New Book!

[Ernie Lazar]

Proceeding still further into Jeffrey Caufield's new book, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy: The Extensive New Evidence of a Radical Right Conspiracy, Chapter 11, Joseph A. Milteer and the Hardcore Underground of Dallas, Texas, Caufield further investigates Nelson Bunker Hunt’s violent underground society, the American Volunteer Group. Caufield writes:

As it spread, the AVG took in a number of Dallas followers of General Edwin Walker and secured a financial angel in the scion of a wealthy oil family. William Turner told the author that he learned from Minutemen founder Robert DePugh that the “financial angel” of the AVG was Nelson Bunker Hunt.” (Caufield, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy, 2015, p. 299)

Regarding the business of the AVG, Jeff Caufield writes:

Providing more evidence of Nelson Bunker’s violent inclinations, Hunt employee John Curington told author Dick Russell that Nelson Bunker had a list of undesirable leaders that he felt should be killed, including liberal Senators J. William Fulbright and Jacob Javits of New York. (Caufield, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy, 2015, p. 299)

Jeff Caufield found a rare newsletter of the AVG among the personal papers of Kent Courtney. On the cover was a photo of General Pedro del Valle, the retired US General who became a vocal advocate of racial segregation – and a pal of Joseph Milteer. There were several other US Generals and officers involved in this underground society. Caufield writes:

All of the retired military men listed in the AVG newsletter had extensive ties to the radical right. Brigadier General Richard Moran, retired, was from Kerrville, Texas, and had all the credentials of a high-ranking member of the radical right. FBI documents indicate he was “a close associate of General Edwin A. Walker” and “He conducted JBS meetings in the area.” (Caufield, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy, 2015, p. 300)

Other retired US Generals and former military officials involved in the AVG were General Robert Scott Jr., General William C. Lemly, General Richard B. Moran, Colonel John Howe, Harvey W. Matthews and Admiral John Crommelin – who was a personal associate of Joseph Milteer in the Congress of Freedom. Evidently the original AVG was composed of retired officers and heroes from World War 2, and over the years (perhaps because of the unpopularity of the Brown Decision) the AVG shifted further to the right, until JBS writers like Revilo P. Oliver became leaders in the AVG, and they began to move in circles frequented by Joseph Milteer, and was eventually financed by Nelson B. Hunt.

Caufield next notes that H.L. Hunt was the main financier of General Walker’s bid for Texas Governor. Caufield writes:

On January 8, 1962, Hunt sent a letter to J. Evetts Haley and told him that he was wildly enthusiastic about the prospects of General Walker rising to the highest levels of power. Hunt told Haley about his strategy to get General Walker elected as the Republican governor of Texas. He felt Walker would then go to the 1964 Republican National Convention and easily win over liberal Nelson Rockefeller, whom Gallup Poll results at the time showed was favored over Barry Goldwater as the Republican nominee for president in 1964. (Caufield, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy, 2015, p. 301)

The story of Walker’s campaign for Texas Governor, however, will take a different turn.

(to be continued)

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

I was going to save this information for my future comprehensive list of errors in Caufield's book but since Paul has presented the information re: AVG that appears in Caufield's book -- I will give a preview now -- along with something that even Caufield may not know.

First of all -- I have no clue where Caufield got his information about Nelson Bunker Hunt being associated with the AVG. Here is what I know:

1. AVG was founded in 1967 by Medrick George (Bud) Johnson (National Chairman). The mailing address was a P.O. Box in Dana Point, CA. Johnson (aka E.G. (Bud) Johnson) was District Manager for General Carpet Mills of Los Angeles..

2. The National Coordinator was John Zemanek aka Timothy John Zemanek (Harbor City CA). Zemanek was formerly Security Chief for the Minutemen and the Patriotic Party in California.

3. Robert Muncaster (Montgomery AL) was the National Chairman for Political Action.

4. The Advisory Board of AVG consisted of:

Brig. Gen. W.C. Lemly (USMC) – Coronado CA

Lt. Gen. Pedro A. Del Valle (USMC) – Baltimore MD

Brig. Gen. Robert L. Scott Jr.

Rear Adm. John G. Crommelin (USN) – Elmore County AL

Brig. Gen. Richard B. Moran (USA) – Kerrville TX

Maj. Gen. William L. Lee (USAF) – Amarillo TX

The monthly newsletter of their group, AVG Report, had a mailing list of 1000.

Now -- here is something interesting that appeared in a summary memo by the Los Angeles-FBI field office which they sent to J. Edgar Hoover (see last sentence in particular---which deserves further research!).

“The actual purpose of the AVG is to accept legitimate and sincerely patriotic persons into the organization and attempt to infiltrate them into ‘left-wing’ groups to gather intelligence information. Those persons identified as radical militants are to be channeled into a separate group with close supervision and control from the National Coordinator…In effect, the AVG is a ‘front operation’ of the Los Angeles Police Department Intelligence Division, for the purpose of identifying radical extremists.” Los Angeles 157-1864, #51, page 2 (10-31-69 SAC Los Angeles to JEH).

The FBI-Los Angeles file on AVG is 487 pages (Los Angeles 157-1864) and is currently at Internet Archive. In the future, it may be digitized and uploaded into my Archive collection online.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Ernie Lazar

[Paul Brancato]

Well Paul, I like the way you try to dispose of Caulfield's shoddy handling of Veciana and Phillips. You are aware - I am certain - that DAP was a propagandist par excellence. Quoting his fictional book as is you can rely on it to be factual is really funny. Both the CIA and FBI were running anti-FPCC operations, as I know you are aware. So if anyone was working for anyone, it would be Banister working for Phillips, not the other way around.

Anyone can see, looking at this now, that LHO's communist credentials, such as his fake FPCC branch, would never have stood up to scrutiny in a real investigation. The proposition that Oswald was set up to get into Cuba to kill Castro using those credentials is ludicrous and - yes - fictional. If in fact he was in those embassies in MC, they sure didn't buy his credentials. Investigators with any access to facts haven't bought it. So why would Phillips, or Banister, have thought that either LHO would get into Cuba, or that later this bogus evidence could be used to convince anyone that Castro retaliated.

There has to be a better explanation of Oswald's actions than the one provided by DAP or Paul Trejo. I think Newman is closer to the truth - Oswald was being run by Angleton, though not as an assassin. Simpich's book does not nullify Newman or Scott, it simply adds the possibility that someone in the CIA, such as Morales, or close to the CIA, hijacked Angleton's operation. It might well have been Phillips. And I have pointed out on various threads without rebuttal from Simpich, that files suggesting that Angleton himself was confused about who impersonated Oswald in MC do not prove that Angleton didn't know the answer to that question. They might simply show that he tried to distance himself from it when he decided to up the ante and use Oswadl as a patsy rather than a dangle. Admittedly all speculation on my part. But what, when it comes to LHO in Mexico, isn't?

[Thomas Graves]

Well Paul, I like the way you try to dispose of Caulfield's shoddy handling of Veciana and Phillips. You are aware - I am certain - that DAP was a propagandist par excellence. Quoting his fictional book as is you can rely on it to be factual is really funny. Both the CIA and FBI were running anti-FPCC operations, as I know you are aware. So if anyone was working for anyone, it would be Banister working for Phillips, not the other way around.

Anyone can see, looking at this now, that LHO's communist credentials, such as his fake FPCC branch, would never have stood up to scrutiny in a real investigation. The proposition that Oswald was set up to get into Cuba to kill Castro using those credentials is ludicrous and - yes - fictional. If in fact he was in those embassies in MC, they sure didn't buy his credentials. Investigators with any access to facts haven't bought it. So why would Phillips, or Banister, have thought that either LHO would get into Cuba, or that later this bogus evidence could be used to convince anyone that Castro retaliated.

There has to be a better explanation of Oswald's actions than the one provided by DAP or Paul Trejo. I think Newman is closer to the truth - Oswald was being run by Angleton, though not as an assassin. Simpich's book does not nullify Newman or Scott, it simply adds the possibility that someone in the CIA, such as Morales, or close to the CIA, hijacked Angleton's operation. It might well have been Phillips. And I have pointed out on various threads without rebuttal from Simpich, that files suggesting that Angleton himself was confused about who impersonated Oswald in MC do not prove that Angleton didn't know the answer to that question. They might simply show that he tried to distance himself from it when he decided to up the ante and use Oswadl as a patsy rather than a dangle. Admittedly all speculation on my part. But what, when it comes to LHO in Mexico, isn't?

Paul,

Devil's Advocate here: Maybe it was unimportant to the bad guys that Oswald was not able to get into Cuba.

Maybe what was important to them was that Oswald believed what he was told (by somebody), and therefore thought that he could get into Cuba that way, thereby ensuring that he would create a paper trail in Mexico City which would, post assassination, suggest that he was a pro-Castro Commie.

--Tommy

Edited November 11, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Paul Trejo]

Paul,

Devil's Advocate here: Maybe it was unimportant to the bad guys that Oswald was not able to get into Cuba.

Maybe what was important to them was that Oswald believed what he was told (by somebody), and thought that he could get into Cuba that way, thereby ensuring that he would create a paper trail in Mexico City which would, post assassination, suggest that he was a pro-Castro Commie.

--Tommy

No, no, Tommy, you've got it all backwards!

It was unimportant for Guy Banister that Oswald get into Cuba, because really all Guy Banister wanted to do was to set-up LHO as a Communist FPCC Director.

The key was to get LHO into Mexico City (by automobile, not by bus) and to let him fail to get his Instant Visa to Cuba -- but as soon as he left, to get David Morales and his crew to IMPERSONATE LHO from the Cuban Consulate telephone to the USSR Embassy, asking for KGB Agent Valerie Kostikov.

That would finally, once and for all, set-up LHO as a Communist, working for the USSR. In this way, when LHO was made Patsy of the JFK murder, the Walker-Banister conspiracy would blame the USSR/Cuba for the JFK murder, and inspire the USA to invade Cuba to kill Fidel Castro.

That was the plan. LHO was never going to get into Cuba with those STUPID credentials. But Guy Banister led LHO to believe he should try.

Now do you understand?

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited November 11, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Thomas Graves]

Paul,

Devil's Advocate here: Maybe it was unimportant to the bad guys that Oswald was not able to get into Cuba.

Maybe what was important to them was that Oswald believed what he was told (by somebody), and thought that he could get into Cuba that way, thereby ensuring that he would create a paper trail in Mexico City which would, post assassination, suggest that he was a pro-Castro Commie.

--Tommy

No, no, Tommy, you've got it all backwards!

It was unimportant for Guy Banister that Oswald get into Cuba, because really all Guy Banister wanted to do was to set-up LHO as a Communist FPCC Director.

The key was to get LHO into Mexico City (by automobile, not by bus) and to let him fail to get his Instant Visa to Cuba -- but as soon as he left, to get David Morales and his crew to IMPERSONATE LHO from the Cuban Consulate telephone to the USSR Embassy, asking for KGB Agent Valerie Kostikov.

That would finally, once and for all, set-up LHO as a Communist, working for the USSR. In this way, when LHO was made Patsy of the JFK murder, the Walker-Banister conspiracy would blame the USSR/Cuba for the JFK murder, and inspire the USA to invade Cuba to kill Fidel Castro.

That was the plan. LHO was never going to get into Cuba with those STUPID credentials. But Guy Banister led LHO to believe he should try.

Now do you understand?

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Dear Paul,

I believe that's what I was saying. In more general terms.

I said "bad guys" and you filled in the "blank" with "Bannister."

I submit that other names could be inserted there, and the results would have been the same.

Gullible Oswald would have still failed to get into Cuba and would have unwittingly set up a paper trail in the Cuban and Russian Embassies in Mexico City which would make him look like a Commie.

Got it?

Good.

--Tommy

Edited November 12, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Paul Trejo]

Dear Paul,

I believe that's what I was saying. In more general terms.

I said "bad guys" and you filled in the "blank" with "Bannister."

I submit that other names could be inserted there, and the results would have been the same.

Gullible Oswald would have still failed to get into Cuba and would have unwittingly set up a paper trail in the Cuban and Russian Embassies in Mexico City which would make him look like a Commie.

Got it?

Good.

--Tommy

Oh, well, then you think we agree after all, Tommy! I'm really glad to hear that!

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

[Thomas Graves]

Dear Paul,

I believe that's what I was saying. In more general terms.

I said "bad guys" and you filled in the "blank" with "Bannister."

I submit that other names could be inserted there, and the results would have been the same.

Gullible Oswald would have still failed to get into Cuba and would have unwittingly set up a paper trail in the Cuban and Russian Embassies in Mexico City which would make him look like a Commie.

Got it?

Good.

--Tommy

Oh, well, then you think we agree after all, Tommy! I'm really glad to hear that!

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Word Twister,

I didn't say Bannister.

You did.

For all i know it could have been "Neck Scratcher" aka David Sanchez Morales (q.v.) !

LOL

--Tommy

Edited November 12, 2015 by Thomas Graves

[Paul Trejo]

Let us proceed into the next chapter of Jeffrey Caufield's new book, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy: The Extensive New Evidence of a Radical Right Conspiracy, Chapter 12, General Walker and the Military Muzzling, 1961.

General Walker was one of 1,100 Generals in World War 2. Most of them did not attain any individual public acclaim, and that was also true of General Walker until the year 1957, when he was suddenly catapulted onto the public stage by President Eisenhower due to the Brown Decision of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren to racially integrate all US public schools.

General Edwin A. Walker was a child of the South. When he was growing up, President Woodrow Wilson was US President -- a Southern Democrat, who was elected partly because he favored the KKK in the South, and as University President, he had worked tirelessly to prevent Black Americans from ever attending Princeton University. (That is a rarely cited historical fact.) This was patriotic America to young Edwin Walker.

So, when Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren announced the Brown Decision in 1954, only nine years after the end of World War 2, General Walker, like most children of the South of his time, was outraged. This was the moment of the revival of the Confederate Flag in the South. How can the Federal Government dare to force Freedom-loving citizens to do anything? These were also the days of the Red Scare and McCarthyism, so the South hatched a new strategy, namely, that the Brown Decision, like the NAACP which urged it through the Supreme Court, was actually Communist. States’ Rights Parties arose in the South; the States, they argued, should have the right to decide this individually – it’s not Federal business.

More outrageous to General Walker was the fact that President Eisenhower selected him to lead US Troops to defend the Brown Decision in Little Rock, Arkansas, the hometown of the heroic General Douglas MacArthur. Nine Black American high-school students were being denied entry to Little Rock High School in 1957, by mobs of angry parents. The mobs became violent, and President Eisenhower sent in 12,000 Federal Troops to restore order and to enforce the Brown Decision in Little Rock.

General Walker protested to President Eisenhower, but Ike insisted, and even a General is a soldier who must obey orders. So, General Walker successfully served in Little Rock from 1957 to 1959. Walker complained the entire time, and the Radical Right in the South became his best friends. Though no joiner of clubs, in 1959 General Walker joined the John Birch Society, reading in the famous JBS “Black Book” (not the Blue-Book) Robert Welch's evidence that President Eisenhower was a “conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist party.”

Responding to that shocking doctrine, General Walker chose to resign from the US Army, after 28 years of stellar service in WW2 and Korea. Resignation is not retirement – when a US General “resigns” he also forfeits his pension. It's serious. Jeff Caufield quotes from Walker’s 1959 resignation letter:

“In my opinion the fifth column conspiracy and influence in the United States minimize or nullify the effectiveness of my ideals and principles, military mission and objectives and the necessary American public spirit to support sons and soldiers. I have no further desire for military service at this time, with this conspiracy and its influences on the home front.” (Caufield, General Walker and the Murder of President Kennedy, 2015, p. 313)

The term 'fifth column' there means "foreign." Without saying so, Walker was accusing the Pentagon of buckling to Moscow -- which was the JBS implication.

President Eisenhower simply tore up that resignation, and instead rewarded Walker’s obedient service with a promotion. Walker was re-assigned to the 10,000 American troops of the 24th Infantry Division in Augsburg, Germany, to help defend the Berlin Wall. This was the greatest opportunity of Walker’s career, so he quickly seized the job with both hands. Walker didn’t suspect that he would be catapulted to international notoriety in the “Military Muzzling” scandal that was to emerge from this.

(to be continued)

Regards,
--Paul Trejo

Edited November 12, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Paul Brancato]

Trejo thinks that Morales was working for or with Banister, and there is no evidence I am aware of (anyone) that shows they were even acquainted. On the other hand, Morales was close to, and worked for, some powerful top level CIA and ex CIA like Shackley and Dulles. There is evidence that the CIA was watching Oswald and carefully segregating their knowledge of his actions into various files for 4 years. Evidence that Banister was watching or using Oswald is limited to a few months and is all hearsay except for the address stamp on pamphlets he was giving out.

Tommy - I meant to make your exact point, but maybe I wasn't clear. What I am pointing out though is that the evidence showing Oswald's leftist credentials was paper thin.

[Chris Newton]

I wasn't aware that Morales' Career as a CIA Officer was even an item subject to debate. The suggestion that he's controlled by Banister/Walker is ludicrous.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=15000&search=%22sanchez_Morales%22#relPageId=2&tab=page

Edited November 12, 2015 by Chris Newton

[James DiEugenio]

Ernie:

I also realize (as Bill has previously pointed out) the limitations and requirements imposed by book publishing companies.

This is a non sequitir.

​The author published the book himself. The giveaway is the name of the company. This is the county where he lives.

If the footnotes are incomplete and non traditional--and I noticed this immediately, as you also point out--then that is the way the author wanted them to be.

[Paul Trejo]

I wasn't aware that Morales' Career as a CIA Officer was even an item subject to debate. The suggestion that he's controlled by Banister/Walker is ludicrous.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=15000&search=%22sanchez_Morales%22#relPageId=2&tab=page

David Morales, like Howard Hunt, jumped ship. They both went ROGUE from the CIA.

The case against David Morales was proved beyond any reasonable doubt by Bill Simpich in his eBook, State Secret (2014), when he showed the CIA high-command had NO CLUE which Intelligence Agent IMPERSONATED Lee Harvey Oswald in Mexico City.

Bill Simpich showed recent FOIA released CIA documents that plainly demonstrate a Mole Hunt started in early October 1963 to find this MOLE. The 201 file of LHO was modified by changing his photograph to this huge Russian dude, by changing his middle name to Henry, and other miscellany, unknown to anybody but the CIA high command.

David Morales jumped ship. We have good evidence.

Morales joined a Civilian Plot against JFK -- because he saw that it had a solid chance to Work.

Regards,

--Paul Trejo

Edited November 12, 2015 by Paul Trejo

[Larry Hancock]

Paul, I've asked before that you show some direct connection between Morales and New Orleans and as I recall you referenced Joan Mellon' book. Could you give us something specific putting him in New Orleans, in contact with Bannister etc. Or could you show when and where he cane into contact with a Walker plot. Thanks to a lot of diligent work over the years we have a reasonably good picture of where and what Morales was doing in 1963. Everyone knows I believe that Morales was fully capable of going on his own and he did have people he trusted who could have influenced him. People he had been working with on assassinating Castro for example. But I know of nothing that would connect him to Bannister, Walker and a civilian plot already in progress....does Caufield's book connect Morales and if so please lay that out for us.

[Ernie Lazar]

Ernie:

I also realize (as Bill has previously pointed out) the limitations and requirements imposed by book publishing companies.

This is a non sequitir.

​The author published the book himself. The giveaway is the name of the company. This is the county where he lives.

If the footnotes are incomplete and non traditional--and I noticed this immediately, as you also point out--then that is the way the author wanted them to be.

Jim:

Well, yes and no.

The "yes":

Obviously, every author decides what format he prefers to use for footnotes. One could argue that an abbreviated format was thought to be sufficient for general readers who were not likely to engage in any personal research.

The "no":

I'm sure that Caufield obtained cost estimates from more than one potential publisher and perhaps he thought that providing conventional footnotes (using something like the Chicago Manual of Style rules) would have added x-number of additional words and extra lines of text which, in the aggregate, would have prohibitively increased the cost of publishing his book.

It is also possible that Caufield ran into the same problem as I did with respect to my own research, i.e. when my FOIA research began 35 years ago, the type and quantity of notes which I took were much different from what I did 10-20 years later. In many cases, there was no way for me to go back to again review the original materials which I obtained through inter-library loan or which I saw when I traveled to other locations.

BOTTOM-LINE

Whatever the reasons, I just think it is disappointing because serious students will have a very hard time following the evidence trail which Caufield provides.

Edited November 12, 2015 by Ernie Lazar

[Thomas Graves]

Ernie:

I also realize (as Bill has previously pointed out) the limitations and requirements imposed by book publishing companies.

This is a non sequitir.

​The author published the book himself. The giveaway is the name of the company. This is the county where he lives.

If the footnotes are incomplete and non traditional--and I noticed this immediately, as you also point out--then that is the way the author wanted them to be.

Jim:

Well, yes and no.

The "yes":

Obviously, every author decides what format he prefers to use for footnotes. One could argue that an abbreviated format was thought to be sufficient for general readers who were not likely to engage in any personal research.

The "no":

I'm sure that Caufield obtained cost estimates from more than one potential publisher and perhaps he thought that providing conventional footnotes (using something like the Chicago Manual of Style rules) would have added x-number of additional words and extra lines of text which, in the aggregate, would have prohibitively increased the cost of publishing his book.

It is also possible that Caufield ran into the same problem as I did with respect to my own research, i.e. when my FOIA research began 35 years ago, the type and quantity of notes which I took were much different from what I did 10-20 years later. In many cases, there was no way for me to go back to again review the original materials which I obtained through inter-library loan or which I saw when I traveled to other locations.

BOTTOM-LINE

Whatever the reasons, I just think it is disappointing because serious students will have a very hard time following the evidence trail which Caufield provides.

A serious limitation, IMHO.

--Tommy