Lyndon Johnson and the Assassination of JFK

[John Simkin]

Over the last couple of months I have been investigating the possible role that Lyndon Johnson played in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Several writers have pointed out that LBJ was the main beneficiary of Kennedy’s death. He was also involved in persuading Kennedy to visit Texas. At the time there was a bitter dispute going on in the Democratic Party in Texas. Johnson and John Connally were seen as the leaders of the right-wing faction, whereas Ralph Yarborough led the liberal wing committed to civil rights (so much so that Connally and Johnson accused him of being a communist). Conservatives were also concerned that Yarborough was having a growing influence on Kennedy’s views on civil rights. (Yarborough was the only member of the Senate representing a former Confederate state to vote for every significant piece of civil rights legislation during the 1950s and 1960s).

Johnson and Connally went back a long way. Connally had ran all of Johnson’s election campaigns. In 1948 Connally was accused of fraud when he discovered at the last moment the existence of 200 votes for Johnson from Jim Wells County. It was these votes that gave Johnson an eighty-seven-vote victory.

On the morning of the assassination Johnson attempted to get the seating arrangements changed. For some strange reason he wanted Connally to be in his car and for Yarborough to go with Kennedy. This was a surprising idea as this would have given extra status to his political opponent. Connally clearly was not part of the conspiracy as he insisted in going in Kennedy’s car.

The first person to accuse Johnson of being involved in the conspiracy was a historian and failed politician called James Evetts Haley. His book ‘A Texan Looks at Lyndon’ was a best seller and it is claimed that in Texas only the Bible outsold Haley's book in 1964. In the book Haley attempted to expose Johnson's corrupt political activities. This included a detailed look at the relationship between Johnson and Billie Sol Estes. Haley pointed out that three men who could have provided evidence in court against the corrupt activities of Estes, George Krutilek, Harold Orr and Howard Pratt, all died of carbon monoxide poisoning from car engines. (He gave it the name “a Texas suicide”).

Haley also suggested that Johnson might have been responsible for the death of John F. Kennedy: "Johnson wanted power and with all his knowledge of political strategy and his proven control of Congress, he could see wider horizons of power as Vice-President than as Senate Majority Leader. In effect, by presiding over the Senate, he could now conceive himself as virtually filling both high and important positions - and he was not far from wrong. Finally, as Victor Lasky pointed out, Johnson had nursed a lifetime dream to be President. As Majority leader he never could have made it. But as Vice-president fate could always intervene."

The book received little publicity outside Texas (Haley had published it himself rather than use a national company). The journalist, Joachim Joesten, read the book and quoted extensively from it in his book ‘The Dark Side of Lyndon Baines Johnson’ (1968). Joesten argued that Johnson was embroiled in two major scandals in 1963 (the cases of Billie Sol Estes and Bobby Baker). Johnson was now a political liability and was seriously considering replacing him as his running mate in 1964. This appeared to be the case as Robert Kennedy had already started briefing against Johnson concerning the cases of Billie Sol Estes and Bobby Baker.

Joesten also took the view that Texas oil barons led by Haroldson L. Hunt and Clint Murchison had helped to fund the assassination. In 1963 Kennedy was talking about bringing an end to the oil depletion allowance (27.5 per cent). It remained unchanged during the Johnson presidency. This resulted in a saving of over 100 million dollars to the American oil industry. Soon after Johnson left office it dropped to 15 per cent.

Joesten’s book could not find a publisher in America but it eventually found a small company in England to take a chance with the book. In America Joesten was accused of working for the KGB (Joesten had been a member of the Communist Party in Germany before leaving the country when Hitler gained power). It was claimed by the extreme-right that Joesten’s book was an attempt to cover-up KGB’s role in the assassination.

Although James Evetts Haley and Joachim Joesten are able to explain why Johnson and his backers wanted Kennedy dead, they were unable to provide any actual evidence that he was involved in the assassination.

The campaign against Johnson as the man behind the assassination of Kennedy appeared to come to an end by the end of the 1960s. However, there was one man who was still working on the case. His name was Clint Peoples. As a Texas Ranger he was involved in the original investigation of Billy Sol Estes. He retired from the force in March, 1974 but continued to work on the case. He was especially interested in the death of a Department of Agriculture official called Henry Marshall. Peoples was interested in Marshall because at the time he was investigating the corrupt activities of Estes. Marshall was found dead on 3rd June 1961. Officially he had committed suicide but Peoples suspected he had been murdered.

In 1984 Peoples convinced Estes to give evidence before the Robertson County Grand Jury. Estes testified that Lyndon B. Johnson, Mac Wallace, Cliff Carter and himself met several time to discuss the investigation being carried out by Henry Marshall. According to Estes, Johnson eventually said: "Get rid of him," and Wallace was given the assignment. In 1984 the Grand Jury changed the verdict on the death of Henry Marshall from suicide to death by gunshot.

On 9th August, 1984, Estes' lawyer, Douglas Caddy, wrote to Stephen S. Trott at the US Department of Justice. In the letter Caddy claimed that Billie Sol Estes, Lyndon B. Johnson, Mac Wallace and Cliff Carter had been involved in the murders of Henry Marshall, George Krutilek, Harold Orr, Ike Rogers, Coleman Wade, Josefa Johnson, John Kinser and John F. Kennedy. Caddy added: "Mr. Estes is willing to testify that LBJ ordered these killings, and that he transmitted his orders through Cliff Carter to Mac Wallace, who executed the murders."

The problem with this evidence is that Billie Sol Estes is a convicted conman and very few people took his claims seriously. Once again the attempts to link Johnson to the assassination appeared to have come to a halt. Although the publication of the transcripts of Johnson’s telephone conversations revealed that he was heavily involved in the cover-up. The conversations between Johnson and Hoover are particularly illuminating. (For more details see Michael R. Beschloss’s book, Taking Charge: The Johnson White House Tapes: 1963-64, Simon & Schuster, 1997). An interesting aside, the Johnson and Hoover friendship dated back to the FBI investigation of the 1948 ballot-rigging case.

On 24th February, 1992, Madeleine Brown gave an interview on the television show, A Current Affair. Brown claimed that on the 21st November, 1963, she was at the home of Clint Murchison. Others at the meeting included J. Edgar Hoover, Clyde Tolson, John J. McCloy, Richard Nixon and Haroldson L. Hunt. At the end of the evening Lyndon B. Johnson arrived: "Tension filled the room upon his arrival. The group immediately went behind closed doors. A short time later Lyndon, anxious and red-faced, re-appeared. I knew how secretly Lyndon operated. Therefore I said nothing... not even that I was happy to see him. Squeezing my hand so hard, it felt crushed from the pressure, he spoke with a grating whisper, a quiet growl, into my ear, not a love message, but one I'll always remember: "After tomorrow those goddamn Kennedys will never embarrass me again - that's no threat - that's a promise."

Brown’s story was investigated and Gary Mack’s research was particularly damaging:

Madeleine has claimed over the years that she attended a party at Clint Murchison’s house the night before the assassination and LBJ, Hoover and Nixon were there. The party story, without LBJ, first came from Penn Jones in Forgive My Grief. In that version, the un-credited source was a black chauffeur whom Jones didn’t identify, and the explanation Jones gave was that it was the last chance to decide whether or not to kill JFK. Of course, Hoover used only top FBI agents for transportation and in the FBI of 1963, none were black. Actually, there is no confirmation for a party at Murchison’s. I asked Peter O’Donnell because Madeleine claimed he was there, too. Peter said there was no party. Madeleine even said there was a story about it in the Dallas Times Herald some months later (which makes no sense), but she had not been able to find it. Val Imm (Society Editor of the Dallas Times Herald) told Bob Porter (of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza staff) recently she had no memory of such an event and even looked through her notes - in vain.

Could LBJ have been at a Murchison party? No. LBJ was seen and photographed in the Houston Coliseum with JFK at a dinner and speech. They flew out around 10pm and arrived at Carswell (Air Force Base in northwest Fort Worth) at 11:07 Thursday night. Their motorcade to the Hotel Texas arrived about 11:50 and LBJ was again photographed. He stayed in the Will Rogers suite on the 13th floor and Manchester (William Manchester - author of The Death of a President) says he was up late. Could Nixon have been at Murchison’s party? No. Tony Zoppi (Entertainment Editor of The Dallas Morning News) and Don Safran (Entertainment Editor of the Dallas Times Herald) saw Nixon at the Empire Room at the Statler-Hilton. He walked in with Joan Crawford (Movie actress). Robert Clary (of Hogan’s Heroes fame) stopped his show to point them out, saying “. . . either you like him or you don’t.” Zoppi thought that was in poor taste, but Safran said Nixon laughed. Zoppi’s deadline was 11pm, so he stayed until 10:30 or 10:45 and Nixon was still there.

The next breakthrough came when Mark Collum met a Native American named Loy Factor. At the time Factor was serving a 44 year sentence for murder. Foy confessed to Collum that he had been involved in the assassination of Kennedy. He claimed that he carried out the killing with Mac Wallace. Mark Collum and the writer Glen Sample in the self-published book, The Men on the Sixth Floor (1995).

Once again Mac Wallace had been named as one of the gunmen who killed Kennedy. Wallace had been left-wing student activist in Texas during the 1940s. This changed after he met Lyndon B. Johnson and in October, 1950, he found him a job working with the United States Department of Agriculture in Texas.

On 22nd October, 1951, Wallace murdered John Kinser. It is believed that Kinser had been killed to stop him talking about a scandal that involved Lyndon Johnson's sister, Josefa. At his trial in February, 1952, Wallace was found guilty of murder. Eleven of the jurors were for the death penalty. The twelfth argued for life imprisonment. The judge overruled the jury and announced a sentence of five years imprisonment. He suspended the sentence and Wallace was freed.

Wallace was defended by a man called John Cofer. This is the same man who represented Lyndon B. Johnson when he was accused of ballot-rigging when elected to the Senate in 1948. He also represented Billie Sol Estes when he was charged with fraud. According to a member of Cofer’s legal firm:

“Estes tried to get rid of Cofer as his attorney. Cofer refused to be fired, saying he had already been paid. The next unpublicized issue between lawyer and client was whether Estes should testify or not. Estes was ready to talk, believing he could still charm anyone. Cofer was just as determined to keep Estes quiet, for the sole purpose of protecting Johnson. Estes might say too much and make things worse. On the other hand, Estes might convince the jury and get off. Like it was with Wallace in the Kinser case, there was no alternative, Estes had to be found guilty. Then anything he said later could be discredited. Estes grudgingly agreed. Cofer stayed with Estes.”

On 7th January, 1971, Malcolm Wallace was killed while driving into Pittsburg, Texas. He appeared to have fallen asleep and after leaving the road crashed his car. Wallace, like so many people involved in this case, died while in a car. (This includes Clint Peoples who was killed in a car accident in Texas in 1992.)

In May 1998 Walt Brown called a press conference in Dallas to discuss a previously unidentified fingerprint at the "sniper's nest" in the Texas Book Depository. According to Brown this fingerprint had now been identified as belonging to Mac Wallace.

Billie Sol Estes is still claiming he is the one who really knows who killed Kennedy. Last year he published in France his book, JFK, the Last Standing Man. In an interview with Pete Kendall, Estes said: “He (Johnson) told me if I wouldn’t talk, I would not go to jail.” Estes has had no contact with LBJ’s other long-ago associates, he said, since the book’s publication. “About all of them are dead, really. I think I’m about the last one standing.” That’s partly why, he said, he wasn’t interested in doing a book sooner. “I’ve been accused of being dumb,” he said, “but I’m not stupid.”

Last year saw the publication of Barr McClellan’s book Blood, Money & Power: How LBJ Killed JFK. I have only just hold of a copy (it is currently not available in England). McClellan has an interesting story to tell.

As a student McClellan was a strong supporter of John F. Kennedy. After qualifying as a lawyer he went to work for the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Initially he worked for the National Labor Relations Board but in 1964 he became an attorney for the Federal Power Commission.

It was while working for Johnson that he met Edward A. Clark. In 1966 McClellan joined the legal firm of Clark, Thomas and Winters, based in Austin, Texas. At that time the firm was run by the partners Edward Clark, Sam Winters, Don Thomas and Frank Denius. Clark had been working with Lyndon Johnson since the 1930s. Clark also represented prominent figures in the Texas oil industry. Soon after joining the company McClellan was told by colleagues that it was believed that Clark had organized the assassination of Kennedy.

In 1972 McClellan became a full partner in the legal firm. It was only at this stage that he was told about the illegal activities of the firm. John Cofer (yes the same man who had defended Lyndon Johnson, Mac Wallace and Billie Sol Estes) explained how the partners dealt with criminal activity: "In short, we helped plan crimes and keep the clients out of trouble."

McClellan eventually resigned from the firm after a dispute with Edward Clark. In 1977 he established his own law firm. Over the years he clashed several times with Clark. This is partly the motivation for publishing the book. There is also another reason. He still seems fairly committed to the political idealism that had encouraged him to support JFK in 1960.

McClellan attempts to provide the evidence that Edward A. Clark planned the Kennedy assassination on behalf of Lyndon Johnson. This includes a documents section at the back of the book. However, there is nothing in these documents that really proves that Clark and Johnson were behind the assassination. What Barr McClellan and Billie Sol Estes have done is to provide a story that makes sense. This is probably the best we can hope for. I suspect that we will never find enough evidence to be certain who planned and carried out America’s first Coup d’Etat.

I have produced biographies of all the main characters involved in the story including James Evetts Haley, Joachim Joesten, Barr McClellan, Billie Sol Estes, Edward A. Clark, Mac Wallace, Clint Peoples, Bobby Baker, Madeleine Brown, John Cofer, Clint Murchison and Haroldson L. Hunt. They can be accessed at:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKindex.htm

Please email me if you have any relevant information about any of these characters.

[John Simkin]

I was contacted by William Reymond yesterday. He is the journalist who helped Billie Sol Estes to write Le Dernier Temoin (published in France in 2003). Reymond has checked out Billie Sol Estes story and is convinced he is telling the truth. If that is the case, it looks like the greatest crime of the 20th century has been solved.

[Wim Dankbaar]

"His book ‘A Texan Looks at Lyndon’ was a best seller and it is claimed that in Texas only the Bible outsold Haley's book in 1964"

Yes, and Ruby read the book in jail, apparently he thought it was pretty important:

www.jfkmurdersolved.com/ruby.htm

Wim

Edited March 27, 2004 by dankbaar

[John Simkin]

You might be interested in this report from CNN, JFK Conspiracy Theory Revisited on 5th April, 2004.

In response to an uproar caused by a History Channel documentary that claimed President Lyndon Johnson was involved in the Kennedy assassination, the network will air a challenge to that program by a panel of three historians.

The special, airing 8 p.m. EDT Wednesday, is called "The Guilty Men: An Historical Review."

The one-hour program is meant to rebut last November's broadcast of "The Guilty Men," which was based in part on a book published in 2003 by Barr McClellan, who claims the law firm he quit a quarter-century ago was involved in convoluted plots that link Johnson to at least 11 deaths, including President Kennedy's.

The historians re-examining the allegations are author Robert Dallek, considered an authority on the presidency; Stanley Kutler, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin and a leading authority on 20th century American political and constitutional history; and Thomas Sugrue, an author and teacher at the University of Pennsylvania.

Former CNN newsman Frank Sesno serves as moderator of the broadcast, which will air unedited by the History Channel, the network announced Friday.

No preview of the program would be available, the network said.

The Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole assassin involved in Kennedy's death in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, but conspiracy theorists continue to advance alternative plots.

While the three historians acknowledge lingering public doubts about the Warren Commission's findings, they dispute as unfounded the theory that President Johnson was involved. Johnson was Kennedy's vice president at the time of the assassination.

The historians along with other scholars were highly critical of "The Guilty Men" and of the History Channel's decision to air it last fall. Former aides to Johnson, along with former presidents Ford and Carter and President Johnson's widow, Lady Bird Johnson, sought an independent probe of the claims.

The network apologized on Friday to its viewers as well as to Mrs. Johnson and her family for the program. It said will no longer be aired or made available on home video.

"We have a great responsibility and this time we did not live up to it," said Dan Davids, History Channel executive vice president. "We hold ourselves accountable. As we have said before, nothing is more important to us than the accuracy of our programming and the integrity of our network."

[Lee Forman]

Blood, Money and Power - How LBJ killed JFK."

John - I just ordered this book - saw that you have a great summary on

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmcclellan.htm,

and coincidentally, found this post.

I'm excited to read the book, but was wondering if you could manage to get Barr on the forum at some time in the near future? You may have contact info on him? [Give me a chance to finish Larry's book first!]

Also, amazingly enough, I tried reading over everything Ruby said or wrote to find the reference to the LBJ book I remember him citing. And here it was on the post on Wim's website - so now I have to order that one as well [A Texan Looks at Lyndon by J. Evetts Haley]. If Ruby recommended it, it's got to be worth the read.

This scenario fits in very well logically with what I see as the top of the conspiracy hierarchy. Plenty of motive, sufficient power and means. Still lots of questions and missing puzzle pieces, but this looks like the original button presser.

Did you ever receive any additional information on this subject?

BTW - we are supposed to have the Freedom of Speech here in the US, so I'm pissed as hell that I can't get that airing of the Guilty Men special [The Love affair, etc.] on DVD, VHS or otherwise. Unbelievable.

- lee

[John Simkin]

Blood, Money and Power - How LBJ killed JFK."

John - I just ordered this book - saw that you have a great summary on

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmcclellan.htm,

and coincidentally, found this post.

I'm excited to read the book, but was wondering if you could manage to get Barr on the forum at some time in the near future?  You may have contact info on him?  [Give me a chance to finish Larry's book first!]

I have tried contacting him via his publisher but he has not responded. I don’t know if any other member has his email address. I would very much like to question him about his book.

James Evetts Haley is an interesting character. You can find out more about him here:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKhaleyE.htm

The first person to accuse LBJ of being behind the assassination was Joachim Joesten (The Dark Side of Lyndon Baines Johnson). He relied heavily on Haley’s book, A Texan Looks at Lyndon.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKjoesten.htm

It has to be remembered that Haley was settling old political scores (he held extreme right-wing views). On the other hand, Joesten was on the left (he was accused of being a KGB agent). However, there is no doubt they both knew a great deal about LBJ’s corrupt past.

[John Simkin]

Did you ever receive any additional information on this subject?

Yes, especially from Larry Hancock's book, Someone Would Have Talked. It is currently being discussed here:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=693

[J. Raymond Carroll]

On the morning of the assassination Johnson attempted to get the seating arrangements changed. For some strange reason he wanted Connally to be in his car and for Yarborough to go with Kennedy. This was a surprising idea as this would have given extra status to his political opponent. Connally clearly was not part of the conspiracy as he insisted in going in Kennedy’s car.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

John,

Can you recall the source of this information?

This article, like everything you write, is fascinating, but it deserves footnotes, if not for my sake, then for posterity's

Ray

"Do not block the way of inquiry"

C.S. Peirce

[Don Jeffries]

John,

I was a young child when JFK was assassinated, but I remember clearly that nearly everyone in our large Catholic family suspected that LBJ was involved. His demeanor that day and evening, even the speech he gave at the airport, was just unconvincing. He really seemed to be acting, and not very well at that. We've all seen the infamous photo of LBJ turning around just after being sworn in on Air Force One with the corner of his mouth curled up in what appears to be a grin as Rep. Albert Thomas clearly winks at him. Lady Bird also seems pretty happy in this photo, standing next to LBJ.

Many of those who worked for JFK were offended by LBJ's behavior after the assassination. The feud with RFK really went into overdrive on November 22, 1963. RFK became incensed when he was told the reason why LBJ wanted to be sworn in on Air Force One before leaving Dallas. LBJ claimed that Bobby insisted on this, during a phone conversation just after the assassination. RFK told aides that this was a lie, he had said no such thing. If you read "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye," written by JFK aides Kenny O'Donnell and Dave Powers, you can sense a definite anti-LBJ bias and some only slightly veiled criticism of his actions on the day of the assassination. Penn Jones reported that JFK's secretary Evelyn Lincoln had been offended by the behavior of the entire Johnson contingent, and she supposedly told him that "Liz Carpenter and the others were really whooping it up" during the plane ride back to Washington. At any rate, we should all feel sorry for Jackie, who was forced to come out and witness the swearing-in by LBJ himself, in what truly looked like an act of cruelty. RFK also spoke on the record (in tapes released later and broadcast on the History Channel) about the distaste he felt at the way LBJ had JFK's possessions moved out the White House so quickly after the assassination. O'Donnell and Powers, and Lincoln as well, were also highly offended by this insensitive act.

I don't think that LBJ was the mastermind behind the assassination, but I have little doubt that he knew about it in advance and approved of it.

[John Simkin]

This article, like everything you write, is fascinating, but it  deserves footnotes, if not for my sake, then for posterity's.

You are right about the need for footnotes. Members do tend to use them in the JFK seminars. However, I will make an effort to use them in the JFK Debate section.

Jim Bishop (The Day Kennedy Was Shot, pages 60-61) claimed that there was a fight between JFK and LBJ regarding the seating in the next day’s motorcade. According to Michael Benson (Who’s Who in the JFK Assassination – page 489) Craig Zirbel made this claim in The Texas Connection (page 254). However, it does not appear in my edition of the book.

I think the story came originally came from William Manchester (Death of a President). Manchester claims that LBJ and JFK had a loud argument in their last meeting together. According to Manchester, only LBJ and JFK knew what the argument was about, except that it was apparently about "the state's political feud," and Yarborough's name was heard several times by people outside the room.

However, in his book, Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye (1972 - page 21) Kenneth O’Connell argues that this row was not about the seating in the motorcade. When JFK arrived in Texas it was arranged for him to attend a dinner at Governor Connolly’s mansion. Ralph Yarborough discovered he had not been placed at the head table with Kennedy. He was further infuriated by the decision not to invite Yarborough’s wife to the dinner. Yarborough blamed Johnson for this snub. When the party arrived in San Antonio, Yarborough refused to ride in the same car with Johnson. Kennedy was furious about this dispute (after all, he was visiting Texas in order to heal the divisions between Yarborough and Connally supporters. Kennedy applied pressure on Connally and Yarborough and his wife got to sit on the head table. By the time of the motorcade in Dallas, Yarborough and Johnson were willing to sit together in the car.

The original story appeals to those who believe LBJ knew about the proposed assassination attempt. John Connally was a close friend (he was involved in several of LBJ’s corrupt activities). At the same time he hated Yarborough for his liberal views on civil rights. If he knew about the assassination attempt, he would rather have had Yarborough sitting next to him. Of course, it could be argued that LBJ might have wanted Connolly killed as he knew a lot of his secrets.

Anyway, it is unlikely that LBJ could have believed that Connolly could be persuaded to give up his seat in the presidential car. Connolly, not Yarborough, was the host.

There is another theory on this subject. LBJ and Connolly knew about the assassination attempt but expected it to take place later. This helps explain Connolly comments when the firing started. Something on the lines of “They are trying to kill all of us”. This implies that he believed that there was only one target that day in Dallas.

[John Geraghty]

John,

If you want to get Barr Mc Clellans email I suggest you email either Len Osanic or Anita Langley of black op radio www.blackopradio.com as they interviewed him for the show, their email addresses are

osanic@prouty.org

anita@mindgallery.com

they have replied to me before and gave me dr.william peppers email address.

john

[Shanet Clark]

[in reviewing THE MEN WHO KILLED KENNEDY by Nigel Turner, I found that most of the researchers stressed that LBJ needed the support of Secret Service and the FBI to carry out the ED CLARK / MALCOLM WALLACE scenario.

Seriously, one of the reasons I post on this FORUM is to emphaasize that forces larger that the individual LBJ were coordinating this.

When people say LBJ, I say Maxwell Taylor, CD Dillon, JEdgar Hoover and Thomas Karamesssines and executives on the order of Marshall Carter and Robert Anderson of the 8F suite...]

LBJ was handed a fait accompli, and while he benefitted I don't think he initiated.

[Mark Stapleton]

[in reviewing THE MEN WHO KILLED KENNEDY by Nigel Turner, I found that most of the researchers stressed that LBJ needed the support of Secret Service and the FBI to carry out the ED CLARK / MALCOLM WALLACE scenario.

Seriously, one of the reasons I post on this FORUM is to emphaasize that forces larger that the individual LBJ were coordinating this.

When people say LBJ, I say Maxwell Taylor, CD Dillon, JEdgar Hoover and Thomas Karamesssines and executives on the order of Marshall Carter and Robert Anderson of the 8F suite...]

LBJ was handed a fait accompli, and while he benefitted I don't think he initiated.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Shanet,

While I agree that LBJ didn't plan the assassination, I believe he urged its expedition. The timing couldn't have been better for him, with the Billy Sol Estes affair about to break and the widely held belief that Kennedy would drop him from the '64 ticket. There's also too many allegations about his behavior immediately before, during and after the motorcade, in my opinion, for LBJ to be granted a clean bill of health. Moreover, the sudden reversal of some, but not all, of JFK's planned policy initiatives indicate that he was a willing participant in a successful attempt to change the status quo, which some powerful forces within America (and some outside America) believed was developing beyond their control. Finally, his establishment of the WC and its' flawed terms of reference prove to many that he played a pivotal role in the subsequent coverup.

[Guest Tom Scully]

In searching for the sources of the available information of L. Robert Castorr, I came

upon this book. Isn't it odd that no "snippets" are available on google books, and

that the scan has so many garbled words and wierd symbols. One could almost

suspect that this work is reluctantly made available....I said almost!

It was a chore to extract this sample of Joesten's wrting, but I was impressed by what

Joesten has to offer and I've read that John Simkin was, also.

My question to this learned group is whether any of the following leads have been well documented

as misleading or inaccurate. I am aware that Tim Gratz seemed as convinced that Joesten was a commie

plant as he was that Ronald Reagan was not mostly acting the part of US president.

I found six pages of search results of past posts, displaying the term, "Joesten", and I read

through most of them before posting here. Pardon me, please if the excerpts below have been posted before.

http://books.google.com/books?q=But+the+CI...nG=Search+Books

The case against Lyndon B. Johnson in the assassination of President Kennedy‎

by Joachim Joesten - 1967 - 160 pages

Page 20

Talking to a confidant, he vowed to smash the CIA and scatter its bits to the

winds.

But the CIA, which has its oyes and ears everywhere, was quicker on the draw.

Not only did the CIA hate Kennedy, but it loved Lyndon B. Johnson.

There iias a miш who who had alwaya stood up for "free enterprise,"

meaning tho oil interests and big business in general.

А man secretly pledged to escalating the war in Vietnam as soon as he got into the

the driver's seat and to make Latin America safe for military dictatorship.

А man who could be relied upon to dispose of Sukarno end restore Indonesia to oil

company control. A aan who would lot the Invisible Government run tho country visibly.

Por all the hush-hush atmosphere that surrounds this nefarious organisation,

the doninant role played by the CIA in the assassination of President Kennedy is

self-evident. It is apparent at all levels of the drana- Lea Harvey Oswald was,

without a shadow of doubt, on operative of the CIA.

His vtothor, Mrs. Marguerite Oswald, has foriiclly stated net jast her belief,

but her knowledge that her son had been in

the employ of the US Governmsnt as an undorcover agent. More importantly still,

every pharc of Oswald's etay in the Soviet Union, overy lino of his correspondence with

American authorities, every action of his aftor his repatriation (in particular, of course,

the dazzling speed with which he obtained a new passport ia New Orleans)

clearly bespeak auch a relationship. All this is described in abundant detail in нy

book farina Osnyald ar.d noed not be recapitulated hero. The ovidonco is overwhelming

that Oswald was recruited by the CIA while he was in the Marine Corps; that he tried hard

to ploass hie taskmasters, but bungled every assignment given to hi.vu \ and that, for that reason,

ho was sacrificed in tho eaá whoa a scapegoat was needed to take the blene for the assassination

of President Kennedy- Jack Ruby, too, worked for the CIA, evon though to hin this wr.a ouly a sideline,

for he was first and foremost on authentic nobster on tho Mafie. payroll.

(Row nany of its low-level operatives tho CIA rocruits

from tho dregs of the undorworld has also been strikingly

demonstrated by the Garrison investigation in New Orleans).

Ruby's connection with the CIA, especially rs paymaster for underground

opеrations against Castro, has been expo s 3d wit я. dazzling clarity by

the deposition of Nancy Perrin Rich beforo tho V/arron CoMmiasion -

which promptly suppressed every word of it,

at any rate as far as the Iteport 1л concerned.

This mat tar has been fully dealt with by mэ in Oa^J.djjrhe

JTruth and again, therefore, needs not to be roc-?pitulate:l hero. One point o"f "interest,

hoiraver, should bs Added. In her testimony before the Cotar.ission, Il.rs.

Rich described in graphic detail a semi-clandestine meeting in Dallas, not long

before tho assassination, st which arrangements

were discussed for smuggling cans and ammunition into Cuba and taking rsf^

gcos our from that country. To this ond, £l Nancy's former husband,

Page 21

Robert Perrin, was to pilot a snall boat

between Miami and .the Cuban coast and he гсas to receive & l0,000 for hia

servicec Thoro was some argument about the price (Nancy wanted ¿Í 25000)

and then allof a sudden, Ruby walked in with e. big wallet bulging in his

breastpocket. Nancy knew Huby well, for she had boon working at one of

his clubs as a bartender and "E-girl." It was clear to the witness that the operation was

planned that the operation was planned and financed by a colonel whoa she was able to

describo but whose namе she did not know. The witness also gathered ESE

from remarhs made at the meeting that the military supplies that iiere to be run into

Cuba were being secretly taken from Army stocka Cthis fits in

neatly with similar in formation obtained later by Garrison's; investigators).

The whole thins, thus, smells CIA operation a mil o away.

Now, one of the many correspondents personally unknown to ne who wrote to me aftav

the publication of Oswald .: ^Assassin ,_oг_ Fall Guy? to volunteer

additional inforr.ation has boen able to identify this

myatorious colonel. He is Col. Robert L. Castorr,

formerly of Dallas, and a close friend of General Edwin A. Walker.

In the period immediately preceding the assassination,

Castorr and iYolker held paveral neetings with Cuban. refugee groups

in the Dallas area at which inflamnatory speeches

against the Kennedy Administration were made. After the assassination, Col.

Castor:: moved to Washington whore ho is now enployed by tho

"IJational Federation of Independent Businesses." His hone is at 451l 33rd Street,

Worth Arlington, Virginia. It is to be hoped that District Attorney Garrison

7/Îll do something the Warren Conuiiasion should have done but, cls usual, failed to do:

subpoena Colonel Colonel Castorr and grill him relentlessly about his

and General 'Volker 's role in the events that led up to the assassination.

A final word, about Nancy's fir et husband, Robert Forrin.

Lilvo Ruby, ho was aliving link be two en tho Mafia and the CIA. Perrin, like Ruby,

was a dope smuggler and white slaver for the Mafia (Jack

Dragna, Mickey Cohen otc.) on one hand, and a gun-runner for the CIA on tho other.

Soon after the assassination of President Kennedy, Perrin died in Hew Orleans, of all placei?

http://books.google.com/books?q=voluminous...nG=Search+Books

The case against Lyndon B. Johnson in the assassination of President Kennedy‎

by Joachim Joesten - 1967 - 160 pages

In the voluminous fan uail which I received after the publication of Oswald^

Assassin^ or Fall Gujy? there siso сanе a curious pamphlet entitled "L3J~^ ~\ Political Biography.

Published by "Liberty Lobby, " a notorious right-wing outfit, this pamphlet

would not normally have retained my attention, except for the eye-catching

unsigned note attached to it. This note read: "If you wish to broaden your

speculations on GUI БСfЮ? - Read this! "

So I read the pamphlet which turned out to be an extract from the book

» А Те у an looks at Lyndon , " by J. Evetts Haley. I lost no time getting

hold of a copy of the complete book which is sub-titled:

A STUDY IN ILLEGITIMATE POUEii. Although it was written by an

arch-Conservative and, curiously enough, a pal of the ultra-Right leader,

General Edwin A. Walkev, I found this book, published in semi-clandestinity

by the author himself (Th o Palo lu.ro Press

, Canyon, Texas) utterly absorbing, Haley, a 66-year-old rancher, hi. s toran

and politician (^grgn3uccessfully ran fov Governor of Texas in l956)

kno'.-.-sa great desl about the antecedents, background and character of his fallow

countryman from Texas, Lyr.dc n В- Johnson, than ever transpirsd into public knowledge.

His unfle. ....

[Guest Robert Morrow]

[in reviewing THE MEN WHO KILLED KENNEDY by Nigel Turner, I found that most of the researchers stressed that LBJ needed the support of Secret Service and the FBI to carry out the ED CLARK / MALCOLM WALLACE scenario.

Seriously, one of the reasons I post on this FORUM is to emphaasize that forces larger that the individual LBJ were coordinating this.

When people say LBJ, I say Maxwell Taylor, CD Dillon, JEdgar Hoover and Thomas Karamesssines and executives on the order of Marshall Carter and Robert Anderson of the 8F suite...]

LBJ was handed a fait accompli, and while he benefitted I don't think he initiated.

I have always thought there was a lot of truth in the following passage. I think the key to the 1963 Coup d'Etat was Lyndon Johnson's close ties to Allen Dulles and Nelson Rockefeller, the white hot inner core of US intelligence in the post war period. And the close ties of LBJ's key backers such as Clint Murchison, Sr. to folks like John J. McCloy, Nelson Rockefeller, and Allen Dulles.

From Defrauding America, Rodney Stich, 3rd edition 1998 p. 638-639]:

“The Role of deep-cover CIA officer, Trenton Parker, has been described in earlier pages, and his function in the CIA's counter-intelligence unit, Pegasus. Parker had stated to me earlier that a CIA faction was responsible for the murder of JFK … During an August 21, 1993, conversation, in response to my questions, Parker said that his Pegasus group had tape recordings of plans to assassinate Kennedy. I asked him, "What group were these tapes identifying?" Parker replied: "Rockefeller, Allen Dulles, Johnson of Texas, George Bush, and J. Edgar Hoover." I asked, "What was the nature of the conversation on these tapes?"

I don't have the tapes now, because all the tape recordings were turned over to [Congressman] Larry McDonald. But I listened to the tape recordings and there were conversations between Rockefeller, [J. Edgar] Hoover, where [Nelson] Rockefeller asks, "Are we going to have any problems?" And he said, "No, we aren't going to have any problems. I checked with Dulles. If they do their job we'll do our job." There are a whole bunch of tapes, because Hoover didn't realize that his phone has been tapped. Defrauding America, Rodney Stich, 3rd edition p. 638-639]: