Mark Lane Responds

[Mark Lane]

I do hope Mr. Lane will consider taking a few questions about his storied career.

For example, I wonder about something Perry Raymond Russo testified about before the New Orleans Grand Jury on March 27, 1967. This was a rather tense session, the transcript of which was first published in Patricia Lambert's FALSE WITNESS, in which the grand jury gave Russo a grilling for not having come forward with his story sooner. Russo blurted out, "Mark Lane, you know him . . . he told me that he uncovered information three days after the assassination that put Shaw and Ferrie in the midst of it. Why isn't anybody asking him why he kept it secret for so long?"

The full transcript is here:

http://www.jfk-online.com/russo327.html

Did you really say that to Perry Russo, Mr. Lane?

Dave

We are talking about ancient history here. Of course, I do not recall verbatim discussions that I had more than four decades ago. I believe that Perry Russo and I never spoke except in the office of Jim Garrison, the New Orleans District Attorney, who was present when the discussion took place. There was no secret about what we had discovered regarding Clay Shaw's association with other characters. In fact, Jim Garrison spoke to the media at once stating that based upon that information and other information he was convinced that the CIA had killed the president. Jim, who was a dear friend, and later a state court judge in Louisiana, was never secretive about his findings, suspicions, and conclusions.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Mark Lane

[Mark Lane]

While a little later to the research party, my interest started when I found THAT Life magazine my parents had kept.

Years went by, interest waned and while in a used book store I found and bought Rush to Jugdement and have been intellectually hooked, stimulated and amazed ever since.

Thank you.

My question - What are your thoughts on whether Humes and Boswell did that surgery in front of Robinson at Bethesda from 6:40 - 7:00 and then bold face lied about it the rest of their lives -

Doctors under orders... ?

We look forward to your thoughts and answers

DJ

The doctors who performed the autopsy at Bethesda were all military officers and under military discipline. Humes burned his historic and invaluable autopsy notes. The only logical conclusion is that the notes were truthful but that the statement he later made was not. They were under military discipline and military justice is to justice what military music is to music.

[Robin Unger]

Quote:

5. Yes, I made copies of the Zapruder film which Jim Garrison gave to me for that purpose. I played some on television and left them at the station. I showed some on radio, asking the host to describe the scene to his audience and left copies there, and mailed copies to all the leaders of the news at that time in the United States, starting with Walter Cronkite. I would not call them “bootleg copies” since they were part of American history and though originally suppressed by the government, they always belonged to the American people.

Thanks for the reply i appreciate it.

Robin

[Mark Lane]

A previous Forum thread on Mark Lane: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...ost&p=44119

Curious. It has been six weeks since Mr. Lane began this thread. Many folks have responded to his initial comments. Some with questions; others with praise or criticism.

Mr. Lane has not responded even though he said he would.

Perhaps he is busy. Hopefully he has not been sidetracked by the infinite number of posts on the topic of JVB!

And now there is Mr. Posner to help .....

What a long and winding road Mr. Lane has traveled since he told the WC in public session that the photograph on the cover of the Feb 21, 1964 issue of LIFE magazine had been doctored.

http://www.life.com/image/53375209

Does Mr. Lane have an opinion on Farid's analysis of this photo?

Peter Fokes,

Toronto

I told the Warren Commission as I previously told the few representatives of the media who were interested, that the picture on the cover of Life Magazine was likely doctored since the shadow from Oswald's nose went directly downward indicating that the sun was directly over his head when the picture was taken, but the shadow from his body went to the rear indicating that the sun was in front of him when that picture was taken. Either Oswald had been photographed on a planet with a dual solar system or his head had been superimposed on a body. That photograph constituted the entire case against Oswald. The rifle he allegedly used to kill the president, the pistol he used to shoot the police officer and a radical newspaper demonstrating his motivation. It was a fraud and it demonstrated from the outset the government's efforts to cover up the facts. However interesting that may be, the fact is that evidence has now been presenting demonstrating that the CIA killed President Kennedy as I describe in detail in my latest book, Last Word: My Indictment of the CIA in the Murder of JFK.

[Mark Lane]

My apologies to all. The pressures of trying cases and completing my autobiography, Citizen Lane, have delayed my responses. Some of the questions are in fact answered in that book and others in Last Word. I chose some of the questions at random and respond to them now.

Instead of thanking each of you by name who said kind words about my work, please allow me to thank each of you for your continued support and efforts to seek a more responsive and truthful government.

1. No, I did not mention George Herbert Walker Bush in Rush to Judgment. I did report in Plausible Denial (pp. 329-33) the facts about Bush, the former director of the CIA and later president, and his suspicious engagement which demonstrates that he had been involved in the CIA before the assassination of President Kennedy -- a statement that he falsely denied -- as well as his likely involvement during 1961 with the CIA’s planned Bay of Pigs invasion. I was asked why I have not spoken much about that subject. I published it in full in the New York Times bestselling book, Plausible Denial, and I discussed it during lectures on the Kennedy Assassination. Since I was not asked by network TV to discuss anything in Plausible Denial, I did what I could.

2. You ask about Marita Lorenz and wonder what led me to believe that she was credible, since she has been dismissed by many, including the HSCA. I did not invent or originally locate Marita Lorenz. She was employed by agencies of the US government including police agencies. How do I know that? I have seen the documents of the agencies addressed to her and discussing her. She was in fact a witness first selected by the government. I have found much corroboration for crucial statements she has made.

While Blakey was general counsel for the HSCA, he spent a considerable amount of time covering up the evidence and the leads uncovered by his predecessor, especially if they led toward intelligence agencies.

3. E. Howard Hunts “deathbed confession” was not exactly a confession. I have interviewed his son, St. John, and I considered him to be credible.

4. Gerald Posner and I disagree about the assassination of JFK in just about every respect. When he asked me to represent him regarding another matter, he also said publicly that if Oswald had lived and I was his attorney, he felt certain that Oswald would have been acquitted. That statement was useful in explaining to many undecided Americans that Oswald could not have been convicted. I cannot discuss my attorney client relationship with Mr. Posner or any other client except to say that I felt he was being unfairly treated when he was piled on by the news media – the same guys who did the same thing to me without justification for many years.

5. Yes, I made copies of the Zapruder film which Jim Garrison gave to me for that purpose. I played some on television and left them at the station. I showed some on radio, asking the host to describe the scene to his audience and left copies there, and mailed copies to all the leaders of the news at that time in the United States, starting with Walter Cronkite. I would not call them “bootleg copies” since they were part of American history and though originally suppressed by the government, they always belonged to the American people.

6. I don’t know where Hunt and Sturgis were during the shooting, but I know they were in Dallas the day before the shooting helping to plan the operation. If they had any sense of self preservation, they got out of town before the shots were fired.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm very much looking forward to reading your new book. Hopefully it covers your time as James Earl Ray's attorney?

If I might ask you a couple more questions, did you follow the King v. Jowers civil trial and, if so, what was your opinion on the jury's verdict?

My autobiography, Citizen Lane, that you refer to in your post will be published on June 1, 2012. I am very pleased to report that the first commercial review was excellent. Yes, I do discuss in some length my role as James Earl Ray's attorney in a chapter entitled "Memphis, USA."

The King v. Jowers civil case is a matter that I have not previously commented upon scine no one has asked me about it in the past. Are you ready? It was not a real trial since the lawyer arranging the media event had compensated Jowers for participating in the circus which actually did take place in the courtroom. In other words, both sides offered the same position and I have reason to doubt that the position they offered was sound. The jury, having seen no evidence to the contrary, had no choice. In my view, the court system should not be utilized in that fashion.

[Mark Lane]

Question for Mark Lane: do you think Lyndon Johnson was a plotter in the JFK assassination? Have you read Phillip Nelson's book and what do you think of it?

Thank you for the question. Easy to blame Lyndon Johnson, especially now that he is dead. However, a decent respect for the evidence reveals nothing to me that even begins to prove that Lyndon Johnson plotted the murder of JFK. Last Word presents the relevant facts about the culprits. I stopped reading speculative books not based on evidence that advance theories about the assassination of President Kennedy since they are, in my view, useless at best and tend to provide cover for those who killed President Kennedy.

[Mark Lane]

Mr Lane

What was the most interesting case that you ever did not counting anything to do with the JFK assassination?

Mark

Good and thought provoking question, Mr. Wengler. I also admire your first name.

Most of the cases I was involved in over the last 60 years were not in any way related to the murder of JFK. The one which gave me the happiest moment of my professional life was the successful effort to free James Joseph Richardson, an African American framed and convicted for the murder of his 7 children. I did not represent him at trial, but learned about the case 20 years later. I started a campaign to free him and enlisted numerous members of the African American leadership to join in, led by Dick Gregory. I demanded that the governor of Florida, then a Republican, appoint a special counsel to investigate. With the media campaign, led by Newsweek Magazine, creating a public issue, the governor appointed a states attorney named Janet Reno. Of course, she was later to become Attorney General of the United States. The investigation demonstrated the innocence of James Richardson and was presented before a court in Arcadia, Florida, in the presence of the two prosecutors responsible for the conviction. I was there as well and I presented our case. James and I walked out of the jail together, making that moment the most memorable one in my professional career. Mark, thank you for asking.

I go into some detail about that case in Citizen Lane.

[John Dolva]

''Most'' ... ok, do you go into the ones that are not in this 'most' over the last 60 years in detail too? btw I'm an admirer from the time of reading about the Freedom Riders. I've been rather stunned to find you a member here. Good on you.

Do you have any idea who Sheila was/ is?

[Pat Speer]

Mark, I've put together some pieces to the puzzle. Tapes released by the Johnson Library in the past ten years and memos released and published over the decades have revealed that from mid-1966 to early 1967, when Epstein's Inquest and your own Rush To Judgment were regularly in the news, the Johnson Administration was in a panic. Johnson, in his paranoia, thought it signaled a secret offensive against his presidency, orchestrated by Robert Kennedy. His advisers had more to say. One, John Roche, thought it necessary to curb the talk of conspiracy so that Johnson could focus on Vietnam. Another, former Warren Commission Counsel David Slawson, advised that a rift could be driven between Epstein and yourself if Epstein could be convinced the back wound in the autopsy report was really on the neck, as shown in the drawings published by the Warren Commission. Well, within days, Dr. Boswell, sworn to silence, suddenly got all chatty and began telling members of the press that, oops, the autopsy photos prove the wound was on the neck but I screwed up and put it on the back in the autopsy report.

This, of course, was later proved to be a lie. In 1978, the HSCA released drawings copied from the autopsy photos, which proved the wound to be where it was in the autopsy report and nowhere near where Boswell said it was in November 1966. In 1967, after receiving talking points from the "Justice Department" telling him to say the drawings published by the Commission were correct, Dr. Humes told a similar lie. This leaves little doubt that the Justice Department, under Ramsey Clark, was putting politics first and deliberately deceiving the public about the location of the back wound, and therefore the viability of the single-bullet theory.

Now, were you aware of any of this at the time? When articles on Boswell suddenly appeared in the papers, did you smell a rat? When Dan Rather interviewed Humes, and Humes claimed the drawings were correct, did you realize he was lying, and that the Justice Department had put him up to it?

I know you believe the CIA was behind the assassination. But there is a concrete case for the Johnson Administration--through the Justice Department--running a cover-up, for political purposes. Is this covered in your book?

[Guest Robert Morrow]

Question for Mark Lane: do you think Lyndon Johnson was a plotter in the JFK assassination? Have you read Phillip Nelson's book and what do you think of it?

Thank you for the question. Easy to blame Lyndon Johnson, especially now that he is dead. However, a decent respect for the evidence reveals nothing to me that even begins to prove that Lyndon Johnson plotted the murder of JFK. Last Word presents the relevant facts about the culprits. I stopped reading speculative books not based on evidence that advance theories about the assassination of President Kennedy since they are, in my view, useless at best and tend to provide cover for those who killed President Kennedy.

The involvement of Lyndon Johnson and the CIA are not mutually exclusive propositions. I don't think that most JFK researchers have figured that out yet. Lyndon Johnson from the early 1950's was the appropriator for the military industrial complex and he helped to "supervise" the CIA from his earliest days in the Senate. LBJ's friendship with Richard Russell and his perch on the Senate Armed Services Committee gave LBJ inner access.

There was probably no one with better connections to CIA/military than Lyndon Johnson in the mid late 1950's when he was exercising so much power as majority leader. And you can bet LBJ's Texas oil men Clint Murchison, Sr. and H.L. Hunt and D.H. Byrd all had strong intelligence/military connections. H.L. Hunt was the one who bankrolled the 1968 American Independent candidacy of George Wallace and one of his conditions for that was that Curtis LeMay be on the ticket as Vice President. The same Curtis LeMay who hated JFK and was the inspiration for "Seven Days in May." H.L. Hunt was very close to Lyndon Johnson and was at Los Angeles in 1960 urging LBJ to take the VP spot with the hated John Kennedy. "Hated" is not too strong an adjective for the way LBJ and the Texas oil men felt about JFK.

That the KGB thought that Johnson did it, I think is extremely significant. They did not tell their KGB agents in America that Richard Helms, James Angleton, David Atlee Phillips or E. Howard Hunt killed JFK, they said Lyndon Johnson did it.

I think a reasonable theory is that Lyndon Johnson and his Texas oil men lobbied their CIA/military connections to murder John Kennedy for many reasons both personal and ideological. With LBJ and Hoover to cover it up; later Allen Dulles manipulating the Warren Commission farce.

After all, LBJ told Madeleine Brown that the Texas oil men that she knew in Dallas and "renegade intelligence bastards" (read CIA) killed John Kennedy. I think that is a nutshell summary of the JFK assassination. I think it is naive to think LBJ was not aware of the plot in advance.

E. Howard Hunt's semi-confession also advances the LBJ-CIA theory of the JFK assassination.

Here is the 12/1/66 Hoover memo to LBJ stating that FBI counterintelligence had discovered by September, 1965, that the KGB was telling their agents in America that Lyndon Johnson was behind the JFK assassination and to please find out all information about LBJ and especially his relationship with the Kennedys.

http://www.indiana.edu/~oah/nl/98feb/jfk.html#d1

"On September 16, 1965, this same source reported that the KGB Residency in New York City received instructions approximately September 16, 1965, from KGB headquarters in Moscow to develop all possible information concerning President Lyndon B. Johnson's character, background, personal friends, family, and from which quarters he derives his support in his position as President of the United States. Our source added that in the instructions from Moscow, it was indicated that "now" the KGB was in possession of data purporting to indicate President Johnson was responsible for the assassination of the late President John F. Kennedy. KGB headquarters indicated that in view of this information, it was necessary for the Soviet Government to know the existing personal relationship between President Johnson and the Kennedy family, particularly between President Johnson and Robert and "Ted" Kennedy."

Edited April 4, 2012 by Robert Morrow

[Guest Tom Scully]

Mr. Lane, in your opinion, did Warren Commission Assistant Counsels Howard P. Willens or Albert Jenner, Jr. have responsibilities related to the investigation and Warren Report affording either the leeway to significantly alter evidence or the determinations in the report, especially related to the investigation of Jack Ruby?

Were you even aware of these conflicts in the backgrounds of Willens, Jenner, and Warren? If you were aware, did you make a strategic decision not to emphasize them?

What is your opinion of why the following details, almost all known by the press and or FBI, DOJ, or Bobby Kennedy at the time, except for Albert Jenner's problems with the Department of Labor and the IRS in the 1970's, not given any weight, then, or even now? In 2008, the press made a big deal about FBI informer Gerry Ford leaking the WC executive session details that included Albert Jenner's appointment to the WC, a fact that meant nothing if the FBI did not even do a background check on Jenner.

Were you aware that Willens's father chose in 1958 to reside next door to Tony Accardo?

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=61488&relPageId=71

....It was also developed during the 1961 investigation that Joseph Robert Willens (Howard Willen's father) had, since 1958, resided next door to Tony Accardo, prominent Chicago hoodlum.

....Joseph Robert Willens admitted that Tony Accardo's residence is immediately south of his home in River Forest, Illinois,....and he hopes that the proximity of his residence with that of Accardo eould not cause anyone to believe that he approves of Accardo or any of his associates.

...or that the FBI claimed not to have investigated Albert Jenner:

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?mode=searchResult&absPageId=751672

ADMIN FOLDER-W8: HSCA ADMINISTRATIVE FOLDER, LEE HARVEY OSWALD VOLUME X pg 123

Found in: FBI - HSCA Administrative Folders

type of charges he intended to press (77-72922) ALBERT E JENNER JR. Assistant to Rankin Jenner,.born 1907 Chicago Illinois is a lawyer We have not investigated him however files show he was a member of

RIF#: 124-10369-10006 (11/09/64) FBI#: 62-117290-ADMIN FOLDER-W8

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do;jsessionid=D3C687690C24B48F4B188D7063C1D623?docId=10111&relPageId=124

...Subsequent to Jenner's appointment to the staff of the president's commission, Jenner was ill and confined and confined to a hospital. Our Chicago SAC personally a report on our investigation of the assassination and at that time Mr. Jenner seemed most appreciative and indicated he was serving the Commission at the direct request of the Chief Justice Earl Warren. He expressed his very high regard for the Director and the FBI, indicating he became acquainted firsthand with the reports of the Bureau when serving on a Loyalty Committee in Washington years ago. He said that he had always noticed that our reports were completely impartial and factual...

In 1953, Albert Jenner had represented the Dorfmans' first large union health insurance customer, M. Frank Darling.:

http://books.google.com/books?cd=2&q=darling%2C+m+frank+ae+jenner+dorfman%2C+stanford+clinton&btnG=Search+Books

Hearings‎ - Page 83

United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education - 1953

... 122 Darling, M. Frank, Chicago, 111., accompanied by counsel, AE Jenner and

... 111., accompanied by counsel, Stanford Clinton, Chicago, 111 71 Dorfman, ..

TESTIMONY OF M. FRANK DARLING, PRESIDENT AND BUSINESS MANAGER, LOCAL 1031,

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD 01 ELECTRICAL WORKERS, CHICAGO, ILL., ACCOMPANIED

BY HIS COUNSEL, ALBERT E. JENNER AND JAMES A. SPRAWL, CHICAGO, ILL.

Mr. SMITH. I want to make it clear that you are the witness and that you have a right to

consult with your counsel before you answer any questions, but the lawyers,

your attorneys, are not going to make any answers.

Mr. JENNER. I never have.

Mr. McKENNA. Mr. Darling, what is your occupation ? Mr. DARLING. I am president and business

manager of local 1031 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Chicago.

Mr. McKENNA. Where is that located ?

Mr. DARLING. Chicago.

Mr. McKENNA. That is your home?

Mr. DARLING. Yes, sir.

Mr. McKENNA. Approximately how many members are there your union?

Mr. DARLING. I would say 35000 to 37000 right now.

Mr. MCKENNA. Do you have a health and welfare arrangement with the employers of your members? ....

....Mr. DARLING. The employer purchases the insurance.

Mr. MCKENNA. Purchases it directly ?

Mr. DARLING. Yes, sir.

Mr. MCKENNA. Do you have any part in negotiation for it?

Mr. DARLING. I have recommended Union Casualty, and I think about half or a little more of our members are insured through Union Casualty.

Mr. McKENNA. Who is the policyholder?

Mr. DARLING. Local 1031.

Mr. MCKENNA. Local 1031 is the policyholder?

Mr. DARLING. In the case of Union Casualty insurance, yes, sir....

....Mr. MCKENNA. Are you familiar with the original establishment of the Dorf man Agency ?

Mr. DARLING. No.

Mr. McKenna. Do you remember any discussion back in 1949 of the Dorf mans going into the insurance business?

Mr. Darling. In '49 we decided that — I believe it was '49 — that the insurance that the employees had had up to that time was not sufficient. It was a very small policy and

meant nothing much in the way of the rising costs of hospitalization, hospitals and so forth, so I requested several insurance companies — we figured out a package.

If I may be permitted the time I could go into elaborate on it a little bit.

Mr. MCKENNA. We are not interested in the details of the insurance at this time.

Mr. DARLING. I and other officers in the union figured out a package that we felt would be sufficient to keep our members who are family people, who live from day to day, out of the county hospital. That is where most of them were going when they were sick. We asked several insurance companies to give us a bid on how much it would cost for such a package. An attorney who has represented our union before even I was connected with it.

Mr. McKENNA. Who was the attorney?

Mr. Darling. Joe Jacobs — said that there was a comparatively new company in New York who he was sure could write a package that we would want, and that the premium would be lower than any other company. I told him I would be very much interested. He introduced me to the Dorf mans.

Mr. McKenna. When was that now ?

Mr. DARLING. Paul, I had already known for some time. I had seen him at federation meetings, Chicago Federation of Labor meetings, from time to time; Allen I had never met to that time. I believe it was in '49.

Mr. MCKENNA. Approximately when in 1949?

Mr. DARLING. That must have been in the early part of '49.

Mr. MCKENNA. The early part of '49?

Mr. DARLING. Yes, in the spring or before spring even.

Mr. MCKENNA. That was before, then, the Dorfmans were licensed as an insurance agency?

Mr. DARLING. I think it is. I'm trying to remember just how long we have had insurance. I think Zy2 years. Would that make it the early part of '49 ?

Mr. JENNER. Yes.

Mr. DARLING. The first company covered by the Union Casualty was in May.

Mr. MCKENNA. May of 1949? (There was no response.)

Mr. MCKENNA. I believe if I can refresh your recollection at all your policy is renewable in May, isn't it ?

Mr. DARLING. That is correct.

Mr. McKENNA. And so it is for annual periods ?

Mr. DARLING. That is correct.

Mr. MCKENNA. So in all probability this was in May of 1949?

Mr. DARLING. I believe it was.

Mr. MCKENNA. Well, now, do you know whether or not at that time the Dorfmans were a licensed insurance agency in Illinois?

Mr. DARLING. I don't know.

Mr. McKiNNA. Tell us as much as you can recall of your conversation with Mr. Jacobs at that time.

Mr. DARLING. He just told me that he thought maybe they had what we were looking for. I was looking for the lowest cost insurance package

because I knew it would be that much — the lesser cost. ...

...Mr. McKenna. Did you have any knowledge of whether or not Joo Jacobs was at that time financially interested in the Dorf man Agency ?

Mr. Darling. Not to my knowledgehe. he never has been.

Mr. MCKENNA. What was the retention rate at that time of the insurance?

Mr. DARLING. They didn't tell me any retention rate. I wanted the lowest possible rate that I could guarantee to an employer that would not go up for at least a year.

Mr. MCKENNA. The retention rate at that time was 100 percent. is that correct?

Mr. Jenner. Excuse me, I don't think the witness understands the question. Mr. Darling. I don't know what you mean by the question.

Mr. McKenna. See if we understand ourselves. When you purchase insurance, group insurance, you agree on a certain price for the insurance you are purchasing, is that right ?

Mr. DARLING. Yes.

Mr. MCKENNA. We can assume for the moment that it is a pric«, of say, $5 a month per head. We will just assume that.

Mr. Darling. Ours is $5.60.

Mr. McKenna. All right, we will take that then, yours is $5.60. At the end of a year 12 times $5.60 times the number of yovur «E- ployees may amount to a good deal more or may not amount to i good deal more than the total of the claims that have had to in connection with your insurance; is that correct?

Mr. DARLING. Yes.

Mr. McKENNA. Now, what happens to that difference?

Mr. DARLING. It wasn't even discussed. Frankly, I knew very little about insurance and it wasn't even discussed. I wanted the lowest possible rate that they could guarantee, and they gave me that.

Mr. MCKENNA. A retention rate would be the percentage of the difference that the insurance company is allowed to keep.

Mr. JENNER. Excuse me, percentage of the difference between the amount of claims paid and the amount of premium.

Mr. McKENNA. I should say the percentage of the whole.

Mr. JENNER. Premium.

Mr. MCKENNA. That is right ; not in excess of the difference.

Mr. DARLING. I was told that— —

Mr. MCKENNA. You entered into no such retention rate arrangement ?

Mr. DARLING. No. I was told, however, that, No. 1, the rate would not be increased regardless of experience for 1 year, but that if they had a good experience that at the end of the year additional insurance might be added, or coverage, rather, for them. I do recall that.

Mr. McKENNA. How do you explain then that in the Central States case a 17%-percent retention figure was granted by Union Casualty? Why did they discriminate against your union?

Mr. DARLING. Mr. McKenna, I couldn't answer that. I know nothing about the Central States.

Mr. MCKENNA. That is, why should they have a 100-percent retention rate in your case and 171/2 percent in Central States ?

Mr. DARIJNG. I couldn't answer that. I know nothing about Central States. I never talked to anybody from Central States.

Mr. MCKENNA. According to the witnesses today 17^2 percent was by far the highest bid in the Central States case, otner bids were around 8 percent. Mr. DARLING. I wouldn't be able to answer that question; I don't know.

Mr. MCKENNA. You can see why we want to get to the facts there. There is a 100-percent retention rate in your case and we are comparing that with what seems to be an extremely large one of 17^ percent in the Central States case against the customarily one of probably 7 percent. Can you explain that for us?

Mr. Darling. Frankly, I have never heard, never even thought about it. I could only hazard a guess, and I am sure you have already thought of that one.

Mr. MCKENNA. What is your guess?

Mr. DARLING. That the rate for the package would be higher.

Mr. McKENNA. Well, if there is a low percentage rate, of course, it doesn't make much difference what the rate for insurance is, does it ? Because the difference goes back to the insured.

Mr. JENNER. The amount of the premium would have an effect, wouldn't it?

Mr. DARLING. I am talking about an amount of the premium.

Mr. MCKENNA. It would initially have an effect, but it would go back at the end of the year. If the premium were high, it would mean you get back more at the end of the year.

Mr. Darling. Now perhaps I was very green about it.....

http://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks%3A1&tbo=1&q=mr.+hoffa.+and+i+will+show+you+how+it+is+not+true&btnG=Search+Books#sclient=psy&hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=bks:1&source=hp&q=%22mr.+hoffa.+and+i+will+show+you+how+it+is+not+true%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=%22mr.+hoffa.+and+i+will+show+you+how+it+is+not+true%22&gs_rfai=&psj=1&fp=7a5ff6e4754518c3

Hearings

United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education - 1953 - Page 425

...Mr. Hoffa. And I will show you how it is not true. Do you see this little dollar here? That is $1. This dollar here is with four quarters. There is no mystery about retention. There is no mystery about purchasing insurance. ...

Considering Jenner's representation of M. Frank Darling, which had the effect of helping to protect the Dorfman's and considering this:

Drew Pearson, Oct., 1963 'Songbird" Was Murdered

http://dspace.wrlc.org/doc/bitstream/2041/50038/b18f07-1026zdisplay.pdf

...I took the story back to Washington and Attorney General Clark authorized a dozen or so FBI men to check on

Ragen's facts. A couple of weeks later they reported that they were true. They also reported that control of the underworld reached into very high places. Some of the rulers of the underworld had become supposedly respected businessmen and politicians whose names were household words in Chicago. Some of them, it was stated, had reformed. Yet they still controlled the mob....

...And this, published by Pearson's stepson five years after his death:

Diaries, 1949-1959: Volume 1

books.google.com Drew Pearson, Tyler Abell - 1974 - 592 pages -

Tom Clark told me afterward that it led to very high places. J. Edgar Hoover intimated the same thing. He said the people Ragen pointed to had now reformed. I learned later that it pointed to the Hilton hotel chain, Henry Crown,

...Why would Tom Clark appoint Henry Crown's son as his law clerk

Ex-farmer, judge Crown remembered as 'wise, fair'

- Daily Herald - NewsBank - Mar 8, 1997

Crown clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark from 1956 to 1959 and ... law at the Chicago firm of Jenner and Block, where he became a partner. ...

John J. Crown, judge, philanthropist

- Chicago Sun-Times - NewsBank - Mar 6, 1997

John J. Crown, 67, a former Cook County Circuit Court judge and youngest son of ... In 1959, he joined the law firm of Jenner & Block. ...

And then approve Jenner:

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&q=Donald+Gibson+two+of+jenner%27s+references

The Kennedy assassination cover-up‎ - Page 96

Donald Gibson - History - 2000 - 306 pages+

http://njlegallib.rutgers.edu/legallib/njar/v10/p0465.pdf

In The Matter of The Application for Playboy-Elsinore Associates

For a Casino License

Decided: April 7, 1982

.....Page 4

B. Areas of Concern Identified By The Division

Page 7

Secretary, Francis J. Murtha. In this proposal, Hyatt offered to sell to the FUND subordinated debentures in the principal amount of $4,000,000 bearing interest at the rate of 6 1/4 percent per annum and maturing on March 31, 1979. This financing was to be used by Hyatt for the expansion of its hotel chain and for the acquisition, development, and construction of real estate projects.

Stanford Clinton again withdrew as counsel for the PENSION FUND and the firm of Thompson, Raymond, Mayer, Jenner and Bloomstein was retained in order to render legal advice to the Trustees of the Fund and to execute the appropriate legal documents. ....

....After difficult negotiations, and Trustees of the PENSION FUND approved a revised proposal....The loan was executed on June 24, 1960.

The Division in its summation noted some compliamentary language used by James R. Hoffa in referring to the Pritzker family at a Board of Trustees meeting of the PENSION FUND. This reference was to the fiscal responsibility of the Pritzkers....

Much Later, these details developed:

Testimony conflicts in fund trial

‎

Chicago Tribune - Feb 8, 1984

Lehr testified that Jenner had not disclosed his attempt to hire Merrill Lynch before the fund hired the firm at Jenner's suggestion. on the second day of a ...

Dorfman firm price inflated, US charges‎

Dorfman firm price inflated, US charges

‎

Chicago Tribune - Feb 7, 1984

The Labor Department suit asks that the $10 million price be set aside ... He accused Jenner of improperly inducing the health fund to hire Merrill Lynch. ..

Jenner Admits Late Tax Filings .

‎

Miami News - Jun 20, 1977

CHICAGO — Albert Jenner, a key figure in the impeachment proceedings against ... is under investi gation by the for failing to file income tax returns. ...

In addition, Earl Warren seemed to have been quite compromised:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=18887&view=findpost&p=248644

SON OF LAW FIRM'S SENIOR PARTNER WED

Los Angeles Times - May 26, 1970

Ziffren, a graduate of Northwestern University and UCLA law school, is a ... He was a law clerk to . former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren in 1965.

1955 Press Photo Democratic National Committee Members | eBay

www.ebay.com/itm/1955-Press-Photo...National.../280811940041

... Margaret M. O'Riordan, Tracy S. McCraken, Clara Shipser, Arthur B. Koontz, Martha Ragland, H.H. Weinert, Elizabeth A. Conkey, Georgia Neese Gray, Photo .

Behind the scenes in politics: the memoirs of Clara Shirpser

books.google.com Clara Shirpser - 1981 - 195 pages - Snippet view

A Reader's Digest article of July, 1960, was titled "Paul Ziffren, The Democrats' Man of Mystery." The author set fortha detailed account of Zif- fren's alleged and questionable connections in Chicago.

As far as I could find out, Ziffren did not sue the Reader's Digest. After that article, many Assembly District officials asked in writing that Ziffren resign as National Committeeman for California. Pat Brown ran for governor in 1958 ...

The silver spade: the Conrad Hilton story‎ - Page xx

by Whitney Bolton - 1954 - 230 pages

"... he attended the opening of the Supreme Court, escorting Virginia Warren, daughter of the Chief Justice Earl Warren. Hilton is an old friend of Warren...."

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=18887&view=findpost&p=248549

Virginia Warren Daly dies at 80; popular socialite in New York and Washington

OBITUARIES

March 06, 2009|Patricia Sullivan | Sullivan writes for the Washington Post.

...Daly, who was rarely quoted in the news media, enjoyed traveling the world with hotel magnate Conrad "Connie" Hilton, her daughter said....

It- ..if .Earl .Wilson .Via .Tasr> .Guys, Gals, Gags,

Miami News - Jan 26, 1956

whether pretty and popular Virginia Warren, the Chief Justice's daughter, may marry her most attentive escort. Conrad Hilton . Which would make her Nicky ...

The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark‎ - Page 347

by John Tauranac - Travel - 1995 - 384 pages

...The building got it's money's worth in free publicity. The queen said the view was "the most beautiful thing" she had ever seen. She and Prince Philip were then guests at a reception in the executive lounge. Escorted by Colonel (Henry) Crown and his wife, the couple was introduced to the Empire State Building directors and their wives, and QUITE INEXPLICABLY, to MISS VIRGINIA WARREN, daughter of Chief Justice Earl Warren...

AIRLINER TURNS BACK; Hilton Party on Plane Included Mrs....

‎

- New York Times - Nov 29, 1958

The purpose of Mr. Hilton'sl !flight to Berlin was to open the newest Hilton hotel, the Berlin!Hilton. The plane s passengers included Mrs. Earl Warren, ...

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=18887&st=0&p=248547entry248547

Murray Chotiner dies of injuries

Pay-Per-View - Boston Globe - Jan 31, 1974

"Murray said that people remembered him for making Nixon," Mazo recalled Wednesday, "but he would say, 'The real man I created was Earl Warren.'"' Chotiner ...

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?mode=searchResult&absPageId=1454518

Record Number: 124-10204-10064

on 04/10/65 Gus Alex and his paramour, Suzanne Fueger, discussed a forthcoming vacation and the fact that the reservations had been made with "VIP Service" by PAT HOY for 4/30/65 or 5/1/65. The location of this vacation was not known. It is noted that HOY is head of Material Service Corporation, the largest supplier..... and a division of General

Dynamics. Hoy is extremely socially and politically prominent in the Chicago area..

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=76289&relPageId=33

2/26/62 FBN at LA, Calif, made available information to the effect that at the current time,

Paul Ziffren was paying the rent on the apartment occupied by Linda Collings, the girl friend of Sam Giancana, of Chicago.

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=76289&relPageId=29

...LA-T7 advised that as a result of his particular study, he came to the conclusion that three separate and well defined groups had been systematically investing millions of dollars into California real estate and that in each of the three groups concerned, there were men participating who were directly linked to organized crime, principally the remnants of the AL CAPONE organization. LA-T7 indicated that Ziffren appeared to be involved in each of the investment groups and appeared to be the directing force of each of these operations.

[Michael Hogan]

Mr Lane,

Thanks for the positive effect your efforts and career have had on history and the truth.

On page 221 of Last Word, you wrote:

Events were moving quickly as Sprague and Tanenbaum were getting close to the truth. (David) Phillips was on the verge of confessing

that the entire story the CIA had told to the Warren Commission was a fabrication, that in fact Oswald had never been to Mexico City

and that the story was created by the CIA to prevent Warren from conducting an honest investigation. Phillips later made those specific

admissions in public. His confession demonstrated conclusively that the CIA, in September 1963, was falsely creating a fiction that

could and would be used to implicate Oswald in a crime that would not be committed until November 1963; this guilty foreknowledge,

known as the law of scienter, clearly demonstrated the CIA's complicity, not merely as accessories after the fact, but as accessories

before the fact. That difference is most significant.

1) Why do you write that Phillips was on the verge of confessing? Why do you think he waited until the debate at USC?

2) Is it possible that Phillips' operational role in the Mexico City charade was conducted without his foreknowledge that Oswald would become a patsy in the murder of John Kennedy?

3) Do you have any thoughts on the role of Phillips as chronicled by Gaeton Fonzi in The Last Investigation? Do you have any differences at all with what Fonzi wrote about David Phillips?

The reference below to Phillips fleeing the HSCA is moments after Tanenbaum handed him the Hoover memo about the audio recordings in Mexico City.

From The Last Word, page 228:

Whether he (Phillips) fled to meet with counsel or his superiors in the CIA is not known. As it turned out he had become a broken man,

unable to function any longer in the CIA and finally willing to tell some semblance of the truth. Some years later, quite coincidentally,

a debate between CIA officials and those who questioned their methods and goals had been set at the University of Southern California.

I was to debate Phillips; he did not know I was privy to portions of his testimony before the committee.

1) Why do you write that Phillips had become a broken man? What made him willing to tell a semblance of the truth?

2) Why do you think Phillips agreed to debate you years later?

3) Why did Phillips make those admissions to a student in the audience that asked for the truth about Mexico City? Why did he confess at that time to perjury and obstructing Congress?

4) To your knowledge, do transcripts of that debate exist online or elsewhere?

Finally, I suspect you are already aware of this, but just in case.

When Last Word is reprinted, the editor should check the spelling of De Mohrenschildt. Sometimes it is spelled correctly and other times it is spelled De Morhenschildt.

This in no way detracts from a fine and important book.

All the best to you Mr Lane and best wishes for longevity and good health.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Michael Hogan

[Zach Robertson]

4) To your knowledge, do transcripts of that debate exist online or elsewhere?

I was also wondering about this one.

Is the 1977 [sat. Sept. 17] USC debate,"Conspiracy in the Sixties: Who Was to Blame?" between Mr. Lane and David Atlee Phillips available anywhere?

I have been looking for it in any form - film, audio, transcript - for some time now, with no luck. Any help at all would be appreciated.

Zach

Edited April 5, 2012 by Zach Robertson

[Peter McGuire]

Question for Mark Lane: do you think Lyndon Johnson was a plotter in the JFK assassination? Have you read Phillip Nelson's book and what do you think of it?

Thank you for the question. Easy to blame Lyndon Johnson, especially now that he is dead. However, a decent respect for the evidence reveals nothing to me that even begins to prove that Lyndon Johnson plotted the murder of JFK. Last Word presents the relevant facts about the culprits. I stopped reading speculative books not based on evidence that advance theories about the assassination of President Kennedy since they are, in my view, useless at best and tend to provide cover for those who killed President Kennedy.

As always, well put, Mr. Lane. I have been reading LAST WORD like a book you read in depth on vacation several times recently, although most of the material is not new to me. However, I just did not get the significance of David Atlee Phillips and his Mexico City crew until recently. I have always understood their inaction in Dealy, and the planning by the Secret Service. It is obvious that the Secret Service were ordered by the CIA to do what they did. However, what the Secret Service did to another human being is depressing to me and makes me want to stay away from discussing this case.

That being said, in the "The Legend is Established: The CIA's Mexico City Caper", chapter on page 202 you write, " I was puzzled about the CIA, having insisted that Oswald had acted alone and that there had been no conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy, had also created the challenging and mutually exclusive story that Oswald had met with Russians and Cubans at their embassies in Mexico just two months before, according to the CIA, he assassinated the president.

Once again, with facts in hand, you make this case not so complicated and I thank you for that, Mr. Lane.

Edited April 15, 2012 by Peter McGuire

[David G. Healy]

4) To your knowledge, do transcripts of that debate exist online or elsewhere?

I was also wondering about this one.

Is the 1977 [sat. Sept. 17] USC debate,"Conspiracy in the Sixties: Who Was to Blame?" between Mr. Lane and David Atlee Phillips available anywhere?

I have been looking for it in any form - film, audio, transcript - for some time now, with no luck. Any help at all would be appreciated.

Zach

Zach, ya might query David Lifton.