncovered some a "startling information'|in the Oswald case. McCone proceeded to tell Ford thata source of CL\'s in Mexico had seen money exchange hands between Oswald and an inknown Cuban Neer, | Ford stated this excited him greaily inasmuch as it definitely “ended to show there was an international connection involved in the assassination <{ q che President. <\ iat pV bee Bearers . oY Ceres NO I told Ford that apparently McCone had failed to follow up on this matter, { mentioned that CIA's source had recanted his story and had indicated thatitaas a, igment of his jineTanuion, However, to prove the unstable tendencies of this sou ree, r ne source had later claimed that he was actually telling the truth. I pointed out that we_ _ eke Sua Chee ne Soule angles CLUWey however, the CIA Source was obviously eilher 1: insi7%e or somewhat of a psyChcpathic liar,, Tord stated he could_certainly see this. Ford indicated he would keep me thorouchly advised as tb the activities of ‘ae Commission. He stated this would have to be on a confidential basis, however, he nought it should be done. He also asked if he could call me from time to time and u g traighten out questions}in his mind cencerning our investigation. I told him by all 'eans he should do this, He reiterated that our relationship would, of course, remain :onfidential. ; We have had excellent relations with Congressman Ford for many years. ‘te has been given an autographed copy of the Director's book "A Study of Communism" _ wad has been in touch with my office on numcrous occasions in the past. SS * SY, gen ‘> ; o : a Foe, Contact will be maintained with Congressman Ford, Qicé ee ahs ++ Sa ate Auer meee oe os e =. te m: ay are ae a ge 2 fe P an .. T - - ~ 1 ame ree = ¥ amen g Bee cab — eter eaten nnn rere PT TO Rik AF NE A ECD WN, PT EL” eA 4. :~ r] : ®S 4 eo HW 50955 Docld:32423630 Page 370
i. 4 « ? * ya pean VRS a Kennedy and th Copspizacy theories are fashionable, sometimes even fruitful, as in the case of Watergate. So it is not surprising that recent revelations of the Senate In- telligence Committee have resurrected an old question: what connection, ifany, did the Castro government have with the assassination of John F. Kennedy? Current speculation is that the Cuban dictator, having leamed of CIA plots against his life, decided to strike back, returning violence for violence, with consequences that are now history. In- deed, the recent report of the Schweiker- Hart task force, while finding no hard evidence to support this theory, did un- cover some interesting new leads. More _ than that, it established that a CIA-FBI “cover-up” had deprived the Warren commission of vital information that pre- vented it from-seriously exploring the possibility of Castro’s involvement and that consequentry~ there is no longer any reason to have faith in its picture of the | Kennedy assassination.” And so we may well have a reopening of the inyestigation. At last. Given all this, it seems appropriate to examine the record of the period. A small but interesting body of published testi- mony and reminiscences describes and amply documents a little-known cam- paign of accommodation launched by Washington and Havana in the weeks preceding that fateful day in November 1963, Actually, the origins of this tenta- tive and ultimately ill-fated rapproche- incnt may be traced to the previous spring. when. Castro, increasingly de- pendent on his Soviet sponsors, found himself obliged to embrace the banner of “peaceful coexistence” in order to obtain economic and military agreements need- | cd to assure the continued development of his revolution. In practical terms, this meant the normalization. of relations with the United States. ‘A MESSAGE FOR CASTRO it was not until September 1963, how- ever, that this campaign began to show | results. Atthat time, William Attwood, an adviser to the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, told his superiors he had word that Castro wanted an accommoda- tion. John Kennedy got the message and approved a “discreet contact” with the Cuban U.N. representative, Carlos Le- chuga. Subsequently, communications were established and meetings held September 6, 1976 | NW 0955 Docld:32423630 Page 371 ir { | to discuss the prospect of negotiations. By éarly November, Kennedy had de- cided 'to push toward an opening with Cuba in hopes of taking Castro out of the Soviet fold and erasing the memory of the Bay of Pigs. The Americans sought a meeting to draw up an agenda for later discussions. On Nov. 18, this message was transmitted to Havana. Shortly thereafter, Lechuga was instructed to set forth such a plan for U.S. consideration. Even as these developments were un- folding, a second dialogue was taking place through an unofficial envoy—the French journalist Jean Daniel. On Oct. 24, Kennedy had received Daniel in the White House. The President, it seems, had learned of the Frenchman's forth- coming visit to Cuba and had decided to seize the occasion to send Castro a mes- sage. The essence of this communication _was a strong hint that the United States would be willing to normalize relations providing certain conditions were met. - What were those conditions? One, clear- ly, was an end to Castroite subversion. The U.S. had a special responsibility to contain Communist expansionism. As long as Havana continued to export revo- lution, the economic “blockade” of the island: would remain in effect. ACCOMMODATIONS Beyond this, not much was definite. The American negotiating position had not yet been worked out. Even so, hints of possible Cuban participation in the Alliance for Progress and of the desire of the United States to see a decline in Soviet influence on the island suggested further avenues for discussion. Bearing this message and an invitation to revisit the White House upon his re- tum, Daniel set off for Cuba. There he found a remarkably receptive Fidel Cas- tro. Indeed, during the course of a six- hour interview the lider mdximo found occasion to praise the American Presi- dent for his sincerity, realism and “good ideas”: Kennedy might yet understand that there could be “coexistence be- tween capitalists and socialists, even in the Americas.” Castro was convinced that normal relations could be restored “on the basis of mutual respect for sover- eignty.” His country needed peace in order to corcentrate on the socio-eco- nomic tasks of the revolution. The issue of subversion would not be an obstacle. Cubans would naturally “feel solidarity” Donald E: Schulz e Cuban Connection with their revolu- tionary brethren in other lands. But ul- timately, each na- tion would have ta determine its own destiny, and “if they choose regimes oth- er than ours, this is not our business.” This was two days prior to President Kennedy’s death. I, mention these developments be- cause they provide an important—and perhaps crucial—frame of reference for Congressional investigators and the pub- lic alike: They are not, of course, proof of innocence. But they are suggestive: would Castro have been so intent on coming to terms with a man he was conspiring to kill? One may seriously doubt it. In point of fact, the assassina- tion would bring a quick end to Washing- ton’s interest in accommodation. POSSIBLE SCENARIOS Still, this is not to rule out the possibil- ity of a “Cuban connection.” Govern- -ments often behave in inconsistent and self-defeating ways. Indeed, even as the Kennedy Administration was taking these first covert steps toward rap- prochement, the CIA was engaged in an attempt on Castro's life. If, due toalack |. of political control and a prevailing at- mosphere of cold-war hostility, U.S agents could be conducting such activi- ties in direct conflict with Presidential policy, it is not difficult to imagine simi- lar distortions on the Cuban side. Only a few weeks earlier, Castro had publicly denounced U.S.-sponsored assassina- tions and even threatened retaliation. Might not some overzealous security of- ficials have taken this for tacit authority to set up a “program of elimination”? But all this remains speculation. It is. - possible to envision any number of sce- narios that might have led to. the fatal events of Nov. 22. In lieu of hard evi- dence, however, it seems only fair to give Castro the same benefit of the doubt that Kennedy has been accorded—namely, that he be considered innocent until proved guilty. It is hoped that the inves- tigations to come will proceed on the basis of that assumption. Schulz, a Ph.D. candidate in political. science at Ohio State University, t@ writ- ing a book on the Cuban revolution. 9
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PART. TWO: JIM. BRADEN One of the most incredible bodies of recent information concerning the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy is largely based on the investigative research done by Peter Noyes, a former CBS Producer and top inves- —- tigative reporter. - Last year, Noyes published a. book, Leqacv of Doubt, which summed up many of his findings, and which generally outlines what Noyes believes was heavy Mafia involvement in the assasSination. The Noyes book is almost entirely factual and is largely based on substantiated information such as police records provided by the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Attorney General's Office, and Texas police officials. Though the Noves book (like most recent assassination books) cid not sell well or receive much press attention, it has been regarded as a valuable contribution by most of author Noyes' fellow Warren Commission critics. It can definitely be said that almost all of Noyes" findings, particularly with respect to his main character Jim Braden, have been factually substantiated and are solidly established by official police records. . Basically the Noyes book outlines the background of a mysterious man who was picked uv by the police at the scene of President Kennedy's assassination just minutes after the shooting. The man was apprehended by a Dallas policeman who A thought he was behaving suspiciously. The man, who identified himself under the false name of Jim Braden, was released shortly thereafter following brief questioning by the Dallas Sheriff's Office. Author Noves uncovered the story of Jim Braden and his true identity during five years of investigative research. And it is Jim Braden! s true identity and his ironic misfortune of being picked up at the scene of the assasSination for "looking suspicious" that the Warren Commission critics now believe ranks with James MeCord’ gs mistake of leaving masking tape on the doors during the Watergate break- -in as the ultimate. “fatal slip-ups in the two conspiracies. HW 50955 Docld:32473630 Page 376
HY 0955 For Jim Braden, whose true identity is Eugene Hale Brading, is a man with singularly awesome direct ties to the highest levels of the Mafia. Of all the Mafia figures connected to the syndicate's crucial security and enforcement activities of coercion, maiming, intra-syndicate assassination and outside murder contracting, Jim Braden appears to be an indispensable link - or leader - of organized crime's | far flung network of “controlled violence" specialists and professional hit men. Braden's involvement with the Mafia's hiqhest echelon "enforcers" has spanned the continent from coast to coast and covers virtually every national crime syndicate juris- diction. According to federal authorities working with the Justice Department's organized crime strike force units, and according to other high government sources cited by author Noyes, Jim Braden is now serving as personal courier for Meyer Lansky. The importance of this mysterious man who was picked up under a false name across the street from the Texas Book Depository just moments after the shots were fired on November 22, 1963 cannot be overemphasized. Though there were several innocent witnesses or bystanders in the area of the assassination who were also arrested or brought in for questioning by the Dallas police, all of whom were shortly released like Jim Braden, his presence there at that precise moment does in fact raise an incredible specter, and may indeed have been the monumental slip-up that critics of the Warren Commission now attest to. Bocld: 3274273630 Page 37?
HY 0955 Jim Braden's Arrest On November ?? enna ae orn at ate ITY FE OVEMDCE 4a Deputy C.L. Lewis was one of the first Dallas police officers on the scene at the Texas School Book Depository following the assassination. vithin just minutes after the deadly shots were fired, Deputy Lewis confronted a man across the street. from the Book Depository, a man whom Lewis thought was "acting suspiciously." ‘Deputy Lewis questioned the man for several minutes before taking him to the Sheriff's office for further interrogation. The man identified himself as Jim Braden, and said that he was in the 011 business in Beverly Hills, California. Deputy Lewis became even more suspicious over the way the man first tried to identify himself. Instead of nroducing his driver's license, the common means of identification, the man pulled out a gasoline credit card instead, The man who identified himself as Jim Braden strongly protested when Deputy Lewis told him that he would have to take him in for further interrogation. At the Sheriff's office, Jim Braden agreed to make a voluntary statement. Braden, then 48, told the police that he was in Dallas on oil business and had been there for two days. He said he was staying at the Cabana Motel, s short distance away from the scene of the assassination. Braden said’ he had been walking down the street by the Texas Book Depository at the time of the assassination and had been looking for a taxi cab. Jim Braden further stated that he was confronted by Deputy — Lewis inside a building across the street from the Depository during an attempt to make a telephone call following the shooting. Braden was shortly thereafter released by the Dallas Sheriff's ° office. Braden was not fingerprinted, nor was any check made of possible criminal records relating to him. © Tivo months later, in late January cf 1964, Jim Braden was interviewed hy two FBI agents at his office in Beverly Hills. The Warren Commission's investigation was then in full swing and witnesses to the assassination were being questioned by the PRI and other authorities, In his FBI interview, Braden qave the same account as he had given to the Dallas police on the dav of the assassination. The FBI's official report on Braden's interrogation further stated that, "Braden has no information concerning the assassination and both Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby are unknown to him." BDocld: 324293630 Page 376
: Jim Braden'’'s Truc Identity In early 1969, Peter Noves, the investigative reporter. whose book covers much of the information regarding Jim raden, began investigating the mysterious California “oil man." i Moyes originally received a tip about Braden from a former FBI agent who was then aiding District Attorney Jim Garrison's investigation of the Kennedy assassination. The FBI man told Noves of Braden's presence at the scene of the assasSination at the time of the shooting. Noyes soon found that Jim Braden was no longer at either of the addresses that he had given the Dallas police, and had left no forwarding addresses, Noves then had the California Department of Motor Vehicles run a check on the license number that Braden had given to the Dallas police at the Sheriff's office following the assassination. Hotor Vehicles told Moves that Braden's license (#751755) had been reneved by Braden in San Diego county in November of 1966. Braden has also listed new business and home addresses, which interestingly were over a hundred miles apart. The Depart tment of Motor Vehicles' records on Jim Braden also showed that "Jim Braden" was not really his original name. The license had actually been issued in the 1950's to Eugene talc Drading, which is Braden'ts true identity. On September 10, 1963, sust ten weeks before the assassination, nugene Hale- Brading had notified the Department that he had legally changed his name to Jim Braden, and he requested a new license under that name. The license was granted. Intrigued by the fact that Jim Graden was really a false icentity assumed by Eugene Brading, investigator Noves contacted. the Intelligence Division of. the California: Attorney Genoral'ts Office, and had a check run on the mysterious Brading. oves was told that Eugene Hale Brading “is a real bad guy. e's. got a long rap sheet and apparantly has Mafia connections." Boyes shortly thereafter obtained a copy of Eugene Brading's (Jim Braden's) police records. W i HY 50955 DBocld:32423630 Page 379
ui e | the Brading "rap sheet" contained an ineredible 35 seperate entries covering virtually every phase of criminal activity, including mail fraud, embezzlement, onerating a gambling house in Niami, car theft, shop lifting, receiving stolen vroperty, and selling wartime gas ration coupons on the black market. lost of these arrests had been made under the namo of Sugene Hale Brading, but the police dossier on him also showed a handful of other aliases, including Harry Eugene _ Bradley, Gone Brady, James Lee Cole, James Bradley Lee, and inevitably, Jim Braden. "Jim Braden" was the last entry shown on Brading's records. Incredibly, investigator Noyes found that due to the fact that the Dallas rolice had not fingerprinted Jim Braden or run.a make on him, his truc identity of “Sugene Brading was never discovered by the PBI or the Varren Commission at the time of their investiqation of the assassination. The Warren Commission had only routinely included Braden's short state- -ment about being in Dallas on "oil business" in a volice exhibit on witnesses contained.in Warren Commission Hearing's Volume NIX, Jim Braden and his story had been accepted at face value. HW 350955 DBocld:32423630 Page 360
HW 50955 Jim Braden (Eucrene Brading) And.The Mafia Investigator Moves began a thorough investigation of Braden based upon all available police records and documents. , What soon clearly emerged was a long record of involvement by Braden (Bradindg) with many of the most notorious Mafia leaders in the nation, a record of close association with key figures in the national crime syndicate. Following a string of arrests in the 1940's, ‘dating all the wav back to his young adulthood, Eugene Brading had moved to El Paso, Texas, in 1950. - BRADING AND PEREIRA) In El Paso, Brading became closely associated with Victor Pereira, a man who was a close aSsociate and confidante of several Mafia members. Brading and Pereira became involved in a number of schemes involving marriage to and embezzlement of wealthy widows. In 1951, Brading and his close friend Percira were arrested by the FBI in New York on a fugitive warrant issued in Texas, The two men were charged with embezzling over $50,000 from a wealthy widow whom Percira had marricd shortly before flecing with her money. Brading and Pereira were soon con-= victed of the charges and were each sentenced to 12 years in prison. : However, Brading and Pereira were out free during the three years of their appeals, and Brading was later paroled in 1959 after having served just five years of his sentence, (BRADING AND THE SMALDOUES) Durina the three vears of freedom under their appeals of the convictions, Brading and Pereira left Texas (following still another fleecing of another wealthy widow) and moved to Denver, Colorado. . In Denver, Brading became very closely associated with two leading HNafia bosses in the Rocky Mountain area, Clyde and Gene Smaldone. . a Docld: 32423630 Page 381
~J é the Snmnaldone brothers, who were also known as “Checkers and Fliov Flon," were. the Mafia leaders in charge of the syndicate's vending-machine market which stretched from the Rockies all the way to Chicago. Police records show that at one time, the Smaldones virtually controlled the entire Pueblo area of Colorado. The Smaldone brothers were notorious for the brutal brand of violence they practiced in their operations. Brading (Draden) became involved in manv transactions with the Smaldones and became a close personal friend. Several years later, after Brading finally went to jail for the embezzlement of the Texas widow, the Smaldone brothers reqularly wrote to him in prison, seeking his advice on various financial matters. (BRADING AND CLARK AMD BAUMAIT) Brading and his friend Pereira later moved to Beverly Hills in California. Shortly thereafter, Brading inevitably came under investiaation by the Los Angeles Police Department . Intelligence Division's Mafia specialists. In particular, the LAPD interest in Brading was focused on his close association in Beverly Hills with two "oil specu- lators" from !iami, Arthur Clark and Roger Bauman. Clark and. Bauman were notorious Mafia figures with long police records. Brading's friend Clark had been one of the ton leaders of the famous Purple Gang of the Mafia, which had overated out of Detroit and Youngstown. The Los Anceles police had nilaced Clark and Bauman under tight surveillance and had compiled extensive information on their friendship with Bradina. , In 1956, the Chief of Intelligence of the LAPD, Captain James Hamilton, sent a letter to the Crime Commission of Greater Miami seeking information about Clark, Bauman, and Brading. Captain Hamilton, who was known as one of the foremost experts on the Mafia in the nation, asked the Niami Commission (which was conducting extensive investigations of the Mafia) to inform him as to the involvement of several associates of Clark and Bauman. , Among those named was tugene Brading. HY 50955 Docld:32423630 Page 382
BW 50955 &,. Captain Hamilton's let ter stated: "This Denpartmenti has under investigation Arthur Lewis Clark, Sr., FBI 3709258, and a Roger Bauman. These men are representing thenselves as officials of the Sunbean O51 Company, 212 Roosevelt Theater Building, Miami Beach, and both are spending money very lavishly." "Clark has been arrested several times and has been > associated with many confidence men and hoodlums such s James Fratianno, Victor Poreira,, Zuqene Brading, Clarence Rhodes, tephen Sambor and the Siraldone brothers of Denver." As investigator Peter loves points out, the men listed with Brading in the letter, represent a virtual "Who's Who" of organized crime leaders between California and the Midwest. (BRADING AUD FRATIANNO) Of these ton Iiafia men listed with Brading (Braden) perhans the most important one is James Fratianno, also widely known as “Jimmie The Weasel." Fratianno was known as perhaps the “Mafia's highest ranking executioner in the nation. In 1959, in his testinony perore the Rackets Committee of the California legislature, Captain Hamilton, the Chief of LAPD Intelligence, stated that, "Ve have. lond considered Fratianno to be the executioner for the Mafia on the West Coast.” Captain Hamilton told the Rackets Committee that his Intelligence Division had linked Jimmie Fratianno to at least sixteen Mafia executi ons. , Fratianno had once been arrested for the attempted assassination of Los Angeles Mafia head Mickey Cohen in 1949, Cohen had survived the bloody shooting which took the life, of one of his lieutenants, Fratianno. was later released due to insuf- ficient evidence. FPratianno used the alibi that he had been at the home of Mafia associate Nick Licata the night of the shooting. Licata -later became the new head of the Los Angeles Mafia, and, perhaps siqnificantly, was later given control of the Mafia in Dallas, Texas. Docld:324273630 Page 363
Jimmie Fratianno was also susnected of complicity in the murders. of two men in 1951. Two men who made the .mistake of robbing the Mafia's Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas were found dead'in a parked car following the robbery. Both of their skulls had been shattered bv bullets fired behind the ear, apparantiv in true Nafia fashion. Fratianno-had also been linked to the famous murder of Uarry "“Hooky" Rothman, who had been another close associate of Mickey Cohen, the Los Angeles Nafia head, Also, Fratianno was also linked to the disappearance of another top member of the Nickey Cohen gang, Frank Wiccoli. Niccoli had mysteriously vanished following a late dinner at Fratianno's home one night. Fratianno was also linked to the brutal murder of a business- man in northern California in 1952, Thomas Keen, a wealthy gambler, had apparantly welched on a $80,000 gambling debt that he owed the Mafia, and was blown to bits from a dynamite charge hidden under the hood of his car. Pratianno later served a six year prison term (1954-+1960) for extortion. In later years Pratianno hecame the central fiaqure involved in LOOK magazine's "expose" of San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto's alleged Mafia connections. LOOK alleged that Fratianno had become a close friend of Mayor Alito and that the Mayor had arranged for Fratianno to receive loans of over $105,000 from a bank where Alioto served as Chairman of the. Board. Alioto admitted that Fratianno was a "casual acquaintance" of his, but denicd that’ he had used anv influence in the loans. The Mayor also said that he had not known that the notorious Fratianno was a member of the Nafia. BRADING AND MELTZER) om, “hile in Los Angeles, Brading (Jim Braden) also became connected with ton Mafia leader Narold "“lianny" Heltzer, The LAPD Intelligence Division had originally become aware of Brading's close relationship with Meltzer when Brading's name was found on Neltzer's Christmas card list. Meltzer was widely known as one of the most powerful Nafia leaders in the entire nation. ; The U.S. Senate Rackets Committee identified Brading's friend Neltzer as a ton Mafia boss in the areas of union racketeering and narcotics. WW 50355 DBocld:32423630 . Page 384
HY 50955 19. 5 A revort of the Senate Rackets Committee from 1964 states: "Meltzer now is reported to operate a large bookmaking and prostitution syndicate in California. A major figure in the organized underworld, he is known to all.the important narcotics traffickers throughout the United States. He has also overated in Oklahoma, Tenas, Baltimore, Hiami, Las Vegas, Boston, and various areas of Canada, Cuba, Hong Kong, Japan, Hawaii, and the Philippines." (BRADIUG ALD TEE SICAS) In Los Anceles, Bradinq also became closely associated with vet another top Nafia operation. Brading becane a close friend and associate of the notorious Sica brothers - Joe, Preddie, and George. The Sica brothers were particularly brutal syndicate members specializing in narcotics. In 1950, the U.S. Attorney in Los angeles accused Brading's friends, Joe and Freddie Sica, of heading the single largest narcotics ring in the United States. The Sica brothers were shortly thereafter brougnt to trial. On the night before the trial onened, the government's star witness, an informant named Abe Davidian, was mysteriously shot to death in his mother's home in Fresno. The murder was never solved and the Sica brothers were soon released for lack of evidence. Boclda: 324293630 Page 365
AW 0955 Parole in Los Anaeles to make a trip to ll. Jim Braden: Possible Link To Jack Buby ‘The same inadequate investigative work which led the Warren Commission to largely overlook Jack Ruby's solid Mafia involvement, appears also to have been responsible for the failure to uncover Jim Braden's true identity of Eugene Brading during the official investigation into the Kennedy assassination. , As shown in the previous account of Jack Ruby's very substantial ties to the Mafia, Ruby was particularly involved in the syndicate areas of gambling and narcotics. But bevond the multiplicity. of evidence which indicates that Jack Ruby and Jim Braden were both important Nafia figures operating in the same general areas, at the same general times, there is another sinale niece of evidence -which places both Ruby and Braden at the same place on the > day before the assassination. Evidence indicates that both Jim Braden and Jack Ruby visited the Dallas offices of the H.L. Hunt O11 Company on the afternoon of Uovember 21, 1963, just twenty four hours before the President was murdered. Obviously any Link which places both Braden and Ruby in the same place at the same time on the day before the assassination does of course raise further significant questions about a possible relationship between the two men. Jim RPraden received vermission from the U.S. Board of Dallas, Texas on a Braden was reauired to report all of his Parole Board following his parole .in.1959 zlement conviction. | iS) L November 12, 1963, four days before the assas ravels to his for the enbez- On November 21, 1963, the day before the assassination, Jin Braden checked in with the U.S. Parole Office in Dallas. Aecordina to Roger Carroll, the Chief Parole Officer in Dallas, Draden (Brading) “advised that ne planned to sce Lamar Hunt and other oil speculators while here." Lamar Ilunt is the son of H.L. Hunt, the famous right-wing oil billionaire. Docld: 32423630 Page 366
HW 50955 cei 12. Paul Rotherme], a former FBI agent who was Director of Security for the Hunt Oil Company in Dallas at that. time, has’ recalled that he distinctly remembers Braden visiting the Hunt offices on November 21 in the company of three other men. Rothernel has stated that the office log for Movember 21 showed that Roger Bauman (Bradinag's old Mafia friend) and Horqan Brown and Duane Nowlin “and friend" visited the Wunt office on that afternoon. Rothermel states that Braden was definitely the "friend." (Security chief Paul Rothermel was lator fired by U.L. Hunt's sons after reports allegedly surfaced that Rothermel was "suspicious" of a possible Hunt connection to the assassin- ation. Following his termination by the Tiunts, Rothermel found that he was being illegallv wiretanped. Rothermel filed suit acainst Lamar Hunt and another one of H.L. Hunt's sons, charging them with the wiretapning, and asking for several million dollars in damages. The suit, which has produced very damaging cvidence against the Hunt. brothers, is still in the courts.) ‘Also on November 21, the day before the assassination, according to a conclusion of the Warren Commission, Jack Ruby was also on his way to the H.L. Munt offices in Dallas. The Garren Commission concluded that Jack Ruby drove a woman friend of his to the lMunt offices sometime that same after- noon. The woman, who had declined work in Ruby's nightclub as a stripper, drove with Ruby to the Hunt offices, apparantly in search of employment. This does coincide with Braden's visit to the same offices on that same afternoon. he Narren Commission investigated several other possible. ints of Jack Ruby to the Hunts, includiagq the still nexvlained fact that Lamar Hunt's name was found inside one of Ruby's notebooks. But of these possible links, the Warren Commission concluded only that evidence did indicate that Ruly had driven to the Hunt offices on November 21. Thus a possible Nuby-Braden connection on the day before the President's assassination does indeed arise. © Docla: 32423630 Page 367
13. Jim Braden: Possible Link Yo David Ferrie: Investigator Peter Noyes has turned up several pieces. of information which indicate a possible connection between Jim Braden and the mysterious David Ferris. David Porrie was the homosexual airline pilot and vrivate investiqator whom Jim Garrison accused of participating in the plot to assassinate President Kennedy. Six days after District Attorney Garrison's charges were made public, David Ferrie was found dead in his apartment in sew Orleans. His mysterious death was finally ruled to have been a suicide. David Ferrie has been a taract of investication hy critics of the Narren Comnission ever since the assassination. In fact the FBI and Secret Service both invest a 2 ieaated a possible Perrie role immediately after the assassination, It was widely rumored in New Orleans and Dallas that Ferrie was to have flown the alleged assassins out of the country following the assassination. The Varren Commission decided not to include the official Secret Service and PBI reports on Ferrie in the © 26 Volumos of Hearings which were released after the Narren Foport was issued. Nowever, the Justice Department did finally releaso those renorts to the National Archives in 1967 following Garrison's vublic accusations, Author Noyes has since established that both Jim Braden and Davod Ferrie worked out of theyfloor of offices in 2 building in New Orleans in the month.or two immediately preceding the assassination. This is particularly significant due to the fact that at that time the mvsterious David Ferrie was emploved as a private investicator by Carlos Marcello, the top fiafia kingpin. ft is widely believed by most federal authoritics that Carlos Marcello ranks with his close friend Meyer Lansky as one of the two single most powerful leaders of the tiafiats national and internationesl crime syndicate, Carlos Marcello heads the Mafia empire centered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and controls most of the Mafia activity in the southern part of the United otates. ; , In September and Octoher of 1963, just weeks before the assassination, David Ferrie was working out of the offices of Carlos Narcello's criminal attorney, G. Wrav Gill. Ferrie, who was doing investigative work on a nerjury charce that his boss Narcello was then facing, worked out of Room 1707 in the bore liarquette Building in New Orleans. At this same time, in September.and October of 1963, Jim Braden was operating out of Room 170] in the Pere Marquette Building. HY 50955 Docld: 32423630 Page 386
Braden was then commuting hetween Mew Orleans ane Beverly Hills, with the approval of his Parole Board. Braden was working as a representative of his Mafia friend Roger Bauman, the oil speculator. Braden worked out of Room 1701, which was tho office of his associate, Victor tain, Jr., an oil geologist. This was just a short way down the hall from David Ferrie. in Room 1707. Interestingly, tn one visit to his Parole Office, Braden "mistakenly" told his Parole Officer that he. vas working out of Room. J70G = which would have heen the room next os door to Ferric - instead of Room 1701. , Thus a possible Braden-Ferrie connection in the weeks just before the assassination does indeed arise in addition to the rossible Braden=Ruby connection. Both connections definitely do seem to fall outside of or beyond the area “which coule reasonably be attributed to coincidence, cnance, or circumstance. ’ Pevond several sets of information which tend to indicate that David Ferric had some contact with Lee Oswald at ‘Various times; the critics of the Varren Commission have particularly focused on Ferrie's ties to Carlos Marcello and the Marcello Mafia empire. In fact, in his interviews with the FBI and Secret Service after the assassination, Ferrie claimed that he was with Marcello at the verv time of the assassination. Ferrie stated that he was in court with Marcello on the afternoon of November 22, which does anpear to be truce. Carlos Marcello, along with Heyer Lansky, had become the central targets of the Justice Denartment's Organized © Crime Division in the early 1960's, under. the vigorous — .direction of Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Karcello, known es "The Little Man," became one of Attorney General Kannedv's most fierce enemies during that period. Marcello once claimed that he had been kidnapped under orders ‘of Robert Kennedy and the Justice Department. Ha’ Reid, author of Tho Greonfelt Jungle and widely recognized. as one of the most respected experts on the Nafia in the nation, has written that Carlos Marcello once threatened to have President Kennedy and his brother murdered. Reid has written that he was told of Marcello's threat by an informant who attended a secret meeting with Marcello in New Orleans in September of 1962. - HW 50955 DoclTd:32423630 Page 369
HW 50955 15. According to Reid's informant, Harcello told his top lieutenants, "Don't worry about that little Bobby sonofabitch. He's qoing to be taken care of." The informant stated that Marcello said that President Kennedy himself would have to be killed first, and that his brother would then follow. The informant further stated that Marcello spoke of using some "nut" to do the killinads. Docld: 32423630 Page 390
Jim Braden: Author Peter Noves And Judar Rvrne Peter Noves, the investigative reporter who uncovered most of the material regarding Jim Braden (ituqene Bra ding), is a former classmate and close friend of Judge Matthew Byrne, Jr., the U.S. District Court Judge who presided over the tllsberq Pentagon Pavers trial last vear. As is now well known, Judge Byrne dismissed the case against Sllsbera after he was notified that the White House "Plumbers" had once burglarized the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist. A short time Jater, it became known that President Nixon had twice instructed John Lhrlichman to annroach Judge Byrne.durindg the course of the Ellsbera trial and offer him the position of Director of the FBI. This offer, which Judge Byrne refused, has becn regarded as a potential act of bribery by some critics of President llixon, and is currently under investigation by the Soecial Frosecutor's Office. It has been widely assumed that Nixon's fervent interest” in tho outcome of the prosecution of Ellsbere may. have been the motivation behind his approach to Judge Byrne. Author Moves has written of his friend Judge Byrne's. involvement in his research on Jim Braden. In 196°, after Noyes had accumulated much of his information reqarding. the mysterious Braden, he took the information to his Friend, Matt Pyrne, who was then U.S. Attorney for southern California. Voyes nad several talks with Byrne and has said that Byrne was very impressed by the substantive evidence which Moyes had aathered. During one of these meetings with Byrne and another PBI man whom Byrne had invited to attend, the FBI man told Moves that the FBI had never before known that Jim Pracen - the man arrested at. the scone of the assassination in 1°63 - was actually Yuqene Erading. the EBI man said that the Bureau must have made a big mistake in not tracing down Braden's true identity and pmolice record. the FRI man was nearly incredulous over Uoves't evidence on Braden. e Voyes meenwhile had discovere@ that Jim Braden had also been in Los Anceles on the night that Robert Kennedy was assassinated in carly June of 1968. ‘Though Noyes couldn't find any siaqnificant information indicating any Braden connection to the second Kennedy murder, he and his friend Matt Byrne forwarded the information on Bra :den to the Special Unit of the LAPD which was investigating the RFX death. HY 50955 DBocld:32423630 Page 391
The Special Unit of the LAPD, accordinda to Noyes, dis- counted the information reaarding the RPK assassination, but was indeed impressed by the Braden connection to the 1963 assassination. Hoyes writes that Judge Byrne never heard anymore about it after he forwarded the information to the RFK investigators. Later, Attorney General John Mitchell s ted Byrna to be Executive Director for the Scranton ission that investicgated student unrest several years aq his work for the Scranton Commission, U.S. Attorney Byrne -- S ” the position he held at the time of the tlisberg trial. BW 40955 Bocla: 32423630 Page 392 —
ee io) ~ NRA ons ehara tio Is Vodav Immediately following the assassination of President Kennedy, ®ugene Brading (Jim Braden) had an upturn in his personal finances, Brading later reported a large increase in revenue fron an Oil well he had an interest in back in Louisiana. fe reported the lords increase in revenue from the well for -- the month of November 1963. ® month later, in Decembor of 1963, Bradina became a charter member of the exclusive (and very oxnensive) La Costa Country Club in southern California. Later that year, 1964, Brading and his old syndicate oil friend Roger Lauman established the "PR And B'Cattle Comnany." The comnmany.was set uv in Chicago and was oresumably named after then, "B And 5," though neither of the two men are listed as corporate officers. Tt vas also during this Same period that Brading made a substantial investment in two lots in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1965, Brading's eee eay narole was finally terminated. He soon boudnt a new home near the La Costa Country Club which he had joined, and he also bought a house for his narents in Santa Rar bara. , And it ls at the La Costa Country Club that the mysterious trail of Jim Braden, or Eugene Nale Erading, finallv ends. The La Costa Country Club, which Rradinda had joined as one of its 100 Charter members in January of 1961, is one of the more notorious iafia properties in the nation. ‘ene most: nowerful foree behind La Costa is Hoe Dalitz, one of Hever Lanskv's sinele closest associates. Moe Nalitz had been the leader of the early Mayficld Noad Gang in Cleveland, ana nad been the founcer of the actual Cleveland svndicate, one of the most powerful forces in the national crime syndicate, Dalits had Seen one of the Mafia'ts bigcest investors in rsonally helned oor 2 0 Q s Voga and it had been Dalitz who had pe sat up the EUovward Hughes empire in Las Vacas. Dalits had sold much of his own holdings to Howard Hughes in -the late 1960's, , Docld: 32423630 Page 393
HW 50955 i | The La Costa Country Club had recon! under the direction of Moe Dalitz and liever Lansky, a key “watering hole" of the syndicate. La Costa was originally. financed through a syndicate deal with James Hoffa of the Teamsters. One of the Teamsters Union's billion dollar Pension Funds was used -in the financing of the project. La’ Costa became what is Known in the Hiafia as “open territory" ~ meaning that no Single Mafia family controlled it. La Costa was open to all. Intelligence authorities in southern California have long regarded La Costa as a. prime hangout for the Mafia. Some. officials have dubbed it "“Apalachin West." , The svndicate had oricinally qiven Charter memberships in La Costa to a number of Hollywood celebrities, so as to soften the image of the plush resort. Amonq the members were Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and Bing Crosby. Mombers of Prosident Nixon's inner circle also became frequent guests as La Costa, which is just twenty miles aviay from San Clemente, carly in the Nixon Administration, in 1969, Los Angeles Police were astonished to find Murray Chotiner, one of the President's closest confidantes, living it up at La Costa while the President was in San Clemente, In February of 1973, while Pre »sident Nixon was at’ San Clen- ente, H.R. Haldenan, John .Ehrlichman, Richard Moore, and John- Dean held a series of meetings at La Costa to discuss the Watergate conspiracy, which was then beqinning to unravel, John Dean dave longthy testimony during the Grvin Committec hearings reqerding "the La Costa meetings." These meetinas at La Costa have since emerced as perhans the most crucial strategy seasions involved in the ay teace covere-un of Watergate by the Presicent's closest aides. Dean testified that the Ia Costa meetines took place over a rneriod of to Gays, February 19 ~ 12, 1973. Dean testified that the sessions were held in a special "villa at ba Costa that was used by ilaldeman. It has been Aurinag this same veriod of time, in the last al vears, that Eucreone Brading (din Braden) has become one of the most imnortant Nafia operatives at La Costa. According to numerous intelligence reports, from California, Nevada, and federal authorities, Brading is now suanected of being tho yorsonal courier for national crime syndicate bos Meyer Lansky. . A 1 DoclTdi32423630 Page 394
AW 50955 ron N) + o e The Hevada Ganine into Braden's “slrimmed" HWoyes was told bv Jim Braden had courtier for Braden was the country for the that was a "low +4 alleged In the summer of 1°71, gation by La Costa, at La Costa ansnaction. $190,009 in A janitor a routine woll over Suthor “Vovoas wv had containe? ifornia offic zal put Board cqambling revenue from Las Vedas. several indeed been identified as Never Lansky. suspected of syndicate, ostimate." California authorities AS informed at Jeast che an investigation syndicate courier for Investigator | high government officials that the personal One official disclosed that taking over $72 million out of Another official said is continuing role as > under renewed investi- ‘following an incident at: Rraden cam 3 n Braden's aolf jJecker to make the locker tumbled a. bundle of he | a , vs cr 00 Fh on o 60) wl » by one of ficial that the bundle 2120,C90 in cash, and another Cal- amount at closer to $200,000. Nraden stated During questioning reqarding the incident, that he had received the monev from an oil transaction, and that he had teomnerarily stored it in the locker. Later, one of the officials workine on that particular investiqation of Braden, tole Uoves that Braden had also been given the use of two planes owned bv Howard Mughes to fly Mafia gambling cash out of wWevada and» the country. 4 At oresent, operating out of La Bucene Bradina, Costa. alias still (Broden iS how hing in Atlanta Boclda: 324293630 Page 395 - Mike Ewin Sen, Hughes ottice June, 197%
| a | |. RICHARD L. THORNBUEGH | | | _ | RE: JKF ASSASSINATION January 21, 1977 | : | IN REPLY PLEASE | REFER TO RY. pasa Honorable Richard L. Thornburgh Acting Attorney General Department of Justice Washington, D.C. Dear General Thornburgh: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence would most appreciate prompt access to Federal Bureau of Investigation material relating to Mr. Nelson Bunker Hunt and Mr. Eugene Brading, a alk/a Jim Braden. Your assistance and cooperation with the Select Coumittee- ig most appreciated. Aloha, | OO . . - DANIEL K. INOUYE, Chairman HSL/dr: ce: bs. author. file 1‘ subject’ matter file 1 - William G. Miller 1 - Michael J. Madigan i i | HY 50955 DBocld:32423630 Page 396
HY 0955 Docld:32423630 Page 397 DONALD F. MASSEY RE: LEE HARVEY O8WALD December 8, 1976 IN REPLY PLEASE REFER TO R Mr. Donald F. Massey Assistant Legislative Counsel Central Intelligence Agency Washington, D.C. Dear Don: As I mentioned briefly this afternoon, the Select. Committee has expressed an interest in recent press: accounts - suggesting the existence of transcripts of Lee Harvey a Oewald conversations in Mexico City. I would be pleased if you would advise as to the existence of such transcripts and their availability for review by the Senate Select Coumittee. Thank you in advance for your attention to this request. sincerety, HOWARD S. LIEBENGOOD Minority Staff Director ce: 1 - Author File ' Lo-- Subject File 1 - Minority Counsel 1 - Staff Director
fe Seals « Jack Anderson and Les Whitten © en mn i an Withheld Data in JFK Probe  *|: i _ After President John F. Kennedy __ 1962. Yet neither Kennedy nor Hoover” gan has waived the confidentiality we pot i? |. was struck down on Nov. 22, 1963, the later divulged this important informa-: ad promised him. ., Soe ind a Central Intelligence Agency received __ tion to the Warren Commission. « Morgan told in J 1967 1 r evidence suggesting that Cuban Pre. . - Of course, various CIA officials also aout one CI AcMafia ascassinetton plot ft _ Inier Fidel Castro arranged the assassi- knew about the assassination scheme. against Castro. He raised the possibii-R. nation in retaliation for attempts on» * Not the least of them was the late CIA ity that the plot could have backfired 1. ° ‘his life. a ‘dis. |, chief Allen W. Dulles, who approved against President Kennedy. There |: : Yet sources privy to the secret dis... the original plan. He later served on « “were suspicious circumstances, he |” rudeau cussions at the highest levels of the the Warren Commmission, yet he sat-- pointed out, indicating that Caste f° ==) CIA during those hectic days now tell silently throughout the investigation: - may have learned of the attempts on f° y HAL | the evidenos: from the Warren eld ., Without mentioning the Cuban angle... pis” j:0) ‘and may have retaliated | * aT | FA mission investigating Kennedy's death, - _, Within hours ‘of President Kenne-. against Kennedy. or ie E '| =). Our sources cite two reasons for _‘dy’s death, the U.S. embassy cabled in-. . Morgan refused to identify. his > 5 Wer = holding back this evidence. One was a: formation from Mexico City suggest- sources because it would have violated & 7am =|. resolve to cover up the secret that the . ing that the Cubans may have heen be- _ the attorney-client privilege. But he’@ 3 Jory = CIA had enlisted Mafia mobsters to kill -. hind the assassination. Our ScUrces say . Was an attorney of Such stature that @.: - CAL ne ; _ that the eveloped similar infor- "we didn’t doubt his word. He had been 9: GALI Castro. also was a legitimate concern ° “Mation in Washington. _. Chief inspector of the FBI. He had di: § : that the Castro revelations might in- The first person to reach Robert. | rected the historic congressional inves: | 8. ; : , flame the American people, whose Kennedy's side after the shooting was ". tigation of the Pearl Harbor bombing. § grief could have turned into a terrible CIA Director John A. McCone, who re. Later, he ran the Investigation into the J. wrath that might. have precipitated mained alone with the Attorney Gen- . excesses of the late Sen. Joseph McCar-, J -.gomerashaction’: _ eral at his McLean, Va. home for~° thy. . E Only a few key people knew about ‘nearly three hours. Se '.. We got Morgan’s permission, to the CIA plot to assassinate Castro. One - McCone swore to us that Castro's Write a cautious story. We confirmed was Attorney General Robert F. Ken- ° name was never mentioned during the the general outlines from a CIA nedy, who was his brother’s personal three hours. But CIA records show Source. Then on March 3, 1967, we watchdog over the CIA. It has now ..- that the next day McCone not only ~ rote that Robert Kennedy “may have been established that Robert Kennedy mentioned Castro to the new Presi- ‘approved an assassination plot, which : was briefed on May 7, 1962, about the dent, Lyndon B. Johnson, but briefed _ then possibly backfired against his late. -| attempt to use underworld killers to’ — him on the information from Mexico. brother. f knock off Castro, 2 City. . The next day, according to records 3. Two days later, Robert Kennedy cau- ° Yet no one brought the Cuban . now available, Kennedy's secretary |: - tioned the CIA not to go ahead with - ., Connection to the attention of the War. _ called for a copy of the May 7, 1962,..— - the assassination without consulting _’ ren Commission. We were the first to. memo, which summarized the briefing @-. him. Since Robert Kennedy rode herd * get word of the anti-Castro plot to he had received on the assassination |.’ on the CIA, it must be assumed that he: . Chief Justice Earl Warren, the com. ._ plot. was kept advised of subsequent assassi-:|-' mission chairman, four years later. .. . On March 7, 1967, we reported more } nation attempts. However, there is-no- We are now free to reveal our role * details. “A reported CIA plan in 1963 to | _ documentary evidence of this. - in the drama. Two of our confidential assassinate Cuba’s Fidel Castro,” we§ Records now available show that *. sources, CIA agent William Harvey wrote, “... may have resulted in ag ae a ee ee ee | heh oe ee ee Robert Kennedy informed FBI chief J. :. “and mobster John Rosselli, are dead. A counterplot by Castro to assassinate § Edgar Hoover of the plot on: May. 10,’ third source, attorney Edward P. Mor- . - President Kennedy.” : a 2 . DROPC mt ‘TS ; : if By Howard Post 4 ' _ _ ™ -~N0 you DESIRE R You SAy You HAVE EXPERIENCE INTER PAN RECURRING FANTASIES. ,.. TRAVE L?. OF SPACE FLIGHT... ral Ane «PARTICULARLY. Just THE “x (--WEIGATLESSNESS, /-~ fl id 99 aT alse TN eS ie eed 18 Roe B GASOLINE ALLEY 398 HW.50955 Docld:32423630 Page ;
HW 50955 The Washington Post August 22, 1976 Slain Mobster Claimed Cuban Link to JFK Death . By Ronald Kessler and Laurence Stern Washington Post Staff Writers Long before his recent murder, John Rosselli, the CIA's underworld recruit in attempts to kill Fidel Cas- ‘tro, had been privately claiming that agents of the Cuban premier, in retali- ‘ation, were involved in the assassina- _tion of President John F. Kennedy. Rosselli’s belief in a Cuban connec- tion to the Kennedy assassination was ‘expressed through his attorney, Ed- ward P. Morgan, to the FBI as long ago as March, 1967, and also in private. .conversations with a longtime associ- ate of Rosselli who participated in ‘meetings between Rosselli ‘and the CIA, > An FBI “blind memorandum” on ‘an interview with Morgan dated March 21, 1967, was included, without . identification of the interviewee, in. last June’s Senate Intelligence Com-° mittee’s report on the role of the in- telligence community in the Kennedy assassination investigation. - Morgan told the FBI that Rosselli and another Morgan client had in- formed him that Castro became aware ~ of CIA assassination conspiracies against him and “thereafter employed - teams of individuals who were dis- ; ' patched to the United States for the purpose of assassinating . Mr. Ken- neds.” Because neither Morgan nor Ros- : selli was identified in the Senate re-- - port, the significance of that portion ° “of the 106-page document was dis- . ’ counted at the. time it was published - in June, before Rosselli’s disappear- " ance and the subsequent discovery of his body in an oil drum in Florida waters. The Washington Post, however, has confirmed that Morgan and Rosselli . were the sources of the testimony that suggested a Cuban role in. the Ken- nedy murder. Morgan's account, according. to a summary of the FBI interview, ‘was that Rosselli had reached his conclu- sion about a Cuban connection to the Kennedy assassination from | “feedback” furnished by sources close © to Castro who were involved in the CIA plots to assassinate the Cuban leader. Docla: 32423630 Page 399 “Tis (Morgan’s) clients were aware of the identity of some of the individ- uals who came to the United States for this purpose and he understood that two such individuals were now in the state of New. Jersey,” the FBI in- _terview summary stated. { A long-time associate. of Rosselli: -who was interviewed separately by : The Washington Post, said there was ‘no question in the slain mobster’s : mind that ‘President Kennedy was.. ‘killed on Castro’s behalf in reprisal for the CIA schemes against the Cu- _ban leader, - _“He was positive; he was sure,” said the associate, who knew Rosselli well _and was in contact with him before . Rosselli disappeared from his Florida ‘home on July 28. The associate, who : does not want to be identified pub- jliely, is scheduled to be interviewed : this week by Dade County, Fla., homi- : cide detectives. He was a party to Ros- *selli’s contacts in the early 1960s with CIA case officers overseeing the at- tempts to assassinate Castro. ~~, Despite occasional speculation, the . collective conclusion of all official U.S. government investigations into the Kennedy assassination—including - the Warren Commission, the FBI and the CIA—has been that there was no evidence: that implicated the Castro "government or any of its agents. However, the CIA’s involvement in “the schemes to assassinate - Castro was not divulged to the Warren Com- ‘mission, and knowledge of them was confined until 1967 to a small, elite circle of the U.S. intelligence commu- ~ * nity.” President Johnson apparently ‘first learned about the schemes only after a March 7, 1967, column by the ‘late Drew Person, which prompted '‘ Johnson to order a CIA investigation -of the highly sensitive episode. ~ - Full details of the CIA- underworld “collusion in the plols to kili Castro .* ‘did not surface publicly until the pub- ‘Veation last year of the Senate Intelli- * gence Committee’s assassination re-~ ‘port and the ensuing report last dune on the possible role of the intelligence onthe LE
wee agencies in the Kennedy assassination _ and investigation. ; The body of Rosselli, who lived flamboyantly in a world of mobsters, politicians and playgiris, was found two weeks ago in an inverted oil drum. ‘weighted with chains but buoyed by - -gases from decomposition on the ‘ocean’s surface off the coast of Miami, The specific cause of death was deter- - mined by an autopsy | to be asphyxia-~ tion, 9’. ; Last year, an underworld colleague ‘of Rosselli, Sam (Momo) Giancana, who also had been recruited by the -CIA in the effort to kill Castro, was . found shot to death in his Chicago ‘home in what police described as a, highly professional job by assailants’ who penetrated the mobster’s per- ‘sonal security screen. Giancana was due to testify before the Senate Intel-- ‘ligence Committee shortly after his. “demise. ' Neither murder Ras been solved. The possibility that Rosselli’s mur- der might have been related to his Senate testimony on the CIA schenies to kill Castro has brought the FBI into the investigation at the request of Attorney General Edward H. Levi. The involvement of Rosselli, Gian- cana and other underworld figures— principally Santos Trafficante of — Tampa, Fla., whose one-time Havana gambling enterprises fell hostage in. 1959 to the Cuban revolution—in plots against Castro had been a closely held secret within the top echelons of the CIA and FBI until recently. The tangled chronology of suppres- sion and eventual disclosure, although detailed in the June report, has re- ceived little public attention. Rossel- li's murder adds significance to those events. Here is the sequence, pieced’ to- gether from the: testimony given to ’ Senate intelligence investigators: - Columnist Drew Pearson went to the late Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren late in January, 1967, and told him that a Washington... lawyer had confided to him that one- of his clients said the United States “had attempted to assassinate Fidel Castro in the early 1960s and Castro had decided to retaliate.” Warren declined Pearson’s sugges- - tion that he see the lawyer, who was Edward Morgan. Warren referred the matter to then Secret Service Direc-— tor James J. Rowley, who on Feb. 13, 1967, wrote FBI Director J. Edgar Ho- over, informing him of the allegations. - Docld: 32423630 Page 400 » Hoover sent the Rowley fetter to six senior bureau officials on an “eyes- -only” basis. There is no record of FBI meetings or discussions of those alle- gations. At that point the sensitive let- ter bounced back and forth’in the higher reaches of the FBI bureauc- racy. The job of responding to Rowley’s letter was assigned to the supervisor of the FBI’s General Investigative Di- vision who was given responsiility for . the overall assassination investigation in March 1964. ’ This official’s job was complicated’ by the fact that he had never been in- . formed of what Hoover and his closest “ cirele of confidants in the FBI learned . early in igt2—that the. CIA was deeply involved: in assassination _-attempts against Castro, and promi- nent American underworld figures, in- cluding Rosselli and Giancana, had, been recruited for the attempts.. So on Feb. 15, 1967, the FBI official ~ prepared a draft reply to the Rowley’ letter for his superiors saying “our in- vestigation uncovered no evidence in- dicating Fidel Castro officials of the . Cuban Coverpyment were involved ‘.with-Lee Harvey Oswald in the assas- sination of President Kennedy. This ‘bureau is not conducting,any investi- gation regarding this matter.” The ¥BI official added in later testimony that “every one. in ‘the higher echelons ‘ read this . Drew Pearson went ahead and pub- lished a column on March 7, 1967, ref- erring to reports that CIA schemes against Castro’s life in 1963 “may ~ have resulted in a counterptot by Cas- tro to assassinate President Kenne- dy.” Ten days jater, Marvin Watson, one . of Lyndon Johnson’s chief deputies, . called FBI assistant director Cartha DeLoach with the message that “the President had instructed that the FBI interview (Morgan) concerning any knowledge he might: have regarding. the assassination of . President Ken- -nedy.” im _ , DeLoach told. Watson that it ap- peared Morgan “did not want to be in- terviewed, and even if he was inter- ‘viewed he would probably not divulge the identity of his sources . . ~’ Wat- son persisted, however. ob “Under the circumstances,” De- < Leach concluded in. a memo for the. files, “it appears that we have no al- ternative: but to interview (Morgan) and then furnish the results to. Wat. ; son in blind memorandum form.”~ -"+° The interview was assigned to two agents from the FBI's General Investi- gative Division, which the Senate _ committee concluded was “puzzling” because it was the Domestic Intelli- gence Division which had heen as- signed responsibility for investigating possibile foreign involvement in the assassination. Neither agent was privy to the knowledge, confined to Hoover and his top aides, of the CIA’s assassina- tion plots against Castro. Both agents testified eight years later that they were “surprised” when Morgan al- luded during the interview to US. at- tempts to assassinate Castro. “These agents stated that they could not evaluate the lawyer’s (Morgan's) allegations or question him in detail on them, since they had not been briefed on the CIA assassination efforts,” the Senate committee ob- served. ; : On March 21, 1967, ‘the FBI's Wash- ington Field Office sent headquarters ten copies of a blind memorandum .- summarizing the interview with Mor- gan... In a Senate Intelligence Committee summary of the FBI interview, Mor- gan was reported to’ have acknowl- , edged that his clients. were “on the fringe of the underworld” and that they faced “possible prosecution in a crime not related to the assassination . 7] . . Morgan said his clients “were called upon by a governmental agency to as- sist in a project which was said to have the highest governmental ap- proval. The project had as its purpose the assassination of Fidel Castro. Elaborate plans were made, including . the infiltration of the Cuban Govern- ment and the placing of informants within key posts in Cuba.” Morgan also told the FBI, according to the summary, that Castro had em- ployed “teams ‘of individuals who -were dispatched to the United States - for the purpose of asgassinating Presi, ‘dent Kennedy.” It was not ‘clear then—-nor is it to” day-~why Morgan’. came forward at ~ that time to bring’ Rosselli’s story .to the ears of the nation’s highest law enforcement authorities. It may be relevant that Rosselli had ‘serious legal problems at the time. In May, 1966, the FBI. threatened to deport him for living in the United - States under an assumed name unless he cooperated in an investigation of the Mafia (his true name was Filippo Saco). At the time, he reathed a CIA contact from the anti-Cast#o conspir- _acy days, CIA security director Col.: Sheffield Edwards, who informed the
HY 50955 FBI that Rosselli wanted’ to “keep square with the bureau” but was. afraid that the mob might kill: him for talking. In 1967, after he was arrested ‘for gambling fraud at the Friars Club‘in Beverly Hills, RoSselli approached his — former CIA case-officer, William Har- vey. who sought unsuccessfully jo ‘ine tercede in the prosecution. it was against this background that Morgan went, first to Drew Pearson, and then the FBI, with Rossdlli’s sen- salional allegations of CIA plotting against Castro and the Cuban counter- ' espionage directed against ‘President f _ Kennedy. Last Apvil. Rosselli told ‘the Senate: Intelligence Committee te had no rec- ollection. of either receiving informa- — “tion that Castro retaliated against President Kennedy or of: having ‘dis- cussed it with Morgan. This meant ei- ther that Rosselli suffered a dramatic - memory loss or that Morgan's state- ment to FBI agents nine years earlier was a pure invention, a Serious risk for an established Washington lawyer. No committee source could explain the discrepancy, and Morgan declined to confirm that Rosselli was the client ‘in question or to diseuss either his Allegations against the Cuban govern- ment or his recent testimony. The internal FBI memo on the 1967 interview with Morgan was sent, to headquarters with a transmittal slip saying: “No further investigation is being conducted by the Washington field office unless it is advised to the contrary by the Bureau.” The Senate intelligence committee, in commenting on this position, said that “had the interviewing agerits known of the ClA-underworld plots against Castro, they would have been aware that the lawyer had clients who. had been active in the assassination plots.” On March 21, FBI headquarters for- warded the Washington field office memo to the White House, the attor- ney general and the Secret Service..It did. not recommend any further in- vestigation of Morgan’s allegations. On the evening of. the following day, President Johnson called CIA Di- rector Richard M. Helms to‘the White louse. The next morning; March 23,. Helms ordered the CIA inspector gen- ; eral to prepare a report on the CIA: involvement in the assassination plots | i —Operation . Mongoose—of which » Helms had full knowledge at.the time 1 they were executed.’ / | By May 22, Helms briefed President; Johnson on the results. There is, how-: ever, no evidence that Helms briefed the President on the November, 1963, . plot—one of eight major schemes on: DocTd: 32423630 Page 401 3 Gastro’s life fr om 1960 to -1965—to as- sassinate the Cuban leader through ‘the employment of an agent with the -eryptonymn AMLASH. His identity was revealed as Rolando Cubela. a 1961 CIA “recruit” with close access to Castro. . CIA ,operatives turned over assassi- " nation! equipment to Cubela during a. ‘Paris meeting on November 22, 1963—. “the day President Kennedy was killed _ in Dallas. There has been subsequent _of a i hy ‘speculation that’ the mercurial and ‘talkative Cubela was either a double: _ agent or being, monitored. by Cuban “intelligence. ‘ During the later days: of his presi-*. ‘ deney, Mr. Johnson. spoked cryptically “Caribbean « doubtedly was the CIA inspector gen- i, er al’s report he ordered, Helms: to. have " prepar ed. Within the past year, Rosselli! and , two of his co-conspirators in the Cas- . tro assassination schemes have died, ‘the deceased CIA! official, ‘suspected no foul play in her hus- _ band’s death. She did, however, tell. “The Washington - ceived a call after Rosselli’s disappear- : Giancana al: the hands of a profes- sional hit man-and Harvey as the re- sult of a “massive heart attack” last June. Mrs. William Harvey, the widow of said she Post that she re- ance in late July warning her that Cu- bans appeared to be attempting to wipe out all those who participated in the anti-Castro plots. The call, she said, came from an old — friend who was acquainted with Ros- selli!s sister, whose name is Edith Dai- gle. Mrs, Harvey said that Mrs. Daigle told the mutual acquaintance that the Rosselli family had. received a tele- phone threat from unidentified Cu- _ bans prior to Rosselli!s disappearance. She also said that Rosselli had gone te ‘meet the Cubans in an effort to pro- " tect his family. oa Mrs. Daigle could not bé reached by: The Washington Post. But another sis- ter of Rosselli said she had heard of . Hho such threats or warnings. Harvey, who died at age 60 and “whose exploits as a clandestine opera- tor are hoth legendary and controver- sial within the agency, testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee. had become Rosselli’s case officer in . Operation Mongoose and supplied the mobster with poison pills, explosives, detonators, rifles, handguns, radios and boat radar for transmission to f anti-Castro Cuban agents. Harvey and “ Rosselli..a CiA superior testified to _ the Senate committee, _ developed ao - close friendship.” , ; Murder Incorpo- i rated” targeted ‘against” Fidel Castro. ‘ The inspiration for that statement un-,‘ He . Another CIA official who worked with Rosselli, James'P. © Fonnell. was asked if he knew whethet the agency _ transmitted information! to the mob- ster on possible Cuban involvement in ‘the Kennedy assassination. He replied that he was out of the dountry at the time Kennedy was killed, and had no - further comment. : | Two months before the Kennedy as- sassination, Lee Harvey Oswald, who - was identified by the Watren Commis- ‘ sion as Kennedy’s murderer, had trav- * eled to Mexico City‘in an attempt to gain entry to Cuba. According to the ~. Warren Commission, Oswald repre- sented himself as the head of the New ~ Orleans branch of the Fair Play for ' Cuba organization and a friend of the Cuban Revolution. Some three months before Kennedy was killed, Castro told Associated Press reporter Daniel Harker that U.S. leaders aiding terrorist plans to eliminate Cuban leaders would them- . selves not be safe. A U.S. government committee -coor- dinating policy toward Cuba at the ~,time agreed there is a strong liklihood that Castro would retaliate in some fashion. Howeved, it concluded Castro would not risk a major confrontation with the US. hy attacking U.S. tead- ers. On the same day Kennedy was as- sasSinated, a CIA officer met with a high-ranking” Cuban official, who had said he would kill Castro, to tell him the U.S. would provide him with ex- plosives and a poison pen device. While the Senate Intelligence Com- mittee said it found no evidence suffi- . cient to justify a conclusion that the — Kennedy aSsassination was part of a conspiracy, it also said U.S. ‘agencies did not properly investigate the assas- sination .or tell the Warren Commis- sion about the CIA plots on Castro’s life, “There is no indication that the FBI or the CIA directed the interviewing of Cuban sources or sources within the Cuban exilé community,” the Sen- ate committee said. According to a former FBI official in charge of key aspects of the FBI's probe of the Kennedy murder, the FBI never satisfactorily determined what Oswald planned to do in Cuba or what he had done in Russia.
r THE WASHINGTON POST September 12, 1976 Allon frye The JFK. Assassination: Curiosity.in Havana 1 An inquisitive American learns many things on a visit to Cuba. One of the most surprising is that high officiais in Havana seem genuinely hopeful that the investigation of the Kennedy assassination will be re- opened. They are convinced that there was a Cuban factor inthe murder. oe ae ‘Conversations with senior officials of the Cuban. ‘government, including Deputy Prime Minister Carlos. Rafael Rodriguez, make clear that they have followed closely the disclosures by the Senate Intelligence Committee casting doubt upon the Warren Commis-. - sion investigation. The Cubans are well aware that the doubts center on the failure of the CIA and the FBI to inform the Warren Commission of the several plots mounted by the CIA to kill Fidel Castro. Knowledge of these plots appears to have been withheld even from the FBI and CIA officials who were responsible. for investigating the President's murder and for. sup- porting the work of the Warren Commission. As a re- sult, there was no special effort to explore the possi- ble involvement of either the Cuban government or. Cuban exiles in the assassination. Evidence developed by the Senate committee makes both hypotheses plau- sible—and a new inquiry imperative. mE The situation is murkier and more perplexing than . ever. Those'who are resistant to conspiracy theories - ‘and who have been prepared—even eager —to be- lieve that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone can no. longer rely on the Warren Commission report as an eign Relations. (0°. BP a “The writer is a Senior fellow of the Council on. For-. adequate prop for their predilections. The commis-, sion did not know that on Nov. 22, 1969, at about the very hour Oswald struck in Dallas, an agent of the! Centrai Intelligence Agency was meeting with a rank- ing Cuban official (codenamed AMLASH and re-; cently identified as Rolando Cubela) te plan the mur-» der of Castro. Simultaneously, in Cuba, a French res porter, Jean Daniel, was spending the day with Cas- tro, conveying to the Cuban leader views expressed" by President Neapedy in a brief interview at the: White House on Oct. 24, persuading Castro that Ken-' nedy wanted to explore ways to normalize relations. : Thus, at the moment the President was killed, U.S. policy. toward Cuba appeared to be moving not only - on two tracks but in opposite directions, and move: _ Sponse by one or another Cuban faction. ©: - Perceptions inside the Cuban government re- ‘sponded to both tendencies in U.S. policy. There is good reason to suspect that the AMLASH operation involved a double agent, or at least a singularly inept. ment on either track could have provoked violent re- HW 50955 DoclId:32423630 Page 4027 ff? whebsad ty one. Castro almost certainly knew of it. The CLA even- | tually concluded that the AMLASH activity was “inse- cure” and terminated it. Among other discoveries, within two days of the assassination it was known (but | hot to the Warren Commission) that AMLASH had: . been in contact with Soviet personnel in Mexico City, ; where Oswald had gone in September 1963 to visit’ — . both the Cuban and Soviet consulates. Whether these. facts are significant or merely coincidental, one can- not tell. In retrospect, Cuban authorities note with | ‘some relief that Oswald was denied permission to visit ‘Cuba, implying that, had his request been granted; 7 the finger of suspicion would surely have pointed at. ~ Havana Te Te Perhaps more suggestive of a direct leak from AM: . . LASH to Castro was the sequence of events on Sept.7, . 1963, when the CIA re-established contact with the Cu- ban conspirator for the first time since the precedifig ~ : year. Late that evening, Prime Minister Castro called — in Associated Press reporter Daniel Harker for an un- expected interviéw. Only three: Western reporters. - were based in Havana at the time and their contact with Castro was quite limited. Evidently, the Cuban _leader had a message he wished to get on the record through Harker. He charged that the United States , was aiding terrorist plots in Cuba and warned US.. ‘leaders that “if they are aiding terrorist plans to elimi- - nate Cuban leaders, they themselves will not be safe.” _ This threat of reprisals seems less inflammatory _and more understandable now that we know what ‘Castro knew at the time, namely, that the United States was in fact stepping up ‘its covert operations _ against Cuba during the summer and fall of 1983. Yet - _ it seems an exception to the main lines of Cuban pol-. _icy as it was then evolving. ee : For months afer the missile crisis of 1962, Castro ~ . had been displeased with the Soviets, and there are ‘Signs that he was interested in an opening to Wash- _ington. On Sept. 5, the Cubans quietly proposed talks. _ -with the Americans at the United Nations,:and Ken-;¢ *nedy soon responded with interest: Also, in early Sep- = tember the Time magazine bureau chief in Buenos * ‘Aires, Gavin Scott, travelling on a Canadian passport, © Spent two weeks in Cuba. Although key U.S. officials have no recollection of consulting with Scott on that . occasion, the Cubans recall his questions and com- . ments as hinting of American interest in a possible ace. commodation, much.as they were’later to interpret . the discussions between Jean Daniel and Castro. Then and now the Cubans’ attitude toward Ken- : nedy has been a compound of political antipathy and, . personal admiration. While critical of Kennedy’s role .: in various counter-revolutionary efforts, Castro and ° his associates voice a warm, almost affectionate re- gard for the President’s courage and realism. They |
of profess to have seen his death as a grave setback to a more hopeful relations between the two countries. The John Kennedy of 1963 was not, in their judgment,., the same man-whe was inaugurated in 1961, but a’ ‘more mature, poised and forward-looking leader with! i whom they could have done business. With this frame of reference, Cuban officials specu- _late that the real origin of the assassination lies in an-. ti-Castro circles, with which Oswald also was in touch. -They emphasize that assassination is incompatible’ with their own revolutionary doctrine and that they _ hever contemplated it even against Batista, the pre-: vious Cuban ruler. And they volunteer the suspicion 4 that the recent murders of Sam Giancana and Johnny - _ Rosselli, the Mafia figures who consorted with the . CIA to kill Castro, surely have some connection with Vuban exile politics and the Kennedy murder. "Castro has said publicly that he has no proof “count- |  er-revolutionary elements” planned the assassination, 3 - but that is clearly the consensus in Havana. Further 3 investigation. may still be inconclusive, but, far from’. ' seeing it as an impediment to Cuban-American rela- : tions, the Castro regime welcomes such an inquiry. “ Their curiosity seems greater than their complicity. _ i fal HW 50955 Docld:32423630 Page 403
The Miami Herald September 19, 1976 Could Rosselli Have Linked Castro Plot to JFK Death? | By RON LaBRECQUE Herald Statf Writer In 1960, when the CIA was try- -ing to set up a delicate attempt on _the life of Fidel Castro, it turned to -&@ man once described as ‘‘the big- “gest flag-waving SOB in the coun- ‘try” — West Coast underworld ‘figure Johnny Rosselli. Rosselli — a seemingly improba- .ble conspirator in a government ‘plot — got the “flag-waving" label .from Salvatore (Momo) Giancdna, *then Chicago’s top crime boss and a man Rosselli brought into that ‘same plot. Now both are dead, murdered in the past year, and investigators are wondering whether their plotting led to their deaths and whether the CIA plots against Castro — only recently made public and even kept from the Warren Commission — are vita! clues to the John F. Ken- . nedy assassination. The aeaths of Giancana, in ‘June of 1975, and Rosselli, this summer, - have aroused a renewed concern in Washington, where on Friday the House of Representives voted to re- open the investigation of the Ken- nedy murder. REP. THOMAS N. Downing (D., Va.), who will be chairman of the, panel, said he is “convinced’”a con-' spiracy was involved-in ‘Kennedy's: death. Now, in the aftermath of the vi-, ‘olent deaths of Giancana and Ros-: Sselli, the question arises of what role, if -any, the. Kennedy White House played in the early 1960s “deal” the CIA made with the two underworld figures to have Castro. murdered. Whether “the Kennedy 7 White’ \ House knew ‘about about the CIA's plotting (Robert F. Kennedy found - out after the contacts were ended), the CIA's use of the underworld H¥ 50955 Docld:32423630 Page 404 seems ironic in retrospect. # Robert Kennedy's passionate ef- Sorts to disable organized crime are weil documented. IN 1960 when Robert Kennedy — wrote about what he had learned of organized crime in America from his years as chief counsel to the Senate Rackets Committee, he -too quoted Giancana to make a point. He told about Giancana's inter- view at his local draft board at the outbreak of World War II, when he was asked what he did for a live in ; er steal,” Giancana is said to hhave replied. — i So Sam Giancana didn’t go to “war and years later would boast to ‘Chicago reporter Sandy Smith that the stayed out of the Army — la- "beled unfit — by telling the truth. } “What's wrong with the syndi- cate?” Kennedy. quoted Giancana. “Two or three of us get together ‘on a business deal and everybody “says it’s a bad thing. Businessmen :do it all the time and nobody ‘squawks.” A Senate committee began stue: laying the Kennedy. questions more ‘than a year ago as it looked at co= ivert CIA activities. ‘ ; IN AN addendum to the Senate ‘Intelligence Committee's interim ‘report last November, Sen. Howard ‘Baker (R., Tenn.) said, “it is my ‘personal view that on balance the likelihood that presidents (the re- ‘port dealt with Dwight Eisenhower’ and Kennedy) knew of the (Castro) assassination plots is greater than the likelihood that they did not.” dust to trace Rosselli’s history awith the CIA is mind- boggling for ‘the investightors. Yet, it is just one ‘aspect of the search for his killer. :. Johnny Rosselli — born on the fourth of July in Esperia, Italy, and 71 when he died — was not first and foremost a CIA operative. * His greater role‘ as. evidenced by . two convictions, his associations and to some extent his own com- ments, was as an influential, if publicly lesser known, organized. grime figure, * HIS ASSOCIATION with other - ‘dentified underworld members - was monitored by law enforcement “agencies as recently as several- weeks - before “his July 28 disap= pearance. By all accounts, Rosselli was a: ‘charming man, dressing in expen- . isive clothes, married for only two‘ fyears in the early 1940s and iknown most of his life as one who . leasify attracted women. He was an immigrant who told - lin a short autubiography written” tabout 1967 that his “life of crime” ; ibegan as a teenager in Boston, at- - itempting arson for his stepfather sand: stealing $50 on his own. As he traveled west, finally to settle in. ‘California, his attention turned to + bootlegging, gambling and dab- ling i in the movie business. 4 ' IT IS said that Rosselli’ guarded , jhe West Coast gambling interests . for Giancana’s Chicago syndicate. i Why Rosselli was chosen by the CIA for a Castro plot in 1960 is un- clear, although CIA officials have ‘since testified that they wanted the kind of contacts in Cuba which or- ‘ganized crime had made during the re-Castro days when Havana was ‘a.gamblers’ haven.’ ; ‘ Giancana was enlisted by Rossel- li because he had influence with - Florida’s Santo Trafficante, consid- * ered the key underworld gambling figure in Havana. . The unraveling of CIA and un- : derworld conspiracies, an awesome ., web spanning decades, is left to a teain of nine in the Metro Homicide Division. It is a team now clearly consumed by the task which has been a full-time operation since . Rosselli's body was pulled from | Dumfoundling Bay on Aug. 7.
HY . THAT THE Metro team is even Involved is happenstance. Rasselli . lived in Plantation, Broward Coun- ty. with his sister and brother-in- law. It's just that his killers chose to dump his body in Dade. While. several - detectives say their instincts lead them to con- - clude that the Rosselli murder was ~ _an internal underworld affair, ‘all ' on the team are aware of the pres-_| sure on them to search each clue ° that leads back to the CIA-Castro affair. ~ With Rosselli’s death this sum- mer, the newly appointed Senate ;committee saw its list of knowl- edgeable witnesses further trim- med. Some of those witnesses have died violently and some from natu- ; ral causes. « When Giancana was murdered in June of 1975, before he could even be questioned by the committee staff, authorities attributed it to an internal gangland struggle — even though. the murderer is still un- known. -The death of Rosselli, who had appeared before the committee three times in the past year with- out immunity, caused greater con- cern on Capitol Hill. - THE SAME night Rosselli’s body was identified — the legs hacked off and stuffed along with the body ‘ into an oil drum — Baker, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called for the FBI to ‘get involved in the case. (Several days later, Attorney General Ed- ward Levi ordered FBL involve- ment.) It wasn’t until several weeks later, however, that what was known to Baker became public knowledge. A section of the former commit- tee's April report told of a Wash- ington attorney who in 1967 went. to Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren (chairman of the: then-disbanded Warren Commis- . sion) to say that two’of his clients | believed they knew about Cuban. agents in the United States who. conspired in the assassination of © ’ John F. Kennedy, - THE INFORMATION: eventually © -reached the FBI, but as the Senate. committee concluded this year, the 1967 FBI probe was slipshod and incomplete. One of the clients referred to in, the report has.since been identified” _as Rosselli. And it has since been learned that Rosselli was con- vinced he held a vital clue to the JFK murder. 50955 Docld: 32423630 Page 405 “There was never the slightest doubt in John’s mind that Castro was responsible for the assassina-. tion of Kennedy,” said Edward P. Morgan, the attorney referred to in the report. Morgan is an attorney of no mean stature in Washington. He “served as chief counsel to the joint congressional committee which Studied the Pearl Harbor attack, counsel to the Senate Foreign Rela- tions Committee and for seven years was chief inspector of the BI. ROSSELLI told Morgan about -the CIA plot in 1967, when the De-" partment of Justice was vigorously attempting to deport Rosselli for being an illegal alien. Rosselli, Morgan said, “was cere . tain that the people he (Rosselli). | put around Castro in the CIA plot turned right around and killed Ken-- nedy. The people he still knew (in 1967) did it.” Rosselli, according to Morgan,, decided to talk about his CIA activ- : ity in hopes of decreasing the pres- . Sure from the FBI and Department - of Naturalization and Immigration,,. both Justice Department agencies. Several friends of Rosselli, in- ‘cluding Morgan, say they are con- . ‘vinced the FBI tried to get Rosselli to become’ an organized crime. in- formant by threatening to have- him deported if he ‘didn’t coopera-. . te. IN 1961, ~ thtough a bungled. . wiretap “effort, the FBI became, aware of Rosselli's CIA activities. — ‘While Giancana and Rosselli; were in Florida planning the opera- ‘tion, Giancana wanted to return to Las Vegas to check on his girl friend, Phyllis McGuire, whom he suspected of dating comedian Dan Rowan. To keep Giancana in. Flori- da, it was agreed that a bug would be placed in her hotel room and her conversations monitored. ‘But the private detective ‘they hired, with CIA money. it has since been learned, was discovered and arrested. Eventually the police in- : vestigation led back to the Castro | _ plotters. Prosecution was avoided when ° the CIA intervened and said the “national interest’? would be dam- aged if the plot information be- "came public, . WHEN THE wiretap case was again to be investigated in 1966, this time by a Senate committee headed by the late Sen. Edward Long (D., Mo.), the CIA again step- ped in to stop it. Morgan was told about the pend- ing investigation by Rosselli and _ Robert Mahue, a former FBI agent-turned Howard Hughes aide who was the CIA's. initial link to . Rosselli. ; Mahue told Morgan that both he and Rosselli had been subpenaed to. appear before the committee. Mor-: gan said he called Lawrence Hous-: ton, the CIA general counsel. Hous . ton went to Long and the investi-. gation was dropped. ‘ MORGAN SAID he knew, as the Senate committee recently empha-- sized as well, that all information. -about the CIA plots — which could’ have been the incentive for pro-* Castro forces to kill Kennedy —- had been kept from the Warren: ‘Commission. “Twas an admirer of Earl War-- ren,” Morgan said. “(His) report: said that ... Oswald alone killed, Kennedy. it kept bugging me after - so gruesome a detail from Rosselli that the Chief Justice could put his name on a report which didn’t as- sess the most significant piece of evidence bearing on the killing of Kennedy.” - The information Morgan had was passed to Warren via colum- nist Drew Pearson, a mutual friend. Eventually, it reached the FBI, but, remarkably, even after di- rect orders from President Lyndon Johnson in the spring of 1967, in- vestigation was not vigorously pur-- sued. THE SENATE Intelligence Com-_ mittee compared that apparent. in- action with a statement former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover made to . the Warren Commission on May 5,. 1964. Hoover said, “well, I can as- - Sure. you so far as the FBI is con-. cerned the case will be continued- in an open classification for. all: ‘time. That is, any information com- ing to us or any report coming to: ‘us from any source will be thor-- . oughly investigated, so that we ‘Swill be “able"to prove or “disprovel ?the allegation.” 2 A Senate Committee staff mem. ber commented recently, “what is “really happening is that the investi- gation which the FBI should have done in 1967 —- and no one can come close to explaining why it wasn't — is actually being done now.” — HART, AS have local investiga~ . tors, has established three possible _ scenario’s for Rosselli's death: his recent organized crime activity, re- taliation for his Castro assassina- tion efforts or the information he held concerning the JFK assassina- tion.
HW 50955 “Maybe Reeselli's - information was the vical nerve of the Kennedy” assassination,” a Senate source. told . The Heraid. - High officials in the Cuban gove | ernment also reportedly feel there. ’ was a “Cuban factor’ein the JFK : death, but they see it as a result of . exile politics, according to a recent article by Alton Frye, a senior fel-, low of the Council Foreign Rela-- tions in Washington. . Frye wrote that he visited Ha- _ Vana recently and met with Cuban, . Officials including Deputy Prime . Minister Carlos Rafael Rodriguez. “1... they volunteer the suspicion that the recent murders of Sam Gi- ‘ancana and Johnny Rosselli ... surely have some connection with ) Cuban exile politics'and the Kenne- dy murder,” Frye wrote. . THERE HAVE been theories re- cently propounded to show why both pro and anti-Castro forces ‘ could have wanted to get JFK out - of power in 1963. On the one hand, there is the re- ° port of French journalist Jean Dan- . _ del, who was the bearer to Castro + of an offer from.JFK for calmer re- » lations. Castro was ©Daniel ‘later was Jlunching with. , Castro when word came that Ken- | , nedy had been shot. Daniel de- scribed the Cuban leader as genu- inely shocked by the news. It has since been learned that probably in the very hour JFK was shot, a one-time Castro supporter was receiving a poison pen device from a CIA agent in what was a4 long-running anti-Castro effort. That Cuban agent was code-named - AM/LASH, and he has since been identified as Rolando Cuebala, now imprisoned in Cuba for his assassi- * . nation ‘plotting. WHETHER JFK had unovwledge of, or perhaps even approved, any: _ of the assassination plots will prob: _ ably never be known. His closest advisers, who testi- ‘ fied before the Senate Committee, ‘all said he had no knowledge of such plots and would never have x approved of them. The same month Rosselli was. . passing poison pills to his Cuban » contact at a meeting at the ‘Fon- ? tainebleau, March of 1961, former Florida Sen. George Smathers, a friend of Kennedy, said he and Docld: 32423630 reportedly : ‘ __ agreeable, The report stated that.) . phone call » House and Exner was made only a | few hours later. ; Cubans: with Page 406 Kennedy discussed the ramifica- tions of a Castro assassination. Smathers has since said Kennedy rejected the idea and that the dis- cussion was more of a “brain-pick- ing”’ session. AT LEAST one high: level CIA official did testify he believed the White House was being briefed on- the plots but according to Richard Bissell, one of the officials who originally decided to use Rosselli, it was through the method of “plau- sible deniability.” - That, according to the recent Senate report, “can also lead to the use of euphemism and circumlocu- tion, which are designed to allow the President and other senior offi- cials to deny knowledge of an op- eration should it be disclosed.” , Another alleged link between: the White House and the under- ‘world plotters, first made public by the Senate Committee, has also been denied by virtually everyone involved. Judith Campbell Exner, the woman who claims to have _been friend and lover to both Gian- cana and JFK, introduced to both by Frank Sinatra, was not a link in, ‘the Castro plotting, those close’ to: . al both Giancana and Kennedy have ° said, , A MAN with acéess to Kenne- dy's closest advisers told The Her- ald recently, “The Giancana-Ros- selli thing is unrelated to the Exner thing. I was there. Sure JFK knew her, but he was naive about those kinds of things.” There is documentation to show that om March 22, -1962, Hoover. _lunched privately with Kennedy . and presumably gave him his first information linking Exner with the gangsters. The final: between the White Another possible link discussed :' in the Senate report shows that the recorded | same unidentified Cuban:to whom ; Rosselli passed the poison pills .' prior to the Bay of Pigs operation in April of 1961, was among a group of Cuban exile leaders who : ; Met with JFK following the inva-. ‘sion fiasco. : ‘ JIT IS known that several of the whom _ Rosselli worked have been identified, but investigators say that not all are known. As a condition to his appear: ; ances before the Senate Committee.’ in the past year, it was agreed that; Rosselli ‘“‘would not state the names or confirm the existence wl . those agents whom he knew: » about,” Rosselli’s attorney , Leslie ! _ Scheer said. The friends and acquaintances of ’ Rosselli who could be contacted by . , agents, The Herald all said they never: “heard the names of the Cuban: . But -a “committee” “source: ‘cau-" '. tioned, “they (Cuban agents) read : the committee's report, they know | who's being referred to.” ANOTHER _ Rosselli attorney, | Tom Wadden, a partner of Edward < Bennett Williams, said, “Yes, It think he had more knowledge’? ’ than he testified to. Searching Rosselli's more recent ; : past. for. enemies also presents’ problems, investigators say. =~. The decline of John Rosselli ap--: pears to begin in the late 1960s. In: 1967, he was convicted in a card-- cheating scandal at the posh, celeb- | rity-filled Friar’s Club in Los An- . geles where the influence of Sina- |. tra had made him a member ace” cording to investigators. . Deportation pressures were also mounting at this time. ’ ROSSELLI entered prison on the conviction in 1970 where he would: serve three years of a five- year, sentence. . In 1971, he was brought td a. federal grand jury in Los Angeles - which was probing whether some indentified Detroit organized crime ° leaders conspired with the Emprise: Corp. — a giant firm with nation~+ wide race track and sporting event? concessions — to: hide financial in-} terests in the Frontier, Hotel. in’ Las Vegas. Rosselli, too, had, an interest in the Frontier, which opened i in 1967. He owned the gift shop concession: along. with a partner named Joe. Breen. How Rosselli obtained the concession is unclear,. but“ Breen. said it gave Rosselli an‘ income of about $60,000. ROSSELLI at one time hdd been. a major influence in Las Vegas. Several sources sajd that when the owners of the Desert Inn wanted — Howard Hughes to move out of the ~ penthouse —- because his special needs were ‘costly and ‘putting
HW 50955_ Doclda: 32423630 Page 407 some “high rollers” in would, be more profitable — it was Rosselli -who patched things up. Hughes eventually bought the Desert Inn, as well as the Frontier. What Rosselli told the federal grand “jury about the Frontier, in i971 is unknown... Rosselli didn’t testify later at the trial at which. Anthony J. Zerilli and Michael Pol- izzi and the Emprise .Corp., among . “others, were convicted. , ZERILLI and Polizzi are ‘still in. jail. In 1973, the House of Repre- sentatives Select Committee on Crime: probed the influence of or- ganized crime in sports — and one area they looked at was Emprise . and the Frontier Hotel case. At the time. of the conviction, the federal prosecutor asked that Poliz- zi and Terilli be jailed immediately, because monitored, wiretapped conversations showed that the two had talked about “murder, the kill- -ing of certain individuals.” An intimate associate of Rosselli, however, discounts the possibility that Rosselli’s grand jury appear- ance could have led to his death. “They know Johnny didn't talk to the grand jury,” the associate said. JOE BREEN said ‘Rosselli hadn't been to Las Vegas for nine years, that ‘he’s never even seen the gift shop.” Since his prison release and move to Plantation, Rosselli wasn’t trying to regain power: according to his friends. ‘He had no muscle,” said an associate.“I can’t believe Rosselli was getting back into’ mob stuff.” But at the same time, many of the associates were surpised to learn about Rosselli’s recent visits with alleged organized crime fig- ures on the West Coast. Several associates speculate that ‘Rosselli. wanted to get involved in _casino gambling, preferably in the ‘Middle East, and was looking for someone with money to back him.., “MY IMPRESSION was that he was broke,” Morgan said. ‘He told me last year, ‘Pm. in. bad. financial, straits. i, : Scheer said Rosselli's income in- cluded about $60,000 from the gift _shop and about $3,500 in social se- curity, most of which went for back fees to attorneys and for gov- _ernment fines. ee . One friend said! that just before Giancana’s death, |Rosselli had ac- cepted Giancana’s|offer of money. The friend was to/act as-the inter- mediary. “Let meifigure out what my next (attorney's) tab wiill-be,'’- the friend. quoted! Rosselli as S Say ing. : Rosselli is described as” a man . with a sense of humor who did lit- tle offending. A California woman who had known Rosselli for about 40 years _told “The Herald,: “If you’ were. around him for 30 minutes you'd like him because he would regard you as a human being.” “If you had a headache he would’ either get you an laspirin or send someone to get one. I said: some- thing significant there — he would get it or he would send someone — “he wasn't a pansy, jbut he wasn’t a tough guy either.”
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Gh . NEPED STATES GON ARNMENT, Ce TO : Mr. peryosse, / DATE: ]2-10-G4 poe Ot le. . i rn “Ve a : l-HMr. DeLoach 7S a ; 1l-Mr. Belmont NO SUBJECT: YL PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION . l-Mr. Rosen : - ON THE ASSASSINATION OF “""™ l-Mr. Malley t a PRESIDENT IkENNUDY l-Mr. Shroder . l-Mr. Rogge - PURPOSE: a ° _3 In Volume £I of the hearings before the president ee To advise you that an Agent of the Secret Service, when testifying before the President's Commission, denied making certain statements to FBI Agents which were subsequently reported to the Commission. e DETAILS: F | acne 's ‘CommisSion commencing on page G1 there appears the testinony of Roy H. Eellerman, Assistant Special Agent, White House Detail, U. “Se Secret* Service on 3-9-G4, - *In Charge ‘ 3 , . Under questioning by a Commission member, Kellerman was asked about certain statements’ reportedly made by him on 11-22-63, to SA's [francis x. O Neill, Jr. and James WW. Sibert, of our Baltimore Office, which appear in the 12-10-63 Dallas report of Special Agent Robert P. Gemberling (page 3, paragraph 4). SA's O'Neill and Sibert were under orders to be observers during the autopsy of President Kennedy at the National Naval ‘Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, which commenced on the evening of 11-22-63, to be of assistance to the Secret Service, and to look after the Bureau's interests. >- Our Agents, in conversation with" Kellerman, sometime during the evening of 11~22-G63, learned of ex ytain pO ee fer whe oemted’ Ce portions of which were reported as follows:i7.; > ts ; “He advised he heard a shot: and Limediatety So turned around, looking past Goveinor Connally ; : iy who. was seated directly in back of hin, tpt ls President. He observed the President slumped wg PRN SS forward and heard him say, ‘Get ne to a hospital." ne #) Mr. Kellerman then heard Hirs. Kennedy say, Uy 10; 'Oh, no!', as the President leaned towards her. ; MB le immediately advised the driver to take the Fis] ' . president to the nearest hospital." — RDR: tint | y, , pees EE a (8) An CONTINUED - OVER oo nese “I et bas “AW 50955 "Docla:32493630 Page 417
aN) om! -~ A. Rosen te Mr, Belmont Memo RE: PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION The Commission in questioning Kellerman made Specific | one ‘reference to the underscored portions of the above paragraph ” ‘ ' as it contradicts some of Kellerman's testimony. cellerman aan claims he did not.hear the President nor Mrs. Kennedy say these things and had never told our Agents that he had. In part of Kellerman's denial he stated "TI don't know where they 1 got those quotes," OBSE aRVATIONS 3. Kellerman is claiming our Agents furnished inaccurate : accounts of a conversation with him. It is to be remembered as that at the time this conversation with our Agents reportedly took place 11-22-63, Kellerman had been a security guard in the President's car and more than likely was upset and feeling remorse over the days episode, In his testimony before the Commission hctendeavored to give the impression that he’ acted * calmly and immediately took command, issuing logical instructions after the Presiddat was hit. The conversation reported by. Ea - ““—e our Agents made it appear Kellerman reacted normally to the -_ tragedy and not dramatically as indicated in his testimony, as he didn't order the driver tothe hospital until after the . « : _  _ ' President had so directed. It is felt our Agents reported accurately what Kellerman told them on 11-22463, and that Kellerman's testimony 35 nonths later is the result of considered deliberation, on his part, to paint the most favorable picture possible, under _ the circumstances, for the Secret Service. Fi Consideration has been given to discussing this matter Sl with Chief Rowley of Secret Service, however, since it is the word of our Agents against Kellerman’ s, it is not felt any good purpose would be served by this course of action. , RECOMMENDATION: . a é Affidavits are being obtained from our Agents Sibert and O'Neill attesting to the accuracy of their report and refuting Kellerman so that we will be in a position to show any future inquirer that we recognized this: contradiction and did Spme thing about it. ‘ 4, AG 7 Ay, | a oe a —_ ~—ay, ¢ = ro rn Tal Ta ~ ~. eet, — See a “= Ne 7 a il eae a “> fo — oy fr zs . ~ f F. oad i aig oy. beatnens == oo 4 ¢ ene, ww ‘a HW 50955 ° Docld: 32423630 Page 418°
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY ij Per Bi WASHINGTON,D.C. 20505 ee ns Review Staff: 76-0298/1 oe 11 March 1976 wane Mr. William G. Miller Staff Director chadtee." Seleet Committee To Study Governmental . Operations With Respect To Intelligence ene Activities Room G-3508 — - Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D. C. 20510 Attn: Mr. Johnston Dear Mr. Miller: In response to a request dated 9 March 1976 about . the Oswald file held by the Agency, the attached is . forwarded for your information. Sincerely, | Wat Car oe . Walter Eider sor Review Staff Attachment: As stated bel | rr LUTION . fm fe 5 A TR ‘ can \ 2 tl c a 1S ED S ; 4, Sea Rat | aa ' , 1746 49° ; . ‘ A a . . % -- . ’ a an . ' AW 50955 Docld:32423630 Page 419
SEC? 2 TTT ae nee ae ey beg teeeee es Le om re . we oe ne f . foe Attachment to: Review Staff: 76-0070/1 1. The following CIA Staff Employees, all of whom are now retired, participated in the preparation of DIR 86054 on 30 November 1963: , Originator: Mr. Louis Armstrong Coordinators: Whitten, mo, s. Sue L. Darling Authenticator: | ["for" Desmond FitzGerald) Releasor: Mr. John M. Whitten ("for" J.C. King) 2. We believe that the Italian diplomat on the Cubana flight No. 465 on 22 November 1963 from Mexico City to Havana, Cuba, was. Mario MAURI who was accompanied by his wife, Maria Antonieta MAURI. We have been unable to determine who trans- mitted the ‘information contained in DIR 86054 to CIA and we -have not been able to locate any documents relating to this matter in Latin America Division files or the Oswald files. 3, We have been unable to locate any documents which would indicate that there was a response to DIR 86054 from Mexico City. . 4. Assuming there was no -response to DIR 86054, the originating Headquarters component should have initiated follow-up action if a response was not received. . 5. We have been unable to find any further information relating to DIR 86054 in Latin America Division files. FEB 5 1976 CIA cee eetiina cabinet eatin] e- + HW 350955 DBocld:32423630 Page 470
ed ene cam Se lusk yy we 6; We do not have a copy of em panes ede het ood the Cubana manifest-for the 22 Novenmber-1963 flight from Mexico City to Havana, but we have determined that the following persons were on: that flight: NAME _Jakob ETT Hector LEMIEUX. Joseph POULIOT Donald George CAMERON William POULIS Thomas Clark OSULD Dungan MCPHERSON Leo John DEST Thomas MURPHY Arthuc EDMONDS | James DISINOP Venancio OLIVAREZ Villaverde Jose Luis CACHO y Barcha - David FLOR Lechago Maria Antonieta MAURI Mario MAURI Maarten Van DERPLAAT Swiss NATIONALITY . Canadian Canadian | Canadian ~ Canadian — Canadian Canadian Canadian Canadian. British British Spanish Spanish Spanish: Italian [Italian Dutch a ere Cairns | . HW 50955 Docld:32423630 Page 41 a oP “* OCCUPATION Diplomat Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown ° Unknown Unknown Unknown. Unknown Unknown Unknown Diplomat - Diplomat et owe one Leen aes os — a .
: a pene peas eye boa UG. ALES JCS CH col / eet Ge Sy . ar ae 7 ff fame ee te ’ ete te ee Hg at ee . nd .Supgmeer: RSARSES? CF SILVIA TA Poss THAD SILYTLA EMBASSY I LAGE GSPPMEER 1503. TES REiSGH FUR TES RRS . f ’ ‘ , i S] og i Fi oo =~ Document Number 134-595 ; | for FOIA Review on APR 1976 EICUAPD MAINS sie" ae HW 50955 Docld: 324273630 Page 422
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a of thoir ha , CurIn EG une Warr ving de discussi Qns and they @ datermind to pvieca aeenly aifected py Len Keanecy family imege,. still follow | Robart senned: _to adore tha & oe cereer with great interest 7 Tao a fain 1 points: 7 SYLVIA DURAK,’ the re member). — Sources [. °- marr ey eed BnD act they began as: tanding Vi . Yhea “were Ss oo _. they .% CO - they a _ whe they Werd, c7:C2 none of the other, gu 4 E oe / ALSO, wnen the | wt ; —axx . the Durans , ° early the next morn — — Sod@ace coys together on “peen ys UMS v en Commission repore in the Hexicecn earl ‘who was arrasted for ascous Oswoid bacause / Dun: ampassy when. be. vent there lonlcing-. ee also a ringleader. at tha Cubun-hexican institute” on Lokic, While Osweld wes he nome of. Ruben Dursn nid-week. fas very peculiar at he rir bu ae l Bs togetns™ ail eventngand didn! rera shifted to cnothur room. | Werg nto becat sal Insurventss. In othar words a ie wal contact wypta Gswale ; “apron Commission Wr 3 : : Ete-UBS iM pras: OO sole td . sow ercund recailin: detail: jn @ “group with Oswald here last fall. he wos in Hexico.- The write cups of the newspapers sparked this .. . sparently nad never rosliy, sSt around it Sil cozether, althcteh all three wera nady's assssSination, secned literally . i and admiration. a fe .Horscio is tha: husbend. oz quastion® she had bezn in touch + wich him et the Cu for.a visa... (she-is or “ iL: . = re dest fail tne , Duren cousins invited ‘the . toa “twist party" at the i few Communists they, Know of people who ‘struck 3 cn » were there. AND OSWALD NASTEERW KONG BOYS 5 CHS OF *iGit WAS “EIOM THaY ” REMEMBER SUITS seLL. akericcns, who % Guncu at 2il,” rowev er . said ha dian! t imov Sylvia Duren had preugat shen, anc Seek any attsapt to approscn tnen. 89 insistent about. meeting thea, — wha’ the boys were ‘leaving town v 26 days werl along in the day, , Saw all tarc hoy had not 1<« a number : he 03 wo Pp. yy ala ¢ pence in we tet LD CB pty Omens ee aE gf eae) Usa -ing questions acout the s 29 wy te Me Be rs me eh 2  aieary ane a - . | toum, &t the tine, they romaried ubout ix t As soon as Cemeld's picture wes nrinteé in the newspapers . Govasé| clSarly peneno rod nik. ane of course the arrest a: sylvia waren almost immediately al fterwafd, underlined thoir cortainty. . HW 50955 DocId: 32423630 Page 424
HY 50955 -{ ao Sp DoclId: 32423630 , . - 8 we ecole ) that oy bresoe r -aned woey wara so B1cCk a - ehabucons. | oif twhneir pola cLous wil: eilaeue —x«, ve “Ungt bye + Duecn end one of tne Dura tant ke voees. “ang chat mast as pos 2 sly y nad T2D ie} - — 30 ave pase wn sar s poor beicz eh ve ail prosperec this: last year. Always p Shey have él prOoDee _— car each. schey ‘now have an expansive ; econ H Duran works at Pomorie “RUE mor acio a mn] Dia newspaper...” ~ & « . - lo ble —. _ * . ; : , : . : —— . rs . an cee ” o. . « cy , - * : - ~-- 7 ; ; ae . . : be 7 : > : . ~ e ; 7 . ° . 7 ~ . : - ; ; - ~ rd @. ” . : Xu ° ’ ac ~ ~ ~s nn rnin 2 _— _ ° 6 ” = Page 425
preys GIRECTOR CONF! INFO \ 70, ae . ae OE | - sREDST oF SILTY IVA DURA 13 a EXIRIELY C SERIOUS BATT ere cc ee oun PRESUDICE - cite DIR: AS 4 ce Bee ; Qi. e v. 5. + FRED oF ‘nce ro ou, TIRE  QUESELOR CF CUBAN | “RESPOY SILTY, “VE Pus oa ‘soca FOR -ExtOR TIGERESTS, _REQIES 2 you ENSURE TAP 1R ARREST 18 feo] SQSoLEEE. a : : LEFTIST e : DISLOXAL CIRCLES rr Et rExIcaT GOVERMENT. 20° NB. ARE oRY rig 30 ari ORE Fo ¢ ‘cH ‘oswALD ) FROM EBL AD vo ADVISE D BoP “END CF [ESSAGE az “RROUAS! ig. KARAESSIS | - ne ADDP | of RELEASING OFFICER. ' j | AUIMENTICATING -| OFFICER . Copy Ma. HW 50955 Bocld:324275630 Page 476
(an-67048) 1 THIS | t STRUCTION | ; MEXICAN AUTHORITIES | CATE DIR . 85318. \ . IAS BEER COORDINATE > eITH\ AND skouLp INTERROGATE ‘STLVIA DURAW 70 Bt ene eOESSAA CLARIFY. OUTSTANDING POINTS WHICH BEEN RAISED. ‘TOUR CABLES. “LAST. Le. na" o HOURS. af. JGomment: .. ,to.leave Mexico for. . RELEASING ‘OFFICER Pos | REPRODUCTION By OTHE es yew wwe eee. — —— hoe te aed - HW 50955 Docld: 32423630 Page 427 | z (en oF " YessAGE) “Silvia. ‘Duran cyearrested because Cuba. tae me “XOU yay PROVIDE GumsrroNs 70 MEXICAN TITERROGATORS BUT 1 ea DO nor a REFEAT. NOT “vA ‘an axgnronis [70 ‘CONFRONT SILVIA ‘DURA oR, BE ay cowtacr WIT » 158 - 610~ for FOIA A Review oy on | _ AR ms a 7 Document Number INTERROGATION. co ee a i ONs sue a she was attempting --] vd “AUTHENTICATING . OFFICER a oan I R THAN THE. ISSUING OFFICE” Is PROHIBITED. ~ Copy No. so.
i Tp MO) Ex Free can Douee - {J FILE IN CS FILE NOW)! bok. 1630 0) Bibs IN Go Fis 3, ”:t~—CssS i DEFERRED: ROUTINE - . ‘ re) . _ Sie om | 853 7 7: a FORIGER 70 Dae e518) 4 TO. BE CERTAIN ‘THERE Is" nO  AISTIDERSEANDTG be RNS NeEmHe&y,  NoW. av Bans >» Sy BETWEEN ws, WE ANE “10 “DS URE ‘THAT, SILVIA DURAN ese IMPRESSION THAT | nn ~ a ALCAN AUTHO AYERICANS BERD ‘HER REARREST. “Bt OmHER ‘WORDS, “WE SANT: kK . OMTARE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHOLE AFFAIR. a ra nr mareneeaeel oe oak: mah (a0 oF MESSAGE) | Comment: *Mexican authorities should interrogate Silvia Duran to .. extent necessary to clarify outstanding points which have been ra . ‘MEXI may provide questions to Mexican interrogators, but Hqs. does not want pay Americans to confront ‘Duran or be in contact with her” | "Document Number Trl for FOIA Review on BPR 376 ‘ ‘ . . . “e : . - . . TOR saps ae <r | meee eo yin ee ee 4 4 7 COORDINATING OFFICERS ne ISIN, HS 7 " REPRODUCTION BY OTHER. THAN: THE ISSUING. OFFICE iS PROHIBITED. “1, Copy Ne AUTHENTICATING | Lee amet w oom ins ORs ae eva a one om ~ - vo =: 7 + . * . me . ° eters reer Oh ers om . . ot o- 7 - ied —_ ae a cee bye tle wy we . won aoe ~ a wee an Poo. - 7 . BW 50955 Docld: 32473630 Page 425
HY Bocld: 32423630 Page 429 | ; I . ra Ht on om, PEXSORAZOLN FUR =. ade LES 7) a. immates — Za , She War Ree Coenms 3s sedy 3 Referenced ig miele to the ubtecknects to ay oot B> menevanda Gated 31 January 1504 and 21 Feemesy G4, tata og biicn secost ictermtion on diivia ELISA, wear ican ettizen eemlayed 3% the Cura Coasilase , 7 ta <9 Cis Ixtosastica on the actions of ciigta TISAR oa hey rocums to voxk ab the cna Gate Sopauaia oa 23 Taweaber 2583, allowing her tizst an sresatica by tha Hemicom uthorbscd s,s is attached to this seeomsoet This itea say ba usefal So “Ss fousiseion in the eralatica < urs. TnAd's story- 2. co Latrantion sented ta tng obtains Riobend Heise be bepaby birectar tox = PisHe &itackncn® Document Number (42 2 ro : 3° for FOIA Review on Ju 1978 |
HY 50955 Bocld: 32423630 Page 430 Oh Coe iubjecss; Azsicne oF silvi0. TERAS, teoclooy Clioises Dooloyed wy the Given toe nulate, Poligwing Ear First Interrogation. by the Hesious Autborlties im ‘ ' | | ' LeoA sulishlla sod omaibive poures, © veil intoomd on polinicea yesaaiis ties uod oeveniea im tee Saten Potowsy and Conmalake ty Yaxiag Cisy, cad atated thas om ber ceourn to the Guiana cooralate <a 2) Hoveaver 33953, siivia Diag tola haw ealluacse < 3 toe eee story ahouk her afsiscial comm Lae with Lee axtey OS6ALD thet wee pablissed in ; . the Mextes tity newss. This informiion, sic se=cs ta a Tae Date of quxreptiously eivem to toe press by carta Boxioon subheriting, indicated Shas avcording a DVEAR, OWALD bad visited tse Cubea and soviet Conmiletes to obtain vise in coder 20 visi& them comisies, aol ote. had bepdled bis o@ae a% the Cucen Comgulate. 3. dhe only cev ioc ta the acres thre Glivie poe save her oollcagaes was ber clals that che Mecicca golice | had thowetesed te ta cubvadiva har to tha Daited ttates for a cestrimiasion wita GMAID. According to the source, Silvia DUaSa, aa intelligass asd giicewiteed poms, @id sei Soar gach & confrontation. 3. It sioald te noted that SIA dows nos Eoov the me prasieg crigia of ths sucgested confrontatinn. The daa CS = aad in 31k prowasitity, ven tae Manica auboorities Invoked £2 tus intesroyatica of Di a Oe I 4, According te 426 pase sources, iouediately efter . ani sismee tha aactsetmtion the pecocreel oF tue VUE tubasay Tae shocked and paxhled < mo atgrensiona of . | icagure 2s the accasaiostion were Seard, sox thease ree i . Ussie discusaicn of it. Zhe coseio aa oSsial ooo covarsations in tia oe cham Daubasey and Ueasulata tend <2. cosficn tha , . i=steseioa thet GGRALD vietied the Rsoaasy only to ost a j visa to visin oF te pruneth To comniey- a. _ t l- i { : . Lo é i | | YO \ - Lo : : i wee eee i tT i. v= '
oo ee i HY 0955 | { Docld: 32423630. Page 431 i 7 April 1964 ’ Baassd on DIR $5679 dated 29 Newember 1963 anaes
HY 50955 DBocld: 32423630 Page 432 ; ° ay [ : oa a cc pcg eee a Le gy ene Cee ce rots ‘hlowse Letters. it : tludirg cmiden name, if epplicabley must bea listed. Ff the iden- rote fo ea must be used. Write UNKNOUN for items you are unable caSTias 41s] SELTIOS lilt To be ctspleted in all cases, - 2. : SECTION 1 Biccriice SQuace OOCUMENT , |. Oo [4 NIMs SENSITIVE / “wwe (Last) (Firat) (Hiddle) (Title) _ sex? : : ~ ¢ . . OS ALLE i= (TERM \ he ? NAME VARLANT . ee al (Last) (Firat) | _ A (Middle (Title) COUNTRY GF BIRTH City OR TowN OF BFATH = 7+)” OTHER IDENTIFICATION a PRA GY 3: OCccsPO3. CODE a: DCCUPATION/POSITION Loe —_ a eM CG 709. Ls : _ U L£ Mesncg , i) . : SECTION 11 Fg 2? cayPronyy ou. «| PSEUOONYH SECTION Hf QND COUNTRY LNTEREST 12- > 2aD COUNTRY INTEREST Naa. r Mocument Nunez Jum fof Lé “for Fo Valected be és iss k LAL Cchober Wasa SR an. APs SIGIATURE . om aay | a ; - - ecoRn tory De
HW 50955 GSunLO, LEE HENRY - ood SEX m 003 18 OCT. 39 — \ i MEW ORLEANS, LA., USA / :f CT ? Se ite REF: . | ISSR yet OPERATOR, U.S. MARINE CORPS, AS OF: 60. ' DEFECTED TO USSR IN oct 39+. ce, ‘uo OLA0 VIO4 40; bee =f) JOquINN Mowindoq a | i | via Udy Docld: 32423630 Page 433
“EOL Gitte afore ot Ee: Dpetomecpapdnontee . . - ; 445 NAD . . ws . . “@ . . . _ en Ley, ‘CONTINGED} _ 7 , 2ELEasing OFFICER ; . . z= COORDINAT I ytei OFFicerRs . : mo ; wi Ect E> ) 7 REPRODUCTION BY OTHER THAN’ THE ISSUING OFFICE {5 i iy td INo 2 fo! chee OS MEXICO CITY z 2 ANY Neg CONCERNING: 4 y ae TASHINGTON, TES" auep rea) reef 9A VS 5. YEARS OLD, WITH ‘aN. ATHLETIC. Batty salwfy8 3 Pe Cal OE A PEsciorsg? nareeryp. eri oS, aPP 2. a as PSLISVED THAT oSwanD way ae ve ue ne te ty o*, ned “a em Loe : OC ANA, > MARINE WHO psrzcrsy 70 THE SOVIET uxtoy py 2 es HADE ARRANG RZyTS THROU ; CORN WIFE P HARINA NIKOLAEYNA PUSAZOVA, AND THER 'PROHIeITED, Cony Ba, 4344 50955 Docld:32423630 Page HW
ChINoEx / . CP NO thos bot ve OOFRE IN Cs FILE No inten vfs afmseummanamnithaseatiney !tinnns «i ~! ~ at i | t | FLOM: DIRECTOR ji | 7“ se SATE A sa <P aging cameras aE wt + See at : i 2] . ag oe vee 4 5 Bj END OF iessagg ON AND NaToRaLizarr vee _. c IN 3601 7)" [7 ~ who Bae = . t | . 2 ole ra ! ad - . fone e , “ts . tS ee . + 7 a oan 2 = RELEASING OFFICER pm ORDINATING OFFICERS mo Poe, .! eo . ~ “UAUTHENTI CAT pac : ae _ 7 REPK UCC’ — | a EER Seat le py © OTHER TRAN THE ISSUING OFFIC( « “pROHia! - Pry tet peo - i Copy t- - -* WW 50355 Bocld:32423630 Page 435
bi caine HW 50955 om "a ao ‘3 i a O° &. . Gs: . 1 pat ft ca | oper ane rete ge _ . [4 54 ee 1965 0 SLEIN Cs File na ROUTINE , _— a | : Se - cre oie —_ a3) a i wo conracrey ai ower  eisiey 2 (CCE. PROBABLY: Taian, > a Boa 18 ocz r i933, NEF ona, ee : * an. ~ eae wari a OSFALD Is: FIVE FEET soy 2 cee =.ONE, HUNDESD. ‘SISTE FIVE POUNDS,., * LIGHT. Bao eRe vay EAS — 959 ES A ATTREr=D Eve) RENOUNCE HIS. UE ee THE sce) STaras, IB Pcs HOSCOT, oS 2 es arn a INDICATING : =a, = Hip apsereD FoR: soviEr CITIZENSHIP, “ON 33 aa. soc! + oF. us. Ea) x05CO7 : mee . POSTAARESD MINSK. ON FIVE 1 FEB 1982 IN WATCH suas INDICATED Por. RECEIVED ay, UNDATED LSTTER. ROW osmana Avis 3 DESIRED RETURN oy| ers US EPT/AS WISHED TO RETURN 70 GSA iz, COULD: cous, To; sous AGHEEZENT Concaannye TEE ‘proppie SE OF ANY LEGAL PROCEEDINGS' “AGAINST we: a ON 8 SURLY ON His, OR on ie B 4 ee ae kd I INITIATIVES HE. ‘APPEARED ar THE MB. WITH ‘HIS. WIRE, ‘70 SZE 2g ABOUS , mt BIS RETURN ‘za STATES, SUB STATED THAT, EE ACTUALLY HAD Nayee . ~ for FOIA Review on” ue ' APPLIED FOR soyier: CITIZENSHIP AND THAT HIS apenicarroy ay (0 Of 1 Pe vt cae enero COORDINATING OFFICERS - - ‘ CONTINUED) -- ae ae RELEASING OFFICEa Do geet ‘ ~ Lod ge : . . * AUTHENTICATING Pte ae sme mo wet . . . ~ OFF! cee : Bee : : 7 . oe a © REPRODUCTION « BY OTHER THAN. THE ISSUING OFFICE Is PROHISITEO, : ~ s  | Copy Nc Bocld: 32423630 Page 436 i
LJ HO INury red 5 ;-—— a fo rn RE Et es ee FFOM: DIRECTOR CITE DIR © my: TEAT TIME EAD BREN TO REMAIN IN USSR AND FOR % EXPORARY marmot S  Ourcons OF. HIS “REQUE Sr SSE ae TEES ; oF ‘HIS ToURIS =f VISA PENDING auscarron, "accospine TO OsWazn, , CONTAINED ‘NORE? Ta. SOVIET - OSHALD ‘STATED THAT Hap BEEN EMPLOYED sixce aa 3 JAN. 1960" IN ‘-RELORUSSZAN RADIO AND TY. FacroRy, IN MINSK fA Osa mf FOREED AS. METAL, WORKER IN. ‘RESEARCH SHOP,  OSFALD WAS. os oe _MAPR IRD ON 30. APRIL i961 TO MARINA NINOLAEYNA PUSAEOvA vo. Dae | DENTAL, TRCNTeTaN, BORN 17 SULY ist USS s HE ATTEMPTED ARRANGE, FOR ‘WIFE TO. JOmN ALY: EN, oscom ‘$2: ‘SHE “te 3 3 FOR Vasa. 2 ‘TERVIET, SHES aNERrcay PEE. | Ee TAS" "RETURNED 0 Hn, [US EuB- MOSCOW ‘STATED ED TRENT EONTES’" 2 ay = es : fo OF REALITIES oF LIFE ay SOVIET UNION HAD ) CLRARLY HAD Har _ _BEFECT. oN. OSFALD." " TEES og, “LATEST EDQS INFO ¥as[- a REPORT DATED ay | 1962 Somat oe pra TE gd ‘SAYING [| _ HAD DETERMINED OSFALD Is San US CITIZEN ‘agp BOTH HE AND EIS SOVIET. WIFE HAVE EXIT PERUIT aS AND. DEPT STATE EAD GIVEN Y APPROVAL FOR ‘TREIR TRAVEL WiTH THEIR INFANT CE (CONTINGED)_ CHIzD ot ° ; COORDINATING OFFICERS ~ RELEASING OFFICER > ; Th ° AUTHENTICATING - } + ~ OFFICER : cs f “+ REPRODUCTIOP ) OTHER THAN THE ISSUING OFFICE )PRCHISITED, Copy Na. HW 50955 BDocld: 32423630 Page 437
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Se. oe as = Ne : 2 ae Syee™ tal eet LS ASD Lo? PINSAQ Vee ne Ta . . . , RGA COR 5 Whe -nbassedsos . _ : . tz ’ . a me atte oa * 4. * - Se ye ce - cm cnpas ry fee a a ~ — oe. * se Oonary whoeep <7 l= ete aes —— | > en Fa DD eet pe Be ey ! es : . * es | Om L Cotcker 1953, an Azertoen le cactert at 2%, ~ 2 — . * ~ —_ . = ~ wha Sowies tmbessp exd idemitiet hicseif as Lee OUMALD. Tata oPetcen eae. er as Eecitmsioa esmesicg his. reget. Ne heave oe clextiyins into with . 2 yess’ te this remess. oo. —— so, eee ate . tole ( . Lomistiama, a foprmm rmeier eterctor in the 9. S. Nerize Cores wha Cevortm =. >) ao oR, - + Bosument Number 8. on eee ant . a .° for FOIA Review on , ° 2 rt . - DO ; . : re | . a : . : . Toe Siciste> oo a “A. ae — Lego Stimeche ms ‘ 2° ° 7 7 . mn e . . _ ; . : . _ . oe . : . ° ' : ; | RECORD COPY 7 0 HW 350955 Docld:32423630 Page 439
HY — _mumeree rene «orn ema wpe s oeot 1952 CLFILE IN CS FILE NO. | 30; VU RPARTIESST OF TSE NAV? Te, ° * é = yy . . . REFEREACE. 1S HABE 7 ‘cra cor TSLSETPS Boe. 2.8 oCTOEREE 1983 = : %e 63, BEGARDING POSSIsLz. FRERECS: oF. SUBIR, Fed saice mane nee TES wey oe. ~. oe a IS RSqUESTED Tear’ “you, Foa7a3p To m8 cryics as ‘sco AS = “Txa } COPIES oF sy 250 aa ra ae SY. RECENT -PROTOGRAPS TOU. ALE OF svars aor a 6 . \ COORDINATING ‘OFFICERS. _ 2 ° . ee ° ty} \. . : oe 4 woe . ° , . 7 a an . ‘ 5 - REPRODUCTION. BY OTHER, a gHANIrs ISSUING OFFICE IS PROHIBITED. * Copy Nas 4 50955 Docld:32473630 Page 440
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o 78 HY | UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUST (f. m+ aed O tn . FEDERAL BUREAU “FS INVESTIGATION it 7 i i . ' TASHINCTON 25,D.C. June 9, 1963 ; BY COURIER SERVICE Honorable J. Lee Rankin c General Counsel Tae Cresident’s Commissioa 200 Maryland Avenue, Northeast oo Yasnington, D. C. 20002 _ Dear ure Rankin: . or , Your letter of June 1, 1964, requesting summaries et FBI reports with regard to ten nened cersons and certain information regarding tne contact by Special Agent Caarlas W,. Flynn with Jack L. Ruby on March 11,.1959, is herewita acknowledged. . fi oe ; As you were advised by ny letter of February 27, 1954, Jack Ruoy vas contacte d by Special Agent Canaries V. Slyon of the Dalles O?fice on ilarca 11, 1959, in view of his position aS a nigat club overator who mignt have knowlecse of the criminal elenent in Dallas. The purpose of this contace was to deternine whether or not Ruby did have such knowledge end if so, if ne would be willing to furnisa informatioa to this Sureau. Euby was ndvised of the FSI's: jurisdictzon in criminal matters, and he expressed a willingness ta surnish information. A personal ‘descrivtion oi Ruoy wes “Gobnined py ceciai Agent Flynn on the occasion of this contact on Maxch. 11, 1259, but no information or other results were ovutained. Between Harca il, 1, 2559, and Cctcver 2, 1959, Rusy was contacted on eignt other cccasions, but £9 eurnisned no daformation waavever aad further contacss with him were - discontinued. = a. . Some tte Re ete Rt at Tee ela, reas cee moa itr ad ere gt othe a : Barer oe Sek eee ne neo Ree nee Fe 50955 Daocld: 32423630 Page 444 “¢ 8 Or mbt. we GE GU aD wm Mei oy tm ann 8 Gon Cem m eeiee o Pe ene Do TRO FD GrampERD CTE @ deter . ° ee oe ere if
Tae personal descriviioa of Ruby 2s obtained by Ssecinai Agent flyan on larch 11, 1959, did not in itself contain the reaark "known Dallas criminal." This remark was 2dée2d to tha cescription py Special & agent Louis WU. Helley at the tine woea he was assisting ia the prevaration of thea revort of Ssecia Agent Manning C. Clezents at Dallas dated Novenber 30, 1963. Znclosed herewith is the affidavit of especial agent Louis M. . Kelley at Little Rock, ‘Arkansas, dated June 4, 1964, setting orth his basis for adding the remark "known Dallzs area -crininal" to the description of Puby as it avpears in the revort of Special Agent Yunning C. Clements at Dallas dated November 30, 1963, aad in tae enclosure ‘to my letter to you of April 7, 1964. The summaries concerning the ten named individuals in your letter of June 1, 1964, are currently being prepa red and will be forvarded to you promptly upon cozoletion. , Sincera ly yours, a Te aE oat wed Sine ht bot ie! HW 350955 DBocld:32423630 Page 445 SS ad wate eo aoe tyme et +e Caer’ ee we Aes te 2 ey foe LAR Betas sete te nee ee oe vine SP ete ot. i+
or ir Iv BO QO \- 2) JT, Louis My. Kelley zt el gf investigation, 2 Uc s Ge. ta ome! {3 Sb) \— ju Wo ours oa ae t+ b+ o. Sad doer Ve] ct tg fl) {3p Wow assist in Joan 3) sO fm RO WU 40 crock O eas joe hy OW oO m. U4) ng tr ct t i 0D oct Rt ty aor bet a BIO PH My iooaonn un ry ct Mm 72 ctr rLUQ ( Fin tH: wu Ww ~ ch v7) BY sore (6) ey @ Fr body chr fo jate ae ja Ha " Q jer @) He @) ic 1) r }? Q pe Woo oo o fete oO Us sf) Bot, GQ poo 42 J bas re WW OW cr iT ie ne) w YM fw OF rf “> MO a) rH - > us we C] bee 8G ples oO 0 0 lrovenoer tae inser & 193 i] GS ck i Kh - ry Q gf cr cr oO +N 1- UI we. ity} oO ry) ct Oo Ol Wir MOU ct . 00) i jd ¢ et }e oO tJ x or }4- Q oa = 3 RAR cf) trey HWoO EY UW Jai TW is: Gio {2 e| v7) rw oO se) Hy wey i) e] Ui @ 0 °O Ph ecr 1. 0 ww tO iF. O. FY . 4 HD O tJ So oartnent) , include february bee wo oO ti er Wi ‘ cf} a te fs . cr }? y Uys Fi, h O tr oO uw > Fi (Ores cr ee ert Sse In dictating the physic data concerning Ruby, f possivly Uoonarks,!! "Known Dallas area ert: before ne Ruby's identification + ce Department, whica listed seve This would have been the only YV vation could have been based. j4e {2 Joe 31 a. vay \~ hie 4 * «+ Sworn and subscrioed to before ne this: — day of June 1964. « by 22 wre TAS3.S tated eyzie "28 Jolie 22, HW 30955 Docld:32423630 Page 446 Bn eh PO FL Oo Im FS HE (oO - JS o- ft) j+> tl~ yor V3 oct choct Ww my co we ray) . wy J re Sa cr [3 re) joe ee) t ct ° 5 G z c 1 2) Ayviansas f2 }— OW re way ©O ow ean) woe f Ff W) bay < o2 re Jo {3 cr oH OO) wD Co J oy ck oo rf e) cc im or aor WO Peo W Vs fe FEO oO. Om MH ty {3 Ur = “0. fe cr Oo Q Oo More a “UI 8 ca) PHOS fr ey for inclusion to include such were evailaple loned on MU) rs) <ocl Goer {J av ri ch oP tr Oo <a 0) 9 © ys mo oO ry? ch pe Q ch fi) cr (40) Cy fJ tf {u O ry O gy < D Sy O wv KH im 1 O ek O 1-4 cl n th UW ts ig 9 fA oe cre) Ua 0 ac QO eo) a> GO pipes mo Hit JF Barca erigtion and biograp ed ucder the heading '" based on the fa ord from tne Dallas + arrests in the Dalias ning on which such an Puoglic . CSE spo=< 7 PRC es ee, ee 3 id legge 0 bee f te fey Fe we «Le Pim Pcp eran At *
HW 50955 ’ Kennedy. ~ ' "These are raw FBI files, . - Warning: ' some The VBI Withheld De By Jack An derson aad Les Whitten Sashingten Merry-Go-Round The confidential notes queie Hoover as instructing his +, subordinates to get the rep ort ‘EPCS | AZ? Pe beLcout of the Justice Departmicnt The FBI. withheld from the Warren Commission hundreds of documents about the assassination’ of. which the commission requested but never received, They contain no_ startling information that will overturn the commission's verdict, but they reveal intimately how the FBI handled its most im- portant case. : In the margins of some suppressed memos, the late FBI chief, J. Edgar Hoover,’ scribbled caustic comments in blue ink. He was critical of almost everyone involved in the investigation, from Dallas police chief Jesse Curry to . President Lyndon Johnson. Confidential notes kept by ‘one top FBI official, for : example, quote Hoover as “Johnson may become very dictatorial. We Aimust keep our guard up.” - + Sourees familiar with the suppressed documents say the ' contents were summarized and submitted to the Warren Commission. But there were subtle, perhaps deliberate, omissions. ; The documents show that Hoover brought pressure on his subordinates to rush outa preliminary report on the FBI investigation before the murdered President’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy, returned to his desk as Attorney General. Docld: 32423630 President ,, As a former defector, he also “before Bobby gets back,” - Apparently, the FBI chief also feared Deputy Attorney zenbach might. tamper with the report before forwarding it | to the Warren Commission. Hoover told his aides to alert President Johnson's major- domo, Waller Jenkins. “Let Jenkins know after report is out of our hands.” Hoover directed. ‘Let Jenkins know what Katzenbach is doing. Might cause long delay. Must not consider any alteration.” ‘ Thirteen days after President Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas, Hoover delivered a detailed report to Katzenbach naming Lee Harvey Oswald as the assassin. Katzenbach kept it four days before submitting it to the commission. The crusty old G-man was furious at the Dallas police chief, meanwhile, for leaking the story that the FBI had investigated. Oswald but had failed to alert the Secret Service. ; “This is the lowest level in history of Bureau since I have been director,” Hoover lamented, according to the confidential notes. He contended that Oswald had never been seen with firearms, had written no hate letters against U.S. leaders. knew he was a marked man whom the FBI was watching. prumbled Hoover, “how could he be security risk? No in- dication of violence so far as our records show. . . Oswald could have hollered false _ arrest if we’ had arrested. General Nicholas deB. Kat- him. The FBI chief commented that. Chief Justice Earl Warren. who headed the commission, ‘would have been first one to holler” about Oswald's rights. Citing the criticism of the FBI, Hoover commented: “This is one of the rough ones.” ; He felt, therefore, President Johnson should have endorsed the FBI report. “President backed up report,” com- plained Tawver, “based on eviderze gathered by the FRi.” “ in private remarks that _ were never intended to be repeated outside his inner - circle, he made deprecating only about. ’ President Johnson but about (R- . remarks not Sen. Barry Goldwater Ariz.), who was then preparing to run against LBJ for the presidency. “Goldwater has no sound advisers around him,” Hoover noled. But his comment on Johnson was more deadly: - “LBJ's speeches are dull.” The Warren Commission adopted a resolution, meanwhile, calling for “the _ raw materials upon which any reports given to the com- mission are based, together ’ “With that background,” Bi Page 447 that. should - have. - and ‘aon JFK Slaying with all raw materials and reports relating to (he work of the commission since the date of any and all earlier reports." d. Lee Rankin, the general counsel, followed up with a.: “Dear Edgar” letter to. the « FBI chief requesting the full ‘ files “as promptly as. possible.” But’ they were ‘ never delivered, ‘ : A commission remembering those days ; more than a decade ago, , told us: “Nobody ever got the . FBI's own files.” In 1963-64, .« another staff member pointed out, the FBI ‘could do no’ lawyer,- - wrong,” So no one pressed too ‘hard for their internal - records. Now 12 -years after the — ‘Kennedy assassination, a fascinating story is still locked | : in FBI files awaiting a publie- reopening. We will tell part of. Yhe story in future columns,. Sen. Richard Schweiker (R- ~: Pa.), chairman of the intelligence subcommnittee °. investigating ‘the A assassination, is seeking the ~ full story from the FBI, ; Footnote: FBI spokesmen * stoutly defended the FBI's ' findings and the thoroughness of the investigation. They conceded that “informative” “deliberative” memos were not given to the com. mission. But “everything they needed was given them. They had all they wanted to make their findings."’ (1975, United Feature Syndicate, inc.) enate |:
The Mashington Morry-Go-Rou ag | | Oswald Peres 7 By Jack Anderson and Les Whitten The late J. Edgar Hoover, in ° “his zeal to protect his beloved FBI, engineered a cover-up 12 years ago to keep the Warren ..Commission from learnin about the ties between FBI agent James Hosty and ‘ @8sassin Lee Harvey Oswald. ' The formidable Hoover, whose bulldog visage had , become a national symbol of law and order, intervened personally when the Warren . .Commission began to zero in "on Hosty. ' Now, 12 years later, Hosty ‘‘has admitted destroying ao ~ threatening “note, which Oswald delivered to the FBI , + Office in Dallas a few days “before Shooting President * John Kennedy in November, 1963. The note ‘threatened to blow up the FBI '. Office and Dall ‘stop bothering his wife,. ’. The FBI -. that Oswald, a threatened violence, was in the Dallas area. The Secret . “Service routinely would have 7 checked his whereabouts —. during the presidential visit, “This might have Saved President Kennedy's life, When the FBI learned that a Suspect named Lee Harvey ‘Oswald had been picked up, _ Hosty reminded ae beet . Oswald BR ters. Oswald, who had been , outwardly calm, suddenly ‘ became agitated. “T know he shouted. “7 know .. you! You're the one who ac. | “" notebook, a youl" ‘a file on Oswald. ; repeated the conversation to a . Superior who ordered him to Federal Investigation WaS aware of the as police. , headquarters if Hosty didn't _ Should have. "+ notified the Secret Service misfit who had « _ Brizzled FB] ‘that Hosty his boss, .. . Gordon Shanklin, that he had | randling the Oswald case. Shanklin lelephoned (he Dallas police and asked whether Hosty could par- ticipate in the interrogation. Hosty at police headquar- costed my wife twice!” The incident however, without any of the threatening Hosty also confided to a mention letter, Jack Revill, that the FBI had put it in writing. ! “Special Agent’ Host related to this officer...” of subject (Oswald) and that . they had information that this . Subject was committing the Capable of 48Sassination - of President Kennedy.” ; Hoover was furious when he learned of Hosty’s loose talk. According to confidentia] notes taken at the time, the chief complained words.”’ But the old man, nevertheless, Sought to cover. up the FBI's embarrassment. On Dec. 23, 1963, the FBI Save the Warren Comnission a WW~50955 —Docta: 32473630 Page 446 ‘ and license tag had ‘later questioned -. “| about passed, " purported to be a ful account . friend... "on the Dallas police force, Lt. Revill | ‘; 888assination of - Kennedy,” Hoover added. bs Interestingly, he used the | Y " word “our” to describe the _« last contact with the FBI. But © on Feb, 6, in a sworn affidavit, that Oswald - with FBI “agents” after Aug. It is now known, of course, “pa " that Oswald appeared at the .- FBI office in Dailas a few days had “diarrhea of -- of The Oswald's Summary summary notebook. conveniently omitted the fact , that Hosty's name, telephone _holebook., dan. 27, 1964, Hoover 7 acknowledged that Hosty’s name had : been: in the The G-man also Save what the FBI's contacts with _ Oswaid. The last contact, he reported, had been on Aug. 10, 1963. “We did not interview:. in Dallas, Texas, or in: : Oswald Irving, Texas, prior to the _ Hoover changed the wording in @ curious way. He swore ‘ before the a8Sassination. At that time, just as Hoover Said, he did not Speak with any FBI * " But he Spoke with . “agents, I receptionist, who passed on his threatening note ~ to the agents, It is imposisible to know "whether the late FBI chief . - Switched the word — “our” to “agents” in order to- -Feport in a future J bide his knowledge of |" € United Feature syndicate, ind.” ; Oswald's violent threat. Mist Fealure Syndicate, iné subtly ews .._,The commission found out the ‘omission and . -- demanded an explanation. On - The truth ‘had no contact | unequivocally denies ent Contact Covered Up But in a later letter to the Warren Commission, dated t categorically: “ee Hoover stated | ical LUT wish to emphasize that® the ‘facts assassination did : not indicate in any way that he was or would be a p President Kennedy,” the FBI had threat to:, is, of course, that received ‘: dramatic evidence less than a “|: week before the 4SSassination . i that Oswald was Violence-: .- Prone, oo On April 24, the Dallas } Hoover immedig , Word to the Wa Morning News reported Hasty - . had told the Dallas Dolice | President. vt tel ¥ sent ‘en Com-'. Mission that ‘the Story was ‘+ “false” and followed up three Personal - days later with a - letter delivered by courier, ” “Special Agent ‘~ quoted declared the FBI director. Hosty ever - ving made the Statement ag oF in this article.., ih “Special Agent Hosty points” ; out that prior to never had indicating ~ Oswald.” There's more great cover-up, column, to Hoover’ which we'll. the 4SSassination of President: John Fitzgeraid Kennedy, he any information:. potential violence : . On the part of Lee Harvey . s” oe Bae at .
become aware of an : it ouron hig hfe eS “2Ve § bad betes ‘ For weeks aft Tus cotunia w 2rer2 and ¢ Could he vlageed by the cr ihe tis. en os idld, Pky — anun ‘Sen. Robert +» May have Reet astian alat TN ed teed Sai backs Hore Given... It's uaz! and 9 one Hit, Mola field ubich can § enliicly to ¢ bs ae Tt . ofuscd to ce Cok, be t have beea €igsn Intell; lord this cotuina, GO tonger can rex! @ other site. ? ec Blint (ruth is that the VM woud of teiped put forees that jndj. ’ brother's mirtyre m2 insiders think 50, Blow for Blow who may he . he ore a ; . hat Ue Cia weuld Some of the Cla’s Ofrratives alco have sz . and-mysteriausly disappeared, 2: ard will be heard of them S, then a few fri Hl leak out, “We will lean ave been sulfated ‘tortures that man cs for month that those me psSsuny persists, ° spered By peerle ing “a to hanw, that Castro r Ceewiet ty pees Tlste 3 infsemanea hag ¢:, ed from them, th disposed of. I is. lass Dittere, but thas : the gime is peoxeg” New  Verx Tiines, in -an e\nauslive refort on tte CIA, Guctel “cre of the best. informed men in VGSingtea on this subcct’? a5 saying: “When we estch ose of them (4 Soviet oz other. aormt), it Page 449 32493630 Bocld HW 50955
Te mn es encase ant yt tensa OO Eee gig . vo > ~ . 7 ' . ry . . - ; ‘ phs much can be verifies | . us a : i Pres ident Renney wag ; POM gs otis Nine Wath fer ote, : mote aller the Fay of Pace fa } . i. . a Mhat he suere tach ay ne re ne i would ike “ty sotter tee a ty ; pe “ina thousand fivtes acd “he . wot . oo 7 "ee . ‘ . 5 * . ere . hacaller it ty the wea d { . rn are coef é Ordered a Uhape chee seit Soe ot . seg. DoD te a t hy wpe : j . _ Fb ty ate 8, - . . fan by apts foe fo A, : ee be Gen. Pavey Wodbsr a hase a er cs 5 Up calla (he tt og ab ung ye re v an . ‘Dar meaty aL TY ae ‘ oy et 2 Ore Pane hE treet . voy Qf wag tate . whl Casta Eos 4 see founa h . . ot 2 ts eo : ut shige cant le Pre tg on pe ay . ee Dots . ; éthe bes Leoaty ho. 2 pee Te ee Se pop asst lea wer ry Tee Vegans te a po D ts BEN ELE peters Bitte te . ts “ : . é eo es ", fea buyers sth eta mo an VEN G, Gaaee ta asec tte . ' Lo. . . , bey cl Vat fiiseo, g ‘pet at : - ms wn “.* Vyey foe ia tie f sraee ts :Whethee the ateesinatice pot .. as twos ever actvaliy put gate Se UG wae Lefleetis disputed. - rr re ea £ Castro Meacks : ae ene ars, ".* 3, Soma insiders are con, es rr rn “vinecd Castea icarned enough’ Se | Fablesst lo belive tha CLA way ot ‘secking to kil him. With wea va es - characteristic fury, he is. a to 8 Lresarted to have cooked up a ane TUN Co -enunterple ot against President: woe akennedy. - : Step 4 Shortly after Kennedy } - ‘ apeltes de Nl faa funned dawn, the FHI TE Se handed President Joinsan a ; . nemo reporting Urat Cuhan . ho . 4 Jeaders had boped far Kenne-: dy's death, The President ees . ir * showed if to Kennedy'a top . fhe wy vnide, Ted Sorensen, who . . . os | : are nem “| thought the. detads were so- : ant ao De Re ee ‘ -  pambiguous that he called the* tr tote me Le tt oo meno “meaningless.” ‘ et : oe S. It is also known, of moe aren no lo. “—/N,  gourse'y Mav deo oo vinta. Aue, 8 aoe onl ot Ly _ . ee . assassin, Was active in) the a an ON Te: em orto FQ oe Pra-Castra move mentand: cs Oe eee Ce . ‘ . . +: . eo. . © “traveled ta Mexico seeking a: _ tod er ag m J Cuban ‘visa a few weels po tet! ay af din ; oes p bel inte the dreadhil, day in ere eae ‘! se “gs Pete etl - . Some sources consider Rob-.  , + Tet Fert Kennety' S behavior after , . : . pte assassination to he signifi- . . : : cant. He seemed to be. . eo oot : lormented, they say, by more, oO : * than the natural gre a over the" Dok > murder of his brather,- ‘Author Williany “Vanchester, + , 1 who not his informatina chil. oo ‘ly. fiotn Kennedy ‘comtralied - tT snure "5, portrays Knit Atoa they | Character of franin duirinst ees eee tly ee bbmgeeny : oo (hase tragic dass But: others, ; arn ae SOE f@e bt _ had a different impression, St a wy de! 7 eh. MeGeorga Mutaty, Cen ge . me woe, . . . ; ° . ms . " : tian White Place w acba oe te HY 50955 Docld: 32423630 Page 4450
¥ oe oo Reto ty SS © Did the Castro: . The late Robert Kennedy was tor- mented by the terrible thought, ae. cording to intimates, Uiat he may have “helped trigzer the assassination of hig- brother, . We raised this possibility in January 1971, when we first revealed that the “CIA had plotted to assassinate Cuban Premier Fidel Castro, It has taken us 4S years to get the rest of the story, Loyal associates of Robert Kennedy, rushing to defend his memory, have .: ' &W0rn that he knew nothing about the assassination attempts and, contradic. torily, that ke put a stop to them. Both accounts are incorrect, according to Sources with an intimate knowledge of the events. : : _ Not only was he fully aware of the CIA’s attempts to kill Castro, but after President Kennedy was sunned down in Dallas, Robert was devastated by ii@ possibility that the CIA plot may” - have backfired against his brother. ' The preparations to knock off Castro began during the last months of the Eisenhower administration as part: of the Bay of Pigs planning. Presicent Kennedy, who inherited the fiasco, swore to friends afterward that he would like “to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and Scatter it to the winds." . Instead, he appointed his brother, Robert, to oversee the CIA, with in- structions to shake it up. Characteristi-° cally, Robert besan investigating the undercover operations from top to bot- tom. Ilis purpose was to prevent an- other Bay of Pigs. Gg . Ile became fascinated, say our Sources, with the CIA's covert activi. ties. Eagerly, he pursued the details down through the lower-levels. As one souree put it, “He was like a wide-eyed schoolboy.” a, ‘In the process, he learned about the conUinuing effort to eliminate Castro, 28 operation known inside the CIA as ‘he “executive action plan.” In fact, Robert took a special interest in the [ck anderson LO Pk 7/240" aaa . in charge of _ bothing * get, Fidel Castro, also knew about it i - HOY IPC lot Backfu wee “Not only was he fully aware of the CLA’s atlentpts to kill Custro, but after President Kennedy was gunied down in Dallas, Robert Kennedy ivas devastated by the possibility that’ the CIA plot may ha Le backfired against his brother.” : , * activities against Castro. One insider, former Deputy Defense Secretary Ras. well Gilpatric,. told us the focus “on the Cuban situation” was intensified in 1951 at Robert Kennedy's The President eventually put Robert a counter-insurgoncy com. mittee, called the Special Group, which concentrated upon harassing: ’ Castro. One member, former CLA chief | John MeCone, acknowledzed that the sroup had “directed mischievous \hings against Castro like infiltrating saboteurs, blowing up bridges and car- rying on general confusion,” | AIcCone insisted, however, that “the group at no time gave any cansidera- lion to any assassination plot.” We have established that the “executive action plan” was directed by Wiliam Harvey, the CIA Operative whont' we linked to the assassination plot in our original 1971 Slory. We have also learned that he reported to the late Desmond Fitegerald in CIA headquar- ters, We have been unable, however, to idenlify the next link in the chain of command. poe . Nevertheless, wholly reliable sources insist that Robert Kennedy knew ebout the plot against Castro and did to stop it: The intended tar- One assassination . squad reportedly, " was apprehended on a Havana ‘roof top. x . we ate Dm ge “ “ilsistenee.” .- ee LE Ere a a r a rte en an Within range of Castro’s movements, avout March 1, 1903. 7 The Cuban premicr, in an interview With Associated Press correspondent Daniel. Harker the folowing Senten- ber, warned that U.S, deeders would find themselves in danser if they: at. ‘tempted to do away with Cuban lead. ers, . “United States lenders should think that if they are aiding terrorist plans . to eliminate Cuban leaders, they them- selves will Harker, Two months later, President Ken- nedy was shot down in the streets of wwe Dallas. The accused assassin, Lee Har- | vey Oswald, had been active in the pro-Castro movement and had traveled not be safe,” Castro told, to Mexico to visit the Cuban embassy. - a few weeks earlier. ‘The first person to reach Robert Kennedy's side after the shooting wag CIA director John McCone, who re. mained alone with Robert at his Ale- Lean, Va. home for nearly three hours. All others, including Rohbert’s priest, were turned away. But McCone swore to us that Castro’s name was never mentioned Curing the agonizing three hours. oa Other. sources say that’ Robert, deeply despondent, went into semi-se- clusion for the next few days. Al- though he hottled up his feelings, they pre - C4 \ . terview with Frank | Mankiewicz and ‘in this, because Iam under the impres- “United States and that it was all a re- Knew hint and understuod the ¢ireutm. Slanees well enouch. to realize he blamed himself for his brother's @eath, There was ttle coubt, they say, that he believed the CLA’s attempts against Castro put into motion the forces that hrought about his brother's niarive- dom. On January 18, 1971, we reported: “Among those privy to the CIA con- spiracy, there is still a nagcing suspi- cion—unsupported by the Warren Com. mission’s findings—that Castro became aware of the U.S. plot upon his life and somehow recruited Oswald to re. | taliate ayainst President Kennedy.” Tt has now been disclosed. that the Warren Commission was told nothing “ ebout the CEA’s plot to kill Castro even though the late Allen Dulles, the CIA chief who initiated the plot, sat on the commission, : According to the final report, the commission investigated “Hiterally der. ens of allegations of a conspirztorial contact between Oswald and the Cuban eovernment’ but. found no substance to any of them. . : The Cuban premier himself, in an in- Kirby Jones, emphatically denied hav. ing anything to do with the Kennedyea assassination, . * “It is... very interesting that this man Oswald, who was involved in the assassination, traveled to Mexico a fowal months prior to the assassination ands applied for a permit at the Cuban em- bassy to travel to Cuba, and he Wass hot given the permit,” said Castro. “But ask myself why would a mang Who commits such an act try to come = here. Sometimes we ask ourselves if someone did not wish to involve Cuba = sion that Kennedy's assassination was organized by reactionaries in the sult of a conspiracy... We have never believed in carrying out this type of activity of assassination of adversaries.” 7° 0". _ (lt Cc 1975, United Feature, Ine. , ,
was struck down on Nov. 22, 1963, the Centrai intelligence .Agency received evidence suggesting that Cuban Pre- mier Fidel Castro arranged the assassi- nation in retaliation for. attempts on his life. Yet sources privy to the secret dis- cussions at the highest levels of the CIA during those hectic days now tell us that the CIA deliberately withheld the evidence from the Warren Com- mission investigating Kennedy's death. Our sources cite two reasons for holding back this evidence. One was a resolve to cover up the secret that the ' CIA had enlisted Mafia mobsters to kill Castro. There also was a legitimate concern that the Castro revelations might in- flame the American people, whose grief could have turned into a terrible wrath that might have precipitated some rash action. Only a few key people knew. about the CIA plot to assassinate Castro. One was Attorney General Robert F. Ken- nedy, who was his brother’s personal watchdog over the CIA. It has now been established that Robert Kennedy , was briefed on May 7, 1962, about the | attempt to use underworld killers to knock off Castro. Two days later, Robert Kennedy cau- tioned the CIA not to go ahead with . the assassination without consulting him. Since Robert Kennedy rode herd on the CIA, it must be assumed that he ' ; was kept advised of subsequent assassi- nation attempts. However, there is no - | documentary evidence of this. HY Records now available show that Robert Kennedy informed FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover of the plot on May 10, . DROPOUTS | 0955 Docld: 32423630 Jack Anderson and Les Whitten — CIA Withheld Data in JFK Probe After President John F. Kennedy- . 1962. Yet neither Kennedy nor Hoover later divulged this important informa- .tion to the Warren Commission. Of course, various CIA officials also knew about the assassination scheme. Not the least of them was the late CIA chief Allen W. Dulles, who approved the original plan. He later served on the Warren Commmission, yet he sat silently throughout the investigation — . without mentioning the Cuban angle. Within hours of President Kenne- . dy’s death, the U.S. embassy cabled in- formation from Mexico City suggest- ing that the Cubans may have been be- hind the assassination. Our sources say that the CIA developed similar infor- mation in Washington. The first person to reach Robert - Kennedy's side after the shooting was CIA Director John A. MeCone, who re- mained alone with the Attorney Gen- eral at his McLean, Va, home for nearly three hours. , McCone swore to us that Castro’s name was never mentioned during the three hours. But CIA records show that the next day. McCone not only mentioned Castro to the new Presi- dent, Lyndon B. Johnson, but briefed him on the information from Mexico ity. connection to the attention of the War- ren Commission. We were the first to get word. of the anti-Castro plot to . Chief Justice Earl Warren, the com- mission chairman, four years later. We are now free to reveal our role in the drama. Two of our confidential sources, CIA agent William Harvey ‘and mobster John Rosselli, are dead. A ~ ONG third source, attorney Edward P. Mor- Page 452 had promised Morgan told us in January, 1987, “about the CIA-Mafia assassination plot Yet no one brought the Cuban. _the attorney-client privilege. But he ‘the general outlines from a CIA _ President Kennedy.” | eet gan, has waived the confidentiality we him. : against Castro. He raised the possibil- ity that the plot could have backfired, against President Kennedy. There were suspicious circumstances, he pointed out, indicating that Castre may have learned of the attempts on his life and may have retaliated against Kennedy. ; Morgan refused to identify his sources because it would have violated Was an attorney of such stature that we didn’t doubt his word. He had been chief inspector of the FBL He had di- rected the historic congressional inves- tigation of the Pear! Harbor bombing. Later, he ran the investigation into the excesses of the.late Sen. Joseph McCar- thy. ; . We got Morgan’s permission. to write a cautious story. We confirmed source. Then on March 3, 1967, we wrote that Robert Kennedy “may have approved an assassination plot, which then possibly backfired against his late brother.” ‘ ; . The next day, according to records now available, Kennedy’s secretary called for a copy of the May 7, 1969, memo, which summarized the briefing he had received on the assassination plot. an On March 7, 1967, we reported more details. “A reported CIA pian in 1963 to assassinate Cuba's Fidel Castro,” we wrote, “... may have resulted in a counterplot by Castro to assassinate . By Howard Post
SR il: my 1 Rage et * If a Ye RS ere 9 AION SaARE EAS Ma = AM MR My Ey es HH 50955 Docld:32423630 Jack Anderson and Les Whitten Sa COTS On and Les Wiuiten Behind John F’. Kenn Mafia mobster John Roselli may have taken the secret of the John F. Kennedy assassination with him to his death. He was brutally murdered a few weeks ago, his backed-up body stuffed into an oil drum and dumped into Miami's Biscayne Bay. Before he died, Roselli hinted to as- sociates that he knew who had ar- ranged President Kennedy's murder. It was the same conspirators, he sug- gested, whom he had recruited earlier to kill Cuban Premier Fidel Castro. By Roselli’s cryptic account, Castro learned the identity of the underworld contacts in Havana who had been trying to knock him off. He believed, ' - not altogether without basis, that Pres- “ ident Kennedy was behind the plot. The Cuban leader, as the supreme irony, decided to turn the tables and use the same crowd to arrange Ken- | nedy’s assassination, according to Roselli's scenario. To save their Skins, the plotters lined up Lee Harvey Os- - wald to pull the trigger. Roselli could never be pinned down ‘On names or details. It was also diffi- cult to assess whether he knew what he was talking about or whether he merely described what he thought might have happened. Certainly there is no real evidence to Support Roselli's Story. But there are enough curious circumstances to justify telling it. Here "are the fascinating highlights. The ruggedly handsome Roselli, a flamboyant mobster with underworld contacts in Havana, was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1960 to assassinate Castro. He had no , authority, however, over the under- world elements in Havana, — DROPOUTS I SEE YOURE EN- LARGING YOuR Hul, CHIEF... EXPANDING FAMILY,” Sem ert ma GASOLINE ALLEY Sot ' : They were under the loose control of Florida’s Mafia chieftan,- Santos Trafficante. His gambling enterprises in Havana had been closed down by Castro after the 1959 revolution. In fact, Trafficante had been lodged fora edy’s Murder An an impromptu, three-hour inter. | view with Associated Press reporter Daniel Harker, and warned that USS. period in a Cuban fail, an indignity _ 1963 that didn’t endear Castro to him, After Trafficante made it back to his . Florida haunts, he left part of his or- ganization behind in Havana. Some of his henchmen even managed to de velop contacts in Castro's inner circle. These were the people Roselli wanted to use to knock off Castro. But Roselli didn’t have the Stature inside the Mafia to make the necessary arrangements with Trafficante. So Roselli, called in his patron, the Chi- cago godfather Sam (Momo) Giancana, to deal with Trafficante. As Roselli's associates tell it, he Per- -“Suaded!Giancana that it would be to their advantage to win the good will of the CIA. Convinced, Giancana flew down to Florida to make the prelimi- nary arrangements. - Once Giancana and Trafficante set it up, Roselli used the Havana under- world to plot Castro's demise. At first, . they tried to plant poison pills, sup- plied by the CIA, in Castro's food. The pills would have made it. appear that he died-of natural causes. When this failed, snipers were dispatched to a Havana rooftop. They were caught. | The word reached Roselli that some of the plotters had been tortured and that Castro had learned about the whole operation. ; __. The CIA called off the Roselli opera- tion in March, 1963, but recruited a Castro associate, Rolando Cubela, to murder Castro. acale. we _— 90'S tere ead a Im Beg US Par OW mau © 19-6 07 Unies Fealure Sy Good! That saves me atrip to th city Aimed Page 453 1963, gangster type named Ruby” had vis- pe ited Trafficante in his Cuban prison. WAISTLINES T brought your “77,2 — | iced tea, Mr Turnip! uous =| > me ° mie According to Roselli, Castro enlisted the same underworld elements whom he had caught plotting against him. They Supposedly were Cubans from the old Trafficante Organization. ‘allegedly lined up an ex-Marine sharp- shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, who had been active in the proCastro move. ment, : According to Roselli's version, Oswaid may have shot Kennedy or Inay have acted as a decoy while oth- ers ambushed him from closer range. When Oswald was picked up, Roselli Castro indicated that § he knew about the attempts on his life- | leaders also § might not be safe. That was Sept. eS Working with Cuban intelligence. they Suggested, the underworld conspira- | tors feared he would crack and dis- close information that might lead to them. This almost certainly would =~ have brought a massive US. crack | down on the Mafia. So Jack Ruby was ordered to elim- inate Oswald, making it appear as an act of reprisal against the President's killer. At least this is how Roseili ex- plained the tragedy in Dallas. Several key CIA officials believed that Castro was behind the Kennedy ination. It has also been established that Jack Ruby, indeed, had been in Cuba and had connections in the Havana under- world. One CIA cable, dated Nov. 28, reported that “an American By Moores By Howard Post | 7 TORT em pa cere mine eg Se a ee ree |
THE WASHINGTON POST Friday, August 27, 1976 Jack Anderson and Les Whitten’: '.- Smudge Only Clue in Rosselli . | ged pi fy ! rf an HW 50955 ~~ It was a grisly end for John Rosselli, the dapper, debonair mobster about - town, who had been a familiar figure ‘-in the glittering night spots of Holly- . wood, Las Vegas and Havana. His killers shot or stabbed him in the . gtomach. The autopsy indicates they . May have shot him and then dug out ,. the bullet with a knife. Then they bru- tally hacked off his legs. It is possible fidence, so he came to trust us. We were the only reporters he would talk to. _, So when he vanished last month his . associates came to us for help. We were suspicious, of course, that his dis- appearance was linked to the Castro: caper. But our investigation has now. produced evidence to the contrary. _ We have learned, for example, that : . that be wag still alive when they , Rosselli was not the amiable, retired. stuffed his body into a 55-gallon drum. old duffer he pretended to be. He be- They wrapped chains around the gan in the big time as a bookkeeper for drum to weight it down and tossed it Chicago's notorious Al Capone and be- into Biscayne Bay. The autopsy sug- came a_ specialist in white-collar gests he may have died of asphyxiation crimes. It’s a profession, apparently, inside the drum before it hit the wa-- that he never gave up.’ ter. The gases from the decomposing .| Competent sources say that, be- body floated the heavy container to tween rounds on the Florida goif _ the surface. It was discovered, with ts courses, Rosselli was involved in stolen | - tral Intelligence Agency’s plot to assas- ports that Chicago crime lord Tony Ac- “ey, told us that Rosselli had been the . ~ : nightmarish contents, 10 days after: securities and financial swindles. His . * Rosselli had disappeared from his sit-;:'operations reportedly were. resented ,. er’s home in Plantation, Fla. The police withheld the gruesome identified in Senate testimony as the ‘by Santo Trafficante, who has been © ~ details of his death while they Mafla chief in Florida. searched for his killers. We began our Rosselli came to Florida from Las own investigation, meanwhile, after an Vegas, where he allegedly represented appeal from his associates. ‘the Chicago mob. Our sources say that We first encountered Johnny Ros he handled millions in illegal gambling selli more than five years ago. We money, which he forwarded to the were investigating his role in the Cen- Chicago underworld. There are re- sinate Cuban Premier Fidel Castro. cardo felt he had been short-changed The CIA case officer, Willlam Harv- ‘by Rosselli. hero of the abortive adventure. the slammer, first, for extortion and, _ Harvey broke his oath of secrecy be- ‘later, for a card swindle. Those who. . od er cause he thought it might help Rossel- know him say he had developed a taste °. ‘Hi, who was in trouble with the law. for the good life. He dressed in the lat." The CIA agent had nothing but praise - est styles, dined at the best restaurants - * gor Rosselli’s daring. -and dated beautiful women. The In the strictest of confidence, Ros thought of going back to prison, gelli himself confirmed that he had di- ‘friends say, horrified him. DoclId: 32423630 rected six assassination attempts To avoid prison, he began to talk to against Castro. We protected his con- the government as early as 1970. He Page 454 te! Still earlier, Rosselli spent time in | gave information, according ‘to our sources, which resulted in a grand jury confrontation for Tony Accardo. The . surly mobster took the fifth. But Ac-- cardo grumbled te associates that he. would pay back Rosselli some day. -~ Rosselli was also blamed for passing ¢ information to the government, which ' -» led to the conviction of Detroit mob ; ster Anthony Zerilll. He is now serving a four-year séntence at Sandstone fed- eral penitentiary for racketeering. ; Perhaps the last straw was Rosselli's | testimony in the Castro case. He identi- | fied two mobsters, the late Sam Gian- ; cana and Santo Trafficante, as being | involved in the assassination attempts. ° It’s no secret in the underworld that | Trafficante detests publicity. Our sources believe that the Mafia | bosses finally became fed up with Ros- : selli.. His’ execution would have re- . quired the approval of the top leaders, * our sources say, because it was almost. certain to bring the federal govern- ment into the case. Who were the vicious killers? The only clue is a smudge spot on the win- ; dow of Rosseili’s car. One of his assail- ants probably had used a greasy hair ‘ pomade.
if Blige Washington Nerry-Go-Round 'NE WASHINGTON POST | Tuesday, Feb, wen eee ; 21971 V3 4y , astro Stalker We rked for the CIA : "Jack | | The mystery “ian whom the Central Intelligence Agency recruited to assassinate Cuba's Fidel Castro has been laid up In the sick ward of the Los Angeles County jail. He {s handsome, hawk-faced John Roselli, once a dashing figure around Hollywood and Las Vegas, now a gray, 66- year-old inmate witha respira. tory ailment. — Confidential FBI files iden- tify him as “a top Mafia fig. ure” who watched over “the concealed interests in Las Vegas casinos of the Chicago underworld.” Roselli hag admitted to friends that he wag arum run. ner during the Roaring Twen- Ues. Operating along the East Coast, he learned how to evade Coast Guard cutters and po- - {lice patrols. His name later became linked with the biggest nameg in the Chicago and Los Ange- -{les underworlds. He also de. veloped contacts in the Cuban underworld before Castro took over the Havana gambling ca- Sinos. ; He had the right back. ground for a hush-hush mis- Sion that the CIA was plan. ning in 1961. As part of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the CIA hoped to knock off Castre and leave Cuba leaderless, Risks Neck | Roselli was recruited for the job by Robert Maheu, & for 5 gall with deadly poison is still on the CIA payroll. mer FBI agent, who edmitted| capsules which he tried|Both admitted to us q friend. to us that he had handled un. through a2 relative of Castro’s| Ship with Roselil but refused - at " ww, {0 discuss their CIA activities, chef to plant in the dictator *| Harvey sald he had a “high re- food. Later, marksmen armed | gard’ for. Roselli and called ¥ with high-powered Belgian rt-|the Friar’s Club case'a “bum same Maheu, incidentally, who} flea ‘attempted - to. infiltrate rap.” Said | Harvey: “png is now Involved in a legal bat. | cl : hi 2 tle over phantom billlonaire |d eo Mae as ; Howard Hughes‘ Nevada oper-| +All told, six assagsination at. do with that thanIhad” => ations, —. a ‘ j Roselli wag so flattered over the. spring of 1963: ‘Through. trying to get elem ‘for . being asked to perform a se- out this period, Roselli worked their cltent atti our Horles, cret mission for the U.S, gov- | under, the direct. supervision about his secret CIA service. + | ernment that he pald all hislof two’ pos — expenses out of his .own|llam H; Pocket and risked his neck to|Jim) O “nell. land the assassination teams|° 2s po fee | Under Pressure from the on the Cuban coast... |. Roselli’s Reward. :'|flrearms lobby, the Treasury In James: Bond fashion, he}. The FBI-which got wind of (Department has falled to en.’ held whispered meetings Initne - assassination | plot, hag force a vital section of the Miaml Beach hotels with Cu-i tried to Pump. Roselli for in. 1968 federal fire act bans willing to make an at-|formation: But he was sworn arms act. tempt on Castro's life. Once, | to: silence by the CIA, andup| The law was passed after he called on Chicago racket to this moment, he hasn't bro-|the murders of Sen, Robert; boss Sam Giancana to line. ken it oe Kennedy and Dr. Martin Lue | a contact. The confldential|:- Meanwhile, the Justice De. | ther King. It authorizes the . files report that Giancana had partment, ag part of ita erack- | Treasury Secretary to require “gambling interest and an In-| down . Of. organized ler e, |full reports of all firearms and terest in the shrimp business tried to nail Rosel Ane fsi,FBI/ammunition sales, | in Cuba." However, the Chi i Cileago| For the two years that the cago gangster took no direct birth records had be forged,|law has been ‘in force, the part In the assassination plot, that his name was really Fi-|Treasury Department has ig Lippe Sacco and: that he had/nored this key provision. The Firearms Fiasco ~ | Roselli made midnight dashes to Cuba with hig hired/coma’ to this country from | gun industry has complained. assassins in twin powerboats, Italy as a child. He was con-|it would be a bookkeeping. Once a Cuban -patrol ship victed for falling to register ag |nightmare. i turned its guns on his dark-lan alien, — ms The federal government, . ened boat, tore a hole in the] “He was als convicted for|Wwhich would have to compile: bottom and sank the boat, Ro- conspiracy to rig card games| all the sales data, has alsos Selll was fished out of thelat Los Angeles’ exclusive|been’ reluctant to spend the ; {$100 million it would cost for. Of Roselli’s two CIA asso-;COMputers and staff to mains clates, Harvey has now retired tain the firearms files. nS to Indianapolis and O’Connell escaped Into the shadows, . In earlier columns, we re. ported how the CIA furnished and F @ 1971, Bell-MeClure Syndicate, 7 HW 50955 Docld: 32423630 Page 455 tempts. were made, the last in|: Roselli’s lawyers ere now __
| ih The Washington Werrsy-Go- Round TNE WASHINGTON POST i és ‘Castro Plot Raises Jgly Questions | By Jack (dnderson The plot to kill Cuban dic- tator Fidel Castro, hidden for 10 years from the publle, raises some ugly questions that high officials would rather keep behind the Trujillo and Diemjment and had traveled to assassinations. 3. Did the late Robert Ken-|Embassy a few weeks before -{nedy know about the assassina-jthe dreadful day In Dallas. tion attempts? After the Bay|Could Bob Kennedy have of Pigs fiasco, President Ken-|been plagued by the terrible thought that the CIA plot, nedy swore to friends hel*'~ ' i insi , which he must at least have buried deep inside the Central would like “to splinter the CLA condoned, put. into. motion Intelligence Agency. in a thousand pieces and scat- have brought 1. Has the CIA tried to aster it-to the winds.” He put res nat ‘becther's peer sassinate any other leaders? |his brother, Robert, in charge|gom? a . John McCone, who headed the/of the CIA with instructions} ‘The last surviving brother, CIA during the six attemptsito shake it up. The CIA madéiSen Ted Kennedy (D-Mass), to knock off Castro, denied|five attempts on Castro’d lifelcould give us no insight. His emphatically that the CIA hasiafter the Bay of Pigs while brothers had never spoken to tried to kill anyone. But ex-/Robert Kennedy was riding/him about any assassination Sen. George Smathers, one of|herd on the agency. “:” lattemptg against Castro, he John F. Kennedy's closest! 4. Could the plot against/said. He was aware, he volun- friends, told us the late Presi-|Castro have backfired against/teered, only that Sen. Smath- WW 50955 Boacld: dent suspected that the CIA had arranged the shootings of ‘the Dominican Republic's Ra- fael Trujillo in 1961 and South 'Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem in 11963. . | 2. Did President Kennedy personally. sanction the plot ;against Castro? The prepara- ‘rations to assassinate the Cu- -ban dictator began during the :last months of the Eisenhower ‘administration as part of the ;Bay of Pigs scheme. All six attempts, however, were made ‘during 1961-63 when Me. Ken- nedy occupied the White House. Smathers told us he once spoke to the late Presi- ‘-dent about assassinating Cas- ‘tro. Mr. Kennedy merely ‘rolled back his eyes, recalled ‘Smathers, as if to indicate the ‘lidea was too wild to discuss. Subsequently, Mr. Kennedy told Smathers of his suspicion that the CIA may have been 3242796390 Page President Kennedy? The latelerg had talked to the late President was murdered nine|President about eliminating months after the last assassi-| Castro. : nation team was caught on aj Smathers told us that Presi- Havana rooftop with high-jdent Kennedy seemed “horri- powered rifles. Presumably,/fied” at the dpa ‘af political they were subjected to flend-| assassination ak ‘remember ish tortures until they told allihim saying,"/ recalled Smath- they knew. None of the assas-jers, “that the CIA frequently sination teams, however, hadidid things’ he dién't know direct knowledge of the ClAl/about, and he was unhappy involvement. The CIA Insti-jabout It. He complained that gators had represented them-jthe CIA was almost autono- selves as oilmen seeking re-| mous. ; . venge against Castro for his| “He told me he believed the seizure of oil héldings. CIA had arranged to have Diem and Trujillo bumped off. PLOT BACKFIRE? He was pretty well shocked Former associates  recalljabout that. He thought it was that Robert Kennedy, deep-|a stupid thing to do, and he ly despondent, went into semi-|wanted to get control of what seclusion after his brother's/the CIA was doing.” assassination. Could he have} But McCone, disagreeing been tormented by more than vigorously, told us that “no natural grief? He certainly|plot was authorized or imple- learned that the assassin, Lee mented” to assassinate Castro, Harvey Oswald, had been ac-|Trujillo, Diem or anyone else. tive in the pro-Castro move-' “During those days of ten- nncantey gates rd 456 LAS - MAIN FILS Cars Tuesday, Jan. 19, 1971 Di sion, there was a wide gpec- Mexico to visit the Cubanjtrum of plans ranging from one extreme to another," NeCone admitted. “Whenever this subject (assassinating Cas- tro) was brought up—and jt was — it was rejected imme- diately on two grounds. Ficat, it would not be condoned: By anybody. Second, it woulin’t ‘|have achleved anything.” There was also talk in high places, McCone acknowledged, of supporting a coup to oust Diem. The former CIA di- rector sald he had argued against his at a secret session with both Kennedy brothers. He had contended that there was no one strong enough. to take Diem’s place and that a coup, therefore, would bring “political upheaval.” : “I told the President and . Bobby together,” recalled Mc- Cone, “that if I were running a baseball team and had only one pitcher, I wouldn't take him out of the game.” ‘os The November, 1963, coup eaught the United States com- pletely by surprise, he said. While the plotters were mov- ing on the palace, he said, then-Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge was visiting Diem. Adm. Ulysses Sharp, then our Pacific commander, had also been present, but had left early to go to the airport. MeCone said President - Diem escaped through a tun- nel but was caught in nearby Cholon and “shot in a station wagon.” ‘© 1971, Bell-BicClure Syndicate, Ine,
~~ “ee x py) 7 o' Auempts lo kill By Jack (Anderson _ Locked in the darkest re. cesses of the Central Intelli- gence Agency Its the story of six assassination attempts against Cuba’s Fidel Castro. For 10 years, only a few key people have known the terri- ble secret. They have sworn never to talk. Yet we have learned the detalls from sources whose credentials are beyond question. We spoke to John MecCone, who headed the CIA at the time of the assassination at- tempts. He acknowledged the idea had been discussed inside the CIA but insisted it had been “rejected immedi- ately.” He vigorously denied that the CIA had ever partici- pated In any plot on Castro's life. Asked whether the at- tempts could have heen made with his knowledge, he re- plied: “It could not have hap- pened.” | We have complete confi- dence, however, in our, sources, The plot to began as part of the Bay of Pigs operation. The intent was to eliminate the Cuban dicta- HW 50955 Docld: 32423630 ers Janded on the island. Their arrival was expected to touch off a general uprising, which the Communist militia would have had more trouble putting down without the charismatic Castro to lead them. After the firat attempt falled, flve more assassination teams were sent to Cuba. The last team reportedly made it to a rooftop within shooting distance of Castro before they were apprehended. This hap- pened around the last of Feb. ruary or first of March, 1963. Nine months later, Presi- dent Kennedy was gunned down In Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald, a fanatic who pre. viously had agitated for Cas tro in New Orleans and had made a mysterious trip to the Cuban Embassy in Mexico Clty. Among those privy to the . Hashington Merry-Go-Round <> THE Cust ne: nedy. To set up the Castro assassi-| nation, the CIA enlisted Rob-.: ert Maheu, a former FBI! agent with shadowy contacts, who had handled other under- cover assignments for the CIA out of his Washington public relations: office. He later moved to Las Vegas to head up billlonaire Howard Hughes’ Nevada operations. Maheu recruited John Ro-! selli, a ruggedly handsome! gambler with contacts {n both } the American and Cuban un-| derworlds, to arrange the as- sassination. The dapper, hawk- faced Roselli, - formerly mar- iried to movie actress June Lang, was a power in the, movie Industry until his con-! viction with racketeer Willie | Bloff in a million-dollar Holly. wood labor shakedown. The! CIA assigned two of its most | trusted operatives, William | Harvey and James (Big Jim)! CIA conspiracy, there is still aiO’Connell, to the hush-hush: nagging suspicion—-unsup- | murder mission. U ported by the Warren Com-j|names, knock off Castro | mission's findings—that Cas-!selli on tro became aware of the US, plot upon his life and some- sing phony! they accompanied Ro- trips to Miami to line up the assassination teams. ' The full story reads like the how recruited Oswald to retal- Page 457 script of a James Bond movie, “ASHINGTON POST Momus, Jon. 18, 2071 aes Pm ee tere I Castro was lcovered before the Bay of Pigs ‘invasion on April 17, 1961. BT ‘o Laid to CLA jtor before the motley invad- late against President Ke coniplete with secret trysts at Slitlering Miam! Beach hotels and midnight powerboat dashes to secret landing spots on the Cuban coast. Once, Ro- Selli’s boat was shot out from under him. ; For the first try, the CYA furnished Roselli with special poison capsules to sip Into Castro's food. The poison was Supposed to take three days to act. By the time Castro died, his system would throw off all traces of the poison, so he would appear to be the vietim jof a natural if mysterious ail- ment. Roselli arranged with a ‘Cuban, related to one of Cas- tro's chefs, to plant the deadly pellets: in the dictator's food. On March 13, 1961, Roselli de. livered the capsules to his con- tact at Miami Beach's glamor. ous Fontainebleau Hotel, A couple of weeks later. just about the right time for the plot to. have been carried out, a report out of Vlavana said ill. But he re. Four more attempts were ‘made on Castro's life, €. 1970, Beli-McClure Syndicate. Ine,
oe ’, re HY 50955 BY JACK ANDERSON with Les Whitten .WASHINGTON—Press account.’ identified Cuba's Fidel Castro as (ir target _of an unsuccessful CIA assassination plot. ' . The headlines couldn't have cenit .at a .. Worse time for Secretary of State Henry Kise a ns : attempts against Castro ', in the early 1960s. Now .. leader before the CIA invasion. force landed. Docld: 32473630 +, ionship with Cuba... Fj singer, He is in the thick of “most delicate | negotiations,” according to our Whits House _ eh apie 2 sources, to restore some » kind of diplomatic rela- , Actually, we reported i as far back as Jan. 18, _, 1971, that the CIA had ar ranged six assassination ‘that the story has been | revived, it might be use- _ ful to recount the details. & The plot began as part - Anderson have - _ But he recovered in time to rout the . of the discredited Bay of Pigs -operation, - .The strategy was to eliminate the Cuban on the island. - . - To carry out the assassination, the CIA . selected an underworld figure who could be- _ disowned. He was hawk-faced John Roselli, . identified in confidential FBI files as “a top Mafia figure” who watched over “the con- ' cealed interests in Las Vegas casinos of the . Chicago underworld.” . . Roselli represented himself as an oil man . seeking revenge against Castro for his sei- gure of oil holdings. ; . For the first try, the CIA furnished Ro- selli with special poison capsules to slip ‘ inte Castro’s food, The poison was supposed . to take three days to aci. By the time Cas- ‘tra died, his systern would throw off all ' traces of the poison, so he would appear to - be the victim of a natural if mysterious ail- 7 ment. . : . Roselli arranged with a Cuban, celated to one of Castro's chefs, to plant the deadly . Page 4565 get rid of Castro, pellets In the dictator's food, On-March 13, 1961, Roselli delivered the capsules to hig contact at Miami Beach's glamorous For tainebleau Hotel... . A couple weeks later, just about the right - time for the plot to’have been carried out, @ report out of Havana said Castro was ill. ut he ¢ Bay of Pigs invasion on April 17, 196l:. ~~ Although both the murder plot and the in- vasion failed, the CIA continued trying to The Cuban who had sneaked the poison into Havana was never " seen again. . _ Roselli arranged for triple-strength cap... __ sules to be slipped into Castro's ' weeks after. the Bay of Pigs. But once again, food several the plot failed and the conspirators disap- peared. . ; oe ; Four more attempts were made on Cas tro’s life. thereafter, using assassination teams equipped with high-powered rifles, explosives and two-way radios, Roselli pers sonally made midnight powerboat dashes to | deliver the teams at secret landing spots on the Cuban coast. . ae :. The. assassination teams never got a shot ' at Castro, although the CIA learned that the * last group reached a rooftop within range. . . This: occurred around -the last of February or first of March, 1963.. - : "' Nine months later, President Kennedy ’ was gunned down in Dallas by Lee Harvey d. ‘Oswald, a fanatic who had been active in the pro-Casiro movement and had paid a myste- rigus call upon the Cuban embassy in Mex- ~ ico City a few weeks before the dreadful day: in Dallas. ; ; Sources familiar with the CIA conspiracy can't shake a nagging suspicion—unsup- ‘ported by the Warren Commission’s findings —that Castro may have become aware of ‘the U.S. plot upon his life and, therefore, .,May have recruited Oswald to. retaliate “against President Kennedy. |
ran The Washlagtort Rorry-Ga-Fonund THE WASHINGTON POST Monday. March 10, 1975 (CLA Plots Against Castro Recounte By Jack Anderson and Les Whitten Press accounts have identi- fied Cuba's Fidel Castro as the target of an unsuccessful CLA assassination plat. The headlines couldm't have come ata worse time for Secre- tary of State Henry A. Kissinger, fle isin the thick of “most deli- cate nevotiations,” according to our White House sources. to re-. Store some kind of diplomatic relationship with Cuba. Actually, we reported as far back as Jan. 18, 1971, that the CIA had arranged six assassina- lion attempts against Castro in the warty 1960s. Now that the story has been revived, it mizht be useful to recount the details, The plot vevan as part of the dixeredited Bay of Pius opera- tian, The’ strategy was to climi- uate the Cuban leader before the CIA invasion foree landed on the island. Without the char. ismatic Castro, it was thourhit, the defenders would -become demoralized and disorganized, To carry out the assassination, [the CIA selected an underworld fivure whe esuld be disowned. ile. was hawk-faced John ie selli, identified in confidential MHI files asa top Mafia figure” (OE 9 area ot Rte ee sty sae tle co ig {ho watched over “the con-[lets in’ the dictator's food. Onfing spots onthe Cuban | cealed- interests in Las Vegas|March 13, 1961, Roselli deliy- casinos of the Chicago under-{cred the capsules to his contact world.” at Miami Beach's Fontaine. toselli's CLA contacts were bleau Hotel. . William Harvey and James| a couple of weeks later, just Connell, who. accompanied j about the right time for the plot around the last of Februa him on hush-hush trips to Miamijto have been carried out, a re- first of Mareh, 1963. lu line up the assassination! port out of avaha said Castro . ; teams. No one else was told,|was ill, But he recovered intime| Nine months later, Pres. however, of the CIA's role inthe |to rout the Bay of Pigs invasion | Kennedy was gunned dow intirder mission. on April 17, 196t. ; Dallas by Lee Harvey Ost ‘Roselli represented himself Although both the wurder {4 fanatic whe had been acti as an oilman seeking revenge plot and the invasion failed, the [BE Hra-Castro movement adainst Castro for his seizure of CLA continued trying to got rid |8ad paid a mysterious call i oil holdings. The assassination |of Castro. The Cuban who had {te Cuban Embassy in ste weapons were also carefully se- sneaked the poison into Havana |oly 3 few weeks before lected froin foreign makes,!was never seen acain. There- dreadful day in Dallas mnastly Relcian, to prevent any/fore, the CLA, unsure whether] Sources familiar with the link to the United States, . the plotters had failed or the /conspiracy can't: shakey Rach attempt to kill Castro poison hadn't been strong Sng Suspicion—unsupporte Was meticulously planned, like enough, decided ‘to try again{the Warren Commission's f an episode from the TV drama] with a more powerlul dase. imis—that Castru may have “Mission linpossible.” For the Roselli arranged for triple-|come aware of the US. litst try, the CLA furnished Ro- strength capsules to be slipped/upon his life and, theref selli with Special poison cap-]into Castro's food several weeks {May have recruited Oswal. sules ta slip into Castro’s food. Jafter the Bay of Pigs. But once {reluliate against President b The poison was Supposed tofagain, the plot fniled and the |nedy. : fake three days to act, By the [conspirators disappeared. Foutnote: Sources (aim lime Castro died, his system} Four more attempts werelwith the secret review af would throw off all traces of thefmade on Castro's life, thereafter CIA's activities have now poison, so he would appear tofusing assassination teams knowlodged that Castro, as he the victim of a natural ifmys-lequipped with high-powered reported four years azu, - terious ailment, rifles, explosives ind. two-wuy/ inarked for assassination by Rosai arranged with a Cu- radios. Roselli personally made CHA. A CIA spokesman refu: hain, related to ane of Custro's midnitht powerboat dashes to to comment. ; chefs, to plant the deadly pel- deliver the teams atiseeret Land: | “1075, United Feature Syndicate, lar The assassination =: never pot a shot at Castr though the CIA learned th. lust group reached a ro Within range. This oect * ' Fae, Sia PEGs he wth € HY 50955 DBocld:32423630 Page 4459
i vl | i By Russell, Baker John Roselli who were associated with . the CLA. in a Scheme to dispatch Fidel Castro have now both be incidertts “eangland-style Killings,» The phrase “Bangland-style killing” meddled into by the constabulary, but earely with much enthusiasm, . This may be because police succesg Style Killings" has never been such as to get them into the World series of detection, With the result that Sant failure May have dulled. their ' Appetite for. the ‘hunt, SO Or, it May be because Policemen believe the Subjects of “gangland-style killings" aren’t worth Working overs time for, ] don’t know, ‘ald ‘T-certainly don’t mean to impute either: Janguor, timidity or indifference to America’s homicide Squads, } simply point out that once a Murder has been called “gangland-style,” apprehension of ‘the Perpetrator almost invariably ‘fails to occur, ‘ a a shut as soon a8 possible, If you and J know this, reader, does & let us Say, some hot-tempered Waiter undertipping for years? - oo, that waiter Wanted to take his revenge and get away with it, is it land-style,”* SO the police could forget it, rather than by scalding Roseltj to bisque? Ought to be Biving Roselli’s waiters out that gangland can have no monop. oly on “gangland-style Killing.” Any- body with a barrel, some concrete and The &angsters Sam: Giancana and. dered after discussing thejr CLA. ene -  terprise with the United States Senate, . and the police have Pronounced: the - has the Cozy resonance of “home-style. ; at nabbing perpetrators of “gangland. . it mot follow that it is also known by, | whom Roselli has been consistently “. not logical that he would do it “gang. ° death in public With a tureen of lobster. This is not to Suggest that the police | & Capacious expanse ‘Of. Water. ‘Can. / SnBage in it, just ag Feadily as your . Ao-lium Murder COMer greasy Spoon can engage in j “home-s tyle cook ing.” _The one Special requirement ig victim whe is a bona fide citizen ‘og - 8angland, Obviously, 9 Philandering ing,.it won't Work, ne The Corollary of ‘this fact ig that Moreover, if th ey complete the job, , you .wouldn’t dream of telling the po. : But to have some alien from ‘the outer Wworld—sormn @ straight-Jake cous. in who. wants Ais share. of your will. ___ OBSERVER a ‘ Prematurely, som @ barber Who hates your Sideburns—to have. Somebody like . this do the Job on you and get away . With it because it’s done “gangland. Style”—Ah, my friend, that must seem  @ cruel injustice, ne ~ Such a bad: €8g as that you would : @ quietly murmured, “Jus, / &angland-style 4; You -will have only of murder, but also of discrimina- tion, for it is on in gangland that from extending I know very well that gangland folks ‘don’t approve of it, and to make sure . that there js no . want to assure them that I haven't ; ‘the heart to Swat a fly, myself, and, | “what's more, I’ve .with concrete, _ themselves: to bring Your persecutor to justice, Hing, - 0 been the victim, not ly your Membership . Brevents ‘the Police . misunderstanding, I never beer any good |