William Kelly Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 (edited) T. Jeremy Gunn was the Executive Director of the ARRB who hired Doug Horne, and his book IARRB is dedicated to Gunn, who now works for the ACLU. Bugliosi has tried to use Gunn to discredit Doug Horne and his work, but Gunn independently determined there were two brain exams and other similar issues, apart from Doug Horne's analysis, and has confirmed much of what we know about the work of the ARRB and the released and withheld records. Here's Gunn's testimony on the topic of declassification of records: http://jfkcountercoup.blogspot.com/2010/01...sification.html Among the records of the AARB are the Assassination Records Review Board: Files of T. Jeremy Gunn http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/review-board/gunn-files.html ://http://www.archives.gov/research/jf...s.html [/color]://http://www.archives.gov/research/jf...s.html [/color]://http://www.archives.gov/research/jf...s.html [/color] Folder Title List Volume: 14.4 feet [For questions about these records or copying information, please write to the Special Access and FOIA Staff at the National Archives at College Park, Room 6350, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, call at (301) 837-3190 or e-mail: specialaccess_foia@nara.gov.] Among the TJG files is: Box 35: Herbert J. Miller Documents (The release of this file is pending further review) It would be interesting to learn why this one box of records related to Herbet J. Miller was special and withheld "pending further review," and what other records were with held under similar circumstances. Who was Herbert J. Miller? Well, he just died November 21st. Herbert J. Miller Jr. RIP http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/us/21miller-1.html ://http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/u...]://http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/u...][/size][/font]://http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/u...][/size][/font] By WILLIAM GRIMES Published: November 21, 2009 Herbert J. Miller Jr., who as a Justice Department lawyer in the 1960s relentlessly pursued James R. Hoffa, the president of the Teamsters Union, on jury-tampering and other charges, and later helped negotiate the unconditional pardon of former President Richard M. Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal, died last Saturday in Rockville, Md. He was 85 and lived in Boyds, Md. Mr. Miller, known as Jack, first attracted attention in government circles for his tough-minded work on a court-appointed board supervising the Teamsters. Attorney General "More articles about Robert Francis Kennedy." Robert F. Kennedy, a Democrat, ignored the fact that Mr. Miller was a Republican and hired him in 1961 to run the Justice Department's criminal division, where he was encouraged to take on organized crime and Hoffa. Mr. Miller, whose favorite pastime was chopping wood, tackled his assignment with gusto, prosecuting organized crime leaders and chasing Hoffa through four indictments, three trials and four appeals, which ended in 1966 with the Supreme Court upholding Hoffa's convictions on charges of jury-tampering and fraud. By then Mr. Miller had left the Justice Department and founded his own law firm, Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin, which quickly became one of Washington's two leading criminal-defense firms, along with Williams & Connolly. In August 1974, Mr. Miller took on Nixon as a client, having successfully represented several minor figures involved in the Watergate scandals. Nixon, who had just resigned as president, faced an uncertain legal future but was in the mood to face his challengers in court and prove that, as he once put it, "I am not a crook." Mr. Miller told Nixon that he could not get a fair trial and that the case would be likely to drag on for years. He eventually persuaded Nixon to accept a pardon from President Gerald R. Ford, despite its implication of guilt. To clear the way for his client, he said in 1999 in his first public discussion of the case, he sought assurances from Leon Jaworski, the Watergate special prosecutor, that Jaworski would not oppose a pardon, a potential stumbling block that Nixon feared. Mr. Miller, who represented Nixon for more than 20 years, also asserted Nixon's ownership rights to the White House tapes and documents, a hotly contested issue that took years to resolve. Before the pardon was granted, an initial compromise was reached under which the material went to the National Archives, where neither Nixon nor archives officials would be allowed access to it without the other's permission. Finally, Mr. Miller persuaded Nixon to sign a statement admitting that he had been wrong in "not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate, particularly when it reached the state of judicial proceedings." The pardon, granted on Sept. 8, 1974, spared Nixon indictment and trial. "He was the ideal attorney for Nixon," said John J. Cassidy, a founding partner of Mr. Miller's law firm. "Nixon was so embattled, so hated, that he needed a strong lawyer to stand beside him, and Jack never flinched. He was fearless." Herbert John Miller Jr. was born on Jan. 11, 1924, in Minneapolis, where his father, a Republican, once worked for the presidential candidate Harold Stassen. He attended the University of Minnesota but joined the Army in his sophomore year and served in an aviation-engineering battalion in New Guinea, the Philippines and Japan. After World War II, he resumed his education at George Washington University, earning a law degree in 1949; he then joined the Washington firm now known as Kirkland & Ellis. In 1948 he married Carey Kinsolving, who survives him. In addition to his son John K., of Boyds, he is survived by another son, William G., known as Bo, of Nacogdoches, Tex.; and five grandchildren. In 1959, a federal judge appointed Mr. Miller to a three-member board created by the court to monitor the Teamsters and Hoffa. Hoffa's lawyer, Edward Bennett Williams, waged an all-out legal assault on the board that Mr. Miller doggedly resisted. After being drafted by Robert Kennedy to lead the Justice Department's criminal division, he became a highly visible crusader against organized crime, whose existence was often dismissed as myth. Besides pursuing Mafia and union bosses, he also went after Bobby Baker, a top aide to Lyndon B. Johnson, who was indicted and eventually convicted of tax evasion, theft and conspiracy to commit fraud against the government. With two friends, Mr. Miller started Miller, Cassidy & Evans in 1965. One early client was Nascar, whose drivers the Teamsters were trying to unionize. When Robert Kennedy mounted his presidential bid in 1968, Mr. Miller worked for him as a campaigner and fund-raiser, and after Kennedy's assassination, he was a pallbearer at his funeral. He went on to represent Edward M. Kennedy immediately after the Chappaquiddick episode, in which Mr. Kennedy, driving home from a party on Chappaquiddick Island, off Martha's Vineyard, veered off a bridge and Mary Jo Kopechne, a young woman in the passenger seat, drowned. Despite the Kennedy connection, Mr. Miller did not change parties. In his sole venture into electoral politics, he ran as a Republican for lieutenant governor of Maryland in 1970 but was soundly defeated. After working on the Nixon pardon, Mr. Miller continued to defend his client's interests tenaciously. He carried on a long legal struggle to block access to Nixon's presidential tapes and papers, arguing they were private property. In a case that reached the Supreme Court in 1982, he successfully argued that Nixon could not be held civilly liable for acts performed while he was president. Nixon had been sued by a Pentagon employee who claimed he had been fired after testifying about cost overruns. "He's been very successful on behalf of Richard Nixon," Alan B. Morrison, the director of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, said in 1986, "and his purpose has been to keep the public from knowing what's going on." In 1987, Mr. Miller defended Michael K. Deaver, Ronald Reagan's former deputy chief of staff, who had been charged by a special prosecutor with lying under oath about using his influence with the White House as a lobbyist. In what seemed to be a bad miscalculation, Mr. Miller rested his case without calling a single defense witness. Deaver, who died in 2007, was found guilty on three counts, but he received only a probationary sentence and went on to re-establish his lobbying career. In 2001, Mr. Miller closed Miller, Cassidy, and most of the firm's lawyers joined the firm of Baker, Botts, where James A. Baker, the former secretary of state, is http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/us/21miller-1.html Herbert J. Miller Legends in the Law A Conversation with Herbert J. Miller, Jr. (Appeared in Bar Report, February/March 1998) Interview http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/legends_in_the_law/miller.cfm Herbert J. "Jack" Miller Jr. served four years as Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, working with then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy. He helped convict Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa and later represented Richard M. Nixon, from after his resignation until his death. In 1965, he founded Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin. Bar Report: Tell me a little about growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Herbert J. Miller Jr.: Well, we played hockey in the winter time. If you don't play ice hockey in the winter time in Minnesota you may as well leave. I went to grade school, high school and started at the University of Minnesota in pre-law and was just shy of completing two years. The war had started by then and I finally told the draft board to take me and away I went to Texas for basic training. BR: Where did you get the idea of pursuing a law career? HJM: I think the reason I pursued a law career was because my father was within a year from graduating from the University of Minnesota Law School when he went into World War I. When he came back he never finished that year and I think he regretted it although he had a magnificent career. Looking back I followed the line of least resistance and got a law degree even though, I will confess to you, initially I had no concept whether I really wanted to be a lawyer or not. As I got further into law school I realized I wanted to be a lawyer. BR: Did you have any dreams of changing the world and working with a president? HJM: When I graduated from law school after World War I, I thought real lawyers were general practitioners as distinguished from a specialist. Nowadays each field has become so complicated that it's hard not to be specialized. When I went into the Army, I graduated from OCS (Officer Candidate School) and went overseas for about 2+ years in New Guinea, the Philippines and Japan. When I returned, law school became a more important objective. BR: How did you get involved with the Board of Monitors that oversaw the Teamsters Union? HJM: Ed Williams had put together a consent decree settling a law suit filed by dissident teamsters to stop Jimmy Hoffa from becoming the president of the Teamsters Union. And that consent decree, which was court approved, established a 3-man Board of Monitors to oversee the Teamsters Union to make recommendations as to trusted locals, accounting and other perceived problems with governance of this union. One monitor was appointed by the Teamsters, one was appointed by the dissident group and the impartial chairman, Martin Frances O'Donoghue, an excellent labor lawyer. There was a torrent of litigation. Any steps the monitors took requiring reforms was countered by Teamster locals around the country suing the monitors to stop their reforms. Mr. O'Donoghue obtained this authority from the court for this Board to hire a lawyer. At that time, John Cassidy, now my partner for many years, was working for the Board of Monitors. I was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis at the time as was retained to represent the monitors. At that time, the case had the longest docket entries in the history of the District Court. It was an incredible series of litigation, taking depositions and assisting the Board in achieving the results they were trying to achieve. It was a full-time job. BR:Did it become a personal goal to convict Hoffa? HJM: No. I learned quite a bit about the Teamsters Union and how they operated. BR: Your experience with the Teamsters led to you working with then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy. HJM: I've never been told that, but it's always been my assumption. At that time, President Kennedy was elected, I was a Republican precinct chairman. I came home one day and the phone rang and it was the Attorney General Robert Kennedy. I had met him a few times, but I did not know him well. Robert said, "I want you to be head of the Criminal Division," and I remember my startled response was, "Who me?" He said, "yes you. Can you do the job?" I said, "I can do any job," with great bravado. But then I said, "But Bob you've got to remember that I'm a Republican. I'm with a law firm that represents the Chicago Tribune and other big companies. You've got to realize that politically I'm on the other side of the fence." He said, "that doesn't bother me a bit. Will you do it?" I said, "well sure, but shouldn't we talk about it." He said make an appointment with Angie, Kennedy's secretary. The next day at 2 o'clock I met with the Attorney General and explained all the reasons he should appoint someone else. Within a week, I dropped my practice and ended up at the Department of Justice as acting assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division. BR: What did that feel like walking in there and saying this is it? HJM: I suppose at my advanced age I probably would have more trepidation but then I had substantial self confidence. I recognized it was going to be difficult but a great challenge and a wonderful opportunity to serve the United States. I explained to my wife, Carey, that it was going to be tough financially, but she said go for it. We have two kids and lived out in Potomac. The decision led to an incredibly great experience. BR: Being a Republican, how did that affect your position? HJM: You know, not at all. Absolutely not at all. In fact, and I didn't realize it until later in my term, I think it was a valuable asset to Robert Kennedy and indeed the Kennedy Administration. Then there was always the question of whether Robert Kennedy was too political to be an effective Attorney General. In fact, he was not and I guess I was exhibit A as to why he was not. It was well known that I was a Republican. And I know Ramsey Clark, head of the Lands Division, often said that it was wonderful to have a member of the opposite political party as head of the Criminal Division because it at least suggested that criminal laws were not enforced in a partisan manner. BR: What was the highlight of working with Kennedy? HJM: Oh, that's almost too hard to answer. After working with him awhile, I became a great admirer of him. He just had an overriding interest in the entire department, a great interest in how the Criminal Division operated. He met constantly with lawyers from the various divisions and would go around the departments and query individual lawyers about what they were doing, what improvements were needed. I think if you talked to any of the then career lawyers in the Criminal Division or elsewhere in the Department of Justice, they would tell you he was the finest attorney general that they had ever seen. BR: And that's your feeling? HJM: Absolutely. He was just terrific. He was straight down the line. There was an unspoken advantage of working for the President's brother, as you can imagine. And that's why, for example, in the organized crime drive we were able to establish some degree of coordination of the 26 federal investigative agencies and to really start focusing on organized crime and what it was doing in various major metropolitan areas. BR: That must have been exciting. HJM: It was very satisfying. We were able to obtain legislation that had a direct impact on organized crime. Bob spent many hours testifying on the Hill. He would make the first appearance, then I would testify as to the details. In the first year, quite a bit of my time was spent working on getting the legislation through. We worked closely with Byron White, who as Deputy Attorney General, was in charge of legislation. He was, and is, an outstanding lawyer. He had a great analytical mind and I could always go and discuss my problems with him and come away with a resolution I hadn't thought of. Now, of course, it is Mr. Justice White. Later, I represented Richard Nixon before the Supreme Court contending that presidents were entitled to civil immunity for acts committed while President of the United States. I won that case five to four, but the vigorous dissent was written by Justice White. There was a wonderful group of lawyers at the Department. I used to sit at the staff luncheons twice a week and I'd see Burke Marshall, Lou Oberdorfer, John Douglas, Byron White, Nick Katzenbach, Bill Orrick, Archie Cox, and think what an outstanding law firm this group would be. BR: Describe your relationship with Robert Kennedy and with the Kennedys, did you socialize with them at all? HJM: We became friends. BR: What was it like working as assistant attorney general during the civil rights era and the assassination of JFK? HJM: Very hard to put it in words. I had the feeling that we were accomplishing major goals that, in my estimation, had not been accomplished before. We were able to bring in top notch lawyers that would not have been at the Department had it not been for Robert Kennedy. One great example is Jim Neal, now one of the finest trial lawyers in the country. He came to work in the Criminal Division. Supreme Court law clerks came to the Criminal Division for the very first time. Nathan Lewin, a Supreme Court law clerk, worked for me for a year or so, and the next thing I know, the Solicitor General is sitting across the desk saying, "Jack, I really need him." So off he went to the Solicitor Generals Office. But I got him back and he has been my partner for many years. The Department was just humming with activity, civil rights and criminal law and other areas. And then the assassination. BR: Do you remember where you were when you heard about that? HJM: Yes, the morning that it happened we were in a meeting of all the organized crime attorneys in Robert Kennedy's office. We were trying to analyze the problems that existed in various states and cities and what needed to be done, what had been done, what steps should be taken, what new legislation was needed. And we broke for lunch. Bob Morgenthau, the U.S. attorney in New York, and Bob went back to Hickory Hill to have lunch. I was coming back from lunch when a lawyer told me the President had been shot. Then Oswald was shot and Katzenbach sent me down to Texas. There was so much publicity and we were concerned about the impact on any future trial. After we spent time with the FBI and the local district attorney, we got a call that Wagner Carr, the attorney general of Texas, was going to announce that he was going to form Texas investigative commission to look into the assassination. I thought that was the worst of all worlds. Lyndon Johnson was now president, and they were going to set up a commission in his state. I just thought it was a terrible idea. We met with Wagner and I said I would support it publicly, but I didn't think it was a wise move. Then the Warren Commission was formed which made all kinds of sense compared to the Texas Investigative Commission, which had no real rules of procedure. BR: Were you involved with the Warren Commission and what were your thoughts on it? HJM: Before I went to the Criminal Division I had worked closely with Howard Willens, an excellent lawyer, and I came back to the firm to pick up some of my belongings and talked to him. I said, "what are you doing here, why don't you come down and work with the Criminal Division." And that night I got a call, "Are you serious?" [laughs] To make a long story short, he came to work and contributed substantially to the success of the Criminal Division. So when the Warren Commission was formed I was the liaison between the Criminal Division and the Warren Commission and to fulfill that function, Howard Willens went over and worked full-time with the Warren Commission. He firmly believes that report is accurate. And if he does, so do I. BR: Did it bother you, the controversy that followed the report? HJM: Yes, it did. The Commission had access to the witnesses and the documents, and I can't believe everybody on the Warren Commission was out to do anything but find out what the facts were. It makes no sense that they were playing games. And then there was the Oliver Stone movie. There were several articles about the Warren Commission which were actually totally false. BR: Did you go to see the movie? HJM: No. I didn't waste my time. I've got better things to do. BR: So then you resigned as assistant attorney general. HJM: After Robert left, President Johnson wanted to keep the division intact but I felt as though my leader had left. BR: As far as getting the law firm started, did you have the idea for it before your resignation? HJM: No, I had no idea what I was going to do. John Cassidy and I chatted. I talked to my wife. I was 41, I had a mortgage and two kids. We decided that I'd open an office and get Courtney Evans who was going to leave the FBI. He was the liaison between Hoover and Kennedy and he was going to retire. So Cassidy stayed back where he had a salary to pay the rent and Courtney and I started the firm. It was Miller and Evans and then John came aboard. It was pretty slim pickings. We had a small office. Our capital investment wasn't much. We got carpeting from my folks. Our first client didn't have any money either. He borrowed $5,000 and gave it to us as our first retainer. One of the local judges assigned us to the uncontested divorce cases. Eventually we had a magnificent profit of $15,000 for the first year. In the interim, President Johnson appointed me Chair of the President's Commission on Crime for the District of Columbia, which was a non-paying job. BR: Why did you accept that? HJM: Because law enforcement is not just the FBI investigating, or a group of prosecutors. I mean, it's a whole system with an independent judiciary and probation and parole and the prison system. If somebody goes to prison, sure it's punishment, but when they come out you don't want them to come back. The recidivist rate for our local prison was incredible. And, one of the reasons was there's no proper training for the jobs that were available in the District of Columbia. We did a report on that and I'm very proud of that report. BR: You ran for lieutenant governor of Maryland in 1970? HJM: I did indeed. Robert Kennedy imbued me with the idea that you're supposed to serve the people. The office of lieutenant governor did not exist, it was on the ballot, and I could have won and not had an office to go into. But I think we raised all of $12,000 for my statewide campaign. I had an old Javelin in those days with sidewinders and I picked up all the gas station voters if nothing else. I went around and did speeches. I don't think I'm cut out to be a politician, but I gave it a solid try. We were defeated soundly. BR: How did it come about that you were asked by former Attorney General Richard G. Kleindienst to represent him on charges of perjury during the International Telephone & Telegraph Corp. case? HJM: I don't remember exactly how that came about, he knew me a little bit but not well. BR: You came highly recommended? HJM: Well, I hope so [laughs]. His situation was a misdemeanor, $100 and 30 days in jail suspended. As a matter of fact, the prosecutor had a very serious problem with that case. I'd made an agreement with the special prosecutor that they would lay out their case for me and I'd lay out a defense, so we did that and they claimed that he had testified before the Judiciary Committee in a manner not consistent with the truth. So they laid it all out, and I went back and found that Congress had passed the Congressional Reorganization Act of 1968. One of the provisions of the statute was that the Congressional Committee in the Senate and House were required to publish in the Congressional Record, their rules and procedures. I checked and found that the rules of the Senate Judiciary Committee had not been published. The rules of the Judiciary Committee stated one senator present would be sufficient for a quorum of the committee. My argument was that the rule was invalid and that the rules of the Senate controlled, which required that two thirds or three quarters of the Senators be present in order to constitute a quorum. And, so before you can have perjury, you have to have a valid quorum. And then I looked at a printed hearing of the testimony and it shows practically every Senator on the Judiciary Committee present on this particular day in question. So I interviewed the court reporter who said that if the Senator puts his nose in the hearing room he gets marked down as present and he said, "I keep no particulars of how many Senators are present at any particular time much less when any particular question is asked and when any particular answer is given." So in great detail I spelled out to the prosecutor that they did not, in fact, have a perjury case. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee called me and said it was an oversight that they hadn't published those rules. That's the background of that. We could have gone to trial. BR: You represented Nixon after his resignation when he faced charges related to the Watergate incident. How did your relationship with him begin? HJM: I represented Richard Moore, who was one of the White House counsel who testified before the Irvan Committee. A couple weeks or so after Richard Nixon had resigned, Dick Moore called and asked if I were asked to represent Nixon would I accept the case. And I said, "if I said no I'd resign from the bar," and he said, "I thought that's what you'd say." I met President Nixon and he decided to hire me. BR: What was that like? HJM: It was hard to describe. I wanted very much to represent him, as you can imagine. I think the firm at that time had all of eight lawyers, maybe nine, and we were full up business-wise so I was worried about the manpower problem, but it seemed to me a significant case. In retrospect, I think overall it's got to be the greatest case in the history of the Republic. I mean, working out the pardon and the seizure of his presidential papers, one issue after another. I lost the seizure case in 1972 but I would have won it if the Solicitor General hadn't represented to the Supreme Court that the personal and private conversations that were on the tape could be returned to the President. And you know what, they haven't been returned to this day, and we have got a court order from District Court that is now on appeal and will be argued in February. BR: What was your feeling about Nixon both as a president and as a person? HJM: I liked him very, very much and got to know him obviously quite well. A brilliant individual. He had an incredible mind. We would sit down, and he would analyze foreign policy. He just had an insight no one else had. I remember he called and told me he was going to address the American Newspaper Association. I strongly recommended he not do it because I didn't think it was the best forum. I heard later that he walked on the stage, didn't have a note and gave an hour and a half speech on foreign policy issues and got a standing ovation, and that he was voted the man they most wanted to hear from again. I have nothing but admiration for him and his great accomplishments, such as handling the Vietnam War crisis. But for his China initiative, the course of history would be a lot different. He was the only man who could do it, and he accomplished it. Even after he resigned, the head of the Chinese government invited him over on more than one occasion to discuss politics. BR: Did it hurt you, the anti-Nixon feeling across the nation at that time? HJM: Yeah, we had potential clients who wouldn't hire us. [laughs] That's about as strong a statement as you can make. Another case I enjoyed very much was representing Judiciary Committee Chair Senator Eastland, which dealt with the power of a congressional subpoena. They had lost in the Court of Appeals and Eastland called up and asked if I'd represent him and his committee. The case required going to the basic constitutional document of history to find out what the Constitution meant, and what the founders meant, as to what powers Congress had and what defenses there were, if any. I hate to say a wonderful experience, but I just enjoyed it thoroughly. Going back and reading all that and putting together the brief and then arguing it before the Supreme Court. It was a pinnacle that doesn't come too often. It was great. I loved that case. I've had it used against me several times since when I represented those being investigated by Congress, but that's the way it goes. BR: Moving on to more personal things, you've been married 50 years? HJM: Carey and I will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary April 3rd of this year. We're an anomaly. BR: What's the secret? HJM: Love is the first secret. And a commitment to the marriage to succeed, and when the kids are little, a commitment to make sure they have a mother and father in the home. I can't conceive of living without her. We've had a wonderful life. We got married and I was going to law school. As a matter of fact, I have a picture of me feeding our first born a bottle the night I graduated from law school. I didn't go to the graduation. We now have 200 acres in Boyds, Maryland and she runs a thoroughbred operation up there and I make the hay and fix the fences and I still chop wood. I started chopping wood years ago. I still do it almost every morning. It's great exercise. I have the biggest hand cut woodpile in Boyds. BR: Finally, what advice would you give to young lawyers who are getting started in their careers? HJM: I think experience in the Department of Justice is important and helpful. Trying to ascertain the type of law they want to practice. And I think it's important that they find a method of bringing their talent to the attention of the community and/or clients, whether that's participating in politics in addition to practicing law. But if you don't enjoy the practice, I think it's a mistake to continue. I saw one of my friends drink himself to death, he just couldn't stand it. His father wanted him to be a lawyer. It was a very tragic thing. So if you don't like it get out. Edited January 6, 2010 by William Kelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tom Scully Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 (edited) Looking at Hoover and so many others in government "service" in the most favorable light, (where was RFK's leadership, in reaction to what I'm presenting here? Did he personally vette backgrounds of any of his staff, or anyone on the WC staff?) it seems they just couldn't be bothered doing the work that is required to work on behalf of the public in an open government environment. They resisted being accountable to the public who they "served" and instead held the public in contempt and instead of the consideration of "how is this going to look?" acting as a guiding and limiting influence on their official conduct, instead Hoover and too many others put their efforts into being secretive, unresponsive, and arrogant. Unfortunately we know it is much worse than that, even if we initially consider their "service" in a neutral light. Herbert J. Miller .............. BR: Were you involved with the Warren Commission and what were your thoughts on it? HJM: Before I went to the Criminal Division I had worked closely with Howard Willens, an excellent lawyer, and I came back to the firm to pick up some of my belongings and talked to him. I said, "what are you doing here, why don't you come down and work with the Criminal Division." And that night I got a call, "Are you serious?" [laughs] To make a long story short, he came to work and contributed substantially to the success of the Criminal Division. So when the Warren Commission was formed I was the liaison between the Criminal Division and the Warren Commission and to fulfill that function, Howard Willens went over and worked full-time with the Warren Commission. He firmly believes that report is accurate. And if he does, so do I. BR: Did it bother you, the controversy that followed the report? HJM: Yes, it did. The Commission had access to the witnesses and the documents, and I can't believe everybody on the Warren Commission was out to do anything but find out what the facts were. It makes no sense that they were playing games. And then there was the Oliver Stone movie. There were several articles about the Warren Commission which were actually totally false. BR: Did you go to see the movie? HJM: No. I didn't waste my time. I've got better things to do. BR: So then you resigned as assistant attorney general. HJM: After Robert left, President Johnson wanted to keep the division intact but I felt as though my leader had left. ..... (I know!!! I'll move next door to Tony Accardo, it'll do wonders for my son's career at the DOJ! I know!!! Let's appoint Howard Willens to the WC, his father visited the Soviet Union a few years ago, but he's also Tony Accardo's next door neighbor, and that removes even an appearance of any impropriety related to selecting his son for the WC, and in any case, we're sealing the records of the non-released portions of the JFK Assassination records for the next 75 years.) http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=61488&relPageId=70 http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=61488&relPageId=71 ....It was also developed during the 1961 investigation that Joseph Robert Willens (Howard Willen's father) had, since 1958, resided next door to Tony Accardo, prominent Chicago hoodlum. ....Joseph Robert Willens admitted that Tony Accardo's residence is immediately south of his home in River Forest, Illinois,....and he hopes that the proximity of his residence with that of Accardo eould not cause anyone to believe that he approves of Accardo or any of his associates. http://www.google.com/search?q=accardo+apalachin+chicago+tribune&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a#q=accardo&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=yxY&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:1/1/1956,cd_max:12/31/1957&tbm=nws&ei=TaW_Tp3TOM6btwea7bCfBg&sqi=2&start=10&sa=N&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=b79e7cf5fdd41d7d&biw=811&bih=496Table of Contents 2 -- No Title Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - Feb 2, 1956 Page 14 Mysterious fire causes about $500 damage in River Forest home of Tony Accardo, crime syndicate leader. Pt. 2, p. 1. GIANCANA SAYS HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW MARCUS Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - Apr 16, 1957 ... in northern Cook county and, reputedly, is ranked only by Tony Accardo and Paul [the Waiter] Ricca. or ever had any business deal- ings with him. ... http://www.google.com/search?q=accardo+apalachin+chicago+tribune&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a#ds=n&pq=%22%22&hl=en&cp=7&gs_id=7x&xhr=t&q=accardo&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&client=firefox-a&hs=RIE&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aunofficial&tbs=cdr:1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F1956%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F1957&tbm=nws&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=accardo&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=b79e7cf5fdd41d7d&biw=811&bih=496 The 48 Counts Against Hoffa Pay-Per-View - The Sun - Aug 24, 1957 Capone mob*' sters, including Tony Accardo and the late Frank Nitti, 34. James R . Holla played a part in the speedy ascent of William Presser to the chair ... http://www.google.com/search?q=accardo+apalachin+chicago+tribune&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a#ds=n&pq=%22union+terror+expose+puts+%27mob%27+on+run+%E2%80%8E%22+river+forest&hl=en&cp=7&gs_id=67&xhr=t&q=accardo+river+forest&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&client=firefox-a&hs=GGE&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aunofficial&tbs=cdr:1%2Ccd_min%3A1954%2Ccd_max%3A1955&tbm=nws&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=accardo+river+forest&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=b79e7cf5fdd41d7d&biw=811&bih=496Accardo Opens Court Fight on Tax Claim of $89,525 Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - Jun 24, 1955 The government contends that Accardo, who lives at 9.15 Franklin av., River Forest, and LaPorte were partners in the operation of the notorious Owl club in ... DRUG 'CZAR' IN LAKE FOREST Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - May 31, 1954 No one, however, th Men- dino was being warned that he was not contributing enough to Anthony Accardo of River Forest, syndicate dope chief. ... PROBE LICENSE OF NIGHT SPOT Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - Jan 8, 1955 The number is registered to Mrs. Clarice Accardo, 915 Franklin av., River Forest , wife of Tony Accardo, a top crime syndicate figure. ... MOB MENACE IN CHICAGO Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - Sep 3, 1954 He has 'not been observed recently parking his car in front of Gang Boss Tony Accardo's mansion at 915 Franklin av., River Forest, as he was wont to do as ... UNION TERRORIST RULE CHARGED TO GANGSTER Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - Oct 8, 1954 Gllmeo grew up with Tony Accardo, one of the top sy.idl- cate bosses In Chicago, and of- ten visits his home In River Forest. Glinico also Is a friend of ... http://www.google.com/search?q=accardo+apalachin+chicago+tribune&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aunofficial&tbs=ar:1&tbm=nws&source=hp&q=%22*84%2C+founder+and+president+for+Go+years+of+Builders%22&pbx=1&oq=%22*84%2C+founder+and+president+for+Go+years+of+Builders%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=9069l9069l15l10363l1l1l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=b79e7cf5fdd41d7d&biw=811&bih=496Obituary 3 -- No Title Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - Oct 19, 1984 Joseph R. Wiliens Private services will be held for Joseph R. Willens, 84, founder and president for Go years of Builders Supply & Lumber Co., Elmwood Park . He developed and built single-family homes in the western suburbs after World War 11. Mr. Willens, a Chicago native, lived in River Forest. In the 1930s and and 1940s, he owned one of Chicago's earliest barbecue restaurants, at Hamlin Avenue and Madison Street. Survi- vors include his wife, Helen; 2 daughters, Louise Bear and Joan Levy; a son, Howard; 12 grandchil- dren;... http://www.google.com/search?q=Mr.+Willens%2C+associated+with+other+units+of+Piccaninny+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a December 7, 1939 PICCANINNY COMES TOHYDE PARK According to observations, a new building will soon be completed at 1411 East 53rd to house another Piccaninny; a well known Chicago institution specialising inBarbecue chicken andspare ribs. Ray F. Desautels (cick to view image), 5230 Black- stone, a resident of Hyde Park for a number of years,and Herman L Willens, of South Shore, will oper- ate this new Hyde Park unit of Piccaninny. Mr. Desautels, for- mer manager of several south side apartment hotels, has spent the last 13 years in the hotel and ca- tering business and has a host of friends in the Hyde Park area. Mr. Willens, associated with other units of Piccaninny for the past 15 years,andoneofits found- ers, says — "For a number of years we have felt that the great south side of Chicago would welcome a modern, up-to-date, sanitary res- taurant of this nature. However, it was not until after careful con- sideration, and by popular request of our many thousands of custo- mers living on the south side of Chicngo that patronize our north and west side units, did we decide to build a new Piccaninny in Hyde Park." No expense is being spared to give the people in this area some- thing new in Southern Barbecued Foods and in surroundings that will be most inviting. An outstand- ing feature that has been well re- ceived in the past by Piccaninny patrons, is the way in which this food is delivered to the home pip- ing hot without extra charge. http://www.sensagent.com/ebay/search-item.jsp?iId=280769061034&sId=-1&dl=en Piccaninny Black Negro Racist Scarce Lion Matchcover (Hey! The ignorant, racist promotion helped amass the money to send Willen's son, Howard to Stanford and Yale, and Joseph and his family were still proud enough with his association with the Pickanniny Barbecued Foods to include a description and address of it in his 1984 obit. I'm disappointed the obit did not even mention next door neighbor, Tony Accardo.) According to this source, http://www.geni.com/people/Pincus-Braver-Wilensky/6000000000582768342 Pincus (Morris) Braver-Wilensky Herman and Joseph Wilensky were sons of Pincus (Morris) Braver-Wilensky Edited November 13, 2011 by Tom Scully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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