James DiEugenio, in his book Destiny Betrayed, writes: (page 112)
Former Banister investigator Vernon Gerdes later worked for attorney Stephen Plotkin. He told Plotkin that he had seen Oswald and Ferrie together with Banister. Plotkin later told one of Clay Shaw's lawyers he considered Gerdes a reliable witness."
He again claims, in point #5, that "Vernon Gerdes, who used to work for Banister, said he had seen Oswald with Ferrie and Banister."
Did Vernon Gerdes actually say that?
Gerdes was interviewed by Garrison's investigators in 1967. Here is their memo:
Gerdes is asked about Lee Harvey Oswald and says he never saw him, at least not in connection to Banister. He does mention that Oswald lived a few doors from his wife's grandmother.
Now here is the interview with Stephen Plotkin;
Plotkin says that "Gerdes reportedly saw Lee Harvey Oswald and David Ferrie together with Banister." He doesn't say that Gerdes told him that - and so this is hearsay.
Gerdes was interview again in October 1968 by Andrew Sciambra:
Once again, Gerdes said "he had never seen Lee Harvey Oswald in Banister's office or at 544 Camp."
Vernon Gerdes was interviewed by the HSCA. Here is their report:
Gerdes is quite definitive that he "did not see Lee Harvey Oswald at any time in New Orleans."
I am not sure if James DiEugenio has seen all of this documentation. If he has, well, he certainly doesn't tell his readers that Gerdes denied three times he had seen Oswald. If he hasn't seen these documents, well, why not?
By the way, the other points in his Education Forum posting, will be debunked in future blog posts.
BONUS MEMO:
Joan Mellen writes that Winkin, Plinkin [sic] & Nod are Lawrence Howard, Loran Eugene Hall, and William Seymour, and she might be right.