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Nixon, Watergate and the JFK Assassination


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Over the last couple of months I have been investigating the links between Watergate and the JFK Assassination. I want to put forward a theory that attempts to explain the connection. It is only a theory and I would welcome constructive criticism and any evidence that supports or undermines my ideas.

I believe that shortly after the assassination Nixon became aware of who organized the killing of JFK. He therefore knew that Texas oil money had paid for the assassination and that it had been carried out by anti-Castro Cubans under the control of CIA agents and assets. What impressed Nixon was the way the conspirators engineered the cover-up. By implicating the CIA and the FBI in the conspiracy, they ensured that LBJ could manipulate these agencies to carry out the cover-up.

Nixon’s friendship with Hoover guaranteed the support of the FBI in his 1968 presidential campaign. The CIA was another matter. Nixon was convinced that the CIA had won the 1960 election for JFK. Nixon also believed, with good reason, that the leadership of the CIA was very sympathetic to the Democratic Party. He realised that once he gained power he would have to get the CIA under control.

Nixon won the 1968 election (mainly as a result of using Anna Chennault to undermine LBJ’s proposed peace talks in Paris). This is a subject I raised yesterday on the Secret Life of Richard Nixon thread.

John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman were both told by Nixon about the CIA involvement in the assassination and cover-up. Soon after gaining power Nixon got Ehrlichman to ask Richard Helms for files that he believed implicated the CIA in the assassination and the cover-up. Later he used Haldeman to make the same request. By using Haldeman and Ehrlichman in this way, Nixon let Helms know that he was not the only one who knew about the conspiracy. It was Nixon’s insurance policy, or so he thought. The code used was “Bay of Pigs”. This was Nixon’s way of letting Helms know that he was aware of the Cuban connection.

Helms refused to give up these files. They had probably all been destroyed by this time anyway. However, Helms had to live with the idea that Nixon knew about the CIA’s secrets. He was therefore a man who was highly dangerous. If it came to the crunch, would Nixon call for a full investigation of the JFK assassination? If this happened it would destroy the CIA. Another bonus would be the damage done to LBJ and the Democratic Party.

In 1969 Nixon’s main objective was to be elected in 1972. He therefore established Operation Sandwedge under Jack Caulfield and Tony Ulasewicz. Their orders was to make sure that Jack Kennedy was not the Democratic Party candidate and that George Wallace was not a third party candidate. Ideally, Nixon wanted to face someone who could be portrayed as a left-wing extremist. George McGovern was his preferred choice. Without Wallace in the race it would be a walkover.

Nixon insisted that Operation Sandwedge should never be traced back to Nixon. Tony Ulasewicz did a good job of doing this. Caulfield and Ulasewicz were also told to implicate the CIA in their operation in order to guarantee a cover-up if Operation Sandwedge was ever in danger of being exposed. The man they chose for this task was James W. McCord. Unaware of what his real role was he recruited other CIA assets such as Lou Russell, John Leon and Lee R. Pennington. Others were also recruited by Ulasewicz. This probably included Dennis Cassini and (*** *****). Operation Sandwedge was a great success. Kennedy was set-up at Chappaquiddick and Arthur Bremer took George Wallace out of the race.

Nixon’s big mistake was to allow Operation Gemstone to get started. It is possible that Nixon, Haldeman and Ehrlichman did not give permission for this and it indeed was under the control of Charles Colson and CREEP. By this time McCord was probably aware he had been used to implicate the CIA in Nixon’s dirty tricks campaign. He had also probably told Helms what had happened. Aware that Nixon was trying to undermine the power of the CIA (see the activities of Laurence Houston) Helms decided to turn the tables by setting up his adversary. He could not afford to get Nixon for Operation Sandwedge because the CIA was now implicated in Chappaquiddick and the Wallace shooting. He therefore decided to use Operation Gemstone for the purpose. True, that E. Howard Hunt was already involved, but he was disposable, or so he thought. McCord had no trouble getting recruited into Operation Gemstone. The plan was to sabotage a fairly minor dirty trick, the bugging of phones in the Democratic Headquarters. With the help of Lou Russell and Alfred Baldwin, the plan was to get the burglars caught. Baldwin would make a confession that would link the burglars to the White House. This would then apply pressure on Nixon to back-off the CIA.

Nixon does not respond in the way that Helms expects. He refuses to back down. Instead he increases the pressure and demands the CIA cover up Watergate. Helms is unwilling to do this as this could led to him being sent to prison if the full story ever gets out. When he refuses to get involved with paying hush money to Hunt and the burglars, Nixon tells Helms he is going to sack him and bring in someone to expose the CIA (James Schlesinger). Helms has now upset Hunt who also begins to threaten Helms and the CIA over what he knows about the JFK assassination. Hunt is warned off by having Dorothy Hunt killed (8th December, 1972).

Helms instructs James McCord to send this letter Jack Caulfield on 21st December, 1972:

“Sorry to have to write you this letter but felt you had to know. if Helms goes, and if the WG (Watergate) operation is laid at the CIA's feet, where it does not belong, every tree in the forest will fall. It will be a scorched desert. The whole matter is at the precipice right now. Just pass the message that if they want it to blow, they are on exactly the right course. I'm sorry that you will get hurt in the fallout.”

The letter goes to Caulfield as this indicates he is willing to expose Operation Sandwedge. Nixon is convinced Helms/McCord are bluffing as he believes that he cannot afford to reveal details of how the CIA was involved in Chappaquiddick and the George Wallace shooting. Nixon is right. However, there is another way to get Nixon out. Therefore McCord only discloses information about Operation Gemstone. The CIA help to keep the Watergate investigation away from Sandwedge by using Deep Throat (Richard Ober) to implicate Nixon, Haldeman and Ehrlichman in Gemstone and its cover-up. In reality, all three men were on the fringes of this operation, however, they all become deeply involved in the cover-up which eventually forces all three from office.

For this to work, McCord and the CIA have to ensure that details of Operation Sandwedge is not revealed. This is why McCord never names Lou Russell, John Leon and Lee R. Pennington. This is why all three men had to die during the Watergate investigation. Jack Caulfield is the weak-link in the chain. He is officially working for Nixon and is soon interviewed. He is threatened by prosecution unless he talks. He provides just a little information about Operation Sandwedge. This includes naming Tony Ulasewicz and a minor figure in the operation, Jack Ragan, who knows nothing other than his operation against Joseph Kraft. Ulasewicz does the same only restricting himself to his involvement in Operation Gemstone. Sam Ervin and his committee goes along with this by refusing to ask questions about Sandwedge.

This is successful and Nixon, Haldeman and Ehrlichman are forced to resign. However, they cannot expose the CIA because of their own involvement in the dirty tricks campaign against Edward Kennedy and George Wallace. The nearest they get is Haldeman’s account of the “Bay of Pigs” threat and Ehrlichman’s novel, Company, which tells of a president and the director of the CIA blackmailing each other to remain quiet about the scandals they have both been involved in (fascinating read, highly recommended).

Gerald Ford grants Nixon immunity from prosecution and appoints George Bush as director of the CIA. James Schlesinger and William Colby have both been responsible for exposing far too many CIA secrets. Bush’s job is to make sure that nothing more gets out about the plots against Kennedy and Nixon.

Most of the relevant documents have been destroyed. However, we still have some people left alive who were involved in Operation Sandwedge. Can we get them to talk? Maybe they know what the Watergate scandal was really about. They might even know what Nixon knew about the assassination of JFK.

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Over the last couple of months I have been investigating the links between Watergate and the JFK Assassination. I want to put forward a theory that attempts to explain the connection. It is only a theory and I would welcome constructive criticism and any evidence that supports or undermines my ideas.

I believe that shortly after the assassination Nixon became aware of who organized the killing of JFK. He therefore knew that Texas oil money had paid for the assassination and that it had been carried out by anti-Castro Cubans under the control of CIA agents and assets. What impressed Nixon was the way the conspirators engineered the cover-up. By implicating the CIA and the FBI in the conspiracy, they ensured that LBJ could manipulate these agencies to carry out the cover-up.

Nixon’s friendship with Hoover guaranteed the support of the FBI in his 1968 presidential campaign. The CIA was another matter. Nixon was convinced that the CIA had won the 1960 election for JFK. Nixon also believed, with good reason, that the leadership of the CIA was very sympathetic to the Democratic Party. He realised that once he gained power he would have to get the CIA under control.

Nixon won the 1968 election (mainly as a result of using Anna Chennault to undermine LBJ’s proposed peace talks in Paris). This is a subject I raised yesterday on the Secret Life of Richard Nixon thread.

John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman were both told by Nixon about the CIA involvement in the assassination and cover-up.

Just to play devil's advocate and apply Occam's Razor, I doubt that Nixon confided whatever details he might have known with either of his chief aides.  As you know, in his book Haldeman reveals that he suspected "Bay of Pigs" was a coded term for the Kennedy assassination.  Had he been witting of Nixon's actual knowledge, and his true intent in using Haldeman to deal with Helms, I doubt very much that he would have made this astonishing revelation.  Nor would he have been particularly surprised - as he seems to have been - at Helm's splenetic reaction to those three words. 

I suspect that Haldeman was a perfect intermediary because he could apply pressure on CIA with three little words - "Bay of Pigs" - without knowing the actual power behind them.  Moreover, if one listens to the White House tapes or reads the transcripts, Nixon repeatedly refers to "Bay of Pigs" as something that'll open up a whole can or worms, that'll track back to a variety of things.  Surely, had Nixon already told Haldeman and Erlichman the actual significance of "Bay of Pigs," he would have found it unnecessary to explain this to them at that late date.

Soon after gaining power Nixon got Ehrlichman to ask Richard Helms for files that he believed implicated the CIA in the assassination and the cover-up. Later he used Haldeman to make the same request. By using Haldeman and Ehrlichman in this way, Nixon let Helms know that he was not the only one who knew about the conspiracy. It was Nixon’s insurance policy, or so he thought. The code used was “Bay of Pigs”. This was Nixon’s way of letting Helms know that he was aware of the Cuban connection.

Precisely true, but neither of his aides needed to know the significance of the words, only that those words should be used to exert leverage upon Helms.

Helms refused to give up these files. They had probably all been destroyed by this time anyway. However, Helms had to live with the idea that Nixon knew about the CIA’s secrets. He was therefore a man who was highly dangerous. If it came to the crunch, would Nixon call for a full investigation of the JFK assassination? If this happened it would destroy the CIA. Another bonus would be the damage done to LBJ and the Democratic Party.

In 1969 Nixon’s main objective was to be elected in 1972. He therefore established Operation Sandwedge under Jack Caulfield and Tony Ulasewicz. Their orders was to make sure that Jack Kennedy was not the Democratic Party candidate and that George Wallace was not a third party candidate. Ideally, Nixon wanted to face someone who could be portrayed as a left-wing extremist. George McGovern was his preferred choice. Without Wallace in the race it would be a walkover.

Nixon insisted that Operation Sandwedge should never be traced back to Nixon.  Tony Ulasewicz did a good job of doing this. Caulfield and Ulasewicz were also told to implicate the CIA in their operation in order to guarantee a cover-up if Operation Sandwedge was ever in danger of being exposed. The man they chose for this task was James W. McCord. Unaware of what his real role was he recruited other CIA assets such as Lou Russell, John Leon and  Lee R. Pennington. Others were also recruited by Ulasewicz. This probably included Dennis Cassini and (*** *****). Operation Sandwedge was a great success. Kennedy was set-up at Chappaquiddick and Arthur Bremer took George Wallace out of the race.

While I suspect that there was such a person as Dennis Cassini [irrespective of whether that was his true name], I have yet to discover any evidence that he actually existed.  [if this were not his true name, that would hardly be a surprising result.]  If Sprague is correct about a connection between Cassini and Segretti, perhaps it is via Segretti that we can learn more about the man called Cassini.

Nixon’s big mistake was to allow Operation Gemstone to get started. It is possible that Nixon, Haldeman and Ehrlichman did not give permission for this and it indeed was under the control of Charles Colson and CREEP. By this time McCord was probably aware he had been used to implicate the CIA in Nixon’s dirty tricks campaign. He had also probably told Helms what had happened. Aware that Nixon was trying to undermine the power of the CIA (see the activities of Laurence Houston) Helms decided to turn the tables by setting up his adversary. He could not afford to get Nixon for Operation Sandwedge because the CIA was now implicated in  Chappaquiddick and the Wallace shooting. He therefore decided to use Operation Gemstone for the purpose. True, that E. Howard Hunt was already involved, but he was disposable, or so he thought.

Unless Helms knew, or had good reason to believe, that Hunt had nothing to do with the Kennedy assassination, it was dangerous to consider Hunt "disposable."  On the contrary, if Helms knew or suspected that Hunt was involved in Dealey Plaza - the very topic of the memo Angleton floated - Hunt would be a man who must be placated and catered to, in order to keep his mouth shut about that very issue. 

And I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest to learn that Hunt - via wife Dorothy, herself an Agency employee - was blackmailing CIA in precisely the same fashion as he was blackmailing the Nixon White House, playing both ends against the middle, and getting paid by two parties to remain silent about two different, but intertwined crimes.  [if Sherman Skolnik is even partially correct about the massive sums of money Dorothy had with her when her plane was downed, the amount far exceeds what Nixon might have been able to cobble together.  Whereas there was a certain agency infamous for its ability to maintain and disburse huge sums of untraceable and unvouchered funds.]

McCord had no trouble getting recruited into Operation Gemstone. The plan was to sabotage a fairly minor dirty trick, the bugging of phones in the Democratic Headquarters. With the help of Lou Russell and Alfred Baldwin, the plan was to get the burglars caught. Baldwin would make a confession that would link the burglars to the White House. This would then apply pressure on Nixon to back-off the CIA.

Nixon does not respond in the way that Helms expects. He refuses to back down. Instead he increases the pressure and demands the CIA cover up Watergate. Helms is unwilling to do this as this could led to him being sent to prison if the full story ever gets out. When he refuses to get involved with paying hush money to Hunt and the burglars,

Ah, but did he?  Please see above.  If Skolnik is correct [which is far from certain], where did so vast a sum of money originate? 

Nixon tells Helms he is going to sack him and bring in someone to expose the CIA  (James Schlesinger).

And among Schlesinger's first acts of office was the "fishing licence" memo in which he asked anyone within CIA who had any knowledge that CIA had done anything illegal or outside its charter at any time since its inception to come forward, immunity guaranteed.  Whatever Nixon had hoped to pry out of Helms should have surfaced in the White House as a result of Schlesinger's blanket offer.

Helms has now upset Hunt who also begins to threaten Helms and the CIA over what he knows about the JFK assassination. Hunt is warned off by having Dorothy Hunt killed (8th December, 1972).

Helms instructs James McCord to send this letter Jack Caulfield on 21st December, 1972:

“Sorry to have to write you this letter but felt you had to know. if Helms goes, and if the WG (Watergate) operation is laid at the CIA's feet, where it does not belong, every tree in the forest will fall. It will be a scorched desert. The whole matter is at the precipice right now. Just pass the message that if they want it to blow, they are on exactly the right course. I'm sorry that you will get hurt in the fallout.”

The letter goes to Caulfield as this indicates he is willing to expose Operation Sandwedge. Nixon is convinced Helms/McCord are bluffing as he believes that he cannot afford to reveal details of how the CIA was involved in Chappaquiddick and the George Wallace shooting. Nixon is right. However, there is another way to get Nixon out. Therefore McCord only discloses information about Operation Gemstone. The CIA help to keep the Watergate investigation away from Sandwedge by using Deep Throat (Richard Ober) to implicate Nixon, Haldeman and Ehrlichman in Gemstone and its cover-up. In reality, all three men were on the fringes of this operation, however, they all become deeply involved in the cover-up which eventually forces all three from office.

For this to work, McCord and the CIA have to ensure that details of Operation Sandwedge is not revealed. This is why McCord never names Lou Russell, John Leon and  Lee R. Pennington. This is why all three men had to die during the Watergate investigation. Jack Caulfield is the weak-link in the chain. He is officially working for Nixon and is soon interviewed. He is threatened by prosecution unless he talks. He provides just a little information about Operation Sandwedge. This includes naming Tony Ulasewicz and a minor figure in the operation, Jack Ragan, who knows nothing other than his operation against Joseph Kraft. Ulasewicz does the same only restricting himself to his involvement in Operation Gemstone. Sam Ervin and his committee goes along with this by refusing to ask questions about Sandwedge.

This is successful and Nixon, Haldeman and  Ehrlichman are forced to resign. However, they cannot expose the CIA because of their own involvement in the dirty tricks campaign against Edward Kennedy and George Wallace. The nearest they get is Haldeman’s account of the “Bay of Pigs” threat and Ehrlichman’s novel, Company, which tells of a president and the director of the CIA blackmailing each other to remain quiet about the scandals they have both been involved in (fascinating read, highly recommended).

Gerald Ford grants Nixon immunity from prosecution and appoints George Bush as director of the CIA. James Schlesinger and William Colby have both been responsible for exposing far too many CIA secrets. Bush’s job is to make sure that nothing more gets out about the plots against Kennedy and Nixon.

Most of the relevant documents have been destroyed. However, we still have some people left alive who were involved in Operation Sandwedge. Can we get them to talk? Maybe they know what the Watergate scandal was really about. They might even know what Nixon knew about the assassination of JFK.

Another factor to consider, John.  To my mind, Jim Hougan's 'Secret Agenda' makes a massive contribution by disclosing a single fact.  Richard Nixon was not the recipient of whatever photos were taken in the DNC.  Instead, Hunt gave the films to a CIA associate for processing, and whatever was gleaned went elsewhere.  The Nixon White House was given substitute photos of no great value or interest, shot against a carpet background unlike anything inside the DNC offices.  The whole burglary seems to have been hijacked, likely by McCord and Hunt, and Nixon wasn't even being given what he had paid them to obtain.  Quite ironic, actually.

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Over the last couple of months I have been investigating the links between Watergate and the JFK Assassination. I want to put forward a theory that attempts to explain the connection. It is only a theory and I would welcome constructive criticism and any evidence that supports or undermines my ideas.

I believe that shortly after the assassination Nixon became aware of who organized the killing of JFK. He therefore knew that Texas oil money had paid for the assassination and that it had been carried out by anti-Castro Cubans under the control of CIA agents and assets. What impressed Nixon was the way the conspirators engineered the cover-up. By implicating the CIA and the FBI in the conspiracy, they ensured that LBJ could manipulate these agencies to carry out the cover-up.

Nixon’s friendship with Hoover guaranteed the support of the FBI in his 1968 presidential campaign. The CIA was another matter. Nixon was convinced that the CIA had won the 1960 election for JFK. Nixon also believed, with good reason, that the leadership of the CIA was very sympathetic to the Democratic Party. He realised that once he gained power he would have to get the CIA under control.

Nixon won the 1968 election (mainly as a result of using Anna Chennault to undermine LBJ’s proposed peace talks in Paris). This is a subject I raised yesterday on the Secret Life of Richard Nixon thread.

John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman were both told by Nixon about the CIA involvement in the assassination and cover-up. Soon after gaining power Nixon got Ehrlichman to ask Richard Helms for files that he believed implicated the CIA in the assassination and the cover-up. Later he used Haldeman to make the same request. By using Haldeman and Ehrlichman in this way, Nixon let Helms know that he was not the only one who knew about the conspiracy. It was Nixon’s insurance policy, or so he thought. The code used was “Bay of Pigs”. This was Nixon’s way of letting Helms know that he was aware of the Cuban connection.

Helms refused to give up these files. They had probably all been destroyed by this time anyway. However, Helms had to live with the idea that Nixon knew about the CIA’s secrets. He was therefore a man who was highly dangerous. If it came to the crunch, would Nixon call for a full investigation of the JFK assassination? If this happened it would destroy the CIA. Another bonus would be the damage done to LBJ and the Democratic Party.

In 1969 Nixon’s main objective was to be elected in 1972. He therefore established Operation Sandwedge under Jack Caulfield and Tony Ulasewicz. Their orders was to make sure that Jack Kennedy was not the Democratic Party candidate and that George Wallace was not a third party candidate. Ideally, Nixon wanted to face someone who could be portrayed as a left-wing extremist. George McGovern was his preferred choice. Without Wallace in the race it would be a walkover.

Nixon insisted that Operation Sandwedge should never be traced back to Nixon.  Tony Ulasewicz did a good job of doing this. Caulfield and Ulasewicz were also told to implicate the CIA in their operation in order to guarantee a cover-up if Operation Sandwedge was ever in danger of being exposed. The man they chose for this task was James W. McCord. Unaware of what his real role was he recruited other CIA assets such as Lou Russell, John Leon and  Lee R. Pennington. Others were also recruited by Ulasewicz. This probably included Dennis Cassini and (*** *****). Operation Sandwedge was a great success. Kennedy was set-up at Chappaquiddick and Arthur Bremer took George Wallace out of the race.

Nixon’s big mistake was to allow Operation Gemstone to get started. It is possible that Nixon, Haldeman and Ehrlichman did not give permission for this and it indeed was under the control of Charles Colson and CREEP. By this time McCord was probably aware he had been used to implicate the CIA in Nixon’s dirty tricks campaign. He had also probably told Helms what had happened. Aware that Nixon was trying to undermine the power of the CIA (see the activities of Laurence Houston) Helms decided to turn the tables by setting up his adversary. He could not afford to get Nixon for Operation Sandwedge because the CIA was now implicated in  Chappaquiddick and the Wallace shooting. He therefore decided to use Operation Gemstone for the purpose. True, that E. Howard Hunt was already involved, but he was disposable, or so he thought. McCord had no trouble getting recruited into Operation Gemstone. The plan was to sabotage a fairly minor dirty trick, the bugging of phones in the Democratic Headquarters. With the help of Lou Russell and Alfred Baldwin, the plan was to get the burglars caught. Baldwin would make a confession that would link the burglars to the White House. This would then apply pressure on Nixon to back-off the CIA.

Nixon does not respond in the way that Helms expects. He refuses to back down. Instead he increases the pressure and demands the CIA cover up Watergate. Helms is unwilling to do this as this could led to him being sent to prison if the full story ever gets out. When he refuses to get involved with paying hush money to Hunt and the burglars, Nixon tells Helms he is going to sack him and bring in someone to expose the CIA  (James Schlesinger). Helms has now upset Hunt who also begins to threaten Helms and the CIA over what he knows about the JFK assassination. Hunt is warned off by having Dorothy Hunt killed (8th December, 1972).

Helms instructs James McCord to send this letter Jack Caulfield on 21st December, 1972:

“Sorry to have to write you this letter but felt you had to know. if Helms goes, and if the WG (Watergate) operation is laid at the CIA's feet, where it does not belong, every tree in the forest will fall. It will be a scorched desert. The whole matter is at the precipice right now. Just pass the message that if they want it to blow, they are on exactly the right course. I'm sorry that you will get hurt in the fallout.”

The letter goes to Caulfield as this indicates he is willing to expose Operation Sandwedge. Nixon is convinced Helms/McCord are bluffing as he believes that he cannot afford to reveal details of how the CIA was involved in Chappaquiddick and the George Wallace shooting. Nixon is right. However, there is another way to get Nixon out. Therefore McCord only discloses information about Operation Gemstone. The CIA help to keep the Watergate investigation away from Sandwedge by using Deep Throat (Richard Ober) to implicate Nixon, Haldeman and Ehrlichman in Gemstone and its cover-up. In reality, all three men were on the fringes of this operation, however, they all become deeply involved in the cover-up which eventually forces all three from office.

For this to work, McCord and the CIA have to ensure that details of Operation Sandwedge is not revealed. This is why McCord never names Lou Russell, John Leon and  Lee R. Pennington. This is why all three men had to die during the Watergate investigation. Jack Caulfield is the weak-link in the chain. He is officially working for Nixon and is soon interviewed. He is threatened by prosecution unless he talks. He provides just a little information about Operation Sandwedge. This includes naming Tony Ulasewicz and a minor figure in the operation, Jack Ragan, who knows nothing other than his operation against Joseph Kraft. Ulasewicz does the same only restricting himself to his involvement in Operation Gemstone. Sam Ervin and his committee goes along with this by refusing to ask questions about Sandwedge.

This is successful and Nixon, Haldeman and  Ehrlichman are forced to resign. However, they cannot expose the CIA because of their own involvement in the dirty tricks campaign against Edward Kennedy and George Wallace. The nearest they get is Haldeman’s account of the “Bay of Pigs” threat and Ehrlichman’s novel, Company, which tells of a president and the director of the CIA blackmailing each other to remain quiet about the scandals they have both been involved in (fascinating read, highly recommended).

Gerald Ford grants Nixon immunity from prosecution and appoints George Bush as director of the CIA. James Schlesinger and William Colby have both been responsible for exposing far too many CIA secrets. Bush’s job is to make sure that nothing more gets out about the plots against Kennedy and Nixon.

Most of the relevant documents have been destroyed. However, we still have some people left alive who were involved in Operation Sandwedge. Can we get them to talk? Maybe they know what the Watergate scandal was really about. They might even know what Nixon knew about the assassination of JFK.

"We need to get Connally in on this, he knows how to take care of things like this"

or words to that effect.

The White House Tapes of RMN.

So, was this about Milk or was it about JFK?

Tom

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My copy of Anthony Summers’ The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon arrived this morning. It has in fact nothing about Operation Sandwedge and Jack Caulfield and Tony Ulasewicz are barely mentioned. However, the book does have some interesting information on Lou Russell (including a photograph) and a man called William Gilday who could have been used as a Sandwedge operative.

Apparently Russell worked for the FBI during the Second World War. One of his assignments was to investigate Alger Hiss. Hoover was so keen to get Hiss he put Russell into contact with Nixon, who was his man in Congress. Russell, Nixon and Whittaker Chambers worked together against Hiss. They must have worked with Nathaniel Weyl on this as he provided the key information that Hiss was definitely a member of the American Communist Party. As most members will know, Weyl was a member of this forum but died a couple of months ago.

The really interesting information from the book concerns a man called William Gilday. In 1974 Gilday contacted the New York Times to say that in 1970 he was recruited by a Nixon aide to take part in operations against certain politicians. According to Gilday this ranged from dirty tricks to murder. Two of the politicians targeted were Edward Kennedy and George Wallace. Summers spoke to Gilday, who was based in Boston. Gilday showed him photographs that convinced him he was telling the truth. Gilday was later convicted of murdering a Massachusetts policeman in 1976. Gilday claims he was set up because of his political beliefs. Gilday was tried and found guilty for the killing of the Boston police officer and was sentence to death. His sentenced was later reduced to life imprisonment. He is presently incarcerated in MCI Shirley in Shirley, Massachusetts.

William Gilday (W33537), who is listed as being a political prisoner, can be at MCI Shirley, PO Box 1218, Shirley, MA 01464-1218

Interestingl, Gilday, like Lou Russell, was a professional baseball player. Was it Russell who suggested that Nixon employ Gilday? If so, was it attempt by the left to infiltrate Nixon's dirty tricks campaign? at the time Gilday was a member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and an anti-Vietnam War activist.

Summers does not name the aide for legal reasons but implies that it was Charles Colson. Summers quotes from a taped conversation between Colson and Nixon. Colson says on the tape: “I did things out of Boston… I’ll go to my grave before I ever disclose it.”

Summers also reproduces another conversation between Colson and Nixon two hours after Bremer shot Wallace.

Nixon: “Is he (Bremer) a left-winger, right-winger”.

Colson: “Well, he’s going to be a left-winger by the time we get through, I think.

Nixon (chuckling): “Good. Keep at that. Keep at that.”

Colson: Yeah. I just wish that, God, that I’d thought sooner about planting a little literature out there. (Nixon is heard laughing on the tape). It may be a little late, although I’ve got one source that maybe…

Nixon: Good.

This conversation suggests that Colson knew where Bremer lived before he shot Wallace.

I also discovered today that Bremer's incriminating diary was not found in his apartment by the FBI. It was found in his car the day after Wallace was shot. Colson therefore did have time to plant evidence against him that suggested he was a left-winger. The diary states that Bremer wanted to kill either Nixon or Wallace. This was used as evidence that Nixon was not involved in the Wallace shooting.

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