Fact Checking Morley's Fact Check
- Fred Litwin
- 4 days ago
- 12 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Jefferson Morley has responded to the SpyTalk article by Michael Isikoff and Gus Russo. His reply is full of quotes and document excerpts -- it looks terrific. The only problem is that Morley doesn't address the major issues brought up in the SpyTalk piece.
The plain fact of the matter is that the personnel file of George Joannides does not contain any evidence of a supposed operation with Lee Harvey Oswald. I invite anybody to check the documents themselves. There just is nothing there.
So, Morley has to make up a strawman.
In fact, the Joannides file and other CIA records provide abundant evidence of the CIA’s connection to Oswald. Under the code name AMSPELL, the Cuban Student Directorate was funded by the CIA in 1963 to the tune of $51,000 a month. Here’s an excerpt from a document found in the JFK Library.
No one denies that the CIA funded the DRE.
Morley then writes:
Joannides handled the AMSPELL portfolio from December 1962 to May 1964. Here’s a performance evaluation praising his handling of the Cuban students in that period.
No one denies that George Joannides was the CIA case officer of the DRE at JMWAVE.
So far so good.
Then Morley ties the DRE to New Orleans:
In August 1963, the AMSPELL members in New Orleans generated propaganda about Oswald, the local leader of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Here’s a tape of Oswald’s radio appearance that DRE leader Luis Fernandez Rocha sent to “Howard,” a.k.a. Joannides.
Carlos Bringuier was a delegate of the DRE He was not paid nor was he directed by the DRE. The fact that he talked with Oswald at his store and then had an altercation with Oswald on the streets has nothing to do with the DRE or the CIA. This is where Morley is using sleight of hand to make it appear that the hands of the DRE, and thus the CIA, were involved in the Bringuier-Oswald affair.
This takes away the agency of Lee Harvey Oswald. And that of Carlos Bringuier.
But how does Morley explain the testimony of Bill Stuckey, the man who had Oswald on his radio show in New Orleans. (hat tip: Steve Galbraith)
Oswald's interview on the radio only occurred because of a chance encounter between Bill Stuckey and Carlos Bringuier at a bank. This was not part of an Oswald operation. It was just part of everyday life.
After the debate, Butler contacted newspapers and the story was picked up by UPI. However it was only a few newspapers carried it:
Was this part of the Oswald operation? To get press coverage in four or five newspapers before the assassination? All the information the DRE possessed about Oswald was out in the press in August of 1963. There was no big post-assassination coup for the DRE in Miami.
Morley then goes on to link press coverage of the DRE allegations against Castro after the assassination to Joannides:
As former DRE spokesman Jose Antonio Lanuza recently recounted to the Washington Post, the AMSPELL leaders spoke with Joannides on the night of November 22, 1963. The CIA man told them to go to the press and the FBI. The DRE proceeded to generate the first conspiracy theory about JFK’s assassination: that Oswald and Castro were “the presumed assassins.”
Morley is right that Lanusa did telephone Joannides right after the assassination. But he did not wait for approval to go to the press.
Here is an excerpt from Morley's 2008 book, Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA: (page 205)
And Morley sort of admits that Oswald was "not directed or manipulated."
Isikoff and Russo insist that Oswald was not directed or manipulated into this role by Joannides, which may well be true. Joannides’ undercover work included having a residence in New Orleans in 1963, but I have never said (and the Washington Post did not say) that he had direct contact with Oswald.
But Morley sneaks in a reference to a Joannides' residence in New Orleans.
But did Joannides have a residence in New Orleans? I don't think so. Morley gets this from two forms in the Joannides' personnel file which mention his "home leave residence":
Joannides permanent residence was in Miami, Florida. He indicated that his home leave residence was New Orleans, Louisiana. Don't forget that Joannides was a permanent overseas resident from 1951 to 1962.
I asked JFK assassination records expert Robert Reynolds about this document. He replied:
GEJ filled out this “Current Residence and Dependency Report“ after his two years in Miami had ended and he was preparing for another tour of duty abroad, There are several examples of this form at the CIA Electronic Reading Room, just enter the form name in quotes. “Home leave residence” indicates where employees stationed abroad might stay in the U.S. when they were on leave. It needn't mean GEJ was ever a resident in New Orleans. He might have had family ties there for instance.
And, in fact, George Joannides had a sister who lived in New Orleans. Anna Joannides married Charles Djinis and they lived in the early sixties in New Orleans:
I spoke to a relative of George Joannides who confirmed that his sister's family lived in New Orleans.
Morley then sums up with generalities:
In sum, we don’t know if Joannides had personal contact with Oswald but we do have abundant evidence of an operation that was funded by the CIA; that it generated intelligence, political action, and propaganda about Oswald before JFK was killed; that it generated propaganda after JFK was killed; that it was code named AMSPELL; and that it was run by Joannides, whose existence was denied for decades.
At least Morley admits there is no evidence that Joannides had any personal contact with Oswald. But what "intelligence, political action, and propaganda about Oswald, was generated by the DRE?
Was the "press relief" part of the undisclosed Oswald operation? Did the CIA have to instruct Bringuier to issue this statement?
Carlos Bringuier in his book Crime Without Punishment, denies that he received any instructions, or money, from the DRE in Miami: (page 425)
I was just a Delegate in New Orleans of the DRE. I was not receiving instructions or orders from the CIA, I never received any money from the CIA, if others in the DRE at the Miami office were receiving money from the CIA that was not my case. I was working very hard as a salesman as comanager of "Casa Roca" to bring food for my family, I never received any money from the Miami DRE office or any other office of the DRE, on the contrary my delegation was sending small amounts of money to Miami headquarters. That is the historical truth.
Morley wants fact checkers to decide for themselves. Please go ahead and check the record. And I urge everybody to read the Joannides' files.
Morley then turns his attention to the HSCA and George Joannides. He claims that I "impugned" Dam Hardway and Robert Blakey.
For instance, Hardway said that "the CIA had firmly represented to the HSCA that all ties between the DRE and the CIA had been terminated prior to 1963." Where and when did they do that? I see no evidence of that at all.
In fact, the HSCA knew that the CIA was funding the DRE and that the funding continued until 1966.
Hardway also told the Luna Committee that "It was also denied that any CIA officer was assigned to work with them in 1963." But you can see in the HSCA excerpt above that right after the assassination, Lanusa called his case officer at the CIA.
Lastly, Morley trots out Dr. Robert McClelland to bolster his claim that a gunman fired from the grassy knoll. But, as this blog post pointed out, McClelland's story has changed greatly over the years, and there is no need to take him as the sole arbiter of the medical evidence.
JFK researchers should accept the fact that Oswald was long-time Marxist and was infatuated by Castro's Cuba.
In their Warren Commission testimony, junior high classmates William Wulf and Edward Voebel said they noticed the teen’s bitterness, as well as his interest in both Communism and violence; he wanted a weapon so badly that he plotted to steal a pistol as a fourteen-year-old. At sixteen, Oswald wrote to the Socialist Party of America, stating that he had “been a Marxist…for well over fifteen months.” If Morley and Luna are correct about Operation Oswald, we have to believe that the CIA persuaded a 14-year-old to pretend to be a Marxist.
In the sworn Warren testimony of Oswald’s New Orleans uncle, Charles “Dutz” Murret, who visited Lee and Marina’s drab Magazine Street apartment, he mentioned many oddities about Lee, but one that sticks out is that there was just one framed photo on the wall of Chez Lee: that of Fidel Castro. Obviously sent to Oswald by the CIA.
And the person who knew Oswald best at time, his brutalized wife Marina, told her biographer how the couple had a furious row when she became pregnant. Lee demanded that, if a boy arrived, his name would be “Fidel,” and Marina "reasserted herself in all her old magnificent asperity. 'There is no Fidel and there will be no Fidel in our family.'"
Sadly for the public, all the foregoing available information was absent from the analysis by Morley, Luna, and The Washington Post.
To reiterate, Jefferson Morley has failed to back up his claim that there was a CIA operation involving Lee Harvey Oswald. The Joannides' personnel file does not sustain any of Morley's allegations over the years.
Update
Morley had this to say about Dr. George Burkley:
(It’s worth noting here that JFK’s personal physician, Dr. George Burkley, also repeatedly declined to endorse the official finding that Oswald killed the president.)
I strongly suggest that Morley read my multi-part series on Dr. Burkley:
Bill Baxley, former Attorney General of Alabama, sent me a letter about Oliver Stone.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary series, JFK: Destiny Betrayed, makes several outrageous allegations about Admiral George Burkley, JFK's personal physician, as well as a slanderous accusation.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, misleads viewers into believing that JFK's doctor, Admiral George Burkley, said that there were multiple gunmen.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, misleads viewers on the context of discussions between Burkley's family and the ARRB regarding supposed papers in the possession of his lawyer.
Reckless charges are made against George Burkley with no evidence.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, greatly misleads viewers on Admiral George Burkley and his interactions with the HSCA.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary puts words in Burkley's mouth.
Burkley doubted the Warren Report because he felt that Oswald might have had too much money to be accounted for -- not because of the medical evidence.
Previous Relevant Blogs Posts on Jefferson Morley's Congressional Testimony
An analysis of Congresswoman Luna's Congressional Hearings
An FBI memo that quoted James Angleton is used by Morley to reach an unwarranted conclusion.
Morley misreads Angleton's testimony before the HSCA.
Morley believes a document proves the CIA did not believe that a lone gunman killed JFK.
Additional documents relevant to Part Three.
Morley claims that there is some connection between the suicides of Gary Underhill, Charles Thomas, George de Mohrenschildt, and the overdose death of Dorothy Kilgallen.
Morley believes that Agustin Guitart was spying on pro-Castro forces in New Orleans
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Jefferson Morley
Gus Russo and Michael Isikoff on the Joannides' personnel file.
Now that the entire personnel file of George Joannides has been released, Jefferson Morley has now published his unified theory of nothingness.
More Morley Nothingburgers on the way
Morley is requesting more documents -- they will reveal nothing about the assassination.
Morley got the headlines he wanted to a complete non-story.
Joannides did not come out of retirement to work with the HSCA.
There is no mention of an "Oswald Operation" in the Joannides' personnel file.
Morley believes that Dr. Robert McClelland's recollections provides proof of a shot from the front. Here is the truth about McClelland.
A reply by Nicholas Nalli to Jefferson Morley.
Morley suspected a redacted file would reveal major secrets. It didn't.
Several months ago, I posted an article, in association with several researchers, that showed what was contained in the redacted section of Schlesinger's memo.
Morley somehow knows what is in the supposed 2,400 recently-discovered FBI files.
Morley discusses Israel with Tucker Carlson.
Morley believes that the United States can never be great unless it solves the JFK assassination.
An analysis of the 13 documents Morley wants to see.
Morley claims I am a CIA apologist and then misquotes me.
It would be worthwhile for the CIA to release the Joannides file just to stop the incessant posts from Jefferson Morley.
Actually, Oswald stayed at two budget-priced hotels in Helsinki.
He keeps asking the same questions, and we keep posting the same answers.
Conspiracy authors are playing fast and loose with the facts.
There is no evidence that Diaz was involved in the JFK assassination.
There are clues as to what is in a redacted section of Schlesinger's memo.
Chad Nagle and Dan Storper's article on New Orleans gets everything wrong.
Believing Michael Kurtz is problematic.
Morley wrote that there are two redacted memos on CIA reorganization, but there is only one. He wrote about Goodwin's copy as if it was a different memo, rather than a copy of the Schlesinger memo.
The phrase 'who shot John' does not refer to the JFK assassination.
Only one word is redacted in Harvey's deposition.
There are no redactions in the Operation Northwoods document.
Kilgallen had nothing to tell.
An underwhelming interview of Marina Oswald.
Morley often repeats stories and changes their meanings.
Chad Nagle claims there was an assassination plot against JFK in Chicago in November 1963. One problem: There is no evidence of such a plot.
A response to Morley's Substack post alleging that I am a CIA apologist.
A rebuttal to Morley's response to my post Was Bill Harvey in Dallas in November of 1963?
There is no credible evidence Harvey was in Dallas in November of 1963.
Morley repeats the claim that Dulles was at a CIA training center during the weekend of the JFK assassination. He wasn't.
Morley's claims about Efron are all wrong.
Morley responded to my article "The Truth about Operation Northwoods." Here is my reply.
W. Tracy Parnell is one of the best JFK assassination researchers out there. Here is his look at Jefferson Morley with several important articles.
Operation Northwoods can only be understood as part of the Kennedys' war against Cuba and Operation Mongoose.
And a response from me.
There is no evidence that Dr. West petitioned the court to examine Jack Ruby before his trial.
There is absolutely no evidence that Dr. Louis Jolyon West interfered with Jack Ruby's case.
Jefferson Morley used a fake Oswald handbill in his press conference for the Mary Ferrell Foundation.
An examination of redactions in the JFK collection of documents.
Morley doesn't understand Alecia Long's arguments about homophobia and Jim Garrison.
Jefferson Morley asks why "what the CIA knew about Herminio Diaz is still off limits."
Morley misses that a lot of redactions are actually available.
Jefferson Morley's press conference presents evidence that belief in a conspiracy has dropped.