Joachim Joesten

[brenth]

Hi all,

I hope this isn't too far off topic but I'll eventually get to a Hoover related question.

Currently I'm reading the Luciano Story by Sid Feder and Joachim Joesten (Copyright 1954) . The most interesting item in the book is that it raves about Hoover and the FBI. It is critical of the old Federal Narcotics Bureau (accusing agents of beating Lucky Luciano during the famous one way ride) and the Kefauver Committee (ripping the politicians as glory hounds etc. ) These premises are regurgatated over and over. The raving about Hoover and the FBI is prevalent enough that I almost began to think it's sarcasm. It was nauseating enough that I decided to see what info on the internet there was about Joesten primarily and the book in general.

Feder had worked on the Murder Inc. book and as I recall it was rhetoric free for the most part. (I haven't read that book in years but now it's next on my list for a reread)

Now admittedly, I'm not an assassination expert but I've read a few of the books that cover the Mafia angles. Imagine my surprise when I learn that Joesten has written a few assassination books and had such a colorful background (German communist). Luciano Story has no background of Joesten in it at all. Certainly it's easy to agree with those who think Hoover had investigated Joesten deeply.

1. Why did Joesten rave about the FBI and Hoover in the book and criticize other agencies? The Federal Narcotics Bureau and Hoover had quite a bureaucratic feud in those days so criticizing the Narcotics bureau is basically defending Hoover.

2. What is Joesten's reputation as a Kennedy researcher?

Any thoughts?

Thanks, Brent

[John Simkin]

You can find out more about Joachim Joesten on my website:

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

Joesten was born in Germany on 29th June, 1907. As a student he was an active member of the German Communist Party.

After Adolf Hitler gained power Joesten emigrated to France. Later he moved to the United States and worked for Newsweek magazine. In 1944 he became a freelance writer. Books by Joesten include Nasser: The Rise to Power (1960), The Red Hand (1962) and Spies and Spy Techniques since World War II (1963).

Joesten took a keen interest in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and published Oswald, Assassin or Fall Guy? in 1964. In the book Joesten claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Dallas Police Department and a group of right-wing Texas oil millionaires conspired to kill Kennedy. He openly accused Police Chief Jesse Curry of being one of the key figures in the assassination.

Other books by Joesten on the subject included Marina Oswald (1967), Oswald: The Truth (1967), The Garrison Enquiry: Truth & Consequences (1967) and The Dark Side of Lyndon Baines Johnson (1968).

In 1968 Joesten published How Kennedy was Killed: The Full Appalling Story (1968). In the book he provided information that Haroldson L. Hunt was involved in the assassination. He also named Larry Craford, a man who worked for Jack Ruby, as the man who impersonated Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.

Joesten later took the view that Lyndon B. Johnson and Bobby Baker were involved in the killing: "The Baker scandal then is truly the hidden key to the assassination, or more exact, the timing of the Baker affair crystallized the more or less vague plans to eliminate Kennedy which had already been in existence the threat of complete exposure which faced Johnson in the Baker scandal provided that final impulse he was forced to give the go-ahead signal to the plotters who had long been waiting for the right opportunity."

Anti-conspiracy theorists have claimed over the years that Joesten was a KGB agent and that he was attempting to hide the fact that the communists were involved in the assassination. In fact, most of Joesten’s evidence against LBJ came from a right-wing figure in Texas called James Evetts Haley.

When Lyndon B. Johnson became president Haley published A Texan Looks at Lyndon. It 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 Billy Sol Estes. Haley pointed out that three men who could have provided evidence in court against Estes, George Krutilek, Harold Orr and Howard Pratt, all died of carbon monoxide poisoning from car engines.

Haley also suggested that Johnson might have been responsible for the death of 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."

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

[Peter McGuire]

You can find out more about Joachim Joesten on my website:

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

Joesten was born in Germany on 29th June, 1907. As a student he was an active member of the German Communist Party.

After Adolf Hitler gained power Joesten emigrated to France. Later he moved to the United States and worked for Newsweek magazine. In 1944 he became a freelance writer. Books by Joesten include Nasser: The Rise to Power (1960), The Red Hand (1962) and Spies and Spy Techniques since World War II (1963).

Joesten took a keen interest in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and published Oswald, Assassin or Fall Guy? in 1964. In the book Joesten claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Dallas Police Department and a group of right-wing Texas oil millionaires conspired to kill Kennedy. He openly accused Police Chief Jesse Curry of being one of the key figures in the assassination.

Other books by Joesten on the subject included Marina Oswald (1967), Oswald: The Truth (1967), The Garrison Enquiry: Truth & Consequences (1967) and The Dark Side of Lyndon Baines Johnson (1968).

In 1968 Joesten published How Kennedy was Killed: The Full Appalling Story (1968). In the book he provided information that Haroldson L. Hunt was involved in the assassination. He also named Larry Craford, a man who worked for Jack Ruby, as the man who impersonated Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.

Joesten later took the view that Lyndon B. Johnson and Bobby Baker were involved in the killing: "The Baker scandal then is truly the hidden key to the assassination, or more exact, the timing of the Baker affair crystallized the more or less vague plans to eliminate Kennedy which had already been in existence the threat of complete exposure which faced Johnson in the Baker scandal provided that final impulse he was forced to give the go-ahead signal to the plotters who had long been waiting for the right opportunity."

Anti-conspiracy theorists have claimed over the years that Joesten was a KGB agent and that he was attempting to hide the fact that the communists were involved in the assassination. In fact, most of Joesten’s evidence against LBJ came from a right-wing figure in Texas called James Evetts Haley.

When Lyndon B. Johnson became president Haley published A Texan Looks at Lyndon. It 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 Billy Sol Estes. Haley pointed out that three men who could have provided evidence in court against Estes, George Krutilek, Harold Orr and Howard Pratt, all died of carbon monoxide poisoning from car engines.

Haley also suggested that Johnson might have been responsible for the death of 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."

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

Joesten was a great first generation researcher. The Dark Side of Lyndon Baines Johnson (1968) is excellent.

[Guest Robert Morrow]

Joachim Joesten? He solved the JFK assassination. Joesten gets an A+ in my view.

John Simkin:

"Joesten took a keen interest in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and published Oswald, Assassin or Fall Guy? in 1964. Like other early authors who questioned the official version, Joesten was forced to get his book published in the England (Merlin Press). In the book Joesten claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Dallas Police Department and a group of right-wing Texas oil millionaires conspired to kill Kennedy. He openly accused Police Chief Jesse Curry of being one of the key figures in the assassination."

[Note from Robert Morrow, I do NOT think Jesse Curry was involved in the JFK assassination planning. But he certainly went along with the cover up.]

"Joesten later took the view that Lyndon B. Johnson and Bobby Baker were involved in the killing: "The Baker scandal then is truly the hidden key to the assassination, or more exact, the timing of the Baker affair crystallized the more or less vague plans to eliminate Kennedy which had already been in existence the threat of complete exposure which faced Johnson in the Baker scandal provided that final impulse he was forced to give the go-ahead signal to the plotters who had long been waiting for the right opportunity."

Here is a gem from the Dark Side of Lyndon Johnson - a fantastic book and almost impossible to find book: p. 268:

"Garrison stated, early in his inquiry, that in due course 'every individual involved', including all the accessories after the fact, would be arrested and brought to trial.

"The only way they can escape is to kill themselves," he added signficantly. He wasn't just thinking of David Ferrie.

If Lyndon B. Johnson has any brains left, he'll blow them out before the law gets around to him. That way he could at least escape the pinnacle of infamy and save his country from foundering in an abyss of national shame."

Edited April 9, 2011 by Robert Morrow

[Michael Clark]

FBI contact or agent furnishes Press contacts with information and suggests that they could discredit Joachim Joesten.

 

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/124-10144-10085.pdf