45: Culture of Conspiracy
Instead, Pierson continued to make the case that the evidence against Oswald being a lone-nut assassin was overwhelming. He even shot and killed a Dallas policeman, Officer Tippit (pictured here), who had tried to stop Oswald as he was walking through the city. He was then arrested inside a movie theater (Pierson failed to note that theaters are often used for covert meetings and information exchanges). Oswald's purported motive was communism even though President Kennedy was publicly defusing tensions between the Soviets and the U.S. To Pierson, “Oswald was a dedicated communist who had defected to the Soviet Union in 1959 out of disgust with American capitalism.”
Ironically, Pierson sees Oswald’s disillusionment “with Soviet life” and return “to the U.S. in 1962” as part of that dedication to communism. Pierson’s communist legend continued when in 1963, Oswald “bought a scoped rifle through the mail and soon used it to fire a shot (which missed) at retired general Edwin Walker, the head of the John Birch Society in Dallas. In the summer of 1963, Oswald was active in street demonstrations in support of Castro. In September 1963, he visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico City seeking a travel visa that would allow him to travel to Cuba.”
The problem with Pierson using the General Walker shooting on April 10, 1963 is that it not only shows Oswald (if he pulled the trigger) had trouble hitting a target under circumstances that were far easier than firing from six floors up at a person in a vehicle moving away on a downward curving street. Pierson ignores the fact that a neighbor saw two cars leave the scene, and Oswald did not drive. Also that General Walker--an extreme racist who had been dismissed by President Kennedy--was planning to run against JFK, and one of Walker's friends distributed “Wanted for Treason” flyers displaying Kennedy’s picture on the day of the assassination. The shooting garnered Walker the press coverage he needed to jumpstart his campaign.1
Oswald never had his day in court because he was killed by Jack Ruby, owner of the Carousel Club strip joint, who was carrying a pair of brass knuckles on his morning trip to the post office when he had the sudden impulse to shoot Oswald while surrounded by police officers.2
When one looks at the supposed loner, Oswald, you don’t find a Unabomber-type recluse who hides in the woods from civilization, only emerging when he wants to strike out at perceived enemies. Instead, you see a young man who joined organizations such as the Civil Air Patrol in 1955 and the U.S. Marines in 1957. While stationed as a radar operator in Japan where the CIA launched U-2 planes to spy on Russia, he learned a second language, Russian, not so he could talk to himself in two languages in loneliness.3
Oswald then infiltrated Russia, and upon his return to the U.S. did not undergo the polygraph examination and 30-day debriefing that Pawley’s Soviet defectors were going to face in Operation TILT. In fact, there was no arrest for treason despite Oswald having supposedly shared top-secret information with the Russians.
Despite her left-leaning credentials, June Cobb entered the anti-Castro CIA in 1961with the cryptonym AMUPAS-1. She explored the Fair Play for Cuba Committee prior to Oswald's faux membership. In September 1962, her cryptonym was changed to LICOOKY-1 (aka LICOOKIE) and she was sent to
Years later when the State Department's Charles Thomas--transferred from Haiti to Mexico City--tried to elevate awareness of the sighting as proof Oswald was part of a Castro conspiracy. He was told to speak to Cobb's superior James Jesus Angleton who did not want Americans questioning the lone-nut assassin conclusion. Thomas died by suicide April 12, 1971. That same month Winston Scott dropped dead after Angleton read his autobiography manuscript.
In January 2024, JFK Facts reporter Jefferson Morley interviewed Mary Haverstick, author of A Woman I Know: Female Spies, Double Identities and a New Story of the Kennedy Assassination. She detailed to him how her film documentary about astronaut-in-training Jerrie Cobb evolved into a biography about her other possible identity, the cold-as-ice-CIA-asset June Cobb. Cobb admitted to having sat on the runway at Redbird Airport--9 miles from Dealey Plaza--on November 22, 1963 after delivering a Life magazine crew from Miami to cover the day's events. But was this true? Life took no photos that day; it bought the Zapruder film. Jerrie Cobb did have a relationship with Luce's Life having been featured in its pages on August 19, 1960 under the headline "A Lady Proves She's Fit for Space Flight."
Coincidentally when Haverstick mentioned that her mom's first husband had been shot down twice as a Flying Tiger and that "Catherine Taafe was a real fangirl of the Flying Tigers" aviatrix Jerrie Cobb demonstrated that she "was extremely well-versed in the geopolitical nuances of the entire China-Burma region" as well as the activities of the Flying Tiger pilots. According to Anthony Carrozza's book on Pawley (page 234), "Catherine Taaffe, who worked for Castro but passed information to the CIA, told her contact there was widespread belief in Cuba that the United States was sponsoring anti-Castro plots. Further, 'one of those responsible for this belief appeared to be Edward P. Pawley [a hand-written note in the margin reads “probably Wm. D. Pawley”] who . . . encourages the belief that CIA is backing anti-Castro plotting and that he, Pawley, is working for CIA in this effort.'” Oddly, June Cobb also had worked for Castro before getting cozing up to the CIA.
Haverstick pondered if June Cobb was the inspiration for the Oswalds naming their daughter June because no relatives had that name. But at the time of June Oswald's birth, June Cleaver was the beloved mom on the popular Leave It To Beaver TV comedy series, June Allyson had her own TV series, and June Carter performed with her family at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry where she caught the eye of Johnny Cash and eventually helped him walk the line to greater fame -- his fireplace mantle held gold records (commemorating a million albums sold) which I saw while waterskiing past Cash's home on Tennessee's Jackson Lake in the summer of 1969 with my University of Miami classmate, Del Bryant, whose dad, Boudleaux, wrote hit songs for the Everly Brothers recorded at Monument Records run by Fred Foster who was steering the boat.
The purported group of plane passengers in Cobb's claim is revealing. Life reporters went on raids with DRE ani-Castro Cubans, and Life was involved with William Douglas Pawley as recently as June 1963 in Operation TILT. Moreover, DRE members were the springboard for elevating awareness of Oswald as a communist and the centerpiece of Life's Clare Boothe Luce's 1975 confessional phone call to CIA Director Colby (Chapter 42: Luce Lips). Haverstick notes that in the summer of 1963, Luce had penned "a blistering op-ed" supporting the Mercury 13 astronaut program in which Jerrie Cobb was a member and that the CIA approved contact between its ZR/RIFLE assassination planner, Rome Chief of Station William King "Bill" Harvey and Luce, the former Ambassador to Rome.
Silvia Odio, a Dallas resident, claimed that Oswald visited her home on September 26 or 27 of 1963 and discussed plans to kill JFK with two other men. The Warren Commission said she was mistaken because Oswald was on his way to Mexico. It was a doppelganger William Seymour, along with Larry Howard and Loran Eugene Hall, soldiers of fortune involved in anti-Castro activities. Either Odio was wrong or the CIA Mexico City Station group of Scott-Philips-Cobb was seeing a double. Coincidentally during testimony to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, Hall who had befriended Jim Garrison following his March 1, 1967 (my 21st birthday) indictment of Clay Shaw admitted that he had not mentioned to Garrison the Bayo-Pawley Operation TILT which had Hall had initially been involved in but missed the boat.
In 1994, FBI Special Agent James Hosty, who wrote reports on Oswald's activities, told John Newman, the author of Oswald and The CIA, that Odio's visitors might have been Pawley's men. "H.L. Hunt was backing Pawley's people, and they were also getting support from Henry Luce. It could be that Pawley's guys spying on JURE [Junta Revolutionaria Cubana, led by Amador Odio]."
Newman's book, also relates how West Point cadet Douglas K. Gentzkow turned over documents being gathered by Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley to the CIA's Domestic Contact Division. "Gentzkow's papers also surfaced in William Pawley's files." The documents were intended to be used as leverage to get an investigation into the disappearance of Alexander Rorke who--along with Marita Lorenz--had spoken to June Cobb. "The name of June Cobb as a double agent appears in the Rorke papers." Cobb had forced Lorenz to abort Fidel Castro's love child.
Do loners debate anti-Castro DRE members in public and on radio then travel to Mexico to visit two embassies, while followed in line by William George Gaudet, a Central and South American propaganda expert who was hired by pubic relations guru Edward Bernays to write the weekly Latin America Report to enhance the image of Samuel Zemurray's United Fruit Company? The CIA underwrote it by paying for more than 20 annual subscriptions.
“During World War II, Gaudet worked as secret agent in Latin America for Nelson Rockefeller, Coordinator of Latin American affairs under FDR ... he traveled constantly in Latin America and combined his commercial work with his CIA assignments ... basically uncompensated (some expenses were picked up by CIA) and done for patriotic purposes. There were three others in the New Orleans area who did likewise.”
As publisher/editor of the Latin American Report, Gaudet “was approved for contact by OOC in 1948. In 1950 approval was given to pay Subject for special reports which his newsletter would compile at the request of the Agency.” In March 1953, he was again approved for contact by OOC to engage in discussions with them up to the level of Secret information.” His “security file does not reflect any connection between himself and Lee Harvey Oswald.”6 Gaudet only told the FBI in 1963 about his CIA work. Not surprisingly, he believed anti-Castro forces were involved in the JFK assassination and “they had the right to hate Castro.” His Mexican Travel Permit “serially next to Oswald’s ... was complete coincidence ... [he] never met Oswald.” After speaking to Gaudet in 1975, Bernard Fensterwald noted that he was “a right-winger; generally disliked JFK.” Fensterwald also found it laughable that Nelson Rockefeller was investigating whether the CIA had links to Oswald.7
After leaving his “sniper’s nest” on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, Oswald encountered Officer J.D. Tippit, and for some reason found it necessary to shoot him. Perhaps he was guilty and panicked. Perhaps Oswald was expecting a rendezvous to safety like the shooter who was killed in the Bogotoza, as Pawley had years earlier testified to Eastland and Sourwine: “But they organized one of the most astute pieces of skullduggery you can imagine. The Communists killed Gaitan at 1 o’clock in the afternoon—he was the most liberal and was deeply loved all over the country. They told the young man who did the killing that they would be sitting in an automobile waiting to pick him up armed with machine guns in case somebody attacked him. But the minute he did the killing they machine gunned him and left him there and they got away.”8
Perhaps Oswald realized he was “a patsy” and was worldly enough from travels to the Far East and Soviet Union before age 24 to know that his credentials as a communist made him the perfect fall guy for those who wanted justification for retaliation against Cuba. Among them were the DRE, Luce, Pawley, McCarthy, Martino, Sturgis, Hunt, Sourwine, Eastland and Burke who wanted Americans to believe there was a conspiracy between Castro and Oswald.
Ridiculing conspiracy while conspiring with witting or unwitting friends in the media to discredit Jim Garrison was part of CIA’s tradecraft in 1967. Were they afraid Garrison could expose that Oswald was working with people who could be traced through CIA operations directly back to them?
As Garrison pursued Clay Shaw’s connections, Mick Jagger in the Rolling Stones sang, “I shouted out who killed the Kennedys? When after all it was you and me.”9 The lyric embraced the meme “we’re all guilty” for having cultivated the hostile environment essential for the development of a lone- nut assassin.10 But after all, it was the Doolittle Committee that wanted a nation more ruthless than the enemy. And the Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba that wanted to rid the world of Castro. Some of them—Luce, Cherne, Hook, Brown—would later be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Presidents Reagan.11
Other CCFC members joined new groups. Edward Teller and Edgar Ansel Mowrer for example became members of the American Security Council. On March 16, 1964, the American Security Council Editorial Staff released a report analyzing Lee Harvey Oswald’s behavior and seeing a conspiracy. “Oswald received uniquely special treatment from the Soviets all along the line.”
The Council’s Internal Security Editor was Lee R. Pennington.12 Earlier in his career, Pennington was a top FBI official reviewing applicants for CIA positions in the late 1940s, including William King Harvey and E. Howard Hunt.13 In between the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Watergate entry, Hunt supervised two CIA Domestic Operations Division propaganda publishing projects. WURABBIT used the Washington, DC-based news service, Continental Press, to feed “analysis, comics, and editorials to foreign press,” according to Dan Hardaway’s HSCA notes. WUTARDY apparently researched potential targets and ways to influence them. (When the CIA's Robert W. Gambino responded to the HSCA March 1978 request for information about WURABBIT and WUTARDY, he stated "no material will be made available by the Office of Security" and referred any questions to Bruce Solie who may have beeen a Soviet mole in the CIA.)14
Within a decade of his 1964 editorial, Pennington, would be on a CIA retainer from Case Officer Louis Vasaly and enmeshed in intrigue that involved Hunt and James McCord’s attempt to hide evidence linking the CIA to the Watergate burglars hired by Nixon’s Committee to Reelect the President.15
During the Watergate era, a young Dick Cheney went to work for the White House rising to Deputy Assistant to President Nixon in 1974. He transitioned into the President Ford White House taking over as Chief of Staff when Donald Rumsfeld became Secretary of Defense—a position Cheney would hold under President George Herbert Walker Bush. When Bush’s son, George W. Bush became President, Cheney was at his side as Vice President.
In between the Bushs, Cheney had become a founder along with W’s brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), which borrowed its name from Henry Luce’s 1941 declaration of the “American Century.” Other founders included Christian conservative leader Gary Bauer and soon to be household names “Scooter” Libby, Paul Wolfowitz, and Richard Perle of an organization that would transform conservatism into neoconservatism. William Kristol served as the group’s chairman.
Like Pawley three decades earlier, PNAC was hellbent on defeating communist China. In August 1999, Kristol and Robert Kagan wrote a Weekly Standard editorial titled “The Present Danger” asserting that communist China was just weeks away from attacking Taiwan—the island Chiang Kai-shek’s forces had fled to fifty years earlier.16 President William Jefferson Clinton ignored PNAC’s warning and never launched a preemptive strike to trigger World War III.
PNAC succeeded in its targeting of another enemy, however. In a letter to President Clinton in 1998, PNAC’s leaders expressed that they were “convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War.” The letter went on to urge “the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power.”
PNAC continued its frightening vision. “It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at hazard. As you have rightly declared, Mr. President, ‘the security of the world in the first part of the 21st century will be determined largely by how we handle this threat.’”
It was signed by one person who would soon be in a position to attack Iraq, following the election of George W. Bush—future Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
William Kristol promoted the PNAC agenda through his Weekly Standard articles and frequent appearances on Fox News television, which was presided over by Republican strategist Roger Ailes.17 The trumpeters of war with Iraq—Fox News, the Weekly Standard, and the New York Post—all belonged to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.
In 2000, PNAC’s leaders believed war with Iraq would transform the Middle East into a haven for democracy, but they lamented that “the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event— like a new Pearl Harbor” which would then mandate a rapid counterstrike.18 Their wishful thinking eerily sounded like the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1962 when the group so desperately desired an excuse to launch a major military assault against Castro it developed Operation Northwoods which conceived a variety of faked Cuban attacks as potential provocations.
On September 11, 2001, the United States was actually attacked, not by Pawley’s feared communist missiles, but by a score of suicidal Saudi religious fanatics with box cutters who turned Pawley’s beloved commercial air transportation into a weapon of mass destruction against symbols of American strength--the World Trade Center towers as well as Cheney and Rumsfeld’s former headquarters, the Pentagon. The U.S. Capitol building would have been another target but the Al Qaeda hijackers were thwarted by passengers and United Airlines Flight 93 went down in a field in Stoneycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.19
The 9/11 attack--a conspiracy launched by Saudi Arabians under al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden--was immediately used by political thought leaders to push their own agendas.
Christian conservatives Jerry Falwell and Pat Robinson pretended they could read God’s mind by claiming the Almighty was retaliating against abortionists, feminists, lesbians, gays, the American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way.20
Vice President Richard Cheney, who still held stock options in his former employer, the oil industry supply giant Halliburton, was quick to press the need to destroy the regime in oil-rich Iraq based on an unproven claim that the aging Saddam Hussein—who already had been soundly defeated in Kuwait by American troops—was secretly gathering materials to build nuclear weapons. Saddam would never admit that he had no nukes because he feared his neighboring enemy, Iran. Over the next several years, Saddam would be driven from power, caught and hung, and Iraq would be reduced from a secular modern nation to rubble. Halliburton would gain enormous contracts to rebuild Iraq.21
When invading Iraq, President George W. Bush asserted that the U.S. was going to fight terrorists there so we didn’t have to fight them here and that our success would bring democracy to the Middle East.
Consider the words that Pawley wrote in 1975, fourteen years after the invasion at the Bay of Pigs failed, and just before American military and embassy officials fled Saigon. “Our political leaders compounded other blunders in Vietnam by failing to give a clear explanation of why we are fighting. Instead of explaining to the taxpayers that we must defend far-flung frontiers because it is wiser to fight the enemy abroad than at home, it was asserted that our purpose was to bring democracy to the Vietnamese people. Although this was the objective, it was not the gut issue, and we should have had enough confidence in good sense of our citizens to say so. As Mr. Nixon wrote in 1964 in the August Reader’s Digest: ‘If we are ever to stop the communist advance in Asia, the time is now. The place is Vietnam.’”22
Fifteen months after 9/11, Vice President Richard Cheney, presented the Clare Boothe Luce Award to the Lady Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Great Britain, the biggest partner in the war with Iraq. The presentation was made at The Heritage Foundation’s Presidents Club where Luce’s political views lived on, long after her demise.
“Building an America where opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish is not a job for the impatient or for the fainthearted. It takes courage, determination, and brains, and an unwavering commitment to principle,” Cheney stated. “All these virtues were embodied in the career of one of America's greatest conservatives, Clare Boothe Luce. It is fitting that the Heritage Foundation has chosen to name its highest award after her. And it is equally fitting that you have chosen to present the Clare Boothe Luce Award to Lady Margaret Thatcher.”
In Lady Thatcher’s lecture that day, “The West Must Prevail,” she observed the victories of the 20th century. “Clare Boothe Luce's generation fought the twin evils of Nazism and communism. She was indeed in the forefront of that fight. Nazism was defeated in her lifetime. Communism was defeated in ours—defeated above all through the efforts of that great American President, my friend Ronald Reagan. His name is remembered in the title of this building. And it will be remembered for as long as there are men and women on this earth who value their liberty and honor those who secure it.”
Lady Thatcher then asserted, “Ronnie's successor in the White House today [President George W. Bush] faces a different but no less mighty challenge. The success in Afghanistan demonstrated that the doubters were wrong: the War Against Terror can be won. But we still confront today a twin-headed monster of terrorism and of proliferating weapons of mass destruction. And both those heads must be removed if the beast itself is to be destroyed.”
Just as Pawley and the Doolittle Committee had believed communism was an implacable enemy, Lady Thatcher saw in terror “evil [that] was never so technically sophisticated, never so elusive, never so devoid of scruple, and never so anxious to inflict civilian casualties.” Box-cutters in the hands of fanatics had become “technically sophisticated” weapons through the propaganda campaign launched after 9/11. “The West must prevail—or else concede a reign of global lawlessness and violence unparalleled in modern times.”23
Two weeks after the 9/11attacks, President Bush approved secret plans for the CIA Directorate of Operations (now called the National Clandestine Service) to use hit squads to take out the leadership of Al Qaeda in a similar fashion to the way that the Israeli Mossad had dispatched commandos to eliminate the terrorists responsible for the 1972 massacre of athletes at the Munich Olympics. However, due to the risk of failure or exposure, the program was pursued only half-heartedly by CIA Directors Tenet, Goss and Hayden.
Reporting of the hit squads to Congress was thwarted on direct instructions of Vice President Cheney, whose executive office roots ran deep—from President Nixon and Ford to Bush and Bush. Cheney’s role in covert projects during the George W. Bush Administration was probably similar to Vice President Nixon’s role in the Bay of Pigs Invasion planning.
According to Newsweek, “neither the intelligence community nor the White House was especially concerned about whether the proposed kill teams violated the law” because of the “broad legal authorities that President Bush granted to the CIA after September 11.”
According to Newsweek, “neither the intelligence community nor the [Bush] White House was especially concerned about whether the proposed kill teams violated the law” because of the “broad legal authorities that President Bush granted to the CIA after September 11.” Moreover, “President Clinton [had] signed a Memorandum of Notification that first authorized the CIA to use Afghan tribesmen to kill Osama bin Laden” in 1998. Programs using unmanned drones to target leaders are considered acceptable,24 just not human assassins, such as those planned for under the 1960s’ ZR/RIFLE program run by William Harvey to eliminate unfriendly foreign leaders, such as Castro, Lumumba, and Trujillo, using criminal and underworld figures.
The assassination program was officially stopped under President Obama’s CIA Director, Leon Panetta, in June 2009. This public announcement re-ignited political battles between those who believed the nation needs to be more ruthless than the enemy and those who believed that if the United States abandoned the judicial process, a cornerstone of democracy, our nation would lose the admiration of most of the world’s people. In addition, concern existed that U.S. assassination teams could spur our enemies to deploy their own hit teams to go after U.S. elected officials. This concern led the Church Committee in the 1970s to call for an end of “executive action” projects and to Congress legislating that significant CIA activities must be brought to the attention of the Intelligence Committees.25
Nonetheless, Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces on May 2, 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan as President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Adviser Tony Blinken, Assistant Commanding General of the Joint Special Operations Command Brigadier General Marshall R. “Brad” Webb, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper and others watched from the White House Situation Room.
With the death of Osama bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a key planner of 9/11, took leadership in 2011. Eleven years later, he was taken out by a drone strike authorized by President Biden. In August 2022, The Hill reported that former President Obama “said the killing of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri demonstrates that the United States can fight terrorism without being at war in Afghanistan.”26
In the Bush years, controversy had also swirled around the U.S. base at Guantánamo, Cuba, where Pawley had spent his childhood. During the Bush administration, a prison known as Gitmo was established for suspected 9/11 terrorists who were treated with ruthless disregard for the Geneva Conventions27 because it was situated in a no man’s land far from protesters and the U.S. legal system—which for some reason was feared by the Bush Administration despite the American judicial system’s proven record of incarceration of more than two million Americans who had legal representation.
In 2002 and 2003, Vice President Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, George Tenet, Colin Powell, and Donald Rumsfeld discussed torturing the Gitmo prisoners in violation of international law, human decency and the sensibilities of once tortured Presidential candidate, Republican John McCain. The Bush administration publicly denied its policy of embracing torture, referring instead in double-speak to “enhanced interrogation techniques”28 and redefining techniques to dance around the Geneva Conventions that civilized nations had sought as guidelines. “The humiliating and degrading treatment of prisoners is prohibited by Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.”29
Using torture to gain information from people who may not even have knowledge of terrorist activities was so repugnant to Attorney General John Ashcroft that when Vice President Cheney discussed it with him in the White House Situation Room, Ashcroft was reported to have questioned why such a discussion was taking place in the White House. Ashcroft was quoted as asserting, “‘History will not judge us kindly.’”30
Of the 780 suspected terrorists who entered Gitmo, 31 remained in 2023. Seventeen of them—who were never charged in two decades—were supposed to be released by the Biden administration once countries were identified as willing to accept their arrival.31
Oddly, the Bush family rewarded legal representation to Orlando Bosch, who had once been described by the Justice Department as “‘a terrorist, unfettered by laws or human decency.’” His U.S. attorney, Raoul Cantero III, a grandson of General Batista, was sworn in by Florida Governor Jeb Bush in 2002 as the first Hispanic member of the Florida Supreme Court.32
Instead of capitalizing on the goodwill the U.S. gained in the world as a result of the gruesome outcome of the 9/11 attack, the Bush administration reverted to the ground rules that had been written half a century earlier by William Pawley and the other members of the Doolittle Committee.
Hitherto acceptable norms of human conduct do not apply.
If the United States is to survive long-standing American concepts of “fair play” must be reconsidered.We must develop effective espionage and counterespionage services and must learn to subvert sabotage and destroy our enemies by more clever more sophisticated and more effective methods than those used against us. It may become necessary that the American people be made acquainted with understand and support this fundamentally repugnant philosophy.33
In August 2009, Loch K. Johnson, a former assistant to Senator Frank Church (who “fumed” at the evasiveness of witnesses) and later professor of international affairs at the University of Georgia and editor of the Intelligence and National Security journal, wrote in The Washington Post that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder appointed “a special prosecutor to investigate CIA prisoner abuses” in “the latest of many efforts to rein in the agency.”34
Vice President Cheney immediately responded to Holder’s plan for a review, asserting to Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, August 30, 2009, that thousands of lives had been saved by using enhanced interrogation techniques on Khalid Sheik Mohammed and others.35 However, it was in the Vice President’s interest to stop indictments of the interrogators and the lawyers who had asserted the techniques were legal because the orders to proceed ultimately rested with the Vice President and the Commander in Chief.
The day after Cheney’s interview, the CIA went to federal court to assure the continued classification of President Bush’s post 9/11 authorization for the CIA to secretly hold terrorism suspects “in the secret prisons, known as black sites.”36
Former Vice President Dick Cheney took his belief in waterboarding public on February 14, 2010 in an interview by Jonathan Karl on ABC-TV’s “This Week.” Cheney proudly asserted that he was “a big supporter of waterboarding” of suspected terrorists held in Guantánamo Bay.37
Senator McCain, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, expressed opposition to waterboarding and other acts of torture because the enemies of the America would then feel justified in using similar tactics on U.S. troops. It can also be argued that when you stoop to the tactics of the enemy, you diminish the desirable standard for others in the world to emulate and, in doing so, you lay waste to the advancement of civilization. When a world full of people search for Reagan’s shining beacon on the hill and can only find a nation that has crawled into Vice President Cheney’s gutter in an undisclosed location, there is little hope for those seeking liberty and justice for all.
Whether you call it enhanced interrogation or torture does not matter, if it takes 183 waterboardings on one individual, it’s not working. If it takes one time and you get someone to claim there are witches in Salem or a link between Iraq and Osama, it’s not working. If you keep someone awake for so long that they hallucinate and say their dog masterminded 9/11, it’s not working. Only the tortured mind of Vice President Cheney and his cohorts in interrogation may believe it's working and believe that it kept us safe from the next wave of mentally disturbed, religiously manipulated hijackers. A wave that must confront the fact that they are not simply training for a hijacking but must contemplate for months that they will be on a flight to death.
Within a week of his defense of torture, Cheney appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC where the crowd sponsored by The John Birch Society among others chanted “Run, Dick, run.” At the event, The Heritage Foundation and the Clare Boothe Luce Institute honored news commentator Monica Crowley as “Woman of the Year” who continued to trumpet the pre-Reagan era, Luce-Pawley conservatism with blog posts such as one from February 18, 2010 proclaiming: “The people suffer at the hands of radical progressives hell-bent on destroying the private sector. Sounds a lot like the socialist utopias of the Soviet Union, or modern Cuba or Venezuela. All hail, Che Obama.”
In 2017, after embracing the “Obama-is-a-Muslim” birther conspiracy,38 Monica Crowley was picked by President-elect Donald Trump to be Senior Director of Strategic Communications for the National Security Council, a MAGA position she was unable to hold after it was revealed she had “plagiarized numerous passages in her Ph.D. dissertation” on Truman and Nixon’s China policy and did the same with “more than 50 passages in her 2012 book.”39 She instead became U.S. Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Public Affairs in 2019 under President Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.40 Hoping for the opportunity to be in a future Trump administration, she tweeted on May 6, 2023, “Biden out here bitching about ‘negative press coverage.’ He couldn’t survive 5 minutes of what Trump had to put up with all day, every day, for years on end.”
In 2023, Crowley hosted a podcast, reappeared on Fox News, and in a true love-is-blind moment called for the re-election of former President Donald Trump despite the Capitol-building-assault instigator facing multiple court appearances involved in trying to undermine President Biden's election win. Her August 2, 2023 Newsweek opinion piece was titled "The Indictments Are Trump Rocket Fuel."41
Believing that Americans were conspiring with Muslim extremists, U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Scott Brown (R-Mass.) in 2010 proposed a Terrorist Expatriation Act which would strip Americans of their right to a trial by jury if the State Department suspected them of providing “material support or resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization” or of engaging in or supporting “hostilities against the United States or its allies.”
Lieberman, who was elected to office in a major defense contracting state and steadfastly supported the PNAC-inspired invasion of Iraq as he switched from a Democrat to Independent, proposed his Expatriation Act shortly after a failed car bombing in New York’s Times Square by a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan. In defending the Act, Senator Lieberman noted that President Obama was willing to embrace Doolittle Committee-type concepts. Lieberman asserted, “If the president can authorize the killing of a United States citizen because he is fighting for a foreign terrorist organization ... we can also have a law that allows the U.S. government to revoke ... citizenship.”41
Whether rooted in fear of homegrown terrorism or the fear of voters, the Lieberman Expatriation Act proposal was a new victory for those who have longed to destroy the Constitution of the United States with its guarantee of individual rights—freedoms foreign to Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other enemies of a civilized world.42
Six decades after the Doolittle Committee Report contemplated making the public aware of why the CIA must be "more ruthless than the enemy," on January 20, 2018, President's Trump's CIA Director Mike Pompeo appeared on “CBS This Morning,” despite it being labeled "fake news" by his boss, President Trump, and told Nora O'Donnell, "This organization will be more vicious, more aggressive, more inclined to take risks, to come directly at the threats America and the world faces."43
FOOTNOTES:
1 “The Culture of Conspiracy.” By James Pierson, The Wall Street Journal, November 24, 2007. Page A11.
“Target Practice With Lee Harvey Oswald: A Dallas man recalls shooting expeditions with his right-wing father and JFK's accused assassin.” By Jefferson Morley. JFK Facts substack March 28 1963.
>>Morley provides much more detail including key interviews with those close to General Walker at the time of the April 10 1963 shooting.
John M. Newman, Oswald and The CIA and Uncovering Popov's Mole: The Assassination of President Kennedy Volume IV.
2 “Showing Kennedy Cache is Part of DA’s Open Administration.” By David Tarrant. The Dallas Morning News, February 19, 2008.
3 “N.J. families left in the dark about long-lost airmen, Cold War spies’ fates unknown.” By Russell Ben-Ali. The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), December 28, 2003.
From 1950 to 1969, 165 airmen disappeared during Cold War reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union, North Korea and China; 126 people are still unaccounted for, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Their work was so secret that the United States did not publicly admit the flights had happened until 1992.
4 Warren Commission staff interview of Cuban exile Carlos Bringuier regarding his debate with Lee Harvey Oswald
in August 1963 on Radio in New Orleans.
>> Bringuier arrived in the U.S. on February 8, 1961.
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes, sir; soon after I arrived here to New Orleans, I founded a Newsletter for the Cubans with the name of Crusada. That was my first work here in New Orleans. After that I joined, at the beginning of 1962, the New Orleans Delegation of the Cuban Revolutionary Council, and I was working as Secretary of Publicity and Propaganda here in New Orleans for the Cuban Anti-Castro. That was, I believe, June or July--June 1962. After that, I resigned, and in July 1962 I was designated New Orleans delegate of the Cuban Student Directorate, and I am in that position from that time to now.
... Mr. BRINGUIER. Well, the first day that I saw Lee Harvey Oswald was on August 5, 1963, but before we go deeper in this matter about Oswald, I think that I would like to explain to you two things that I think will facilitate the Commission to understand my feeling at that moment ... in August 24, 1962, my organization, the Cuban Student Directorate, carry on a shelling of Havana, and a few days later when person from the FBI contacted me here in New Orleans—his name was Warren C. de Brueys. Mr. de Brueys was talking to me in the Thompson Cafeteria. At that moment I was the only one from the Cuban Student Directorate here in the city, and he was asking to me about my activities here in the city, and when I told him that I was the only one, he didn't believe that, and he advised me and I quote, "We could infiltrate your organization and find out what you are doing here." My answer to him was, "Well, you will have to infiltrate myself, because I am the only one." And I want to put this out, because after that some part of the press or some persons now are trying to use to tell that maybe Oswald was a man from the FBI or the CIA. I will go into that later on.
After that, after my conversation with de Brueys, I always was waiting that maybe someone will come to infiltrate my organization from the FBI, because I already was told by one of the FBI agent that they will try to infiltrate my organization.
However: Oswald was a dedicated communist who had defected to the Soviet Union in 1959 out of disgust with American capitalism. After becoming disillusioned with Soviet life, he returned to the U.S. in 1962. In early 1963, he bought a scoped rifle through the mail and soon used it to fire a shot (which missed) at retired general Edwin Walker, the head of the John Birch Society in Dallas. In the summer of 1963, Oswald was active in street demonstrations in support of Castro. In September 1963, he visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico City seeking a travel visa that would allow him to travel to Cuba.
Next thing is this: On August 2, 1963, I receive in my store—I have over there the office of the delegation too, the visit of two Cubans, who told me that they had already desert from one Anti-Castro training camp that was across Lake Pontchartrain here in New Orleans. Until that moment I did not know nothing about that Anti-Castro training camp here in the city, and they told me that that Anti-Castro training camp was a branch of the Christian Democratic Movement—that is another Anti-Castro organization—and they told me that they had the fear inside the training camp that there was a Castro agent inside that training camp.
A few days before, too, the police found here in New Orleans about 1 mile from that training camp a big lot of ammunition and weapons and all those things, and when Oswald came to me on August 5 I had inside myself the feeling, well, maybe this is from the FBI, or maybe this is a Communist, because the FBI already had told me that maybe they will infiltrate my organization, but that feeling—I only had that feeling on August 5, because 4 days later I was convinced that Oswald was not an FBI agent and that he was a Pro-Castro agent.
When I told that to the press after the assassination, I saw in some magazines that I was not sure if he was an FBI or not, and that is not the truth, because on August 9, 3 months before the assassination, I was sure that he was a Pro-Castro and not an FBI. I want to have that clear.
... Mr. LIEBELER. You were suspicious of him on two different counts?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right.
Mr. LIEBELER. One, that he might possibly have been an infiltrator working for the FBI?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right.
... Mr. LIEBELER. You were also concerned about the possibility that Oswald might have been a Communist or a Castro agent of some sort, who was trying to infiltrate your organization on behalf of that group?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right. Now that day, on August 5, I was talking in the store with one young American--the name of him is Philip Geraci—and 5 minutes later Mr. Oswald came inside the store. He start to look around, several articles, and he show interest in my conversation with Geraci. I was explaining to Geraci that our fight is a fight of Cubans and that he was too young, that if he want to distribute literature against Castro, I would give him the literature but not admit him to the fight.
At that moment also he start to agree with I, Oswald start to agree with my point of view and he show real interest in the fight against Castro. He told me that he was against Castro and that he was against communism. He told me--he asked me first for some English literature against Castro, and I gave him some copies of the Cuban report printed by the Cuban Student Directorate.
After that, Oswald told me that he had been in the Marine Corps and that he had training in guerrilla warfare and that he was willing to train Cubans to fight against Castro. Even more, he told me that he was willing to go himself to fight against Castro. That was on August 5.
I turned down his offer. I told him that I don't have nothing to do with military activities, that my only duties here in New Orleans are propaganda and information and not military activities. That was my answer to him.
He insisted, and he told me that he will bring to me next day one book as a present, as a gift to me, to train Cubans to fight against Castro.
Before he left----
... Mr. LIEBELER. Did Oswald mention during this conversation that he could easily derail a train, for example, by securing and fastening a chain around the railroad track? Do you remember him mentioning something like that?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Well, you see; I do not exactly remember all the details, because we were talking for about--I believe about 1 hour, something like that, and at that moment I didn't know what was going to happen and I didn't pay too much attention to all the things that was being telling over there, but the result of the conversation were this that I am telling to you. Maybe he mentioned that. I could not tell to you that he mentioned that, because I am not--I don't remember. He could have mentioned that, because he was talking about the experience that he had in guerrilla warfare in the Marine Corps.
Before he left the store, he put his hand in the pocket and he offered me money.
... and I told him that if he want to contribute to our group, he could send the money directly to the headquarters in Miami, because they had the authorization over there in Miami, and I gave him the number of the post office box of the organization in Miami.
And after that, I left the store, because I had to go to the bank to make the deposit, and Oswald was in the store talking to my brother-in-law—that is my partner in the store—Rolando Pelaez.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is that P-e-l-a-e-z?
... Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes; he told me that his name was Lee Oswald, and he told me one address in Magazine Street, but I didn't remember at that moment the number, and when I asked to my brother-in-law that, he told me that Oswald looked like really a smart person and really interested in the fight against communism, and he gave to my brother a good impression, and I told my brother that I could not trust him, because I didn't know what was inside of me, but I had some feeling that I could not trust him. I told that to my brother that day. Next day, on August 6, Oswald came back to the store, but I was not in the store at that moment, and he left with my brother-in-law a Guidebook for Marines for me with the name “L. H. Oswald” in the top of the first page. When I came back to the store, my brother-in-law gave to me the Guidebook for Marines. I was looking in the Guidebook for Marines. I found interest in it and I keep it, and later—I forgot about that just for 3 days more—on August 9 I was coming back to the store at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and one friend of mine with the name of Celso Hernandez came to me and told me that in Canal Street there was a young man carrying a sign telling “Viva Fidel” in Spanish, and some other thing about Cuba, but my friend don't speak nothing in English, and the only thing that he understood was the “Viva Fidel” in Spanish. He told me that he was blaming the person in Spanish, but that the person maybe didn't understood what he was telling to him and he came to me to let me know what was going on over there.
At that moment was in the store another Cuban with the name of Miguel Cruz, and we went all three with a big sign that I have in the store in color. The sign is the Statue of Liberty with a knife in the back, and the hand, knifing her in the back, has the initials of the Soviet Union, and it said, “Danger. Only 90 Miles from the United States Cuba Lies in Chains.” ... I went back to the store, but just 3 or 4 minutes later one of my two friends, Miguel Cruz, came back running and told me that the guy was another time in Canal Street and that Celso was watching him over there.
I went over there with the sign another time, and I was surprised when I recognized that the guy with the sign hanging on the chest, said, “Viva Fidel” and “Hands off Cuba,” was Lee Harvey Oswald. Until that moment I only knew Oswald as a guy who was offering his service to train Cubans, and when I saw that he was with a sign defending Fidel Castro and praising Fidel Castro, I became angry. That was in the 700 block of Canal Street just in front of the store where I was working my first year here in New Orleans.
Mr. LIEBELER. Was that the International Trade Mart?
Mr. BRINGUIER. No; Ward Discount House. He make another appearance in the International Trade Mart, later, and I will go into that, too.
When I saw that was Oswald and he recognized me, he was also surprised, but just for a few seconds. Immediately he smiled to me and he offered the hand to shake hands with me. I became more angry and I start to tell him that he don't have any face to do that, with what face he was doing that, because he had just came to me 4 days ago offering me his service and that he was a Castro agent, and I start to blame him in the street.
That was a Friday around 3 o’clock at this moment, and many people start to gather around us to see what was going on over there. I start to explain to the people what Oswald did to me, because I wanted to move the American people against him, not to take the fight for myself as a Cuban but to move the American people to fight him, and I told them that that was a Castro agent, that he was a pro-Communist, and that he was trying to do to them exactly what he did to us in Cuba, kill them and send their children to the execution wall. Those were my phrases at the moment.
The people in the street became angry and-they started to shout to him, “Traitor! Communist! Go to Cuba! Kill him!” and some other phrases that I do not know if I could tell in the record.
Mr. LIEBELER. You mean they cursed at him, they swore at him?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right, some bad phrases, bad words.
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes.
Mr. BRINGUIER. And at that moment, one of the Americans push him by one arm. One policeman came. When policeman came to me and asked me to keep walking and to let Oswald distribute his literature that he was handing out—he was handing out yellow leaflets of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, New Orleans Chapter—and I told to the policeman that I was Cuban, I explained to him what Oswald did to me, and I told him that I don't know if was against the law, but that I will not leave that place until Oswald left and that I will make some trouble.
The policeman left, I believe going to some place to call the headquarters, and at one moment my friend Celso took the literature from Oswald, the yellow sheets, and broke it and threw it on the air. There were a lot of yellow sheets flying. And I was more angry, and I went near Oswald to hit him. I took my glasses off and I went near to him to hit him, but when he sensed my intention, he put his arm down as an X, like this here (demonstrating).
Mr. LIEBELER. He crossed his arms in front of him?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right, put his face and told me, “O.K. Carlos, if you want to hit me, hit me.”
At that moment, that made me to reaction that he was trying to appear as a martyr if I will hit him, and I decide not to hit him, and just a few seconds later arrive two police cars, and one of the policeman over there was Lieutenant Gaillot, G-a-i-l-l-o-t. They put Oswald and my two friends in one of the police cars, and I went with Lieutenant Gaillot in the other police car to the First District of Police here in New Orleans. When we were in the First District of Police, we were in the same room, one small room over there, and some of the policemen start to question Oswald if he was a Communist, what he was doing that, and all those things, and Oswald at that moment--that was in front of myself—was really cold blood. He was answering the questions that he would like to answer, and he was not nervous, he was not out of control, he was confident in himself at that moment over there.
One of the questions that they asked to him was about his organization, the Fair Play for Cuba, and I saw him showing some papers that—I believe they were the credentials of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, that the Fair Play for Cuba Committee is a national organization, and when he told that, he was so kind of proud that it was not a small group but a national group all over the United States, and they asked of him the name of the members. No. Excuse me. Before they asked him if he has any office. He told them no, that there were—they were holding the meetings in different house, different homes, different members of the organization one night in one house, another night in another house, but in front of me he didn't told nothing about any office. When they asked him about the name of the members, he answered that he could not tell the name of the members in front of myself, because he will not like to let me know who were the ones who were helping him here in the city, and at that moment the police came out of the room and that was the last time that I saw him that day.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did the police keep you in jail too?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Well, yes. I had to put--they took my fingerprints and my picture, and I have to put $25 bond that night with my two friends too, and I don't know, but after the assassination I heard that Oswald didn't put the $25 bond, that somebody went to the First District and make—I believe you call that an affidavit or something like that, and he will appear in court and he will not have to put the $25. He didn't put the $25 bond. That is what I heard. I didn't saw that. I am not sure of that. Next time that I saw him----
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you appear in court later?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes, sir; later. That was August 12.
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes, on Monday.
Mr. BRINGUIER. Monday.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you pleaded not guilty to the offense that you were charged with?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right; that is right. And he plead guilty.
... Mr. BRINGUIER. In August 12, we appear in the second municipal court in New Orleans. I came first with my friends, and there were some other Cubans over there, and I saw when Oswald came inside the court. I saw him. He went directly to sit down in the middle of the seat of the colored people. See, here in the court you have two sides, one for the white people and one for the colored people, and he walked directly inside of the colored people and he sat directly among them in the middle, and that made me to be angry too, because I saw that he was trying to win the colored people for his side. When he will appear in the court, he will defend Fidel Castro, he will defend the Fair Play for Cuba, and the colored people will feel good for him, and that is a tremendous work of propaganda for his cause. That is one of the things that made me to think that he was a really smart guy and not a nut.
When the judge call us, he plead guilty, I plead not guilty, and my friends plead not guilty. I brought the Marines guidebook, the guidebook for Marines, and I explain to the judge that the incident was originated when Oswald tried to infiltrate the organization and that if he will not do that, I will not have any fight with him in the street, and I showed to him the guidebook for Marines with the name of Oswald on the top of the first page, and the judge dismisses the charges against us and fined him $10.
Mr. LIEBELER. Fined Oswald $10?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Ten dollars, that is right. In the court was at that moment one cameraman from WDSU, and he make he did an interview to Oswald after the trial and he took some movies of ourselves, and later I receive one phone call from Bill Stuckey. I had talk to Stuckey the day of the trial in the morning. I met him in the bank and I explained to him what was going on in the second municipal court, and he was the one who send the reporter over there to the trial. I am not sure if was the same day or next day of the trial Stuckey called me asking for Oswald's address. I get the affidavit from the court dissertation, and I give to him the address in dissertation, and I asked him why he was looking for that. He told me that he was going to make an interview to Oswald. I disagreed with him at that moment, I told him that I was thinking that it was not good to let a Communist go to radio station and tell all his lies, because there are many people who understand what was happening in Cuba, but there are many people who do not know exactly what is happening in Cuba. Stuckey offered me to make another interview to me next Saturday in his program, but I didn't agree with that neither, and I asked him to arrange a radio debate, because in that way we could tell our point of view at the same moment in the same place.
On August 16 another friend of mine left to me a message in the store that Oswald was another time handing out pro-Castro propaganda for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, this time in front of the International Trade Mart here in New Orleans.
I wasn't in the store at that moment, and when I came back and I received the message, I went to the International Trade Mart, but I could not find Oswald, he had already left, and I was talking later on with my friend, and the information that I received was that he was over there with two other persons. Later I saw the picture of those two persons, and they have a Latin aspect. I do not know if they are Latin Americans or not, but at least there is one who is.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did somebody show you pictures of these individuals?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who did?
Mr. BRINGUIER. The Secret Service tried to see if I know them, if I could identify them.
Mr. LIEBELER. [Exhibiting photograph to witness.] I show you a picture, which has previously been marked as “Pizzo Exhibit 458-A,” and I ask you if that is one of the pictures or a picture like the one the Secret Service showed to you.
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. [Exhibiting photograph to witness.] I show you another picture, which has previously been marked “Pizzo Exhibit 453-B.”
Mr. BRINGUIER. [Indicating.] See this guy, see this Japanese? He is from the Kasuga Co. here in New Orleans. He had the office in International Trade Mart.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you pointed to the person standing immediately behind and to Oswald's right with his hands up behind his head?
Mr. BRINGUIER. [Demonstrating.] That is right.
Mr. LIEBELER. And that is on Exhibit 453-A. Now do you recognize the person with the “X” over his head?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes, sir; that was Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now there is a person standing to Oswald's left wearing a white shirt and facing the same direction that Oswald was facing, and I will indicate that person with a pen mark on the picture. [Marking photograph.] I have drawn an arrow pointing to the person to which I refer, and I ask you if you recognize that person.
Mr. BRINGUIER. No; I don't recognize him. I believe that this is one of the pictures that I saw before, but I don't recognize him. For me, he looked like as a Latin American.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now in the far foreground of this picture, there is a man who has been marked with a green mark, just one mark, and we are referring at this point to Exhibit 453-A. Do you recognize that person?
Mr. BRINGUIER. No, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. Is that another one of the individuals to which you referred as having a Latin-type complexion, or is it not?
Mr. BRINGUIER. No, sir. I believe no; this is not the one that I said.
Mr. LIEBELER. I have one other picture here of this scene which has not previously been marked, and I will show that picture to you and ask you if you can identify anybody in that picture with the exception of Oswald, of course.
[Exhibiting photograph to witness.]
Mr. BRINGUIER. The only one that I could recognize here is Oswald. Mr. LIEBELER. And he is the person with the “Hands Off Cuba”?
Mr. BRINGUIER. “Hands Off Cuba” leaflets in his hand, the first one in front, just in the middle of the picture.
Mr. LIEBELER. [Marking photograph.] I have marked the picture I just referred to as “Exhibit No. 1” to your deposition.
Mr. BRINGUIER. Do you want that I sign the picture?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes. Would you initial the picture for identification purposes? (The witness complied.)
... Mr. LIEBELER. I thought you mentioned that there were two different people that appeared to you to be Latin people.
Mr. BRINGUIER. Sure. This one that I see here [indicating], this is the one looked like to me a Latin, but, if I am not wrong, somebody showed me another picture where is another guy distributing the leaflets. I believe so.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you think that was a Secret Service man or an FBI agent? Do you know?
Mr. BRINGUIER. I think that was a Secret Service man. Maybe I am wrong. I saw those days a lot of pictures; but—let me tell you something else: If my opinion is not wrong, if I am not mistaken this moment, I think that the other man was maybe in some kind of Bermuda shorts or something like that.
Mr. LIEBELER. I don't have any pictures in my possession showing that. The Commission has requested the actual film, the TV film itself, to be delivered to will send you a picture of it.
Mr. BRINGUIER. Okay.
Mr. LIEBELER. And I will also speak to the Secret Service about it and see if we can find such a picture. According to The Secret Service, one of these gentlemen has been identified as Mr. Charles Hall Steele, Jr.
Mr. BRINGUIER. He was working in the Pap's Super Market here in New Orleans. I believe so, that he was working over there. There was one Cuban who, when saw his face in the television, called me to tell me that, and I called the Secret Service and let them know.
Mr. LIEBELER. Mr. Steele will be in the office here this afternoon, so we will have an opportunity to determine if it is the same man that was marked with the arrow in Pizzo Exhibit 453-A or not.
So you went over to the International Trade Mart on this day in an attempt to find Oswald, but you were not successful? Is that correct?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is correct. After that my friend showed to me one of the leaflets that Oswald was handing out in front of the International Trade Mart, the yellow leaflets, and I found something interesting at this point. There was a difference among the leaflets that he was handing out on August 16 in the International Trade Mart and the leaflets that he was handing out on Canal Street on August 9.
Mr. LIEBELER. What was the difference?
Mr. BRINGUIER. The leaflet he was handing out on Canal Street August 9 didn't have his name of Oswald, at least the ones that I saw. They have the name A. J. Hidell, and one post office box here in New Orleans and the address, and the leaflets that he was handing out on August 16 have the name L.H. Oswald, 4907 Magazine Street. In the yellow leaflets he was offering free literature and lectures, and he was asking to the people to join the New Orleans Chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, and at the end he said, "Everyone welcome." My friend asked to me if I think that it would be good that he will go to Oswald's house posing as a pro-Castro and try to get as much information as possible from Oswald. I told him yes; and that night he went to Oswald's house with the leaflets.
Mr. LIEBELER. What day was this now? Do you remember?
Mr. BRINGUIER. August 16. I believe so. I think that. I am sure.
Mr. LIEBELER. That was the same day that----
Mr. BRINGUIER. That he was distributing the leaflets.
Mr. LIEBELER. The second time?
Mr. BRINGUIER. The second time. The first time was a Friday, August 9, and the second time I think that was another Friday, August 16.
My friend went to Oswald's house and he was talking to Oswald for about 1 hour inside his house, in the porch of the house, and there was when we found that Oswald had some connection with Russia, or something like that, because the daughter came to the porch and Oswald spoke to her in Russian, and my friend heard that language and he asked Oswald if that was Russian, and Oswald told him yes, that he was attending Tulane University and that he was studying language, that that was the reason why he speak Russian. He give to my friend an application to become a member of the New Orleans Chapter of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.
After the assassination my friend turned [over] to the Secret Service one copy of the application. I have here one, one copy [producing document]. This is a photocopy. My friend keep the original.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you have another copy of this?
Mr. BRINGUIER. No; that is the only one that I have. He has the original. If you want to keep that, for me it is no trouble, because always I could take more copies.
Mr. LIEBELER. I see. Your friend still has the original? Mr. BRINGUIER. The original; that is right.
Mr. LIEBELER. Well, let's mark this one as “Exhibit 2” to your deposition. Off the record. (Discussion off the record.)
Mr. LIEBELER. Let the record show that we asked Mr. Bringuier to initial a picture which we discussed before on the record, and that picture, which is a picture of a street scene in front of the International Trade Mart has been marked “Exhibit 1” to Mr. Bringuier's deposition taken here in New Orleans on April 7, 1964. We shall now mark as “Exhibit 2” to that deposition a photocopy of an application to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, New Orleans, La., which Mr. Bringuier says is a copy of an application which was given to a friend of his whose name we have agreed not to indicate on the record, given by Lee Oswald on or about August 16, 1963. Is that correct?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes.
Mr. LIEBELER. I have initialed Exhibit No. 2 and I ask you to do the same, if you would. [The witness complied.]
Mr. LIEBELER. Please go ahead.
Mr. BRINGUIER. At that conversation Oswald was defending Fidel Castro, and he advised to my friend that the United States don't have the right to invade or to overthrow any other government, and that if the United States will do that to Cuba, he will fight defending Castro, because Castro was right.
I gave the copy of the transcription of the conversation with my friend to the Secret Service the days after the Kennedy assassination.
Mr. LIEBELER. That is the day that you and your friend discussed this after your friend returned from Oswald's and you made a recording of that conversation?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Not a recording, not a recording exactly; but when my friend came back from Oswald's house, he told me what happened over there and he was trying to contact some authority to let him go deeper inside the Fair Play for Cuba Committee here in New Orleans.
Mr. LIEBELER. Your friend was?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes; my friend was trying to contact some authorities, because he didn't want to be involved in that matter without the knowledge of the U.S. Government. We also discussed this conversation in front of Ed Butler.
Mr. LIEBELER. Who?
Mr. BRINGUIER. “Ed Butler, Edward Butler, for the Information Council of the Americas, the day or 2 days previous to the debate when my friend and myself went to Butler's office, and my friend was explaining to Butler all the conversation and the point of view of Oswald, and the matter that Oswald spoke in Russian, and at that moment my friend had found that Oswald had been in Russia and that he was married to one Russian girl. We gave all that information to Butler and he was trying to contact some person, somebody in Washington, to get more the background of Oswald before the debate.
After that, the last day that I saw Oswald was August 21, the day of the debate. I went to WDSU radio about 5:30, 30 minutes before the time of the debate. When I went to the lobby, there were already there Bill Stuckey and Lee Harvey Oswald. I shake hands with Stuckey. Stuckey indicate to me that Oswald was there. Oswald stand up and came to me and shake hands with me. I was talking to Stuckey for a few minutes, and after that Stuckey left the lobby and went inside the WDSU radio station to check--I believe that was to check in what room we will have the debate. I was talking to Oswald that day before the debate started. I was trying to be as friendly to him as I could. I really believe that the best thing that I could do is to get one Communist out of the Communist Party and put him to work against communism, because he know what communism mean, and I told to Oswald that I don't have nothing against him in the personal way, just in the ideologic way. I told him that for me it was impossible to see one American being a Communist, because communism is trying to destroy the United States, and that if any moment when he will be at bed he will start to think that he can do something good for his country, for his family, and for himself, he could come to me, because I would receive him, because I repeat to him I didn't have nothing against him in the personal way. He smiled to me. He told me he answered me that he was in the right side, the correct side, and that I was in the wrong side, and that he was doing his best. That were his words at that moment.
Before we went inside the room of the debate, he saw my guidebook for Marines that I was carrying with me, because I did not know what will happen in the debate and I will have to have that weapon with me to destroy him personally as a traitor if he doing something wrong in the debate. When he saw the guidebook for Marines, he smiled to me, and he told me, “Well, listen, Carlos, don't try to do an invasion with that guidebook for Marines, because that is an old one and that will be a failure.” That was his joke in that moment. After that we went to the debate, and I think that you have the whole history of the debate, you have the transcription and everything, [so] that I don't have to go inside that, because that is subjective, not objective. You have the objective, and that is the debate.
Mr. LIEBELER. That is right. We do have a transcript and we listened to it on the tape last night over at the television station too.
Mr. BRINGUIER. And there is something that I want to show you too. I told to you about the training camp that were across the Lake Pontchartrain.
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes.
Mr. BRINGUIER. [Producing newspaper.] At the beginning of August in the Diario Las Americas from Miami for September 4—
Mr. LIEBELER. For September 4, 1963?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right. [Indicating photograph.] This is the spy who was inside the training camp. The Christian Democratic Movement turned him over to the FBI, and the FBI was questioning him in Miami. The Christian Democratic Movement found a letter, according to this information, from this guy directed to Carlos Lechuga, former Cuban Ambassador to Mexico and now Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations in New York. In that letter the spy, Fernando Fernandez, was warning Lechuga that they have to be alert from that date to August 8, and the day that Oswald came trying to infiltrate my organization was on August 5. This sounds for me strange in all this matter.
[Indicating.] Here is another interview from Fernandez here 3 days later.
Mr. LIEBELER. You are referring to a copy of the same newspaper but for the date of September 6, 1963, on the front page of which----
Mr. BRINGUIER. [Indicating.] Here. "Fernando Fernandez is in favor of coexistence with the Communist regime of Castro." That is the title in Spanish.
Mr. LIEBELER. Let me see if I can understand what you are saying. You say that Fernandez wrote a letter to Lechuga?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Fernandez wrote a letter to Lechuga in Mexico.
Mr. LIEBELER. Lechuga is a member of the Castro government?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Right.
Mr. LIEBELER. He is now Ambassador to the United Nations?
Mr. BRINGUIER. In New York; right.
Mr. LIEBELER. Fernandez is the person who was the Castro spy who had infiltrated the training camp in Louisiana?
Mr. BRINGUIER. For the Christian Democratic Movement here in Louisiana.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now the Christian Democratic Movement is--what? Pro-Castro?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Anti-Castro.
Mr. LIEBELER. It is an anti-Castro organization?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes; they were training Cubans over here to make a commando action against Castro, but they find out that there was a Castro spy inside the training camp, and they went back to Miami with the people and with him, and they turn him over to the FBI. I think that after that the leader for the Christian Democratic Movement—or that the FBI didn't found nothing, because was not against the law to spy inside an anti-Castro organization. It was against the law to spy inside the U.S. Government but not inside the anti-Castro organization. And my feeling—and, this is the question that I am asking myself--in New Orleans we are about 900 miles from Miami. In Miami is where the headquarters of all the anti-Castro groups. I could not find any reason for Oswald to come to me and offer me his service to train Cubans in guerrilla warfare at the same moment when there was a secret anti-Castro training camp in New Orleans and a Castro spy was inside that training camp. That for me is—because, if he was willing to infiltrate one active organization, he will go directly to Miami and he will offer his service over there in Miami, but not in New Orleans where it is not publicly known that there was something going on at that moment. I believe that that was the only time here in New Orleans that there was something like that, and it was a coincidence. And there is another coincidence too for me, and that is that when Oswald left the city he went to Mexico, and the letter from Fernandez that was intercepted here was to Mexico too, and Oswald visit the Cuban consulate in Mexico, and the Fernandez letter was to the Cuban Ambassador to Mexico. For me, that is a big doubt.
Mr. LIEBELER. Go ahead.
Mr. BRINGUIER. You see, after the debate, the same night of the debate, I went to the radio station here in New Orleans and the local papers and the United Press International office, and I gave a press release. If you want a copy, I could give you a copy. I gave a copy to the Secret Service.
The most interesting thing is the four things that I asked to the Secret Service of New Orleans. I think that this is the second one where I said, “Write to your Congressman asking for a full investigation of Mr. Lee H. Oswald, a confessed Marxist” [producing document]. And that was 3 months before the assassination.
... Mr. BRINGUIER. Well, the only thing that I don't believe is that Fernandez had told directly to Oswald. What I believe is that Fernandez had informed some people outside the United States, and these people had informed Oswald and had gave to Oswald the order to try to infiltrate the Cuban group here in New Orleans.
... Mr. BRINGUIER. Well, what I think is this: He send that letter to Lechuga, and on August 5 Oswald came to me offering his service to train Cubans, all in the same period of time. Something that never was happening here in New Orleans, that there was a secret anti-Castro training camp, and the chairman of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee trying to join the Cuban group here in New Orleans. Those are the facts. I don't want to tell something that I am not sure about. I just want to show you that tremendous coincidence or that connection.
Mr. LIEBELER. Now it doesn't seem likely, does it, that Oswald would go around handing out literature in the streets like he did if he was actually attempting to infiltrate the anti-Castro movement?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Remember that that was after I turned down his offer and after I told him that I don't have nothing to do with military activities and that here there is nothing, and that I turned down completely him. He didn’t went openly to do that before the attempt to infiltrate the training camp; he went openly to do that after he was turned down.
... Mr. BRINGUIER. You see, that is a hard question, because here in the city you have a lot of persons. There are some who are pro-Castro, there are many who are anti-Castro. Even among the Cubans you could have some Castro agents here in the city and you could not have control of everybody.
But there is something else: The owner of the Havana Bar—the Havana Bar is located in 117 Decatur Street, just two door or three door from my store—the owner of the Havana Bar is a Cuban, and he and one of the employees over there, gave the information to me after Kennedy's assassination—not before that Oswald went to the Havana Bar one time. He asked for some lemonade. He was with one Mexican at that moment, and when Oswald was drinking the lemonade, he start to say that, sure, the owner of that place had to be a Cuban capitalistic, and that he argue about the price of the lemonade. He was telling that that was too much for a lemonade, and he feel bad at that moment, Oswald feel bad at that moment--he had some vomits and he went out to the sidewalk to vomit outside on the sidewalk. These persons here from the Havana Bar told me that the guy, the Mexican, who was with Oswald, was the same one that one time the FBI told them that if they will see him, call them immediately because that was a pro-Communist. I remember that was between August 15 and August 30 was that period of time. I could not locate that because I start to find out all these things after the Kennedy assassination, not before, because before I did not found any connection.
... Mr. LIEBELER. What is the name of the brother of the owner of the Havana Bar?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Ruperto Pena, and the one who saw Oswald in the bar--that was the one who served the lemonade to him--Evaristo Rodriguez.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you report this to the FBI when you talked to them after the assassination? Mr. BRINGUIER. After the assassination?
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes.
... Mr. BRINGUIER. Well [producing magazine], there is here in this magazine this is Bohemia International--this is printed in Venezuela—February 2, 1964 there is an article by Dr. Herminio Portell- Vila. He is a professor of history of Cuba, Dr. Herminio Portell-Vila, and an old diplomat from Cuba. I think he is living in Washington, D.C. And he said here [exhibiting page] that in one speech from Castro on November 27, 1963, in the University of Havana, Castro said--and I quote: “The first time that Oswald was in Cuba”—and that immediately he cut the speech, he changed and he talked of something else. Maybe you have a record of that speech delivered from Castro in the University of Havana and you could check if Castro said that 5 days after the assassination or not.
Mr. LIEBELER. And what kind of magazine is this Bohemia International?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Bohemia was the biggest weekly magazine in Cuba.
Mr. LIEBELER. Prior to the Castro regime?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right. And during the Castro regime they were defending Castro a lot of time, but in 1960 the director, the editor, went into exile, and----
Mr. LIEBELER. And he now publishes this magazine from Venezuela?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right. He was publishing that from New York about one year, I believe, sir, and then at a later date moved to Venezuela, but that is circulating here inside the United States.
... Mr. LIEBELER. Do you want to put that on the record, that story you told me just a minute ago?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Last January I went to Miami, Fla., where I was talking to Dr. Emilio Nunez-Portuondo, former Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations, and he told me that just after the assassination of President Kennedy he received a request from one of the biggest Mexican newspapers asking him for some public declarations of opinion about the assassination. He sent that day a letter with his press release inside, addressed to one friend of him who is living in Mexico City and his friend deliver that press release to the Mexico City newspaper in Mexico. In that release, Mr. Nunez-Portuondo blamed Fidel Castro as the “intellectual murderer of President Kennedy.”
Dr. Portuondo told me that the same day that that information appear in the paper, his friend suffer an attempt to be kidnapped. There went about eight men to this man house, and when they were trying to put him inside one automobile, at the same moment pass a reporter---I believe that was from the AP--and when the reporter saw what was going on, he start to ask for help. At that moment the police came and started to question the eight men, and, according to Nunez-Portuondo, they identified themselves as members of the Secret Service of the Mexican Government, and Mr. Portuondo’s friend was beaten so hard that he had to go to a hospital for 4 days with a broken leg, just because he was the one who deliver Nunez-Portuondo’s statement to the Mexican newspaper blaming Fidel Castro for the murder of President Kennedy.
... Mr. LIEBELER. These newspaper stories are, as we have indicated, in the Diario Las Americas, issues of September 4, 1963, and September 6, 1963. Do you have copies of these or do you want to keep these?
Mr. BRINGUIER. I think they are the only ones we have.
Mr. LIEBELER. Yes.
Mr. BRINGUIER. I will tell something else to you: This information--they are taking this information from the Miami Herald.
Mr. LIEBELER. You are referring now—
Mr. BRINGUIER. That was the one who interview Fernando Fernandez, the Miami Herald made an interview to Fernando Fernandez. I already asked to some person in Miami to send me the Miami Herald, from September 3 to September 10 to try to get all the information directly from the Miami Herald but at this moment I only have the Spanish publication over there.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know where Fernandez is now?
Mr. BRINGUIER. No; I don’t know where he is. He was telling in that interview that he was willing to go to Cuba, to go back to Cuba. I don't know whether he is in Cuba now or not. Excuse me. Did you check any other trip from Oswald to Mexico previously to the trip 3 weeks before the assassination? Because I think that you have to know sure that Mr. Stuckey, Bill Stuckey, made another interview to Oswald, and he had the tape of that interview. I have one tape of that interview. I think that that interview was made on August 17, 1963, and at that interview Oswald said, answering to one question, that he had been in Mexico, and in all the magazines that I am reading they are talking about Oswald was born in New Orleans, he went to New York, he came back to New Orleans, he went to the Marines, he went to Russia, he came back, he went to Dallas, he came to New Orleans back, he went to Mexico 3 weeks before the assassination, but I don't read in any newspaper or any magazine talking about some other trip from Oswald to Mexico, and if you have that tape, in Oswald’s own voice, he admitted that he had been to Mexico before August 17.
Mr. LIEBELER. Well, Mr. Stuckey will be here this afternoon. We will ask him about that.
Mr. BRINGUIER. Thank you.
Mr. LIEBELER. Going back briefly to this story of Mr. Pena telling you that he had seen Oswald in the Havana Bar with this other Mexican, did the FBI ever talk to Mr. Pena about this? Do you know?
Mr. BRINGUIER. I don't know. I know that the owner of the Havana Bar, in my opinion, is a good person, but he says that always when he talk to the FBI in the bar or something like that, that he lose customers, because, you see, to those bars sometime there are people, customers, who don't like to see FBI around there, and he says that always he lose customers when the FBI start to go over there, and sometime he become angry and sometime he don't want to talk about. I am sure that the brother, Ruperto---I am sure that he will tell everything that he knows.
Mr. LIEBELER. Did you form any opinion as to whether the report that Ruperto made about Oswald being in the bar was an accurate report?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Well, the question is this: Was not only Ruperto told me that Oswald went to Havana Bar. The one who told me that was Evaristo Rodriguez, and I never saw Evaristo Rodriguez telling lies or never—Evaristo is quiet person, he is young, married, but he is quiet. He is not an extrovert, that is, not a—
Mr. LIEBELER. He wouldn't be likely to make this story up?
Mr. BRINGUIER. No; I don't believe so.
(At this point, Mr. Jenner entered the room to obtain photographs, and there ensued an off the record discussion about the photographs.)
Mr. BRINGUIER. I remember that when somebody—I believe that was the Secret Service showed to me the other picture that I tell you, that they were—they had already identified one and they were trying to identify the other one. I am sure that there were two, and no doubt about that.
Mr. LIEBELER. In any event, you didn't recognize any of the—
Mr. BRINGUIER. No.
Mr. LIEBELER. Individuals in the pictures that we showed you previously, Pizzo Exhibits 453-A and 453- B, and Exhibit No. 1 to your own deposition?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Pardon?
Mr. LIEBELER. The only person you recognized in those pictures was Lee Oswald?
Mr. BRINGUIER. That is right, that is right, and the guy I showed you, the one from Kasuga, the Japanese.
Mr. LIEBELER. [Exhibiting photograph to witness.] Now I show you Exhibit No. 1 to the affidavit of Jesse Garner, and I ask you if you recognize the individual in that picture.
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. And who is that?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Well, the picture look like that is Lee Harvey Oswald. Mr. LIEBELER. And it shows him handing out a leaflet?
Mr. BRINGUIER. “Hands Off Cuba.”
Mr. LIEBELER. Reading off “Hands Off Cuba,” does it not? Does that leaflet look similar to the leaflet you saw Oswald handing out?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. And you recognize that man obviously as Oswald, don't you? Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes, sir.
Mr. LIEBELER. I don't think I have any more questions at this point, but if you have anything else that you want to add, why, you can go right ahead and do it. You have done most of the testifying without my help and you have done very well.
Mr. BRINGUIER. Thank you. I don't know if you had already the information that the Cuban Student Directorate Headquarters in Miami gave to the press on January 31 about Jack Ruby's second trip to Cuba in 1962.
Mr. LIEBELER. I am not familiar with it offhand. What is it?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Well, you could check the name and the date of the newspaper. It is the same “Diario Las Americas” from Miami, February 1, 1964, information from the Cuban Student Directorate Headquarters in Miami telling that Jack Ruby went to Cuba at the end of 1962 through Mexico, and he was in Cuba until the beginning of 1963. After that I talked to them by long-distance telephone, long-distance call, and they informed me that they already have turned over to the FBI all the proof about this trip from Ruby going to Cuba.
Mr. LIEBELER. What is the name of the person that you spoke to in Miami?
Mr. BRINGUIER. The person to whom I spoke in Miami, his name is Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos.
Mr. LIEBELER. And he indicated that the information concerning Ruby's trip had already been given to the FBI?
Mr. BRINGUIER. To the FBI. That is right.
Mr. LIEBELER. Can you think of anything else that you think we should know about at this moment?
Mr. LIEBELER. Off the record. (Discussion off the record.)
Mr. LIEBELER. Back on the record. Going back briefly to the time at which you and Oswald and your other friends were arrested and taken to the police station here in New Orleans on August 9, 1963, were you interviewed at the police station by any agent of the FBI?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Well, there were two plain-clothing agents that identified (themselves) as a member of the FBI, I believe, and they were questioning us on the generalities of Oswald and all, and when I was explaining to them and all, they had some kind of confusion sometime because they didn't know if we were Communists, and I had to explain to them three or four times that we were not the Communists and that Oswald was the one that was doing that in favor of Castro.
Mr. LIEBELER. Do you know whether they interviewed Oswald?
Mr. BRINGUIER. I think. I thought that they interviewed Oswald, but not in front of me. They were talking to him in front of me, but when they were ready to interview Oswald, they moved to other place to interview him.
Mr. LIEBELER. You had to point out to them several times that it was Oswald who was the Castro provocateur, so to say, and not you? Is that correct?
Mr. BRINGUIER. Yes, sir; because they were asking to us in one way as if we were Communists or pro- Castro, and I had to explain to them in three or four different times that we were Cubans but we were not pro-Castro and that we were the ones in the fight against Oswald.
5 NARA 104-10218-10185 ~ Viola June Cobb.
"The Incredible June Cobb Author Mary Haverstick talks about the multiple identities of a CIA agent in Dallas on November 22 1963." JFK Facts Podcast Video. January 17, 2024.
Mary Haverstick, A Woman I Know: Female Spies Double Identities and a New Story of the Kennedy Assassination (Crown: November 14 2023). Pages 33-69.
John Newman, Oswald and the CIA: The Documented Truth About the Unknown. Relationship Between the U.S. Government and the Alleged Killer of JFK. (Carroll & Graf Pub: January 1, 1995). Pages 106-112 and 350.
"Meet June Cobb: She's a Soldier of Fortune." By Jack Anderson, The Washington Post, August 12, 1962.
Juan Jose Arevalo, June Cobb, Raul Oseggueda, The Shark and The Sardines (Kessinger Publishing, Reprint September 2010).
"The Story of Marita Lorenz: Mistress, Mother, C.I.A. Informant, and Center of Swirling Conspiracy Theories." By Bardach Ann Louise. Vanity Fair, November 1993.
"Ex-Spy Says She Drove To Dallas With Oswald & Kennedy 'Assassin Squad'." By Paul Meskil. Daily News (New York) September 20, 1977. Page 5.
"Costa Rica 'spy kid': Mom was sent to kill Castro; dad is a former president of Venezuela." The Tico Times, October 27, 2015.
6 RIF 1993.08.03.17:00:07:370028. Multiple dates. Subject: Biographic Data For William George Gaudet.
RIF 1993.08.03.16:56:36:870028. January 16, 1976. NARA Identification Aid. From Raymond Reardon. To: Chief, Security Analyst Group. Subject: William George Gaudet.
NARA 104-10133-10236 ~ 1/16/1976 Memorandum For: Chief, Security Analysis Group. Subject: William George Gaudet, SF#401 996-B. Signed: Raymond M. Reardon, Security Analysis Group.
"Edard Bernays: Propaganda and the U.S.-Backed 1954 GuatemalanCoup." By Robert Skvarta. Janata Weekly, December 19, 2021.
7 NARA 180-10112-10390 ~ 5/13/1975 HSCA “Memo of Conversation Between George Gaudet and Bernard Fensterwald.”
NARA 180-10147-10163 ~ No Title. Page 80 of 107.
>> This Gaudet file was among the ones made available December 15, 2022 when President Biden finally ordered the release of some, but not all, of the long-withheld Kennedy assassination documents.
>> CIA Director McCone told the Warren Commission that Oswald had no link to the CIA and his Deputy Director Helms involved in clandestine operations corroborated his statement so the HSCA tried to get to whether it was true.
8 “Testimony of William D. Pawley, September 2 and 8, 1960.” Communist Threat to the United States Through the Caribbean: Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate, Eighty-Sixth Congress, Second Session, Part 10, Page 724.
9 “Sympathy for the Devil.” By Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. 1968.
10 “The Unconscious Hums, Destroy.” By Lance Morrow. Time, March 25, 1996.
This produces the ‘In a Sense, We Are All Guilty’ fallacy. Actually, we're not. The fallacy began its modern career in late November 1963, just after the assassination of John Kennedy. We were all Lee Harvey Oswald, some editorial writers wanted to believe. Of course, anyone who does not know the difference between a person who kills and one who does not kill has failed to grasp the first of civilization’s house rules. That everyone is capable of murder, at least theoretically, but that most refrain from committing it is the start of social order.
11 Presidents and Recipients of the Medals of Freedom
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN (partial list)
1981/10/9 Morris I. Leibman; Walter H. Judd
1983/2/23 Clare Boothe Luce
1984/3/26 Leo Cherne
1985/5/23 Sidney Hook; Frank Sinatra; Albert C. Wedemeyer
1986/5/12 Barry Morris Goldwater
1987/6/23 Lyman L. Lemnitzer; John A. McCone
1988/10/17 Irving Brown
PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH (partial list)
1989/5/25 Claude Pepper
1989/7/6 James Doolittle
1991/7/3 Richard B Cheney
1991/11/18 William F. Buckley, Jr.; Vernon A. Walters
12 NARA 124-10371-10182 ~ 3/16/1964 “American Security Council Washington Report.” Admin Folder-F11: HSCA Administrative Folder, Outgoing Commission Vol X. Page 208 of 338. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.
>> Lee R. Pennington is no relation to Cecil Pennington who is referred to in:
NARA 104-10260-10095 ~ 3/24/1960 Memorandum “Telephone Call From Mr. Pennington, Alien Affairs Staff,
Concerning Possible Position of Immigration on Marcos Diaz Lanz Application for Permanent Resident Visa. To:
C/WH/4. From Martha Tharpe, WH/4.
>> Martha Tharpe’s memorandum is regarding a conversation she had about citizenship for Pedro Diaz Lanz with Cecil Pennington, Alien Affairs Staff.
13 NARA 124-900092-10033 ~ 9/17/1947 Office Memorandum “Subject: William King Harvey, Applicant—Central Intelligence Group.” To: Mr. D.M. Ladd. From: Lish Whitson.
14 NARA 104-10120-10341 ~ 12/8/1964 Memorandum “Possible Counterintelligence Matter (DODS Personnel).”
To: Chief, Security Research Staff. From: Chief Investigations Division. Subject: Hunt, E. Howard,
Counterintelligence.
>> This document indicates that Hunt since November 19, 1963 was involved in ghostwriter recruitment for DODS Project [REDACTED]RABBIT and [REDACTED]TARDY.
>> Mary Ferrell Foundation’s excellent Cryptonym section provides more details about WURABBIT, WUTARDY and other WU projects.
NARA 104-10141-10022 ~ 4/4/1978 “Memo: Sanitization of HSCA Researcher Notes.” To: Shepanek. From:Gabrielson, Rodger S. OLC/C&R. Subjects: QKOPERA/LIAISON, WURABBIT, ZRBLESS, WUTARDY,Sanitization.
>> Mary Ferrell Foundation Cryptonym Section offers insights.
-
QKOPERA was a foundation-type proprietary funded the Congress of Cultural Freedom’s group of witting and unwitting intellectuals, artists and musicians. Priscilla Johnson was an Editor.
-
LIAISON targeted Mexico.
ZRBLESS appears to have provided positive spin to the CIA through Praeger Publishing and
countercriticism of the Agency through newspaper columns such as William Buckley’s review of The Invisible Government.
John M. Newman, Uncovering Popov's Mole: The Assassination of President Kennedy Volume IV.
15 NARA 157-10011-1078 ~ 2/17/1975 Testimony “Osborn, Howard J.”
NARA 124-10214-10066 ~ 5/26/1948 [No Title]. “Subject: E. Howard Hunt, Jr. European Recovery Program.” To: SAC, Albany. From: J. Edgar Hoover, Director.
NARA 180-10143-10076 “Review Of Office Of Security Files On E. Howard Hunt.” Page 23 of 39.
16 “The Present Danger.” By William Kristol and Robert Kagan, editors. Weekly Standard, August 23, 1999. Page 9.
If the Chinese are going to carry out some form of aggression against Taiwan, it makes a lot of sense to do it in the next few weeks.
17 1/26/1998 Letter to President Clinton from the Project for a New American Century.
>> The New American Century .org website no longer exists.
>> Signators were: Elliott Abrams, Richard L. Armitage, William J. Bennett, Jeffrey Bergner, John Bolton, Paula Dobriansky, Francis Fukuyama, Robert Kagan, Zalmay Khalilzad, William Kristol, Richard Perle, Peter W. Rodman, Donald Rumsfeld, William Schneider, Jr., Vin Weber, Paul Wolfowitz, R. James Woolsey, and Robert B. Zoellick.
>> In its 1997 Statement of Principles, PNAC leadership included: Elliott Abrams, Gary Bauer, William J. Bennett, Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, Eliot A. Cohen, Midge Decter, Paula Dobriansky, Steve Forbes, Aaron Friedberg, Francis Fukuyama, Frank Gaffney, Fred C. Ikle, Donald Kagan, Zalmay Khalilzad, I. Lewis Libby, Norman Podhoretz, Dan Quayle, Peter W. Rodman, Stephen P. Rosen, Henry S. Rowen, Donald Rumsfeld, Vin Weber, George Weigel and Paul Wolfowitz.
18 Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century, A Report of The Project for the New American Century, September 2000.
19 “Capitol Was Flight 93 Target, Arab TV Reports.” By Daniel Rubin. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 9, 2002.
>> My mother lived 6 blocks away on East Capitol Street SE in Washington, DC. I watched the twin towers in New York City burn from Montclair, NJ. We were both born in Pittsburgh, Pennyslvania.
20 “If 9/11 Was God’s Vengeance for Homosexuality, What’s Pat Robertson’s Death During Pride Month?” By Spencer Ackerman. Forever Wars (substack), June 8, 2023.
21 “Army to End Expansive, Exclusive Halliburton Deal Logistics Contract to Be Open for Bidding.” By Griff Witte. The Washington Post, July 12, 2006. Page A01.
22 Pawley, Russia Is Winning. Page 450.
23 Lady Margaret Thatcher, “The West Must Prevail,” The Heritage Foundation Lecture Series #771, December 9,
2002
http://www.heritage.org/Research/PublicDiplomacy/HL771.cfm
>> Thatcher continued:
I am glad that America's commander in chief is made of such stern stuff—glad too that he is assisted by Vice President Cheney and others in this room. I am also proud that Britain stands where we must always stand—as America's surest and staunchest ally. Prime Minister Blair and I are, as is well known, political opponents. But in this vital matter I salute his strong, bold leadership.
My friends: as the life of Clare Boothe Luce demonstrated, something more is required in politics than simple pragmatism. It is, of course, necessary to learn all the facts, to seek the best advice, to reflect on the options before you decide the course to take. But experience shows that if you lack a coherent set of beliefs and principles, you will flounder. You must know already what you want, and why, and broadly how best to attain it if you are ever to deal effectively with the thousand-and-one crises that face you in government.
That is why think-tanks like the Heritage Foundation are so crucial ...
Heritage is the sworn enemy of over-regulation, over-taxation, social engineering, health fascism, and environmentalist hysteria. It is the friend of opportunity, incentives, free trade, an effective rule of law, national sovereignty, and strong defense. And so say all of us!
24 “Don’t Shoot: The CIA's kill teams were modeled on Israel's hit squads.” By Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff. Newsweek Web Exclusive, July 2009.
25 Section: 1. Introduction. C. Institutionalizing Assassination: The “Executive Action” Capability. Church Committee: Interim Report—Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders. Pages 181-185.
>> In early 1961, CIA Deputy Director of Plans Richard Bissell “instructed [Bill] Harvey, who was then Chief of a CIA Foreign Intelligence staff, to establish an ‘executive action capability,” which would include research into a capability to assassinate foreign leaders ... A single agent (“asset”) was given the cryptonym QJ/WIN, and placed under Harvey’s supervision for the ZR/Rifle project ... Harvey used QJ/WIN, to spot “individuals with criminal and underworld connections in Europe for possible multi-purpose use.”
26 “Obama: Al Qaeda leader’s death shows US can fight terrorism without war with Afghanistan.” By Jared Gans, The Hill, August 2, 2022.
27 “Lawyer fears 9/11 mastermind trial will be 'insanity.'” By Kelli Arena and Carol Cratty. CNN, April 24, 2008.
U.S. Department of Justice memo dated Aug. 1, 2002. (No longer in effect.)
>> Federal law defines torture as "an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering ... upon another person within his custody or physical control." According to an August 2002 Department of Justice memo, since repudiated, the following acts were not torture during Abu Zubaydah's interrogation.
- Attention grasp: Seizing a subject by the collar and pulling him toward the interrogator.
- Walling: Slamming the subject against a flexible wall, with a rolled towel supporting his head and neck to help prevent whiplash.
- Facial hold: Holding the subject's head immobile with a palm on either side.
- Facial slap: Slapping the subject's face between his chin and earlobe.
- Cramped confinement: Placing the individual in a confined space, usually dark, for two to 18 hours, depending on the size of the space.
- Wall standing: Requiring a subject to stand, arms outstretched and fingertips touching the wall so that his body weight is on his fingers.
- Stress position: Place a subject into various positions, including sitting on the floor with his legs outstretched and arms raised above his head or kneeling while leaning back at a 45-degree angle.
- Sleep deprivation: Keeping the subject awake for not more than 11 days at a time.
- Insects placed in a confinement box: Placing the subject in a cramped confinement box with a harmless insect - the subject is told the insect has a stinger.
- Waterboarding: Placing the subject on an inclined bench, with a cloth over his face, and pouring water on the cloth, producing a perception of drowning, suffocation and panic.
“Zubaydah’s Drawings Expose the U.S.’s Depraved Torture Policy.” By Ed Pilkington. The Guardian, May 11,
2023.
>> Held for 21 years without charges, “Abu Zubaydah has created 40 drawings that chronicle the torture he endured in a number of CIA dark sites between 2002 and 2006 and at Guantánamo Bay.”
“Ex-CIA chiefs slowed 'torture memos' release.” By Pamela Hess. ABC News, April 17, 2009.
>>The release of “memos on harsh CIA interrogations was delayed for nearly a month [by President Obama] in part because of strenuous objections” from CIA chiefs Michael Hayden, Porter Goss, George Tenet and John Deutch” who feared the memos “would compromise intelligence operations.”
“Psychologists Helped Guide Interrogations: Extent of Health Professionals' Role at CIA Prisons Draws Fresh Outrage From Ethicists.” By Joby Warrick and Peter Finn. Washington Post, April 18, 2009.
“Waterboarding.” Jon Stewart. The Daily Show, Comedy Central, April 20, 2009.
>> Jon Stewart made the poignant point that when a prisoner is waterboarded over 100 times, the prisoner eventually realizes he’s not going to drown.
28 “Using Torture.” Editorial. The Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News, April 13, 2009.
“Waterboarding.” AP. Forbes, April 16, 2008
“Waterboarding Used 266 Times on 2 Suspects.” Scott Shane. The New York Times, April 20, 2009.
“The Banality of Bush White House Evil.” By Frank Rich, The New York Times, April 26, 2009.
29 “Letters Give C.I.A. Tactics a Legal Rationale.” By Mark Mazzetti. The New York Times, April 27, 2008.
30 “Using Torture.” Editorial. The Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News, April 13.
3/14/2003 Memorandum “Re: Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside the United States.”
31 “Biden administration release Guantánamo inmate, it’s fourth transfer in a month.” By Sacha Pfeiffer. NPR, March 9, 2023.
32 “Cantero is the first Hispanic appointed to the high court.” By Julie Hauserman. St. Petersburg Times, July 11, 2002.
33 Doolittle Committee Report
34 “It’s Never a Quick Fix at the CIA.” By Loch K. Johnson. The Washington Post, August 30, 2009.
Such inquiries can prove useful, leading to critical reforms, stronger oversight and, perhaps most important, changed attitudes about the CIA and other intelligence agencies. But I’ve also learned that high-profile investigations will not transform human nature, turning intelligence officials—or the presidents and White House aides who direct them—into angels, unsusceptible to zeal and folly. Even when the watchdogs on Capitol Hill or in the Justice Department awaken, intelligence abuses and scandals will recur. We will launch new investigations and introduce new reforms, but sometimes all we can do is clean up the messes after the fact. So let’s get used to it.
... After one of our closed sessions on CIA assassination plots, Church leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead in frustration. Who had ordered the plots against Patrice Lumumba of Congo and Fidel Castro of Cuba? The president? The director of central intelligence? Someone lower down in the CIA? The testimony from the agency’s witnesses was filled with ambiguities...Church fumed to a particularly evasive (or forgetful) witness. “And we’re talking about a matter of such grave importance as assassination!” The committee was never able to pinpoint responsibility.
35 “Chris Wallace Interview Former Vice President Dick Cheney.” Fox News Sunday, August 30, 2009.
36 “CIA Declines to Release Documents on Interrogations.” By Mark Mazzetti. The New York Times, September 2, 2009.
37 “Transcript: Former Vice President Dick Cheney interview by Jonathan Karl.” This Week ABC News, February 14, 2010.
38 “Treasury pick Monica Crowley spread Obama smears: ‘Can he be both loyal to Islam and loyal to the United States?’” By Andrew Kaczynski and Nathan McDermott. CNN, July 25, 2019.
39 “Trump Pick Monica Crowley Plagiarized Parts of Her Ph.D. Dissertation.” By Alex Caton and Grace Watkins. Politico Magazine, January 9, 2017.
40 “Former Fox News Contributor Monica Crowley Tapped to be Assistant Treasury Secretary.” By Lindsey Ellefson. The Wrap. July 17, 2019.
41 "The Indictments Are Trump Rocket Fuel: Opinion." Opinion by Monica Crowley. Newsweek August 2 1973
42 “U.S. proposal would strip extremists of citizenship: 'Those who join such groups join our enemy.'” By Olivier Knox. Agence France-Presse; with a file from Reuters, Ottawa News, May 7, 2010.“CIA drones have broader list of targets: The agency since 2008 has been secretly allowed to kill unnamed suspects in Pakistan.” By David S. Cloud. Los Angeles Times, May 5, 2010.
43 CIA Director Mike Pompeo interview by Nora O’Donnell. CBS This Morning January 20 2018.
Labels: 9/11, CIA, Cobb, Dick Cheney, General Edwin Walker, George Bush, Kristol, Lee Harvey Oswald, Lee Pennington, Libby, Lorenz, Luce, Officer Tippet, PNAC, Roger Ailes, Wolfowitz
posted by David Price Cannon @ 1:41 PM
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