LBJ Tapes: The Key Evidence?

[John Simkin]

I think a study of Johnson's telephone conversations shows that he clearly did what he could to cover-up the assassination.

Johnson must also be aware that he is taking a terrible risk doing this. Within minutes of the assassination taking place, rumours began to circulate that Johnson had organized the assassination. This is not surprising as he had the best motive for wanting Kennedy dead. If he was not involved in the conspiracy, it was in his best interests to insist on a full and open investigation into the assassination. This would have been the best way to have cleared his name. The fact that Johnson did not do this suggests two possibilities: (1) Johnson was involved in the assassination; (2) Johnson was concerned that the investigation of the assassination would uncover information that linked him to other serious crimes.

It could well be true it was the first of these reasons. However, I suspect it was the “other serious crimes” that Johnson was really concerned about.

A close examination of Johnson’s taped telephone conversations in the weeks following the assassination reveal that he spent a large part of his time attempting to cover up another story. This is the story of a man called Don B. Reynolds. Reynolds was a U.S. consular official in Berlin after the war. On his return to the United States he established a company called Don Reynolds Associates in Silver Spring, Maryland. Reynolds was a friend of Bobby Baker, who was at this time working for Johnson. In 1957 Reynolds was asked to arrange Johnson's life insurance policy.

In 1963 Senator John Williams of Delaware began investigating the activities of Bobby Baker. As a result of his work, Baker resigned as the secretary to Johnson on 9th October, 1963. During his investigations Williams met Reynolds and persuaded him to appear before a secret session of the Senate Rules Committee.

Reynolds told B. Everett Jordan and his committee on 22nd November, 1963, that Johnson had demanded that he provided kickbacks in return for him agreeing to this life insurance policy. This included a $585 Magnavox stereo. Reynolds also had to pay for $1,200 worth of advertising on KTBC, Johnson's television station in Austin. Reynolds had paperwork for this transaction including a delivery note that indicated the stereo had been sent to the home of Johnson.

Reynolds also told the Senate Rules Committee of seeing a suitcase full of money which Bobby Baker had described as a "$100,000 payoff to Johnson for his role in securing the Fort Worth TFX contract". His testimony came to an end when news arrived that President Kennedy had been assassinated.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKreynoldsD.htm

[William Plumlee]

I think a study of Johnson's telephone conversations shows that he clearly did what he could to cover-up the assassination.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I seem to recal something about President Kennedy or Bobby Kennedy had found information on Johnson that was going to cause the President to drop him from his V.P. They were going to expose all of Johnson's previous wheeling and dealings even before the Baker matter. Does anyone have information on this? Thanks Tosh

[John Simkin]

I think a study of Johnson's telephone conversations shows that he clearly did what he could to cover-up the assassination.

I seem to recal something about President Kennedy or Bobby Kennedy had found information on Johnson that was going to cause the President to drop him from his V.P. They were going to expose all of Johnson's previous wheeling and dealings even before the Baker matter. Does anyone have information on this? Thanks Tosh

Yes. Watch this space. However, Bobby Kennedy insisted that his brother never considered dropping LBJ. Hover, JFK's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, tells another story. So did W. Penn Jones Jr, who claimed that Nancy Carole Tyler and Mary Jo Kopechne pit around the story that George Smathers was going to replace LBJ. Obviously, some of these people are lying. I believe Evelyn Lincoln was the one most likely to be telling the truth (what motive would she have to lie?). I will be explaining later why RFK lied about this.

[John Simkin]

As soon as Johnson returned to Washington he contacted B. Everett Jordan (chairman of the Senate Rules Committee) to find out what Reynolds had said about Johnson. It was worse than he thought. He was particularly concerned about Reynolds’ comments about the TFX contract. This story dates back to when Kennedy appointment of Fred Korth as his Navy Secretary. According to insiders, Korth only got the post after intense lobbying by Johnson. Korth had been president of the Continental National Bank of Fort Worth, Texas, and a long time friend of Johnson.

Soon afterwards, Korth awarded a $7 billion contract for a fighter plane, the TFX, to General Dynamics, a company based in Texas. Rumours soon began to circulate that both Johnson and Korth had received kickbacks for this order. Korth was forced to resign and Johnson was expected to go the same way. As Peter Scott points out in his book, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK:

According to President Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, Bobby Kennedy was also investigating Bobby Baker for tax evasion and fraud. This had reached the point where the President himself discussed the Baker investigation with his secretary, and allegedly told her that his running mate in 1964 would not be Lyndon Johnson. The date of this discussion was November 19, 1963, the day before the President left for Texas.

A Senate Rules Committee investigation into the Bobby Baker scandal was indeed moving rapidly to implicate Lyndon Johnson, and on a matter concerning a concurrent scandal and investigation. This was the award of a $7-billion contract for a fighter plane, the TFX, to a General Dynamics plant in Fort Worth. Navy Secretary Fred Korth, a former bank president and a Johnson man, had been forced to resign in October 1963, after reporters discovered that his bank, the Continental National Bank of Fort Worth, was the principal money source for the General Dynamics plant.

The testimony of Reynolds brought Johnson back to the heart of the scandal. He could only survive if he could stop Reynolds’ testimony from being published. Johnson got his aide, Walter Jenkins, to talk to Jordan. As Bobby Baker reveals in Wheeling and Dealing, Jordan was one of those politicians under Johnson’s control. On 6th December, 1963, Jordan told Jenkins “… they ain’t going to get anything out of Everett. I can tell you that… I’m trying to keep the Bobby (Baker) thing from spreading… Because hell, I don’t want to see it spread either. it might spread (to) a place where we don't want it spread… Mighty hard to put out a fire out when it gets out of control."

[Ron Ecker]

LBJ was also embarrassed by Charles E. Goodell’s proposal for a joint Senate-House investigation into the assassination. As LBJ points out to Hoover on 25th November, these Senate investigations would take place in public. If this happened, it would be impossible to keep control of the evidence of a conspiracy.

Gerry Patrick Hemming has stated (at the 1996 November in Dallas conference) that Goodell was among those, including Hemming himself, who "should have been arrested in the immediate aftermath of the assassination." When these arrests did not occur, Hemming said, they knew there was a cover-up.

Is there anything at all about Goodell that would make him a suspect? It seems odd that if Goodell was a conspirator, he would be calling for a joint Senate-House investigation of the crime.

[Chris Cox]

Good post John. This thread's going somewhere. In those LBJ tapes also is the Jenkins matter. It's very uncomfortable to listen to. Wasn't he caught in mens bathroom with another? Someone destroyed Jenkins. Was it Hoover just getting more blackmail material for his bank of dirty trix or was Jenkins not "with the program?"

[Tim Gratz]

I think a study of Johnson's telephone conversations shows that he clearly did what he could to cover-up the assassination.

Johnson must also be aware that he is taking a terrible risk doing this. Within minutes of the assassination taking place, rumours began to circulate that Johnson had organized the assassination. This is not surprising as he had the best motive for wanting Kennedy dead. If he was not involved in the conspiracy, it was in his best interests to insist on a full and open investigation into the assassination. This would have been the best way to have cleared his name. The fact that Johnson did not do this suggests two possibilities: (1) Johnson was involved in the assassination; (2) Johnson was concerned that the investigation of the assassination would uncover information that linked him to other serious crimes.

It could well be true it was the first of these reasons. However, I suspect it was the “other serious crimes” that Johnson was really concerned about.

A close examination of Johnson’s taped telephone conversations in the weeks following the assassination reveal that he spent a large part of his time attempting to cover up another story. This is the story of a man called Don B. Reynolds.  Reynolds was a U.S. consular official in Berlin after the war. On his return to the United States he established a company called Don Reynolds Associates in Silver Spring, Maryland. Reynolds was a friend of Bobby Baker, who was at this time working for Johnson. In 1957 Reynolds was asked to arrange Johnson's life insurance policy.

In 1963 Senator John Williams of Delaware began investigating the activities of Bobby Baker. As a result of his work, Baker resigned as the secretary to Johnson  on 9th October, 1963. During his investigations Williams met Reynolds and persuaded him to appear before a secret session of the Senate Rules Committee.

Reynolds told B. Everett Jordan and his committee on 22nd November, 1963, that Johnson had demanded that he provided kickbacks in return for him agreeing to this life insurance policy. This included a $585 Magnavox stereo. Reynolds also had to pay for $1,200 worth of advertising on KTBC, Johnson's television station in Austin. Reynolds had paperwork for this transaction including a delivery note that indicated the stereo had been sent to the home of Johnson.

Reynolds also told the Senate Rules Committee of seeing a suitcase full of money which Bobby Baker had described as a "$100,000 payoff to Johnson for his role in securing the Fort Worth TFX contract". His testimony came to an end when news arrived that President Kennedy had been assassinated.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKreynoldsD.htm

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very interesting post. I'd never considered that LBJ wanted a limited investigation to prevent exposure of his shady deals. With respect to a subsequent post, I do not believe that LBJ was always an opponent of civil rights. For instance, it was LBJ who successfully manuevered the passage of the 1957 civil rights legislation. See the masterful book by Robert Caro, Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson.

[John Simkin]

The two important figures that exposed Bobby Baker was John J. Williams of Delaware and Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania. Williams had been elected to the Senate in 1946. He was determined to bring an end to political corruption and became known as the "Sherlock Holmes of Capitol Hill". During a 15 year period his investigations resulted in over 200 indictments and 125 convictions.

Williams began investigating the activities of Sev-U Corporation and was probably responsible for a series of stories that started appearing in the press about Baker’s business activities. This included a story about how Baker was using the home of Carole Tyler to provide parties where “Washington’s powerful and mighty” met attractive women.

Hugh Scott joined Williams in his campaign. Johnson attempted to stop Scott by threatening disclosures about his relationship with lobbyist, Claude Wilde. Johnson also told Scott that he would use his influence to “close down the Philadelphia Navy Yard unless Senator Scott closed his critical mouth”. Scott refused to back down and when Barry Goldwater began calling for a full-scale Senate investigation, senior members of the Democratic Party decided they had to take action and on 7th October, 1963, Baker was forced to resign as Johnson’s political secretary.

By this time both Baker and Johnson had another problem as Don B. Reynolds now contacted Williams about his story. It was Reynolds’s evidence before the Senate Rules Committee that gave Johnson so much concerns during the weeks following the assassination.

Johnson had a two-pronged strategy. He used his considerable political influence to keep the story from becoming public. This included threats against those like Williams and Scott who were attempting to reveal the full details of the story. This ended in failure and on 17th January, 1964, the Senate Rules Committee voted to release to the public Reynolds' secret testimony. Johnson was forced to talk about the issue at a press conference on 23rd January, 1964.

Johnson’s strategy now had to change. His main concern now was to discredit Reynolds as a witness. To help him do this J. Edgar Hoover passed to Johnson the FBI file on Reynolds. A tape recording of a meeting that took place on 27th January, 1964, between Johnson, Walter Jenkins, Bill Moyers, Abe Fortas and Jack Valenti has survived. At one point Johnson tells his men to leak these stories to journalists Drew Pearson and Bill White. Abe Fortas boasts that he will be able to convince “Drew to do it”. He was wrong, Pearson refused to use these smear stories and instead, it was left to his colleague, Jack Anderson to break the story.

On 5th February, 1964, the Washington Post reported that Reynolds had lied about his academic success at West Point. The article also claimed that Reynolds had been a supporter of Joseph McCarthy and had accused business rivals of being secret members of the American Communist Party. It was also revealed that Reynolds had made anti-Semitic remarks while in Berlin in 1953.

This story created more problems for Johnson than for Reynolds. The New York Times reported that Johnson had used information from secret government documents to smear Reynolds. It also reported that Johnson's officials had been applying pressure on the editors of newspapers not to print information that had been disclosed by Reynolds in front of the Senate Rules Committee.

Larry Hancock has pointed out that at this stage Johnson thought that he might be “the first United States President to end his term in prison.” Robert Winter-Berger later reported that on the 4th February, 1964, he was discussing public relations with John McCormack in his Senate office. Johnson barged into the office and not aware of Winter-Berger’s presence told McCormack: “John, that son of a bitch (Bobby Baker) is going to ruin me. If that cocksucker talks, I’m gonna land in jail.”

Johnson became embarrassed when he realised Winter-Berger was in the room. However, Winter-Berger reassured him by saying he could help Johnson with this problem. The following day he was meeting Nathan Voloshen, an experienced fixer for organized crime. Johnson then said to Winter-Berger: “Tell Nat that I want him to get in touch with Bobby Baker as soon as possible – tomorrow if he can. Tell Nat to tell Bobby that I will give him a million dollars if he takes this rap. I’ll see to it that he gets a million-dollar settlement.”

As David E. Scheim has pointed out: “Given a subsequent scandal involving intercessions for Mobsters from McCormack’s office at Voloshen’s behest, the recounted tirade would hardly have been exceptional in that office. And the Baker case did indeed involve some close friends of LBJ, including Texas oil magnate Clint Murchison.”

When questioned about the testimony of Don Reynolds, Johnson always concentrated on the issue of the stereo. He admitted that Baker had given the Johnson family the stereo. As Merle Miller pointed out:

He (Johnson) said the families frequently exchanged gifts; he said further that he and Lady Bird had used the stereo for a period. What happened after that was rather vague; apparently the set had been given to some other friendly family. Who, why, and whether or not the Baker family often sent such expensive gifts to the Johnson family would forever remain a mystery.

What Johnson was unwilling to talk about was the $100,000 payoff for his role in securing the Fort Worth TFX contract. This was political dynamite and if proved, would have resulted in Johnson going to prison.

John McClellan, the chairman of the McClellan was also chairman of the Permanent Investigations Committee, and the person responsible for investigating the TFX contract, said that he wanted to interview Don Reynolds about this matter. However, for some reason the committee did not resume its investigation until 1969, after Johnson had left office.

[Wade Rhodes]

Can anybody verift this quote as true from LBJ tapes...

“The thing I am most concerned about,” Hoover said in a call to the White House two hours after Oswald’s murder, “is having something issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin.”

[Robert Howard]

The first signs that LBJ favoured the presentation of Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone gunman was on 29th November. In a phone call to John McCormack (speaker of the House) at 4.55 p.m. LBJ says he does not want someone testifying in public that “Khrushchev planned the whole thing and he got our President assassinated. You can see what that’ll lead us to, right quick. You take care of the House of Representatives for me”. In other words, make sure the joint Senate-House  Investigation suggested by Charles E. Goodell does not take place.

Later that day (6.30 p.m.) LBJ spoke to Charles Halleck (House Minority Leader):

(1) Lyndon B. Johnson:  Charlie, I hate to bother you but. . . I've got to appoint a commission and issue an executive order tonight on investigation of the assassination of the President because this thing is getting pretty serious and our folks are worried about it. It's got some foreign complications - CIA and other things - and I'm going to try to get the Chief Justice to go on it. He declined earlier in the day, but I think I'm going to try to get him to head it....

(2) Charles Halleck:  Chief Justice Warren?

(3) Lyndon B. Johnson:  Yes.

(4) Charles Halleck:  I think that's a mistake....

(5) Lyndon B. Johnson:  I'd be glad to hear you, but I want to talk to you about - he thought it was a mistake till I told him everything we knew and we just can't have House and Senate and FBI and other people going around testifying that Khrushchev killed Kennedy or Castro killed him. We've got to have the facts, and you don't have a President assassinated once every fifty years. And this thing is so touchy from an international standpoint that every man we've got over there is concerned about it....

(6) Charles Halleck:  I'll cooperate, my friend. I'll tell you one thing, Lyndon - Mr. President - I think that to call on Supreme Court guys to do jobs is kind of a mistake.

(7) Lyndon B. Johnson:  It is on all these other things I agree with you on Pearl Harbor and I agree with you on the railroad strike. But this is a question that could involve our losing thirty-nine million people. This is a judicial question.

(8) Charles Halleck:  I, of course, don't want that to happen. Of course, I was a little disappointed in the speech the Chief Justice made. I'll talk to you real plainly. He's jumped at the gun and, of course, I don't know whether the right wing was in this or not. You've been very discreet. You have mentioned the left and the right and I am for that.

(1) LBJ is in fact lying to Halleck. Warren had already agreed to chair the commission.

His reference to “foreign complications – CIA and other things” is intriguing. 

(7) For the first time LBJ begins to develop the idea that the reason to withhold details of a conspiracy is to save the world from a nuclear war (“could involve our losing thirty-nine million people”).

(8) This is a reference to a speech Warren made on 24th November: “What moved some misguided wretch to do this horrible deed may never be known to us, but we do know that such acts are commonly stimulated by forces of hatred and malevolence, such as today are eating their way into the bloodstream of American life. What a price we pay for such fanaticism!" Conservatives like Halleck believed Warren's comments referred to them.

Halleck last two sentences are  interesting: “I don't know whether the right wing was in this or not. You've been very discreet. You have mentioned the left and the right and I am for that.”

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And you probably thought there was only one gap on a tape (ie The famous 18 minute gap on the Nixon/Watergate Tapes)

It has been revealed that there is yet another tape with a gap, this has to do with an archived LBJ conversation with J. Edna Hoover that has a 14 minute segment that mysteriously is inaudible during a "critical part" of the conversation.

Click on the following URL.

http://history-matters.com/essays/frameup/...enMinuteGap.htm

This area strikes at the heart of LBJ and Hoover as potential particpants in the conspiracy to kill Kennedy versus cover-up artists extraordinaire. But the key point is made by the article's writer Rex Bradford - "....since the tie-in of Oswald to the Soviets and Cubans was created by an impersonator, the obvious conclusion would be that no such connection really existed, only the purposefully planted appearance of one. Why the need to go to World War III with the Soviets if they weren’t involved?"

Why indeed.

[Paul Jeffery]

Just a small point regarding this thread: there was a programme on the History Channel a couple of years ago which documented the LBJ tapes. This includes recordings and commentary. I'm sure it would be useful to this discussion.

The one conversation I remember is LBJ to Jacqui Kennedy, not long after the assassination. I found it very disturbing given my view on LBJ's role in the case.

"You must come and visit some time...."

I think it also worth noting that LBJ and Hoover were close allies in Washington. They used to walk their dogs together in the morning! Both certainly were no fans of the Kennedys.

I found the posts on Nixon interesting. His whereabouts on 21-23/11/63 are significant. Was he at the infamous Murchison 'plotters ball', as suggested by Madeline Brown(LBJ mistress). Hoover was allegedly there too, a man who virtually never left the capital due to a fear of flying.

[John Simkin]

Some more LBJ tapes have just been released. Unfortunately they are from 1967 and not 1963/64.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news...10/1010lbj.html

[Tim Gratz]

John wrote (In Post #3):

LBJ is keen to have John McCoy on the commission. Hoover obviously knows little about McCoy. LBJ insists on McCloy. [Emphasis supplied.]

There is no way to make a conclusion from the recorded conversation that LBJ was "insisting" on McCloy. All LBJ does is ask Russell what he thinks about McCloy. Nor can I see how one can reasonably infer that "Hoover obviously knows little about McCloy." McCloy had been a Washington powerhouse for years. Hoover probably had a file on him!

Here is the extent of the interchange on McCloy:

Lyndon B. Johnson: What do you think about John McCloy?

J. Edgar Hoover: I'm not as enthusiastic about McCloy... I'm not so certain as to the matter of the publicity that he might seek on it.

In any event, since LBJ had the right to select whoever he wanted to the WC, it makes no sense to say that he "insisted" on McCloy.

********************************************************************************

By the way, it was RFK who recommended to LBJ that McCloy be named to the WC.

Edited October 11, 2007 by Tim Gratz

[Pat Speer]

John wrote (In Post #3):

LBJ is keen to have John McCoy on the commission. Hoover obviously knows little about McCoy. LBJ insists on McCloy. [Emphasis supplied.]

There is no way to make a conclusion from the recorded conversation that LBJ was "insisting" on McCloy. All LBJ does is ask Russell what he thinks about McCloy. Nor can I see how one can reasonably infer that "Hoover obviously knows little about McCloy." McCloy had been a Washington powerhouse for years. Hoover probably had a file on him!

Here is the extent of the interchange on McCloy:

Lyndon B. Johnson: What do you think about John McCloy?

J. Edgar Hoover: I'm not as enthusiastic about McCloy... I'm not so certain as to the matter of the publicity that he might seek on it.

In any event, since LBJ had the right to select whoever he wanted to the WC, it makes no sense to say that he "insisted" on McCloy.

********************************************************************************

By the way, it was RFK who recommended to LBJ that McCloy be named to the WC.

I think McCloy was actually Fortas' idea. It was later put out by LBJ that McCloy and Dulles were Bobby's ideas, if I recall, but LBJ is a known xxxx on these types of issues. His MO, as recorded by Acheson and others, was to ask someone what they thought about something he'd already decided upon, and then argue with them about it, and then tell everyone else it was that person's idea, once they agreed. You can see this kind of manipulation in his tape transcripts. For example, he lies and tells Warren that the other members of the commission all want him, and THEN calls Russell to tell him has has to be on the commission because he'd already told Warren he was on it, whereby Russell insists he'll never work with Warren and has no respect for him, only to be ordered to play along.

LBJ was a master xxxx and manipulator. Another famous example of this was his handling of his swearing in. He wanted to be sworn in before the plane took off. It didn't need to be done, as the presidency automatically changes hands. While he may have felt it was better for the nation, it actually may have been better for the nation to have him sworn in on national TV after the funeral. In any event, he told everybody it was Bobby's idea he be sworn in, which really upset Bobby. The actual story appears to be that he called Bobby and told him that he was gonna be sworn in, and asked Bobby how to do it and make it official. Bobby called Katzenbach and got the info and called him back. While Bobby never voiced his opposition to the swearing in, it was not his idea and he was opposed to it. He wanted JFK to have, if only symbolically, one last flight as president. Instead, JFK's last ride was as a corpse in the back of LBJ's plane.

[Guest Tom Scully]

The first signs that LBJ favoured the presentation of Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone gunman was on 29th November. In a phone call to John McCormack (speaker of the House) at 4.55 p.m. LBJ says he does not want someone testifying in public that “Khrushchev planned the whole thing and he got our President assassinated. You can see what that’ll lead us to, right quick. You take care of the House of Representatives for me”. In other words, make sure the joint Senate-House Investigation suggested by Charles E. Goodell does not take place.

Later that day (6.30 p.m.) LBJ spoke to Charles Halleck (House Minority Leader):

(1) Lyndon B. Johnson: Charlie, I hate to bother you but. . . I've got to appoint a commission and issue an executive order tonight on investigation of the assassination of the President because this thing is getting pretty serious and our folks are worried about it. It's got some foreign complications - CIA and other things - and I'm going to try to get the Chief Justice to go on it. He declined earlier in the day, but I think I'm going to try to get him to head it....

(2) Charles Halleck: Chief Justice Warren?

(3) Lyndon B. Johnson: Yes.

(4) Charles Halleck: I think that's a mistake....

(5) Lyndon B. Johnson: I'd be glad to hear you, but I want to talk to you about - he thought it was a mistake till I told him everything we knew and we just can't have House and Senate and FBI and other people going around testifying that Khrushchev killed Kennedy or Castro killed him. We've got to have the facts, and you don't have a President assassinated once every fifty years. And this thing is so touchy from an international standpoint that every man we've got over there is concerned about it....

(6) Charles Halleck: I'll cooperate, my friend. I'll tell you one thing, Lyndon - Mr. President - I think that to call on Supreme Court guys to do jobs is kind of a mistake.

(7) Lyndon B. Johnson: It is on all these other things I agree with you on Pearl Harbor and I agree with you on the railroad strike. But this is a question that could involve our losing thirty-nine million people. This is a judicial question.

(8) Charles Halleck: I, of course, don't want that to happen. Of course, I was a little disappointed in the speech the Chief Justice made. I'll talk to you real plainly. He's jumped at the gun and, of course, I don't know whether the right wing was in this or not. You've been very discreet. You have mentioned the left and the right and I am for that.

(1) LBJ is in fact lying to Halleck. Warren had already agreed to chair the commission.

His reference to “foreign complications – CIA and other things” is intriguing.

(7) For the first time LBJ begins to develop the idea that the reason to withhold details of a conspiracy is to save the world from a nuclear war (“could involve our losing thirty-nine million people”).

(8) This is a reference to a speech Warren made on 24th November: “What moved some misguided wretch to do this horrible deed may never be known to us, but we do know that such acts are commonly stimulated by forces of hatred and malevolence, such as today are eating their way into the bloodstream of American life. What a price we pay for such fanaticism!" Conservatives like Halleck believed Warren's comments referred to them.

Halleck last two sentences are interesting: “I don't know whether the right wing was in this or not. You've been very discreet. You have mentioned the left and the right and I am for that.”

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And you probably thought there was only one gap on a tape (ie The famous 18 minute gap on the Nixon/Watergate Tapes)

It has been revealed that there is yet another tape with a gap, this has to do with an archived LBJ conversation with J. Edna Hoover that has a 14 minute segment that mysteriously is inaudible during a "critical part" of the conversation.

Click on the following URL.

http://history-matters.com/essays/frameup/...enMinuteGap.htm

This area strikes at the heart of LBJ and Hoover as potential particpants in the conspiracy to kill Kennedy versus cover-up artists extraordinaire. But the key point is made by the article's writer Rex Bradford - "....since the tie-in of Oswald to the Soviets and Cubans was created by an impersonator, the obvious conclusion would be that no such connection really existed, only the purposefully planted appearance of one. Why the need to go to World War III with the Soviets if they weren’t involved?"

Why indeed.

I thought this was interesting enough to share:

http://www.google.com/search?q=clash+hinted+over+warren+probe+role&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a#hl=en&ds=n&sugexp=ldymls&pq=%22clash%20hinted%20over%20warren%20probe%20role%22&xhr=t&q=clash+hinted+over+warren+probe+role&cp=1&pf=p&sclient=psy&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=QNF&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aunofficial&tbs=cdr:1%2Ccd_min%3A12%2F1%2F1963%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F3%2F1963&tbm=nws&source=hp&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=clash+hinted+over+warren+probe+role&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=3f8f91b8d26edce0&biw=1320&bih=654

Hint Guards of Kennedy Were in Bar

‎

Chicago Tribune - Dec 3, 1963

Clash expected with Con- gress over appointment of Chief .Justice Warren to head Kennedy assassination probe. Story on page 2. Washington. Dec. 2 y,!-Sen.

http://www.google.com/search?q=clash+hinted+over+warren+probe+role&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aunofficial&tbs=ar:1&tbm=nws&source=hp&q=%22clash+hinted%22&aq=&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=3f8f91b8d26edce0&biw=1320&bih=654

Clash Hinted Over Warren Probe Role

‎

Pay-Per-View - Chicago Tribune - Dec 3, 1963

BY WILLARD EDWARDS Washington. Dec. 2- Presi- dent Johnson may have his first clash with Congress over his appointment of Chief Justice Earl Warren as head ..

Rumblings of protest were heard in both houses of Congress today over the manner in which Johnson moved to snatch the inquiry away from Capitol hill and place it in the hands of a seven-man board dominated by the chief justice.

Sense Another Coverup

A half dozen senators of both parties and an even larger group of representatives expressed their dissatisfaction in private interviews. They sensed a coverup similar to the Pearl Harbor Investigation which was also headed by a Supreme court justice, Owen J. Roberts. But in this period of regard for a new President's burden of responsibilities, none would be quoted by name.

The complaints were intensified when investitgators discovered that the Communist party of the United States was the first to demand Warren's appointment as head of the investigating committee. On Nov. 26, three days before the President picked Warren, the mid-week edition of the Worker, official party spokesman, published an editorial headed "A Call for an Extraordinary Commission."

Worker Urges Action

"Justice and the internal security of the national call for the most complete investigation and revelation of all factors which brought forth this heinous assassination," the editorial, reprinted in the Dec. 1 edition, stated, "We believe that President Johnson on the one hand and Congress on the other should act at once to appoint respective extraordinary investigating commissions with full power to conduct a searching inquiry into all the circumstances around the assassination of the President and murder of the suspect.

"Such an investigating commission, headed by the chief justice of the Supreme court, should be comprised of citizens and experts who enjoy the confidence of the nation."

Doubt He Was Aware

Last friday night, the President announced selection of the board of inquiry headed by Warren. Other members were.....

Entire text of 3 December, 1963 article excerpted above:

Edited June 19, 2011 by Tom Scully