Paul Jolliffe

I, too, remember reading (somewhere) that JVB's "story" did not begin to emerge until after she took classes in creative writing. You and I probably read the same source. If true (note that I said "if"), then her credibility really takes a hit. Was she going through any personal trauma at the time? (A divorce, perhaps? Something else?) Were these classes a form of restorative therapy that then, with the development (creation?) of the "Me and Lee" story, took on a life of its own? I must be frank: I don't believe the basics of her story. Our "Oswald", the man with whom JVB allegedly had an affair, was not an assassin, so any claim that he was an important part of a plot to kill Castro is ridiculous. Further, there is no evidence that our "Oswald" knew anything about cancer research or much about science generally. His conversations with people were about politics, government, communism, Marxism, and sociology. In 2013, Marina put up two of "Oswald's" personal books for sale on a public auction. One was a copy of the Communist Manifesto from the 1930's, the other a collection of cartoons from a noted communist Hungarian Jew, Tibor Kajan, a man nominated several times for Hungary's Kossuth Prize. Not a science book in sight. https://historical.ha.com/itm/books/social-sciences/-john-f-kennedy-lee-harvey-oswald-s-personal-books/a/6106-38424.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115

Gentlemen, Do we have any evidence that either Fred Blair and his wife (presumably Mary, but possibly Elizabeth A. Smith) were living in NYC in the 1940's? We know from the article in the Milwaukee Journal that Fred "disappeared" between 1951 and 1955, and therefore could have lived in NYC. However, Emil Gardos and his wife had already been deported by then, so that rules out the 1950's. Perhaps Fred and Mary stayed for some time with Emil and Grace in Yorkville around 1945 - 46? Is there any record of that? John B's typed Commie card from yesterday had the information that Fred was "busted" from the Communist Party in Wisconsin in 1949, but nothing about NYC. Is there any evidence for Fred and his wife in NYC in the 1940's?

David, Here's what John Kowalski wrote on Tuesday at 12:50 about his interview with JCG's son: Paul: When I was researching my Osborne story who alias was John Howard Bowen, I did some research on career criminal John Caesar Grossi who worked with Oswald at Jaggers-Chiles-Stoval. Was interested in Grossi because one of his many aliases was John Bowen. Ordered a copy of his prison record from Leavenworth prison where he was doing time for auto theft. James Earl Ray did time at Leavenworth in the 1950s but am not sure if they were there at the same time and knew each other. His prison record indicated that he mailed a check to F. Ryder at 305 E Cason St. Irving Texas. The 1954 Irving City Directory shows that Homer Ryder lives at that address, and the the 1940 US census states that Homer had a daughter named Fleta and son named Dial. Looks like there is a connection between the bogus rifle work and Oswald's friend at JCS. I tracked down Grossi's son, John Bowen and interviewed him. He continues to use the Bowen name even though he knows his father's name was an alias. He did not have much contact with his father as he lived in Canada while Grossi remained in the US. One thing he did tell me was that Grossi, who was also a talented commercial artist, got the job at JCS through someone, whose name he does not know, who had tried to help Grossi abandon his criminal ways in his teens.

David, I should have been more precise: I suspect he was used by the FBI as a source. The JCS thing is so suspicious - Grossi's son told John Kowalski (quoted earlier) that JCG got his job at JCS in 1963 because of his longstanding connection (since he was a teenager!) with someone who had the clout to put him at a national security related firm, right alongside our "Oswald"! That is NOT a coincidence! It's gotta be the FBI!

John, I agree that one of those two theories is most likely. At the moment, I am not sure which way I am leaning. Either could work. You mentioned earlier some confusion about the "Elizabeth A. Smith" who, according to the LifeStory site was Fred Blair's wife. Well, she may have been his wife at some point, but I'll bet they divorced - her gravestone makes no mention of him or any other husband, she seems to have been buried in the Smith family plot of the Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee in 1961, so I don't think Fred meant much to her by then. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84911794/elizabeth-a_-smith Here's a weird one for you: President Kennedy's first Treasurer of the United States was named . . . Elizabeth Smith. https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKWHP/1961/Month 01/Day 30/JFKWHP-1961-01-30-B

Thanks for posting that, David. This report from 1944 (Grossi was only 17 years old at the time!) further heightens my strong suspicion that John Caesar Grossi was used by/in contact with the FBI in some capacity for decades to come. Grossi's son told John K. in an interview that his father got the job in 1963 at Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall (right alongside our "Oswald") as the result of a friendship with a mysterious benefactor he had known since he was a teenager. That anonymous do-gooder with that kind of clout could only be the FBI. And why would the FBI put Grossi at JCS in early 1963? To keep an eye on our recent defector from the USSR, a man on whom the FBI had officially closed the book in 1962. None of us really believe that Hoover's FBI in 1962 would have taken no further interest in an apparent Marxist/Commie/defector/traitor with a shady Russian wife. John Fain may have really retired in 1962, but I am certain the FBI kept tabs on our "Oswald" continuously. And Grossi was their eyes and ears at JCS before Hosty "officially" re-opened the case in 1963. What do you think?

Fair enough, Vince. I shall put your books on my Christmas list. On a slightly different note: You've probably addressed this at length elsewhere, but what do you make of the fact that the Warren Commission never discussed/subpoenaed/asked for/published transcripts of anything said during 11/22/63 from the secure White House Communications Agency? Winston Lawson was literally holding one of their two-way devices and speaking with them at the very moment shots were fired! Lawson had quietly installed this very device the morning of 11/22/63 and was in constant contact with the Secret Service agents in the motorcade, yet we have no record of what was actually said! I believe this was deliberate on the part of the Warren Commission. What do you think? Do you think Lawson was in contact with conspirators at the WHCA in Mt. Weather, Virginia and/or military officials at Raven Rock during the assassination, coordinating the non-flanking motorcycle escorts and following the previously cleared path to Parkland?

John, I agree that mother Mary Fuhrman's timely visit to Virginia in the fall of 1952 is mighty convenient. Did you know that Yorkville's 86th Street was the hub of the post WWII refugee/immigrant population in NYC? I did not. But consider this passage from http://www.yorkville-kleindeutschlandhistoricalsociety.com/history.html : Yet Yorkville survived World War Two and, after the War more Germans, both Christian and Jewish, came to Yorkville where they found refuge from all aspects of the War and, where they began to build a new life in this new “Little Germany or Kleindeutschland”. They fuelled even more the vibrant cultural life of 86th Street, the hub of the now multi-cultural European population, where the Poles, Czechs, Austrians, Hungarians, Slovaks, Russians, and other Eastern and Middle Europeans created their pockets. Many names were given to 86th Street: Sauerkraut Boulevard, The German Broadway, or the German Boulevard among others. Shopkeepers and customers were neighbors and family, and the compatibility among the customs of the different cultures lead to mutual respect and even sometimes forbidden, "inter-marriage" among the populations. 86th Street had a reputation all of its own. It was where the populations all centered their life, eating, drinking, singing, dancing, and socializing. If they didn’t live in Yorkville they came there to get a taste of home. There were scores of "Vereins" like sports, singing, literary clubs; newspapers, theaters, shops, churches - all catering to the needs of the German speaking foreigner. He need not venture out to the rest of the city. Everything was here. There were also pockets of Jewish residents such as the Marx Brothers; there were Greeks, Italians, and Puerto Ricans too. But the largest non-German speaking population to reside in Yorkville was the Irish, who mingled happily on 86th Street with the Europeans. The Avenues and the side streets were not only residential but housed ethnic shops and smaller ethnic restaurants, bierstubes, and other drinking establishments. It was one big family, until the mid 50s when they tore down the Third Avenue El, and its population with it.

John, I don't think we can conclude from the above cryptic phrase "Busted from Communist Party in Wisconsin for ineffective leadership on Negro rights." that Fred Basset Blair was not a genuine communist. I believe he really was a communist - after all, he and his wife successfully sued the FBI (winning $48,000) for surveillance and harassment in the early 1960's. Good work finding that card, but it certainly appears to me that Blair and his wife were the real deal. He was almost shot to death in November of 1966 by a 17 year old who "wanted to kill a communist." J. Edgar Hoover had specifically named Mary's Books as "one of the eight major communist bookstores operating in the United States at this time." (Spring of 1965.) Finally, the Milwaukee Journal article says that Fred and Mary disappeared in the early 1950's, not the 1960's. The mysterious woman caller (with an apparent German accent) seemingly could not remember Fred Blair's name, yet she knew the name "Emile Kardos" (as misspelled by the FBI.) Therefore, I'd bet she was not a relative of Fred or his wife. So who was the mysterious woman caller? Well, we know she was wrong in her belief that her suspects were operating with young "Oswald" in the 1950's - Emil Gardos (accompanied by Grace) had accepted "voluntary" deportation by then. The woman was probably thinking of some connection from the mid 1940's.

Jim, I agree that it is probably Harvey, but I wonder if the CIA played around with the picture after John Pic testified that he could not recognize his "brother." Could the CIA have substituted an "improved" version of a Harvey photo into the WC exhibits to baffle anyone wondering about Pic's hesitancy?

Vince, In a nutshell, do you believe that Lawson was the impetus for the motorcade route to make its detour in front of the TSBD? Or, was he merely a conveyor of a decision reached elsewhere? Who precisely, in your view, is ultimately responsible for the fatal motorcade route in Dealey Plaza?

Well yes, Jim. If Lawson himself was not the impetus for the final motorcade route, at the very least he knew from where the pressure came to bring about the Elm Street detour.

John K. said: "I tracked down Grossi's son, John Bowen and interviewed him. He continues to use the Bowen name even though he knows his father's name was an alias. He did not have much contact with his father as he lived in Canada while Grossi remained in the US. One thing he did tell me was that Grossi, who was also a talented commercial artist, got the job at JCS through someone, whose name he does not know, who had tried to help Grossi abandon his criminal ways in his teens." I've got a really good hunch as to who this mysterious benefactor/well-wisher/do-gooder might be. But first . . . Here's what we know: 1. John Caesar Grossi was 28 in 1955, therefore he was a teenager in the mid-1940's. 2. JCG was arrested in 1946 on a charge of impersonation when he was about 19 years old. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137338#relPageId=2&tab=page 3. JCG's files for 1944 (17 years old!) have a total of 47 pages that are "RESTRICTED IN FULL" pursuant to the JFK Records Act!!!! https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137349#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137348#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137347#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137346#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137345#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137344#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137343#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137342#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137341#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137340#relPageId=2&tab=page https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137339#relPageId=2&tab=page Because these are restricted files, I can't tell if any of them are duplicates. Even so, this guy has FBI files that are off limits from the mid 1960's, at least. Why? Did the FBI recruit him as an informant, a source, a "PCI", a contact, or whatever the hell they call their guys? Why are they still hidden? It is still mighty curious that Grossi was of such intense interest that his unknown benefactor from the WWII era had such clout that he could get him a job in a national security sensitive firm in 1963, right alongside our man "Oswald"! In any event, it's funny how over the years the same names keep popping up in this case . . . https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=137321#relPageId=3&tab=page

John, I agree that while this document does not absolutely rule out little John Gardos growing up to become our "Oswald" (Harvey), it makes it very, very unlikely. Which happens to be something that I have long suspected - that our "Oswald" was NOT the biological son of Emil and Grace Gardos, BUT somehow, however briefly, he was indeed connected to/associated with them in NYC at some point, probably between 1945 and 1946. (John Armstrong has argued, persuasively in my view, that our "Oswald" was living with a "Marguerite" by the fall of 1947, attending Benbrook Elementary in Ft. Worth, while Lee attended Lily Clayton Elementary.) There is something here about these people, but the connection to our "Oswald" may not necessarily be biological.

Great work, John. Hmm. So John Caesar Grossi, alias "John Bowen" (the same alias used by Albert Osborne in 1963! ) seemingly knew 31-year old Fleta Ryder - who apparently still lived in her parents' home - well enough to send her a check for $47 when he got out of prison the week before Christmas in December of 1955. This woman had a younger brother, Dial, who found the work order for a rifle in the name of "Oswald" at the Irving Sports Shop a few days after the assassination. The question is, who dropped off a rifle in the name of "Oswald" to be bore-sighted and "tapped" in the first week or two of November? (Undoubtedly the same man who visited the Furniture Mart in search of a gunsmith. Whitworth and Hunter referred him to the Irving Sports Shop.) The Warren Commission never showed the Mannlicher-Carcano to Dial Ryder, nor did they dare ask him the simple question: "Did you work on this rifle?" Why not? Because they suspected/knew he'd deny it, and then they would have to address an obvious conspiracy to frame "Oswald", which of course they wanted to hide. John K., is there any chance you could dig up a picture of John Caesar Grossi from the 1950's or 1960's?

Jim, You and I agree that whatever Marina thought she knew about "Oswald", she sure did not know about an assassination plot against JFK. We agree that the plotters would have kept her out of the loop for that. I agree that the plotters either knew or suspected that Marina was NOT an ordinary Soviet girl, marrying an American on a lark. No, she was almost certainly a Soviet intelligence asset (undoubtedly a dangle or "honeytrap", used by the Soviets to tease out further information from men - in this case, "Oswald" - susceptible to the wiles and charms of attractive young women.) Any reasonable observer would conclude exactly that. I think it boils down to just how loyal was Marina to a murdered "Oswald" - once he was dead, was there any advantage to her at all in spilling whatever tidbits she might know about this other LHO? After all, if the Furniture Mart impersonation was a one-time thing, and it may well have been, then Marina may have met Lee only once. Remember, she - a terrified young widow with two tiny daughters - was threatened with deportation at her very first interview! She had nowhere to go . . . unless she told the authorities exactly what they wanted to hear. But after re-reading the combined testimony of Marina, Gertrude Hunter and Edith Whitworth, I am afraid that you and I are going to have to disagree. I don't believe there is any way to attribute the very specific details in that lengthy encounter (not to mention the previous occasions on which Hunter saw and conversed with Marina!) to a deception. Clearly more work is needed on this. But for now, I would be very, very hesitant to rule out the possibility/probability that Marina did indeed have at least some knowledge of the other Oswald (Lee.) http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/oswald_m2.htm

Following up on 217 East 86th Street, kitty-corner from the Gardos residence was a movie theater (fromerly the 86th Street Casino Theater) that in the 1930's and '40's catered to the predominant German neighborhood by showing German movie premiers. It is likely that the Gardos family and/or "Oswald" saw movies at this theater. This theater still in use until this past May (of 2019.) https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7784908,-73.9531238,3a,30y,264.95h,96.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNLBRbBrnumXfimXVV-mamA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7469

John B., Good. That's exactly what I wanted to see. OK it would appear from the address 217 E. 86th Street in NYC (which appears on Google Maps below to be largely unchanged since the 1940's), that there is an elementary school nearby with a very interesting history - The Ramaz School. From school's website: " In the 1930's, the Upper East Side neighborhood known as Yorkville was an area where "Jewishness" was toned down; Jews of the area did not want to attract attention. In fact, in 1936, following the Depression and during the rise of Hitlerism, the pro-Nazi German-American Bund held street rallies up and down Third Avenue . . . As darkness fell upon European Jewry, the light of European children began to fill the halls of the Ramaz School. Jews from France, Belgium, Germany and Holland were flocking to the United States. Their children came from the Lycées of France, the Tachkemoni of Antwerp and a myriad of other schools. The refugee population especially concerned Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein. It was apparent to him that if the Ramaz School did not exist, these children would have difficulty finding a suitable Jewish school. By 1938, in order to ensure adequate space for these students, the Ramaz School rented several rooms in the Central Jewish Institute building at 125 East 85th Street. Seventy-one boys and girls enrolled, creating the need to lease the entire building as the school's new quarters. The Ramaz School was becoming widely recognized as an institution known for its academic excellence. The Teacher's Institute of Yeshiva University began sending student teachers to observe and fulfill their student-teaching requirements. In 1942, the school received its provisional charter from the Board of Regents of the State of New York. Enrollment by this time had risen to one hundred and twenty students." John, we know from the testimony of Nelson Delgado that "Oswald" apparently knew at least some Yiddish! Whether or not "Oswald" was indeed the biological son of the Gardos parents, we are certain there must have been some connection between them, however brief. If there are any surviving elementary school records for either little John Gardos (or "Oswald"), the Ramaz School archives (if they exist) are a good place to start.. https://www.ramaz.org/page.cfm?p=512 Here is what 217 E. 86th Street looks like today - except for the street level storefronts, the building itself looks unchanged for decades: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7784686,-73.9530716,3a,75y,49.16h,104.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sET4Z9Mb_MJ4TVoPOVy1g6Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

John B, Remind me: how do we know that Emil and Grace Gardos were living at 217 East 86th Street in the Yorkville neighborhood of NYC between 1944 and 1946? Do we have any official address for them at any point before the 1950 Senate Report which cited their Yorkville address in 1949? If so, tell me again, what record/s tell us their address in the mid 1940's? We know from the 1940 Census they were in Ironwood, Michigan in 1940, and we know from the 1950 Senate Report they were in Yorkville in 1949. What evidence for their addresses can we cite for the years in between? The Gardos parents obviously moved from Michigan to NYC at some point in the 1940's. Exactly when?

I can't tell you much about "Marguerite's" employment history. I can tell you that there are more than a few instances of "Oswald" expressing hatred, scorn, disdain, or indifference to his "mother." In the first complete sentence at the top of this page is an obvious one (from Mrs. Declan Ford, quoting Marina, quoting "Oswald"): https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10406&relPageId=265

John, Yes, I agree that Marina was almost certainly an asset of Soviet Intelligence, a dangle or "honeytrap" to entice foreign men into marriage and ultimately to relocate to another country. The fact that she met not only our "Oswald" but also Robert Webster is a huge red flag, a sure sign that she had some task, some mission to perform in relation to these American men. (Marina told Mrs. Declan Ford that Marina had "told her her husband went to Moscow, Russia, in 1959 where we had an exhibition, and worked for exhibition, then defected to the Russians at this time.") But "Oswald" didn't defect in 1959 from an American exhibition - Webster did! https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10406&relPageId=265 Our own Jim Hargrove noted a few years ago that Robert Webster told Dick Russell in 1997 that he had met Marina in the summer of 1959 and spoke with her in English! Whatever her original Soviet mission might have been came to a crashing end on 11/22/63 - she no longer had any possible use to Soviet Intelligence as an undercover agent. Her cover was blown, she couldn't go home, she feared criminal charges, and as a (now) single mother of two small children she was terrified that something could happen to her babies. Understandably, she'd say anything to make the American authorities happy and to stay here. And so she did.

Jim H., You and I both have tremendous respect for the amazing digging John A. has done on the issue of the two LHO's. But I do wonder if his belief that Marina knew nothing of a second Oswald has been shaped in large part because of his repeated personal contact with her - he believes her because he wants to believe her. Yet, the evidence has been in plain sight for 55 years that Marina is and has been untruthful on crucial matters! Her prime concern was ensuring that she would not be deported or face criminal charges herself (no matter how unfounded those charges would have been!) No, that was clear from the historical record - and readily apparent to even the junior WC lawyers themselves! From Norman Redlich's February 28, 1964 memo to J. Lee Rankin: " . . . there is in fact a strong probability that Marina Oswald is in fact a very different person - cold, calculating, avaricious, scornful of generosity, and capable of an extreme lack of sympathy in personal relationships. " Further on: "Neither you nor I have any desire to smear the reputation of any individual. We cannot ignore, however, that Marina Oswald has repeatedly lied to the Service, the FBI and this Commission on matters which are of vital concern to the people of this country and the world." https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=83#relPageId=132 Harold Weisberg called her "Scheherazade", referring to her own willingness to say whatever was required to save her own skin. No one thinks she was a witting part of the assassination conspiracy. But she was (and I believe, as in the case of her white lies to John A. about a second Oswald, still is) willing to smear her late husband in any way necessary to get what she wanted - to stay and live in America. https://books.google.com/books?id=8FuCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT29&dq=harold+weisberg+marina+oswald+scheherazade&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi87uX3n6HmAhWRwFkKHYhXANsQ6AEwAHoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=harold weisberg marina oswald scheherazade&f=false

Jim, Marina may have said nothing to John Armstrong about "Oswald's" copy of Tibor Kajan's "Circus Maximus", but there it is, listed on a reputable auction site in 2013 with a letter of provenance from Marina herself: https://historical.ha.com/itm/books/social-sciences/-john-f-kennedy-lee-harvey-oswald-s-personal-books-total-2-items-/a/6106-38424.s I can't conceive of a reasonable explanation for intelligence agencies to fabricate this evidence - they want to bury any leads into "Oswald's" real background, not highlight them (albeit however obscurely) in a public Dallas auction! Therefore, I think it is very likely that these books truly were once owned by our "Oswald", no matter what Marina later implied to John A.

Jim H., As you know, while I remain skeptical that little John Gardos grew up to be our "Oswald", it is not impossible, and therefore any research on this is legitimate. (Personally, I think it much more likely that our "Oswald" was briefly placed with Emil and Grace Gardos as a foster child in some sort of humanitarian effort to help resettle refugees/orphans from Eastern Europe just after WWII. And thus we've mistakenly inferred that the mysterious woman caller necessarily knew the correct relationship between the Gardos couple and "Oswald".) That being said however, I'd like to know if anyone has checked the Ironwood Public Schools 1944/45 school year to see if there might be kindergarten records for little John Gardos. Those records probably no longer exist, but at this moment, we have no evidence that Emil Gardos, his wife Grace and son John were NOT living in Ironwood as of 1944/45. After all, the 1940 census tells us John Gardos was born in Ironwood, Michigan. Therefore, if extant, those kindergarten records would at least confirm that little John Gardos survived infancy. I do believe the original FBI memo about the 11/30/63 phone call to Mrs. Jack Tippit (not the retyped, reformatted version, but the original) is worth perusing - on page two of the original, right in the middle of the page, is the name "Emile Kardos." Someone at the FBI not only underlined the name, but also put a big asterisk right over the name "Emile Kardos". The FBI knew that the connection between our "Oswald" and Emil Gardos (regardless of whether it was biological) was very sensitive. So they buried it and corrupted the name. https://harveyandlee.net/Harvey Who/Tippit-FBI_Graphical.htm

As I originally discovered a few days ago (and immediately posted), our "Oswald" had taken the time and expense to buy an awfully obscure book: Tibor Kajan's "Circus Maximus", a collection of political cartoons from a dedicated Hungarian Communist Jew, a man who received multiple Kossuth award nominations. Our "Oswald" shared an interest in professional cartoonists with . . . Mrs. Jack Tippit. According to his NYT obituary from 1994, Jack Tippit (husband of the recipient of the phone call from the mysterious older woman) was . . . a professional cartoonist and the founder of the Museum of Cartoon Art in 1974. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/20/obituaries/jack-d-tippit-cartoonist-70.html What's this have to do with the "Oswald" Project? Well, the CIA financed artists, writers, movie-makers and cartoonists for years in an effort to turn the tide of public opinion in the Cold War. I find this passage (NYT story linked below) mighty telling: "An odd alliance was struck between the C.I.A. leaders, most of them wealthy Ivy League veterans of the wartime Office of Strategic Services and a corps of largely Jewish ex-Communists who had broken with Moscow to become virulently anti-Communist. Acting as intermediaries between the agency and the intellectual community were three colorful agents who included Vladimir Nabokov's much less talented cousin, Nicholas, a composer. The C.I.A. recognized from the beginning that it could not openly sponsor artists and intellectuals in Europe because there was so much anti-American feeling there. Instead, it decided to woo intellectuals out of the Soviet orbit by secretly promoting a non-Communist left of democratic socialists disillusioned with Moscow. Ms. Stonor Saunders describes how the C.I.A. cleverly skimmed hundreds of millions of dollars from the Marshall Plan to finance its activities, funneling the money through fake philanthropies it created or real ones like the Ford Foundation. ''We couldn't spend it all,'' Gilbert Greenway, a former C.I.A. agent, recalled. ''There were no limits, and nobody had to account for it. It was amazing.'' https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/18/books/how-the-cia-played-dirty-tricks-with-culture.html