JFK Assassination System Date: 8/27/201 Identification Form Agency Information AGENCY: DAVIS RECORD NUMBER: _ 178-10004-10189 RECORD SERIES: GENERAL SUBJECT FILE AGENCY FILE NUMBER: ROCK. COM. RPT.--ASSASS. OF FOR. LEADERS (3) Document Information ORIGINATOR: ROCK FROM: BELIN, DAVID TO: TITLE: SUMMARY OF FACTS, INVEST. CIA INVOLVE. IN PLANS TO ASSASS...LEADERS DATE: 06/05/1975 PAGES: 89 SUBJECTS : ROCKEFELLER COMMISSION ANTI-CASTRO ACTIVITIES ASSASSINATIONS, FOREIGN LEADERS . BELIN, DAVID CIA CUBAN EXILES ORGANIZED CRIME DOCUMENT TYPE: REPORT CLASSIFICATION: — Top Secret RESTRICTIONS: 1B CURRENT STATUS: — Redact DATE OF LASTREVIEW: — 08/10/1993 OPENING CRITERIA : COMMENTS : Page | of 89-page document copied. For complete document see ID# 1781000410116 or 1781000310241 or 1781000310355. Released under the John F. Kennedy Lesassination Records Collection fcr of 1992 {44 USC 2107 Note). Casef#: NW 53244 Date: 6-12-2017 ——————$—— 000. ew vol 27 HW 53244 Docld:32105829 Page i
FOP-SEERET SUMMARY OF FACTS INVESTIGATION OF CIA INVOLVEMENT IN PLANS TO ASSASSINATE FOREIGN LEADERS A. The Scope of the Investigation 1. Determining Jurisdiction 1 2. Patrice Lumumba , 3 3. President Achmed Sukarno 4 4. Concurrence of the President on Interpretation of Authority 4 B. Participation of CIA Personnel in Plans to Attempt to Assassinate Fidel Castro - 6 1. Flying Cuban Exiles into Cuba 7 2. 1960-61 and the Phase I Plans 8 a. When the Plans Began 8 b. The Development of the Phase I 178-10004-10189 Plans According to the May 14, 1962 Memorandum to the Attorney General 10 c. The Carrying Out of the Phase I 178-10004-10116 Plan 13 , da. The Balletti Wiretap--Why the May 14, 1962 Memorandum was Prepared 15 178-10003-10355 e. FBI Memoranda Concerning CIA Assassination Plans 19 £. Additional Statements of Colonel. Edwards re May 7, 1962 Briefing. 23 178-10003-10241 g. Statements of Colonel Edwards re Knowledge Inside CIA 24 ‘h. How the Plans Got Started 24 i. Possible White House Direction or Approval of Plans 26 (1) The Testimony of Richard Bissell 26 (a) Elsenhower Administration 26 (b). Kennedy Administration 26 (2) The Testimony of Gordon Gray 29 (3) The Testimony of Walt Rostow 29 (4) The Interrogation of the Phase I Case Officer 29 A ITETALG ED hese reenater funewayana . -1- He Seth HW 53244 Docld:327105829 Page 2 AUWddIT GuOd *-Y GIWayS AHL WONT AdOOOLOHd
taken place in this country, the Commission and its staff determined that because of the nature and seriousness of the matters involved, the doubts would be resolved in favor of undertaking an investigation of the facts. Only after such investigation could the Commission make an informed decision as to its jurisdiction. Cn the basis of th e investigation, the evidence shows that agents of the CIA were involved in planning in this country with certain citizens and others to seek to assassinate Premier Castro. The evidence also shows that the CIA was involved in shipping arms from this country to persons in the Dominican Republic, who sought to assassinate Generalissimo Trujillo (who himself had been involved in an attempt to assassinate the President of Venezuela). No evidence has been found involving any other attempts ‘to assassinate any other foreign leader which had significant overt activities within the United States. However, the nature of the activity and the degree of secrecy and compartmentation within the Agency is such that it is difficult to find any evidence of this kind unless specific facts are brought to the attention of an investigative body. With regard to activities outside of the United States, no evidence has been found of CIA participation in plans to assassinate foreign leaders, except as described in the next four paragraphs. However, the HW 53244 Docld:32105829 Page 6 “ad GIWYADS AHL NOWT AdODOLOHA. AUWdGIT quodr
investigation in such areas, which had no domestic aspect which might bring it within the Commission's jurisdictional mandate under the President's Order, has not been extensive. 2. Patrice Lumumba In the course of the first stage of its investigation to determine its jurisdiction, a preliminary investigation was made of charges that the CIA was involved in the death of Patrice Lumumba, who was killed in early 1961. No evidence was found that the CIA participated in that killing, although there is evidence that prior to Lumumba's death some CIA personnel and others discussed the possibility of undertaking a plan to assassinate Lumumba. * According to Richard Bissell, who was the CIA Deputy Director of Plans at the time, he was aware of discussion of plans within the Agency concerning the possible assassination of Patrice Lumumba and that ''a case officer was directed to look into the possibilities. He reported back in a matter of weeks and convinced me that this was probably unfeasible, and probably an undesirable course of action. According to the case officer, who is now retired, *In an affidavit, C. Douglas Dillon, a member of this Commission, stated that while he served as ‘Under Secretary of State from June 1959 until early January 1961, he heard no discussion of assassination _ attempts against anyone, except discussions which occurred in late July or early August of 1960 at a meeting at the Pentagon which covered a great variety of matters in which'"’...a question regarding the pos- sibility of an assassination attempt against Lumumba was briefly The CIA representative indicated that the Agency did not under- raised. This ended consideration of this subject." take this sort of operation. HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 7 “ad GIWYIS AHL WOUA AdODOLOHA AYWddIT Guodr
Bissell asked him to go to the Congo and there murder or arrange for the murder of Lumumba, and the case officer said that he told Bissell that he refused to be a party to such an act,* Bissell said the Agency had nothing whatsoever to do with the death of Lumumba. 3. President Achmed Sukarno Bissell also testified that there was discussion within the Agency of the possibility of an attempt on the life of President Achmed Sukarno of Indonesia which "progressed as far as the identi- fication of an asset who it was felt might be recruited for this purpose. The plan was never reached, was never perfected to the point where it seemed feasible.'"' He said the Agency had "absolutely nothing" to do with the death of Sukarno. With regard to both plans, he stated that no assassination plans would have been undertaken without authorization outside the Agency, and that no such authorization was undertaken for plans against either Lumumba or Sukarno, 4. Concurrence of the President on Interpretation of Authority Since no evidence was found to bring the Sukarno and Lumumba matters within the scope of the Commission's investigative Fhe Case cllicer gave this information In an oral telephone conference at which time an appointment was arranged for the taking of his testimony before a member of the Commission staff and a court reporter. The case officer failed to keep his appointment. - HW 53244 Docld:327105629 Page 6 AMWdaIT G4Od “WY GIWaAD AHL WONT AdODOLOHA.
| authority, no further investigation in these two areas was undertaken. However, sufficient domestic aspects in the Castro and Trujillo plans were found to constitute grounds for undertaking additional investiga- tion. The President concurred in the approach of the Commission to interpret its authority so that the Commission would (1) ascertain whether the charges of assassination plots have a basis in fact and involve unlawful domestic CIA activities and (2) determine whether existing safeguards would prevent activities of that nature in the future regardless of whether they might involve domestic or foreign conspiracy, The following is a summary of facts pertaining to CIA participation in assassination plans to assassinate Premier Fidel Castro and CIA participation in the shipping of arms to persons in the Dominican Republic who sought to assassinate Generalissimo Trujillo. The facts have been developed through a review of the internal investigation of the CIA, examination of documents, and interviews and'testimony. The Executive Director requested complete access to papers of the National Security Council including papers of the Forty Committee and its predecessors and papers of any special groups or special operating groups. Such access was not granted, Also, ‘time did not permit examination of documents that might be available in the Eisenhower, Kennedy or Johnson presidential HW 53244 DoclId:3271053829 Page 9 AMVdaIT GYOd "Y ATwugad AHL WONT AdODOLOHA
libraries. Consequently, the investigation is not complete with regard to the question of who, if anyone outside the CIA, authorized or directed the planning of any assassination attempts against foreign leaders. However, with particular reference to the plans directed against Fidel Castro, the investigation is sufficiently complete to show that plans were undertaken by the CIA. B. Participation of CIA Personnel in Plans to Attempt to Assassinate Fidel Castro In the late nineteen-fifties, there was increasing dissatis- faction with the government of Cuban leader Batista. As Castro's influence increased, attempts were made to persuade Batista to resign and turn over the reins of government to a group that was more attuned to the needs and desires of the Cuban people, particularly in areas of democratic government and social reforms. According to an inter- view with the former Chief of the CIA Western Hemisphere Division, an unofficial ambassador from this country approached Batista in AMVdaIT Gaod -a GIWYaD FHL WOUT ACOOOLOHA December 1958, asking that he resign and turn over the reins of govern- ment to new leadership. This request was refused. Fidel Castro shortly thereafter took over the Cuban govern- ment. There was great concern on the part of American leadership about the presence of a government so closely aligned with the Soviet Union barely ninety miles from American shores. HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 10. vIn tide
HW 53244 Therefore, the CIA, with appropriate authorization, under- took the development of an operation in support of Cuban exiles seeking to overthrow the Castro Government, the culmination of which became the Bay of Pigs disaster in April 1961, As the plans for the attempted overthrow of the Cuban govern- ment were developed, one of the considerations related to Fidel Castro as the dominant figure. 1, Flying Cuban Exiles into Cuba There has been testimony beforethe Commission staff that at the request of the CIA the Air Force provided a plane in late 1959 or early 1960 which was used to fly two Cuban exiles into Cuba. The witness was unable to provide names of these two Cuban exiles or names of any CIA personnel which he said were involved. However, at the time of the events the witness was an Air Force officer who had liaison functions between the Department of Defense and the CIA. He testified that he believes a plane was provided and that the two Cuban exiles were to carry with them one or more rifles with tele- scopic sites to be used in an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro, The Commission staff sought to investigate this matter. In a''Memorandum for the Record!! dated May 15, 1975, the CIA admitted that in reviewing its files relating to Cuban operations DoclId: 32105829 Page 11 “ad GTWaaS AHL WOYT AdODOLOHA KaWdaIT dquo
during the period 1959-1961: "a number of documents were found that referred to the intent on the part of some of the Cuban teams operating inside Cuba to attempt to assassinate Castro....Additionally, the files indicate that there was considerable interest in procurement of Helio Courier (the civil version of the L-28), but there is no definite indication that they were intended for Cuban operations. Also, there is mention of the air drop of Springfield rifles with telescopic sights." 2. 1960-61 and the Phase I Plans The Phase I plans involved the preparation of poison botulism pills by the CIA; the delivery of those pills to organized crime figures who in turn were to get the pills delivered to contacts they had in Cuba for placement in a beverage to be drunk by Premier Castro, a. When the Plans Began There is some disagreement about exactly when the Phase I plans began. The two people in the CIA who were the most intimately involved were Richard Bissell, Deputy Director of Plans, who was the person in the CIA who had direct responsibility for the Bay of Pigs operation (April 17-19, 1961), and Colonel Sheffield Edwards, the Director of the Office of Security of the CIA. HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 12 AUVddIT Guod *Y GIWusS AHL Wowd KdODOLOHA
HW 53244 According to Richard Bissell, the plans relating to Fidel Castro started in "the very beginning of 1961" when he said he became aware ''of the possibility that an assassination attempt might be planned using Mafia resources, or syndicate resources. My very uncertain recollection is that I first heard of this possibility from ' Shef Edwards." According to Sheffield Edwards, his first contact with these plans ''was about the time of the Bay of Pigs.'' He said he did not 'remember exactly" if it was before or after the Bay of Pigs, but when asked whether or not it was inthe Eisenhower Administration or the Kennedy Administration for purposes of determining the time of the inception of the plan, he said that It was in the Kennedy Administration." Although oral testimony of both said that this began in the early stages of the Kennedy Administration, there is docu- mentation which indicates that these conversations took place in the latter part of 1960 during the Eisenhower Administration. This documentation includes a May 14, 1962 ''Memorandum for the Record!! entitled "Arthur James Balletti et al -- Unauthorized Publication or Use of Communications.'! The opening sentence of the memorandum states: DoclId: 32105829 Page 13 'This memorandum for the record was prepared at the request AWVdadIT Guod °-Y GIWYAD AHL WOU AdODOLOHA
HW 53244 10 of the Attorney General of the United States following a complete oral briefing of him relevant to a sensitive CIA operation conducted during the period approximately August 1960 to May 1961."" The oral briefing actually occurred in the offices of the Attorney General of the United States, Robert Kennedy, on May 7, 1962, and Attorney General Kennedy received a copy of the May 14, 1962 memorandum for the record, Attending the oral briefing were three people: Attorney General Kennedy, Sheffield Edwards and Lawrence Houston, General Counsel of the CIA. b. The Development of the Phase I Plans According to the May 14, 1962 Memorandum to the Attorney General The May 14, 1962 memorandum was prepared by Sheffield Edwards and continued after the opening sentence: "In ; August 1960 the undersigned was approached by Mr. Richard Bissell, then Deputy Director for Plans of CIA, to explore the possibility of mounting this sensitive operation against Fidel Castro. It was thought that certain gambling interests, which had formerly been active in Cuba, might be willing and able to assist and further, might have both intelligence assets in Cuba and communication between Miami, Florida and Cuba." The memorandum then related that an intermediary who was known to the CIA (Robert Maheu) was approached by Colonel DocId:32105829 Page 14 AUMVddIT GYOd “AY AIWYES AHL Nous AdODO.LOHA
HW 53244 ll Sheffield Edwards "and asked to establish contact with a member or members of the gambling syndicate to explore their capabilities." The approach was to be made", ..to the syndicate as appearing to represent big business organizations which wished to protect their interests in Cuba.'' The contact was made with a ''syndicate'' member who ''showed interest in the possibility and indicated he had some con- tacts in Miami that he might use.'' The syndicate member supposedly told the CIA intermediary that the syndicate person ''was not interested in any remuneration but would seek to establish capabilities in Cuba to perform the desired project." The memorandum continued: ''Towards the end of September 1960" contact with another! syndicate member from Chicago, Sam Giancana, was made, and in turn an arrangement was made through Giancana for the CIA intermediary and his contact ''to meet with a 'courier' who was going back and forth to Havana. From information received back by the courier the proposed operation appeared to be feasible and it was decided to obtain an official Agency ‘approval in this regard. was set by the Agency as a payment to be made on completion of the operation and to be paid only to the principal or principals who would conduct the operation in Cuba." DocIda:32105829 Page 15 A figure of one hundred fifty thousand dollars "a GIWYGD AHL WOYI AdODOLOHA AUYVddIT quoar
12 The CIA intermediary reported that Giancana and the other contact "emphatically stated that they wished no part of any payment. The undersigned (Sheffield Edwards) then briefed the proper senior officers of this Agency of the proposal. Knowledge of this project during its life was kept to a total of six persons and never became a part of the project current at the time for the invasion of Cuba. There were no memoranda on the project nor were there other written documents or agreements. The project was duly orally approved by the said senior officials of the Agency." The memorandum continued that during the period from September 1960 to 1961, ''efforts were continued'' by the CIA intermediary and the Mafia personne! ''to proceed with the operation. The first principal in Cuba withdrew and another principal was selected as has been briefed to the Attorney General. Ten thousand dollars was passed for expenses to the second principal, He was further furnished with approximately one thousand dollars worth of communi- cation equipment to establish communications between his headquarters in Miami and assets in Cuba. No monies were ever paid" to the syndicate personnel. There was expense money paid to the CIA intermediary. The memorandum stated that "After the failure of the invasion of Cuba word was sent through" the CIA intermediary to the HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 16 ANVdGIT G4odI "YU GTwugaS AHL WoNd AdODOLOHA
13 syndicate personnel "to call off the operation" with the further direction that the syndicate person "was told to tell his principal that the pro- posal to pay one hundred fifty thousand dollars for completion of the operation had been definitely withdrawn.'' Only two copies of the memorandum were prepared -- one for the Attorney General and one to be retained by the CIA, c. The Carrying Out of the Phase I Plan The following facts primarily come from inter- rogation of Colonel Edwards and the Phase I case officer: The particular means by which the plans were to be carried out was "by placing botulism pills in his food." The syndicate personnel were to get the pills to a_ person in Cuba who would have access to Castro. Supposedly, the reason {pills were used was that the syndicate personnel could not recruit personnel to undertake the assassination through gunfire because the chance of survival and escape was small. However, the case officer felt that it was the Agency itself that desired to have pills us ed rather than gunfire. Colonel Edwards said that he, himself, checked out the pills on some guinea pigs "because I wanted to be sure they worked, "' HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 17 AUVdaIT auod *ay alTwag9 HHL WOU AdODOLOHA
14 Corroboration of the Phase I plans was also made by another retired medical officer who was familiar with the pre- paration of the pills inside the Agency. Edwards said he did not know of any plans other than those that involved the use of these botulism pills. Edwards did not have any first-hand knowledge about whether or not the pills ever got to Cuba. According to the Phase J case officer, he delivered the pills to the syndicate member and was subsequently advised by the syndicate member that the pills were in Cuba, but the case officer had no direct knowledge of his own that the pills actually got there. Richard Bissell said he did not have any personal recollection as to whether or not poison pills of any kind were ever delivered into Cuba. According to the case officer and the CIA Inspector General files, there were two passages of pills to Cuba in the first part of 1961. The first passage was in late February or March from the syndicate through their courier toa Cuban who supposedly had a position inthe -Guban PrimesMinisterts.office where he had access to Fidel Castro. According to the interview of Sheffield Edwards with the Executive Director, the Cuban asset ''got scared" and did not try HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 16 “ad GTWHADS AHL WOT AdODOLOHA AUYVdGIT auod
15 to pass the pill. Pills were subsequently delivered to another "asset"! who was in a position to slip the pills to Castro at a restaurant where the asset worked. This took place in the March-April 1961 period. Fidel Castro ceased visiting that particular restaurant at approxi- mately the same time the pills purportedly arrived. The case officer said it was his recollection that there were two passages of pills to Cuba, the second one which was made to someone who had access to a restaurant which Castro frequented. After the second attempt failed, the case officer said the pills were returned to the CIA. d. The Balletti Wiretap - Why the May 14, 1962 Memorandum was Prepared ‘The factual situation underlying the preparation of the May 14, 1962 memorandum was that sometime in the fall of 1960 Sam Giancana asked the CIA intermediary to arrange for putting a listening device in.the room of an entertainer who at the time was in Las Vegas and who Giancana thought was having an affair with another entertainer, who was reputed to be Giancana's mistress. According to the Phase I CIA case officer, the request by Giancana came at a crucial time when plans were underway for Phase I. Giancana supposedly stated that if-he did not get help to install the listening device, he would have to go to Las Vegas HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 19 “ad GQIWYIS FHL WOUT AdODOLOHA AMWdadIT quod
HW 53244 16 himself. The case officer said 'this would have interrupted the project at a very critical time,'' and therefore he sought the assistance of the CIA intermediary to get a private detective agency to undertake the installation of the listening device. | The CIA intermediary passed the request over to another private investigator, who in turn contacted Arthur James Balletti (the name of the subject of the May 14, 1962 memorandum for the record given to Attorney General Kennedy)- Instead of putting a listening device in the room, Balletti put a listening device on the telephone. The listening device was discovered and Balletti was arrested by the sheriff of Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time of the ‘incident, the CIA did not know of the specific proposed wiretap. According to the Agency investigation by the Inspector General's Office in 1967, Edwards had once told the Agency intermediary that if the intermediary ever got in trouble he could say to the FBI that he was working on an intelligence operation being handled by the Agency. An FBI memorandum on that matter stated that the inter- mediary claimed the telephone tap was ordered on behalf of the Agency's effort to obtain intelligence through hoodlum elements in Cuba. The Agency investigation file also states that a March 23, 1962 FBI memorandum confirmed a meeting with Sheffield Edwards in which DocId:32105829 Page 20 “ad QTWaYaS AHL WOdd AdODOLOHA AUVdEHIT dyogr
HW 53244 17 Edwards told the FBI that the intermediary was involved in a sensitive project and that the CIA would object to prosecution because it would necessitate CIA information and it could embarrass the United States Government. Subsequently there was a meeting between Sheffield Edwards and Sam Papich, the FBI liaison with the Agency, in which Edwards advised Papich that it would not be in the national interest to prosecute. At the time of that meeting, according to Edwards, those who had initially authorized the assassination plans (Allen Dulles and Richard Bissell) were gone and no one else in authority (including Richard Helms, who replaced Bissell) had been ''cut in on the operation."' Thereafter, Sheffield Edwards briefed Lawrence Houston, General Counsel for the CIA, who in turn briefed General Carter, McCone's Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. (General Carter, who is now retired, lives in When interviewed by a member of the Commission staff Colorado. by long distance telephone, General Carter said that he had no recollection of this. ) Edwards, in his 1975 recorded interview, said that there was nothing that he knew about the plan to assassinate Castro that he didn't tell Attorney General Kennedy and that the briefing lasted ‘About a half an hour,.at least." He said that he told Attorney DoclIda:32105829 Page 21 AUVdaIT Gdod “A CTWAID FHL WOUd AdODOLONA
HW 53244 10 General Kennedy "everything,'' and that after the briefing was completed Robert Kennedy had no comment to him but Robert Kennedy "cautioned Larry Houston to the effect that he was to know about these things. Words to that effect.'' When asked whether or not the Attorney General had told Colonel Edwards that "you shouldn't do this at all,'' Colonel Edwards replied ''No.'! When asked whether or not the Attorney General in any way said ''that he disapproved of whatever was done in the past, '' Colonel Edwards said ''no."' Lawrence Houston testified, 'I was briefed on this subject after it was dropped. I was not party to nor was I asked in advance about it....By the time I heard about it, I think it had been terminated some little time, but there were personalities involved... who were both regarded as part of the Mafia organization, and these were people!’ that the CIA intermediary "had introduced to us. They had former gambling interests in Havana, and at one time thought they may be able to take action against Castro. After it fell through | my recollection is that they had potential criminal indictments" against the Mafia people ''and it seerns to me that the bug in the Las Vegas hotel was involved more peripherally, but I cannot remember the details. "' DocId:32105829 Page 22 AMVdGIT Quod *Y ATWuaD FHL WoUd AdODOLOH.
19 Houston also testified that he told Edwards "that I thought the only thing to do was to go and tell the whole story to the Attorney General. So with the approval of the Director at the time--, well, it was '63, it must have been McCone. We went down to brief Mr. Kennedy on the full story" that the Agency "had set up a project with its aim the demise of Castro, that the project had fallen through, that these following people were involved, and we gave them the names, and this is what made him unhappy, because at that time he felt he was making a very. strong drive to try to get after the Mafia. And so his comment was to us that if we were going to get involved with the Mafia, in the future at any time, to make sure you see me first." | (This is the only evidence in the record to show that John McCone knew about the existence of any specific assassination plan in 1962. There is evidence in the CIA files to show that the actual person with whom the matter was discussed was the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, and this evidence is supported by an August 16, 1963 memorandum from Helms to McCone, which will be discussed in the Phase II portion of this report.) e.. FBI Memoranda Concerning CIA Assassination Plans According to a May 22, 1961 FBI memorandum entitled 'Arthur James Balletti, et al’: HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 23 AUWddIT daod *y aiIwagyo qHL WO AdODOLOHA
HW 53244 "On May 3, 1961, Colonel Sheffield Edwards, Director of Security, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) furnished the following information: "Colonel Edwards advised that in connection with CIA's operation against Castro he personally contacted Robert Maheu during the fall of 1960 for the purpose of using Maheu as a ‘cut-out! in contacts with Sam Giancana, a known hoodlum in the Chicago area, Colonel Edwards said that since the underworld controlled gambling activities in Cuba under the Batista government, it was assumed that this element would still continue to have sources and contacts in Cuba which perhaps could be utilized successfully in connection with CIA's clandestine efforts against the Castro government. As a result, Maheu's services were solicited as a 'cut-out' because of his possible entry into underworld circles. Maheu obtained Sam Giancana's assistance in this regard and according to Edwards, Giancana gave every indication of cooperating through Maheu in attempting to accomplish several clandestine efforts in Cuba. Edwards added that none of Giancana's efforts have materialized to date and that several of the plans still are working and may eventually 'pay off. '" The memorandum then went into the Balletti situation and reported that Colonel Edwards had no knowledge of the wire tap. DoclId:32105829 Page 24 AdWddIT Guod *Y AGIWwaaS AHL NOUT KdODO.LOHA
21 The memorandum concluded with the following paragraph: "Colonel Edwards advised that only Mr. Bissell (Deputy Director of Plans, CIA) and two others in CIA were aware of the Giancana-Maheu activity in behalf of CIA's program and that Allen Dulles was completely unaware of Edwards! contact with Maheu in this connection. He added that Mr. Bissell, during his recent briefings of General Taylor and the Attorney General in connection with their inquiries into CIA relating to the Cuban situation told the Attorney General that some of the CIA's associated planning included the use of Giancana andthe underworld against Castro." Subsequently, on March 6, 1967, J. Edgar Hoover sent to the Attorney General a letter with an accompanying March 6, 1967, FBI memorandum entitled 'Central Intelligence Agency's Intentions to Send Hoodlums to Cuba to Assassinate Castro," The memorandum referred to the Balletti wiretap matter and stated that the FBI "checked matter with CIA on 5/3/61 and learned CIA was using Robert Maheu as intermediary with Sam Giancana relative to CIA's 'dirty business' anti-Castro activities. NBy letter 5/22/61 we furnished former Attorney General Kennedy a memorandum containing a rundown on CIA's involvement in this. The original HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 25 AUWdaIT GuOd “a AIWUAD AHL WOYA AdODOLOHA
HW 53244 22 of the letter and memorandum were returned to us for filing purposes. A copy of that memorandum is being attached to instant letter being sent to Attorney General. "On 5/9/62 Kennedy discussed with the Director a number of matters, including admission by CIA that Robert Maheu had been hired by that Agency to approach Sam Giancana to have Castro assassinated at a cost of $150,000. Kennedy stated he had issued orders that CIA should never undertake such steps again without first checking with the Department of. Justice and stated because of this matter it would be difficult to prosecute Giancana or Robert Maheu then or in the future." The memorandum stated that the FBI had learned on June 20, 1963 that the CIA contacts with the Mafia had ''continued up until that time when they were reportedly cut off.'' The FBI memorandum also stated that it appeared that one Mafia member _involved in the plans "is using his prior connections with the CIA to his best advantage." A contemporaneous FBI memorandum dated March 6, 1967 stated that Robert Kennedy following his briefing in May of 1962 informed the FBI on May 9, 1962 about the briefing. "He (Robert Kennedy) indicated that a few days prior thereto he had been advised by CIA" that an intermediary had been hired by CIA to approach Sam Giancana with a proposition of paying $150,000 to hire some gunman to go into Cuba and kill Castro. The memorandum further continued © DocId: 32105829 Page 26 "a GIWYID AHL WONT AdODOLOHA AMWdEIT. quod
23 that ''Mr. Kennedy stated that upon learning CIA had not cleared its action in hiring (the intermediary) and Giancana with the Department of Justice he issued orders that CIA should never take such steps without checking with the Department of Justice. | "Mr. Kennedy further advised that because of this matter it would be very difficult to initiate any prosection against Giancana, as Giancana could immediately bring out the fact that the United States Government had approached him to arrange for the assassination of Castro." f. Additional Statements of Colonel Edwards re May 7, 1962 Briefing When Sheffield Edwards and the CIA's General Counsel briefed Robert Kennedy on May 7, 1962 concerning the Phase I assassination efforts by the CIA, there is no evidence to indicate that during that briefing Robert Kennedy told the CIA personnel that he already had known of this information because of prior information received from the FBI. Colonel Edwards in his 1975 recorded interview confirmed the statement in the March 6, 1967 FBI memorandum that Attorney General Kennedy stated that the CIA should never under-~ take the use of Mafia people again without first checking with the Department of Justice because it would be difficult to prosecute such people in the future. HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 27 AUVdadIT GuOd “UY GIWYAS AHL NOU AdODOLOHA
24 g. Statements of Colonel Edwards re Knowledge Inside CIA According to Edwards the CIA people that knew about the plans while they were going on were himself, his case officer, Bissell, Allen Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence until November 1961, and General Cabell, Deputy Director of Intelligence during this period of time. Both Dulles and Cabell are now dead, h. How the Plans Got Started There is inconsistency between the testimony of Richard Bissell and Colonel Edwards concerning how the plans got started. According to Bissell the original approach was made to the Agency by the syndicate personnel because "'they had their own very strong motivations for carrying out this...they had been powerful under Batista in Cuba, and they had a very lucrative set of interests for the syndicates, and they had in effect been thrown out, and so they had the strongest sort of reasons for anti-Castro sentiment on their own.'' Bissell said he first learned about this from Sheffield Edwards and that he had also talked with Allen Dulles about the matter. HW 53244 DoclId: 32105829 Page 26 "ad GIWYID AHL WOYI AaODOLOHG. AUVdaIT aqyiod
HW 53244 a5 Whereas Bissell testified that he ''first heard of this possibility (of using Mafia or syndicate resources) from Sheffield Edwards,'' Edwards testified that his first contact was a request by Bissell who asked Edwards "If I had any assets. .. that would be avail- able into.the syndicate. " When asked about the inconsistency between his own testimony and that of Sheffield Edwards concerning whether or not Edwards approached Bissell first or Bissell approached Edwards first, Bissell stated that "it is possible that my recollection is wrong...1I think I will stand on that as my recollection.. . but I seem to remember rather clearly that it was from him (Edwards) that I first learned of the possibility of this operation, and that he came to see me for this purpose rather than my sending for him. Now, could I just say that I had several conversations with Shef Edwards on this matter, and it is very possible that I, that in a subsequent conversation t did take the initiative and send for and discuss it with him." The Phase I case officer stated that he believed it was Bissell who first approached Edwards about making the contacts with a CIA intermediary. The case officer further stated that although he ultimately became aware of the fact that the people contacted by the CIA intermediary were ''syndicate'’ members, initially neither DocId:32105829 Page 29 AWWddIT quod "ay aiwuqs GHL WOUI AdODOLOHG
26 he nor the intermediary knew this to be the fact. Rather, he said he thought these people whom the intermediary contacted were gangster- type people who were not necessarily members of the syndicate. i, Possible White House Direction or Approval of Plans (1) The Testimony of Richard Bissell {a) Eisenhower Administration When asked whether or not he had any discussions with any official in the Eisenhower Administration con- cerning the development of an "executive action" capability, Bissell replied, 'not to my recollection, and I think Iam almost sure that I did not.'! Bissell stated that he had no clear recollection of any discussion with anyone in the Eisenhower Administration concerning any possible plan to assassinate Castro." but there could have been. He said that if it would have occurred at all during the Eisenhower Administration, "it would have been with Gordon Gray." (b) Kennedy Administration Bissell testified that although "my recol- lection of this is far from clear...1am satisfied that very early in the Kennedy Administration I did participate" in conversations with someone in the White House concerning the planning of what was called an executive action capability, which was defined in substance as a HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 30 AUVdaIT Quod *y Q1Tvwad5S AHL WOU AdODOLOHA
HW 53244 27 capability of the Agency to carry out assassinations, if required. | When asked with whom these conversations occurred, Bissell said "I am almost certain it was either Walt Rostow (Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security) or McGeorge Bundy (Presidential Assistant for National Security), or probably the former, and possibly When asked to state what specifically was discussed in these conversations, Bissell said: ''My recollection, which isn't too specific, is that this was a discussion of the desirability of developing such a capability within the CIA that presumably would be a small, special unit, and highly compartmented from the rest of the organization." Bissell said that he had no specific knowledge but that he "had a great deal of confidence that the two gentlemen whose names I have mentioned, would not have discussed this discussed with me or encouraged any course of action that they were not confident the President would approve." Later in his testimony Bissell said that the possibility of using syndicate people to carry out an assassination attempt against Castro ''was discussed by me, again I think probably with Walt Rostow. It may possibly have been discussed directly with DoclId: 32105829 Page 31 AMVddIT duOd “a AIWYAIS AHL WOU AdODOLOHA
28 McGeorge Bundy, but I suspect that it was through Rostow, who was then Bundy's assistant and on his staff. My impression, but again I] must emphasize that this is uncertain impression, was that I was encouraged to go ahead with the investigation and planning of this operation, and by investigation I mean simply to find out what would be involved to make some assessment of the likelihood of success, and other aspects of the matter," According to Bissell, he was ''vague as to the final outcome of that attempt.'' He said that he had ''no recol- lection of a specific authorization that it should go forward. I believe, however, that we probably did move to be in a position to carry it out, or authorize it, if authorization were received.'' He said that he believed ''my own recollection of the final stages of the plan is vague!! because the plan involved ''furnishing probably some money and such items as pills or other devices through a number of cut-outs or intermediaries to a group which we ourselves, of course, did not, in any direct sense, control. This was not an operation of sucha character that the communications would run through Agency channels, or that authorization on the spot would be by Agency personnel, or that the Agency could precisely and tightly control it."' HW 53244 DocId:321058629 Page 32 AUVdHIT GuOd “Y GTwuao AHL WONT AdOD0LOHA
(2) The Testimony of Gordon Gray Gordon Gray testified that he had no conversa-. tions with Richard Bissell or anyone else pertaining to assassination plans. (3) The Testimony of Walt Rostow Walt Rostow testified that he did not have any recollection of having any discussions with Bissell pertaining to any attempt at assassination plots. (4) The Interrogation of the Phase I Case Officer The case officer stated that he had been told that the project had been approved by Allen Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence, but he (the case officer) had no knowledge of whether or not there had been any discussion or approval from the White House. (5) The Interrogation of Colonel Edwards Edwards said that he believed the plans were developed by Bissell and that he was "sure that there were not" any people in the White House that knew about these plans, He also said that he did not know of any attempt of plans to assassinate people other than Fidel Castro. (6) The Testimony of McGeorge Bundy McGeorge Bundy said that he was never aware of any "actual decision" to go about seeking to assassinate any foreign HW 53244 Docld:32105629 Page 33 AUMWddIT GHOd “A GIWaYaS AHL WONT AdODOLOHA
HW 53244 leader. However, he said that he did "have a vague recollection of the existence or the possible existence of contingency planning in this area. lam sorry to say I cannot help you much with details about it because I can't fish thern out of my memory, but I could not exclude that there were contingency plans, and a contingency capability of some sort, or plans for such a capability at some time. "He said that he did not know of any case where plans went beyond the con- tingency |stage ''and I know of no such authorization or any involve- ment by anybody in the White House staff or anybody else, for that matter.'' When asked whether or not he ever heard any discussion concerning a plot or plan to assassinate Cuban leaders, Bundy replied, "Not that I can remember.. -I certainly cannot exclude the possibility that you could have had the kind of discussion in which one or another individual would have said it would be, that there is a ‘possibility that thus and such a Cuban group, if landed and infiltrated, might have as one of its missions the following, which might have included an attack on one or another Cuban leader. Ido not have any direct recollection that this did happen, but I cannot exclude that it did happen." Docld:321058279 Page 34 AUWdaIT quo4 “ad GTWaIS FHL NOMI KdODOLOHA"
Bundy testified that he did not know of any decision to go ahead and actually undertake a plan of assassination. "That contingent capability may have been authorized in this field I cannot - exclude, although I have no direct recollection of it. It is the decision to go ahead that Iam sure Ido not remember." Bundy said that he would have been "surprised" if any effort to assassinate a foreign leader had been undertaken without his approval as the President's Assistant for Security Affairs, and said that he himself would 'not have authorized anything of that kind without much higher authority than my own. I could not exclude that there would be communication with the President by other channels. Neither President Kennedy nor President Johnson always used any one channel." There was direct access of the Director of Central Intelligence to the President, according to Mr. Bundy. He said that based upon his experience, ''I would not have expected... the Agency would have undertaken anything like an attack on the life of a foreign leader without direct order from higher authority"... it did not happen in the time I was there... but I can conceive of the President saying to somebody, I do not want to make this decision but giving some indication of the kind of decision he wanted made." HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 35 AMVdaIT GuYOd *Y GIWaUaS FHL WONT AdODOLOHG
(7) The Subsequent Interrogation of McGeorge Bundy After Mr. Bundy completed his testimony before the Commission, he contacted the Executive Director the next morning and volunteered that in thinking about the matter overnight NT have had a vague recollection, which I cannot pinpoint in time, that there was discussion that I knew about at some time of a proposal or scheme or project!' in-relation to the Castro regime ''that did involve poison, and the characteristic that sticks in my memory is that it would have involved a rather large scale use of poison and, as I recollect it, it never came anywhere near approval,'"' Proposals under the overall plan with regard to Cuba ''which did come from time to time (mostly not with respect to assassination) were reviewed in the first instance for practicability and only after that for wisdom or political rightness, and I recall no proposal for liquidation that ever got past the first stage to the second." A memorandum of the interview with the Exec- utive Director was prepared the next morning to record these addi- tional comments. In this memorandum which was signed by Mr. Bundy and sworn to before a notary public in the form of an affidavit, Bundy said that 'I simply have no recollection of plans" that "existed in January or February 1961" which involved the attempted poisoning of any Cuban leader. HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 36 "I believe my memory tells me in a more general AUVdaIT GuYOI "HY GIWHSD FHL NOW AdODOLOHd.
way that my knowledge of a scheme or idea of using poison probably relates to the year 1962." Bundy further stated: "Jam absolutely certain that I never knew of or believed that there was any authorization to go ahead with an effort to liquidate Castro, or any other Cuban leader." With reference to his testimony concerning an executive action capability, Bundy said that "I recall the words ‘exec- utive action capability’ more clearly today than I did yesterday...but Ido not have any recollection as to what I knew about that or who requested it or how much was done under it. I don't recall having any particular continuing interest in or information about that particular activity" which was "something like!’ a''plan to have some kind of stand-by capability for action against individuals." (8) Documents of the National Security Council On April 17, 1975, the Executive Director wrote AMWddIT GUOI "Y GIWYaD AHL WONT AdODO.LOHA to the National Security Council requesting immediate access to all files and documents relating to the operations affecting Cuba and the Dominican Republic during the period 1960-1964 and in particular asked for access to the records of the National Security Council, the Special Group and the Special Group augmented. The request of the Executive Director was denied on May 9, 1975. However, on May 9, the National Security Council (NSC) purported to deliver to the Executive Directo HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 37
all National Security Council documents in its possession which per- tained to the question of possible assassination attempts on the life of Castro or Trujillo. One of these documents was an excerpt from a paper on "United States Policy Toward Cuba''dated May 4, 1961 and prepared for discussion by the National Security Council at its meeting on May 5, 1961. are as follows: HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 36 Paragraphs No. 79 and No. 80 from this excerpt 79. Castro. A political vulnerability of the regime lies in the person of Castro himself. It is not clear whether the regime could continue to operate for long without him. There is no question that the bureaucracy operates relatively freely, and probably makes many decisions without con- sulting Castro. However, it is equally certain that the Castro personality and his appeal to the Cuban people is an important element in maintaining popular support for the regime. If Castro were removed from the scene the regime might collapse for lack of this central rallying point. On the other hand, the bureaucracy may now be so firmly entrenched that it could function independently--~although admittedly without the degree of popular support now enjoyed. Further, by using Castro as a martyr it might be possible to generate at least a temporary support for his successor. 80, A further possibility attendant upon the death of Castro would be the attitude of the PSP. The party would like to assume a moreopen and dominant role inthe Cuban Government. Castro's death might force or encourage the party into a precipitate move to seize power... If this happened it would probably have an adverse reaction of Latin American opinion, though principally at the government level. AUVddIT Guod *y aiwago gH, WoYd AdODOLOHA
Subsequently the Executive Director renewed his request orally and also in writing on May 22. On May 30, the National Security Council stated that it had completed a review of all records of the predecessor groups of the Forty Committee and trans- mitted some additional documents, although still denying overall access. Included in the copies of the documents transferred on May 30, 1975 were the following: (a.) Copy of the November 3, 1960 "Minutes of Special Group Meeting" attended by Messrs. Merchant, Douglas, Gray, General Cabell and General Lansdale. The last paragraph stated: ud GIVYAS AHL WONT AdODOLOHA 'Pinally, Mr. Merchant asked whether any real planning has. been done for taking direct positive action against Fidel, Raul and Che Guevara, He said that without these three the Cuban Government would be leaderless and probably brainless. He WvddIT auog conceded that it would be necessary to act against all three simultaneously. Gen. Cabell pointed out that action of this kind is uncertain of results and highly dangerous in conception and execution, because the instruments must be Cubans. He felt that, particularly because of the necessity it would have to be concluded that Mr. Merchant's of simultaneous action, suggestion is beyond our capabilities." HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 39
(b) The remaining documents all related to 1964 and will be discussed in the concluding part of the section of the Statement of Facts pertaining to possible assassination plans directed against Premier Castro. je June 13, 1961 Taylor Report According to a June 13, 1961 paper, Allen Dulles and Richard Bissell briefed President-elect Kennedy in Novernber 1960 at Palm Beach about the Bay of Pigs planning. The Taylor paper was prepared pursuant to an April 22, 1961 directiveiby the President to Taylor, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Admiral Arley Burke and Allen Dulles for an overall analysis and study of governmental practices for military, paramilitary, guerrilla and anti-guerrilla activity with special attention ''to the lessons that can be learned from recent events in Cuba.'! There is nothing in the June 13, 1961 Taylor report which specifically discusses assassination. However, during the time the study was being under- taken the aforementioned May 22, 1961, FBI memorandum was prepared and. sent to Attorney General Kennedy. k. Relationship of Phase I Plan with Bay of Pigs Sheffield Edwards, himself, thought that these plans were developed in connection with the Bay of Pigs, and it was Bissell HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 40 a aGTwusaS AHL Wows AdODOLOHA AWVddIiT ayog
37 who was in charge of the overall coordination of the Bay of Pigs operation. Bissell denies that these plans were part of the Bay of Pigs planning. He testified that he was "quite clear!’ that the plans. for attempted assassination of Fidel Castro were not developed as a part of the Bay of Pigs operation. 1. Knowledge of Phase I Plans Inside Cuba Bissell stated that he did not think the actual attempt was ever made, although it is physically possible that the poison | pills did reach Cuba. He also said that although he did not remember having any evidence that Castro knew of these attempts, "it is perfectly possible that, with some time lag, Castro would have come on some evidence of this operation." Bissell also testified that to the extent individuals in the Cuban exile community in Miami may have been involved, "our belief was that Castro was extremely well informed on what was going on," m. Termination of Phase J Plan After the Bay of Pigs operation in April 1961, according to Sheffield Edwards "the plan, as I recall, petered out,!! Edwards said that he did not become involved with any other person, after the Bay of Pigs invasion, to try to get the pills to Cuba. HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 41 “ad GQIWHIS AHL WOUA AdODOLOHAG “RUWdaId auoa
n. Other Plans During Phase I While the Phase I plans were underway, the Agency received confirmation from contacts in Cuba concerning possible assassination attempts inside Cuba against Castro. Most of these contacts took place in the first part of 1961 immediately preceding the Bay of Pigs landing. In particular, there were several cables received referring to a possible assassination attempt against Fidel. Castro on April 9, 1961, during a public appearance at the Sports Palace in Havana. There were also messages received from dis- sident Cubans inside Cuba in the first few months after the Bay of Pigs invasion. In some of these messages there were references to trying to kill Castro. None of these possible assassination attempts from dissidents inside Cuba appear to have been coordinated with the Phase I plans. HW 53244 Docld:321058279 Page 42 AMWdGIT Gaod *Y aIwugqo AHL NOY KdODOLOH.,
39 3. 1962-63 and the Phase II Plans. Possible authorization - the Testimony of Richard Bissell In late 1961 or early 1962, Deputy Director for a. Plans, Richard Bissell, recalled asking a new case officer "to take over a part of our reviving effort against Castro and the Castro Administration...I probably urged him to look into this plan...which had been the subject of active attention nearly a year before. I have no recollection of authorizing him to revive it, except to look at it as a plan, or to proceed with any action along those lines." Richard Bissell resigned from the Agency in February, 1962. His successor as Deputy Director for Plans was Richard Helms. b. The Interrogation of the Phase II Case Officer (1) Developing an "Executive Action" capability. The Phase II case officer in a signed recorded interview said that he had a conversation with Richard Bissell, which he believed took place in the latter part of 1961 or early 1962, in which Bissell told him in substance that someone in the White House had raised the question whether or not the Agency should develop what, was called an "executive action capability," which was a capability of assassination or HW 53244 DocId:321058629 Page 43 AUVdGIT GuOd ‘ay aIwugao AHL WoUd AdOOOLOHd
HW 53244 40 liquidation of leaders of foreign countries. The case officer said that Bissell briefed him that an operation against Castro "had been mounted". and "that it had been handled through Sheffield Edwards. (2) Discussions with Edwards and Helms The case officer said he was then briefed by Edwards on the operation that’ had been previously conducted. ‘This testimony was corroborated by Colonel Edwards. Both Edwards and the case officer stated that Edwards did not have any further contact with any subsequent phase after Phase I. Colonel Edwards put the Phase . II case officer in contact-:with the case officer who had been involved with Phase I for a briefing. The Phase II case officer then took over this entire operation for the Agency. The Phase II case officer stated in his recorded interview that after he was briefed by the previous case officer and discussed the matter with Sheffield Edwards, he then discussed the matter with Richard Helms. The Phase II AMVdaIT GuOd “WY GAIWYaID AHL NOU AdODOLOHA case officer took over the direct contact with the Mafia personnel which to the best of his recollection occurred “about early April 1962." (3) The Phase II Plans The Phase II plans involved two possibilities of assassination: rifle fire and the use of poison pills. DocId:32105829 Page 44
41 Delivery of funds for the acquisition of rifles and handguns plus some medicinal drugs and anti-~biotics took place in the summer of 1962. According to the case officer, it was somewhat less than $5,000. The money was delivered to the Mafia contact, and the case officer received a report from the Mafia contact that the Cuban contact had called to report that the arms and poison pills had gotten into Cuba. The case officer stated that he felt he -was dealing with a very volatile situation that "in the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs failure" was the kind of an operation that the Government, the Agency or anybody else could not afford to have surface. "...It was quite obvious that there was an explosion potential here-~an explosion not in the technical sense--a flap potential, if you will, but it took some time to find out just what could be done and how it could be done, to try to sanitize the possible reper- cussions of this." He claimed that very shortly after taking over the operation he reached a tentative conclusion that the plans had little chance of success and he decided to "wind down" the plans gradually. The winding down was completed in the Spring of 1963 and in June, 1963, the case officer went abroad to another position wholly unconnected with the Cuban operation. HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 45 AUVdaIT GuOd “AY GAIwWuaqo AHL WONT AdODOLOHd
42 When asked why the operation did not meet with success, the case officer said "I don't know if I have any valid opinion why. There are a great many things that could have happened. It wasn't tried, it was choked off, it was penetrated from the start--at least on the Cuban end--that is the end in Cuba. When I say I have no personal knowledge of this, I am aware that Castro has claimed there were a number of attempts on his life. I am aware that he has blamed those on the U.S. in general and the CIA in particular. But I have no personal knowledge of facts which would prove that there was ever actually, if you will, a shot fired or any poison administered, or any other attempt other than in the inchoate stage." The case officer also stated that "given the capabilities of Castro's security apparat and the general seive-like character of the community in exile and the number of people who knew at least something about this particular incident or operation, before I had any connection with it, or later as a result of things that occurred before I had any connection with it, I think and thought at the time that it was conceivable that it had been penetrated. I cannot honestly state that I had at that time any firm reason to believe that Castro was aware of this operation.” HW 53244 DoclId:321058629 Page 46 AUVdGIT quod “a aIWwuaas AHL Wowd AdODOLOHd.
HW 53244 43 The Phase II case officer stated that he knew of. no other plan to assassinate any other foreign leader except Castro. c. The Testimony of Colonel Edwards re Knowledge of Phase II According to Colonel Edwards, at the time of the May 7, 1962 briefing of Attorney General Kennedy, he did not know that the Phase II Peer officer, whom he had earlier briefed, was undertaking another plan along the lines of Phase I. Therefore, he did not tell the Attorney General at the time of the briefing that there was a Phase II plan underway. ad. Knowledge of John McCone, Director of Central intelligence re Phase II The Phase II case officer stated that sometime prior to August 1962, he had a conversation with Richard Helms, who had succeeded Richard Bissell as Deputy Director of Plans. The case officer said that the question was raised whether or not the new Director of Central Intelligence, Mr. McCone, should be briefed of the operation. "I did recommend to Mr. Helms that since this from it all stemmed from actions which had taken place long before either Helms or myself had had any personal connection with it, and before John McCone had had any connection whatever DocId:32105829 Page 47 AMWddIT GUYOT °Y GIWUFD AHL WONT AdODOLOHA ‘operation’ and the possible repercussions
44 with the Agency, and since the decision had been made at that time that this should be sanitized, tied off and terminated as soon as practically feasible, I saw no reason why the new DCI should be briefed on it, and I strongly recommended that he not be." The case officer said that to the best of his knowledge McCone at no time in 1962 knew of the fact that Phase II of the operations were underway. John McCone testified that he first learned about Phase II when he was first interviewed by the Executive Director of the CIA Commission in April, 1975, and McCone further stated that the only knowledge he had of Phase I was knowledge he received on August 16, 1963 upon receipt of a memorandum from Richard Helms together with a copy of the May 14, 1962"Memorandum for the Record" delivered to Attorney General Kennedy. e. The Testimony of Richard Helms re Phase II Helms was asked whether he remembered any discussions with the case officer concerning the furnishing of either arms or poison pills to Cuban exiles to have them try and carry out any assassination plans. Helms replied "T don't have any question that we tried to line them in Cuba, to bring down this government or to kill anybody they HW 53244 DocId:321058629 Page 46 AMWd@IT GuOd “UY GIwugD AHL WOUd KdODOLOH,
45 could lay their hands on." But he did not recall that -"a specific project was approved which was designed for a man to go to point B and actually shoot or poison or do something to Castro." Helms testified before the Commission that “he was not aware of the CIA ever having assassinated any foreign leader. I certainly never authorized the execution of any such operation while I was Director or Deputy Director and when I was Deputy Director for Plans I don't remember it coming forward. I certainly never recommended such an action to the then Director." Helms said that although he had no recollection of any discussion with the case officer not to tell the Director of Central Intelligence, Mr. McCone, in 1962 about the existence of plans, "I have no reason to cavil" that this was the fact. £. The August 10, 1962 Meeting of the Special Group (Rugmented) The Special Group (Augmented) was a group of senior people in the Administration who were involved in overall planning with operations directed against Cuba. Included in a dTwado AHL NOUI AdODOLOHA AUVdGIT quog that group wére the Secretary of State, Dean Rusk; the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara; the Attorney General of the United States, Robert Kennedy; the Assistant to the President for National Security, McGeorge Bundy; General Maxwell Taylor; and General Lyman Lemnitzer (who is a member of the Commission), along with sever..1 others. The coordinating HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 49
46 officer of the Special Group (Augmented) was Brigadier General Edward Lansdale. (Robert Kennedy was not present at the August 10, 1962, meeting.) (1) The Interrogation of the Phase II Case Officer The Phase II case officer said that he was at a Meeting of the "Special Group (Augmented) in the State Department in August 1962, when someone brought up the possibility of "liquidation" of Castro. John McCone was at that meeting and, according to the case officer, John McCone "got rather red in the face" and made a remark which "was a clear effort to stop any such proposals, suggestion or any discussion thereof at that meeting within that forum immediately." On August 14, 1962, the Phase II case officer prepared a memorandum for the Deputy Director of Plans, who was Richard Helms, in which he attached a copy of an August 13, 1962 memorandum prepared by General Lansdale. The CIA case officer's memorandum to Helms said: 1. Action. None. This memorandum is for your information. 2. Reference is made to our conversation on 13 August 1962, concerning the memorandum of that date from General Lansdale. Attached is a copy of this memorandum, excised from which are four words in the second line of the penultimate paragraph on page l. These four.. words were "including liquidation of leaders." HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 50 AUVdaIT quod *u atTwag9 HHL WOWI AdODOLOHA
47 3. The question of assassination, particularly of Fidel Castro, was brought up by Secretary McNamara at the meeting of the Special Group (Augmented) in Secretary Rusk's office on 10 August. It was the obvious consensus at that meeting, in answer to a comment by Mr. Ed- Murrow, that this is not a subject which has been made a matter of official record. I took careful notes on the comments at this meeting on this point, and the Special Group (Augmented) is not expecting any written comments or study on this point. 4. Upon receipt of the attached memorandum, I called Lansdale's office and, in his absence, pointed out to Frank Hand the inadmissibility and stupidity of putting this type of comment in writing in such a document. I advised Frank Hand that, as far as CIA was concerned, we would write no document pertaining to this and would participate in no open meeting discussing it. I strongly urged Hand to recommend to Lansdale that he excise the phrase in question from all copies of this memorandum, including those dissemi-~ nated to State, Defense, and USIA. Shortly thereafter, Lansdale called back and left the message that he agreed and that he had done so." The attached Lansdale memorandum under date of August 13, 1962 had excised from it a phrase. The blank space was the approximate size of the phrase, "including liquidation of leaders." (2) Interrogation of Robert M. McNamara According to Robert M. McNamara in a recorded interview, he had no recollection of being present at the August 10, 1962 meeting. "I'm not suggesting I wasn't, but I have no recollection of it. I do seem to recall that there was such a group, I doubt very much if I was a member of it.” He said that he "might have been a participant" at one or more | HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 51 AMVdaIT GuYOd "A AIWYIS FHL woud AdODOLOHd
48 meetings. When asked whether or not he heard anyone discuss the possibility of assassinating Castro or any other foreign leader, McNamara replied: "No. I should interject here another point I made earlier, as I have no notes--I did not take.notes of any meetings I attended with rare exceptions, and I have no other basis for refreshing my memory and my memory of those years is very bad. I'm not saying this to in any way qualify what I'm saying except that it is a fact that my memory is poor in relation to the period." McNamara stated that "I am almost certain that were an assassination contemplated, which seems to me... extremely unlikely, if it were contemplated or any action been taken to move in that direction, it would have had to receive the approval of not just Mr. Bundy but other officials at that same level, including my deputy, I think, and my deputy never would have approved anything like that without discussing it with me." Secretary McNamara said that he "couldn't imagine anything relating to a CIA operation that was known to the President and was not known to Mr. Bundy. I can imagine something with respect to CIA known to Mr, Bundy, not known to the President either because they were not that important or conceivably because it was thought desirable to protect the President from certain knowledge...I can't imagine Mr. Bundy himself supporting assassination. I can't HW 53244 DoclId:32105829. Page 52 AMWdGIT GuOd -Y GIWYAS AHL WOUT AdODO.LOHA
49 imagine him supporting assassination of a foreign leader, without mentioning it to the President, even though to do so would by that action involve the President. I say I can't imagine him supporting assassination of a foreign leader without the President's knowledge because it is the President who would pay if that action were undertaken and it ever became known. Mr. Bundy recognized, more than the rest of us, the importance of protecting the presidency as well as the particular president, and particularly protecting his ability to govern." (3) The Testimony of John McCone John McCone testified that he was present at the August 10, 1962 meeting. He said that he objected to the discussion of liquidation of leadership as a possibility of consideration and he later talked with Secretary McNamara and expressed the same view, and he said Secretary McNamara agreed. John McCone testified that at the time of the August 10, 1962 meeting he did not know of the existence of the Phase I plans nor did he know that at the very time the meeting was taking place, Phase II was underway. (4) The Affidavit of General Lemnitzer Lyman Lemnitzer, a member of the CIA Commission, was also present on the August 10, 1962, meeting. In an affidavit he declared that he has no recollection of the question of liquidation of Castro or other Cuban leaders heing discussed. HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 53 ua aTWagS AHL WONT AdODOLOHA AUVdaIT aquor
50 (5) The Testimony of General Lansdale General Lansdale had no specific recollection of the August 10, 1962, meeting although he said that "it is quite possible” that he might have attended that meeting. . General Lansdale said that the possibility of assassination may have been discussed at that meeting. He also had no specific recollection of his memorandum dated August 13, 1962, and the words whited out. When asked whether or not those words might have been "including liquidation of leaders" Lansdale replied "I doubt it. 1 just don't recall anything at all on liquidation of leaders." However, he also said that it was possible that the excised phrase from his memorandum was "including liquidation of leaders," but he stated that this was merely a matter of considering a possibility, one of several alternatives. (6) Additional Testimony of General Lansdale According to Lansdale, during 1960 he was Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Special Operations. He said he had no knowledge of any discussion of possible plans for the assassination of any foreign leaders. In 1961 Lansdale was appointed by Secretary McNamara as Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Special Operations. HW 53244 DoclId:32105829 Page 54 AaWddIT Gyod *y atwago GHL HOYT AdODOLOHA
HW 53244 51 (a) Discussions with and Written Proposals to President Kennedy Kenned Lansdale said that he had a discussion with President Kennedy. "I do not recall exactly on that. He asked me if I would think about the situation in Cuba and if I could come up with any suggestions or recommendations from such a study. It was a rather vague assignment by him, but it was to be done for him personally." Lansdale “suggested an intermediary" to whom he would report and Lansdale said the President “appointed his brother, who was the Attorney General." According to Lansdale, he made an initial series of recommendations in late 1961 or early 1962, in writing, addressed to the President, "to see if there was a possibility of using Cuban refugees to help them get their political thinking together to see if there would be any feasibility of a revolution in Cuba." He says he thinks he gave the written report to the Attorney. General for delivery to the President and that he later saw the paper "in the files .-he received it and he had possession of it." (b) Cuban Exile Groups During the first part of 1962 there were of the President. A@iscussions about Cuban exiles possibly going back inside Cuba to harass the regime. Lansdale stated that the possibility of, these exile groups trying to assassinate Castro "might well have been mentioned." However, he said that "I don't recall a DoclIda:32105829 Page 55 AYWVdGIT GuOd *Y GIvYaS AHL NONI AdODSOLOHA
HW 53244 52 Single instance of any serious action being undertaken" on any plan for assassination. He went on to say that whatever Giscussions took place concerning assassination related to possibilities rather than actualities. (c) Requests for "possibility" Plans - but no ' Authorization to Carry Out Lansdale said that if there were directions DOLOHA to submit papers, it was an authorization for submitting papers and not an authorization for necessarily carrying out the action. Lansdale admitted that "there might well have been" a request for the CIA to come up with, as a possibility, a plan for liquidation of leadership. “If that request was made, he said it could have been one of his requests and that he "quite probably would have discussed it with the Secretary of Defense" and "possibly the Attorney General with whom I was in contact." AWWddIT Guo “WY AIWaaS AHL WONT Ado Lansdale said that at no time during 1960, 1961, 1962 or 1963 did he have any knowledge of the existence of any plans for the assassination of any Cuban leader or any other leader. Lansdale testified that he never heard any @iscussion of "executive action capability." DoclId:32105829 Page 56
53 g. Interrogation of General Taylor General Maxwell Taylor said that he was not aware of the existence of any plans to assassinate Castro. He said he did not have any discussions with the President concerning the possibility or the existence of the plans to assassinate Castro. However, "...in the case of Bob Kennedy and Allen Dulles, we talked about so many things at the time of the Bay of Pigs as we sat around the table I couldn't say--that the desirability of the disappearance of Castro or what would happen if he were assassinated in Cuba--that was not raised, I don't recall." He said he didn't recall any conversations about assassination with McGeorge Bundy or Walt Rostow. "I couldn't say that discussion in the abstract ‘wouldn't it be a nice thing if someone bumped Castro off' that could well have been said, but I just don't recall it.” Taylor said that he never knew of any authorizatio for the CIA to undertake any assassination. He also said he had no knowledge of the phrase "executive action capability" or any proposal for the CIA to develop a general standby capability to assassinate foreign leaders. General Taylor, who was at the August 10, 1962, meeting, said he had no recollection of any assassination plan being discussed, although he said that it might have been. HW 53244 DocId:32105829 Page 57 KaWdaTl Yor “a GTWYaD AHL WONa Aa0D0L0Hd
54 h. Testimony of Richard Helms Re Unseating Castro Government and Possible Plans (1). White House Pressure Richard Helms, now Ambassador to Iran, testified that "there was a flat-out effort ordered by the White House, the President, Bobby Kennedy who was after all his man, his right hand in these matters, to unseat the Castro government, to do everything possible to get rid of it by whatever device could be found and that was the reason for mounting this large operation in Miami to work on this very problem. And the Bay of Pigs was a part of this effort and after the Bay of Pigs failed, there was even a greater push to try to get rid of this Communist influence 90 miles from the United States shores. In response to a question concerning "Who might have been the driving forces from the White House in efforts to do something about Castro" Helms responded, "Well, the principal driving force was the Attorney General, Robert Kennedy. There isn't any question about this. Involved in this was a group of individuals who were sort of hired and pulled together by Kennedy and Rusk and McNamara and McGeorge Bundy and all those people to get on with this job and as I HW 53244 Docld:327105679 Page 56 AUMWddIT GHOd *Y AIWaaO AHL Woug AdODOLOHA