This is the Washington Post?

[Paul Brancato]

I don't think it merely coincidental that Oswald ordered his two weapons (if he did at all) from the two main targets of Senator Thomas Dodd's committee on juvenile delinquency investigation of mail order weapons purchases. Either he played a small part in this investigation by ordering guns when there were far easier and more easily hidden ways to purchase guns, or evidence was faked after the fact with these two exact companies. Either scenario leads to Senator Dodd, who chaired the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee's investigation of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Another coincidence? Really? This same committee was in cahoots with William Pawley's Operation Tilt, a serious but failed attempt to embarrass JFK and bring about an invasion of Cuba. This was also the apparent motive behind choosing Oswald as the patsy in the murder of JFK.

I would add to this unlikely stream the connection between Dodd's SISS and Otto Otepka, a man who vilified the Kennedys and blamed RFK for his ouster from the State Department post from which he monitored, among other things, the false defector program which Oswald was part of. Of course Otepka claimed that it was his Oswald file that got him in trouble with RFK and Walter Sheridan, implying that they were worried about their own connections to Oswald. I think it far more likely that the Kennedys were trying to stop the SISS and Otepka from running their own foreign policy operations behind their backs.

I was unaware of Dodd's connection to the ASC, a group of nazis in my opinion.

[David Andrews]

People probably already know this, but Richard Case Nagell told author Dick Russell that Nagell ran Oswald in an operation to order guns by mail from companies targeted by the Dodd Subcommittee. I believe the cover story was that they were supporting Dodd's work.

When I have more time I can quote here the relevant passage(s) from The Man Who Knew Too Much. I do not accept every Nagell utterance as factual, but his take on the gun purchases may be worth considering. Based on the Armstrong findings, though, I do not rule out chicanery in the money order evidence, which is another reason to question Nagell.

Edited February 23, 2016 by David Andrews

[Paul Brancato]

Thanks David - I had forgotten that tidbit, and wonder if it's factual. It might be a clue even if it's not literally true.

In any case, I think we should be looking more closely at the American Security Council.

[Gene Kelly]

Here is a short list of ASC founders, supporters and benefactors:

James J. Angleton, Admiral Arleigh Burke USN, Ray Cline, PhD. Walt Disney, Senator Henry M. Jackson,

Major General Edward G. Lansdale USAF, Henry and Clare Boothe Luce, Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Sid W. Richardson, Eugene V. Rostow, Senator Thomas J. Dodd (D-CT), W Averell Harriman, General Lyman Lemnitzer, Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Marsh, Speaker Sam Rayburn, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Senator John G. Tower, General Vernon A. Walters, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt

[David G. Healy]

People probably already know this, but Richard Case Nagell told author Dick Russell that Nagell ran Oswald in an operation to order guns by mail from companies targeted by the Dodd Subcommittee. I believe the cover story was that they were supporting Dodd's work.

When I have more time I can quote here the relevant passage(s) from The Man Who Knew Too Much. I do not accept every Nagell utterance as factual, but his take on the gun purchases may be worth considering. Based on the Armstrong findings, though, I do not rule out chicanery in the money order evidence, which is another reason to question Nagell.

were MC's involved in this alleged operation? If so, THAT would be *VERY* interesting!

[Paul Brancato]

I'm blanking - what are mc's

[David Andrews]

People probably already know this, but Richard Case Nagell told author Dick Russell that Nagell ran Oswald in an operation to order guns by mail from companies targeted by the Dodd Subcommittee. I believe the cover story was that they were supporting Dodd's work.

When I have more time I can quote here the relevant passage(s) from The Man Who Knew Too Much. I do not accept every Nagell utterance as factual, but his take on the gun purchases may be worth considering. Based on the Armstrong findings, though, I do not rule out chicanery in the money order evidence, which is another reason to question Nagell.

were MC's involved in this alleged operation? If so, THAT would be *VERY* interesting!

Remind me what "MC" means in this context, and I'll look for it. It's going to take me a couple of days, though (tax time).

[Richard Price]

Mannlicher Carcano's?

[James DiEugenio]

Yes.

And Lisa Pease confirms that Manny Pena aided the Dodd investigation back in 1963-64.

[Paul Brancato]

James - yes as in MC's were being investigated?

In any case this Manuel Pena thing is really bugging me because of the directions it leads in. Reminds me of Mae Brussell, who pointed out the nazi connections. Guess that begins with mr. Dulles

[James DiEugenio]

As far as I can tell, it was actually the two sales houses that were targeted: Klein's and Seaport Traders.

Yes, it is a really startling coincidence.

[Gene Kelly]

I've studied the RFK murder in depth, following the work of Shane O'Sullivan, Phillip Melanson, Turner, Moldea and others. I think that Manny Pena was a bad guy, intimidating witnesses, manipulating evidence, and going so far as boasting about his CIA bona fides. A clear plant within LAPD to control the case... just like what happened in Dallas. Pena coordinated an investigation that not only threatened and discredited conspiracy witnesses, but also by the LAPD's own admission destroyed 2,400 photographs, negatives, and X-rays of evidence before Sirhan's trial. Pena was put in a position to control the daily flow and direction of the investigation He was in charge of the investigation, polygraphs, and interviews of all eyewitnesses. Pena's decision on all matters was considered final.

When I recently read that he was the guy who traced the Italian MC scope back to California years earlier, it was like a bolt from the blue (ersatz as the Germans call it). It was one of those moments that I'm sure all of you has experienced. My heart sank and I was no longer willing to keep an open mind about the perpetrators and plotters. I do not believe for one minute that this is a matter of simply coincidence. It both angers and saddens me.

[Paul Brancato]

Enrique Hernandez - Gene, I am sure you recognize this name. He was the guy who did the polygraph exam on the young campaign worker named Serrano who witnessed the girl in the polka dot dress. That three part 30 minute total YouTube video called 'the Girl in the Polka Dot Dress' is chilling. What if anything do we know about Enrique Hernandez? Like Manuel Pena he was also an ex LA cop who returned at this critical time. ( I think). Funny - in Dallas the body of JFK was taken away from local authorities at gunpoint and the investigation was thereafter controlled at the Federal level. In the case of RFK it appears that Feds were sent in to LA to take over the local investigation.

[Gene Kelly]

Paul:

Special Unit Senator's second-in-command, Hank Hernandez, stated in his own resume that in l963 he had played a key role in the CIA's "Unified Police Command" training in Latin America.

The LAPD began a cover-up from the minute this assassination took place… it almost appears as though they were prepared in advance for the assassination. Sandra Serrano (a witness on the fire escape who saw the controversial Girl in Polka Dot Dress) was branded a xxxx and not a credible witness. Earlier in the night, she had seen a young woman in a white dress with black or dark blue polka dots walk up the back stairway of the Ambassador hotel, accompanied by two men. During the police investigation, the LAPD’s sole polygraph operator, Sgt. Enrique Hernandez, did intensive interviews with Serrano trying to convince her that she did not hear anyone say, “We shot him!”

Transcripts show lie detector expert Hernandez badgering Serrano to renounce the testimony, saying she is “shaming Senator Kennedy” by keeping up with her story. But an agitated Serrano is recorded as responding, “That’s what I heard!” In the end, Manuel Pena, head of the SUS investigation insisted that witnesses misheard the couple, who had only said “They shot him!” The polka dot dress story was dismissed.

Shortly after the shooting Sergeant Enrique (Hank) Hernandez was interviewing another young eyewitness (Vincent DiPierro) for a lie detector test ... his intimidation was described as thus:

"He tried to brow-beat me into saying "You really didn't see a girl, you didn't really see a girl," so he kept pushing it and finally I just said "To hell with him ... I didn't see a girl." I mean it got to a point where this guy was really just manipulating me. You have to understand I was a 19-year-old kid and you've got this adult who I used to recognize as an authority, so I figured that I just wanted to get the hell out of there."

Witness were badgered through the use of certain interview techniques, the alteration of their statements or somehow through the production of statements to suit the police. The remarkable Sandy Serrano tape is the best-known example of witness harassment. Deputy Sheriff Houten proudly wrote in his book that the key to the case was the breaking of Sandra Serrano by Sergeant Hernandez. Rather than letting the evidence itself speak to the jury, SUS decided to deal with the matter directly. Houghton described their tactics; beginning with Pena calling the SUS polygraph specialist and asking him to take Ms. Serrano out for a “SUS bought steak” dinner. After an informal dinner with Serrano and her Aunt, he isolated Serrano at the police station for a series of aggressive interviews, including a lengthy polygraph interrogation lasting late into that night.

Gene

[Paul Brancato]

And I would only add to that remarkable post that Nixon won the 1968 election. I recall so clearly the feeling of doom when RFK died. He would have been president, of that I have no doubt.

I am still shocked by how many of my contemporaries are unaware of the second gunman at the Ambassador hotel, and how few of them ever considered the idea that the same still hidden group murdered both Kennedy brothers - and MLK for that matter.