4 minutes ago, Bob Ness said:

Uh... the name of the image is Angleton-Malam-1-2000x1125.jpg. I'd check Malam as the last name first.

@Bob Ness I'm not seeing "Malam".
Other versions.  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:James_Jesus_Angleton?fbclid=IwAR04mBA7SxD9YZypaHfuh3e_PtckKxW_g-NpStbffQgaiLk6O4gL4YWoHS0

14 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

Who is the cowboy? What does this picture show? Where was it taken and when? 

@Paul Brancato Two other versions (jpeg dated 1966) of the same photo edit out the Arizona license plate.  Arizona plates with Grand Canyon State on bottom line varied very little during the decade. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:James_Jesus_Angleton?fbclid=IwAR04mBA7SxD9YZypaHfuh3e_PtckKxW_g-NpStbffQgaiLk6O4gL4YWoHS0

It's easy to project candidates for the cowboy to fit a hypothesis.  This may well be someone known to James and Cicely in her home state of Arizona unrelated to our investigation.  That said, I've been running the cowboy past several JFK photo collectors; one asked unsolicited, "Lafitte?"  Cowboy also shares a number of features with Boots Askins (not the least of which are the unusual style of trousers shoved into the "boots"), but there are several anomalies that need resolving, for instance chest girth and shoulders. We need a photo expert.

5 hours ago, Dan Rice said:

Not to nit pick but the car of the right is a 1960 Ford determined by the taillights.  I'm pretty the car on the left is a 1967 Ford Fairlane. 

Thanks @Dan Rice  Another car guy said Starliner. 1960 works better than 1966.

17 minutes ago, David Butler said:

It's Meir Amit in the photo with Angleton

Seriously? I checked photos of him and didn't see a resemblance. What was he doing in the SW dressed in western gear? I also ran it by a researcher knowledgeable of this history in Haifa and he made no mention of Amit.

On 7/5/2023 at 2:22 AM, Jeremy Bojczuk said:

Pat Speer writes:

I recall those arguments, which I think were what prompted me to actually look at the evidence. It took me about half an hour, trawling through Trask's Pictures of the Pain, to learn that the authorities had no great interest in the photographic record and certainly didn't set out to confiscate the cameras and films.

Whoever instigated the assassination was clearly not concerned about what any home movies, news films, and still photographs might show. This fact alone is enough to debunk some of the more elaborate conspiracy theories.

It's conceivable that there may have been some ad hoc photo manipulation, although I'm not at all convinced that this happened. But if it did happen, it would have been done to support the lone-nut explanation for straightforward political reasons, and not necessarily by anyone who had a hand in the assassination.

Any theory that proposes all-powerful overlords micro-managing the events in Dealey Plaza, and then manipulating the physical evidence to the level of widespread photo alteration, needs to explain why those all-powerful overlords were happy to let dozens of photographers wander off to who-knows-where with their cameras and films.

Likewise, if undeniable evidence turns up which places Oswald on the steps when he should have been on the sixth floor, it won't just be the lone-nut explanation that gets destroyed. Any conspiracy theory that requires him to have been on the sixth floor will also fall apart. It's important to remember that Oswald could have been set up as a patsy before the assassination even if he was at liberty to go outside to watch the p. parade, or to eat his lunch in the domino room, during the shooting itself.

-----

James DiEugenio writes:

I hadn't heard about that, but I'm looking forward to reading it. I hope you'll be reviewing it! Bart has done a lot of good work on Oswald's interrogations.

-----

Tom Gram writes:

I'd sign that petition!

Alex is a serious student of the historical background which appears to be central to Albarelli's claims. I'm sure Leslie will be keen to correct Alex's belief that the book contains "errors, omissions, inventions and flat out falsehoods relating to WW2 era history and wider European history in general."

If Alex is prevented from joining the Ed Forum for whatever reason, the obvious next step would be for Leslie to join the ROKC forum and have the debate there instead.

-----

P.S. I don't know if I'm the only reader who has trouble following the "RO1-RO2-LS1" discussion. Handy hint: copy and paste the relevant part of the other person's comment, highlight it, then click the little quotation mark icon, and - hey presto! - it will appear within a blockquote box. You can then write your reply underneath, and everyone will be able to work out who's replying to whom!

@Jeremy Bojczuk Before I consider your post carefully and respond in full, I'm on board Alex Wilson joining the forum for this debate, assuming he'll play nice and by these house rules, not those of ROKC.

53 minutes ago, Pete Mellor said:

George, according to Newman's excellent 'Uncovering Popov's Mole' it was Bruce Solie in the Office of Security/Security Research Staff who kept the mole hunt spotlight on the Soviet Russia Div., causing much damage therein.  Was LHO's Soviet sojourn flypaper to catch the mole in CIA, set up by Solie?  Solie's report on Nosenko gave a verdict that Nosenko was a bona fide defector!  Nosenko then marries Solie's wife's sister!!  Le Carrie couldn't write this stuff.

@Pete Mellor What about the cowboy, Pete?  Any ideas? I don't know about others, but I think it's a rather incongruous photo. 

4 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

Who is the cowboy? What does this picture show? Where was it taken and when? 

Thanks, Paul.  And yes, our focus is on the cowboy, not the Israeli connections.  

He's not identified.

I'm told that the white Ford Galaxy on the right facing is 1966 model. Arizona plates.

As you know, Cicely Angleton grew up in Arizona. Her father was invested in mining. His company ended up under the umbrella of Phelps Dodge.* She had relatives living in So. Arizona in 1963 (I've spoken with one of them), but none match this cowboy.

I could propose several candidates based solely on naked eye analysis: 1) Lafitte himself as master of disguise; 2) Charles "Boots" Askins; the sheriff of Tombstone; or just some guy looking for an autograph. ]

Any guesses?

fyi, Amit identified in the tag was the head of Mossad. 

*for any who are interested in propinquity and the MIC: Nicholas Katzenbach married into the Phelps dynasty; Phelps Dodge board of directors included Lewis Douglas. Douglas sat on the board of American Express with Gen. Lucius Clay; Clay was replaced in Germany by John Jay McCloy; McCloy and Douglas married sisters; the cousin of those sisters was married to German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. McCloy was a lead member of the Warren Commission.  Note: Adenauer's Bundeswehr generals were in a meeting with the JCS in the Gold Room of the Pentagon on November 22.

 

(courtesy Robert Ward Montenegro)

https://www.jns.org/james-angleton-1917-1987/
 

On 7/4/2023 at 12:29 PM, Joseph Backes said:

 

Yes, the cancelling of the FBI Security flash on Oswald was important and very odd, inexplicable if you're not involved in the conspiracy to kill JFK. If you're not, then why did you do this? 

But there was a key event before LHO went to MC that is crucial.  The CIA asked permission from the FBI about doing something targeting the FPCC and it had an international aspect to it as well.  They are a little vague about exactly what they're planning to do.  But, they get it. This is before LHO goes to MC.  And it is a big thing largely overlooked by people interested in MC.  MC would not have happened at all without this. I think this also involved Marvin Gheesling and Lambert Anderson.  This is mentioned in one of John Newman's books.  

Joe  

Angleton and the Cowboy . . .
https://www.jns.org/james-angleton-1917-1987/


James Angleton (right). Photo by the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center.

On 7/4/2023 at 12:29 PM, Joseph Backes said:

 

Yes, the cancelling of the FBI Security flash on Oswald was important and very odd, inexplicable if you're not involved in the conspiracy to kill JFK. If you're not, then why did you do this? 

But there was a key event before LHO went to MC that is crucial.  The CIA asked permission from the FBI about doing something targeting the FPCC and it had an international aspect to it as well.  They are a little vague about exactly what they're planning to do.  But, they get it. This is before LHO goes to MC.  And it is a big thing largely overlooked by people interested in MC.  MC would not have happened at all without this. I think this also involved Marvin Gheesling and Lambert Anderson.  This is mentioned in one of John Newman's books.  

Joe  

@Joseph Backes Of possible relevance, the following is an overlooked (and in at least one instance ignored) essay shared by H. P. Albarelli Jr. back in 2013 which pertains directly to August events in New Orleans. Note: I've shifted Hank's closing paragraph & notes to the forefront in the event the reader might question the relevance to your remarks.

 

Joannides & Lafitte in New Orleans, 1963

. . . Portions of Lafitte’s date books for his New Orleans years are revealing of his dealings with various CIA officials, including at least 3 apparent meetings with CIA Western Hemisphere Division employee, George Efythron Joannides. Interestingly, Lafitte’s second encounter with Joannides occurred the second week of August 1963, just days after Lee Harvey Oswald’s Friday, August 9 arrest for provoking a disturbance through leafleting for his Fair Play for Cuba Committee New Orleans chapter. Lafitte’s handwritten notations for Friday, August 16, 1963 read: “… at Antoines room— Martello, Joanides [sic] & Labadie. Quigly [sic] interview Oswald over street demonstration. Call Holdout.” Another notation, made 6 days later reads: “Talk Joanides Cuba—refer to K Organization in Mexico — similar setup now. [D]iscuss with King, ask George and Charles about Havana, Mexico trips…” 

NOTES: “Antoines room” is thought to be Antoine’s, a well-known New Orleans restaurant that hosted meetings and gatherings in a number of private rooms. There are several references to Antoine’s in the date books.  “Martello” appears to be a reference to New Orleans Police Department officer, Lt. Francis L. Martello; not to be confused with Francis “Monk”  Martello. Lt. Martello interviewed Oswald in the New Orleans lockup on August 10, 1963. “Quigly” is perhaps a misspelling of the name Quigley. FBI SA John L. Quigley also interviewed Oswald in New Orleans jail. “Labadie” is a known alias, as in Jean Labadie, that Lafitte used often in New York City, but it is also the surname of Stephen J. Labadie, a special agent for the FBI. “Holdout” is unknown; perhaps it is a code-name for a program or confidential informer. “King” is most likely J.C. King, CIA Western Hemisphere director, but could possibly be William Harvey, as some CIA associated people occasionally and mockingly referred to Harvey as “King.” “George and Charlie” are believed to be FBN officials.

Copyright © 2013—H.P. Albarelli Jr. 

Over fifteen years ago, while beginning to research a book on the odd death of U.S. Army biochemist, Dr. Frank R. Olson, I became aware of the existence of an enigmatic character with the unlikely name Jean Pierre Lafitte. The origins of my awareness came from my perusal of the 1952 and 1953 diaries of Federal Bureau of Narcotics official George Hunter White; a September 20, 1977 article in the New York Times by investigative journalists John M. Crewdson and Jo Thomas; and the private notes and correspondence of James R. Phelan, an investigative journalist and writer, who, in the 1950s through the 1960s, was quite close to both Lafitte and White. 

Later, during the year 2000, my knowledge about Lafitte grew considerably greater after I was consulted on Frank Olson’s murder by investigators for New York City District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s office. Spurred by these meetings, I made about a dozen trips to northern New England and southern Florida to interview several individuals who were close to Pierre Lafitte. 

About 18 months ago, while researching a forthcoming biography of George Hunter White, these interviews resulted in my gaining access to some of the personal writings of Lafitte, including his private date books, which stylistically are quite similar to those of FBN official and CIA consultant, George White. Suffice it to say, I became intrigued with the life and activities of the man known as Jean Pierre Lafitte, who beginning in 1952, through to about 1978, covertly work for the FBN, CIA, FBI, Secret Service, and INS. Lafitte also managed to carry out a number of major, international swindling schemes and operated a number of well-known restaurants. 

In June 1952, according to a letter by George White, the CIA officially recruited Lafitte as a “special employee” after he was summoned to Washington, D.C. to meet with CIA officials, Dr. Sidney Gottlieb and James Jesus Angleton. Wrote White: “Expecting to be at CIA only a day, Lafitte was held over for a few days. I hope to hell they know what they are in for. I suspect even to that crew that he’s one of a kind.” While at CIA headquarters, Lafitte also met Agency Security Chief, Sheffield Edwards, Frank Wisner, and Richard Helms. Subsequently, Lafitte undertook a number of covert domestic and international assignments for the CIA, including a trip to the Republic of the Congo in December 1960, which coincided with the January 1961 CIA-assisted assassination of Patrice Lumumba. Lafitte’s work for the CIA lasted until about 1978. 

While writing my book on Olson’s murder, A TERRIBLE MISTAKE: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Secret Cold War Experiments [Trine Day, 2009], of which Lafitte played an integral and deadly role, I could not avoid learning about a number of provocative connections between Monsieur Lafitte and Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Not the least of these connections was that Lafitte, using an assumed named, throughout the 1960s lived in New Orleans. Indeed, in an incident that caused a flap at CIA headquarters in December 1969, the FBI arrested Lafitte in New Orleans. Briefly detained, he was released after a number of discrete phone calls from Capitol Hill were made to FBI headquarters. At the time of his arrest, Lafitte worked as the head chef at the Plimsoll Club, then part of the International Trade Mart.  

55 minutes ago, Pete Mellor said:

I think 14 ex-members of the Cambridge paper is a lot more black & white that the call never happened, than any claim that Osborne was responsible even if it did happen.  I'm sure, if such a tip off was received by such a relatively small newspaper the buzz would have been, as stated, talked about all round the office.

I don't see anything factual in regard to Osborne and a school for assassins.

With regard to John Howard Bowen's death, a newspaper obit was found by researcher John Kowalski, of this Forum.

No. The only J.W.H. I'm aware of is the British journalist with the Cuba link to Trafficante & Ruby.

😄It happens all the time.  It's the n for r in the surname that should be corrected.  Prost!

 

 Your argument about the call is persuasive yet begs the question: why, 18 years after the fact when you inquired, wouldn't someone on the paper seize the opportunity to run a story denouncing allegations that Osborne made the call? Did they, and I've missed it?

The coincidence that Bowen and Hudson were together on September 28 - school cover in Mexico — at the same time as Oswald's trip and that Hudson was responsible for a similar assassination-related call focused on Jack Ruby is one of those high strangenesses. 

British journalist with the Cuba link to Trafficante & Ruby is one and the same John Wilson-Hudson identified in Lafitte's datebook on October 30. Ruby closely replicates Lafitte's note in the same 24 hour period.

The Lafitte datebook also substantiates claims that Osborne ran a school for assassins. How could Pierre know about that school?

Next time it's Mellor.

bueño bye

14 minutes ago, Douglas Caddy said:

Leslie: Hunt asserted in the NY Times in 1975 that Colonel Boris Pash was head of the CIA's assassination unit. He did this just after he began serving his three-and-a-half-year Watergate sentence in prison. The obvious question is why did he decide to disclose this to the Times? I do not know the answer to that, but I think he had concluded the CIA was responsible for the death of his wife, Dorothy, a former CIA agent herself, who had figured out what Watergate was all about, a clandestine plan by the CIA to drive Nixon from office.

I saw all that; what I didn't see was reference to specifics, i.e. Army Intel operations Hunt might have been involved with in  the spring or summer of 1963 that might have generated records that might be held in Army Intel files and not CIA.  I think I understood Larry to say that (paraphrasing very loosely) whatever was in Army files related to those operations involving Hunt undercover would be in Agency files. Do you concur?

I'm not pursuing whether Dorothy was killed by the CIA. I am however keenly interested in her role as translator for the Spanish Ambassador, and Hunt's aggressive effort to ensure she could maintain at least a part time position well into 1963. Was he hoping to continue to enjoy her income stream, or was there something else in play.  If memory serves, Tracy Barnes is in the loop of the request.  

2 minutes ago, Douglas Caddy said:

On page one of this thread, I posted an article from the NY Times of December 26, 1975, in which Hunt charged that the CIA had an assassination unit. He states that he himself while a CIA agent was detailed to the U.S. Army and State Department Foreign Service to do CIA work and once that was completed returned to the CIA. This has been standard practice by the CIA for years.

Thanks, Douglas.  I hope you'll indulge my questions as this is not my area of expertise, but because Sam Kail features in the notes of Pierre Lafitte (as does the name Hunt - with E. Howard being our primary candidate), this line of inquiry is of particular interest.  Did EHH elaborate in any detail what specific operations specific to the spring/summer of 1963,  and to whom (if anyone) he reported to within Army Intel. Would those operations be recorded only in Army Intel files, or CIA, or both?  

1 hour ago, Douglas Caddy said:

By starting a new thread on Hunt, all the information gathered in this one would be basically shelved. It is best to keep this one going.

Then might the discussion refocus on the documents unearthed by Robert Ward Montenegro rather than a rehash of previous research? I'm particularly intrigued by the possible implications of Hunt and or Harvey Army Intel cover. Has this been analyzed in the past?

6 hours ago, Pete Mellor said:

It's remarkable he had opted to make a phone call related to the assassination;

I want everything in black & white or I get cynical, which in the JFKA case is quite often.  I assume you are referring to the supposed phone call to the Cambridge News, linked to Albert Osborne, just hours prior to the assassination.  My take is it never happened.  Former Cambridge News editor Keith Whetstone, who worked at the paper in '63, said in 1981 "It sounds like a completely fictitious story."  He traced 12 members of staff who also worked at the paper in '63 and none of them recalled the telephone call.  Also former senior reporter Jock Gillespie said, "There is no way that would have happened without being talked about.  That's been a wind-up, are you sure it isn't Cambridge Massachusetts they are talking about?" It's high time this fabrication was put in the trash can.

With regard to 'Coup in Dallas' on Osborne, pgs.239-242:-

Albert Alexander Osborne first tole the FBI when they tracked him down in 1964

His birth certificate reads Albert Osborne.  The 'Alexander' was Albert's invention, among a few other monikers.

Intrepid researcher Mae Brussell, long overdue for recognition by the wider community of assassination research, confirms, and takes it a bit further: "Bowen-Osborne had been running a school for highly professional marksmen in Oaxaca, Mexico, since 1934.

Maybe one of the real researchers on this Forum can educate me with evidence on this aspect & I haven't dug into the Floyd case either, but once again I am somewhat cynical of this 'academy of assassins' stuff.  Torbitt's 'Nomenclature of an Assassination Cabal' is typical of these fairy stories that has Osborne & his men in a safe house at 3126 Harlendale in Oak Cliff, Dallas on the 22nd November '63.  These tales are repeated in quite a few books, as is Hugh McDonald rhubarb about Osborne being a Soviet agent.  No sale for me!

A women who contributed to both Osborne's and Bowen's missions told Russell that Bowen who died probably in 1958, but that the two had a history of working together.

Not surprising that people get confused about Osborne.  To be clear, it is Albert Osborne that we are dealing with here. Osborne met John Howard Bowen in North Carolina in the 1920's and thereafter stole & used Bowen's identity.  Bowen never worked with Osborne and took no part in Osborne's shenanigans.  Osborne travelled to MC in '63 using the Bowen alias because Mexican authorities had previously bunged him out of Mexico as Osborne.  The real John Howard Bowen died in 1962 as a result of injuries from a car accident. 

Visiting family he had not seen in 40 years.

Not true.  Albert visited family in Grimsby in 1953, Daryl Featherstone still had the 'Bible Stories for Children' that Uncle Albert presented to him at Christmas 1953 when I visited him c2019 in Grimsby.

p.s. In any future Index of 'Coup' my name is Pete Mellor, not Peter Mellon.  Cheers!

 

PM: "It sounds like a completely fictitious story." "There is no way that would have happened without being talked about....:
LS: This is black and white?
 

PM: His birth certificate reads Albert Osborne.  The 'Alexander' was Albert's invention, among a few other monikers.

LS: the operative phrase is ". . . told the FBI."
 

PM: you quote (inaccurately) Intrepid researcher Mae Brussell, long overdue for recognition by the wider community of assassination research, confirms, and takes it a bit further: ."Bowen-Osborne had been running a school for highly professional marksmen in Oaxaca, Mexico, since 1934.

LS: Confirmed in a September 28 datebook entry: Bowen + Hudson  school cover - wife Spain.

PM: No sale for me!

LS: Opinion, not fact, and hardly black and white. 

PM: Not surprising that people get confused about Osborne.  To be clear, it is Albert Osborne that we are dealing with here. Osborne met John Howard Bowen in North Carolina in the 1920's and thereafter stole & used Bowen's identity.  Bowen never worked with Osborne and took no part in Osborne's shenanigans.  Osborne travelled to MC in '63 using the Bowen alias because Mexican authorities had previously bunged him out of Mexico as Osborne.  The real John Howard Bowen died in 1962 as a result of injuries from a car accident. 

LS: Can you provide links to your source(s), or notes from interviews you have conducted personally?

PM: Not true.  Albert visited family in Grimsby in 1953, Daryl Featherstone still had the 'Bible Stories for Children' that Uncle Albert presented to him at Christmas 1953 when I visited him c2019 in Grimsby.

LS: thanks for the correction. Obviously it is a serious detail, and could alter Hank's investigation significantly? The salient fact is  "Bowen" + Hudson appear in a personal record of events maintained by Pierre Lafitte  leading to the assassination in Dallas.

LS: My sincere apologies for adding an "r" to your christian name.

Had the names Bowen and Hudson not surfaced in Lafitte's 1963 record on a date that coincides with Oswald's trip to Mexico City, we would not have included a reference to Bowen.  Are you familiar at all with government documents related to John Wilson Hudson? Do you know any reason why he might be liaising with "Bowen"?

sláinte

Made clear throughout Skorzeny's papers, he and Ilse were firmly entrenched in Franco's Spain after the war where he functioned unfettered as an arms dealer with his good friend Victor Oswald, a contract trainer for  Nasser's army, and we know that he was an operative for the Dulles/Stephenson/Donovan World Commerce Corporation and appears in documents related to the CIAs QJ/WIN program among other notable activities. For our purpose, it is the Meadows-Skorzeny oil scheme, comprised of Texas independent oilmen, that ties it altogether. Meanwhile, Ilse traveled the globe under cover of NY based real estate concern, Previews Inc., doing the bidding of her beloved commando. (Previews Inc. was cofounded by Wild Bill Donovan's chief of security, Archbold van Bueren who investigated the Amerasia case, said to have launched what evolved into the Cold War propaganda machine.) 

Thom Hartmann explains what The Reich which Otto and Ilse continued to serve loyally using Madrid as base will look like in the US if the MAGA cult triumphs and lands Trump back in the Oval Office. 

Note: in this piece, Hartmann fails to note that the former PM of Spain who was aligned with a branch of the Falange party in his youth still sits on the board of Fox News Corporation.

' . . . My wife Louise and I have been in Spain all this week while Jefferson Smith fills in for me on my radio/TV show, and we’ve learned more than a little that might answer those questions.

Most Americans, when they think of fascism, think of goose-stepping National Socialist soldiers and death camps, and believe that that whole system of government was totally crushed by the Allies in 1945 at the end of World War II. But Spain was fascist right up until dictator Francisco Franco’s death in 1975 at the age of 82.

There are still many people here in Spain who regard the Franco time fondly; if you were on his side, supported his Falange party — later called simply “The Movement” — or were assiduously nonpolitical, life could be relatively normal.

Just this morning a Spaniard we spent a few hours with told us how most people simply avoided politics back during Franco’s time — and are still, to this day, reluctant to discuss the horrors of his regime. “There is talk of reparations for his victims,” she said, “but it is very contentious. Mostly, people avoid discussing those times.”

https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/elections/america-after-a-maga-win-in-2024-what-a-fourth-reich-here-might-look-like/

If you weren’t political, life went on like in much of the rest of “free” Europe. People worked, went to theater and dance clubs, raised their kids, vacationed, cared for pets, engaged in hobbies, fell in love or got divorced: As long as Franco’s regime wasn’t mentioned in a negative light, life was good.

As in most fascist or neofascist countries throughout history and today, the wealthy were the most well taken care of, but even working people and the poor enjoyed a reasonable social safety net. In 1942, Franco mandated a national health care insurance program, for example, and throughout his reign expanded the number of hospital beds and clinics across the country; in 1951 he led a movement through much of the Spanish speaking world to establish what became something like American Social Security.

But… if you spoke out against his fascist movement, job opportunities vanished, you could be imprisoned, or even “disappeared,” as happened to tens of thousands. One of the people we spoke with here told us how the media was entirely in the bag for Franco with pro-fascist slogans and news shorts airing constantly, along with commentary praising him even interspersed into music and programs on radio and TV.

Trump and his followers have given us numerous insights into how he’d transform American society to resemble something like Franco’s regime. As with Franco, loyalty to Trump and his cult was a far more important factor in rising through the ranks of government and even private industry.

Trump has promised — most recently just a few weeks ago — that he would use the awesome police powers of the federal government to target his political enemies for persecution, imprisonment, and possibly even death.

https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/elections/america-after-a-maga-win-in-2024-what-a-fourth-reich-here-might-look-like/

A research friend recently asked: What does Ganis say about Souetre and/or his relationship with Skorzeny? Does Lafitte appear in the book as well? 
 

1 hour ago, Pete Mellor said:

Leslie, Apologies for quoting your opening post on this thread, I've been away for some days.

I got hold of a letter that Uncle Albert wrote on the 13th April 1964 from Mexico to his relatives in Grimsby U.K. He wrote:-

For the past few months I have been under investigation by the American F.B.I.  They claim when I travelled to Mexico City on Sept 25th, a man named Lee Oswald sat next to me and held a conversation with me.  While I have not the slightest idea of travelling with such a man, they still are questioning about what he talked about.  It is strange in this day and age how a person can get involved.  But my conscious (sic) is clear on this matter.  So why should I worry.

 

Thanks, Pete.  Very interesting read. It's remarkable he had opted to make a phone call related to the assassination;  does he deny that call as well, or is it an instance of presumed identity?

To reiterate, we make no mention of Osborne or Bowen traveling on a bus with Oswald because Lafitte makes no such note. 

3 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

I tend to agree Steve, I was trying to keep an open mind, as it was not impossible.  But the likelihood does seem small.  The likelihood Souetre played some role in the assassination after reading Coup does seem likely though.

If he landed on a direct flight from Spain in Mexico City on 11/12/63 with two accomplices would passports for Matron and Varga been perfect cover for him and them.  What?  They're in prison.

Other suspects for such a ruse are mentioned from my reading.  Though not implicated in the book for such.  Wish I was in Colorado this time of year instead of Texas.

 

@Ron Bulman, If I can jump in here as coauthor of Coup in Dallas which you reference: as you know, we don't speculate Soutre was in the US; we know he was because Lafitte makes it clear in his 1963 datebook.

Of course it is possible Marton and Varga were aliases for those traveling with Souetre.  However, Hank referred to them based on the conviction his source was solid, that Hungarian revolutionaries [FNU] Varga and Lajos Marton who in August 1962 had made an attempt on de Gaulle's life in a similar plot to Dealey, traveled with Souetre to MC and into the US.

Adding to the tragedy for those who cared deeply about Hank is the loss of his relevant notes and documents which he had yet to incorporate in the endnotes to our manuscript; the Marton - Varga citation was a critical and unfortunate omission.

I posit that Hank's source was no less solid than undated photos of a country-club prison, Marton's own words, or records maintained by French authorities — which as I have now confirmed included not just sympathizers, but active Vichy government officials, including Jean Népote — listed in at least one QJ/WIN document and the head of INTERPOL which in 1963 was still riddled with N-azis tied directly to Reinhard Gehlen. In 1963, these "former" Vichy officials were only one degree removed from the strategist for the Dallas plot to assassinate Kennedy, Otto Skorzeny who tapped OAS Capt. Jean Souetre as a lead mechanic.

We then factor in Harlon B. Carter, who as head of SW Region of the INS including Dallas had control over Howell Norwood and Virgil Bailey and was responsible for the Texas Mexican border in 1963. Bailey and Howell were responsible for detaining two "French" citizens in Dallas; their official reports have never been made public.

Harlon Carter knew as a close comrade in the Border Patrol, sharpshooter Charles 'Boots' Askins — a military attaché at the US Embassy in Madrid where he liaised directly with Otto Skorzeny in the early '50s. Askins is named in the Lafitte datebook within hours of the names Souetre and Col. Jack Canon - another psychopath and expert marksman who served as Charles Willoughby's head of the Z. Org in Korea. Willoughby features in a half dozen Lafitte datebook entries.

Returning to convicted assassin Marton, according to an article published in Hungary Today on the anniversary of the Revolution, at 90+ he remains unrepentant for his role in Petit Clamart. The article goes on to reveal that he remains convinced America was the enemy of Hungarian "democracy," an assertion that is utterly laughable when one considers autocrat Viktor Orbán has been the PM of the country since 2010. (of interest to those who follow the trajectory from 1963 to the current political crisis in America: Just last month, May 23, 2023 —  Hungary's nationalist leader Orbán said he "wants Trump to win U.S. election" — CNBC reporting. Hungarian-American Sebastian Gorka, Trump's deputy assistant in 2017, served as advisor to Orbán in 1998. Gorka hosts the podcast "America First with Sebastian Gorka". You can't make this stuff up. I've wondered if the vigorous defense of Marton on EF is somehow a reflection of current political sympathies 

1 minute ago, Chris Davidson said:

Rephrased.

 

Got it.  Thanks for the clarification.  

5 hours ago, Chris Davidson said:

It wasn't a key role. I fortunately had acquired material that was helpful in that situation. In fact, I wasn't interested in Sean's research at all.

I don't think it serves much purpose any longer, regardless of what the strengths/weaknesses are, at this time.

It's idle chit-chat leading nowhere.

The Bell frame I supplied earlier might be a more interesting investigative subject, at least for now.

I have other fish to fry.

 

 

 

One person's "idle chit-chat" is another dozen researchers' concerted effort toward a permanent take down of the official version of the assassination AND identification of who killed JFK.   Not a parlor game for me.

I guess I misinterpreted your contribution as genuine interest.

@Michael Crane I think I should send this to you directly since it takes up space and might be a distraction from @Benjamin Cole's topic.

I'll try private message in a little while.

1 hour ago, Michael Crane said:

Oh,that would be wonderful.

IIRC) One witness had Bernard Baker as the Secret Service agent that was behind the wooden fence?

Please.

It's lengthy.  I'll see how much I can include in a single comment here.


Byrds, Planes, and an Automobile 

One of the men with whom the truth may lie, concerning the JFK 
assassination's links to the University of Texas, was one of UT's most 
ardent supporters who happened to own the building that has become 
synonymous with the assassination. His ties to UT are well known. His 
numerous ties to the assassination are lesser known. One of his least 
known ties, it appears, is to the UT Rambler. 

Somewhat like the plot to assassinate Trotsky and most unlike the 
failed assassination conspiracy against Hitler in which Allen Dulles 
and Mary Bancroft participated, the plot to assassinate President 
Kennedy seems to have been sophisticated, intricate, and meticulously 
planned. It can be presumed therefore that, as researcher William 
Weston has written, "One of the most critical elements of this plot 
was the Texas School Book Depository." In addition to both the 
circumstances of Oswald's employment at the TSBD, and the routing of 
the motorcade by the building, Weston points out that there would have 
been a need for a team of plotters to make detailed plans inside the 
building well in advance of November 22, including firing angles, 
planting of false evidence, and getaway plans. This could have been 
done, Weston says, by six TSBD employees assigned to lay new flooring 
on the fifth and sixth floors from late October until November 22.298 
It is a plausible argument, which brings up the concern that any long- 
term improvement to the property such as a flooring project would have 
to have been of interest to, if not directly initiated and contracted 
by, the building's owner. 

Roy Truly, the "superintendent" who hired Oswald was "a building 
manager."299 In a story published the day after the assassination, 
Dallas Morning News reporter Kent Biffle referred to Roy Truly as 
"Superintendent of the textbook building...."300 The floor crew was 
supervised directly by William Shelly, "the assistant manager who was 
in charge of the floor laying project."301 These titles imply that 
they were building managers more closely associated with the landlord 
than with the private textbook brokerage firm which leased the 
building.302 The employment of these individuals would seem to be a 
relatively easy fact for researchers verify. 

Weston writes, "The electrical power for the whole building and even 
the telephone stopped working about five minutes prior to the 
assassination.303 How two such entirely different systems as the 
electricity and the phones could go out simultaneously is beyond 
explanation, unless one can assume that the interruption was 
deliberate."304 Although this claim is currently in dispute, it cannot 
be denied that the conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy would 
have involved intimate knowledge of the TSBD building. Truly and 
Shelly were possibly employed to some extent by the building's 
landlord, David Harold Byrd. 

Dallas oilman David Harold Byrd, born April 24, 1900, was the cousin 
of Admiral Richard E. Byrd and his brother, Senator Harry F. Byrd, 
"the leader of conservative opinion in the United States."305 D.H. 
Byrd owned the Texas School Book Depository building from the 1930s to 
the 1970s. In May 1964, he had the "Oswald window" removed and kept it 
as part of his estate.306 In 1972, after Byrd sold the building to Mr. 
Aubrey Mayhew, an arsonist set it on fire. It was saved, however. 
Shortly thereafter Mayhew defaulted on his payments to Republic 
National Bank of Dallas307 and the property reverted to the Byrd 
family.308 In 1975 Byrd sold it again.309 

Byrd had a close relationship with both Lyndon Johnson and John 
Connally. Evidently not satisfied with being the cousin of a powerful 
and respected U.S. senator,310 for D.H. Byrd, "Another goal was to 
reach a rapport with the politicians who ran things, especially at the 
seat of state government in Austin....Sam Rayburn, Morrie Sheppard, 
John Connally, and Lyndon Johnson on the national scene were to become 
men I could go to any time that I wanted action, and so were a 
succession of Texas governors. Among the ablest was John 
Connally...who says he's in my debt for pleading his cause... 
with...Ida Nell (Nellie) Brill, Sweetheart of The University of Texas 
in 1940...."311 

Byrd probably also knew George de Mohrenschildt, David Atlee Phillips 
and George Bush through the Dallas Petroleum Club.312 In 1945, future 
club member de Mohrenschildt obtained a masters degree in petroleum 
engineering after eighteen months at the University of Texas at Austin. 
313 During that year he was investigated by the FBI and ONI. 

That same year he worked under Warren W. Smith, president of Pantipec 
Oil, owned by the parents of William F. Buckley, Jr. Smith and de 
Mohrenschildt soon quit and formed the Cuban-Venezuelan Oil Voting 
Trust Company. When Castro took over, this company forfeited oil 
leases covering about half of Cuba. Jack Crichton of Army Intelligence 
Reserve Service, mentioned earlier, had also worked under Warren Smith 
at Pantipec, which sells to Sun Oil.314 By 1957, George de 
Mohrenschildt had established himself in oil ventures ranging from 
wildcat drilling to aerial surveillance and had begun working for the 
CIA.315 

It is probable that Byrd knew David Ferrie and he definitely knew the 
very top Air Force brass through Civil Air Patrol (CAP). CAP Captain 
David Ferrie was CAP cadet Lee Harvey Oswald's trainer.316 

Byrd was a co-founder of Civil Air Patrol. Displayed in his office, at 
1110 Tower Petroleum Building in Dallas, were many pictures of himself 
in uniform with aviation dignitaries and Air Force Generals.317 He was 
an aviation buff but could not become a fighter pilot because his 
eyesight was bad.318 He co-founded CAP six days before Pearl Harbor. 
319 After World War II he spearheaded the establishment of the Cadet 
Program in CAP and contributed many scholarships to its cadets.320 In 
Dallas on May 24, 1963, the U.S. Air Force presented to Byrd its 
Scroll of Appreciation, which reads: 


For rendering meritorious service to the United States Air Force from 
Dec. 1941 to April, 1960. Motivated by a strong sense of patriotism, 
Mr. Byrd played a major part in the successful operation of the Texas 
Wing, Civil Air Patrol, throughout World War II. After the war he 
assisted in the incorporation of the Civil Air Patrol and its 
designation as an Auxiliary of the Air Force. Mr. Byrd helped initiate 
the International Air Cadet Exchange and worked closely with the Air 
Cadet League of Canada. The many scholarships established or supported 
by Mr. Byrd have aided countless cadets in the attainment of 
additional training and higher education. His contributions of 
material and personal aircraft to the use of Civil Air Patrol 
materially aided in the performance of its mission.. The distinctive 
accomplishments of Mr. Byrd have earned for him the sincere gratitude 
of the United States Air Force. 

(Signed) - Curtis E. Le May 
Chief of Staff 
(Signed) - Eugene M. Zuckert 
Secretary of the Air Force321 

D.H. Byrd counted among his close friends one of the most famous 
aviators, General Jimmy Doolittle.322 Byrd and Doolittle were hunting 
buddies. Of Doolittle he wrote, "Having a fondness for being Number 
One in all my undertakings, it doesn't come naturally for me to 
confess that Doolittle is the one man whom I would gladly serve in any 
venture as Number Two."323 On one intriguing trip without Doolittle, 
Byrd went hunting in central Africa in November and December 1963. It 
was his first such trip of five during his lifetime outside of the 
U.S., Mexico, and Canada.324 

Byrd prepared well for the trip: Temco, Inc. was an aircraft company 
founded by D.H. Byrd and which later merged with his friend James 
Ling's electronics company (1960), and aircraft manufacturer Chance 
Vought Corporation (1961) to form Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). Byrd became 
a director325 of LTV and bought, along with Ling, 132,000 shares of 
LTV in November 1963.326 Byrd then left the country to go on his two- 
month safari in central Africa. He returned in January to find his 
good friend Lyndon Johnson president of the United States, his 
building famous, and a large defense contract awarded to LTV to build 
fighter planes -- to be paid for out of the 1965 budget which had not 
yet been approved by Congress.327 

Mac Wallace, who received a five-year suspended sentence in the 
shooting death of John Douglas Kiner in Austin on October 22, 1951, 
went to work for Temco, Inc. of Garland, Texas five months after his 
trial. He remained in that position until February 1961, four months 
before Henry Marshall's mysterious death on June 3, 1961, when he 
transferred to the Anaheim, California offices of LTV.328 

The transfer required a background check by the Navy. "The most 
intriguing part of the Wallace case was how a convicted murderer was 
able to get a job with defense contractors. Better yet, how was he 
able to get a security clearance? Clinton Peoples [the Texas Ranger 
Captain who investigated the Marshall and Kiner murders]329 reported 
that when the original security clearance was granted, he asked the 
Naval intelligence officer handling the case how such a person could 
get the clearance. `Politics,' the man replied. When Peoples asked who 
would have that much power, the simple answer was, `the vice 
president,' who at the time was Lyndon Johnson. Years later, after the 
story broke [of Billie Sol Estes' March 20, 1984 testimony that 
implicated Lyndon Johnson, Malcom Wallace, and Clifton Carter in the 
death of Henry Marshall], that investigator could not recall the 
conversation with Peoples but he did say no one forced him to write a 
favorable report. He also added that he wasn't the one that made the 
decision to grant the clearance. The whole matter might have been 
solved with a peek at that original report but unfortunately, when the 
files were checked, that particular report was suspiciously missing. 
It has never been seen since."330 

Wallace was transferred and given clearance in February 1961. "In 
January 1961, the very month Johnson was sworn in as vice president, 
and the month Henry Marshall was in Dallas discussing how to combat 
Estes-like scams, Billie Sol Estes learned through his contacts that 
the USDA was investigating the allotment scheme and that Henry 
Marshall might end up testifying. The situation was supposedly 
discussed by Estes, Johnson, and Carter in the backyard of LBJ's 
Washington home. Johnson was, according to Estes, alarmed that if 
Marshall started talking it might result in an investigation that 
would implicate the vice president. At first it was decided to have 
Marshall transferred to Washington, but when told Marshall had already 
refused such a relocation, LBJ, according to Estes, said simply, `Then 
we'll have to get rid of him.'"331 

According to Craig Zirbel, author of The Texas Connection, in May 
1962, "...Johnson flew to Dallas aboard a military jet to privately 
meet with Estes and his lawyers on a plane parked away from the 
terminal....This incident would probably have remained secret except 
that LBJ's plane suffered a mishap in landing at Dallas. When 
investigative reporters attempted to obtain the tower records for the 
flight mishap the records were "sealed by government order."332 

Still more LTV intrigues were revealed by Peter Dale Scott: "A fellow- 
director of [Jack Alston] Crichton's333 firm of Dorchester Gas 
Producing was D.H. Byrd, an oil associate of Sid Richardson and Clint 
Murchison, and the LTV director who teamed up with James Ling to buy 
132,000 shares of LTV in November 1963. While waiting to be sworn in 
as President in Dallas on November 22, Johnson spoke by telephone with 
J.W. Bullion, a member of the Dallas law firm (Thompson, Wright, 
Knight, and Simmons) which had the legal account for Dorchester Gas 
Producing and was represented on its board. The senior partner of the 
law firm, Dwight L. Simmons, had until 1960 sat on the board of Chance 
Vought Aircraft, a predecessor of Ling-Temco-Vought. One week after 
the assassination, Johnson named Bullion, who has been described as 
his `business friend and lawyer,' to be one of the two trustees 
handling the affairs of the former LBJ Co. while its owner was 
President."334 

4 minutes ago, Ron Bulman said:

Leslie, I think the case of which you speak was The U S VS John Eli Stone, his brother James Woodrow Stone and Isadore Miller for facilitating betting on sporting events.  The grand jury indictments and further proceeding were conducted in Wichita Falls Texas.  Mainly through the IRS at the behest of RFK's Justice Departments Organized Crime Task Force.

@Ron Bulman Thanks!   I was writing from memory.  Wichita Falls, not Tulsa.  (Tulsa was another hot case JFK had instigated - as I recall.)  Do we mention Albert Meadows in the WF case?

The cobbler has no shoes. I've dispensed all of my hardcopies of Coup and am waiting on a shipment; and my Word app crashed the other day and I lost the M/s we submitted to the publishers.