Chad Nagle has written an article for Jefferson Morley's Substack on MK-Ultra and Lee Harvey Oswald. Back in 1983, when online publishing was barely a twinkle in anyone’s eye, Rolling Stone magazine published an article entitled, “Did Lee Harvey Oswald Drop Acid?” Co-authored by Martin Lee, Robert Ranftel, and Jeff Cohen, it tells an uncorroborated yet intriguing tale suggesting that MKULTRA may have somehow caught JFK’s accused assassin in its web. A respected New Orleans assistant district attorney named Edward G. Gillin recounted a strange and disturbing visit he received from an unidentified young man in the summer of 1963. The visitor wanted to know how he could get hold of a drug that “would affect the social and economic history of the world for the next 200 years.” He also said he didn’t just want to try it. He wanted legal advice on how to import it into the United States. Gillin said he listened to the visitor speak about the mysterious chemical for about an hour and concluded he was “probably a bit crazy” before advising him to consult both the New Orleans chemist (“the police authority on such matters”) and his personal physician. The attorney said the man never visited him again. After the assassination, Gillin — who retired as an Orleans Parish juvenile court judge and died in 2007 — recognized the visitor as having been Lee Harvey Oswald. He called the FBI to report the incident and said he thought Oswald might have been using “unusual drugs.” But the FBI seemed “uninterested,” and “the drug lead was never pursued.” Here is the report from Edward Gillin: This memo from Edward Gillin was found in Jim Garrison's files. Unfortunately, it is undated. And, of course, Lee Harvey Oswald did check out Huxley's Brave New World from the library in New Orleans. Here is the FBI report about this: Gillin told the FBI that He made his identification of Oswald based on his voice. Interestingly, "he recalled he formed a mental image of OSWALD as being a psychopathic personality." Now there is no mention of LSD and LSD was not mentioned in Huxley's book. Nagle says that Oswald wanted legal advice on the importation of this drug, but I don't see any evidence of that in Gillin's report. Gerald Posner discusses this in his book, Cased Closed: (pages 207 - 208 in the Kindle edition) Although this was a quiet time, and the one in which Oswald was at home the most, some assert that during the same period he visited the office of a New Orleans assistant district attorney, Edward Gillin. For over an hour, Oswald allegedly praised the wonders of a new drug, LSD, and asked if it was legal to import. Gillin suggested his visitor check with the city’s police chemist. After the man left the office, Gillin never again had contact with him, but over the assassination weekend of November 22, 1963, Gillin identified his visitor as Lee Oswald. Since the CIA was experimenting with LSD during the early 1960s, the incident might be evidence of an intelligence link to Oswald. The problem is with Gillin’s identification, which has been offered as evidence of another eyewitness account of Oswald’s suspicious behavior. “I was then, and still am now, legally blind,” Gillin told the author. “I could never have been sure of the identification of Oswald under oath.” Gillin had only identified Oswald from the sound of his voice over the television. In an interview with Paul Hoch, Robert Rantfel said that "We're not convinced that it was Oswald who visited Gillin, but we are convinced that Gillin is convinced." Here is a link to the article by Jeff Cohen, Martin Lee and Robert Rantfel : Nagle continues: The subheading of the Rolling Stone article by Lee, Ranftel and Cohen reads: “New evidence suggests [Oswald] was among soldiers given LSD in a CIA test program.” The piece explains the relevance of Atsugi in one paragraph: Since the early 1950s, Atsugi served as one of two overseas field stations where the CIA conducted extensive LSD testing. A 1953 memo stated that LSD was being stored at the Manila and Atsugi CIA stations, and that its use in special interrogations in Europe was being considered. Here is the memo about Atsugi "Shortly after the death of U.S. Army scientist Frank Olson was linked to a CIA LSD experiment, this memo recounts steps taken by CIA Technical Services Staff (TSS) chief Willis Gibbons to account for LSD handled and distributed by TSS." Of course, the above memo says that Dr. Gibbons was stopping LSD testing. This memo was written in 1953 well before Oswald was in Atsugi from September 1957 to October 1958. Nagle does note that but adds that CIA testing was resumed under MK-Ultra. But was it continued at Atsugi? And even if it was, how do we know they tested it on Oswald. And even if they did test it on Oswald, it was unwitting, and would have nothing to do with his reading Aldous Huxley. Did the CIA subject JFK’s accused assassin to MKULTRA? At least one Oswald anecdote from Japan sounds commensurate with LSD’s potentially adverse effects: [W]hen Oswald was on guard duty, gunfire was heard. He was found sitting on the ground, more than a little dazed, babbling about seeing things in the bushes. His colleagues, unfamiliar with what in the Sixties would become known as a bad trip, walked him back to his barracks and put him to bed. Here is how Vincent Bugliosi, in his book Reclaiming History, describes that incident: (pages 1066 -1067 in the Kindle edition) One night Rhodes, on duty as officer-of-the-guard, heard several shots from one of the guard posts. He ran to it, drawing his .45 caliber pistol, and found Oswald slumped against a tree with his rifle on his lap. “When I got to him he was shaking and crying,” Rhodes told Epstein. “He said he had seen men in the woods and that he challenged them and then started shooting.” Rhodes put his arm around Oswald and walked him slowly back to his tent. “He kept saying he just couldn’t bear guard duty.” A few days later, on October 6, Oswald was sent back to Japan by plane for “medical treatment.” Rhodes suspected that Oswald had staged the shooting incident with the hope of being sent back to Japan, which he liked. “There was nothing dumb about Oswald,” Rhodes said. Was this an acid trip? I don't think so. Then Nagle goes into silly mode: Author Bill Simpich notes in his e-book, “The Twelve Who Built the Oswald Legend,” that Oswald might have had “MKULTRA training.” He cites author John Marks’ book "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate" (1991) describing how “secretive Oswald was”: So, Oswald was secretive, because he was an MK-Ultra subject? Nagle continues: In rebuttal, Simpich points out that “Oswald talked and talked for the last two days of his life — defying the common warning to not say anything until you have spoken to your lawyer.” Then again, getting manipulated into becoming a patsy in the assassination of a U.S. president has to be the ultimate “bad trip.” Oswald’s MKULTRA training wouldn’t have prepared him for that. We have no evidence, in the final analysis, that Lee Harvey Oswald ever “dropped acid.” He didn’t drive, so if he dosed regularly, he wouldn’t have endangered others on the road. He was not talkative on the morning he rode to work, but then he never talked much anyway, at least according to the co-worker who drove him, Buell Wesley Frazier. What we can say is that, in the event Oswald was under the influence of LSD on Nov. 22, 1963 — at a time when the CIA’s MKULTRA program was in full swing — his credentials as a lone gunman would look even more improbable. Hitting a moving target at 265 feet would be difficult if not impossible with “kaleidoscope eyes.” Kaleidoscope eyes! How on earth could Oswald have made those shots with kaleidoscope eyes? Well, isn't this all propinquity? Oswald was at Atsugi, LSD was stored there, and so, why not connect the two. Jim Garrison would be proud of this analysis, no? Interestingly, I can find no evidence that Garrison ever took any interest in this story. MK-Ultra is fast becoming a useful took for conspiracy theorists. For instance, Jack Ruby can only be understood through the lens of MK-Ultra. Jefferson Morley Responds to my Post on MK-Ultra and Jack Ruby Jolyon West was more than just MK-Ultra. Did Dr. Louis Jolyon West Ask to Examine Jack Ruby in November 1963? There is no evidence that Dr. West petitioned the court to examine Jack Ruby before his trial. Did the CIA use a MK-Ultra Psychiatrist to Interfere with Jack Ruby's Case? There is absolutely no evidence that Dr. Louis Jolyon West interfered with Jack Ruby's case. And if you thought that the Chad Nagle story was silly, how about Judyth Vary Baker? Yes, she too has incorporated MK-Ultra into her fairy tales about Oswald: THE TRUTH: In August, when Lee and I were cleaning up Dave's kitchen, Dave was busy opening packages of morning glory 'berries,' which he urged us to try. "They're entirely legal," he said. "Haven't heard of them before, but they're supposed to give you a buzz." "No thanks!" I told him. "It's not supposed to be worse than a cup of coffee," Dave persisted. "Have you ever tried them?" Lee asked. Saying he never had, Dave popped his "berries" into the oven. When he pulled them out again, they were almost black. Knowing that any 'drug' was probably now obliterated, Lee and i both chewed on some of "Ferrie's berries" --and quickly spat them out. "They're awful!" I told them. "Ugh!" "You said they're 'perfectly legal,'" Lee commented, rinsing out his mouth with a splash of tap water. "How do you know?" "Because they're just garden seeds," Dave replied (He had wisely not chewed on any of the seeds.). "And they're supposed to be harmless. Maybe give you some hallucinations." "Hullicinations? " I put in. "That's not harmless." "Maybe, maybe not," Dave replied, as I picked up some of the blackened berries and placed them into a napkin (I'd save these 'berries" for years). "I want to find out," Lee told him. "Where can I find a list of prohibited drugs?" "Go to the DA's office," Dave told him. "Somebody there in the Juvenile Division should have a list of drugs that are prohibited to minors. Go see Gillin. He's almost blind, he'll never be able to identify you, but he damned well should know what's on the list." This is why Lee showed up at Edwin Gillin's office By the way, Jeff Cohen, one of the authors of the Rolling Stone article, also thought that MK-Ultra was part of the story of Luis Castillo, a Puerto Rican who was deported from the US to the Philippines in 1967 and who claimed he was part of a 15-man assassination squad in Dallas. He was hypnotized in the Philippines and the hypnotist later suspected he was part of MK-Ultra. It's all nonsense and I have even talked to the hypnotist who says that all his reports were stolen from his apartment in Los Angeles by the CIA. I'll be writing a lot more about this story in the future. My prediction: more MK-Ultra stories about the JFK assassination will be forthcoming. Stay tuned.

The Daily Mail in the UK excerpts a new book about UFOs: The story is an excerpt from Kaplan's upcoming book: Of course Dorothy Kilgallen is part of the story: Kilgallen was a friend of President John F. Kennedy, and became part of Marilyn’s inner circle after they met in 1960, during the filming of Let’s Make Love. She had a long-standing interest in UAPs. She revealed this in February 1954, when she told her readers: ‘Flying saucers are regarded as of such vital importance that they will be the subject of a special hush-hush meeting of the world military heads next summer.’ In May the following year, she published a dispatch based on what a ‘British official of Cabinet rank’ had told her. He said that UK scientists and airmen were examining the wreckage of a ‘mysterious flying ship’ and were convinced that flying saucers from another planet were real. Her source told her that the saucers ‘are staffed by small men probably under four feet tall’ and that the British government was withholding ‘an official report on the “flying saucer” examination at this time possibly because it does not wish to frighten the public’. The source has never been identified and nor has the site of the crash to which he was referring. I wonder why the source has never been identified. This then leads to Marilyn Monroe: Kilgallen’s openly declared interest in UFOs is relevant to Monroe’s death because of a document containing details of two of her phone conversations that were intercepted by the CIA. This document was leaked by two separate CIA sources – although during a later FBI review of the document the CIA claimed that the control stamps were not typical of the time. The document is dated August 3, 1962, one day before Marilyn’s death. Just below the date is the reference ‘Moon Dust’. Moon Dust was a covert project fronted by the US Air Force to recover foreign space vehicles or debris. Any crashed UFO would have been within its remit. The report covered two conversations, connected by their subject matter. The first was between Kilgallen and her friend Howard Rothberg, the agent for actor Mel Brooks and others. Rothberg said that Monroe, angry at her treatment by both John Kennedy and his brother Robert, ‘had secrets to tell’ – one of which was ‘the visit by the president at a secret air base for the purpose of inspecting things from outer space’. Kilgallen replied that she knew what that might be. In the mid-1950s, she had learned of a secret effort by the US and UK governments to identify the origins of crashed spacecraft and dead alien bodies. Here is the document in question: But the document in question is fraudulent. But wait, there's more! There was a block of text which was redacted in both leaked documents and then the signature of James Jesus Angleton, head of counterintelligence at the CIA. Any connection between the UFO cover-up and the assassination of JFK will seem far-fetched. But I believe it is worthy of serious investigation, because of another leaked document, one that I have personally inspected and which is known as the ‘burned memo’. It is part of a cache of papers documenting the existence of an ultra-secret US government department known as Majestic 12. This group was set up in 1947 by President Harry Truman, after a crashed craft constructed by a non human intelligence (NHI) was recovered at Roswell, New Mexico. Majestic 12, or MJ12, was ordered to take control of the retrieval, storage and research of any NHI craft. This was a secret classified higher than even the atom bomb and, if necessary, people were to be killed to preserve it. The nine-page ‘burned memo’ is so-named because it was rescued from a fire when MJ12 papers were being destroyed. It is undated but appears to have been written in 1961 by the director of the CIA, Allen Dulles, who refers to himself as MJ1. In it, he invites the views of other Majestic 12 members, including Angleton (MJ2), on the need to assassinate President Kennedy to protect the agency’s alien secrets. The memo says: ‘As you must know LANCER [Kennedy’s secret service codename] has made some inquiries regarding our activities which we cannot allow. ‘Please submit your views no later than October. Your action to this matter is critical to the continuance of the group.’ The memo went on cryptically to say: ‘When conditions become non-conducive for growth in our environment and Washington cannot be influenced any further, the weather is lacking any precipitation... it should be wet.’ This appears to be intelligence jargon suggesting that assassination should be considered. But the Majestic 12 Material is also fraudulent. In terms of the so-called burned memo, this was looked at by NBC: The top secret memo hasn't turned up anywhere else besides Lester's book, however, and some archivists question its authenticity. A research technician at the JFK Library in Boston, who asked not to be named, was unable to find a carbon copy of it in its presidential archive, which holds copies of all of JFK's letters. "We did some research into the presidential papers to try to find any evidence of the Nov. 12, 1963, letter to the director of the CIA, John McCone," the technician told Life's Little Mysteries. Despite the fact that JFK kept carbon copies of all his letters, even the classified ones, "in searching through the president's office files — CIA, NASA and National Security files — we could find no evidence of this memo or anything like it." Furthermore, it doesn't look like other top secret memos Kennedy wrote during his presidency. "Something is a little odd about it," the technician said. "It is sanitized in very odd places: the director's name, the top heading of the document (which usually distinguishes which agency is generating it) and then the tiny "top secret" print at the top of letter. Top secret items are usually stamped in large dark ink on the letter." The article then brings in E, Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis. Just when I think that JFK assassination conspiracy theories can't get any crazier, something like this pops up. What next? That Oswald was on acid?

Jefferson Morley announced this week that he is taking a leave of absence from his Substack, JFK Facts. Here is his text: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna announced today that I have been appointed as an adviser to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. I’m honored to be assisting the Committee in writing a report on the status of JFK assassination files since the implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order 14176. To give the report the attention it deserves, and to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, I am going to take a leave of absence from JFK Facts. As I relinquish editorial responsibility, Managing Editor Steve Byrne will take over the editorship for the next six months. Steve, a veteran of the Detroit Free Press, is an experienced editor who sustains the site’s commitment to journalism, fact checking, and news on a daily basis. With 22,000 subscribers, JFK Facts has established itself as a news outlet and will continue to publish authoritative journalism about new developments in the JFK story. My plan is to return as editor in December. As an adviser to the Committee, I will be available to comment on background for all news platforms and podcasts interested in the status of the JFK assassination files. Rest assured, I will not favor JFK Facts over any other news outlet. I will not leak. I will not meme. I will not “gatekeep.” Never have. Never will. I will help the Committee write a comprehensive report on the state of the historical record of JFK’s assassination in time for the 63rd anniversary of the event next November. Morley includes this announcement from the Task Force: Here is the tweet from Anna Paulina Luna announcing his new position as an advisor to her task force: It is still not clear what Morley will be doing. He says that he will be "assisting the Committee in writing a report on the status of JFK assassination files." But, the announcement from Luna says that he will assist in "publishing a comprehensive report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in the near future." It is strange that a witness before the Task Force may now be involved in writing its report. The two hearings that Anna Paulina Luna convened were a joke. She could have talked to real experts on the JFK files like Robert Reynolds or Rex Bradford, but instead she had conspiracy theorists like James DiEugenio, Oliver Stone, and Douglas Horne testify. Morley's nothingburger of a story about George Joannides and his supposed Oswald operation may now get the imprimatur of an official US government report. But that won't change the fact that he has come up with very little. Hopefully there will be some people on the staff of the task force that will see to it that James Angleton and Allen Dulles aren't portrayed as villains. This will close Anna Paulina Luna's chapter on the JFK assassination. Now she can focus on UFOs. Previous Relevant Blog Posts about Congresswoman Luna Soviet File Given to Luna Proves a KGB Operation Something really interesting from Luna's work but no one wants to talk about it. Historian Alexis Coe on Luna's JFK Hearings A first-hand account of Luna's hearings. Luna Talks to Rogan about Interdimensional Beings and the Ark of the Covenant Some highlights of Luna's visit with Joe Rogan. Luna Comes up with a Bombshell! Luna says the Russians will be giving us their JFK files in the fall. The MAGA Crowd Gets The JFK Assassination Conspiracy They Need Luna, Bannon, and Tucker believe some crazy things about the assassination. Luna's Ridiculous Hearing Luna's second hearing -- I don't know what was worse - the silly testimony of the witnesses or the brainless questions of the committee members. Jefferson Morley's Congressional NothingBurger An analysis of Congresswoman Luna's Congressional Hearings Is Congresswoman Luna a Luna-tic? Congresswoman Luna doesn't really know much about the JFK assassination. Is Congresswoman Luna a Luna-tic? Part Two Have a look at the book on Luna's desk Anna Luna's JFK Conspiracy Circus A link to an excellent article by Michael Isikoff. Congresswoman Luna Finds a New Witness Here is the conspiracy witness who knows the truth. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Jefferson Morley Fred Litwin: The pro-CIA Troll I get under Morley's skin. Jefferson Morley's Latest Nothingburger: Evelyn Lincoln JFK's secretary thought the JFK assassination was a conspiracy. Who cares? Jefferson Morley Gets it Wrong, Once Again! Morley misinterprets a Soviet document. The Incurious Dr. Pearcy A supposed CIA whistleblower wasn't very curious. The Reuben Efron Story, Once Again! How many times must Morley repeat this story? Jefferson Morley's William Harvey Nothingburger, Continued It wasn't hard to find evidence that Charles Niles worked for the FAA. Jefferson Morley's Latest William Harvey Nothingburger The truth about FAA credentials. Jefferson Morley Platforms Max Good A rebuttal to Good regarding Ruth Paine. Morley's Substack Goes After Ruth Paine Morley presents several conspiratorial allegations about Ruth Paine. I Am Now a Pro Bono Lawyer for the CIA! I don't even have law degree! Yet Another Morley Nothingburger A new CIA file on Herminio Diaz does not sustain allegations that he was a grassy knoll gunman. Richard Russell and the Warren Report Richard Russell always believed that Oswald was the lone gunman. Was Hoover's Warren Commission Testimony Altered? An article by Chad Nagle, on Morley's Substack, gets it wrong on Hoover's testimony. My Quillette Article on Morley's Nothingburger My latest article for Quillette.com CBS Practices Stenography The recent segment on CBS about Morley and JFK documents was not journalism. Lee Harvey Oswald was not under Surveillance Morley's list of six CIA operations does not prove that Oswald was under surveillance. The CIA's Pro Bono Lawyers Morley claims the SpyTalk authors are working as pro bono lawyers for the CIA. Did the CIA Know Oswald's State of Mind? The CIA was just quoting from a State Department memo. SpyTalk on the Joannides' File, Part Two SpyTalk replies to Jefferson Morley. The Illusion of a Smoking Gun Gerald Posner on the Joannides file. Fact Checking Morley's Fact Check Morley's Fact Check on SpyTalk needs a fact check. SpyTalk on Morley's Nothingburger Gus Russo and Michael Isikoff on the Joannides personnel file. Jefferson Morley's Unbearable Lightness of Being 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's Non-Story Hits the Press Morley got the headlines he wanted to a complete non-story. George Joannides and the HSCA Joannides did not come out of retirement to work with the HSCA. There Was No "Oswald Operation" There is no mention of an "Oswald Operation" in the Joannides' personnel file. The Parkland Doctors, Part Six Morley believes that Dr. Robert McClelland's recollections provides proof of a shot from the front. Here is the truth about McClelland. On the Loss of Occam’s Razor in the JFK Case A reply by Nicholas Nalli to Jefferson Morley. A Case Study in Redaction: The CIA's LIFEAT File Morley suspected a redacted file would reveal major secrets. It didn't. The Schlesinger Memo Unredacted! 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. Jefferson Morley's Clairvoyance Morley somehow knows what is in the supposed 2,400 recently-discovered FBI files. Was Israel Behind the JFK Assassination? Morley discusses Israel with Tucker Carlson. Morley's Bad History Lesson Morley believes that the United States can never be great unless it solves the JFK assassination. Morley's List of 13 Documents Will Tell Us Little An analysis of the 13 documents Morley wants to see. The Schlesinger Memo, Again! Morley claims I am a CIA apologist and then misquotes me. For The Sake of Our Sanity - Release the Joannides File It would be worthwhile for the CIA to release the Joannides file just to stop the incessant posts from Jefferson Morley. Did Oswald Stay at a Luxury Hotel in Helsinki? Actually, Oswald stayed at two budget-priced hotels in Helsinki. Morley Keeps Asking the Same Questions He keeps asking the same questions, and we keep posting the same answers. The JFK Assassination and Truth Conspiracy authors are playing fast and loose with the facts. Was Herminio Diaz a Grassy Knoll Assassin? There is no evidence that Diaz was involved in the JFK assassination. Morley Misleads on Arthur Schlesinger's Memo on the CIA There are clues as to what is in a redacted section of Schlesinger's memo. Jefferson Morley's Podcast on New Orleans Lays an Egg Chad Nagle and Dan Storper's article on New Orleans gets everything wrong. Chad Nagle and Dan Storper Lay an Egg Believing Michael Kurtz is problematic. Is Jefferson Morley Seeing Double? 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. Jefferson Morley is wrong about "Who Shot John?" The phrase 'who shot John' does not refer to the JFK assassination. Jefferson Morley is Wrong on William Harvey, Again! Only one word is redacted in Harvey's deposition. Jefferson Morley is Wrong about Operation Northwoods, Again! There are no redactions in the Operation Northwoods document. Did Dorothy Kilgallen Have any Special Knowledge about the JFK Assassination? Kilgallen had nothing to tell. Morley's Interview of Marina Oswald Porter Fizzles! An underwhelming interview of Marina Oswald. Jefferson Morley: Able to Leap Intellectual Chasms in a Single Bound Morley often repeats stories and changes their meanings. There was NO Assassination Plot in Chicago 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. Fred Litwin, CIA Apologist? A response to Morley's Substack post alleging that I am a CIA apologist. A Reply to Jefferson Morley on Bill Harvey A rebuttal to Morley's response to my post Was Bill Harvey in Dallas in November of 1963? Was Bill Harvey in Dallas in November of 1963? There is no credible evidence Harvey was in Dallas in November of 1963. Does it Matter Where Allen Dulles was on November 22, 1963? Morley repeats the claim that Dulles was at a CIA training center during the weekend of the JFK assassination. He wasn't. Jefferson Morley's Claims about Reuben Efron Morley's claims about Efron are all wrong. A Reply to Jefferson Morley regarding Operation Northwoods Morley responded to my article "The Truth about Operation Northwoods." Here is my reply. W. Tracy Parnell on Jefferson Morley W. Tracy Parnell is one of the best JFK assassination researchers out there. Here is his look at Jefferson Morley with several important articles. The Truth about Operation Northwoods Operation Northwoods can only be understood as part of the Kennedys' war against Cuba and Operation Mongoose. Jefferson Morley Responds to my Post on MK-Ultra and Jack Ruby And a response from me. Did Dr. Louis Jolyon West Ask to Examine Jack Ruby in November 1963? There is no evidence that Dr. West petitioned the court to examine Jack Ruby before his trial. Did the CIA use a MK-Ultra Psychiatrist to Interfere with Jack Ruby's Case? There is absolutely no evidence that Dr. Louis Jolyon West interfered with Jack Ruby's case. "JFK: Destiny Betrayed" Misleads Viewers on Oswald's "Hands Off Cuba!" Handbills, Part Four Jefferson Morley used a fake Oswald handbill in his press conference for the Mary Ferrell Foundation. Redactions, Redactions, Redactions... An examination of redactions in the JFK collection of documents. Jefferson Morley Doesn't Understand Jim Garrison's Homophobic Prosecution of Clay Shaw 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. Belief in a JFK Conspiracy Drops! Jefferson Morley's press conference presents evidence that belief in a conspiracy has dropped. Previous Relevant Blogs Posts on Jefferson Morley's Congressional Testimony Jefferson Morley's Congressional NothingBurger An analysis of Congresswoman Luna's Congressional Hearings In Search of the Oswald Operation, Part One An FBI memo that quoted James Angleton is used by Morley to reach an unwarranted conclusion. In Search of the Oswald Operation, Part Two Morley misreads Angleton's testimony before the HSCA. In Search of an Oswald Operation, Part Three Morley believes a document proves the CIA did not believe that a lone gunman killed JFK. Update on the Heath Memo Additional documents relevant to Part Three. In Search of an Oswald Operation, Part Four 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. In Search of an Oswald Operation, Part Five Morley believes that Agustin Guitart was spying on pro-Castro forces in New Orleans.

We saw last week a repeat of a play that we've grown accustomed to. NARA publishes JFK assassination records, and the JFK conspiracy crowd goes crazy. This time Fox News joined in the craze - Tucker Carlson's irresponsible reporting that an unnamed source told him that the CIA was behind the assassination, takes the cake. Conspiracy theorists are convinced that important files are being withheld in full. Jefferson Morley wants the CIA to release the George Joannides personnel file; James DiEugenio wants NARA to release an HSCA study on whether Oswald was a CIA agent, and Larry Schnapf was disappointed that the Walter Sheridan files, held by NBC, were not released. While I certainly wish the CIA would release the Joannides personnel file, I have previously noted that it was examined by the ARRB who found the contents to be not relevant to the JFK assassination. Mr. DiEugenio is just plain wrong about the HSCA study - it was online at the Mary Ferrell website. And while I would love to see the Sheridan papers, they will just shed light on the Garrison investigation, and not the Kennedy assassination. The truth is that most documents had already been released, only this time with fewer redactions. Very few documents are withheld in full, and they are mostly IRS documents which will most probably never be released. There are two essential blogs on the JFK assassination documents and they belong to Tracy Parnell and Robert Reynolds. Parnell debunks Morley's allegations here. Here is a link to Reynolds' excellent blog. Please read his note on zombie redactions: To understand my mystic art of prognostication, you have to know what a zombie redaction is. Imagine that you have one document where there is a name you want to withhold from public scrutiny: let’s say it’s “Jane Valachi”. And say you have about 14 copies of this same document that were originally in 14 different files. So you chop lots of little holes in the docs then put them in an archive for people to look at. As time goes by, however, you come under pressure to fill some of those holes. Okay, you say, I’ll let a couple of the less important ones go. But you have a gazillion docs, each one with oodles of holes. What are the odds that you will be inconsistent in putting back some of the stuff that was in those holes? Pretty good, it turns out, and along with the stuff you don’t care about, you release Jane Valachi’s name. Whoops! Now you have lots of holey docs here and an unholey doc there, which has sucked all the meaning and purpose out of the holey docs. The holey docs become meaningless shells, stalking you through the shelves and bins of your card catalogs. They are zombie redactions. Okay, okay, you don’t like this mumbo jumbo. Fine. A zombie redaction is a redaction in copy X of a document which has already been released in copy Y of the same document, tucked away in some other file or folder or microfilm reel. There, are you happy? Here is a good example - this document, the testimony of Robert T. Shaw, was released this week. Note the large redaction on page 1-7: In this earlier release (from 1993) of the same document, page 1-7 is not redacted: Here is a specific Jefferson Morley complaint about a file in which the CIA has not released the redactions: Here is one of the redactions: Researcher Paul Hoch found an older file that does not contain that redaction: The redaction is about the debriefing of Robert Edward Webster, another defector to the Soviet Union. This redaction reminded Paul Hoch of a story involving Mark Lane. Most of the following is taken from my book, I was a Teenage JFK Conspiracy Freak. (Pages 195 - 198) The document below is a cablegram from the Naval Attaché in the American Embassy in Moscow to the Department of the Navy: Paul attended one of Mark Lane's standard presentations in August 1966, which included a discussion of this document. The redaction seemingly describes Oswald as a "former Marine and [redaction starts]" and Lane would say, "And what? Star of stage, screen and radio?" Paul noted that "this was one of his reliable laugh lines. The implication was that the redaction was hiding an Oswald intelligence connection." Paul eventually found a document with a shorter redaction: This made it clear that the redaction was about another person, and not an indication of Oswald's intelligence connection. He gave Lane a copy of the document and told him that there is an explanation for one point. A few days later, Lane was on the radio repeating his allegations about CD 917. In an email to me, Paul gave Lane the benefit of the doubt saying he might have been "too busy to absorb the new information." However, in Lane's 1968 book, A Citizen's Dissent, he repeats the story: (Page 128) Lane makes a good point that the Commission should have known what the redacted words were. But by the time A Citizen's Dissent was published, Lane knew that the redaction was not about Oswald, and he neglected to mention it in his book. And, in fact, another copy of Warren Commission Document 1114 contains the complete wording of the redaction: The redaction was about Robert Edward Webster, a former navy man who had defected to the Soviet Union. This Warren Commission document also proves that they had actually seen the full text. Either Jenner had not noticed it, or did not remember. I am not sure when Mark Lane stopped using CE 917 as part of his shtick. All this goes to show that as bothersome as these redactions are, they probably do not hide evidence of conspiracy. I look forward to the day when there are no more redactions. The truth of what happened on November 22 1963 lies in the millions of pages already released in full. The few remaining redactions will actually tell us little about what happened.

It was a real pleasure to talk with Todd Kwait - a true Renaissance man. He has had several careers -- as a lawyer, businessman, record producer, and film maker. His film, Truth is the Only Client, is terrific -- both in content and in production values. I've watched it several times and I look forward to watching it again soon. I strongly urge everybody to either buy a copy of Truth is the Only Client, or to stream it. Here is their official webpage. Here is the AI summary of our discussion: Quick recap This interview focused on Todd Kwait's documentary, Truth is the Only Client, which explores the Kennedy assassination and features interviews with surviving Warren Commission staff members. Todd, a lawyer and documentary filmmaker, discussed how he became involved in the project through his connection to Judge Bert Griffin, who had served on the Warren Commission. They examined various conspiracy theories, including the role of anti-Semitism in Jack Ruby's actions and the treatment of witness Ruth Paine by conspiracy theorists. The conversation covered the challenges of making a fair documentary on this sensitive topic, with Todd emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and the decline of rational discourse in modern conspiracy theories. They also discussed other key figures in the assassination narrative, including Mark Lane and Oliver Stone, and the impact of their work on public perception. Summary . Kennedy Assassination Documentary Discussion Todd explained how his interest in the Kennedy assassination began in childhood and was rekindled when he was approached to create a documentary about the Warren Commission. He interviewed surviving members of the commission and ultimately produced the documentary Truth is the Only Client in 2019. Todd noted that while the commission members defended their work, he felt the evidence was insufficient and decided to investigate further, leading to his current work on the subject with Bert Griffin. JFK Documentary Discussion Meeting Fred and Todd discussed Todd's documentary about the JFK assassination, which covers the HSCA and Warren Commission findings. Todd explained that the documentary took five years to complete and includes interviews with key figures like Bernard Weissman, G. Robert Blakey, and Ruth Paine, many of whom have since passed away. They discussed Blakey's conclusion that there was a conspiracy involving Oswald as the shooter from the Texas School Book Depository, but also another shooter from the Grassy Knoll area, though this was not the official HSCA conclusion. The conversation concluded with a discussion about how conspiracy theories struggle to explain Lee Harvey Oswald's background and involvement in the assassination. Ruth Paine CIA Allegations Discussion Todd and Fred discussed the treatment of Ruth Paine by conspiracy theorists, particularly regarding allegations that she worked for the CIA. They highlighted how these accusations have affected Paine's life, including an incident in Nicaragua where she was targeted and forced to return to the United States. The conversation also touched on a documentary about Paine that another filmmaker made, which they felt presented the allegations in a way that left viewers uncertain about her innocence. JFK Documentary Premiere Discussion Fred and Todd discussed Todd's documentary about the JFK assassination, which premiered in Dallas at the Texas Theater with many surviving staff members in attendance. They talked about the venue's significance and the Q&A session that followed. The conversation also touched on conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination, with Todd mentioning that he faced criticism from conspiracy theorists at the premiere and in subsequent reviews. They discussed the growing prevalence of conspiracy theories in modern society and shared insights about Jack Ruby's involvement and changing perspectives on the assassination. Jack Ruby and Anti-Semitic Context Todd and Fred discussed the anti-Semitic context in Dallas in November 1963, which affected Jack Ruby's decision to want to leave Dallas and go to Washington. They mentioned Ruby's concerns about a potential "second Holocaust" and his testimony to Chief Justice Earl Warren. The conversation also touched on the involvement of Jewish staff members in the Warren Commission and the personal background of Murray J. Laulicht, who worked on the Jack Ruby investigation. Kennedy Assassination Conspiracy Theories Discussion Todd and Fred discussed the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy, particularly focusing on Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. Fred shared a personal story about a friend who became antisemitic after being influenced by right-wing politics. They both agreed that the Warren Commission's investigation was thorough and conducted by honorable men, despite being dismissed by conspiracy theorists. Todd highlighted Earl Warren's significant contributions to civil rights and his personal commitment to the Kennedy assassination investigation. JFK Assassination Investigation Discussion Todd and Fred discussed the Warren Commission's findings on the JFK assassination, with Todd emphasizing that the young lawyers were not restricted in their investigation and had "Truth is the Only Client" as their guiding principle. They critically examined Mark Lane's work, with Todd describing him as an opportunist who shaped his theory to fit the facts rather than allowing the facts to determine the theory. The conversation also touched on Jim Garrison's investigation and how it was portrayed in Oliver Stone's film, with both agreeing that Garrison's theories were problematic and contributed to misinformation about the assassination. Vietnam War and Kennedy Film Todd and Fred discussed the historical context of the Vietnam War under President Kennedy and the role of the military-industrial complex, as well as the controversy surrounding Oliver Stone's film about the Kennedy assassination. They noted that while Stone acknowledged creating his own myth, he defended the factual accuracy of his film in response to critics. The conversation highlighted concerns about government transparency and the impact of misinformation on public trust regarding historical events. JFK Assassination Conspiracy Debate Discussion Todd and Fred discussed the ongoing debate around the JFK assassination, with both agreeing that conspiratorial thinking has persisted despite evidence pointing to Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone shooter. Todd shared his experience creating a documentary on the topic and donating hundreds of hours of unedited interviews to the Sixth Floor Museum. They both expressed frustration with conspiracy theorists' willingness to doubt the integrity of respected professionals involved in the investigation, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and evidence evaluation in addressing such historical events. Previous Episodes of On the Trail of Delusion: Episode 1 My first guest was Robert Reynolds who is an expert on the JFK assassination files. Episode 2 Robert A. Wagner discusses his new book, JFK Assassinated. Episode 3 Gerald Posner discusses the JFK assassination and conspiracy theories. Episode 4 Dr. Martin J. Kelly, Jr. discusses conspiracy theories and the medical evidence in the JFK assassination. Episode 5 Steve Roe discusses the life of General Edwin Walker and Oswald's attempt to kill him. Episode 6 Gus Russo discusses his participation in the PBS Frontline documentary on Lee Harvey Oswald. Episode 7 Dave Perry tells some great stories about debunking JFK conspiracy nonsense. Episode 8 Nick Nalli explains some of the science behind the assassination. Episode 9 Alecia Long discusses Jim Garrison and his non-existent case against Clay Shaw. Episode 10 Don Carpenter discusses the life of Clay Shaw. Episode 11 Bill Brown discusses the murder of Officer J. D. Tippit. Episode 12 Eric Dezenhall discusses the relationship between the mob and JFK. Episode 13 Nick Nalli discusses the acoustics evidence and the Zapruder Film. Episode 14 Scott Maudsley discusses Lee Harvey Oswald's antisocial personality disorder. Episode 15 Document expert Robert Reynolds discusses what to expect in the upcoming JFK assassination file releases. Episode 16 A panel discussion on the document releases with Fred Litwin, Gus Russo, Robert Reynolds, Larry Haapanen, Mark Allen, and Steve Roe. Episode 17 An interview with author Michel Gagné about conspiracy theories. Episode 18 An interview with Phil Tinline about his book, Ghosts of Iron Mountain. Episode 19 An interview with Janet Banister, grand-niece of Guy Banister. Episode 20 The Marina Oswald Tapes. Episode 21 Dr. Chad Zimmerman discusses JFK's autopsy X-rays and photographs. Episode 22 Tour guide Daniel Evans talks about his years of researching the JFK assassination. Episode 23 Adam Gorightly discusses Fred Crisman, Thomas Beckham, Raymond Broshears and Kerry Thornley. Episode 24 A fun interview with Larry Haapanen who discusses the Garrison investigation, and his involvement with Project Blue Book. Episode 25 Dale Myers discusses the Tippit shooting and shows us some nifty animation. Episode 26 Brian Roselle discusses the timing of the first shot. Episode 27 Dr. Martin J. Kelly, Jr. talks about the psychology of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. Episode 28 Gus Russo talks about what happened to Lee Harvey Oswald in Mexico City. Episode 29 John-Paul Pagano discusses conspiracy theories, conspiracism and antisemitism. Episode 30 Dr. Robert Vitt talks about conspiracy theories, the early JFK researchers, and how to evaluate evidence. Episode 31 Josh Sundloff discusses conspiracy theories and his TikTok channel. Episode 32 A panel discussion of the single-bullet theory with Dr. Martin Kelly, Dr. Nick Nalli, Fred James and Scott Maudsley. Episode 33 Ernest Kearney discusses conspiracy theories and how to evaluate evidence. Episode 34 Steve Barber discusses the acoustics evidence and his visits with Robert Groden. Episode 35 Assassination researcher John Corbett stops in to talk about the case. Episode 36 Fred Litwin teaches Professor Robert Vitt's class at Long Beach City College. Episode 37 Steve Roe goes over the chain of custody of CE399.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230529063612/https://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/2022/06/roe3.htmlhttps://web.archive.org/web/20220611204234/https://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/2022/06/roe3.html In episode 32, I convened a panel to discuss the single-bullet theory. Unfortunately, Steve Roe could not join us that evening. I wanted him to be part of that panel because of his knowledge of the chain of custody of CE399. So, consider this episode to be a companion to our panel discussion. You can read Steve's article on CE399 here. Here is an article that Steve wrote about the chain of custody on his blog. I discussed the chain of custody in this blog post. Here is a blog post I wrote about Darrell Tomlinson and CE399. David von Pein discussed the chain of custody on his web page. Previous Episodes of On the Trail of Delusion: Episode 1 My first guest was Robert Reynolds who is an expert on the JFK assassination files. Episode 2 Robert A. Wagner discusses his new book, JFK Assassinated. Episode 3 Gerald Posner discusses the JFK assassination and conspiracy theories. Episode 4 Dr. Martin J. Kelly, Jr. discusses conspiracy theories and the medical evidence in the JFK assassination. Episode 5 Steve Roe discusses the life of General Edwin Walker and Oswald's attempt to kill him. Episode 6 Gus Russo discusses his participation in the PBS Frontline documentary on Lee Harvey Oswald. Episode 7 Dave Perry tells some great stories about debunking JFK conspiracy nonsense. Episode 8 Nick Nalli explains some of the science behind the assassination. Episode 9 Alecia Long discusses Jim Garrison and his non-existent case against Clay Shaw. Episode 10 Don Carpenter discusses the life of Clay Shaw. Episode 11 Bill Brown discusses the murder of Officer J. D. Tippit. Episode 12 Eric Dezenhall discusses the relationship between the mob and JFK. Episode 13 Nick Nalli discusses the acoustics evidence and the Zapruder Film. Episode 14 Scott Maudsley discusses Lee Harvey Oswald's antisocial personality disorder. Episode 15 Document expert Robert Reynolds discusses what to expect in the upcoming JFK assassination file releases. Episode 16 A panel discussion on the document releases with Fred Litwin, Gus Russo, Robert Reynolds, Larry Haapanen, Mark Allen, and Steve Roe. Episode 17 An interview with author Michel Gagné about conspiracy theories. Episode 18 An interview with Phil Tinline about his book, Ghosts of Iron Mountain. Episode 19 An interview with Janet Banister, grand-niece of Guy Banister. Episode 20 The Marina Oswald Tapes. Episode 21 Dr. Chad Zimmerman discusses JFK's autopsy X-rays and photographs. Episode 22 Tour guide Daniel Evans talks about his years of researching the JFK assassination. Episode 23 Adam Gorightly discusses Fred Crisman, Thomas Beckham, Raymond Broshears and Kerry Thornley. Episode 24 A fun interview with Larry Haapanen who discusses the Garrison investigation, and his involvement with Project Blue Book. Episode 25 Dale Myers discusses the Tippit shooting and shows us some nifty animation. Episode 26 Brian Roselle discusses the timing of the first shot. Episode 27 Dr. Martin J. Kelly, Jr. talks about the psychology of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. Episode 28 Gus Russo talks about what happened to Lee Harvey Oswald in Mexico City. Episode 29 John-Paul Pagano discusses conspiracy theories, conspiracism and antisemitism. Episode 30 Dr. Robert Vitt talks about conspiracy theories, the early JFK researchers, and how to evaluate evidence. Episode 31 Josh Sundloff discusses conspiracy theories and his TikTok channel. Episode 32 A panel discussion of the single-bullet theory with Dr. Martin Kelly, Dr. Nick Nalli, Fred James and Scott Maudsley. Episode 33 Ernest Kearney discusses conspiracy theories and how to evaluate evidence. Episode 34 Steve Barber discusses the acoustics evidence and his visits with Robert Groden. Episode 35 Assassination researcher John Corbett stops in to talk about the case. Episode 36 Fred Litwin teaches Professor Robert Vitt's class at Long Beach City College.

Long John Nebel Here is an excerpt from a December 1970 letter sent by Sylvia Meagher to Mary Ferrell: Money Quote: I suppose, being the crude phony he is, Garrison will soon charge that because of CIA pressure on the media he was prevented from appearing on radio and TV to discuss the assassination -- just wait. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Sylvia Meagher and Jim Garrison Sylvia Meagher on the Sewer Shot and Jim Garrison An excerpt from a letter Meagher sent to Thomas Stamm. A Vincent Salandria - Sylvia Meagher Exchange on Jim Garrison Salandria tries to make up with Meagher. Sylvia Meagher Corresponds with Philippe Labro Philippe Labro was a French journalist who covered the JFK assassination for France-Soir. Sylvia Meagher writes Bud Fensterwald Fensterwald invites Meagher to join his organization. She refuses because of Jim Garrison. Sylvia Meagher's Review of "The Kennedy Conspiracy" by Paris Flammonde A scathing review of Flammonde's book about the Garrison investigation. Mary Ferrell and Sylvia Meagher Discuss Jim Garrison An exchange of letters about Jim Garrison. Jim Garrison's Code and Sylvia Meagher Garrison comes up with a crazy code and Sylvia Meagher calls him out. Sylvia Meagher's Ode to the District Attorney of New Orleans Meagher also wrote poetry. Sylvia Meagher Writes Clay Shaw with an Idea Meagher's very good idea shows that Garrison didn't care to learn the truth. Kerry Thornley Writes Sylvia Meagher in 1970 Thornley tells Meagher about an article illustrating Garrison's pre-occupation with the JFK assassination. Tom Bethell Writes Sylvia Meagher about the Shaw Trial Bethell wrote Meagher about Charles Spiesel and his ridiculous testimony at the Clay Shaw trial. Sylvia Meagher's Letter to Look Magazine Sylvia Meagher's terrific letter to Look Magazine in response to their article "The Persecution of Clay Shaw." Sylvia Meagher Congratulates Clay Shaw On His Acquittal She was very pleased with his acquittal. Sylvia Meagher and Jim Garrison, Part One Meagher writes Clay Shaw a letter and his response is just terrific. Sylvia Meagher and Dr. Cyril Wecht Discuss Jim Garrison Dr. Wecht didn't think too much of Garrison, either. Mike Farrell, of M*A*S*H fame, and Sylvia Meagher Meagher educates Farrell on Jim Garrison. When will Oliver Stone Admit he was Wrong about Clay Shaw? A plea to Oliver Stone with a compilation of Meagher's writings about Jim Garrison. Sylvia Meagher on the Clay Shaw Case Howard Roffman writes a letter to Harold Weisberg about Sylvia Meagher. Penn Jones' Phone Call with Sylvia Meagher This phone call broke their relationship. Sylvia Meagher and Jim Garrison, Part Two An unpublished Meagher memo on the trial of Clay Shaw. Sylvia Meagher and Jim Garrison, Part Three - a never before published article by Meagher Another unpublished Meagher memo on the Garrison investigation and Warren Report critics. Garrison's Playboy Interview - What Couldn't Be Printed Sylvia Meagher's letter to the Editor regarding Garrison's interview in Playboy Magazine. Sylvia Meagher's Reaction to the Verdict in the Shaw Trial Meagher writes Harold Weisberg with her comments on the verdict. Two Letters to Jim Garrison about "A Heritage of Stone" James Phelan and Sylvia Meagher write Garrison letters about his book. Kerry Thornley writes Sylvia Meagher An exchange of letters between Thornley and Meagher. Did RFK Tell Garrison that there were guns between him and the White House? Meagher writes Thornley about Lane's comment on RFK. Was Jim Garrison Napoleon or Rasputin? Meagher writes Thornley with an opinion. M. S. Arnoni and Sylvia Meagher Take On Jim Garrison... Exchange of letters between Meagher, Arnoni and Garrison. Jim Garrison Blows His Top Meagher writes Weisberg about the damage Garrison is doing to critics of the Warren Report. James Phelan Writes to Richard Popkin Meagher replies to the New York Review of Books regarding Popkin's article on Garrison. Sylvia Meagher Replies to Richard Popkin An exchange of letters between Popkin and Meagher.

“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.” George Orwell The QUICK article clearly demonstrates that Jim Garrison, in late February and early March 1967, put homosexuality at the heart of his investigation into the JFK assassination. It's consistent with what Garrison told journalists like Hugh Aynesworth, James Phelan, Jack Anderson, Merriman Smith, and Art Kevin. Garrison repeated the same nonsense to the Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles Times, March 26, 1967 The interest in homosexuality went beyond what Garrison told a few journalists. The journals of Richard Billings and the diary of Tom Bethell are rife with references to homosexuals and homosexuality. As we have shown on this blog, Garrison even sent Assistant D. A. John Volz to talk to Dr. Robert E. Heath at Tulane University about Clay Shaw: What's interesting is that Volz went to Heath with Garrison's suggestion about Shaw's motive. Conspiracy theorists like James DiEugenio not only do not discuss the issue of homosexuality in the case, they deny it was ever a factor. Here's James DiEugenio from a review of my book, On The Trail of Delusion: For the record, there is not one memo I have read that shows Garrison ever outlined such a homosexual-oriented plot. At the beginning of the inquiry, there is evidence that Garrison was suspecting a militant rightwing plot. And as Garrison developed cases against Shaw and Ferrie, he was checking out leads that would connect them in the gay underworld. But nothing that either Peter Vea or Malcolm Blunt ever uncovered shows what Litwin is trying to impute to Garrison. Those two men are the two best pure archival researchers ever on the JFK case. And Vea specialized in the Garrison files. Here is his reaction to the QUICK articles: Litwin has gone off the rails. He needs an intervention. No one but him could take this seriously. There is no evidence for what Litwin is talking about, and to actually rely on Aynesworth and Phelan, two FBI stoolies, in order to start your argument shows how desperate the man is. That article is a piece of sensationalism, bordering on pulp. Compare it to any of the interviews Garrison did around that time and you will see the difference. But Litwin does not do that does he? Because that is textual analysis. Relational analysis is comparing what is in an article or essay with the database it comes from. Ridiculous. Fred, ever hear of textual and relational analysis? The first is where you compare what has been written around that time to the object of inquiry. In that regard, the idea that Garrison ever said anything about this or wrote anything like it amounts to zero. Relational analysis is when you compare the database with the article. Again, zero. Marina drove Oswald to be a homosexual? Clay Shaw was the brains behind the plot? Oswald was in love with Ferrie? Ferrie ordered Ruby to kill LHO? Please Fred. BTW, anyone who is familiar with Garrisons' files knows what Garrison suspected early on. He thought it was a rightwing, Minuteman kind of a plot. There is evidence of this in the files which Litwin does not want to tell you about. Because it defeats his cheap smear, and politically he does not like it. Which tells you all you need to know. That article is a piece of pulp which is so different than anything Garrison ever wrote or spoke about that only Litwin could think differently. For example, compare it to the Playboy interview of 1967. That Fred could maintain that idea in the face of all this says much more about him than it does about Garrison. And, of course, he is right that there is no such memo from Jim Garrison about a homosexual plot. But, as seen above, Garrison did discuss such a plot with many people. And the concept of homosexuality animated his investigators who probed people's sexuality and fed Garrison a steady stream of gossip, innuendo and rumors about gay people in New Orleans. And DiEugenio cannot hide from the fact that Clay Shaw was targeted because he was a homosexual. Here is an excerpt from a paper written by Richard Billings, "The Power of Public Disclosure," complete with an annotation from Jim Garrison. Here we see Garrison's favorite investigative technique, propinquity, at play. The notation refers to a paragraph on what "convinced Garrison that Shaw and Ferrie were acquainted." "This plus Marochini plus mutual homosexuality plus C.A.P. + I.T.M. correlations." Marochini refers to Dante Marochini who had the misfortune of knowing Ferrie and working for Reily Coffee, when Oswald was there greasing the machines. Garrison subpoenaed Marochini for questioning, but he knew nothing. All throughout Garrison's investigation, homosexuality kept popping up. Here are several examples: Reverend Raymond Broshears claimed to have been Ferrie's roommate. He was brought to New Orleans for questioning, and regaled Garrison's staff with a variety of lurid stories, including sleeping with Kerry Thornley. He helped convince Garrison that Thornley's body was in the Oswald backyard photographs. An anonymous letter written to Garrison alleged that "OSWALD WAS A HOMOSEXUAL like Shaw, Ferrie, Tippett [sic] (Dallas police officer) and a score of others. That letter convinced Garrison that Fred Crisman was a major suspect. Garrison's investigators reached out to Fred Leemans, the proprietor of a gay bath, about Clay Shaw and Lee Harvey Oswald. A memo about Ruby and Oswald and a "hangout for homosexuals." Of course, it might have been Kerry Thornley, the second Oswald. Many memos about Oswald being a gay hustler. The story about Breck Wall calling Ruby to kill Oswald - somehow related to David Ferrie because of homosexuality. Garrison's investigators knew what he was interested in, and made sure to emphasize any homosexual angle. I've previously posted a memo written by Roger Craig telling Garrison that Marina Oswald's doctor was a homosexual. Here's a memo with important information on Gordon Novel: Here's a letter from Garrison to William Turner that borders on the ridiculous: And they knew where to get leads: The Mattachine Society was started in 1950 to bring together isolated homosexuals and to assist gay people in need. Here's a good example of how Garrison focused on homosexuality. Richard Giesbrecht supposedly saw David Ferrie at the airport in Winnipeg, Canada. Here is a memo from William Turner; look at Garrison's interest: Garrison's notation reads: "Tom: Let me look at the Giesbrecht interview, + see if this adds meaning." After Clay Shaw's acquittal, Garrison's attention turned to trying to find new evidence regarding his purported perjury. And that meant a new look at many gay leads. The fag ball from 1962 was reexamined. And here's an important memo: Even as late as 1977, Garrison was still interested in homosexuality - he gave the HSCA a list of suggested questions to ask Thomas Beckham. Here's one about Fred Crisman: I don't know if James DiEugenio has seen these documents (and many more like them) in the various files. I suspect he has but has ignored them because they don't fit in with his image of Jim Garrison as the brave, swashbuckling District Attorney who battles the powers-that-be. Jim Garrison ran a sham investigation that was marred by homophobia. There's nothing to be proud of at all. By the way, the $64 challenge still stands: What serious evidence did Garrison have, at the time Shaw was arrested, that he had conspired with anybody to kill JFK? Winner will receive $64, and a signed copy of On The Trail of Delusion. A Hearty Thank You Paul Hoch has helped shape this series on QUICK and I am grateful for his incredible research, his terrific copy-editing, and his brilliant insights. The QUICK Blog Posts Did a Homosexual Conspiracy Kill JFK? Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part One) Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part Two) Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part Three) Garrison Disavows the QUICK article Jim Garrison Does it Again - Claims Ruby and Oswald Were Homosexuals Jim Garrison Feigns Indignation at the Mention of Clay Shaw's Homosexuality Did Lawrence Schiller Write the QUICK article? Did Nerin Gun Write the QUICK article?

Another candidate to consider for the authorship of the QUICK article is Nerin Gun, a Turkish-American writer who was born in Rome. He emigrated from Germany to the United States after World War II and changed his name from Emrullah Nerin Gün to Nerin Gun. In 1964, Gun published one of the first books on the JFK assassination, Red Roses from Texas. You can read a .pdf version of the book here. Nerin Gun also worked for the Italian newspaper Epoca. President Lyndon Johnson receiving Italian publisher Giorgio Mondadori at the White House on April 28, 1964. On the right is Nerin Gun. Harry Truman with Nerin Gun, April 1964. Nerin Gun was mentioned during the Warren Commission testimony of J. Edgar Hoover: Mr. DULLES. May I add one other thing just to interrupt. I wish you would add to your list a book called "The Red Roses of Dallas" by a man named Gun. He is a more reliable correspondent. Mr. HOOVER. He is a Philadelphia correspondent. Mr. DULLES. He has been living in this country since 1946. I have met him over here. Let's see, he was at Dallas at the time. He was then reporting, I think, for the Italian newspaper Epoca. Mr. HOOVER. That is not the same one. Mr. DULLES. He might have been lying. This book is full of lies. But I think it is a book that ought to be added, too, and I will see that a copy is sent to the Bureau. Mr. HOOVER. I would appreciate that. Given Nerin Gun's interest in the JFK assassination, it's not surprising that he would take an interest in the Garrison investigation. While the QUICK article has no indication that Gun was involved, a CIA memo claimed that he was the author: There is nothing in the QUICK magazine article that mentions Nerin Gun. However, some amazing propinquity suggests that Gun and Garrison had something important in common: Dachau. From a 1989 interview with the Los Angeles Times: "The son and grandson of lawyers, Garrison went to a public high school here [New Orleans] and entered the Army a year before Pearl Harbor. He flew light planes as an artillery spotter in Europe, and arrived at Dachau the day after troops supported by his artillery unit had liberated it." And Nerin Gun was imprisoned at Dachau: And Gun wrote a book about the Americans liberating concentration camps: And so, perhaps Gun and Garrison bonded over their war experiences. Paul Hoch found that Paris Match in France and TEMPO in Italy had also run articles on the Garrison investigation in 1967 - and both appeared to be possibly related to the one that ran in QUICK. Perhaps there was a clue about the author in one of the two magazines. The Paris Match article was different. It was dated a month earlier than the QUICK article and it was a first-hand report by Nerin Gun, who had been in New Orleans in late February 1967. He interviewed Jim Garrison and David Ferrie. Here is a translation of the Paris Match article: On the day before his death, Ferrie told me "Oswald? I Didn't Know Him" Nerin Gun, author of "Red Roses in Texas," was investigating in New Orleans. He spends hours with a former pilot who knew Oswald. The next day we find the body of the witness in his room. The thirteenth violent death of the Kennedy affair. [picture of Nerin Gun] Ferrie told me... The name of David F. Ferrie was first mentioned the day after the Kennedy's assassination. A certain Ed Voble [sic; Voebel] phoned a New Orleans television station and in essence said: "We were serving in the same unit of the Civil Air Patrol under the direction of David F. Ferrie. However, I have just recognized the silhouette of Ferrie in certain news scenes filmed from the drama in Dallas" The information was passed on to the District Attorney's office. Jim Garrison, who then arrested and released Ferrie. The FBI and the Warren Commission noted the incident but gave it no particular importance. Three years passed. On January 31 of this year, a Cuban exile named Miguel Torres, sentenced to nine years in prison for theft, was transferred to the special prison in New Orleans to be placed at the disposal of the District Attorney Jim Garrison. According to Torres, there would have been a conspiracy, set up in New Orleans, of which he would have been the executor, "The contract man," according to the expression of American gangsters. However, the District Attorney Garrison has been investigating for several months now a report by David Lewis, a private investigator, who claims to have a list of conspirators. Among them was a Cuban who was in Dallas at the scene of the assassination hidden behind a billboard and a pilot who served in the same unit at Oswald and who was also in Dallas on the day of Kennedy's death, ready to transport Oswald to Mexico from where the alleged assassin could have returned to Havana. Was this pilot David F. Ferrie? Did DA Garrison, who was getting ready to arrest him, think so? I saw David Ferrie exactly the day before his death on the afternoon of February 21, 1967 in New Orleans. Apparently, this doomed man did not fear for his life. Ferrie received me in his two-room apartment, furnished with that very heavy and messy taste that one can define "old New Orleans". There are books everywhere, even on the small sofa and in the small kitchen. Ferrie drinks continuously. Soon we are going out together to have a drink in a bar some distance away, because Ferrie wants to avoid any photographers posted in the neighborhood. He also claims to be under police surveillance and complains about it. "I am only an amateur pilot, but from time to time, I agree to hire out my services. I like to drive, but it is expensive and so you have to mix business with pleasure. My current profession: I am a psychologist. No, I don't have any diplomas, but people come and ask me for advice - that they are having trouble with their wives, an employee, and I try to help them." Ferrie is extremely nervous when he speaks. His face is bony and he has a very long, very thin nose, eyebrows, like a "circumflex accent," marked with a pencil, and a poorly groomed wig, and eyes like a rabbit who does not have a moment's rest. His is not very tall, but he looks slender. He doesn't speak with that slowness and that sweet accent that characterizes the people of New Orleans. In fact, he is not a native. He's a man from Ohio who came here fifteen years ago. He admits having accepted from time to time jobs as a private detective. His reputation in New Orleans is not good. In the newsrooms, he is referred to as an informer and as a liaison between the community, the lawyers, and the police. "This whole story bothers me enormously. This Garrison prankster wants to get people talking about him at all costs. He is not happy to have liquidated downtown (the pleasure district). Now he is looking for something else. It smacks of politics a mile and a half away. Do not speak to me of justice, or of truth. All these people who take care of Kennedy have one thing in mind: to make money. I've been sick for three months, Ferrie continued. I have encephalitis. I have horrible headaches. Then my heart gives me pain. It doesn't work like it used to and yet I'm far from fifty. "I never knew Oswald. He and I lived in different worlds. Him in the shallows towards the docks and I, look out the window. My neighborhood is good, not fancy, but decent. Oswald himself could not afford a plane ride. "Yes, I served in the Civil Air Patrol (the Civil Air Patrol is a paramilitary organization, classified as reserves, whose volunteer pilots assist in emergencies, searches, transport of drugs, injuries). Oswald was never in the Civil Air Patrol." I pointed out to Ferrie that I had called Marguerite Oswald, Oswald's mother, that very morning, and that she claimed that Oswald had been in the Civil Air Patrol. I even remember that once she showed me a picture of Oswald in uniform from that group. "That old woman must be confused with some other organization," said Ferrie. Do not forget that she had ceased all relations with her son for a long time and especially when he lived in New Orleans...Finally, everything I know about this affair, I told the FBI. Garrison just had to ask them. And you could do the same. It's not that there is anything to hide. But it all happened three years ago. I don't remember all the details. And if today I am wrong, people will say that I did it on purpose, that I lied, that I am hiding the truth and it will be quite a story again. I HEARD FOR THE FIRST TIME OSWALD'S NAME "I was not in New Orleans on the day of Kennedy's assassination, it is true. In fact, upon hearing the news, I decided to go to Dallas. At the time I was working for a lawyer, G. Wray Gill, very much like his personal detective. I worked with the help of two friends and the three of us decided to drive to Dallas. We left New Orleans a little before four in the afternoon, November 22, 1963. It was I who drove - a blue Buick station wagon - when the radio announce that a certain Oswald had been arrested. It was the first time I had heard the name, so we changed our minds and instead of going to Dallas, we went to Houston, then to Galveston and the surrounding area to hunt wild geese. I did not return to New Orleans until Sunday. A funny surprise awaited me. That crazy Garrison man had burst into my apartment. Look, I had to have my door repaired: he confiscated my papers, photos, books...." "Garrison then had his assistant Klein arrest my friends and me under the pretext that we were wanted fugitives. It was ridiculous. Everyone knows that I am a fanatic anti-communist. I hate Castro. "A few weeks ago, a weekend in January, I received an invitation to testify at the grand jury. Instead of being sent in the room I was asked to go see Louis Ivon, the District Attorney's chief investigator. I have known Ivon for a long time. I do not hesitate to tell him my surprise and annoyance. Ivon says it is just a formality and he asks me about 1963. I tell him he better read his own files. Then I ask him what it's all about. We have discovered a plot. There was a plot in New Orleans hatched in the summer of 1963 to assassinate Kennedy, And that's it. I don't know anything else. I had no questions to ask Ferrie and I remember that his last words were to find the restaurant Antoine's, very famous in New Orleans, where he advised me to go to dinner. I also remember that I left one of those tiny flasks of whiskey that the airlines give out to first-time passengers, and that I usually put in my napkin. He wished me "good luck" and smiled at me. I can't believe that less than twenty-four hours later this man was going to be found dead in his room. LEWIS: AFRAID FOR THE LIFE OF MY CHILDREN And I think of the words that prosecutor Jim Garrison had said to me a few days earlier when he solemnly asked me not to reveal anything to the local newspapers. "I fear," he said "that such revelations will impede the progress of my investigation and cause the violent deaths of some witnesses." I didn't take it seriously. Today, I began to believe that he was only telling me the strictest truth. Previously I had visited detective David Lewis, whose initial report triggered the investigation. He is 26 years old, married with four children, and works for a bus company. "Garrison's investigation is not a hoax, there has been a conspiracy. I was aware of the phases of the plot. I was in the right place at the right time. I knew the people involved in the plot. I knew Oswald..." But Lewis refused to give the names of the five people he said he had denounced in his special report to Garrison. He looked very worried: "These people are extremely dangerous. They are thugs, they are capable of anything. They were powerful enough to assassinate the president of the United States, and so I believe they are capable of getting rid of a little man like me. I have received threats. I am telephoned at night. I am going to leave New Orleans and hide; I fear for my children. My wife lives in terror." In Jim Garrison's office, I had heard an assistant District Attorney speak in hushed terms about a group of anti-communist conspirators who wanted revenge on Kennedy for the failure of the Bay of Pigs. I also learned that Oswald lived between June and September 1963 in New Orleans on 4907 Magazine Street. It was at this time that he would have met the Cuban conspirators - like Miguel Torres, now in prison for burglary. I have tried to see Torres in prison - the visit was authorized but Torres refused to see me. He sent word to me through the chief warden, Sheriff Louis Hey, that he was not afraid to speak up but that "he preferred to testify openly when the time came (provided he was still alive)." Lee Oswald's mother, Marguerite Oswald, had nothing but praise for the District Attorney, "I am with him and I will help him. He's showing that the Warren Commission hasn't uncovered the truth. Yes, there must have been a conspiracy and my son was only part of such a conspiracy as a secret agent of the U.S. government." I telephoned Marguerite Oswald after hearing the news of the death of David William Ferrie. She told me, "I have always thought that Ferrie was involved in the case. I never understood why the Warren Commission didn't bother to interview this man whose actions were so strange. I hope that we will not once again say his death was only due to chance." A few things stand out from this Nerin Gun article. First, he actually visited David Ferrie, who told him he was suffering from encephalitis, and had terrible headaches. This is consistent with what Ferrie told other journalists. This was just before he died of a berry aneurysm. Second, Garrison might well have told Gun information that was not widely reported: "And I think of the words that prosecutor Jim Garrison had said to me a few days earlier when he solemnly asked me not to reveal anything to the local newspapers." Did that give Gun carte blanche to write an article for QUICK? The Italian magazine TEMPO contained the same article as in QUICK with a few small edits. There was no clue regarding the writer. And so it is unclear as to whether Nerin Gun or Lawrence Schiller wrote the QUICK article. Both had access to Garrison and both had discussions with Garrison when he was espousing his theory of a homosexual plot. For some unknown reason, the CIA was certain that Gun was the author. Unfortunately, we have been unable to determine why the CIA came to that conclusion. It's certainly possible that the two of them worked together. Schiller was the kind of journalist who no qualms about using information gained from working for a client and then using it for himself. The 1996 Chicago Tribune article noted that Schiller: "...was shooting under contract for Life magazine, yet always working on his own, always an outsider, a lone wolf hungry for the big kill.." O. J. Simpson's book, I Want To Tell You: My Response to Your Letters, Your Messages, Your Questions, was written in collaboration with Lawrence Schiller to raise money for his defense. Schiller then produced a television show and a book exposing the defense teams methods: "I'm not a professional writer. I don't write for a living," Schiller said. "I earn my living being a sponge, absorbing everything. Then figuring out where to wring out the sponge." and "Lawrence Schiller, author of "American Tragedy: The Uncensored Story of the O.J. Simpson Defense," had unprecedented access to Simpson and his dream team during the 1995 criminal trial, obtaining secrets of their defense strategy and Simpson's state of mind before and after the trial." (Hat tip to Tim Cridland for finding the O. J. Simpson example) Here's an interesting headline: Schiller gained access to Jim Garrison because of Life Magazine, and selling Garrison's story to the world would have been a nice coup. Nerin Gun was the perfect person to translate the article and to help place it in Europe. One thing is certain - the article did represent Garrison's thinking at the beginning of his investigation. Tomorrow's Blog Post Final Thoughts on the QUICK article Previous Posts on the QUICK Article Did a Homosexual Conspiracy Kill JFK? Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part One) Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part Two) Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part Three) Garrison Disavows the QUICK article Jim Garrison Does it Again - Claims Ruby and Oswald Were Homosexuals Jim Garrison Feigns Indignation at the Mention of Clay Shaw's Homosexuality Did Lawrence Schiller Write the QUICK article?

It's quite possible that Lawrence Schiller wrote the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy that killed JFK. Several clues point to Schiller. First, he was with Jim Garrison in Las Vegas in early March 1967. While there he and Garrison discussed many of the allegations that ended up in the QUICK article: The homosexual conspiracy that killed JFK. A comparison to the Leopold & Loeb murder. Schiller knew about James Dondson being with Shaw in San Francisco during the weekend of the assassination. In addition, Schiller knew that Shaw received a phone call from Richard Randoff [sic]. His real name was Randolph and both the FBI report on the information Schiller volunteered and the QUICK article have the same misspelling. Garrison told Schiller that Ruby's nickname was "Pinkie," which was repeated in the QUICK article. The story about Breck Wall ordering Ruby to kill Oswald was also in both the FBI report and the QUICK article. The story about an offer of lenience to Clay Shaw, if he would turn state's evidence, was also a common theme. A second clue is that Schiller was also privy to a lot of information from the Garrison investigation. When he met Garrison, he was working as a photographer for Life Magazine, and Life was cooperating with Garrison. Richard Billings, a top editor at Life, spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and his journal is full of references to Schiller: March 4 Schiller has guy was with Shaw in San Francisco during assassination . . . Jim Dondson his name . . . Schiller says Garcia Gonzales may show in Fred Kaufman picture taken in Dallas . . . Was arrested . . . March 5 Schiller with Dondson and other gay folks . . . Schiller says a guy named Bob Damron knows a New Orleans businessman who claims to have a job application from Oswald that lists Jack Ruby as a character references [sic] . . . March 6 Schiller with Garrison . . . Schiller says he's heard Oswald was gay, so was Michael Paine, and they did it together . . . Schiller says Guthman told Liebeler it's been known for two months that Bertrand and Shaw are the same man . . . March 8 Schiller reports from New Orleans he talking to Shaw's friends . . . All of Schiller's sources backing Shaw all the way . . . March 28 Schiller in Dallas to recreate picture of Oswald with weapons . . . says he has information that Shaw has used Bertrand name, not as alias, but as a legal name . . . Says Schiller, Bureau reportedly has documents signed by Clay Bertrand and handwriting checks with Shaw's . . . These are supposed to be checks or contracts . . . Schiller also in touch with Liebeler, who has index of all FBI reports . . . (Schiller thinks he may be able to locate picture of Ruby watching motorcade . . . taken by an outpatient at Oak Cliff . . . He also list from Bureau report of all 71 people taking pictures at time) . . . March 29 Schiller tips from Dallas gay source . . . There is another clue that points to Schiller - the sidebar in the QUICK story about problems with the Warren Commission was based upon Schiller's upcoming book, The Scavengers and Critics of the Warren Report. This is what the Warren Commission kept quiet "The Scavengers and Critics of the Warren Report" is what Larry Schiller calls his report, about the people who cashed in on the death of the President, which will be published next week in America. The American author points out that the Warren Commission committed gross errors in the investigation of the Kennedy murder. The main points are: Using Lewis and Schiller's book was a odd choice to base a sidebar on, given the fact that Mark Lane, Edward Jay Epstein and Harold Weisberg all had important books out criticizing the Warren Report. For Schiller, it was handy publicity, no? And while Lewis and Schiller's book is extremely critical of the various Warren Report critics, it is quite flattering to Jim Garrison. Three pages (pages 201 - 203) detail the early stages of the Garrison investigation with none of the skepticism they show towards first-generation critics of the Warren Report. Schiller concludes the section with: "But Garrison, despite a flamboyant manner which caused some skepticism among members of the press, had managed to tap new tools of investigation beyond the scope of the Warren Commission. He explored, for example, hitherto silent forces in the homosexual underground. In Las Vegas, Nevada, Garrison met with a close friend of Shaw, James Dondson, who was with Shaw at the moment Kennedy was assassinated. Garrison attempted to verify statements made by his key witness through the use of hypnosis and sodium pentothal, although it seemed doubtful whether such unproven methods would be reliable enough to obtain convictions." Schiller almost applauds, noting that "The Commission saw no need to utilize such modern sophisticated devices as polygraph tests or drugs, unless requested by its witnesses, although there was nothing specified in their mandate which forbade the use of such modern techniques to corroborate testimony." When Schiller met Garrison in Las Vegas, he could have convinced him that the best way to get the word out was through the European media - just as critics like Mark Lane had found out. Interestingly, Schiller had co-authored short pieces on Jack Ruby that were published in Europe in cooperation with the Ruby family. Here is an FBI report with more details. The only problem for Garrison was that his views evolved from the time he discussed the case with Schiller to the time QUICK magazine was on the newsstands. It is also possible that Schiller acted on his own. After his conversation with Garrison, Schiller dictated their conversations onto a forty-five minute tape recording. He gave the tape to Life Magazine, and then told the FBI about his meetings. It certainly looks like he was working both sides - talking to Garrison and assisting his investigation, and then informing the FBI. But maybe he was just on his own looking for a way to make a buck. Here is a letter, from an apparently informed source, sent to Clay Shaw's lawyer alleging, quite plausibly, that Schiller had a long tape of Garrison's conversation with him: Here is a similar take on Schiller. Lawrence Schiller had the motive, means and opportunity. However, there is one other candidate who also could have written the QUICK article. Tomorrow's Blog Post Did Nerin Gun write the QUICK article? Previous Posts on the QUICK Article Did a Homosexual Conspiracy Kill JFK? Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part One) Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part Two) Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part Three) Garrison Disavows the QUICK article Jim Garrison Does it Again - Claims Ruby and Oswald Were Homosexuals Jim Garrison Feigns Indication at the Mention of Clay Shaw's Homosexuality

As soon as details of the QUICK article got out, Jim Garrison was denying that he was the author. Town Talk, Alexandria, Louisiana, April 3, 1967 It's interesting that Garrison complained that he "never told anyone the name of the person who fired the fatal shot at President Kennedy." He didn't say that didn't know the name of the assassin - he just hadn't told anybody. An American reporter for the West German public radio broadcaster Deutsche Welle wrote to Jim Garrison the day after QUICK was released, detailing his attempt to authenticate it, in light of QUICK's bad reputation, asking him for confirmation or denial, and offering to bring any fraud to public attention: Jim Garrison replied on April 14, denying involvement: "I have no idea who dreamed this article up but it is neither my product nor is it authorized by me." Carefully phrased, in light of what the next blog post will show. He never talked to a QUICK representative: no doubt true. Mr. Jordan then wrote back: There is no Garrison reply to his letter in his files. He probably decided to just let it go, and realized that a real investigation would reveal the truth about the article. So better to feign indignation, and then drop it. Instead, Jim Garrison went into damage control mode, and turned to Der Spiegel, a very reputable mainstream magazine, who published an interview with him in its May 22, 1967 issue. An entire sidebar discussed QUICK magazine: (The first part discusses another QUICK controversy over a report about Stalin's supposed sexual antics) Here is Don Jordan's translation of the second part of the article that I found in Jim Garrison's files: The interview with Garrison was definitely damage control. By this time, Garrison's focus had moved away from a homosexual conspiracy and towards the CIA - no doubt because the various critics pushed back, and because of the Paese Sera articles in Rome claiming an association between Clay Shaw and the CIA. Here is an excerpt from the journal of Richard Billings: (entry for March 16, 1967) Garrison now interested in possible connections between Shaw and the CIA . . . wants to check his tie to Mario Bermudez, international relations director for late mayor, Shep Morrison . . . Two leads re: CIA tie: article in March issue Humanite supposedly mentions Shaw's Company work in Italy. and an entry from April 3, 1967: Garrison is hot in the CIA angle. You can read more about the Paese Sera articles here. QUICK was mentioned in the Der Spiegel interview: SPIEGEL: Pardon me, there are quite a number of Warren Report critics who have spoken of a second Oswald. GARRISON: I want to tell you this: Of all the magazines, perhaps with the exception of "Quick," and certainly of all the American newspapers, none of them went as far as "Newsweek" in their guesswork. This magazine deserves a special medal for its imaginative excursion into poetry. What "Newsweek" has done is inexcusable. This magazine understands what it's all about, but spreads its wild baseless speculations. SPIEGEL: We are by no means talking about just "Newsweek," there are a whole range of others ... GARRISON: Yes. Concerning "Quick," I surely don't need to tell you what a wild story it was. SPIEGEL: No, we know that. Garrison was referring to a March 13, 1967 story in Newsweek by Hugh Aynesworth which also quoted him talking about homosexuality: "The D. A. insisted he already had proof that Shaw, Ferrie and Oswald were conspirators, but was still looking for a "gay boy" who resembled Oswald who actually fired the fatal shots." and: "Moreover, D. A. Garrison's decision to concentrate on homosexuals, a relatively vulnerable group, tended to produce a line-up of alleged conspirators that much of the public found difficult to take seriously." Garrison had a direct response to the Newsweek quote: SPIEGEL: Mr. Garrison, how have you actually solved the Tippit case? Police officer J. D. Tippit was shot 45 minutes after the president. Since, in your opinion, Oswald did not shoot anyone on November 22nd, 1963 - who was it then ... GARRISON: I don't want to say anything about Tippit. SPIEGEL: ... perhaps a 'gay boy’ who - as it is often said - looked like Oswald? GARRISON: Thank you for asking that, because at no point have we looked for a ‘gay boy’ who looked like Oswald. This is an invention by "Newsweek". This magazine did not concern itself with the facts at all, but used all its power to bring every investigation into the assassination into disrepute. As "Newsweek" describes our investigations - that is very imaginative. Homosexuality only came up two other times in the Der Spiegel interview: SPIEGEL: Was it an anti-Castro conspiracy, a pro-Castro conspiracy, a homosexual conspiracy - or what other conspiracy? GARRISON: The homosexual factor is insignificant. Some authors have blown it up a lot to - let's say - spice up their stories and make more money. But there is a Cuban factor, a very important Cuban factor. Here are some very telling remarks by Garrison: GARRISON: Certainly nobody can accuse me of being a communist. So I feel completely free to say that the Soviet government and press are more interested in the truth, more interested in knowing what actually happened to President Kennedy than the American government and press. SPIEGEL: Is that really an interest in the truth? After all, the Soviet Union has banned the distribution of the Warren Report. GARRISON: Perhaps it didn't meet their literary standards. But to come back to your question about Mrs. Oswald: She is a mother who has lost a son about whom many untrue things have been said, including the remark, which was wrongly attributed to me, that Oswald was a homosexual. That's not true, and I never said that. But it is only one example of the barrage that Mrs. Oswald has to go through. I am sorry for her and I am glad she is interested in a new investigation. Oswald was obviously involved in the affair. But that doesn't mean he shot anyone in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, It's perfectly clear that he didn't. I don't want to say more. Note the fake indignation. Mrs. Oswald is suffering from a false allegation - which Garrison, of course, would never make - and he feels for her. But as we will show in an upcoming post, Garrison would tell another journalist that Oswald was a homosexual. And in a recurring pattern, Garrison would show the same indignation when the journalist reported the allegation. Our next blog post about the QUICK article: Jim Garrison Does it Again! He tells another reporter that Ruby and Oswald were homosexuals and then then attempts damage control. Previous Posts on the QUICK Article Did a Homosexual Conspiracy Kill JFK? Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part One) Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part Two) Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part Three)

So far, we have posted a variety of reasons for believing Jim Garrison was behind the QUICK article from April 1967. In addition, there was a story in QUICK which was not in the press, and could only have come from Jim Garrison. It concerned James Dondson, who spent part of the weekend of the assassination with Clay Shaw in San Francisco. "The questioning of Shaw's male lover James Dondson made me even more certain that Shaw was head of the plot. At the very hour Kennedy was killed, Shaw was in bed with Dondson in the same hotel room. A few minutes after the assassination, a certain Richard Randoff called the hotel and told Shaw that Kennedy had been shot. Even though the caller only used the word "shot," it was immediately clear to Shaw that Kennedy was dead. He hung up the phone, turned to Dondson, and said, 'Now I have to call a few people right away.'" Very few people knew that Clay Shaw was with James Dondson the weekend of the assassination. One person who did know was writer and part-time Life Magazine photographer Lawrence Schiller. Here is an FBI report with the details: The story in the FBI report about Dondson matches the QUICK story almost word for word. Even the story about the phone call from Richard Randoff is in both. Shaw received a telephone call at the hotel room on the morning of November 22, 1963, apparently from one Richard Randoff, 435 Frederick Street, San Francisco. In the call, Shaw was advised that President Kennedy had been shot. In Dondson’s opinion, Shaw reacted as though it was an accepted fact that the President had been killed although the news media did not announce the death of the President until about one hour later. Shaw immediately made several telephone calls from the hotel room. The phone call was from a Dick Randolph, not Randoff. Here is an excerpt from the journal of Richard Billings: "Garrison reveals Dondson told him Shaw got word of assassination from a Dick Randolph, who works for the May Company . . . Having Angeloff checking Seattle HQ of hotel chain to locate St. Francis records . . ." Jim Garrison asked Donald Dooty, a friend of Clay Shaw, about this on March 23, 1967: And the story about Dondson meeting Jim Garrison was true - here are two pictures of him with Garrison in Las Vegas: Dondson contacted the defense team after Schiller brought him to Las Vegas where he met Garrison: Very few people knew about Shaw and Dondson. There was no mention of Dondson in the New Orleans newspapers in March and April 1967. There is another part of the QUICK article that again points to Garrison: "But I have reason to believe that Shaw, as the inventor of the plot, tried to keep his active participation in the plot to a minimum, when he learned about Oswald's political connections. It may have been these political reasons or the jealousy of Oswald - in any case, Shaw was not involved in the last phase of the attack. The fact that he planned the plot with Ferrie should be enough to get him ten years in prison. But I am more than happy to let him go if he would help me find the real shooter: Manuel Garcia Gonzales." Schiller's interview of Garrison was written up as a memo. Unfortunately, a copy of that memo is at the Assassination Archives and Research Center (AARC) which is currently closed. But we do have a description of that memo from the Peter Vea Index of Garrison materials at the AARC: This memo confirms the FBI report, and has many of the familiar Garrison tropes we have been talking about - the "Pinky" nickname for Jack Ruby; the Breck Wall order to Ruby to kill Oswald; and the JFK assassination as a "thrill killing" like the Leopold and Loeb murder. The story in QUICK points directly to Jim Garrison, and provides clues as to the origin of the article. But more on that later. Our Next Blog Post on the QUICK article Jim Garrison disavows authorship. Previous Posts on the QUICK Article Did a Homosexual Conspiracy Kill JFK? Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part One) Was the QUICK article about a homosexual conspiracy written by Jim Garrison? (Part Two)