Leslie Sharp
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Posts posted by Leslie Sharp
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Hoover’s strange note, January 18, 1964:
We’re reminded that Mrs. Jane Roman had advised the FBI liaison on March 6, 1964 that her agency furnished to Hoover’s bureau information in a letter dated July 12, 1963, captioned “OAS Attempt to Enlist the Cooperation of the United States for its anti-de Gaulle Activities.”
When was Hoover advised by INS that Dallas agents had expelled French nationals on Nov 22/23? Surely he was apprised prior to January 18. Is that knowledge reflected in his note? Remember that at least one official record — now supported by Lafitte’s own notes — indicates Souetre’s exit was via Mexico.
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/Nov 22/
Willoughby backup
team [strike through]
squad —techbuilding —phone booth/bridge
O says turn them.
Silverthorne-
Ft. Worth
-airport Mexico
—-Lafitte datebook, November 15
Nowhere in Lafitte’s notes does it indicate Skorzeny had designated Babushka Lady as one of the assassins. Jerrie Cobb does not appear on the radar of his strategy, unless she is a member of the squad or the swamp team identified in the datebook.
It’s possible that plans for Oswald’s extraction were managed by someone completely outside Otto’s strategy, but to suggest pilot Jerrie Cobb was in Dealey shooting Kennedy through a camera (and how do Connally’s wounds factor in Haverstick’s scenario?) and also meant to make it out to Redbird in the ensuing mayhem seems ill conceived. Was the plot short staffed?
We've since considered the possibility that BL could have been a member of one of the distraction teams. We note that Alice Lamy, whose romantic history with La Cagoule founder Jean Filiol has been confirmed and who arrived with Filiol at the Stoneleigh Hotel on November 20, had in previous operations in Europe sometimes provided effective distractions when she wasn’t actively engaged in hands on murder.
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@James DiEugenio QJ/WIN, the programme, involved a number of spotters; Albarelli’s last count suggested multiples. I think you might be referring to documents that elaborate on but one of those based in Luxembourg being considered for work in the Congo.
Documents pertaining to the arrest of Thomas Eli Davis in Morocco indicate another QJ/WIN pulled strings to secure his release. Considering Davis had only weeks earlier been meeting with Otto Skorzeny and his associate in Madrid — arms dealer (and former OSS asset) Victor Oswald, the likely candidate was Otto. And, considering Davis plays a pivotal role in the sightings of Lee Oswald in Mexico City two months earlier, as attested to by Garro and reinforced by June Cobb — a primary subject of Haverstick’s own investigation — one could reasonably expect Haverstick to consider Davis/QJ/WIN/Tangier before wrapping up her narrative?
Claiming to have uncovered another spotter is one thing. Suggesting a thirty something untrained asset — female at that — was head of this particular programme is a leap that should at least be heavily scrutinized by veterans of this area of investigation.
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1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:
Paul:
It does not matter which one she says it was.
According to the declassified record, which the CIA never wanted to reveal, it was neither. Could she really not know that?
Also, according to Leslie, the book says that ZR Rifle was designed to do away with Kennedy and that Cobb was also the Babushka lady? And was somehow caught up in the assassination?
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28 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said:
Paul:
It does not matter which one she says it was.
According to the declassified record, which the CIA never wanted to reveal, it was neither. Could she really not know that?
Also, according to Leslie, the book says that ZR Rifle was designed to do away with Kennedy and that Cobb was also the Babushka lady? And was somehow caught up in the
To clarify, the author asserts that Babushka "Cobb" was Jerrie... I think. 🙂
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1 hour ago, Paul Brancato said:
Did Mary say June was QJWIN? Or was it Jerrie?
It’s too bad Hank and Mary never sat down with each other and worked through this mystery together.@Paul Brancato I think your question speaks to the broader issue several researchers have raised with AWIK.
Have you read the book? If so, are you clear who the author suggests was THE QJ/WIN? Was it June Cobb? Was it Jerrie Cobb? Was it Jerrie posing as June, or as Catherine Taaffe? Did she leave you, the reader, to draw your own conclusions?
Another similar example: When I asked Mary about "Bobby" from the surveillance transcript at the Manhatten hotel and shared with her that a fellow researcher's takeaway from the incident was that "Bobby" was in fact Robert F. Kennedy, she laughed, "I didn't say that," to wit I asked, "but you know you inferred it?" Her response, "I can't control what the reader concludes." My response, "why would you be comfortable with the reader drawing an erroneous conclusion?"
When Mary recounted the brief call she had with Albarelli -- I believe she said in May 2015, two years after A Secret Order was published -- I listened attentively all the while wondering why she waited two years to contact him. I even commiserated initially, knowing that he could be unforgiving if someone, witting or not, misstated facts. He could also be abrupt with anyone who refused to acknowledge errors. However, after further inquiry about specifics of the exchange with Hank, and having spent two years in daily contact with him including many days in his direct company, I drew an informed conclusion. I included that subjective assessment and conclusion in a previous comment on this thread.
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On 12/14/2023 at 12:10 PM, Michael Griffith said:
@Leslie SharpI shared the photo with Mary. She said she already had it.
@Michael Griffith did Mary Haverstick have the names of June’s brothers who are pictured with her? Surely she attempted to interview them as well? Or did she, and I simply overlooked the reference in AWIK.
And did the photo of June in her 80s compared with photos of Jerrie Cobb The Pilot taken around the same age impact Mary Haverstick’s previous hypotheses?
My interest is Mary’s suggestion in private that perhaps Hank Albarelli had been engaged with Jerrie Cobb, thinking she was Viola June Cobb.
From there, one is compelled to review the relevant sections of “A Secret Order” and compare the facts Albarelli uncovered against Mary’s alternative facts and subjective conclusions. Mary’s argument that June Cobb was THE QJ/WIN should spin heads.
It’s disconcerting so few in the “community” writ large have publicly challenged Haverstick or held her accountable for factual errors, inconsistencies, and misguided innuendos and assumptions found in AWIK.
“Letting the reader draw their own conclusions” fuels the parlor game atmosphere and is especially reckless when you have a mainstream powerhouse editor and publisher — with the potential of reaching a wide gullible audience — standing by the material.
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3 hours ago, David Josephs said:
I'd have to think this was the MARTEL incident as told by Philippe de Vosjoli in Life many years after the fact.
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP70B00338R000200170118-8.pdf
But I've only started to research this - had never been asked this and you being who you are probably knows exactly what this refers to... dont ya?
I might play cat and mouse with some members, but never with you, my friend!
The brouhaha over the Souetre/Mertz/Roux expulsion didn’t surface until weeks later as far as I know. But, it’s possible the director had already been read in? Sullivan would be the logical liaison to INS I think.
Hoover might have considered de Vosjoli / Martel a ‘spy’ but Angleton certainly didn’t — except perhaps his spy.
I just find it intriguing, in context of Lafitte's notes about the MC trip, that Oswald AND the French are written ‘in the same breath.’ -
6 hours ago, David Josephs said:
So wouldn't one expect to hear within the ongoing tapping programs these same Russians and Cubans making some mention of this American coming after hours and somehow getting into the compound? Or making the ruckus he did in front of AZCUE and DURAN?
Contemporary reporting DENIES he made these calls
One tact I took was believing that there may have been contemporaneous reporting of OSWALD in MX without the CIA really being aware of what they were doing. If the CIA wanted him in MX Sept 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th and had picked up his voice/name in their LIENVOY operation, would that not have given even more credibility to his being there?
At bottom right is a summary report excerpt showing the kind of response an ENGLISH SPEAKING PERSON would have received within LIENVOY.
Can you offer any explanation for why his exaggerated presence was not mentioned anywhere until the day after Phillips arrives?
Look at your sources again Ben: Russian, Cuban and CIA memos
One has to wonder why these groups would toe the company line and insist he really was there and not traveling with Cubans in the US and speaking to a woman whose family was connected to JURE?
There's naive and there's head in the sand ostrich junk. The Russian memos only talk about confirming what is said, not contradicting. We can talk about the Cubans another time if you like.
Why is it you don't accept the FBI's search coming up empty during all of November as more reliable than the Russian KGB? Or Hoover literally spelling it out in his own hand in Jan 1964?
David, which “French espionage activities in USA” do you think Hoover is referring to?
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17 hours ago, Sandy Larsen said:
Leslie,
No, I didn't mean anything I said to be facetious. My response to you was shorter than what you deserved only because I had forgotten about the Mary Haverstick thread and book when I wrote what I did about June Cobb. I just went back to that thread and got caught up on it, and so I now see that you informed us about the Win Scott memo.
I'm sure you know more about June Cobb than I do. My area of interest is on Elena Garro and her story about Oswald and his pals fraternizing with Silvia Duran and friends at her house. You see, her story corroborates parts of the story of Gilberto Alvarado, who claimed that Oswald was paid a $6500 ($5000 + $1500 for expenses) advance while in the Cuban Consulate, to assassinate someone.
In addition, there was another story reported by someone else that Oswald came back to the States with $5000. So this is also corroborative.
Then, of course, there is the Oswald phone call that makes it sound like Oswald had just met with KGB assassinations chief Valeriy Kostikov.
All of these stories are now regarded as fake by most researchers. But when they are all considered together, it becomes clear -- to some of us -- that the CIA assassination plotters were behind all these false stories, their purpose being to make it look like Oswald was in cahoots with Cuba and Russia over the assassination. That they were paying Oswald to get it done.
This, of course, would create a pretext for war. Perhaps an invasion of Cuba.
Now, having said all that, I must mention that it appears that there is no documentation available to indicate that Garro's story came out early, shortly after the assassination. June Cobb's corroboration of Elena's story isn't even mentioned till 1965. Way too late for them to be of any use in the plot.
However, we do know that Garro was in Mexican Police custody shortly after the assassination, as were Silvia Duran and a number of people at the party she was having at the time of her arrest. There is apparently strong indication that Garro told her story right after the assassination and that is the reason she was taken into custody. And is the reason Silvia Duran and her guest were arrested and interrogated.
So I do believe the Garro story came out early, and that we just haven't documentation for that. June Cobb's corroborative story probably also came out early, but documentation for it was also scrubbed.
I apologize if you are already aware of all this. I mention it because, due to a fairly new thread of mine, I have discovered that our theory isn't as widely accepted, or even understood, as I had thought it was. As far as I can tell, the only researchers who believe it are Jim DiEugenio, Peter Dale Scott, David Josephs, Cliff Varnell, and myself.
Which is rather depressing.
I appreciate you taking the time to walk through this with a very plausible argument.
Charles William Thomas’ letter to Sec. State William P. Rogers dated July 25, 1969 may have been effectively debunked by now, but at the time he felt compelled to inform the Secretary that “public disclosure” of Oswald’s presence at the Mexico party “could reopen the debate about the true nature of the Kennedy assassination and damage the credibility of the Warren Report.” Based on this concern, Thomas informed Rogers that since he had been embassy officer in Mexico “who acquired this intelligence information, I feel responsibility for seeing it through to its final evaluation.”
His informant was also his friend, Elena Garro. He filed his first report detailing Garro’s account of the party on December 10, 1965.
Several months after Thomas’ memos to Sec. Rogers, FBI top Soviet expert W. A. Branigan memoed Wm. Sullivan that State had furnished the Bureau a letter and accompanying documents received from a “recently retired” employee.
By April 1971, Thomas was dead at age 45, allegedly from a self-inflicted gunshot.
State and FBI couldn’t still be concerned, in 1969, that the legend of Oswald in Mexico City could trigger a war with the Soviets, right?
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@David Josephs great to see you back in this saddle.
Aside from, or maybe in addition to the decades long debate about MC, how do these 3 KGB guys fit in with the 1998 documentary, The KGB JFK Assassination Files which preceded a companion book,The Triangle of Death by one of the co- producers of the documentary Brad O’Leary by several years? It may seem I’m diverting from the topic of this thread, but bear with me.
Roger Moore narrated the documentary filmed a good deal on location in Russia. Apparently the director/producers had been granted exclusive access to Soviet experts and their intel files from their own investigation into K’s assassination. No doubt both film and book are controversial, although I note that in the past, Larry Hancock has cited O’Leary — who hired a French speaking reporter to track down Souetre for an extended interview — as a source for having established once and for all, Jean Rene Soutre was anywhere but Dallas on November 22.
Are you familiar with the Soviet’s investigation? Did these 3 MC KGB guys surface? (I confess I haven’t watched the documentary in full, but will soon because the director and one producer (O’Leary) are named in the NY AG lawsuit targeting the NRA.)
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@Greg Doudna @Benjamin Cole @Jonathan Cohen @Michael Griffith
The distinction between alias (meant to deceive) and pseudonym (privacy) . . .
Coincidentally, I was recently compelled to respond to an email exchange on the subject of Antonio Veciana and found myself sharing the following vignette.
Subject: Re. Veciana quote
You might not remember, xxx, but the Veciana issue prompted my pen name.
Over dinner in our home, Scott Armstrong was adamant Veciana was telling the truth. In fact, my husband had to put the meal on the back burner while we waited for Scott because he was sitting in their SUV outside our casita talking to Marie Fonzi who had just agreed to turn Gaeton's archives over to MFF. Jeff Morley, once Scott's protégé at WaPo, was involved in the transaction. As we know, Marie is confident Veciana was highly credible.
Once we settled around the table, I boldly asserted I thought Veciana's story was sketchy. It wasn't a cavalier comment. I had reason to question detail about the encounter in Dallas. Following a lovable (but patronizing nonetheless) metaphorical pat on the head from Scott, I recognized that challenging the status quo as determined by the inner-sanctum would be, well, challenging.
Scott's wife, my dear friend, dropped off Jeff's book the following day. I flipped to the index and noted he failed to pursue Win Scott's close ties to Al Ulmer. Russ Baker had stayed with us (another story!). I knew Jeff had missed a significant opportunity, so after twenty years of research I decided to join the public online fray at jfkfacts.
I didn't want to be intimidated by the possibility my good friend Scott -- who I care for and admire deeply -- might be hovering at jfkfacts, so, Leslie Sharp took form. When I finally fessed up, his wife laughed and whispered, I understand completely.
Hank Albarelli followed jfkfacts around that time; four years later, he found Leslie Sharp on FB and the rest is history. He had no idea my friend, now married to Armstrong, had years earlier been married to John Marks who was among Hank's valued interviews for ATM. Strange synchronicity.
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54 minutes ago, Michael Griffith said:
@Leslie SharpI shared the photo with Mary. She said she already had it.
I'm curious if you believe Hank or anyone in the field might have ever mistaken June for Jerrie in 2005-2015?
Mary continued to imply if not insist that either Hank was "masking" June's real identity or "she" (I couldn't determine if Mary meant Viola June or Gheraldyn) had snookered (a veiled suggestion seduced) this seasoned investigator.
Mary also reports that John Newman was unable to positively identify a photo of June. Does that suggest he hadn't spent much time with her?
Hank on the other hand indicates that by 2011 he had amassed enough material, including private letters, diaries and interview notes to begin his manuscript (working title), CIA Femme Fatale: The Secret Life of June Cobb. Over the ensuing four years he continued his interviews with Viola June and developed the friendship he valued to his own passing -- which ironically was three months almost to the day of Jerrie Cobb's death.
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2 hours ago, Sandy Larsen said:
Heavens no. But the authorities didn't believe Cobb's story and she was CIA. So the conspiracy theory is that she was instructed by her handler to vouch for Garro.
I don't know about that memo.
Got it. Facetious.
I happened to have been reviewing the Scott memo yesterday in context of the EF thread, “Mary Haverstick’s Important ...”. Portions of the memo can be found in my comment. In essence, Scott commits to file that Cobb is a brazen wanton hussy prone to violence against felines and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Over the weekend when the dust started to settle from an encounter with Mary Haverstick, I opined to a small group of researchers, you watch. The next related debate on EF will be along the lines, “Was Oswald Ever In Mexico City?”
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16 minutes ago, Greg Doudna said:
You showed information that convinced me Albarelli's June Cobb and Renee Lafitte were who they said they were, and because those two are, I accept Phen Lafitte is as well. I retracted and deleted the post to which you refer in which I questioned that they were who they said they were. No I do not stand by that now, that is what I meant when I said I retracted it. You've convinced me, they are real people by their true names. No I do not wish to rephrase what I retracted and have deleted. I speculated on the basis of the information I had, you showed it wrong with information, I accept the correction, retracted the error and deleted the post.
Thank you.
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8 hours ago, Jim Rose said:
So will Wormwood Exposed ever be released?
On 12/12/2023 at 1:20 AM, Sandy Larsen said:Yes, the same CIA that said LHO visited Silvia Duran in the Cuban Consulate, even though he didn't.
The same CIA that paid Gilberto Alvarado to say that he saw LHO get paid a $6500 down payment to kill Kennedy, also in the Cuban Consulate. The same CIA that paid Elena Garro to say that she saw Oswald at a party with Silvia Duran and Cuban officials. The same CIA that instructed agent June Cobb to corroborate Elena's story.
Do records reflect Cobb was instructed to corroborate Garro’s story?
Didn’t COS Scott’s late November 1964 memo to file undermine June Cobb’s credibility altogether? Would that not cancel out her earlier corroboration as (allegedly) dictated by the agency?
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6 minutes ago, Greg Doudna said:
What do you want clarified about it specifically?
Greg, read your comment. If you want to rephrase, please do; otherwise I can only conclude you stand by it.
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8 hours ago, Jim Rose said:
So will Wormwood Exposed ever be released?
I know that Trine Day was hopeful that Hank’s M/s which is intended to set the record straight following the Errol Morris documentary (as well as his draft of the Hunter- White book in progress) was well enough along to bring across the finish line. To my knowledge, those projects are stalled.
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On 12/1/2023 at 7:46 PM, Greg Doudna said:
So far as I can tell the human sources of the Lafitte Datebook, the physical object, Renee and Phen Lafitte, have only a single witness on earth who has stated firsthand for the record having seen either of those women in recent decades. That is the late Hank Albarelli who passed away in 2019. That means there is no known person alive on earth today who can attest to have personally seen either of those women in corporeal bodily form. Nor is there any known trace of either of those women’s corporeal existences in recent decades to be found on the internet, nor is there any known photo of either of those women in recent decades.
Phen Lafitte, said to be of Miami, but with no known mailing address, no photo, no known documentary record of existence, no known employment, no known home address, not claimed to have been witnessed in the flesh by any living person on earth, is the asserted legal holder of copyright on the Lafitte Datebook of record.
19 minutes ago, Greg Doudna said:Leslie please be specific in how you feel I have wronged Albarelli, his family and colleagues, or you. I want to know specifically what you are charging me with to avoid guessing and misunderstanding.
Better still, you can review your relevant comment on this thread and clarify your meaning. Perhaps I misinterpreted.
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$47 Million to repair reputational damage.
Noted.
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@Greg Doudna the apology should be directed to Hank Albarelli and his family and professional colleagues, Greg.
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On 12/1/2023 at 7:46 PM, Greg Doudna said:
So far as I can tell the human sources of the Lafitte Datebook, the physical object, Renee and Phen Lafitte, have only a single witness on earth who has stated firsthand for the record having seen either of those women in recent decades. That is the late Hank Albarelli who passed away in 2019. That means there is no known person alive on earth today who can attest to have personally seen either of those women in corporeal bodily form. Nor is there any known trace of either of those women’s corporeal existences in recent decades to be found on the internet, nor is there any known photo of either of those women in recent decades.
Phen Lafitte, said to be of Miami, but with no known mailing address, no photo, no known documentary record of existence, no known employment, no known home address, not claimed to have been witnessed in the flesh by any living person on earth, is the asserted legal
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11 hours ago, Joe Bauer said:
Just beginning to read the very basics of the American "Matta Hari" Viola June Cobb story after reading these debate postings about her.
What a life! Almost hard to believe.
I'm surprised a major A list film was never considered regards her and her many mysterious, highest covert level doings.
I clicked on Images for her. Hardly any came up with the exception of one particular photo. It is a full body shot.
In this she looks as femininely attractive as a major Hollywood starlet. Beautiful really.
Aren't there other photos of her in her prime?
Sorry for the distraction from the much more important heavy weight debate discussion in this thread.
@Joe Bauer I believe a collage of photos is available. I’ll link if possible. Certainly Albarelli included one in A Secret Order. He selected an image of her interacting with indigenous youth. We used the photo above in a video promo for Coup focused on the femme fatales in the JFK case. She is as you note, quite feminine and apparently so into her later life. For that reason, I struggle with the proposition she was successfully impersonated within the milieu of arms dealers and gunrunners; the drug lords in particular could not be fooled, imo.
I believe a team of documentarians hope to tell June’s story; Hank had agreed to give them access to his interview tapes. At this juncture I think they have accumulated even more material. Work in progress.
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13 hours ago, Greg Doudna said:
I get a broken link and “page not available” from your link so saw no photo on your Facebook. But I see the photo of ca 85-yr old June Cobb and one of her brothers you posted here; thanks for posting that photo.
I never accused Albarelli of lying about his source, at least I don’t remember doing so. I thought Albarelli may have been deceived, different thing.
From your photo however, I retract the idea that Albarelli’s June Cobb, the godmother of his grandson, was not the real June Cobb from Ponca City OK.
I still don’t know how someone as famous as June Cobb could die with no known newspaper notice or obituary, but maybe that is less unusual than I supposed, probably happens all the time (a lot) dependent on the accident of whether a family member proactively makes an announcement happen. But what a story June Cobb—the CIA femme fatale in her heyday—would have to tell!! I hope her story via Albarelli may see the light of day.
Fair enough. I think you suggested Renee might have been a figment of his imagination. I’ll make the photo public on FB tomorrow if you want to check back in. She was quite beautiful.
Her large extended family who appear to be salt of the earth citizens that love our country carry the burden; navigating Hank’s commitment vs. living with my own conscience — sunlight heals all as long as it doesn’t burn — i’ve now pushed the envelope far beyond what Hank ever intended.
You may not accept this, but I'm doing what I can -- staying in my lane but making sure his Cobb M/s doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Initial working title: CIA Femme Fatale: The Secret Life of June Cobb. (2011)
Note: he didn't title the work in progress, The Woman Impersonated by the Woman Who Shot JFK: Revelations of the Babushka Lady
Mary Haverstick's Important New Book on the JFK Assassination
in JFK Assassination Debate
Posted · Edited by Leslie Sharp
You make a great DJ!
Considering no one on this thread seems astonished that the author of AWIK has stretched the limits beyond reason asserting that Kennedy was assassinated by a woman with a pistol in a camera (no explanation for Connally's wounds?), i thought I would toss in another candidate and role for Babushka Lady.
I've never talked to Beverly Oliver, but over the past year I've communicated with several who know her personally. The incident at the Cabana Motel on Nov 21 has been verified so why invent the camera episode the following day?