Did Lee Harvey Oswald participate in a covert program in Indonesia in 1958? Allegation #8: Regarding Lee Harvey Oswald's alleged participation in covert programs headed by Prouty, specifically in Indonesia in 1958. Excerpt from the Prouty ARRB interview. Wray: Do you recall any experiences after you returned to Washington that you consider relevant to the assassination? By that I mean: when you got back in your office, people were talking about the assassination in such a way, I guess, that would arouse your suspicions, or would seem to have contributed information that was not public knowledge, or something like that? Prouty: Well ... first of all, I was very busy, because I had gone to Antarctica on business. And some of the people that had gone -- I was meeting with them, and that kind of thing. Otherwise, to be very frank with you, I thought it was over. I mean, I can just look at the pictures and know that something -- you know, that it was a big time conspiracy; [one] that was big enough to control the news, and control other things. There was nothing I could do about it; being a military officer, I went back to my job. I was not what grew later to be [called] an assassination "buff." I have never even picked up the Warren Commission Report. I wouldn't know it if I saw it. That kind of thing -- that's not my business. So, then when I got home, I bought newspapers, and read some of the other stories. The early ones agreed with this stuff. Others began to have stories. I must have lost interest in -- I just figured, 'it's just a story.' I knew damn well that -- oh, by the way ... Lee Harvey Oswald was among the people taken from the Armed Forces, working for [the] CIA in the program that I headed. I didn't head the Marine program, but, I mean, he was down in that program. And he was out at Atsugi, Japan; he had worked for us in the Indonesia campaign. And I just figured that a guy who has been in this program has certainly been screened enough to ... so people know him. And I just let it go at -- of course, I never met ... We never met people personally. We didn't want them to know who we were, and vice versa. But I found that out from the records later. Of course, my boss being a Marine general, [it was] easy to find out." The ARRB was interested in this allegation and wanted more detail: Wray: Let me ask you a little bit more about that. When you say that Lee Harvey Oswald was in this program, what specific program are you talking about? Prouty: He was ... support of the military operations of the CIA; clandestine operations. And he was assigned to Atsugi, as I understand, with the U-2 program. There were several programs there; one that had to do with radar, and one was ... U-2 reception program. Whatever the duties were for the people there; you know, Atsugi was the Far East base for [the] CIA. I've been to Atsugi, I don't know if you know -- [it's a] huge underground base -- it's an air base from the air, but it's a big underground base. I was on Atsugi [sic] on September 1, 1945, the day before the surrender. That's the airport we landed on. Prouty admitted that he never saw Oswald's records: Wray: When you say, "Lee Harvey Oswald was in the program," ... I'm trying to inquire, and sort of carefully ascertain ... do you know that because you learned that afterwards -- that someone called your attention to the fact that, 'hey, look, here's this guy Oswald that was in our program.' ... Or, if you can recollect this, do you recall having been aware of Oswald's name before the assassination? Prouty: No, no. We almost never saw names. Even when Gary Powers went down, the Air Force pilot ... I had to find out later that he was an Air Force pilot and not a civilian pilot. But we had the records. I never saw the Oswald records, I never looked for the Oswald records. In fact, I had retired after that. But where did this allegation come from? Wray: So, when you say that "Oswald was in this program," what's the basis for your saying that? Prouty: (Pause) It's just general knowledge. It's come up lots of times. And since I recognize the program whenever see it ... he fit the pattern so perfectly, I would never doubt the stories I saw. I don't know whether it was the New York Times [or] something like that, I don't know. So, was there a factual basis for the allegation? Wray: But you're saying, if I'm understanding you correctly, that your understanding that Oswald was involved in this program comes from sources outside your duty position -- [the] New York Times, or other things that you've read, as opposed to official papers that you saw? Prouty: Well, and the way I read those sources. For instance, when it was stated that he was close to the U-2 program, I knew what the U-2 program in Atsugi was; even if the writer of the story didn't know, I did. Or if he was connected to the Indonesia campaign, [it's] the same thing. I'm the guy that sent the guys to Indonesia. But I didn't do it by name and serial number. We needed so many men to go, and he was among the men that went. Well, he went -- I knew what the program meant. It was a clandestine program -- he didn't go for a vacation. Wray: The ... Oswald's involvement in the Indonesia campaign -- again, that comes from your interpretation of stories that you've heard? Prouty: Things that I've read, yeah. Things from various sources or people I've talked to. Result or conclusion by ARRB: Prouty could not and did not provide any substantiating evidence whatsoever. At one point, it became apparent that this source for this information was not personal knowledge, but a report in the New York Times or some other newspaper. There is no evidence to support this allegation and no further investigation by ARRB is recommended. Previous Relevant Posts on Fletcher Prouty Fletcher Prouty Talks to the ARRB A summary document of his interview with the ARRB Transcript of Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB Fletcher Prouty and Army Intelligence in Dallas Another summary document from the ARRB about Prouty's allegations and army intelligence. Was Fletcher Prouty an Antisemite? Prouty had some very unsavory relationships with antisemitic groups. Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part One Was Fletcher Prouty's Trip to Antarctica Unusual? Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Two Regarding Christchurch, New Zealand and The Christchurch Star Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Three Regarding the 112th Intelligence Corps (INTC) Group and/or the 316th INTC Detachment Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Four Did Prouty Keep the notes from his supposed phone call about army intelligence? Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Five Prouty's experience with military presidential protection duties Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Six Flagrant failure by the Secret Service to take minimum precautions?

Prouty's experience with military presidential protection duties Allegation #6: "I have worked with military presidential protection units." Here is an excerpt from Prouty's book. Fletcher Prouty, JFK: The CIA, Vietnam, and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy, p. 294 "I had worked on what is called 'Presidential Protection." Here is the paragraph from Prouty's introduction to Mark Lane's book, Plausible Denial: Prouty Introduction, Plausible Denial by Mark Lane, page xv. Here are some excerpts from Fletcher Prouty's testimony to the ARRB: [emphasis added] Gunn: For the office at Fort Myer: was that some -- is that headquarters for Army or some other form of intelligence, or is that something like liaison with the Secret Service? I'm not understanding what the office oversees. Prouty; My feeling is, and it never occurred to me to ask them in detail -- because I didn't have any reason to -- is that it was an Army function, and that it was done in conjunction with [the] Secret Service. I assume [the] Secret Service would have been considered the senior party when the two work together; but that's purely by function. Quite frankly, other than knowing that Presidential protection existed, that's about all I was required to know. Because if they called for something, they'd want me to know who the hell they were. And that was very, very rare. The only time I was ever personally involved -- and I think that was just for familiarization early in my assignment in this work -- was when I went to Mexico City [in 1955]. And that was pretty complete. I was quite amazed, personally, because I didn't realize they'd go down weeks ahead of time, set up things ahead of time, worked the route with the Mexicans ... [it was a] very involved, a very detailed thing. That was my first and last course with them -- Mexico City. ... Wray: You said that -- in your book at one point -- that you had worked with these units in the past. I'm just tying that to what you said now. [Do] you mean -- when you'd worked with them in the past -- this is like, your contact with the people at Fort Myer, as opposed to actually working with them in an operational sense.? Prouty: No, what I meant was the trip to Mexico City. Wray: Oh, the trip to Mexico City. Prouty: That was the only one I ever went on. And I wanted to go -- and they wanted me to go -- to see what the system was. So I actually got the airplane and I flew the airplane to Mexico City for them. Prouty is asked if there were military protection units or personnel on this flight. Wray: On the trip to Mexico City, you made it clear that you worked with Secret Service people on the advance there. Were military protection people -- like, from these military protection units -- were they along on that trip as well? Prouty: You know, that -- again, is a good point. The only person I knew on it was a Secret Service man. No, I didn't know this ... he never talked about the military at all, that I can recall. Of course, that was ... my God, that was ... a good long time ago ... the object he .... what they had when they said take [me] down was, he said, they wanted me to know what they do. Period. And I went down there. Result or conclusion by ARRB: It appears from Prouty's statements during the interview that the extent of his experience is one trip in 1955. Previous Relevant Posts on Fletcher Prouty Fletcher Prouty Talks to the ARRB A summary document of his interview with the ARRB Fletcher Prouty and Army Intelligence in Dallas Another summary document from the ARRB about Prouty's allegations and army intelligence. Was Fletcher Prouty an Antisemite? Prouty had some very unsavory relationships with antisemitic groups. Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part One Was Fletcher Prouty's Trip to Antarctica Unusual? Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Two Regarding Christchurch, New Zealand and The Christchurch Star Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Three Regarding the 112th Intelligence Corps (INTC) Group and/or the 316th INTC Detachment Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Four Did Prouty Keep the notes from his supposed phone call about army intelligence?

Did Prouty keep the notes from his supposed phone call about army intelligence? Yesterday's post examined Prouty's allegation that he called army intelligence after the assassination and that they complained about the Secret Service refusing their protection services. What happened to the notes from that supposed phone call? Allegation #4: "I have kept the notes I made during that call and shall quote from them here." [Prouty in Plausible Denial (by Mark Lane), p. XV] Here is that excerpt from Mark Lane's book: Here is Prouty's testimony before the ARRB: Wray: I've seen various places where you've written that you kept notes from that conversation. Prouty: Yeah. Just telephone -- Wray: Do you still have those, or -- ? Prouty: Oh, I think they're long gone. You know, every time the phone rings, I take notes. Just like here, I take notes (Indicating notes he has been taking in front of him) But I don't know whether I'd have that stuff or not. Result or conclusion by ARRB: It was hoped that the notes from this conversation, mentioned in a forward of a 1991 book, might be our best opportunity to add records to the collection. It is unfortunate that the notes appear to have disappeared since that time, and we are unable to add them to the collection. Update to this allegation James DiEugenio, in a review of my book On the Trail of Delusion - Jim Garrison: The Great Accuser, defended Prouty: When asked by the ARRB if he had any notes on this, Fletcher said he did not. (See page 6 of the ARRB summary of the interview) Fletcher did have the notes of the call. And Len Osanic has seen them. This is very interesting. DiEugenio wrote that the conversation was between Prouty and Bill McKinney. As shown in yesterday's post, McKinney said the phone call occurred in 1977 or 1978, and that he called Prouty as a reporter to talk about trains [Prouty was working at that time for Amtrak]. So, if Osanic has seen the notes, well, what do they say? DiEugenio is not saying. On Facebook, DiEugenio refused to clarify anything about McKinney and Prouty. Allegation #5: "It 'knew Dallas was dangerous,' the commander told my associate in explaining why he had decided to offer his services." (Emphasis added.) [Prouty, JFK: The CIA, Vietnam, and The Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy, page 294] Here is the excerpt from Prouty's book: Here is what the ARRB had to say about this passage: "It is important to note the fact that where [sic] in his writing, Prouty identifies this man as his associate, in his statements to the ARRB, he was a previously unknown man with no verified identification whose name does not appear on any unit roster." You can download the ARRB interview with Fletcher Prouty on the Documents page. Previous Relevant Posts on Fletcher Prouty Fletcher Prouty Talks to the ARRB A summary document of his interview with the ARRB Fletcher Prouty and Army Intelligence in Dallas Another summary document from the ARRB about Prouty's allegations and army intelligence. Was Fletcher Prouty an Antisemite? Prouty had some very unsavory relationships with antisemitic groups. Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part One Was Fletcher Prouty's Trip to Antarctica Unusual? Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Two Regarding Christchurch, New Zealand and The Christchurch Star Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Three Regarding the 112th Intelligence Corps (INTC) Group and/or the 316th INTC Detachment

Regarding the 112th Intelligence Corps (INTC) Group and/or the 316th INTC Detachment Here is the allegation as taken from the ARRB memo on Fletcher Prouty: Here is additional detail on the allegation from an ARRB report on Army Intelligence: Prouty could not support his allegations. First, he told the ARRB that he did not make the phone call, but that he was called: Wray: Let me ask you now about something else in the wake of the assassination. In your book, you talk about an incident in which you contacted an individual in US Army Intelligence in San Antonio after the assassination; and the next questions sort of deal with -- Prouty: Read that again, please -- I think I missed a sentence that's important. Just start from the beginning -- Wray: Okay; in your book, you talk about how you contacted a person that you knew in US Army Intelligence in San Antonio -- Prouty: It didn't work that way. He contacted me. Wray: He contacted you? Okay. Maybe I should rephrase it and say you had contact with -- Prouty: Yeah. Well ... he called me, which is relatively routine. The only thing was, by the time he called me, I had retired. But that's all right. He called me. Because I didn't know he had this on his mind, so I wouldn't have ... would not have called him. Prouty could not remember who he spoke to: Wray: Do you recall when this conversation took place? Prouty: '64, '65. Something like that. Wray: And do you recall who this person was? Prouty: He was the number two man, as I understand it, to Col. Reich, who was the commander of a military unit down there in Houston; and that should be a matter of record. That's how he introduced himself to me. Prouty did not know this person prior to the phone call: Wray: Did you know this person before that conversation? Prouty: No. No -- again, it's one of those things where we never dealt by voice ... I had dealt with the unit, by different orders, but ... no. They showed Prouty a roster of people from the 316th and he couldn't pick out who had called him. Wray: Col. Reich was the commander of the 316th Intelligence Corps Detachment in San Antonio, which was assigned to the 112th Intelligence Corps Group. I have a roster of individuals who were assigned to the 316th -- Prouty: Good. I've never seen it, that I know of. Wray: This roster, I should say, is a roster based on the information we've been able to find from the Archives as our best understanding of the people that were assigned there in November of 1963. There are other rosters of individuals who arrived after that time. Prouty: (long pause) Now, since these things were generally kept to a relatively small group ... I think I was speaking to his (Reich's) deputy, and I don't see him here. See, we didn't -- like, I didn't, even know Reich was involved; when we dealt with this crowd, because of the level I worked at, I dealt with the 112th, which was the senior organization. And I think the man I was talking to was clearly the deputy to this person, and ... I mean ... that's just the way I can tell you ... I don't know, like the other people ... Wray: Okay ... But you don't recognize the name on the list of the 316th? Prouty: I only recognize Reich's [name] because I know since then Reich was the commander there. Prouty is then shown a roster from the 112th: Wray: This is the roster -- this is the 112th's Group Headquarters. Now this is actually dated, I think, from December 1963. Prouty: Yup. December 1963. (Long pause) See, we never dealt by name with the organization. In fact, the few times that we had anything to do with this kind of a crowd would be when they'd call us, because they didn't want things to cross. And usually, it would be a call from Fort Myer. Like, I don't remember ever having a call from Col. Reich, although I knew who Reich was, since he was the -- Wray: Let me go back and see if -- sort out where we are with this individual. Let me ask you directly: do you recall who the person was? Do you recall the person's name? Prouty: No. I'd have to ... I was quite surprised, because it was when I had retired and left; and the chance of me having contact with people I'd never even worked with was rare. What he was doing -- somehow, he put it together himself, I guess -- was telling me, sort of like [an] introduction; he said that Col. Reich was very upset that he found out that nobody had been assigned to Dallas. And thinking, you know, that among the different units that might have been assigned to Dallas, he would have been one of them, just -- you know -- one of three or four, maybe. That's a regular business. I had no way of knowing, since I wasn't on duty in those days, that this had come up. And it just confirmed other things; that, geez -- if he wasn't in Dallas, [then] how the heck did that happen? Because it's just as automatic as going to lunch. These units are created for presidential protection. They're trained for presidential protection. Wray: Back on the person ... you don't recall the person's name. You don't recognize the name on the list. Did I understand [you] correctly to say that you did not personally know this person? It was not an acquaintance of yours before the call? Prouty: I didn't know anybody in the outfit. The only way we would know is, getting calls where they might ask questions; like, they were asked to send ten men to [Ft.] Holabird, you know, to the school. Okay, we'd see that they got orders for that. But that was secretarial, mostly. We didn't meet the people. (Pause) Like the U-2 pilots. I never knew a U-2 pilot by name, and we had loads of them. Wray: Let me back up and ask my question again, because I think we'd like to hear clearly what your answer is. I was inquiring about how it was -- why this individual sought you out to contact you. Prouty: It was a surprise to me; except that he could identify himself as being, as I recall, the deputy of the unit. Well, the units usually went to these assignments, as I understand it, by rote. You know; if it was on your beat, you went. Like a baseball schedule -- if the Orioles are going to play in Los Angeles, they're supposed to be there. But if some other team went there that day, something happened. Well, that's what he was saying. He said that they didn't know they were supposed to be in Dallas, because nobody had called them. It wasn't on their list. Well, after the deal was over, they wondered why they weren't. And that was the question: why weren't they? Well, it wasn't my business to know either, and furthermore, I wasn't here at the time. I was out of the country. So I couldn't have participated in it even -- anyway. As a matter of fact, I that's the first thing I told him -- I said, "Hell, I wasn't even here." I was interested in the fact that he called, because it was the first time it had ever occurred to me that the rote ... the advance orders hadn't taken effect. And I wondered what happened to the system. That's all we ever knew about it was ... the schedule. The President's going to make a trip, so somebody's going to this city, and someone's going to be in that city. And I don't know how familiar you are with a job like that ... [there's] a lot of advance ... like, when I went to Mexico City with the Secret Service when Eisenhower was going down there back in the 50's -- geez, we were in Mexico City, I think, at least three weeks before the President went down there, doing all kinds of prepatory [sic] work. You know, who'd take the windows of this building, who'd close those, who'd be on the roof of this building, where will the sniper be ... I mean, that's business. And it's a lot of work. It's not casual. It isn't just 'run out there for one day and back again.' Well, since I knew that's the way they worked [sic], I figured, "where the hell were they?" Well, that begins to ask some pretty big questions. But that was just my own wondering, "why weren't they there?" When I see windows open -- why the hell weren't the windows closed? And if they weren't closed, something very serious is wrong. Not just casually -- this is 100 years of Secret Service work. This is a profession. And since I had gone with them myself on a trip to Mexico City when the time was such that Eisenhower's people were a little concerned about Mexico City ... we really did that town over. Well, it's a profession -- they have a book on what to do. One thing you do is you keep the windows closed. If a window opens, there's a sniper on that window immediately. That's why they have lots of military scattered in civilian clothes around there -- to be sure that nothing happens. And they can keep it from happening. But why the hell weren't they there in Dallas? ... That was my point. The fact that this guy called me is almost an irrelevant issue. I think he felt the way I did; he was trying to find out why his unit wasn't there. The conversation moved to another topic and then came back to the phone call: Gunn: So when someone called you, then from the 316th, it was your understanding -- at least at that time - that the person normally would have reported to Fort Myer, but they were going and calling you because they how [sic] they -- Prouty: (Crossly) Such a thing never crossed my mind. The man that called me was an individual. I don't even know if he was on duty, and I had never seen him. There were certain things I wouldn't tell him. But what he told me was what had gone on in his command when they found out that the schedule had been interrupted. So I listened to him talk. I had no reason for taking with the guy. The ARRB came back to the phone call one last time and Prouty was starting to have doubts: Zimmerman: Well, I was going to ask you -- when you spoke to this deputy to Colonel Reich ... Did he mention to you that Army units had been present in Houston, San Antonio, and the other cities on the Texas trip, and not Dallas? Or they just were not present on the Dallas trip? Prouty: Well, the assumption was, from the person -- and since I've seen the list of names, and he's not on there, I'm beginning to wonder seriously whether he was really in that crowd; because you must have every name that there is in the outfit. In February 1977, Tim Wray wrote a memo on Army Intelligence in Dallas. Here is his conclusion about the phone call: I mentioned in my book, On the Trail of Delusion - Jim Garrison: The Great Accuser, that the ARRB found that Prouty could not back up any his allegations. James DiEugenio answered my critique of Prouty in his "Fred Litwin's Follies" series: "The other point is about the lack of military protection for Kennedy in Dallas. When asked by the ARRB if he had any notes on this, Fletcher said he did not. (See page 6 of the ARRB summary of the interview) Fletcher did have the notes of the call. And Len Osanic has seen them. His informant said that, as late as January 1964, when he reported to the 316th Field Detachment—which was very close to the 112th Military Intelligence Group in San Antonio—there were still arguments between the two commanders about why they were not detached to go to Dallas. (ARRB interview with Col. Bill McKinney 5/2/97) Especially since some of the officers there had been trained in presidential protection at Fort Holabird. McKinney called Prouty about it since Fletcher would likely have arranged the air transportation for the unit. After all, it’s a four drive from San Antonio to Dallas. Also, after the film was released, a daughter of one of the high level officers called Len. She told him that, over the assassination weekend, there was an argument at her home over this particular issue. Namely why there was no military protection forwarded to Dallas. (Interview with Osanic, 2/6/2021)" DiEugenio just flat out contradicts the source he cites. He brings up Col. Bill McKinney and says that he “called Prouty about it [a detachment for Dallas] since Fletcher would likely have arranged the air transportation for the unit.” If you read the actual interview with William McKinney, you find out that at the time he was just a PFC “who had just completed basic training and was attending intelligence training in Ft. Holabird, MD. It is important to note that McKinney had not yet reported to the 316th on November 22, 1963 and was not in Texas.” What’s worse is that McKinney did talk to Prouty, as DiEugenio claims, except that the call was in 1977 or 1978 and it was about a story he was working regarding train track conditions [Prouty worked for Amtrak]. You can download the ARRB interview with Fletcher Prouty on the Documents page. Previous Relevant Posts on Fletcher Prouty Fletcher Prouty Talks to the ARRB A summary document of his interview with the ARRB Fletcher Prouty and Army Intelligence in Dallas Another summary document from the ARRB about Prouty's allegations and army intelligence. Was Fletcher Prouty an Antisemite? Prouty had some very unsavory relationships with antisemitic groups. Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part One Was Fletcher Prouty's Trip to Antarctica Unusual? Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part Two Regarding Christchurch, New Zealand and The Christchurch Star

Regarding Christchurch, New Zealand and The Christchurch Star Here is an excerpt from the ARRB memo of the interview summary with Fletcher Prouty: Here is an excerpt from the screenplay for JFK: X (voice-0ver) It wasn't until I was on my way back to New Zealand that I read of the President's murder. Now, Oswald was charged at 7 P.M. Dallas time with Tippit's murder. That was 2 in the afternoon the next day New Zealand time, but already the papers had the entire history of an unknown 24-year-old man, Oswald -- a studio picture, detailed biographical date, Russian information -- and were pretty sure of the fact he'd killed the President alone, although it took them four more hours to charge him with the murder in Texas. It felt as if, well, a cover story was being put out like we would in a black op. Here are a few excerpts from Prouty's interview with the ARRB: Prouty: Well, we left there [Antarctica] and came back to New Zealand on the way back home, and we were in New Zealand on, I think, the 21st, 22nd and 23rd, and then maybe the 24th of November. Among the party that I was the escort officer for was a Congressman. And he and I were getting ready to go down and meet each other for breakfast. And I had already gotten to the table, had a cup of coffee, and was waiting for him to come down; and the PA system in the hotel said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the BBC have announced that President Kennedy has been shot ... [then an] interval ... dead, in Dallas." Just like that, that's all we heard. Sheez! I put my cup down, and on the stairs, coming down into the dining room, was the Congressman. He came up to the table, and he said, "Did you hear what I just heard?" I said, "Of course." The PA system came back on again, and said, "We're very sorry, that's all the news we have; we just picked it up from the BBC, but we'll see what we can do." Well, you know, of course, what we wanted to do was learn more -- what's going on? And the people outside this nice hotel -- it was like a lanai out there, a big patio -- had a flagpole, with a British flag on it. People just got up from breakfast, without any words being spoken or anything, and they went outside and stood around that flagpole, for lack of ... and a few people knew that the man with me was a congressman. And the manager of the hotel came over and stood beside him, and he said, "We're going to lower the flag for your president." And as I understood it, that was the first time the British flag was every lowered for anybody except an Englishman. [It was an] interesting little thing, that happened all by itself; a couple of hundred people standing there. Of course, November down there, it's springtime. We didn't have any news. That was all the news we had. So, during the morning, we wondered what was going on ... finally, we got to a radio and got some news, but it was still all broken. And [we] went out on the street of Christchurch, New Zealand, and I got a newspaper. (Pulls out newspaper) And this is how I learned about it. And since I had some experience in the business, within about fifteen minutes, I knew how it happened. Because there' some things in this picture, and what's in the paper ... and you don't have to go any further. Too bad the picture's a little blurred here in this thing ... The windows are open; obviously open, in the School Book Depository Building, the famous building. And I turned to the congressman, and I said, "You know, there must be something wrong in Dallas. The Secret Service never allows that. Our military protection people never allow that. I wonder what happened." Then down here, it says, "Three bursts of gunfire, apparently from automatic weapons were heard. Secret Service men immediately unslung their automatic weapons and their pistols." Now, from what you know about that event, what we read in the papers -- have you heard that before? But that's the ... I went to the Library of Congress when I got home. I still had the paper with me. I opened up as many different newspapers as I could get from the same date, and they all had that three bursts of gunfire, and they all had the Secret Service men with their automatic weapons -- two things which the literature have never gotten to [sic] subsequent to the very first printings. Down here -- Wray: -- Excuse me, does that credit a wire service or a source for that story? Prouty: Oh, of course, Yeah. This is published under NZPA, and AAAP. The AAAP is American Associated Press, but the New Zealand is something -- Press Association, I think; New Zealand Press Association. But they're published ... And in places where they borrowed from others, they put the other, like ... this is NZ ... here's Reuters ... Well, it was all ... it was all made up, because they didn't have any information. They didn't have a correspondent out there. That's what was interesting about it. It's all stuff coming in from outside. After we read it a bit, I got interested in this, because it said, "the arrested man lived in Russia." Now to have that accompany the same news that said three bursts of automatic weapon fire, and the other things, convinced the congressman and myself that, 'geez, they've got this guy, and they've known -- they've already queried him and know who it is.' But they hadn't. We didn't learn till -- it was the next day when they finally arranged [sic] Oswald for the crime, and even at the time, reporters hadn't gotten to him to find out all this background. Where the hell did it come from? Well, of course, I didn't know that till after I got home. Because I believed it. I thought ... you know, I thought they had the guy. But with that kind of stuff in the paper, and then having the sources that I had in the Pentagon, and going to the Library of Congress, the answer to the whole thing is right there. And this is a copy of the paper. I'll leave it with you if you want it. Because, here's the next page ... see, Oliver Stone made it for the movie. But, it's got the stories in it; if you want it just for the hell of it, you're welcome to it. Wray: Let me ask you this: is this a copy of the newspaper? Prouty: It's a precise copy of my original. Except, of course, you can see, there are other pages in there ... if you go back to ... see, what they do in the ... in different parts of the film, they would be using different newspapers that day. Like, here's something interesting, the Dallas Morning News is in there. Wray: So, actually -- I guess my question is, this is not the ... this item I'm holding in my hands is not the thing that you held in New Zealand -- this is a reproduction? Prouty: A copy of it. Wray: A reproduction. Prouty: But done movie-style; on the next page, it's what is it? -- the New Orleans something-or-other- Barger: The States-Item. Prouty: And so on. But that's the way the movies do it. But the subject matter is just -- it's a print of the subject matter. Wray: Right. So what we're really looking at here is a reproduction that actually has on subsequent pages ... are actually the pages -- reproductions of pages from other newspapers, dealing with information or news about the assassination? Prouty: See, what they did, when they heard how I got my news by going to the Library of Congress, they did the same thing. They went and got the front page of all the papers that were in the library, and then put them all together so you could see them at one time instead of having to sit in the library and pull them all down, and that was the objective of it. They printed hundreds of them. Barger: If I can interrupt for just a moment, do you recall approximately what time it was that you purchased or got the paper in New Zealand? What time it hit the streets? Prouty: We heard about the shooting at 6:30 in the morning. I'm quite sure we didn't have the paper before noon. But if it wasn't before noon, it was very close to noontime. And, if you move back eighteen hours, you can figure what it was, US time. But ... it ... in my opinion, it was just before we had lunch. We were on the street, and we heard the guy yelling, you know obviously; [he was] walking in the middle of the street with the papers. And we got it. So it was somewhere in that area. You know, at that time, we didn't think anything complicated. We figured, "Geez, there's the story -- what more will there be?" See, so, we took the paper for what it was. The funny thing is -- well, it isn't in here - really strange coincidence, is ... the day before, we'd been to the horse track, and all the horse race finishes were here. Well, I didn't think anything of that, either; but, I got home, and found out that one of the neighbors had bought the horse that won the big race that day and the day before. And I kept the paper as much to show my neighbor about this beautiful horse he had bought, which became the biggest money winning ... not a trotter -- what's the name? -- pacer, in this country, ever. So, I had two reasons for bringing the paper home, and one of them seemed to be as important as the other: my neighbor and his new horse. But it's not in there of course, it wasn't the part that was copied. If you check the early reports in newspapers in the United States, you will find that the statement "Three bursts of gunfire, apparently from automatic weapons, were heard," comes from a UPI report. Here is an excerpt from the November 22, 1963 afternoon edition of the Omaha World Herald: It was an early report, and clearly not right. But Prouty would go on believing it for the rest of his life (more below). Prouty is unsure as to when he actually bought the newspaper in Christchurch. He said it certainly wasn't before noon...but it was close. It's quite surprising that Prouty could not do the proper math to figure out the proper times frames. Here's a good analysis from David Perry: "Prouty creates confusion by maintaining the release of information on Oswald could not occur until Oswald was charged with the crime. Any student of the Kennedy assassination remembers Oswald wasn't charged for many hours and then for the Tippit shooting. He was, however, taken into custody at 1:50 PM. (8:50 AM, New Zealand time.) The Warren Report referencing Dallas Police Chief Jessie Curry's testimony at 12H30, the testimony of reporter Glen King at 15H55 and King's notations in Decker Exhibit four (DE4) shows the press had knowledge Oswald was in custody "within an hour of Oswald's arrest." (10:00 AM, New Zealand time.) In fact, King points out there was a live TV news broadcast concerning Oswald at 3:26 PM (10:26 AM, New Zealand time.) To me and by Prouty's own admission the newspaper had at least two hours to get the "extra" on the street. To make this perfectly clear, we can convert Dallas events to Prouty's time zone (New Zealand). Kennedy is shot at 7:30 AM. Oswald is taken into custody at 9:00 AM. The press knew of Oswald's being in custody by 10:00 AM, and could start their research on him. King's live TV coverage commenced at 10:26 AM. In essence, the New Zealand newspaper would have from shortly after 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM to get the "Extra" out. Remember an "Extra" is not a complete newspaper. It is a quick compilation of immediate facts on a specific subject. The "Extra" is wrapped around the previous issue." Here is what the Christchurch Star has to say about this so-called controversy: The New Zealand perspective The Christchurch Star reported that the Kennedy assassination took place at 7:00 am (New Zealand time), Saturday, 23 November 1963. Oswald was taken into custody at 8:50 am, at first charged with the shooting of Dallas Patrolman J. D. Tippit. The press knew of Oswald’s being in custody by 10 am and could begin gathering information about him. The Christchurch Star was published in the early afternoon. The Christchurch Star connection Preoccupation with The Christchurch Star connection had existed since 1963 [I doubt this is true; it all started with Prouty] but intensified with the release in 1992 of Oliver Stone’s movie JFK, which put forward a conspiracy view of the assassination. It used, as part of its evidence, the front page of The Christchurch Star of 23 November 1963. There were claims that The Christchurch Star coverage contained information which was pre-packaged by conspirators prior to the assassination taking place, and distributed in the United States and then sent out to New Zealand very soon after the event. They say Oswald’s background was reported far too quickly and it must have been a CIA-planted cover story. An episode in the film features ‘Mr. X’, identified by Oliver Stone later as Air Force Colonel L. Fletcher Prouty (1917 - 2001). Prouty served in the Pentagon and was shown being sent out of the way to Antarctica by those who had planned the assassination. Played by actor Donald Sutherland, Mr. X is seen supposedly buying a copy of The Christchurch Star on the morning of 23 November 1963 at Christchurch Airport. The Star’s reporting of the assassination Bob Cotton, Chief Reporter of The Christchurch Star, says that following the release of JFK, The Star received numerous requests from investigative writers, journalists and authors in the United States for copies of the pages of the November 1963 issue. Some conspiracy theorists have made special trips to Christchurch to interview him and there have even been suggestions that The Christchurch Star company was involved. These theories, however, are based on inaccurate assumptions about The Star newspaper’s production. Bob Cotton was a reporter at the paper at the time and can recall clearly the events of November 1963. He says that even in 1963 global communication was fast and effective, and an assassination of an American President meant that everything and everyone on The Star worked doubly quick. News then came by AAP and various wire services which would have been competing to get the news out to their subscribers. Photographs were usually wired to Australia, then to Auckland and then to Christchurch. This time, to get the photographs early, some of the geographical links were bypassed through technical ingenuity at The Star. Even so, the paper would not have been published until 1:30 pm or 2:15 — 2:30 pm depending on the edition. Bob Cotton says that The Star was never published in the morning during his time on the newspaper (from 1958). The JFK character Mr X is not even shown with a genuine Christchurch Star newspaper. He buys a thin-width broadsheet whereas The Christchurch Star was always produced as a full-width broadsheet. Bob Cotton also explains that every newspaper has a large store of biographical material, and says that Lee Harvey Oswald was not a stranger to the media. Information on him would have been readily available in American newspapers and media offices and would have been sent out quickly. In 1959 there had been much coverage in newspapers about young men defecting to the Soviet Union and Oswald’s defection had been covered in detail in The Washington Post, The Washington Evening Star and The New York Times. Here is part of the front-page of the Christchurch Star: Here is the front-page story on Oswald: Further in his testimony, Prouty brings up the picture of Oswald that appeared in the Christchurch Star: Prouty: But let's go to who is it [that] told the newspapers that there was a burst of ... that there were three bursts of automatic weapon fire in Dallas. Where did that come from? Who planted that? Or was it the truth? And I think it was probably the truth. I think that one, because it was put so high in the headlines. It was one of these things where a reporter immediately called in, and said, "We heard three bursts of gunfire," and that's probably the truth. But then when they start going down ... unfortunately, in his paper, since it doesn't have the inner pages -- I don't have the inner pages of that Christchurch paper. But there's a picture of Oswald there in a business suit, with a tie on... nobody was able to get that picture that day. Where the hell did that picture -- in fact, Sprague told me he'd never even saw that picture. One of the most famous experts on the pictures of this whole thing. Dick Sprague, never saw that picture until I showed him the Christchurch paper. And even after that, they couldn't find it anywhere. [But] it went around the world in the papers. Where'd it come from? Who planted that? Well, it's the cover story; that's not the crime. There's a very serious problem -- And, here is the picture of Lee Harvey Oswald that appeared inside the paper: Where did they get this picture from? Well, from the 1959 UPI story about his defection: Augusta Chronicle, November 16, 1959 When the ARRB wrote their analysis of Prouty's allegation about the time frame of the Christchurch Star in their report, they had yet to go through the various press reports. Needless to say, it would not have taken them long to figure out that there was nothing to Prouty's allegations. You can download the ARRB interview with Fletcher Prouty on the Documents page. Previous Relevant Posts on Fletcher Prouty Fletcher Prouty Talks to the ARRB A summary document of his interview with the ARRB Fletcher Prouty and Army Intelligence in Dallas Another summary document from the ARRB about Prouty's allegations and army intelligence. Was Fletcher Prouty an Antisemite? Prouty had some very unsavory relationships with antisemitic groups. Fletcher Prouty's Interview with the ARRB, Part One Was Fletcher Prouty's Trip to Antarctica Unusual?

Was Fletcher Prouty's Trip to Antarctica Unusual? On September 24, 1996, L. Fletcher Prouty was interviewed by the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB). You can click here to read a very good summary of his interview. Prouty was unable to back up any of the allegations from his books and articles. In fact, the ARRB interviewers were so unimpressed with Prouty that they decided to have a full transcript typed up. Have a look at this memo: Tim Wray notes at the bottom of the first page: "More importantly, however, we need to do a full transcript of his interview with us because -- given the fact that it is so full of retractions, contradictions and disqualifications of his other statements -- there's no way we can fairly represent the interview in summary form without it looking like a hatchet job." I thought it would be useful to go over Prouty's allegations, one by one, and post his exact testimony. Here is an excerpt from the ARRB summary memo: Here is some dialogue from the film JFK: X (voice over) ... a strange thing happened. I was sent by my superior officer, call him Y, to the South Pole as the military escort for group of international VIPs. This trip had nothing to do with my nine years of work in Special Operations. It was sort of a "paid vacation." Here is Prouty's testimony to the ARRB regarding his trip to Antarctica: Wray: But I guess my question now about the Antarctica trip [is]; do you feel that you were sent to Antarctica for some sinister purpose to get you out of the -- Prouty: Oh, no. I'd been working with them since 1959. It was so routine for them to call me, that I didn't give it a thought. And when they said 'we've got this team of people going down in a military airplane;' it's the military custom to put an escort officer in board. And so my boss said, "You're escort officer for this flight to Antarctica." [I thought] Fine. And that's all it was. It was just like that. And then when I found out it was this nuclear plant, I thought, "Gee, this is interesting." I got all the books I could and everything, so I would know what the hell was going on. But I had nothing ... I never figured Kennedy was gong to be killed, or anything else. And even afterwards, when I heard people extrapolating in that sense, thinking that it wasn't my job; they didn't know that I'd already been working with Antarctica people since 1959. I've never heard one of them say that. Yet that's a record. I mean, apparently, they haven't taken out the records from the Antarctica offices, because that's a record there' signed by the man who sent me this very nice commendation letter, among other things. The conclusion of the ARRB: "The trip to Antarctica, ascribed sinister intent in the film JFK, was a routine duty for Col. Prouty, and was not particularly unusual. Since there was nothing unusual about the trip, nor is there any apparent connection to the assassination beyond Prouty's having been on a trip at the time of the shooting, no further research is recommended by the ARRB staff. No records relating to the assassination could be reasonably expected to be obtained. Prouty made no statements for the records to back up suspicions he mentioned in the excerpt from his book cited above." You can download the ARRB interview with Fletcher Prouty on the Documents page. Previous Relevant Posts on Fletcher Prouty Fletcher Prouty Talks to the ARRB A summary document of his interview with the ARRB Fletcher Prouty and Army Intelligence in Dallas Another summary document from the ARRB about Prouty's allegations and army intelligence. Was Fletcher Prouty an Antisemite? Prouty had some very unsavory relationships with antisemitic groups.

The reality of what Clay Shaw is up against starts to kick in. Note that J.B. refers to J. B. Dauenhauer. who was the Assistant Managing Director of the International Trade Mart, and thus was Clay Shaw's main assistant. Some comments about these entries: Shaw continues to drink: "I was up at six o'clock, and the psychic pain was so intense that I found myself drinking a martini at six am. Definitely not a good thing." Shaw's best friend, Jeff Biddison, notices and Shaw writes that "He was somewhat upset at my drinking, and I must agree that drinking in the morning is a very bad thing. However, neither he or anyone can understand the psychic pain with which I awake, which drives me, if possible, to ease it a little around the edges." In addition, Shaw also needs sleeping pills at night. "Jeff is concerned that I am drinking too much and that I am depending too much on sleeping pills. However, this did not stop him from picking up an additional supply for me." Shaw also turns to religion to ease the pain. He visits with Father Sheridan, and they even share a martini. "I can no longer avoid the fact that the time has come for some commitment to be made and in a sense I am ashamed that it took such a catastrophe, that it took the iron of affliction to enter my soul." In terms of his case, Shaw notes that Ramsey Clark said that he had been investigated and cleared by the FBI. But Clark misspoke - he meant that the FBI had investigated the Clay Bertrand story back in 1963 - 1964. Shaw's name never came up during the Warren Commission. To this day, that blunder by Clark is cited by conspiracy theorists as proof that the FBI was investigating Shaw back in 1963. Lastly, Shaw's attorneys have told him that his defense will be costly. "In conference with Billy and Eddie [Wegmann] today, it was made clear to me that the cost of defending this suit may be absolutely enormous and staggering. Indeed, it may leave me pauperized. However, my immediate concern is to get this suit over and I am resolved not to worry too much about money. I have made it before and I can make it again, and, in any event, the Lord will provide. My religious feelings are getting deeper and I finally have been able to begin to pray." Shaw summoned the strength to get through his ordeal. His lawyers charged very little in fees, although he did have to pay $30,000 for detective work. Once the case was over, Shaw's retirement came to end and he had to sell his house, and go back to work. Previous Relevant Blog Posts Clay Shaw's Journal His preamble about Jim Garrison Clay Shaw's Journal - His Arrest Jim Garrison asks Clay Shaw to take truth serum or a lie detector test Clay Shaw's Journal - After His Arrest Shaw's friends are shocked at his arrest.

Bill Davy, in his book Let Justice Be Done, writes: (page 100) "Coincidentally, in 1967, a Garrison informant reported that New Orleans FBI agent, Regis Kennedy, had confirmed that 'Shaw was a CIA agent who had done work, of an unspecified nature, over a five year span in Italy.'" And, James DiEugenio recently quoted Davy on Facebook: "Regis Kennedy also knew Shaw worked for the Agency while he was on the Board of Permindex." His source is Davy. Here is the document that they quote: All we know is what Sciambra writes about Parrott's claims about what Kennedy said: "She said that REGIS KENNEDY confirmed to her the fact that CLAY SHAW is a former C.I.A. agent who did some work for the C.I.A in Italy over a five-year span." We have no idea of the context and what Kennedy actually said. What Parrott supposedly claimed is wrong. Shaw was not in Italy over a five-year period. Here is what Don Carpenter says about this in his book, Man of a Million Fragments, a magisterial biography of Clay Shaw: (page 333) "This anecdote is a good example of how information from law enforcement informants, and even well-meaning respectable citizens, contained in official-looking memos, must be analyzed for truthfulness and accuracy. Perhaps Regis Kennedy had actually told Betty Parent such a story, but there is no truth to the assertion that Shaw was a former "CIA agent," or that he spent five years in Italy at any time of his life." Where did the allegation come from? It came from series of article in Paese Sera, a communist-controlled newspaper in Rome, Italy. Here is what they said about Shaw - and this is from translations that are in the Jim Garrison papers: Note that a lot of what is in this report is just plain wrong. Shaw never said that he "accepted the position 'in exchange for two New Orleans-Rome airline tickets.'" Clay Shaw hated to fly and he would only take trains and boats. Second, there is no truth to the claim that "Clay Shaw, by his own admission, came to Rome during the time preceding the disbanding of the CMC." He never visited Rome on Permindex/CMC business. He turned down every request to attend board meetings. Lastly, Shaw did not leave the United States two days after the assassination. He left San Francisco a few days after the assassination and went to Portland, Oregon. He then went to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his friends. Shaw then returned to New Orleans in early December. He spoke to the Chamber of Commerce on December 11th. He did not go to Europe. The Paese Sera stories traveled the globe and appeared in various communist-party newspapers. It even made the mainstream Le Devoir in Montreal, Canada. Here is an article from L'Humanité, the newspaper of the French Communist Party: The article says Shaw spent several years in Rome. Here is a Life Magazine memo with a translation of the article: The claim that Shaw spent several years in Rome mirrors the claim in the Parrott memo. The journal of Richard Billings also mentions the L'Humanité article, and also indicates that Garrison saw the article. Entry for March 22, 1967: Story about Shaw and CIA appears in Humanite, probably March 8 . . . Giant has copy datelined Rome, March 7, from La Presse Italien . . . It explains Shaw working in Rome in '58 to '60 period . . . It all originated from Paese Sera. But, what about Betty Parrott? Well, it turns out that she was not only an informant for Garrison, but she was also an informant for the FBI, under her real name Betty Parent: Here is another FBI document: And Betty Parrott was even informing the FBI about William Dalzell, with whom she was having a relationship: Parrott was PCI (Potential Criminal Informant) 949-C: And Parrott was informing the FBI about Garrison's investigation: It seems likely that Betty Parrott heard the report about Clay Shaw living in Rome from people in Garrison's office, and she then asked Regis Kennedy about the article. He probably just told her that he had also seen the report. The so-called confirmation is meaningless, because Shaw had not been in Italy, and there is no evidence that he was a "C.I.A. agent." In an upcoming post, I will be examining so-called evidence that Shaw was a "contract source" for the CIA. Stay tuned. For more information on Paese Sera, click here. By the way, James DiEugenio would never quote from this FBI document: The FBI also talked to Eric Trumbach who ran the Lafitte in Exile gay bar:

Here are the next two days in Clay Shaw's journal - March 2nd and March 3rd, 1967. Shaw has already started to take pills to get to sleep. Here is the New Orleans States-Item article from March 2, 1967 that Clay Shaw references:

Here is another excerpt from Clay Shaw's journal. You can see that this was dictated into a tape recorder. Note the reticence of Shaw to discuss his homosexuality (his private life). He was a gay man in the closet and he was trying to keep it quiet. Little did he know what was in store for him. This paragraph stood out: "I had no objections to taking a truth serum and answering any questions about the assassination, but like a great many people, there are areas in my private life which I did not care to have opened up. I therefore told them I would not take a truth serum until and unless advised to do by a lawyer, who I wanted to contact right away. They made no objections to this and indeed the entire staff were very gentlemanly and had apparently set out to destroy my life in the nicest and most cleancut way possible." Shaw and his lawyer offered to have a lie detector test, or truth serum, if Shaw had a day's rest, and if they could review the questions to ensure that the sensitive part of his private life would not be probed. Garrison turned them down. Previous Relevant Posts Clay Shaw's Journal Sylvia Meagher Writes Clay Shaw and He Writes Back...

Clay Shaw kept a daily journal during most of 1967. He also started writing a book about the case, and dictated a lot of material which was then transcribed. Unfortunately, he never completed his book. I am sure that he was tired of the case and just wanted to live his life as best he could. Over the next several days, I will be posting excerpts from his writings. Today, I am posting his preamble about Jim Garrison. Tomorrow's Blog Post Clay Shaw is Arrested Previous Relevant Posts Sylvia Meagher Writes Clay Shaw and He Writes Back...

Yesterday I posted an excerpt from David Chandler's testimony from the Dean Andrews perjury trial. Of course, James DiEugenio took exception to my post on Facebook: "The only problem with this is a recurrent one with Litwin: its not true. David Chandler was a stringer for Time Life, and a great friend of the FBI informant Phelan and the CIA related Dick Billings. In fact he largely wrote the story Phelan had published about Garrison cleaning up the French Quarter and then the Life magazine hatchet job about Garrison being associated with the Mob, which he was not. Chandler was incessant in pushing the Mob angle on the JFK case. To the point of making stuff up and dropping it on the DA's office." This is a standard DiEugenio tactic - dismiss testimony you don't like because you either don't like their associates, or because somebody, somewhere has some sort of relationship with the FBI or the CIA. First-hand witnesses like Rosemary James, James Phelan, Hugh Aynesworth, David Chandler are all ignored by DiEugenio because only he understands New Orleans. Here is my analysis of his scholarship. In the same Facebook posting, DiEugenio also says: "The way that Garrison found out who Bertrand was is rather simple: there was no such person listed in the Crescent City. Therefore, one had to find out who was using such an alias. The problem at first was that the people in the French Quarter hated JG because of his campaign against B girl drinking. So when Ivon told Garrison to let him and the staff do it alone, they started to get plentiful results. As Garrison said in his book one of the first was at a bar that Andrews frequented. But, after that, it mushroomed. The FBI knew this also but Hoover was not going to help Garrison since he was exposing the many holes with the FBI inquiry. Even Liebeler knew this as the info got to the DOJ, and Ed Guthman informed him of it. How bad was it: When Ed Tatro visited New Orleans for the trial, since he had a Boston accent, people asked him what he was there for. When he told them they chuckled: 'Everyone down here knows Shaw is Bertrand, but that poor devil Garrison can't prove it so save his life." In fact, Garrison's staff did not get plentiful results. Here is a memo from Lou Ivon regarding his search for Clay Bertrand: DiEugenio says that Ed Guthman of the Department of Justice told Wesley Liebeler about Shaw being Bertrand. But that is not true - that was a rumor that Lawrence Schiller told Tom Bethell: "Schiller says Guthman told Liebeler it's been known for two months that Bertrand and Shaw are the same man." And DiEugenio's source is Bethell's diary entry. There is no direct testimony from Guthman about Shaw being Bertrand. By the way, I have debunked all of DiEugenio's witnesses he cites as proof that Shaw was Bertrand: Did The FBI Know that Shaw was Bertrand? Did Dean Andrews Admit that Clay Shaw was Clay Bertrand? Did William Morris Know Clay Shaw as Clay Bertrand? Did Clay Shaw's Maid Know he was Clay Bertrand? Did Clay Shaw Admit to Aloysius Habighorst that he was Clay Betrand? Did Clay Shaw Sign the VIP Guestbook as Clay Bertrand? The Search for Clay Bertrand... Did Thomas Breitner Meet Clay Bertrand? Did Carlos Marcello's Doctor Friend Know About Clay Bertrand? DiEugenio concluded his diatribe with this: "How reliable was Chandler? When JG wanted to call him in for questioning about his Mob slanders, he avoided the subpoena. Then Time Life got in contact with the governor. They asked him to infiltrate Chandler into the State Trooper ranks so Chandler could legally decline the subpoena. They told McKeithen that if he refused they would smear him with the Mob as they did Garrison. How honest was Chandler? Many years later, when he was writing for a Denver weekly, he admitted that Phelan knew Hoover was incinerating records of Oswald's role as an FBI informant after the assassination. HIs son got in contact with me in the nineties and said that his father also knew that Shaw and Ferrie were friends. Fred Litwin relies on the public's ignorance about New Orleans. I look at my function the other way: to add to the factual record about the area. You cannot do that by going through the archives of Jim Kirkwood and rerunning mildewed and discredited stories from the likes of a cover up artist like Chandler." Of course, Chandler wanted to avoid going before the grand jury. He knew it would be a lose-lose situation and that he could end up with a perjury indictment, which was Garrison's favorite ploy. Chandler had offered to turn over his investigative files to Garrison's office for presentation to the grand jury but that was turned down. Garrison had no interest in learning more about organized crime, he wanted to silence Chandler. James DiEugenio criticizes me for going through the archives of James Kirkwood. It's interesting that he has not gone through the Kirkwood papers. It's a shame because Kirkwood interviewed all the major players in the Garrison investigation, and those raw interviews are amongst his papers. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. Given the interest in David Chandler, I thought it appropriate to post a memo written by an investigator for Clay Shaw: The dates above are clearly wrong. Garrison made the statement that he had solved the case in February, 1967. David Lewis was one of Garrison's early witnesses - he was almost a protege of Jack Martin. You can read the entire story of David Lewis which includes a statement from David Chandler here. For another interesting article about the Garrison investigation and David Chandler, click here.