Sylvia Meagher wrote Harold Weisberg in September 1967 and enclosed some excerpts of an interview of Jim Garrison by Mike Wallace: Here is what Meagher wrote to Harold Weisberg about the interview: There is no shortage of Garrison craziness in the interview: "Marina Oswald had long since been taken over and controlled, literally, by elements of the White Russian community in Dallas; and there are individuals in the White Russian community in Dallas who are involved in the as

Bennett Gershman From the Harold Weisberg Archive: New York Law Journal, January 27, 1993 Bennett Gershman was the Assistant District Attorney in New York County from 1966 - 1972 and was Assistant Attorney General in the office of the New York State Special Prosecutor's Office from 1972 - 1976. Judge Christenberry held three days of hearings in January 1971. Jim Garrison took the stand and was cross-examined by Clay Shaw's attorneys. You can read the Christenberry decision

The first interview that Jim Garrison gave after the Clay Shaw trial was to Thomas Buchanan, author of Who Killed Kennedy?" Photo of the cover of my copy of Who Killed Kennedy? Buchanan wrote to Garrison in September of `1968: Here is Garrison's typed reply: The interview never happened. Buchanan sent in a second request. Buchanan writes "But it seems important to me to destroy the impression that most of the American journalists have given, throughout the world, that there

Gaeton Fonzi Here is a memo written by Gaeton Fonzi to Troy Gustavson about Kerry Thornley. This memo predates the HSCA and was written when Fonzi was doing some work for Senator Schweiker. Gustavson was Schweiker's press secretary. There are many people who believe that Fonzi was this amazing investigator. This memo shows him to be someone who was capable of swallowing the most amazing nonsense from Jim Garrison. Documents courtesy of the Malcolm Blunt Archive. You can downl

Here is another tape from the summer of 1977 of Jim Garrison being interviewed by investigators from the House Select Committee on Assassinations. The focus is on Kerry Thornley and his supposed impersonation of Lee Harvey Oswald. Here is a Word document with the transcript: Here is a PDF of the transcript: Jim Garrison takes a variety of 'sightings' of Oswald and then tries to convince the HSCA that it was really Kerry Thornley. Garrison starts off the discussion with James

In April 1967, Judge Haggerty handed down strict "guidelines governing conduct" of the prosecution and the defense in the Clay Shaw case. New Orleans Times-Picayune, April 1, 1967 Garrison didn't think much of Judge Haggerty's guidelines. Note Garrison's quote: "The judge was just making a suggestion when he handed out the guidelines. The District Attorney can make any statements he wishes." Previous Relevant Blog Posts ACLU had Concerns about a Fair Trial for Clay Shaw Garr

In December 1967, Jim Garrison issued a series of press releases about a supposed shot from the sewer on Elm Street. I have previously blogged about a shot from the sewer here, and here . I found Garrison's press releases in the Al Chapman folder in the Harold Weisberg Archive . Chapman was a researcher who supplied Jim Garrison with photographs. Here is his first press release: Jim Garrison writes that "the bullet has been identified -- by a comparison study of bullets -- a

Here is yet another recording of an HSCA interview with Jim Garrison. This took place in either in late July or early August of 1977. In this session, Garrison talked mostly about Guy Banister. Here is a Word document with the transcript. Here is a PDF file with the transcript. Discussion Garrison discusses the memos written about Betty Parrott (see below for documents). She was an informant in the French Quarter who was very close to Bill Dalzell, who started an anti-Castro

C ourtesy of the Malcolm Blunt Archive . The document is contained in the CIA folder within the Garrison folder. Here is a link to the actual document. The document is referenced on the last page of a just-released unredacted CIA chronology of Mexico City. See the last page. That comment can be more conveniently seen in of the searchable copies released earlier. Note written by COS: This guy GARRISON is so far gone that would not be acceptable in any luny [sic] bin!! "COS"

In July and August 1977, Jim Garrison was interviewed by staff members of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. I have five tapes of his interviews and, over the next several weeks, I will be publishing them here for the first time ever. Here is page one of the HSCA memo on the interviews: Here is the first of five tapes. And guess what? It's Jim Garrison at his craziest: This was not the first tape - it was recorded towards the end of the week with Garrison. Here is

San Francisco Chronicle, December 29, 1967

In March 1967, Frank Manning, chief investigator for Louisiana Attorney General Jack Gremillion, was attending the Midyear Meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General. He informed H. L. Edwards of the FBI that he was concerned about "the activities of New Orleans District Attorney Garrison." Here is an unredacted copy of the FBI memo written about Manning's concerns: [hat tip Malcolm Blunt] The FBI had little interest in investigating: I don't think anybody want

This is from a partial transcript of a discussion between Mark Lane and James Phelan. I don't have an exact date for this discussion, but it was probably in 1967. Phelan refers to Breck Wald, who was Breck Wall, an entertainer whom Ruby phoned on the evening of November 23d. Garrison believed he ordered Ruby to kill Oswald. The idea that homosexuals were "used" was also mentioned by Garrison to journalist Jack Anderson. A paragraph from On the Trail of Delusion: (page 78) "

This interview is from 1976 and contains some really ridiculous stuff: There's no shortage of crazy material in this interview. Whereabouts of Shaw and Ferrie on November 22nd. Q: But I think that the charge against you, more specifically, was that you failed to show any real link between Clay Shaw and the Kennedy assassination. A: We showed his connection with Lee Harvey Oswald and we had him in specific conversation about the assassination, even up to such details as whe

In December 1967, Jim Garrison released several pictures to the press which he believed proved that Kennedy was shot by a .45 caliber bullet. Here is a UPI article on his theories: Garrison also believed that this shot was fired from a sewer, or a storm drain, on Elm Street. Here is an excerpt from an interview with Jim Garrison on December 9, 1967: Martin : You said a moment ago you would show us or tell us where you think that bullet was fired from, that the man was picki

Shortly after Jack Ruby gunned down Lee Harvey Oswald, Dean Andrews told his story of being contacted by Clay Bertrand to represent Oswald. The FBI and the Secret Service tried hard to find the elusive Bertrand to no avail. I have blogged about this here. James DiEugenio took exception to what I wrote in my book about the search : "On page 39 he writes that the FBI and Jim Garrison were trying to find Clay Bertrand in late 1963. He then repeats this on page 41. The obvious q

The diary of Arthur Bremer is, of course, very suspicious: "It is my considered judgment that the diary left behind by Arthur Bremer, while undoubtedly written by his hand, is an example of the deception customarily used by intelligence agencies. It serves as an arrow pointing in the wrong direction. It serves to help make a highly meaningful act appear meaningless -- just as did so much of the "evidence" gratuitously left behind after the assassinations of John Kennedy, Mart

The famous clairvoyant predicts the future! I thought I would have some fun with this post. It's hard to believe that Jeanne Dixon was hired to speak at these luncheons. New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 4, 1967 Jeanne Dixon said that Jim Garrison was on the "right track." Here is your absolute proof that all of this stuff was nonsense. She was back in September. New Orleans Times Picayune, September 18, 1967 About Jim Garrison, Dixon said that "it is apparent that sources out

Washington Evening Star, March 16, 1967 I am not sure of the date of this cartoon, but it was drawn by Hugh Haynie who worked for the Louisville Courier-Journal,

Washington Evening Star, May 29, 1967 An apt cartoon illustrating the damage Garrison was doing to critics of the Warren Report. Sylvia Meagher wrote about this in a letter to Harold Weisberg: Josiah Thompson also mentioned the damage Jim Garrison did to the critics in his 2021 book Last Second in Dallas : (page 112)