104-10435-10008 “erarsy be ll ots: 28 February 1968 MEMORANDUM | SUBJ ECT: - Garrison Investigation of Kennedy Assassination: _ - Allegations of Involvement, CLA and Cuban i : “il. Mr, hof the SB Division wxote a memorandum i entitled ''Possible DRE Animus esident Kennedy" and dated : -8 March 1967. At that time Mr. had recently returned froma. _ tour of duty in Yugoslavia. While there he had’ read about the Warren Commission's investigation and had noted t é pre ~asSassination encounter in New Orleans between Garlos Bringuier & the Student Revolutionary : Directorate (DRE) and Lee Harvey Osw id. He recalled his own dealings in Miami with the DRE, a ClA-subsidized group. He considered the - DRE members whom he knew to be phpredictable and untrustworthy. He speculated as to whether. DRE eleypfents could have been involved in the Kennedy assassination. He recofnmended that CLA investigate this . possibility if it had not already’done so. was assigned to Miami from July 1962 to August 1964. Neither CI/R&A nor SB has a retention copy ¢ of the memorandum, | ut Mr. is still at Headquarters. hE OD :: Mr: Arthur following members of coley of ; CUREA discussed this matter ‘with the / To te a. Miss Margaret Forsythe. She stated, that CIA's - interest injhe DRE had been made known to the office of the = ° _ Attorney § deneral b by letters of 9 January and 13 April 1963. . _. addresse a to J. Walter Yeagley.. The earlier letter said, in. -. . part, "The DRE is of interest-to this Agency. which sponsors ‘and. supports its propaganda and intelligence collection activity — in the Western Hemisphere .... as the DRE is not a group --under complete Agency control, the above does not insure that — _ they will not undertake isolated ¢ paramilitary Operations without - prior notification. Moe, at ag "oy ee Messrs. then recently returned. from a tour of the Miami Station, and Carl Trettin, DC of the 7 ae Branch, WH/COG » who knew Bringuier and was stationed ogee , 8 | “tn fose be Sti mmerep Pee, a Leen ee eee
13-00000 necessitated careful checking. © . a _ _ in New Orleans at the time of the Oswald-Bringuler ~~ .. Confrontations in August 1963. It was concluded that ~ . Oswald was never a member of the DRE, whichin fact — +i. rejected him, and that the DRE was not involved i in the . - nn assassination. | . ; ff ee See - 3. “In. April 1967 the undersigned : showed a copy. of ‘the| memorandum to Mr./ } then C/WH/COG, who considered that it reflected inadequate information and bias. It was agreed, ~ nevertheless, that the charges which District Attorney James Garrison was then be ginning to level against anti-Castro. Cubans and this A gency eee vets ree mn Te a a Md wk! » Ae The firat report in the , CYR&A series on Garrison, 26 April” 1967, listed seven Cuban refugees. then linked to the case (Sergio, * .. ‘ARCACHA Smith, Carlos BRINGUIER, Julio BUZNEDO, Manvel GARCIA | Gonzalez, Pascual GONGORA,. Miguel Silva TORRES, and Carlos. ~— QUIROGA.) It requested any additional WH/COG information about them ‘and about the following groups: the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary 7 ‘Front, the DRE, the Information Council of the Americas, and any other. . antl«Castro groups active in the New Orleans area. The request added, "Information about CIA relationships with the above-named groups should | not be restricted to New Orleans but should also include Miami and other areas to which Garrison's investigations may lead."' Information was also requested on Edward S. BUTLER, Alberto FOWLER, Emilio SANTANA, and a paramilitary training site at Lake Pontchartrain. By forwarded on 8 May 1967 the then AC/WH/COG, Mr. ‘provided the requested information and added, "WH/: "Will Continue to review all material that may contain information pertinent: to this subject and will forward such information to cr/ R&A on a > priority _ 5. Since that date CI/R&A has. prepared a series of reports « on the Garrison case. All of these have been forwarded to WH/COG. In . turn, WH/COG has provided additional information from its own files and those of the Miami Station, to which it has addressed several inquiries. 6 CI/R&A is currently compiling a- separate list of all Cubans (as well as other Latin Americans) whose names have been linked to the’ Garrison investigation. This list will be forwarded to WH/COG with a. request for checks if it contains any identities not previously traced _ against their files (including those of JMWAVE). Fe me peg ce wec.ad
13-00000 . profitably query Mr. ons : ev ae | nn ry . “7. The problem arising from Garrison! 8 charges of Agency involvement in the assassination is compounded by the nature of - gome of our former Cuban operations, which resulted in a form of . indirect association. For example, Garrison has sought without success to extradite Sergio ARCACHA Smith from Dallas. FBI reporting of 28 March 1967 stated that according to Layton Patrick Martens, ‘Garrison will try to prove that Arcacha was the "second trigger man" in the assassination. The checks run by WH/COG and CI/R&A have not ‘shown any link between Arcacha and CIA. However, WH/COG has _ reported that Arcacha was the delegate of the Frente Revolucionario Democratico (FRD) in New Orleans before the Bay of Pigs, that he maintained regular postal contact with FRD headquarters in Miami, — that the FRD and the Cuban Revolutionary Council were supported by - CIA, and that funds were supplied to the head of these groups, Dr. Jose MIRO Cardona. Consequently Arcacha may have believed that his activities in New Orleans were ClA-supported. This phenomenon of. indirect association appears in other cases as well and may well underlie some of Garrison's accusations. ! ee : 8. tt is s suggested that c/w or his representative might bout the allesations summarizedin paragraph 1, above. . Although the date for the trial of Clay Shaw has not been set, it is plainly drawing closer. Once it starts, the. newspapers will carry a flood of accusations, old and new} and it would be judicious” to be prepared in advance. a - ee ar eco: e a: i a here as 9 ete a eee cere ee at ne ent gee RR eA ra