WHEN DID THEY KNOW? EARL WARREN AND LBJ

[Tim Gratz]

As we all know, the CIA never officially told the WC about its unholy alliance with the Mafia to murder Fidel Castro.

I read recently that Earl Warren, however, had been told of those plots. I think the source was a book written by Warren's son. Does anyone have the source of that comment? Does it get more specific, e.g. who told Warren? Presumably, it would have been Allen Dulles.

If indeed Warren knew, the next interesting question is who else knew. Did he share the information with any other members of the Commission, or any of his staff?

It certainly is hard to believe that he would have shielded the information from LBJ, but perhaps he did so LBJ could truthfully claim no knowledge of the plots.

Of course I believe that there was at least one plot to kill Castro that continued.

For those who believe that the CIA would have only plotted the murder of a foreign head of state with the express, if unwritten and deniable, consent of the POTUS, does it then follow that if there was a plot that continued that someone must have obtained the verbal consent of LBJ? (Of course, this question is irrelevant to those who believe the CIA was plotting Castro's demise without the consent of JFL.) Note I do not want this thread to turn into another debate of whether JFK was aware of the plots; that has already been debated at length.

What I would like member's input on is whether there is in fact reasonable basis for believing Earl Warren was aware of the CIA/Mafia plots and if so who else (if anyone) you think he would have told.

I think the issue of Warren's knowledge is of some importance re the functioning of the WC.

Your comments would be appreciated.

P.S. I could see why Dulles would inform Warren. He could probably assume that Warren would keep the deadly secret. Moreover, he could also be sure that if he had not told it to Warren and Warren somehow found out from some other source Warren would have been quite angry with Dulles.

Edited October 1, 2007 by Tim Gratz