Leslie Sharp

Note: due to egregious censorship of the term N a z I on a forum that boasts "education" in the title, in the following excerpt the term National Socialist(s) replaces the historically acceptable abbreviation. Be assured the publisher of Coup in Dallas, without hesitation or fear of reprisal, insisted on printing the term N a z I where applicable — having something to do with that pesky First Amendment and Freedom of the Press.) Spies, Killers, Soldiers, and Ideologues… Joining Otto Skorzeny, and his band of assassins in Madrid, were former war-time National Socialists of special note to this book, Léon Degrelle and Junio Valerio Borghese. Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle was a notorious National Socialist collaborator born in Belgium in 1906 to a wealthy Catholic family. Young Léon studied at a prestigious Jesuit college and received a law doctorate from the Catholic University in Louvain. Following his schooling, Degrelle organized his own political party in Belgium, the Rexist Party, a Christian-based social justice group with deep-seated fascist, anti-communist, anti-Semite and anti-bourgeois underpinnings. Degrelle also became Belgium’s chief supporter and collaborator with Hitler, forming a military brigade of non-German Waffen SS members to fight in World War II. Following the end of the war, Degrelle, along with many of his brigade members, fled to Spain. The Belgian government accused Degrelle of treason and demanded that Franco’s government hand him over to them. Franco refused and helped Degrelle seek refuge and settle in his country. The Belgians, who had tried Degrelle in absentia and condemned him to death by a firing squad, were outraged by Spain’s refusal and ordered that all of Degrelle’s supporters and family members in Belgium be rounded up and arrested. Nearly twenty of his supporters were executed and several of his children were beaten and tortured in prison. The Belgian intelligence services sent several covert teams into Spain to kidnap Degrelle but all failed. The Jewish community in Israel and America applied pressure for Degrelle’s extradition and claimed that he was responsible for the wartime deportations and deaths of over thirty-five thousand Jews in Belgium. Skorzeny, who had first met Degrelle when he was in command of his Belgium SS division, welcomed Degrelle to Spain with open arms, helping him financially to form a construction company that received a large amount Spanish government work, as well as lucrative contracts from the US government and Pentagon to build military airfields throughout Spain. We have reason to pursue Degrelle later in the book, based on a remark made by a family member of Pierre Lafitte to author Albarelli that Léon Degrelle funded a small part of the JFK hit, “only because he despised Kennedy so much. . . ..” Prince Junio Valerio Borghese was another highly esteemed member of this cadres of fascists. Said Degrelle of Borghese, “he was a very impressive man,” and asserted, “the most important man of post-Fascist Italy.” (Martin Lee interview with Léon Degrelle, May 23, 1993.) Valerio Borghese was born at the turn of the century into a noble Italian family. The family’s heritage can be traced back to the days of Julius Caesar. Handsome, self-assured and ever restless, Borghese enlisted in the Italian Navy before World War II and was assigned to “an elite naval sabotage unit that eventually became known as the Decima Flottiglia MAS.” Decima MAS, or X-Mas, was a highly successful wartime group that was responsible for sinking many British warships. Borghese’s exploits with the Italian navy quickly became near legendary. In July 1943, Mussolini’s Axis government was shaken when Italian royalists seized Mussolini and threw him into a remote, inaccessible stone prison in the Appenine Mountains. Spectacularly, his seemingly hopeless situation was reversed when he was freed and returned to power through a daring raid on the prison by Hitler’s favorite National Socialist commando, Otto Skorzeny. Following Mussolini’s return to power, the National Socialists demilitarized Italy’s army and navy, and Borghese took his X-Mas subordinates to operate on the land where they became infamous for rounding-up Italian civilians and torturing them before publicly executing many. Slow on the uptake, Mussolini eventually realized that Borghese’s operations were happening apart from his overall strategy and that the Black Prince was also keeping close contact with National Socialist SS officers, British intelligence officers, and OSS officers Allen Dulles and James Jesus Angleton. Impulsively, Mussolini decided to arrest Borghese, but quickly released him, and by late 1944, the Italian fascist dictator and his mistress had been killed and viciously mutilated by frenzied Italian crowds. Allen Dulles quickly requested that US Vice Admiral Ellery Stone act to protect the Black Prince from any harm. Records, indicate that a few months later, on May 9, 1945, OSS officer James Jesus Angleton spirited Borghese, dressed in an American soldier’s uniform, away to safety in Rome. About a week later, Borghese was arrested, tried, and convicted of minor wartime crimes by the Allies. He served only about two years in prison and was then released to become an active force advancing international terrorist activities designed to promote the cause of fascism. Eventually, Borghese was joined in his activities by the notorious terrorist and assassin Stefano Delle Chiaie. Says author Martin Lee in his ground-breaking work, The Beast Reawakens, “Borghese often spoke highly of the five-foot fascist phenom, referring to Delle Chiaie as ‘one of the few men capable of putting things in order in Italy.’” The reader encounters Delle Chiaie in depth later in the chapter, but for now it’s important to note that it was Delle Chiaie who accompanied the Black Prince when they fled Italy for Spain following the botched putsch known as Golph Borghese in December 1970, where they rendezvoused with Otto Skorzeny. According to Lee, “Delle Chiaie glorified violence as a hygienic outburst capable of cutting through the postwar bourgeois morass. During the 1960s, his organization, Avanguardia National Socialistonale (National Vanguard) came to be regarded as the cudgel of Italian right-wing extremism. For guidance and inspiration, Delle Chiaie looked to Julius Evola, the reactionary intellectual who emerged as the gray eminence of postwar Italian fascism.” The Black Prince also held an ideology he believed strongly in, unlike James Jesus Angleton who was wrapped up in the beauty of words and professionally obscuring their use. When he first met Borghese, Angleton was a painfully thin, well-schooled, aspiring poet whose androgynous qualities seemed to anticipate David Bowie. While Borghese was shrewd and finely attuned to wartime reality, Angleton was a neophyte to war and world counterintelligence. In time however, Angleton would become well-known as the long-time head of CIA Counterintelligence, moving beneath the protective umbrella of his patron Allen Dulles, and involve himself in the early 1950s CIA-sanctioned MKULTRA experiments that brought him into contact with Federal Bureau of Narcotics ‘special employee’ Pierre Lafitte.” Esteemed writer Kevin Coogan notes in his brilliant biography of political philosopher and white nationalist Francis Parker Yockey that “planning for Operation Gladio’s stay-behind network couldn’t succeed without Borghese’s tacit approval.” Writes Coogan, “The CIA then created an underground army of ex-fascist combat veterans in an operation codenamed “Operation Gladio” (Gladio being the name for a Roman double-edged sword). According to Coogan, Julius Evola (who we now recognize was the inspiration of both Valerio Borghese and Stefano Delle Chiaie), was an admirer of Yockey, the top American fascist of the day who we explore later in this chapter, and Evola himself had become involved in the National Socialist underground SD (Sicherheidsdienst). In his book, Coogan claims, “Evola’s SD work at the end of the war is shrouded in mystery. Historian Richard Drake says that while he was in Vienna, ‘Evola performed vital liaisons for the SS as National Socialist Germany sought to recruit a European army for the defense of the Continent against the Soviet Union and the United States.” This organization was linked to the Otto Skorzeny underground National Socialist headquarters in Madrid and Buenos Aires.

@Roger Odisio @Jeremy Bojczuk Oswald was in play by Sunday, April 7: “Walker - Lee and pictures. Planned soon—can he do it? Won’t.” By August 16, George Joannides is in New Orleans on the heels of Oswald's leafletting drama: "Antoines Room — Martello, E. Joann [Joannides] and Labadie. Quigly {sic} interview st. demonstration. Call Holdout" On September 16, it is decided that L.O. will be used regardless: "T. says L.O. is 'idiot' but w be used regardless. set-up complete. JW-H October 25: "Call JA Wash D.C. — O says done — Oswald set in place. — call Walker + others" by November 9, it has been decided that Lee will not make it out of Dallas alive: "On the wings of murder. the pigeon way for unsuspecting Lee. Clip Clip his wings" — a reference to a La Cagoule phrase that the patsy or pigeon is slated for death as well.

Indeed. And I know you're distinguishing Mossad from Jewish citizens, as hopefully those studying the history of THE C.I.A. et al from foreign lands know "they" aren't "us." And I would make the observation that Oglesby argued the CIA didn't "USE" N-azi agents: Gehlen/Skorzeny N-az- trained spies were permanently embedded in the agency where they taught the Yale elites how to "do espionage"!

@Robert MontenegroThe Arizona license plate appears to be 1966. A researcher has posited that Cicely Angleton's estate in Tucson provided cover for a meeting in the lead up to the Six Day War. If another CIA agency guy, John Hadach is sitting around the bar with Angleton and Amit and others, it's likely this wasn't a personal visit. All the more reason to argue that Angleton was never — not in 1963, not while he was alive — going to allow Skorzeny et al to repeat Gallipoli on Israeli soil. (let me know if you couldn't open the new photo of Angleton in a western bar with Amit and at least one other agent. I'll email.)

@Sandy Larsen @Jeremy Bojczuk Fast Forward, “Levine will deal with Marina” — November 28, 1963 Sometime in March 1964, after Jim Flahaty, CIA Officer, Mexico replaced Dave Philips, the [Mexico Chief of Station] wrote: “Suggest sending. There have been stories around town about all this, and [Charles] Thomas is not the only person she has talked to. [This was suspected to be Elena Garo]. Wigdail [possibly an unknown cover name] has a little folder which he is putting all the little scraps he can find relating to Oswald to the Cubans; when he gets enough of them I suppose he will try to do a dope piece. If memory serves me, didn’t LICOOKIE [This was June Cobb] refer to Oswald and the local leftists & Cubans in one of her squibs?” The Chief of Station also wrote, “Isaac Don Levine is writing a book about the assassination; Wigdail says that the Cuban connection bothers him increasingly as he proceeds in his research. IDL [Isaac Don Levine] had long talk with Marina not long ago in Russian. IDL is Russian Jewish, and reputable scholar—and left convinced that she hiding information.” Purportedly, Levine found Mrs. Oswald was a “Soviet patriot” and had “not told” of any contact with the Soviets. Before advancing Levine's assessment of Marina, and relevant to the task he had been assigned, the reader is reminded of the role of H. Keith Thompson, avowed National Socialist sympathizer, who was tapped as representative of the interests of Lee Oswald’s mother, Marguerite Oswald. As presented in earlier chapters, Thompson was an acolyte of Francis Parker Yockey, author of Imperium that became the “bible” for the worldwide fascist movement. Why the mother of an alleged Marxist would feel that Thompson was a suitable agent has never been fully explained, nor has the reason for his scheduling her appearance with Hitler’s Banker, Ilse Skorzeny’s “Uncle” Hjalmar Schacht on a Chicago talk show in March 1964 been adequately explored. Indeed, by early 1964, clearly under the direction of those identified in numerous Lafitte datebook entries, and with the endorsement of John McCloy and Allen Dulles, Isaac Levine was collecting material for a book that would concentrate the nation’s focus on the patsy, Lee, and his widow Marina Oswald. According to author Peter Dale Scott, who very early on identified the “arrangement” with Levine that is now confirmed in Lafitte's Nov. 28, 1963 datebook entry, it was Henry Luce’s publisher and right-hand man, the seasoned propagandist C. D. Jackson, who followed Allen Dulles’s recommendation that Levine could ghost-write Marina’s story for Life magazine. Most are familiar that Jackson was also instrumental in what was essentially the seizure of explosive evidence in the assassination investigation when he negotiated the private purchase of the Abraham Zapruder film. Scott also reminded us that years earlier, the Jackson-Dulles-Levine team had collaborated on the US-CIA psychological warfare response to the death of Joseph Stalin.

@Sandy Larsen@Jeremy Bojczuk EPILOGUE Levine will deal w/ Marina e.t. [illegible writing] / ck JA (coded crypt) call Madrid —Lafitte datebook, November 28, 1963 Levine A z-4 z —Lafitte datebook, November 30, 1963 This fellow Levine is in contact with Marina to break the story up in a little more graphic manner and tie it into a Russian business, and it is with the thought and background of a Russian connection, conspiracy concept. —John J. McCloy, Warren Commission Jan 21, 1964 After much deliberation over the significance of Isaac Don Levine having closed out the assassination project manager’s 1963 datebook, Albarelli determined that, logically, Levine would also close out the investigation. . . .

@Robert Montenegro @Paul BrancatoAre you arguing that Amit didn't activate Skorzeny on at least one occasion to liaise on his behalf with an Egyptian official to discuss a peace option? On the surface, it seems only logical that Mossad was protecting their own interests. So in this specific scenario, I don't see why it's necessary to introduce Angleton's machinations, i.e. snitch jackets. I know we've hypothesized that Skorzeny et al might have been setting Israel up as canon fodder, the front line of attack in the event of Soviet escalation, but is there any evidence that Angleton — long term friend of Israel — had a hand in Otto et al's scheme to the degree he would betray his friends, the Israelis? Writing not as a seasoned historian but as a lay person: Practically speaking Israel was Dulles/Angleton's primary (if not only) toe hold in the region where oil was the prize. They weren't going to allow Israel to be annihilated. Kennedy on the other hand seemed to have drawn a line in the sand; but wasn't his decision directly related to the missile crisis and his pledge to eventually de-nuke the world? We might use this opportunity to review the hierarchy of Lancelot Project. It was inevitable, and Hank knew it, that EVEN IF 'the community' accepted Skorzeny as having played a role in the Dallas plot, the likelihood he would be relegated to "hired contractor" of THE C.I.A. by the community was strong. We asked a number of questions including: 1) why would Angleton/Dulles outsource the assassination to a high-profile N-azi when any number of international military specialists flying below the radar could have done the trick? 2) why were Degrelle and Rudel in the loop, or Willoughby and Waker for that matter? 3) what role did Skorzeny's direct business relationships in Dallas play in the decision for the successful hit? Was Skorzeny THEIR guy in the Middle East? Was he working with the Egyptians AND the Israelis on behalf of Texas independent oilmen for domination of the world's oil supply? (No doubt the Rockefellers would have readily given a nod and a wink.) Is this why Jack Crichton played such a pivotal role — donning his Empire Trust (ironic name, huh?) cap while capitalizing on the 488th military history? Are the civilians in this drama still getting away with murder? We posit that the plotters shared not only a devotion to unfettered (toxic) capitalism but an ideology —ranging from pathological fear of communism to a determination that The Reich would be resurrected and leaders of Kennedy's political ilk were in the way. Did Skorzeny "report to" the Americans, or was this an ideological/long-range marriage of convenience? Returning to the salient issue of the thread: Angleton was a drinking buddy of Amit's. new image. Is anyone familiar with agency guy John Hadach (English spelling could be different).

And you know my position as well. Attempts to tie "The Jews" to the assassination of Kennedy is anathema, full stop. However, avoiding examination of the photo of Angleton with Amit while in Southwestern US doesn't make sense to me. Ignoring it completely goes even further against the grain of this investigation. Deliberating over the role of any international intelligence agency, whether SDECE, BND, INTERPOL, IDF / Mossad during the early 1960s is only logical. [I'll keep an open mind, but I'm not sure that 'snitch jackets' are germane to this particular analysis.] In short (for now), Angleton is photographed with his friend Gen. Meir Amit in the American Southwest sometime during the early 1960s. We know now that Amit was enrolled (at some level) in Columbia U in NYC from 1959-1961, making a trip out to Arizona entirely reasonable. Angleton appears in 9 entries of the 1963 Lafitte datebook; Otto Skorzeny appears in 8 entries that reveal his role as strategist for Lancelot Project; his wife Ilse appears in an additional 8 entries. Angleton's friend Gen. Amit is (alleged) to have activated the same Otto Skorzeny at least once — a peace mission no less — after he was named chief of Mossad in 1963. Ergo, Angleton was liaising with Skorzeny in a plot to assassinate Kennedy in the same general timeframe that Amit was dealing with Skorzeny on an (unsuccessful) one-off mission. Fleas and flies as the saying goes? We've discussed how important it is to occasionally remind ourselves there was more going on around the globe throughout 1963 than the plot to assassinate President Kennedy. (do I hear a collective gasp? 🙂

@Paul Brancato @Robert Montenegro The Strange Case of a National Socialist Who Became an Israeli Hitman POSTED ON OCTOBER 13, 2016 ' . . . Skorzeny continued to surprise the Israelis with his level of cooperation. During a trip to Egypt, he even mailed exploding packages; one Israeli-made bomb killed five Egyptians in the military rocket site Factory 333, where German scientists worked. The campaign of intimidation was largely successful, with most of the Germans leaving Egypt. Israel stopped the violence and threats, however, when one team was arrested in Switzerland while putting verbal pressure on a scientist’s family. A Mossad man and an Austrian scientist who was working for Israel were put on trial. Luckily, the Swiss judge sympathized with Israel’s fear of Egypt’s rocket program. The two men were convicted of making threats, but they were immediately set free. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, however, concluded that all of this being out in public was disastrous to Israel’s image — and specifically could upset a deal he had arranged with West Germany to sell weapons to Israel. Harel submitted a letter of resignation, and to his shock, Ben-Gurion accepted it. The new Mossad director, commander of military intelligence Gen. Meir Amit, moved the agency away from chasing or intimidating National Socialists. Amit did activate Skorzeny at least once more, however. The spymaster wanted to explore the possibility of secret peace negotiations, so he asked Israel’s on-the-payroll National Socialist to arrange a meeting with a senior Egyptian official. Nothing ever came of it. Skorzeny never explained his precise reasons for helping Israel. His autobiography does not contain the word “Israel,” or even “Jew.” It is true that he sought and got the life insurance. The Mossad did not assassinate him. . . https://www.motl.org/the-strange-case-of-a-National Socialist-who-became-an-israeli-hitman/

@David Butler Thank you, David! In case you miss the follow up, Amit was studying at Columbia University 1959-1961 following a parachuting accident, so it's entirely reasonably he traveled to the Southwest. Thanks again.

Israeli general and intelligence officer Meir Amit was studying at Columbia University from 1959-1961 following a serious parachuting accident in 1958. This positions him in the US outside his intelligence role — or with a pretty solid cover which enabled him to travel the country visiting old friends, in say, Arizona.

@Robert Montenegro Meir Amit was studying at Columbia University 1959-1961 following a parachuting accident in 1958. July 20, 2009 — Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center General (Ret.) Meir Amit, Commander, Leader and Friend Passed Away When the kibbutz movement split, Amit left his kibbutz and went into long-term service in the regular army. In 1953 he served as head of the Operations Division in the IDF General Headquarters. In 1955 and 1956 he was head of the Southern Command and again head of the Operations Division of the General Staff . He participated in planning the Sinai Campaign in 1956. In 1958 he was appointed head of the Central Command. At about the same time he was seriously injured in a parachuting accident and was hospitalized for more than a year. As part of his rehabilitation he received studied business administration at Columbia University (1959-61). When he returned from the United States in the summer of 1961, Chief of Staff Tsvi Tsur asked him to accept command of military intelligence. He was appointed to the office in early 1962, the first time the post was filled by someone from the army and not from within intelligence. As head of military intelligence he strengthened the collection units. In 1963 Ben-Gurion appointed him head of the Mossad, a position he held until 1968. https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/pdf/PDF_09_200_2.pdf

hear hear!

You're obviously not a trained detective, are you? Even amateurs recognize the possible relevance that the Mossad chief might have been in the US, and in Arizona (in case you haven't followed the discussion closely) with the head of counter-intelligence. The timing is important, obviously. The Galaxy Strarliner is 1960 model; the year on the plate is illegible so the photo could have been taken anytime after late 1959. Lafitte does not leave the slightest clue Skorzeny was conferring with the Mossad in 1963 about his strategy for the assassination in Dallas. We rejected the wild theories fueled by bias that "The Jews Killed Kennedy" for what they were — baseless — and in no fashion am I inferring Israeli involvement in the Dallas plot. It is possible however, that in order to assure stability in the region, Angleton felt it was imperative to alert Mossad that something might be in the works. It's also reasonable to consider the photo is purely benign: that Amit and Angleton, and their wives, were good friends and the Angleton's invited them for a visit to Arizona. What is striking however, is the authenticity of the cowboy's attire. It is as if he had determined to move about in disguise. Reasonable consideration.

And so it goes ... deliberations boomerang to focus on the patsy.

@Robert Montenegro @Pat Speer @Larry Hancock In context of the details found in Hank's primary source for Coup in Dallas — the Lafitte datebook — to be crystal clear, Otto Skorzeny and Pierre Lafitte were not mechanics in the literal sense. There is no evidence whatsoever that Otto Skorzeny was in Dallas in the lead up to or on the day of the assassination. Neither has it been established that his "arms and legs" Ilse Skorzeny was in Dallas on the day; we only know that she met with Reich banker Hjalmar Schacht and "T" at the Old Warsaw on November 7. The prime candidate for "T" remains Tracey Barnes. We also know that Schacht had significant dealings with Dallas businessmen including Leo Corrigan (Ruby's landlord) and oilman Clint Murchison in the Bahamas. We know that Ilse had met with General Charles Willoughby in NYC when the topic of Ella Rometsch was considered. Lafitte (and possibly his wife Rene) checked into the Stoneleigh Hotel on or before November 20, as did La Cagoule sociopaths Alice Lamy, Jean Filiol and Gerhard Litt. We know that Jean Souetre, former OAS captain, was in Dallas on November 19 "to go overt with Jack C" and we know from Lafitte's November 23 entry, Jean's gone out) with the noteSilverthorne - Mex written above. The Stoneleigh was/is a stone's throw from Ilse's Dallas cover office, Previews Inc. on Rawlins St. and the Old Warsaw in the Maple area of Oak Lawn. We have no evidence Lafitte appeared in Dealey on Friday, although a photo sleuth is in process of searching the possibility. It is for these reasons, and a number of other significant indications in Lafitte's records, we concluded that Lancelot Project did not fall within the formal military or intelligence structure being discussed here, nor did it require the elaborate machinations being posited.

Thanks, Paul. So, Sgt. Dean was his direct command on the 22nd. He was traffic duty and ended up arresting the "tramps"?

I'm perfectly aware of the history and close relationship Angleton enjoyed with the Israelis. Unlike Morley, we reveal that Angleton played a direct role in planning for the assassination in Dallas. The relevance of this particular photo is the setting — Southwestern US — the cowboy gear, and the timing.

Agree, but the new documents only confirm what was already known. The concern is why the fact was ignored for so long. Was it buried, overlooked, ignored, deliberately or otherwise? Staying with "T" as Barnes in the Lafitte records, we now have the DOD chief in specific context of the actual plans as they evolved in 1963 for the assassination of his commander in chief. That should be of interest and focus on any Tracy Barnes thread. Otherwise, we're only reinforcing the "if only we had had access to ALLL the government documents ALL these years, the case would have been solved." If I could make the point and Alan K. agreed, both Hank and I argued that nothing in the Barnes-related government documents say anything about Barnes' role in the Dallas assassination, nothing. Yes, his role in PBSuccess established precedent, but not proof necessarily; one has to connect the dots and make significant leaps to make a case that would hold up in court. The Lafitte datebook on the other hand ...

Willoughby's second or third wife was Hispanic from San Antonio. Askins retired in significant comfort in SA. Viewing this dynamic through the Industrial leg of the Military-Industrial Complex, I think the relevant connection in that photo might be James' wife Cicely Angleton, native of Arizona. Her father was in mining, and the company was sold to Phelps Dodge whose long time directors included Lewis Douglas, who sat on the board of American Express with Gen. Lucius Clay who was replaced by John Jay McCloy in Germany, and McCloy was Douglas's brother in law via their wives whose cousin was married to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Can't get any more incestuous. And Nicholas Kazenbach, author of the infamous memo following the assassination, married into the Phelps dynasty. Gotta keep it close and mutually rewarding. As a sidenote, Hugh Angleton was an executive of NCR; my uncle by marriage was a senior exec of NCR based in Middlebury VT (not far from Burlington) in the 1970s. Opportunities lost.

OR, discussing border crossing!

But, who did Wise report to directly? The thread was revived to consider the uniformed guys as much as the tramps because their rifles were in "field carry", I think that's the term, meaning somewhat perfunctory?