More Morley Nothingburgers on the way
- Fred Litwin
- Jul 9
- 7 min read
Yes, get ready for more nothingburgers from Jefferson Morley.
Bill Harvey
William Harvey is a favorite target for conspiracy theorists and I have written about him a number of times:
Here is a quote from Gus Russo from my book, A Heritage of Nonsense: (pages 297 - 298 in the Kindle edition)
Bill Harvey was an exceptional CIA officer with an exceptional drinking problem. He was key to the building of the CIA’s Berlin Tunnel, the unmasking of KGB spy Kim Philby, and was honored with the CIA’s Distinguished Service Medal. But you won’t hear any of that from the conspiracy nuts who think he killed JFK.
Harvey’s five-a-day martini problem had escalated after the Kennedys kicked him off of the Cuba Project assassination operation, and the CIA exiled him to Rome. It was the martinis that had likely loosened his lips when he told AG Robert Kennedy that he, Kennedy, was an amateur at covert operations (he was). The exchanges grew so ugly that it almost came to fisticuffs.
Over the years, I have interviewed over two dozen people who were close to Harvey, both as family and fellow CIA officers (e.g., CIA’s Anita Potocki, Mark Wyatt, Sam Halpern, David Murphy, Dick Helms, Ted Shackley, Dino Brugioni, etc., as well as spending two days in Indianapolis with his widow, CG Harvey, and other family members. CG kindly sent me a box of Bill’s papers.) I also interviewed friends and family of Harvey’s “son,” Johnny Rosselli, the patriotic mobster.
Here’s the skinny: Harvey despised RFK for his ego-maniacal and sloppy running of the sensitive Cuba ops. His colleagues at the Agency were in unanimous agreement on that (details in my books). But he was not a killer of anyone, let alone the President. He was in fact another patriot, one who believed that the Kennedys had bit off far more than they could chew (they had), and he worried that RFK’s ineptitude at espionage could start the nukes flying.
The sad irony is that Robert Kennedy ultimately came to agree with Harvey. About a month before his own assassination, he told Peace Corps executive/journalist Bill Moyers, “I have myself wondered at times if we did not pay a very great price for being more energetic than wise about a lot of things, especially Cuba.” The great price was his brother Jack’s life.
He knew that his Cuba Project had not only infuriated the hard-drinking CIA man, but also propelled a violent pro-Cuba terrorist also named Harvey—Lee Harvey Oswald—into a murderous rampage that gained him the recognition he had long craved.
Morley is on a fishing expedition. There is no evidence that Harvey was involved in the JFK assassination, and we know where he was when JFK was murdered.
CIA File of Herminio Diaz Garcia
Some conspiracy theorists believe that Garcia was a grassy knoll assassin. I have discussed this in a few blog posts:
There is absolutely no evidence to tie Diaz to the assassination, except for some propaganda from Fabian Escalante who ran Cuban intelligence.
The file that Morley wants is not in the JFK collection, and I see no reason for it to be released.
CIA documents on the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
I am not sure what Morley will find here. He is probably interested in the AMSANTA operation. In one of his newsletters, he was most interested in this document, which has now been released with no redactions. I don't know what Morley will find, but he will do his upmost to try and tie something to Lee Harvey Oswald.
Tunheim's letter to Biden doesn't mention COINTELPRO. He felt that the ARRB had been misled because they had not been told that Joannides was the case officer for the DRE in 1963.
But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Conclusion
More nothingburgers are on the way. Once these files reveal nothing, Morley will demand more files from the CIA and the FBI. How long Congresswoman Luna will keep going along with these requests remains to be seen.
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
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.
