Did Clay Shaw Get the Help He Deserved?, Part Three

Ed Wegmann Goes to Washington

Part Two of our series on Clay Shaw discussed the Washington Post article of March 3, 1967 in which Ramsey Clark said that the FBI has investigated and cleared Shaw right after the JFK assassination. This made it sound like the FBI suspected Clay Shaw back in 1963 - 1964.

Wegmann realized they needed some clarification and he sent a telegram to the Department of Justice requesting a meeting but was turned down. He also phoned the FBI who told him that they could not be of any help.

So, Wegmann traveled to Washington in May 1967 to try and straighten out the mess created by Ramsey Clark.

Wegmann also visited the FBI:

The memo notes that Wegmann "was advised that the FBI had maintained a strict "no comment" policy with regard to the probe of District Attorney Garrison and the figures publicly identified as being connected with it."

In addition, Wegmann asked for information that the FBI may possess regarding Clay Shaw and was told that "our policy prevented us from being of any assistance to him."

Wegmann then wrote Ramsey Clark directly:

And the DOJ finally responded with a statement on June 2, 1967:

And while the clarification was important, it was still clear to Wegmann that he needed additional help from the government.

And despite some skepticism from the press, the public was starting to buy Garrison's theories:

Washington Post, June 2, 1967

The editorial in the Washington Post noted that "According to a Harris Survey published in the newspaper Monday morning, one in every four Americans has been converted to the conspiracy theory in the last three or four months."

Here is an article about that Harris Survey:

Chicago Daily News, May 29, 1967

Garrison was having an effect.

Wegmann's timing could not be have been worse. The United States was in the middle of an explosion of the civil rights movement and anti-war protesters were about to start holding massive demonstrations.

The Department of Justice had its hands full, and they had no intention of helping Clay Shaw.

And Jim Garrison was just getting going. He had the CIA in his sights.

NEXT: The CIA Gets Involved.