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

The DOJ is Told Not to Get Involved. The FBI Follows Suit.

Jim Garrison's investigation into the JFK assassination became public in late February of 1967. Garrison bragged that he had solved the case.

Washington Post, February 24, 1967

Washington got wind that he was also alleging that Lyndon Johnson was somehow linked to the assassination:

This headline was from a later speech by Garrison but it illustrates his belief that Johnson was hiding something. Garrison, to my knowledge, never accused Johnson of being behind the assassination.

The cover of the January 1968 issue of Ramparts Magazine

Attorney General Ramsey Clark heard this from Congressman Hale Boggs.

These excerpts from transcripts are taken from Max Holland's important book, The Kennedy Assassination Tapes.

On Monday, February 20, 1967, Johnson called Ramsey Clark: (page 393 - 394)

Ramsey Clark: I had heard that Hale Boggs was sayin' [that] he -- Garrison -- was sayin' that ... or privately around town [was saying] that it [the assassination] could be traced back [to you] ... or that you could be found in it some place, which ... I can't believe he's been sayin' that. The bureau says they haven't heard any such thing, and they['ve] got lots of eyes and ears. 'Course, that was a [credible] fella like Hale Boggs, But Hale gets pretty emotional about people that he really doesn't like, and people who have fought him and been there against him, and I would be more inclined to attribute it to that. Either that, or this guy Garrison [is] just completely off his rocker.

Lyndon Johnson: Who did Hale tell this to?

Ramsey Clark: [somewhat in disbelief] Apparently Marvin [Watson, a special assistant to the President and the White House liaison to the FBI].

Lyndon Johnson: [aside to Watson] {Did] Hale tell you that -- Hale Boggs -- that this fella [Garrison, this] district attorney down there, said that this is traced to me or somethin'?

Marvin Watson: Privately he [Garrison] was usin' your name as having known about it [the assassination]. I said [to Boggs], Will you give this information to Barefoot Sanders? [Sanders is the assistant attorney general in charge of the DOJ's Civil Division.] Ramsey was out of town, this was Saturday night. He [Boggs] said, I sure will. So I asked the operator to get Barefoot and Ramsey together, and they did.

Lyndon Johnson: [to Clark] Yeah, I don't know about it. They don't ever let me in on it, Marvin and Jake [Jacobsen, special counsel to Johnson] over here, so you have to call me direct.

Ramsey Clark: Well --

Lyndon Johnson: They just think this stuff's for them.

Ramsey Clark: Such nutty things that ... it's awfully explosive but ... the press, really, has quite a jaundiced eye about it ... and about Garrison, so far. I had several press interviews out in Des Moines [on] Saturday evening and afternoon, and the thrust of their questions is, What kind of nut is this?

Later in the call, Johnson tells Clark that the FBI should not interfere with Garrison's investigation. Max Holland notes that Johnson "is apparently taking his legal cues and precise language from Justice Fortas." (page 397)

Lyndon Johnson: On this New Orleans thing: I'm told that what I oughta say to you is [for you] to ask the FBI ... to immediately take notice of all these statements, review 'em very carefully -- evaluate them -- ask their local people without quote "without interfering with the local investigation," or without obstructin' it ... "interfering or obstruction." They say be sure to get a careful sentence in there, so it won't look like that ...they can't say that you came along and wanted to cover up somethin' ... busted 'em up. And notify the FBI to -- without interfering or obstructin' the local thing -- to follow it very carefully, and to report to you anything that is material or of any value.

Johnson further instructs Clark: (page 397 - 398)

Lyndon Johnson: And I would think that what you oughta do is -- [and] you can be your own judge about it -- but I would think what you oughta do is either write or call Deke [Cartha DeLoach, the FBI"s liaison to the White House], and take notes on what you say to him, and say the President has seen this on television and read of it. And he says to tell you, without interfering or obstructin' in any way the local investigation, to be sure ... that if there's anything to this or any scintilla of evidence that should be considered, that you be sure that it's presented to me.

The following Wednesday, Clark called Johnson to tell him the news that David Ferrie had died. He tells Johnson the Ferrie story: (page 401)

Ramsey Clark: The FBI interviewed Ferrie in November of '63 because he had known Oswald in New Orleans ... he [Ferrie] was a commercial pilot. And there was some allegation at the time that he may have flown Oswald to Dallas. All the evidence at that time indicated that that did not happen ... that the plane that he had was just not suited for the purpose. That any idea the plane would've been used to take Oswald to Cuba after the [assassination] ... after he did this was just not a real possibility. In addition to that, of course, Oswald had left New Orleans and gone to Dallas long before President Kennedy's trip was known of. So there just doesn't seem to be anything there.

Ferrie denied it all, quite vociferously. He talked ... he called the bureau [on] Saturday, ]and] said that he was quite a sick man and he was just disgusted with Garrison, he was going to sue him for slander. That he [Garrison] was talkin' about him, and that he {Ferrie] just didn't know anything about any of this, as he had told them. And [Ferrie] wanted to know how ... what the bureau could do to help him with this nut!

Clark then tells Johnson that the FBI doesn't want to inflame the situation: (page 402)

Ramsey Clark: I've been tryin' to figure some way ... I'd given a ... kind of a backgrounder to some press people yesterday, sayin' that I thought Garrison had the clear responsibility to report anything that he had to the Secret Service and the FBI immediately. That I couldn't imagine any half-responsible district attorney in the country, in a situation vaguely comparable to this, not immediately reporting it to them as being a matter of national concern [and] responsibility. Of course, we weren't going to do anything to interfere with his investigation,

The SAC [FBI Special Agent in Charge] down there [in New Orleans[ just can't talk with him. There's no ... they just ... he just has no confidence in Garrison. He's afraid that Garrison would try to use him. Deke [DeLoach] feels quite strongly that it's be a mistake to push it. I'm sure that if .. I had thought at one time of either callin' or writin' him myself. But [I'm] afraid he {Garrison] would use that to try to escalate the thing. [Indistinct] go away.

There are people concerned about it. Scotty Reston called me about an hour ago .. [and I] told him off the record that we didn't ... [that] the FBI was watchin' it as closely as they could. From every indication ... every piece of evidence that we had indicate[d that] highly erratic people were involved ... [and that there's no] factual basis to support any of it.

So, right from the very beginning President Johnson was quite clear that he did not want anyone to interfere or obstruct Garrison's investigation. That message to the Department of Justice then trickled down to the FBI and the CIA.

Clay Shaw was arrested on March 1, 1967 and was charged with conspiring to kill President John F, Kennedy.

Part of Garrison's case was that Clay Shaw was the elusive Clay Bertrand -- the person who called Dean Andrews right after the assassination to represent Lee Harvey Oswald. Garrison had no evidence that Shaw was Bertrand -- just the fact that, like Bertrand, he spoke Spanish, and was a homosexual. Garrison had this ridiculous belief that gay people, when using pseudonyms, use the same first name. And thus Clay Shaw was Clay Bertrand.

Two days later, the Washington Post of March 3, 1967 ran this story:

This made it sound like the FBI suspected Clay Shaw back in 1963 - 1964. Shaw's attorneys Edward Wegmann and Irvin Dymond realized that they now needed some clarification, and some help, from Washington. Edward's brother William disagreed saying "I thought they were wasting their time ... in those days, it was very unusual for the [federal] government to intervene in a state case. They had done it a couple of times, but it was rare."

Wegmann sent a telegram to Washington.

Here is their response:

Wegmann called the FBI in early March to get clarification of Clark's remarks:

Wick told Wegmann that the "FBI could not be of any help." Not surprisingly, Wegmann answered that "he believed the FBI should help in this matter since an innocent man is involved." Note the notation by J. Edgar Hoover at the bottom:

A.G. [Attorney General] made the statement so it is up to Dept to wrestle with this.

Hoover also left a comment on an FBI Airtel saying the FBI should stay away from Garrison:

"More and more its become evident we should stay as far away as we can from this shyster."

Hoover had already told his employees to steer clear of Garrison:

Hoover was quite clear that "due to Garrison's irresponsible actions in connection with this matter, no contact is being made with him or any member of his staff." Employees are instructed to make no comments about Garrison and to not discuss this "outside the Bureau."

This memo was then sent out:

It notes that "in view of Garrison's actions and comments in connection with his so-called investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy, he has been designated as a person not to be contacted without prior Bureau approval."

And then this was sent out:

FBI staff were now enjoined from making contact with any member of Garrison's staff.

You can also see the FBI's attitude in this memo:

Inspector Herrington told Edwards that "our policy had been stay completely clear of the Garrison mess and that there was certainly no reason for us to get involved in it at this point ..."

Wegmann tried to schedule an appointment with the FBI:

The memo notes that "Hottel was advised that in the event Wegmann came to Washington and had any information whatsoever to volunteer relative to the assassination of President Kennedy, the Bureau would be glad to accept it;. He was told however, that in the event information related directly to Garrison's investigation in New Orleans the Bureau would not be able to offer Wegmann any assistance of any kind."

The FBI had another opportunity to investigate Garrison, and this involved his fraudulent attendance records in the National Guard:

As you can see, the FBI decided not to investigate this because it "could very well result in criticism of the Bureau and could be construed by Garrison and his associates as an effort by the Bureau to impede his, Garrison's, investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy."

Aaron Kohn, head of the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission, went to the FBI with his suspicions about Garrison and the National Guard. Here is part of their response:

The memo says "rightly or wrongly, the Bureau would be accused of trying to intimidate Garrison and engaging in the same tactics which are currently being charged to Garrison himself," and conclude that "it would not be in the Bureau's best interest to voluntarily institute of fraud investigation of Garrison at this time."

In the fall of 1967, Playboy Magazine featured an extensive interview with Jim Garrison. The FBI wrote this memo after receiving some inquiries about the interview:

The FBI was not interested in getting involved, and thus were giving Garrison a wide berth.

Wegmann decided to travel to Washington in May 1967 to visit the Department of Justice.

NEXT: Ed Wegmann goes to Washington.