John Kowalski Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 I have written a book review about Metta's book about CMC. In the appendices there is a discussion about the three lawsuits brought against the archives to get Bloomfield's documents released and Bloomfield's true role in Permindex and CMC. https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-reviews/the-canadian-archives-michele-metta-and-the-latest-on-permindex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Thorne Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Good work John, I’ll have a read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kowalski Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 Anthony: Thank you. Looking forward to comments or questions about my review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brancato Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Excellent review, and not an excellent easy task i have a few questions or comments. Has all Bloomfield correspondence from 1963 been released? What do you make of the Mossad connection to CMC? who do you think are the unnamed clients whom Bloomfield represented in CMC/Permindex? It would appear that Bloomfield did not name them in the correspondence he left us. Was he counsel for the Bronfman family? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kowalski Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 Hi Paul: Glad you liked my review. The archives didn't specifically hold back documents from 1963, they held back those documents they deemed to be subject to solicitor-client privilege. I think that the Mossad connection to CMC is weak. Metta's book mentions only one person who had been with them as been connected to CMC. This does not necessarily mean that there are no other connections between the Mossad and CMC, it it means that more research is required to see if there are other Mossad or Israeli connections to CMC. Have no idea who Bloomfield was representing. I spoke to Harry Bloomfield, who is Louis Bloomfield's nephew and who is mentioned in Bloomfield's letter to I.G. Alk in 1979 in exhibit 1 about this. He told me he does not know who he was representing. Bloomfield knew the Bronfmans but I do not know if he acted as their counsel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 On 2/9/2019 at 8:04 AM, John Kowalski said: I have written a book review about Metta's book about CMC. In the appendices there is a discussion about the three lawsuits brought against the archives to get Bloomfield's documents released and Bloomfield's true role in Permindex and CMC. https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-reviews/the-canadian-archives-michele-metta-and-the-latest-on-permindex Thanks for posting this review. As a newbie on this scholarly forum, I will ask what is, most likely, a "sophomoric" question. Does Metta describe any details about the alleged* connections between CMC, Permindex, and the Banco Commerciale Internationale (BCI) of Basle, Switzerland? * Michael Collins Piper alleged in his book, Final Judgment, that the Israeli Mossad financier Tibor Rosenbaum and BCI were somehow involved with Permindex-- but the documentation for this allegation is unclear to me. From your review, it sounds like Metta has not unearthed anything about the alleged Mossad involvement in Permindex. (As I recall, Collins also alleged that Meyer Lansky was also involved, through BCI, with Permindex.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kowalski Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 (edited) Yes there is a connection to Tibor Rosenbaum but the name of the bank is International Credit Bank. The English name on the letter below from Bloomfield to Rosenbaum is very similar to the French Banco Commerciale Internationale. I don't recall Metta entioning that bank or Rosenbaum, and I can't confirm this because the book has no index. There is probably a connection to the Mossad because Georges Mandel used to be connected to the Israeli Intelligence Service (ILS) which I assume had some connection to the Mossad. Mandel was separated from the ILS but given that he, Shaw and Nagy all have intelligence connections, Permindex and CMC were probably involved in intelligence work. Edited February 11, 2019 by John Kowalski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brancato Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 John - isn’t there a Tibor Rosenbaum letter that is still withheld? does Metta say that the brother of Shimon Perez was on the board of CMC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James DiEugenio Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 (edited) Yes he does say that the brother of Peres was on the board. In my view, I think its an interesting book for more than one reason. First, it takes us into post war Italy politics like no other book I have read. Because Metta lives there he is familiar with books written in that language. Books I have heard of but never read since they were not translated. Second, he brings up a viable connection between CMC and P2. And man was P2 a really dark and interesting group of thugs. They were so bad the Anslemi Commission outlawed them. And they had a reach beyond Italy. BTW does anyone know if Harvey was on that famous list Anselmi published of members of that lodge? Third, the connection between this whole milieu and the attempted aperture finestra policy urged on Kennedy by Schlesinger is something to ponder since its pretty clear, as noted in the book, that these guys did not like Kennedy at all. Fourth, that whole Mitrokhin archives line that Permindex was a KGB disinfo story is now discredited. Permindex was what Garrison thought it was, a very murky and mysterious business entity which had some serious western intel connections. I wish Metta had made more of the expulsion from Basel and the eventual expulsion from Italy in that regard. Edited February 12, 2019 by James DiEugenio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kowalski Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 12 hours ago, Paul Brancato said: John - isn’t there a Tibor Rosenbaum letter that is still withheld? Yes there is a letter to Rosenbaum that is withheld but being withheld does not mean that there is something significant in that letter. If Bloomfield and Rosenbaum were involved in something that was either illegal or intelligence related, I do not believe that he would have put it in a letter and then donate that letter to the archives. I also want to mention that I have no suspicions about the withheld documents. The archives allege that they are all subject to solicitor-client privilege (SCP) but I doubt that they are. I have read and have copies of letters written by Bloomfield to some of the people on the list of withheld documents. In these letters he is not providing legal advice. There is one person on the list whose name is Mr. PJ de Dongo. He is Bloomfield's employee, who he sent to Rome to help him with his work he was doing on behalf of his CMC clients. As he was an employee and not a client, Bloomfield would not be providing him with legal advice therefore his letter to him should not be subject to SCP, but it is. What they probably did is choose some random letters and designated them as SCP. Why they held them back I don't know but speculate that they want to save face by saying that yes, some were subject to SCP rather than admit that they were wrong about all of them or admit that they had an ulterior motive for withholding them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brancato Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 1 hour ago, John Kowalski said: Yes there is a letter to Rosenbaum that is withheld but being withheld does not mean that there is something significant in that letter. If Bloomfield and Rosenbaum were involved in something that was either illegal or intelligence related, I do not believe that he would have put it in a letter and then donate that letter to the archives. I also want to mention that I have no suspicions about the withheld documents. The archives allege that they are all subject to solicitor-client privilege (SCP) but I doubt that they are. I have read and have copies of letters written by Bloomfield to some of the people on the list of withheld documents. In these letters he is not providing legal advice. There is one person on the list whose name is Mr. PJ de Dongo. He is Bloomfield's employee, who he sent to Rome to help him with his work he was doing on behalf of his CMC clients. As he was an employee and not a client, Bloomfield would not be providing him with legal advice therefore his letter to him should not be subject to SCP, but it is. What they probably did is choose some random letters and designated them as SCP. Why they held them back I don't know but speculate that they want to save face by saying that yes, some were subject to SCP rather than admit that they were wrong about all of them or admit that they had an ulterior motive for withholding them. John - That’s an interesting observation - that illegal or intelligence matters would not have been put in a letter and then donated to the archives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brancato Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 12 hours ago, James DiEugenio said: Yes he does say that the brother of Peres was on the board. In my view, I think its an interesting book for more than one reason. First, it takes us into post war Italy politics like no other book I have read. Because Metta lives there he is familiar with books written in that language. Books I have heard of but never read since they were not translated. Second, he brings up a viable connection between CMC and P2. And man was P2 a really dark and interesting group of thugs. They were so bad the Anslemi Commission outlawed them. And they had a reach beyond Italy. BTW does anyone know if Harvey was on that famous list Anselmi published of members of that lodge? Third, the connection between this whole milieu and the attempted aperture finestra policy urged on Kennedy by Schlesinger is something to ponder since its pretty clear, as noted in the book, that these guys did not like Kennedy at all. Fourth, that whole Mitrokhin archives line that Permindex was a KGB disinfo story is now discredited. Permindex was what Garrison thought it was, a very murky and mysterious business entity which had some serious western intel connections. I wish Metta had made more of the expulsion from Basel and the eventual expulsion from Italy in that regard. There is a really interesting story in both Brandstetter books about Licio Gelli. In 1982 he received a call from the military attaché at the US embassy in Mexico City asking for his help. The next day two CIA officers arrived at his Acapulco estate and explained that Gelli, on the run from authorities for the death of Banco Ambrosiano director Roberto Calvi, was reputed to be planning to buy a house in Acapulco. The agents asked for Brandy’s help in finding the location of the new home. When Brandy refused, saying he was retired from intelligence work, the agents told him their orders had come from Reagan. Recall that Gelli had been in attendance at Reagan’s inaugural celebration. Brandy could not refuse his friend, so he agreed to help. Using local contacts he was able to locate Gelli’s hideout, an estate in an exclusive neighborhood with a large satellite dish and armed guards, as well as direct access to a secluded dock. When he reported his findings to CIA, they asked him to find a rental nearby so they could set up surveillance. Brandy was able to persuade a contact in Los Angeles to rent him his nearby estate, guaranteeing his friend against damages and paying for a month plus deposit out of his own pocket. When all was in place he contacted the CIA agents saying all was ready. The response - the agents told him the operation had been called off. what do you suppose was going on there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James DiEugenio Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 (edited) I don't know but it does appear that Gelli was not just a heavy hitter in Italy, which means P2 had a really wide international reach. It does imply that P2 had some allies in America, does it not? Edited February 12, 2019 by James DiEugenio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James DiEugenio Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 BTW, in addition to John and Mr. Metta, I think we should also give Maurice Phillips some credit for this new and detailed information about Permindex/CMC. Maurice was the first guy who actually explored the Canadian Archives for the Bloomfield correspondence. https://somesecretsforyou.blogspot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brancato Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 (edited) 37 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said: I don't know but it does appear that Gelli was not just a heavy hitter in Italy, which mean P2 had a really wide international reach. It does imply that P2 had some allies in America, does it not? And it appears that CIA ultimately wasn’t interested in going after Gelli or helping the Italians do so, but wary enough to keep their eyes on him. Interesting that CIA told Brandy that wherever Gelli was he would have a large satellite dish. Gelli knew a lot of secrets, too dangerous to let him disappear or arrest him. Edited February 12, 2019 by Paul Brancato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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