This article appears in the August 26, 1969, issue of Look Magazine and is a very good overview of the treatment of Clay Shaw. You can download this article here. Some highlights from the article: Shaw's life in New Orleans: "Once moderately well-off, Shaw at 56 is broke and in debt and has come out of retirement in quest of a job. Once highly respected, he goes about the city still, determinedly cheerful but wincing under the stares, usually from rubbernecking tourists in the French Quarter, where he lives, but also from old friends. He is the local two-headed calf, notorious the rest of his days. His reputation as a genteel, discreet homosexual was once accepted with forbearance. Laissez-faire New Orleans cared only that he lived with dignity. Now the gossips snigger." Clay Shaw on Garrison: "Personally, I think he's quite ill, mentally," Shaw replied. "He was, as you know discharged from the Army after a diagnosis of 'anxiety' and told to take psychotherapy. I know he has been to a number of analysts. I think, basically, he is getting worse all the time. I think there is a division of his mind. With one half of his mind, he is able to go out and fabricate evidence, and then by some osmosis, he is able to convince the other half that the fabrication is the truth. And then, I think, he believes it implicitly." Clay Shaw as Clay Bertrand: "Andrews later identified Eugene C. Davis, a tavern keeper, as Bertrand, but Davis denied it, and Andrews finally admitted he had made up the name. Garrison, however, took the name "Clay" and reasoned that, since Shaw's first name was Clay, Shaw was therefore Bertrand. He proceeded on that incredible premise, In Las Vegas, where he is fond of going, he told a reporter, "This won't be the first time I've arrested somebody and then built my case afterward." And he had himself a patsy, a man whose sex life would provoke prejudice against him and who would find it difficult to fight back. It was a perfect setup for fraud and persecution. He went ahead." The paranoia of Jim Garrison: "One reporter [Hugh Aynesworth] remembers a call on Garrison at his home this way: "It was like watching the late, late show -- people coming and going, the phone ringing every ten minutes. On the phone, Garrison sounded like a Bingo caller -- 'B-16, N-37' -- and so on. "'It's the only way I can talk to my people without the Feebees [the FBI] knowing my every step,' Garrison grinned when he sat down with me. 'They'll never break this old Navy code I'm using.' "His wife asked if it would be all right if she took the children for a walk. He meditated a while and then said, 'Oh, yes, I suppose so -- they always sleep late.' I asked him 'they' were, and he replied, 'There's a torpedo [hit man] from Havana, but they always sleep late.'" At his office, besides having at least one room "bugged," Garrison also had a "one-way" mirror installed and allowed some photographers to make pictures through it of Shaw and others when questioned." Clay Shaw Speaks: "The District Attorney deliberately arrested someone he knew was innocent and set out to build a case against him by perjury, fraud and intimidation. This is provable. In February, 1967, when Jim Garrison announced he had solved the Kennedy assassination, he did not have a single one of the witnesses he later produced to testify against me. By his own admission, he dreamed it all up and then went out to find the evidence. I think part of my job, as I extricate myself from the horror of this two-year nightmare, is to see that this man is removed from office. In public office, he is a dangerous man. And I keep asking myself how many other Garrisons can there be. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere else in the country. And this is true despite a law that says it is a crime for a prosecutor or any official to deprive a citizen of his constitutionally guaranteed rights under color of the law. We had a combination of an overzealous, unscrupulous, megalomaniac, paranoid public official and a paralysis or disinterest on the part of other public officials and institutions that are supposed to protect the rights of the individual. The Mayor, the Governor, the Attorney General of the United States, the President -- all of them knew, I think, that an injustice was being done. Yet all our efforts to get any of them to do anything were unavailing. Given that example, other prosecutors of a similar bent are encouraged. If a prosecutor can violate the civil rights of an individual, and Federal officials sworn to protect those rights give him no let or hindrance, then it's open season for anyone who wants to do this kind of thing. Two facts are self-evident to me: One, this was a deliberate conspiracy to use me as a scapegoat to provide Garrison with publicity and with a forum for his own criticism of the Warren Commission. Two, he succeeded because various people were afraid or unwilling for one reason or another to do anything about it. And he isn't through yet. Now, I'm charged with perjury. He wants to prove that he isn't quitting, I think, and he can keep suspicions alive by hanging on. Second, if I file suit against him, he has a bargaining counter: he could say, "I'll drop my suit if you drop yours.' Finally, up for election, he can sidestep questions about the fiasco he made of the case by saying, 'I can't discuss that because it's still under adjudication.' What a man like this has going for him is the will to believe. It's very, very strong in many people. It doesn't matter what the evidence is or how many nuts he puts on the stand; people just go on believing. Another thing is that nobody wants to get involved. The best known example of this attitude, I guess, is Kitty Genovese, stabbed to death leisurely over a half-hour while 38 of her neighbors in New York watched and heard her screams. Well, we'd better start getting involved. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody." Sylvia Meagher wrote a letter to the author of this article: Update Here is a letter that Look Magazine received about this article: Rogers wrote back to Mr. Boyer: This was all forwarded to Edward Wegmann, Clay Shaw's attorney, who gave the letters to Shaw: I do not know if Clay Shaw sent a letter to Mr. Boyer. Previous Relevant Blog Posts Sylvia Meagher's Letter to Look Magazine Meagher wrote a response to the above article and Look published her letter.

Jefferson Morley, in a recent Substack post, claimed that Nurse Phyllis Hall corroborates Paul Landis's story about placing a bullet on JFK's stretcher. Morley quotes from a Daily Mail article: 'On the cart, halfway between the earlobe and the shoulder, there was a bullet laying almost perpendicular there, but I have not seen a picture of that bullet ever,' she told The Telegraph almost 10 years ago. Separately, she told the Sunday Mirror: 'I could see a bullet lodged between his ear and his shoulder. It was pointed at its tip and showed no signs of damage. I remember looking at it – there was no blunting of the bullet or scarring around the shell from where it had been fired. 'I'd had a great deal of experience working with gunshot wounds but I had never seen anything like this before. 'It was about one-and-a-half inches long – nothing like the bullets that were later produced. 'It was taken away but never have I seen it presented in evidence or heard what happened to it. It remains a mystery.' But is Hall's story credible? Researcher Pat Speer doesn't think so: Hall is perhaps the least credible "witness" to emerge in decades. By her own admission, she was not an ER nurse and had no business in the ER. She just sauntered in, saw stuff, and sauntered out, only to emerge right before the 50th and revel in all the attention. It's bs. Speer listed a variety of newspapers where she was quoted back in 2013. The Telegraph has a story about four witnesses, including Hall. There, Phyllis Hall, a nurse in the outpatient clinic who happened to be talking with a friend who worked on the triage desk in the emergency ward, was about to be swept up in the whirlwind of history. “The supervisor said there had been a call to say there was an accident in the president’s motorcade,” she said. “The words were hardly out of her mouth when the doors burst open. “Among the first in was Lyndon Johnson, the vice president, who was very pale and sweating heavily. Then I heard the groans of someone calling out in grave pain. It was Governor John Connally, who was seriously injured in the attack. “Then they carried in a second stretcher. I could just see a man from his waist down as there was a lady lying across his head and shoulders. “A doctor told me: 'We need you here.’ We were whisked into the Trauma One room, where it was immediately clear that this was President Kennedy. “I started to feel for his vital signs. I couldn’t find any, there was no pulse. His eyelids were half-closed, his pupils were fixed and dilated, and his skin was blueish-grey, indicating that no oxygen was circulating.” As the doctors worked frantically to resuscitate their patient, Mrs Kennedy stood next to her husband, her right hand on his left foot. “We were desperately searching for any sign of life, but there was nothing,” said Hall. “The treatment the president received that day was outstanding but futile. I believe he was dead when he arrived at the hospital.” So, Hall was a nurse in the outpatient clinic who was called into Trauma Room 1 and felt for JFK's vital signs. Yet, there is no mention of Hall anywhere at MaryFerrell.com. The Daily Mail's story is a little more vivid: Phyllis Hall, who was 28 at the time, says she was dragged into the operating room by a secret service agent as medics scrambled to help the president, who was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963. While cradling his head, which had been torn apart by gunshots fired from the famous 'grassy knoll', Mrs Hall says she spotted an unusual bullet, which was promptly removed and never seen again. She described the bullet in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, which she said looked completely undamaged, and bore no resemblance whatsoever to bullets later shown as evidence in investigations into the President's murder. She said: 'I could see a bullet lodged between his ear and his shoulder. It was pointed at its tip and showed no signs of damage. There was no blunting of the bullet or scarring around the shell from where it had been fired. Here she was dragged into the operating room by a secret service agent. And then there is this: As her shift didn't finish until the evening, Mrs Hall continued working for hours after the President was declared dead, and didn't even tell her husband what she had witnessed. However, in recent interviews she revealed that she is 'a big believer in the conspiracy theories' surrounding the Mr Kennedy's death. She didn't even tell her husband? And she's a big believer in conspiracy theories! Then there was this story in the Los Angeles Times: Phyllis Hall talked to the Sixth Floor Museum on Decembef 16, 2010 for their oral history project. And guess what? Not one word about finding a bullet. She also would not identify the nurse she worked with at the triage desk, and she was unable to recall the names of any other nurses in Trauma Room 1. Jefferson Morley, in his zeal to accept Paul Landis's story, accepts a more dubious story. Update In this 2013 interview, Hall says nothing about a bullet: Update 2 Here is another interview with the Sixth Floor in which Hall does not mention a bullet. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Paul Landis Why Didn't Paul Landis Come Forward Before? An NBC journalist asked him the question and his answer is remarkable. The Sixth Floor Museum's Oral History Project with Paul Landis Landis talked to the Sixth Floor Museum but didn't mention picking up a bullet or bullet fragments. Did Paul Landis Really Find a Bullet? A look at Landis's statements over the years. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Jefferson Morley Is Jefferson Morley Seeing Double? Morley thinks there are two redacted memos on CIA reorganization, but there is only one. 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 understood as being 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. Jefferson Morley is wrong about "Who Shot John?" The phrase 'who shot John' does not refer to the JFK assassination. "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.

Here is Paul Landis appearing on NBC: Here is an excerpt from a transcript: (15:49) Gadi Schwartz: There's so many people that are watching this, they're gonna wonder why come forward now. Why not say something earlier? Paul Landis: Well, nobody asked me and I never thought about it. It was, I didn't read anything about the assassination. I had nightmares. I buried everything. I refuse to read anything about it. Because I figured I'd been there. I witnessed it. I didn't need to read anything. All the assassination theories and things that were out there, I never took a look at. There was only one book, and it was, just coincidentally happened in 2014. I had been doing volunteer work for the Shaker Heights Police Department and the chief of police came ... we were doing a property auction. The police chief came and said, "Paul, I have a book that I think you'd be interested in." And he gave me this book, and it was called Six Seconds in Dallas. I took it home thinking I'd read it immediately but I just put it on a nightstand. And it was three months before I decided it was time to start reading about what was going on. Landis says "nobody asked me." Really? He has spoke to the press in 1988 and in 2013, and he even did an oral history project with the Sixth Floor Museum, and he says, "nobody asked me." This reminds me of Garrison's witnesses, notably the ones from Clinton. Previous Relevant Blog Posts Did Paul Landis Really Find a Bullet? An examination of his many statements over the years. The Sixth Floor Museum's Oral History Project with Paul Landis In 2016, he said he heard three shots and that all came from behind. No mention of a bullet or a bullet fragment.

I found this amongst Clay Shaw's papers. This cartoon appeared right after Clay Shaw's acquittal, when Garrison then indicted him for perjury. Other Cartoons on My Blog Garrison's Investigation - "a smalltime circus sideshow" A cartoon by Hugh Haynie who worked for the Louisville Courier-Journal. Jim Garrison Blows His Top A cartoon from the Washington Evening Star. A Tremendous Paul Conrad Cartoon about Jim Garrison From the Los Angeles Times. Clay Shaw writes Elmer Gertz about his Perjury Trial The New Orleans States-Item makes a statement A New Orleans Look at Oliver Stone's JFK Here is what people in New Orleans thought about Oliver Stone's film.

I found this cartoon in the papers of Clay Shaw. This appeared right after his acquittal. Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 2, 1969 Other Cartoons on My Blog Garrison's Investigation - "a smalltime circus sideshow" A cartoon by Hugh Haynie who worked for the Louisville Courier-Journal. Jim Garrison Blows His Top A cartoon from the Washington Evening Star. A Tremendous Paul Conrad Cartoon about Jim Garrison From the Los Angeles Times. Clay Shaw writes Elmer Gertz about his Perjury Trial The New Orleans States-Item makes a statement A New Orleans Look at Oliver Stone's JFK Here is what people in New Orleans thought about Oliver Stone's film.

Edwin Black was the author of a 1975 article in the Chicago Independent about a supposed plot against JFK in Chicago in November of 1963. The source for Edwin Black's article was Abraham Bolden, There is absolutely no evidence of a plot against JFK in Chicago. The HSCA spoke to Edwin Black on the telephone: The HSCA then sent James Kelly and Howard Rose to Chicago to interview Edwin Black: RIF# 180-10080-10226, Box 110 of HSCA numbered files. The funniest part of this memo is when James Kelly writes "I assured him [Edwin Black] that the chief threat to us in the dining room was probably from the food." Somehow, Black ended up convincing Mr. Kelly that Abraham Bolden was the source for his story. This corroborates what Bolden told the HSCA. I have also emailed Edwin Black to ask about his story. He never replied. As he says in the above interview, once a story "was printed he went on to the next one." Previous Relevant Blog Posts "JFK Revisited" Misleads on the Supposed Chicago Plot There is no evidence of a plot in Chicago against JFK. Paul Bleau and the Supposed Chicago Plot Against JFK Bolden's story about the supposed Chicago plot has changed over the years. Paul Bleau's Plots An examination of supposed other plots against JFK. Abraham Bolden's May 1964 Press Conference Bolden didn't say one word about a supposed plot against JFK in Chicago.

Tom Bethell was a Garrison staffer and Richard Billings was an editor at Life Magazine. They both kept diaries of the Garrison investigation and, on my documents page, you can download a document with both diaries. My document collects the Bethell entries from the late John McAdams’ site and the Billings entries from David Reitzes’ site. In April, Hood College uploaded the Sylvia Meagher archives. There is a folder of her correspondence with Tom Bethell and a folder with documents he sent her. I noticed that several of Bethell's documents contain additional diary entries. I decided to add these pages to my Bethell-Billings document. Here is a summary of the additions: Beginning of Diary, 23 additional pages Entries beginning June 1, 1967, 13 pages January 17, 1968, one insert After April 4, 1968, 2 pages Last entries to the diary, 11 pages I have added an additional 50 pages to his diary. Here are the complete Bethell-Billings diaries (PDF) Here are the complete Bethell-Billings diaries in Word format: If anybody has some good ideas on how I can easily convert this document into text, let me know. Previous Relevant Blog Posts Perry Russo Talks - in Baton Rouge, Part Five Additional information about a meeting with Perry Russo and James Phelan. Perry Russo Talks - in Baton Rouge, Part Four Tom Bethell wrote Sylvia Meagher details about a meeting he had with Richard Billings in which they discussed Perry Russo and James Phelan. Tom Bethell Writes Sylvia Meagher about the Shaw Trial Bethell sat through the Shaw trail and he wrote Meagher about what happened. Jim Garrison's Files and Mark Lane Tom Bethell had lots to say about Mark Lane's usage of Jim Garrison's files. "Earl Warren: On the Mob's Payroll" by Tom Bethell An article by Tom Bethell from the Washington Monthly of March 1976. Tom Bethell Died This Week at Age 84, R.I.P. A tribute to Tom Bethell and an article he wrote for the National Review.

Rod McKuen Rod McKuen's tribute was read at Clay Shaw's funeral on August 16, 1974. He also had his tribute printed in Variety magazine. Here is his handwritten tribute: Previous Relevant Blog Posts Holland McCombs' Memo to Life Magazine about Clay Shaw McCombs was a reporter for Life Magazine and he had some important insights about Clay Shaw. The Persecution of Clay Shaw A very good article from Look Magazine. When will Oliver Stone Admit he was Wrong about Clay Shaw? It's time for Oliver Stone to admit he made a big mistake in making Clay Shaw the villain in his movie JFK. The Return of Clay Shaw Clay Shaw had to go back to work because of his legal bills. Clay Shaw's Unjustly Damaged Reputation Shaw couldn't escape from suspicion.

Box 221 of the numbered files of the HSCA I was in College Park, Maryland, last week visiting NARA which is where the JFK assassination collection is housed. This was my first trip since Covid-19, and they have changed a few things at NARA. First, I had to replace my old NARA researcher's card: They no longer issue nice picture cards - the cards are now just made of thin cardboard. Once I had my card I could go upstairs and order my document boxes. You have to fill out a form, and then give them to a desk officer for them to look up the exact location of the boxes. These officers are now on a separate floor, so you have to go upstairs to get your forms signed, and then go down a floor and hand them in. It takes about 45 minutes to one hour to get your boxes. I was at NARA for three and-a-half days, and I managed to go through 61 boxes of documents. It was a grueling pace, and I was exhausted at the end of the week. Here is a summary of the documents that I went through: The papers of Harry Connick. I had gone through his papers before, but when I first went through them, I was only looking for certain documents. This time, I did a thorough run through and I found lots of documents I had not seen on the Clinton witnesses. There were also several transcripts of taped conversations -- in particular, Jack Martin taped a lot of phone calls. He was trying to counter the NBC documentary on the Garrison investigation by proving they were paying witnesses. He didn't succeed. I also found lots of promotion material about Thomas Beckham when he was trying to be folk singer Mark Evans, and some additional material on Clyde Johnson, the fabulist who told Garrison he saw Clay Shaw with Jack Ruby. An envelope addressed to Jack Martin with material about Mark Evans, who was really Thomas Beckham. Note that Fred Crisman was listed as Beckham's public relations director. The deposition of Sam Newman, the owner of the Newman Building which was located on the corner of Camp Street and Lafayette Street in New Orleans. He also drew a diagram of the building for the HSCA which showed that Banister's office was not connected to 544 Camp Street. More to come on this, stay tuned. The outside contact reports and depositions of the Clinton witnesses. I also photographed the deposition of Francis Fruge, the Louisiana State policeman who worked on the Cherami case and the Clinton witnesses. HSCA outside contact reports of Dean Andrews and Howard Brennan. The HSCA deposition of Bill Nitschke, who was partners with Guy Banister. The donated papers of Gerald S. Blaine, who was a secret service agent back in 1963. I will soon be posting the secret service survey of JFK's Tampa trip. I went through the papers of Clay Shaw. I found some very nice photos of Shaw: I often wonder why conspiracy theorists show no interest in going through Shaw's papers. There is a whole box of photos, some calendar books, and many cards and letters. You'd think they would want to find clues as to the other conspirators with Shaw, no? There are also several boxes of financial records - shouldn't there be a clue about payments from the CIA? I found several outside contact reports from secret service agents in Chicago in which they discuss the supposed plot in November 1963. I also found an outside contact report with Edwin Black who wrote an article in 1975 about the plot. Stay tuned for a very interesting blog post. I reviewed the Department of Justice Civil Rights papers regarding Clay Shaw. I found the transcript of the Dean Andrews trial and several DOJ memos about the civil rights of Clay Shaw. The unpublished manuscript of Wesley Liebeler: The "Head Jerk" and "Shoulder Buckle": an analysis of some physical evidence in the Zapruder film by Professor B.K. Jones of UCLA. The Secret Service Protective Intelligence file on Raymond Broshears The complete Rockefeller Commission interview of Robert Groden, Stephen Jaffe, Dick Gregory, and Ralph Schoenman (480+ pages) It's hard work going through HSCA boxes. Some boxes contain almost 100 files and a lot of them might not be that interesting. There are many files that are submissions from citizens and it's amazing that some people sent in 50+page handwritten essays. On several occasions, I was interested in a certain outside contact report only to find that it's a report where they just list that person's address. NARA needs to produce a new finding aid. Right now, they have five spreadsheets on their website that list many of the documents. And not everything is on the spreadsheets. For instance, there are no Secret Service files listed -- my friend Robert Reynolds says that the computer disks were corrupted and so their documents are not listed. There are over 300 HSCA boxes of numbered files. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of these documents are online. NARA has started a project to digitize the JFK collection, but it won't be finished until 2025, if then. Stay tuned for some interesting blog posts!

Jefferson Morley recently wrote a Substack article about a censored CIA memo written by Richard Goodwin. “CIA operations have not been held effectively subordinate to U.S. foreign policy,” declared Richard Goodwin, speechwriter and adviser to President John F. Kennedy, in June 1961. Writing in the aftermath of the Agency’s failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961, Goodwin laid out a case for reorganization of the CIA. Goodwin’s doubts about the CIA were shared by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., another JFK adviser, who also wrote a memo to JFK in June 1961 about reining in the power of the clandestine service. Here is the memo that Morley links to: While the document is in a Richard Goodwin binder of the Church Committee, the memo itself was written by Arthur Schlesinger. Morley goes on to write: A major portion of Goodwin’s memo, like Schlesinger’s, is still off-limits to the American people six decades later, thanks to a CIA-authored “Transparency Plan” approved by President Biden on June 30. [You can see the censored portions of Schlesinger’s memo here, and of Goodwin’s here.] Click on the links and you will find that both lead to the same memo -- one written by Schlesinger. Morley has written about the Schlesinger memo often, in July: in mid-June, and at the beginning of June. Will Jefferson Morley correct this error? Or will he let his readers believe there are two memos on CIA reorganization that are still redacted. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Jefferson Morley 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 understood as being 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. Jefferson Morley is wrong about "Who Shot John?" The phrase 'who shot John' does not refer to the JFK assassination. "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.

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I received an unreleased memo about the JFK assassination in an unmarked envelope in this week's mail. I am not sure who sent this to me, but it sure made my day. Here is the memo: There is a serious notion behind this 'document.' If you try and put together a coherent narrative based upon the material in conspiracy books, you'll end up with something just as ridiculous as the above story. Take Jim Marrs' Crossfire, or James DiEugenio's Destiny Betrayed, and just count all the conspirators -- the shooters, the plotters, the enablers, and the people who covered up -- and then try to make sense of it all. How do Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, Sergio Arcacha Smith, Carlos Bringuier, Kerry Thornley, Allen Dulles, Richard Case Nagell, Rose Cherami, Guy Banister, Bill Harvey, the Paines, Carlos Marcello, David Phillips, E. Howard Hunt, George Joannides, James Angleton, Permindex, George de Mohrenschildt, J. Edgar Hoover, Dr. George Burkley, John Roselli, Eladio del Valle, Abraham Bolden, and countless others fit into a coherent narrative? Go ahead and give it a try. Paul Conrad, Los Angeles Times, December 26, 1967

Operation Northwoods was a plan that the Pentagon put together in 1962 to create a pretense to have the United States invade Cuba. It was only revealed in the late 1990s by the ARRB and many conspiracy theorists believes that it proves the Joint Chiefs of Staff were out of control and were trying to get JFK to be more militaristic, at least towards Cuba. But Operation Northwoods just didn't pop out of thin air. It was part and parcel of Operation Mongoose, a creation of the Kennedy brothers. They wanted to get rid of Castro and his regime and they wanted creative plans from the relevant agencies of the government. Here is Jefferson Morley on the relevance of Operation Northwoods to the JFK assassination: Researchers associated with the Mary Ferrell Foundation do not insist on a “CIA done it” scenario [for the JFK assassination]. Given the fact that the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved Operation Northwoods, the false flag operation to stage a spectacular crime against a U.S. target and lay the blame on Cuba, we think the involvement of cleared military personnel [in the JFK assassination conspiracy] cannot be excluded. Morley also ties Operation Northwoods to his own theory that there is an undisclosed CIA operation that involved Oswald: In mid-1963, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved plans for staging a spectacular violent attack on an American target and using U.S. intelligence operatives to arrange for the blame to fall on Cuba. Not only did the disclosure of Operation Northwoods in 1997 reveal the conspiratorial and anti-democratic mentality that prevailed at the highest levels of the CIA and the Pentagon in November 1963, it also bore a passing resemblance to the events of November 22. Within hours of Kennedy’s murder, CIA’s assets in the AMSPELL network sought to blame the crime on Cuba by linking Oswald to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. In fact, the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not "approve" Operation Northwoods. It was submitted to the Secretary of Defense in 1962 for consideration, and it was ultimately rejected. It was part and parcel of Operation Mongoose, led by General Edward Lansdale, to get rid of the Castro regime. While it is true that "assets in the AMSPELL network" sought to blame the crime on Cuba - it was largely the work of one man, Carlos Bringuier, who hardly needed any CIA guidance to blame Castro. And they didn't link Oswald to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee; he did that all by himself. You can read a key Operation Northwood paper here: So, what was going on? The Kennedy brothers, incensed at the failure of the Bay of Pigs, decided to do whatever they could to get rid of Fidel Castro. They put enormous pressure on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA, and all other relevant agencies to come up with plans to achieve this goal. In testimony before the Church Committee, CIA Director Richard Helms described the pressure: This all started to get going in the beginning of 1962. Here is a memo written by Richard Helms about a meeting held with Robert Kennedy: Here is a version of the above document without the redaction of Frank Hand on the first page. Robert Kennedy told Helms that a solution to the Cuban problems was "the top priority in the United States government -- all else is secondary -- no time, money, effort or manpower is to be spared." Thus was born Operation Mongoose and General Edward Lansdale was put in charge. All sorts of ridiculous plans were considered. Here is an excerpt from testimony of Tom Parrott, Secretary of the Special Group Augmented, which included RFK, John McCone, General Maxwell Taylor, and McGeorge Bundy: On January 30, 1962, Brig. General William H. Craig, offered one of the first "nutty schemes, Operation Bounty: Additional schemes were offered on February 2, 1962: Anna Nelson, an historian who served on the ARRB said that "These and other suggestions were passed along to Brigadier General Lansdale, who was in charge of Mongoose. They were far too unrealistic to be taken seriously, but are instructive for what they reveal about the pressure on the military services and others in the Survey Group to come up with new ideas." The next "nutty scheme," albeit far more serious, was Operation Northwoods. What is important to note, and you can see this in the first paragraph, is that the proposal was a response to a request by Lansdale: It should also be noted that Operation Northwoods was only needed if "covert efforts to foster an internal Cuban rebellion are unsuccessful: Paragraph 3 indicates that the Department of State was also working "courses of action to develop US military intervention in Cuba." In addition, other departments were also working on this issue: This memo from October 1962 shows Robert Kennedy's interest in sabotage: Note that paragraph 1 says "The Attorney General opened the meeting by saying that higher authority is concerned about progress on the MONGOOSE program and feels that more priority should be given to trying to mount sabotage operations." That "higher authority" clearly refers to President Kennedy. The participants in the meeting agreed that "there should be considerably more sabotage," and that "all efforts should be made to develop new and imaginative approaches to the possibility of getting rid of the Castro regime." And RFK was not averse to staged attacks. Here is an excerpt from a meeting held at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis: RFK: . . . one other thing is whether, uh, we should also think of, uh, uh, whether there is some other way we can get involved in this through, uh, Guantanamo Bay, or something, er, or whether there's some ship that, you know, sink the Maine again or something. It's interesting that RFK references "the Maine." The USS Maine was a ship that was sunk in Havana in 1898, killing 268 soldiers, which helped start the Spanish American war. Spanish media spread the rumor that this was a false-flag operation -- in other words, the USS Maine was deliberately sunk by the United States to start the war. No evidence has turned up to support that view. Operations Northwoods specifically mentions this incident: Here is yet another strange plan: The balloon idea was ultimately dropped by President Kennedy. Joseph Califano (then General Counsel of the Army) mentioned the pressure from the Kennedys in his memoir, Inside: A Public and Private Life: And even Fletcher Prouty got into the action: The only way to properly understand Operation Northwoods is within the context of Robert and John Kennedy's rabid desire to get rid of Fidel Castro. They wanted imaginative plans, and they wanted them quickly. The military responded as requested. Historian Anna Nelson notes: The extensive literature on the Kennedy era has substantiated the view that the White House (and the Attorney General) prodded and pushed every agency in the executive branch to devise plans and actions for the overthrow of Fidel Castro. Each agency was required to contribute its special expertise: the USIA produced propaganda; the CIA devised clandestine activities; the State Department rallied the members of the Organization of American States and other allies; and the Defense Department designed "contingency plans" for military intervention. But as these documents illustrate, contingency plans were not designed to respond to threats to national security. Instead, these plans also designed the contingencies to be created so that the plans might be implemented. Operation Mongoose was ended after the Cuban Missile Crisis in late 1962. However, John and Robert Kennedy still wanted to get rid of Castro. But that's for another post. Previous Relevant Blog Posts 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. Jefferson Morley is wrong about "Who Shot John?" The phrase 'who shot john' does not refer to the JFK assassination. "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.