Larry Hancock Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Steve, its really too bad you don't have the 2010 edition; it goes into great deal in this area and cites a number of documents related to weapons dealing not only in this instance but in regard to Ruby in general. Its not something I can replicate here. On your questions, as far as I can tell nobody was stockpiling anything in Dallas because the exiles didn't have much money, they talked a lot and put out a lot of feelers but little in the way of actual sales happened. Lots of talk but not much money. That applies to the exiles that were not being supported by the administration. AMWORLD and Artime had tons of money and were doing big weapons and equipment buys from mainstream weapons suppliers in Europe. Again, that's all in the 2010 edition plus in Shadow Warfare, much of the research courtesy of Gary Murr. But because DRE and other groups operating independently (DRE was supported by the CIA to some extent but not with much money and they were really jealous with what was going on with Artime; the two groups were very antagonistic in 63/64) were talking so much and putting out so many feelers they certainly did get the attention of Ellsworth and the FBI for that matter. Remember, FBI was officially tasked with shutting down military action against Cuba - but only the independents, Artime and his people were getting a free pass.. Not that there were some weapons sales, but they were in handfuls - like the trailer Howard had - and mostly light weapons. There was probably as more ultra right weapons traffic going on in Dallas than anything else, a lot of it courtesy of Mason. The guys stopped in Dallas because Mason was well known for reworking weapons to full auto. Its really important to understand the difference between the Artime project and the independents; most of the rumors about an invasion were either related to Artime or were street talk by the other groups who just hoped to do something and had no major financial support - they were being shut down by the FBI, Artime had free rein on his project but that was indeed moving offshore as quickly as possible. On intelligence sharing, that's always been a problem - actually the fact that ATF, FBI and DPD were working the same weapons effort in Dallas was pretty unusual, and had just come about. That mornings meeting was one of the first coordination sessions and only came about because DPD had blown the sting being run by the others. As to Secret Service, they really had nothing to do with any of this and operated virtually independently; it was a different world back then and they really only responded to threats provided to them via the threat index and then only in cities directly mentioned in the threat - as if there were no mobile threats. Amazing in retrospect but the SS has always been like that - and they are so secretive its hard to tell if they have improved. Recent events suggest possibly not. On the stolen car, that's really very typical so if somebody gets a license number or physical description it doesn't track to known suspects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Allison Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 Video of Whitter in jail and some of the guns seized. Serious firepower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 Matt, Thanks for this. I did a little poking around... Miller's appeal of hin conviction... Miller vs. United States https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/59149a93add7b04934626fd6 J.B. Allen was one of the arresting officers. Agent Abernathy was the name of the F.B.I. Agent in on the arrest. Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Simpich Posted May 31 Share Posted May 31 I have the 14 page document on Whittier that Steve was looking for, see if you can open it, if not send me an email address and maybe that will work: https://drive.google.com/drive/search?q="donnell whittier" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Mellor Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 Just a thought concerning documents stashed by the HSCA. Is it another 4 or 5 years to go before Blakey's stash is supposed to get released? & does anyone know the contents of this pile? I assume the ARRB didn't liberate all these documents. What do we know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted June 1 Author Share Posted June 1 2 hours ago, Bill Simpich said: I have the 14 page document on Whittier that Steve was looking for, see if you can open it, if not send me an email address and maybe that will work: https://drive.google.com/drive/search?q="donnell whittier" Bill, It looks like one has to reate an account, and I don't want to do that. Perhaps you could post one page at a time. Or send me an email. Steve Thomasl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Schwartz Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 This appears to be a relevant part of an essay on Maria Oswald Porter on SparticusL " (5) Marina Oswald Porter, letter to John Tunheim (19th April, 1996) I am writing to you regarding the release of still classified documents related to the assassination of President Kennedy and to my former husband, Lee Harvey Oswald. Specifically, I am writing to ask about documents I have learned of from a recent book and from a story in the Washington Post by the authors of the same book (as well as other documents they have described to me). The book reviews Dallas police, FBI, and CIA files released since 1992, and places them in the context of previously known information. I would like to know what the Review Board is doing to obtain the following: 1. The Dallas field office and headquarters FBI reports on the arrests of Donnell D. Whitter and Lawrence R. Miller in Dallas on November 18, 1963 with a carload of stolen US army weapons. I believe that Lee Oswald was the FBI informant who made these arrests possible. I would also like to know what your board has done to obtain the reports of the US Marshal and the US Army on the same arrests, and the burglary these men were suspected of. 2. The records of the FBI interrogations of John Franklin Elrod, John Forrester Gedney and Harold Doyle (the latter men were previously known as two of the "three tramps") in the Dallas jail November 22-24, 1963. All of these men have stated that they were interrogated during that time by the FBI. 3. The official explanation of why the arrest records for Mr. Elrod, Mr. Gedney and Mr. Doyle, as well as for Daniel Wayne Douglas and Gus Abrams were placed "under federal seal" in the Dallas Police Records Division for 26 years as described by Dallas City Archives supervisor Laura McGhee to the FBI in 1992. 4. The full records of the interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald, including his interrogation in the presence of John Franklin Elrod as described by Elrod in an FBI report dated August 11, 1964. 5. The reports of army intelligence agent Ed J. Coyle on his investigation of Captain George Nonte, John Thomas Masen, Donnell D. Whitter, Lawrence R. Miller, and/or Jack Ruby. I am also requesting that you obtain agent Coyle's reports as army liaison for presidential protection on November 22, 1963 (as described by Coyle's commanding officer Col. Robert Jones in sworn testimony to the House Select Committee on Assassinations). If the army does not immediately produce these documents, they should be required to produce agent Coyle to explain what happened to his reports. 6. Secret Service reports and tapes of that agency's investigation of Father Walter Machann and Silvia Odio in 1963-64. 7. Reports of the FBI investigation of Cuban exiles in Dallas, to include known but still classified documents on Fermin de Goicochea Sanchez, Father Walter Machann and the Dallas Diocese Catholic Cuban Relocation Committee. These would include informant files for Father Machann and/or reports of interviews of Father Machann by Dallas FBI agent W. Heitman. 8. The full particulars and original of the teletype received by Mr. William Walter in the New Orleans FBI office on the morning of November 17, 1963, warning of a possible assassination attempt on President Kennedy in Dallas. I now believe that my former husband met with the Dallas FBI on November 16, 1963, and provided informant information on which this teletype was based. 9. A full report of Lee Harvey Oswald's visit to the Dallas FBI office on November 16, 1963. 10. A full account of FBI agent James P. Hosty's claim (in his recent book, Assignment Oswald) that Lee Harvey Oswald knew of a planned "paramilitary invasion of Cuba" by "a group of right wing Cuban exiles in outlying areas of New Orleans." We now know that such an invasion was indeed planned by a Cuban group operating on CIA payroll in Miami, New Orleans, and Dallas - the same group infiltrated by Lee Oswald. We know this information only from documents released since 1992, as described in the book I have mentioned. On what basis did agent Hosty believe Lee "had learned" of these plans, unless Lee himself told him this? I am therefore specifically requesting the release of the informant report that Lee Oswald provided to agent Hosty and/or other FBI personnel on this intelligence information. The time for the Review Board to obtain and release the most important documents related to the assassination of President Kennedy is running out. At the time of the assassination of this great president whom I loved, I was misled by the "evidence" presented to me by government authorities and I assisted in the conviction of Lee Harvey Oswald as the assassin. From the new information now available, I am now convinced that he was an FBI informant and believe that he did not kill President Kennedy. It is time for Americans to know their full history. On this day when I and all Americans are grieving for the victims of Oklahoma City, I am also thinking of my children and grandchildren, and of all American children, when I insist that your board give the highest priority to the release of the documents I have listed. This is the duty you were charged with by law. Anything else is unacceptable - not just to me, but to all patriotic Americans. (6) Marina Oswald Porter, statement published on 17th September, 1996. When I came to this country I came as a friend. I was then and am now. When the assassination happened I believed it was my obligation - anybody's obligation - to abide by the law of this land. I testified to the Warren Commission and I obliged any request the government made of me. I agreed with the findings of the Warren Commission not because I really understood everything about it, but because I had enough trust that they investigated honestly and that the conclusions they came to were based on the highest form of investigation. So, with my blind faith, I accepted their conclusions. Of course, at that time lots of people in this country who knew more about what was going on questioned the findings of the commission. And I defended the commission against those people, and I wanted all those so-called conspiracy people to just go away. Then there was a second investigation because the people demanded it. This was the investigation of the U.S. House Select Committee. And I testified for them. And their conclusion was possible conspiracy, meaning that the assassination involved more than one person, and they stopped it at that. Even then, I wasn't very pleased. I wasn't very pleased because when I was testifying for them and I thought they were honest - after so many years, and because the people demanded it I asked them questions that would be answered just for me, and I was told that I was there only to answer questions, not to ask them. So I knew that that investigation was doomed. And how can I respect the conclusions of the House Select Committee, when they locked up their records? I gave the two investigations everything I had. Then later I found out that the FBI knew more about me than I knew about myself. Literally, even my underwear was investigated. And I have no problem - they didn't have to trust me, why should they? I don't hold anything against that. But my private matters were investigated - even when they had all the proof that I was nobody's "spy" and I feel that this was for blackmail - my house was bugged, and I saw pictures of me which I knew nobody but the FBI could have done. I've seen with my own eyes that any kind of gossip from people even remotely related to me by name in Russia - any kind of nonsense - is in the record. You cannot be more thorough than that. And even so, I don't object. But now I think, it's my turn to ask the questions and for the FBI to clean their own laundry. I don't want to know everything about the FBI, but since they claim that I am wife of the assassin, and I have to defend myself , only in that regard am I sticking my nose in their business. And I'm not begging for answers. I think I've earned them, and I think they should give them to me. Subscribe to our Spartacus Newsletter and keep up to date with the latest articles. Popular Pages John F. 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Bill Simpich Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 I sent the document to Steve and Jean - hopefully one of them can figure out how to post it. I also sent them a four page memo from Marti Allen (the partner of researcher Bill Allen?) analyzing the Whittier document. I found a copy of it at the Weisberg Archive. You should be able to find it at this link: http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg Subject Index Files Original/R Disk/Ruby Jack Gunrunning Alleged - Pistol/Item 03.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted June 1 Author Share Posted June 1 (edited) 2 hours ago, Bill Simpich said: I sent the document to Steve and Jean - hopefully one of them can figure out how to post it. It's mostly just a recap of the Terrell Arms theft and a rap sheet of his various arrests for check forgery. He was arrested several times for White Slavery, which tells me he was involved in prostitution rings too, which would put him squarely within Ruby's orbit. The one part that did interest me is a memo from Rowley of the Secret Service to J. Lee Rankin of the Warren Commission. The Subject of the memo is Donnell Whitter and "minute Men", which is the first time I've seen that connection. There is another part of Rowley's memo that has me puzzled and might explain why this was buried for so long. In his memo, Rowley shared a memo from Thomas Casey by way of Arnold Sagalyn of the Law Enforcement Coordination Division to Thomas Kelley, in which he says that ATTU was not involved in the bust in any way, except to be notified that the arrest has taken place as part of routine information-sharing among law enforcement agencies; but we know that Ellsworth was involved. So why the lie? Steve Thomas Edited June 1 by Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Simpich Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 (edited) The Ellsworth story is a black hole. I have researched it numerous times - I can't find any written report about ATTU or anyone else finding the rifle on the fourth floor. Dallas detective Sims said that Ellsworth was on the sixth floor when the cartridges were found, which was some minutes before the rifle. 201-10001-10001 is a 1977 file with Ellsworth's TSBD observations - not on MFF. Mark Bridger wrote a good article in the Dealey Plaza Echo on how Ellsworth said that Oswald was seen by witnesses in the company of several Minutemen. On 2/11/64, Ellsworth reported that John Thomas Masen was arrested on 11/20/63 in Dallas for Firearms Act violations, knew "elite group" of patriots arming themselves for defense of country. Jim Hosty's Minutemen source - recently revealed as Donald G. Kemp - said all was very quiet on the Minuteman front since 11/22. Reinterview was suggested of Jerry Brooks re background on William Henry Johnson or Earl Johnson of Dallas, who were believed to be Minutemen. (Good luck finding a flat admission of Minutemen in Dallas!) Why don't we have the documents showing that Ellsworth was interviewed in any proper way before or after Dick Russell? Some of it is our own fault. There is a small mountain of documents on him at the Archives (see the JFK Explorer), almost none in MFF. I have seen some of his reports, like this 1/14/64 report of Ellsworth discussing Masen's ties with Manny Rodriguez Orcarberro - the Alpha-66 contact at the House on Harlandale - the report mentions that Veciana was the Alpha-66 Secretary of Finance. Burt Griffin interviewed him on 4/16/64, the docs are not on MFF. I want to see what the ARRB came up with after 1996 when they sought to do a deep dive on Ellsworth? I'd also like to see the 1978 HSCA deposition of Ellsworth. 180-10091-10125, again, not on MFF. I'd also like to see some discussion on Hosty's testimony to HSCA that Ellsworth was the one who identified himself as a Secret Service agent on the grassy knoll! What we also know is that Ellsworth denied it at his deposition, which is not on MFF but someone may have? As Jerry Rose put it almost 40 years ago, the November 22 activities of Hosty, Ellsworth, Powell of Army Intelligence and Jack Revill of the intel wing of Dallas' Secret Services Bureau "cry out for further study and interpretation". I would say the same about Revill's boss Pat Gannaway, who shone the spotlight on Oswald and the phony roll call in the minutes after 12:30 pm - as well as Deputy Chief George Lumpkin, who led the search at the sixth floor. Edited June 1 by Bill Simpich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph McBride Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 (edited) I called Jack Revill to ask for an interview. He was cordial but declined; another frustrating dead end. But he then surprised me by wishing me "good luck" (spoken without apparent irony) with my investigation of the case. Clearly he knew a lot but wouldn't reveal it. Edited June 1 by Joseph McBride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Simpich Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 (edited) Here is how the story about Donnell Whittier - Ruby's mechanic - got taken out of commission thanks to Gannaway, Revill, and detective Bill Biggio. On 12/11/63, Biggio wrote to Gannaway and Revill about a mechanic who reported that LHO had been driving Ruby's car for two months. Granted, this may have been Ruby employee Curtis Crafard, but this was a story that needed to be dealt with in some way. Biggio' report was filed under the title "Lee Harold Oswald". My theory is that this was code for anything that tied LHO to Ruby, as the only reported use of "Lee Harold Oswald" was by a KRLD radio announcer who shouted this name to the world at the moment Ruby shot Oswald. Whether that's right, we do know that this story went nowhere for four months, until the day the Warren Commission came to Dallas and it was a sure thing questions would be asked about this story. It had to be put to bed. On April 2, 1964, Biggio went back to his supposed source, and found out the mechanic was supposedly named William Chesher, and he had supposedly died two days ago of a heart attack. That same day, Biggio then appeared in front of WC counsel Albert Jenner and told him this preposterous story. Biggio asked if he could keep the name of his source secret, since the whole story was third-hand hearsay. Jenner assured him that would be fine. Edited June 2 by Bill Simpich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 2 hours ago, Bill Simpich said: 2 hours ago, Bill Simpich said: As Jerry Rose put it almost 40 years ago, the November 22 activities of Hosty, Ellsworth, Powell of Army Intelligence and Jack Revill of the intel wing of Dallas' Secret Services Bureau "cry out for further study and interpretation". Bill, To the best of my knowledge, noone has ever really learned what went on in that 11/22 morning meeting between Hosty, Ellsworth, Ed Coyle and Jack Revill. There's been some suggestion that it concerned the recent arms bust, but I think that's just guesswork. Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Thomas Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 1 hour ago, Bill Simpich said: That same day, Biggio then appeared in front of WC counsel Albert Jenner and told him this preposterous story. Biggio asked if he could keep the name of his source secret, since the whole story was third-hand hearsay. Jenner assured him that would be fine. Bill, This is relevant to absolutely nothing, but in that same memo is a record of Oswald's school records. I was reading through those and noticed that all through grade school, Oswald consistently got D's in spelling, the English Language, and Arithmatic. He never did learn to spell, did he? Steve Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Brancato Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 I still think that the arms bust blew Ellsworth’s undercover operation, and that it was done deliberately. Didn’t Ellsworth later opine that he thought the assassination was a conspiracy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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