"The greatest hoax that has ever been perpetuated"

[Michael Hogan]

The following excerpts are from a 2002 BBC article by Kevin Anderson. On another thread, Lee Forman provided a link which contained an excellent article by Mark Tracy entitled Dirty Politics - Nixon, Watergate, and the JFK assassination. Both links are at the bottom of this post.

Richard Nixon left the White House in disgrace as the only president in US history to resign, and with the release of 500 hours of taped conversations covering the time of the Watergate break-in, researchers hope to find new clues to how much the president knew of the "third-rate burglary".

The tapes are of the first six months of his second term of office, covering not only the Watergate break-in but also his historic trip to China and the continuing war on Vietnam.

Congress had once battled the president for release of the tapes, and now for the first time researchers and historians can record them to review them for new insights into the past....

....In the same conversation, Nixon gave new fodder for conspiracy theorists who question whether Lee Harvey Oswald was the only shooter involved in the assassination of President John Kennedy.

Referring to the report by the Warren Commission, "it was the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetuated," Nixon said. He did not elaborate why he questioned the report.

From the same article:

And as Nixon considered his re-election bid in 1972, he was looking for ways to beat his opponents. In May of 1972, Arthur Bremer attempted to assassinate White House hopeful George Wallace.

The tapes reveal that Nixon wanted to pin the blame on supporters of Democrats George McGovern and Edward Kennedy, whom he might face in the November elections.

"Just say he (the shooter) was a supporter of McGovern and Kennedy," he said to HR "Bob" Haldeman, his chief of staff, and Charles Colson, then special counsel to the president.

"Now, just put that out!" Nixon said, his voice rising for emphasis. "Just say you have it on unmistakable evidence."

My question is: Just exactly how did Nixon expect Haldeman and Colson to accomplish such a difficult task and make it stick?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1848157.stm

http://www.piscesallmedia.com/forum/viewto...45bcd557c0558da

[Pat Speer]

Occasionally one finds valid information by reading posts by LNs. A few years back , intrigued by Nixon's comment, I dug a little deeper, and found that the BBC took the famous "greatest hoax" quote out of context. (The full transcript was published by CNN.) Nixon was discussing the fact that liberals were able to ignore that Oswald was a leftist, and convince people that Kennedy was killed by right-wingers. This was the greatest hoax to which Nixon referred, not the Warren Report.

While some might think this clears Nixon, not really... In Nixon's twisted mind, this media "hoax" allowed him to believe that the media was gonna try and blame him for Bremer's attempt on Wallace. This, in turn, allowed him to pretend his Colson-inspired plan to plant McGovern material in Bremer's apartment was a "defensive" act. CREEPy.

[John Simkin]

My question is: Just exactly how did Nixon expect Haldeman and Colson to accomplish such a difficult task and make it stick?

Bremer's diary. This is why Gore Vidal claimed it had been created by E. Howard Hunt.

[Michael Hogan]

Occasionally one finds valid information by reading posts by LNs. A few years back , intrigued by Nixon's comment, I dug a little deeper, and found that the BBC took the famous "greatest hoax" quote out of context. (The full transcript was published by CNN.) Nixon was discussing the fact that liberals were able to ignore that Oswald was a leftist, and convince people that Kennedy was killed by right-wingers. This was the greatest hoax to which Nixon referred, not the Warren Report.

I think you're right Pat. From CNN:

MORTON(CNN): In 1972, Arthur Bremer, who had once thought of shooting Nixon, shoots presidential candidate George Wallace. Nixon wants to make sure the liberals are blamed.

RICHARD NIXON

, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Why don't we play the game a bit smarter for a change. They pinned the assassination of Kennedy on the right wing, the Birchers. It was done by a Communist and it was the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetuated. And I respectfully suggest, can't we pin this on one of theirs?

MORTON(CNN): Aide Chuck Colson reports to the president on Bremer.

CHUCK COLSON

, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL AIDE FOR RICHARD NIXON: Ah, he is obviously demented.

NIXON

: Is he a left-winger or a right-winger?

COLSON

: Well, he's going to be a left-winger by the time we get through, I think. NIXON: Ah, good. Keep at that. Keep at that.

http://www-cgi.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0202/28/ip.00.html

And from the excellent website History Matters:

CORRECTION: This quote appears to have been a grave error on the part of BBC writer Kevin Anderson. According to a transcript on the CNN website, in describing "the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetrated" Nixon was referring to the idea that the JFK murder was attributable to the John Birch Society. Even casual students of the assassination will note that the Warren Commission did not reach such a conclusion, instead declaring that Oswald acted alone. My apologies for passing along the BBC's bizarre mistake. As an interesting aside, among those who did allude to the involvement of the John Birch Society is none other than Jack Ruby, murderer of Lee Harvey Oswald., in his jail cell testimony to the Commission....

http://history-matters.com/siteguide/siteg...chivequotes.htm

[Michael Hogan]

My question is: Just exactly how did Nixon expect Haldeman and Colson to accomplish such a difficult task and make it stick?

Bremer's diary. This is why Gore Vidal claimed it had been created by E. Howard Hunt.

An excerpt from an interesting 1998 article entitled New Chapters in Assassin's Diary? - FBI file on Arthur Bremer is analysed by Timothy Maier:

During a months-long review, Insight obtained Bremer's parole records and the once highly secret 5,413-page FBI report known as the WalShot Files -- a 26-volume package spanning eight years from the day of the shooting to 1980. Here too, for the first time, is not only a comprehensive review straight from the FBI archives but details from exclusive interviews with the lead prosecutor and defense attorney who, after 26 years, break their silence about the shooting of Wallace.

"I still have reservations about the case, and I'm not one for conspiracy theories," says former Prince George's County State's Attorney Arthur "Bud" Marshall, who prosecuted Bremer. "But it's worth taking a look at."

....What bothers him (Marshall) is Nixon's obsession with the case, particularly the failure to turn over Bremer's original diary, which the FBI had and provided to the White House. Or, as Marshall always prefaces it: "If you believe Bremer wrote the diary."

The thousands of pages Insight reviewed in the WalShot Files suggest Marshall's concern may be well-founded. The files show Nixon ordered the FBI to take charge and get the Secret Service out of the case. They show acting FBI Director Gray provided Nixon with daily briefings on the case. And they show the president personally ordered all materials seized inside Bremer's apartment be taken not to FBI headquarters but to the White House.

When Nixon learned the FBI made copies of the transcripts of the diary and provided them to the Secret Service, he ordered those copies surrendered and destroyed. He then told Gray not only to destroy all records indicating that the White House saw the diary but to issue a directive that "no one is allowed access to the subject, even [bremer's] lawyer." According to the file, Nixon was concerned Bremer might be tied to the White House "plumbers." He told Gray to chase down any plots to kill Bremer and to rule out all conspiracy theories beyond doubt.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m157...i_53409132/pg_1

[Myra Bronstein]

My question is: Just exactly how did Nixon expect Haldeman and Colson to accomplish such a difficult task and make it stick?

Bremer's diary. This is why Gore Vidal claimed it had been created by E. Howard Hunt.

An excerpt from an interesting 1998 article entitled New Chapters in Assassin's Diary? - FBI file on Arthur Bremer is analysed by Timothy Maier:

During a months-long review, Insight obtained Bremer's parole records and the once highly secret 5,413-page FBI report known as the WalShot Files -- a 26-volume package spanning eight years from the day of the shooting to 1980. Here too, for the first time, is not only a comprehensive review straight from the FBI archives but details from exclusive interviews with the lead prosecutor and defense attorney who, after 26 years, break their silence about the shooting of Wallace.

"I still have reservations about the case, and I'm not one for conspiracy theories," says former Prince George's County State's Attorney Arthur "Bud" Marshall, who prosecuted Bremer. "But it's worth taking a look at."

....What bothers him (Marshall) is Nixon's obsession with the case, particularly the failure to turn over Bremer's original diary, which the FBI had and provided to the White House. Or, as Marshall always prefaces it: "If you believe Bremer wrote the diary."

The thousands of pages Insight reviewed in the WalShot Files suggest Marshall's concern may be well-founded. The files show Nixon ordered the FBI to take charge and get the Secret Service out of the case. They show acting FBI Director Gray provided Nixon with daily briefings on the case. And they show the president personally ordered all materials seized inside Bremer's apartment be taken not to FBI headquarters but to the White House.

When Nixon learned the FBI made copies of the transcripts of the diary and provided them to the Secret Service, he ordered those copies surrendered and destroyed. He then told Gray not only to destroy all records indicating that the White House saw the diary but to issue a directive that "no one is allowed access to the subject, even [bremer's] lawyer." According to the file, Nixon was concerned Bremer might be tied to the White House "plumbers." He told Gray to chase down any plots to kill Bremer and to rule out all conspiracy theories beyond doubt.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m157...i_53409132/pg_1

Excellent find Mike.

And we learned in another thread that Thomas Bremer, brother of Arthur, worked at the stable where Sirhan was programed prior to be patsy'd for "shooting" Bobby Kennedy.

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...mp;#entry133346

Research of the Bremer's bros can reveal much.