My email to USA Today reporter re: Helms and DRE

[Michaleen Kilroy]

1 hour ago, Jason Ward said:

I wonder if your point in this post is in keeping with the broader context of CIA efforts in this era?  Are you drawing too much out of this microcosm snapshot of a single communication between Helms and the DRE?   I've reviewed several thousand CIA cables in 2017 and if you read the communications over a period of time a big picture emerges of the CIA and the Cuban exile groups like the DRE. 

Thanks, Jason, for the additional context on Cuban exile groups and the CIA.  My gut tells me you're probably spot on regarding the ineffectiveness of the CIA's strategy.

But just to point out the obvious, the DRE was the only group that interfaced with the future accused assassin of JFK.  The DRE was also, arguably, the most widely known and best funded of the assorted Cuban exile groups, so the CIA might have good reason to be more interested in them than the others.

But my issue is with the CIA's deceit in not revealing their relationship with the group in 1963.  If they were honest patriots, one would think they would've told some investigative body about their guidance of the group that interfaced with LHO that resulted in coverage that - surprise - also aided the DRE's hopes and many in the CIA as well to invade Cuba.  Or at least allow an honest internal investigation, which Helms stymied.

I don't let the decades of deceit and continuing secrecy go lightly, especially in the case of the assassination of a POTUS.  Any one of us as individuals would be in jail for this obstruction.  Just because it's an organization ostensibly created to protect the U.S. doesn't give them a pass to my mind.

So again I return to my question for you - why do you think they withheld this information?

For me, it can't be because of embarrassment that fate placed LHO in the path of one of their assets.  We've known that now for two decades.

So it can only be one of three reasons for me:

1) As the DRE leaders said, they likely told Joannides about LHO's antics and coverage in NO.  So the CIA knew about this eejit in NO, and by not doing anything about him, they're culpable at least in the public mind of overlooking a threat to the POTUS.  Oswald went undetected as a threat by the most powerful spy agency in the world.

2) The CIA was using LHO, wittingly or unwittingly, in an intelligence operation in NO.  If that's true, no one would believe they weren't involved in the assassination somehow.  So LHO fooled the most powerful spy agency in the world.

3) The CIA was manipulating LHO as a patsy for the assassination, whether by itself or in concert with others, e.g. the CIA played this itinerant, barely educated ex-Marine.

Whatever the reason was, the American people deserve an answer.  We shouldn't have to wait for endless FOIA lawsuits.  It's the people's government.  They should be forced to tell us.

[James DiEugenio]

One of my favorite pieces of correspondence, and remember this is late 1961:

Schlesinger's Memo June 9, 1961
MEMORANDUM FOR MR. RICHARD GOODWIN

Sam Halper, who has been the Times correspondent in Habana and more
recently in Miami, came to see me last week.  He has excellent contacts among
the Cuban exiles.  One of Miro's comments this morning reminded me that I have
been meaning to pass on the following story as told me by Halper.  Halper says
that CIA set up something called Operation 40 under the direction of a man named
(as he recalled) Captain Luis Sanjenis, who was also chief of intelligence.
(Could this be the man to whom Miro referred this morning?)  It was called
Operation 40 because originally only 40 men were involved: later the group was
enlarged to 70. The ostensible purpose of Operation 40 was to administer
liberated territories in Cuba.  But the CIA agent in charge, a man known as
Felix, trained the members of the group in methods of third degree
interrogation, torture and general terrorism.  The liberal Cuban exiles believe
that the real purpose of Operation 40 was to "kill Communists" and, after
eliminating hard-core Fidelistas, to go on to eliminate first the followers of
Ray, then the followers of Varona and finally to set up a right-wing
dictatorship, presumably under Artime. Varona fired Sanjenis as chief of
intelligence after the landings and appointed a man named Despaign in his place.
Sanjenis removed 40 files and set up his own office; the exiles believe that he
continues to have CIA support.  As for the intelligence operation, the CIA is
alleged to have said that, if Varona fired Sanjenis, let Varona pay the bills.
Subsequently Sanjenis's hoods beat up Despaign's chief aide; and Despaign
himself was arrested on a charge of trespassing brought by Sanjenis.  The
exiles believe that all these things had CIA approval.  Halper says that Lt Col
Vireia Castro (1820 SW 6th Street, Miami; FR 4 3684) can supply further
details. Halper also quotes Bender as having said at one point when someone
talked about the Cuban revolution against Castro: "The Cuban Revolution?  The
Cuban Revolution is something I carry around in my check book.
"Nice fellows,

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr

[Michaleen Kilroy]

36 minutes ago, Jason Ward said:

 

Hi Mike, thanks for the conversation, I hope you enjoy it as much as I.

if you have evidence Helms is hiding his role in the DRE because of a DRE connection to the assassination, please post it.   Carlos Bringuier's theater of confronting Oswald on Canal St and related New Orleans shenanigans in the summer of 63 meant to certify to all the world that Oswald is a Castro-loving communist is indisputable.   However, I've never seen any evidence Bringuier takes his orders from the CIA or even that the DRE in general is very good at taking orders from the CIA.  What's Bringuier doing and saying today?  A big clue there IMO.  What's DRE figure Bringuier saying about Oswald even now, and why?

Helms has a lot to be ashamed of because everything the CIA did around Cuba in this era was a total embarrassment. They reached out to organized crime for one thing.  They invested in the absurd comedy of scams for another thing - like exploding cigars. I ask if Helms isn't behaving in a way that's familiar?  Isn't it like the way so few in government today want to take credit for invading Iraq for some reason?

 It was easy for a Cuban to show up in Miami, talk a big game about overthrowing Castro, and promptly get on the CIA payroll for several years.  Nothing required in return except big talk.  Mainly, the CIA money went to amateur theatrics, pseudo-military training in the Everglades and elsewhere, and of course to the nightclubs and restaurants on Miami Beach.   I can't prove it and I despise the rampant speculation around here - but I have to ask if the continued prominence of these early Cuban exiles and their offspring in Miami isn't in part founded on the early CIA boondoggle of flushing taxpayer money down the toilet?   They bought real estate, businesses, and assumed prominence still palpable today.

I agree Helms was probably not eager to have a public link made between himself and the DRE - which in turn would link him to Bringuier and Oswald.  He probably tried to hide it.  However, I think the evidence released in recent days doesn't point to shame over the JFK assassination, but shame over the general incompetence of CIA efforts towards Cuba.  I am as always anxious to see evidence you might have.

 

Jason

I agree that the U.S. reaction to Castro truly was a tragic and dangerous comedy.

I don't have any evidence of Helms' intentions for why he misled the WC and HSCA and then refused to comment on the DRE when documents exposed his oversight of the group a year before his death.  But he obviously had agency institutional support in all this and I'd like to know why.

I don't need any additional evidence.  This case is full of evidence.  But this is obstruction by the most powerful CIA man at the time of the assassination with agency support over decades.  That's enough for me.

To paraphrase Bugliosi's endless refrain about LHO, lies and withholding of material information points to a consciousness of guilt.

It can't be about agency embarrassment.  The lie is too big and the unlawful secrecy has lasted too long.  

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by Mike Kilroy

[James DiEugenio]

Do you know who commissioned the CIA internal study on Operation Forty?

That sweetie pie Dick Helms.  (I actually prefer Nagell's name for him, which was Dirty Dick.)

Do you know who gto that particular assignment to do that report? Sam Halpern. Sam became Helms' go to guy later on smearing the Kennedys with the Castro assassination plots. Which we know today, through the releases of the Church Committee, and particularly the testimony of Scott Breckinridge, was a myth.

To my knowledge that report by Halpern has never been declassified.  Based on what Helms did with the IG report, I do not know if it ever will be.  If you recall, in that latter case, Helms ordered all the notes to be shredded, incinerated the extra copy, and kept the one remaining copy in his personal safe. 

So the idea that somehow Helms would ever be forthcoming about anything that compromised him--well maybe some people here, like Gus Russo, trust the likes of Thomas Powers, on Helms.  From my past experience, I do not.

 

[James DiEugenio]

BTW, let me add something else about Johannides.

In addition to the cover up work on the DRE, which in my view was unconscionable, Johannides also became the guy who was the main source of redacted files dealing with Mexico City.

This was after the CIA decided not to let Danny Hardway and Eddie Lopes go to CIA HQ anymore. They decided to create a special room at the HSCA with a safe that the CIA would monitor. There was then a safe inside that safe and Dan and Ed would have to turn in all the memoranda and all their notes to the memoranda to the CIA attendant to place in that safe.

The guy who presented the files to them at this new location was Johannides.  Except its even worse than that.  Because now, unlike before, the files were not completely unredacted.  And the requests were now not completely fulfilled.

You only get into positions like that if the CIA knows they can trust you.  Evidently, Johannides was on the most trusted list.

[Jason Ward]

1 hour ago, Mike Kilroy said:

 

But just to point out the obvious, the DRE was the only group that interfaced with the future accused assassin of JFK. 

This, Mike, may be obvious but I don't think it's indisputably true.   
Evidence exists that Oswald interacted with Sylvia Odio, Alpha 66, and several other anti-Castro figures or groups.

1. DRE is just one of several anti-Castro groups with alleged Oswald connections (also don't forget the many people or organizations Oswald associated with who were in no way connected to the Cuban dramas).  This is but one of many accusations out there - in various degrees of trustworthiness:

 

 

2 - In Dallas, Oswald had alleged associates with anti-Castro Cubans other than DRE like ... Alpha 66 and the anti-Castro group meeting on Hollandale St.

 

3 - Odio is an anti-Castro Cuban of yet another stripe, JURE?; completely apart from DRE...as are Hall  and Seymour I believe

1 hour ago, Mike Kilroy said:

...

So again I return to my question for you - why do you think they withheld this information?

For me, it can't be because of embarrassment that fate placed LHO in the path of one of their assets.  We've known that now for two decades.

...

 

Mike, I actually don't think we're that far apart and we probably don't even disagree with one another.  I think Helms wanted to hide Oswald's contacts with CIA-sponsored groups like the DRE.   Of course he didn't want any accusation that the CIA was involved with Oswald or the Kennedy assassination.   But, Helms not wanting to see these allegations in public does not mean the allegations are true.   I can agree with you that Helms lies.  But all lies are not created to hide conspiracy in killing Kennedy.  Oswald is embarrassing and all his many government contacts at many times and levels go to some length in distancing themselves from him - sometimes even hiding their interactions.

 

SOURCES 

1 - Bill Simpich.   This is from his peerless work in charting the use of CIA digraphs (codewords).    Found at the Mary Ferrell site here: https://www.maryferrell.org/php/cryptdb.php?id=LITENSOR&search=oswald cubans dallas

2 - Philap Melanson writing in The Third Decade. Volume 1, issue 3.  (btw, this source argues that Oswald's associations with ANY anti-Castro Cubans are weak to non-existent)

3 - September 8, 1964 FBI report, NARA number 105-82555.

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by Jason Ward

[James DiEugenio]

I would like to add one more thing about the CIA and the anti Castro exiles.

In addition to the top secret Operation Forty report Helms commissioned--and all its ramifications for getting a much more conservative form of government in Cuba, which included using murder--these guys became helpful to the CIA in other operations.

A  good example occurred after Kennedy was killed.  As one can see by reading Michael LaFlem's current article about Congo, after 1963, the policy changed there. LBJ and the CIA now turned on the former followers of Lumumba.   The CIA authorized air strikes to eliminate them and the Agency literally took over the American Embassy. (Robert Rakove, Kennedy, Johnson and the Nonaligned World, p. 130) I interviewed one of the pilots involved in that operation and he told me that the CIA brought in a lot of Cuban exiles, especially Operation Forty guys they had trained previously.  This man was not a Cuban but he was a very skilled pilot involved in that operation.

As per Oswald being associated with other groups besides the DRE, I think the idea Mike was trying to convey is that the DRE was the public group in this regard.  Therefore they would be perfect for the purpose of launching a propaganda broadside. It would not be very smart to have Alpha 66 or Sylvia Odio do it, since those trails would lead to serious problems with the official story e.g. like an Oswald double, and Oswald being an informant.

But, as they say, to each his own.

Edited April 8, 2018 by James DiEugenio

[Michaleen Kilroy]

3 hours ago, Jason Ward said:

This, Mike, may be obvious but I don't think it's indisputably true.   
Evidence exists that Oswald interacted with Sylvia Odio, Alpha 66, and several other anti-Castro figures or groups.

Good point.  And incredible when you consider his possible entanglements...

3 hours ago, Jason Ward said:

Mike, I actually don't think we're that far apart and we probably don't even disagree with one another.  I think Helms wanted to hide Oswald's contacts with CIA-sponsored groups like the DRE.   Of course he didn't want any accusation that the CIA was involved with Oswald or the Kennedy assassination.   But, Helms not wanting to see these allegations in public does not mean the allegations are true.   I can agree with you that Helms lies.  But all lies are not created to hide conspiracy in killing Kennedy.  Oswald is embarrassing and all his many government contacts at many times and levels go to some length in distancing themselves from him - sometimes even hiding their interactions.

Completely agree.  Helms could've have been dissembling from the start because there was knowledge of Oswald in NO by CIA at whatever level.  Not to beat a dead horse, but his subterfuge probably kept investigators from going into more fruitful areas in understanding exactly what went down that day.  Even Helms apparently admits in an interview that he checked on agents in the Dallas area out of concern of their possible involvement (though he does quickly take it back). 

And I'm just not sure what it's in it for the CIA to continue its secrecy on the DRE in 1963 if they are innocent of the crime or in aiding and abetting anyone in the crime.

And it's just plain anti-democratic for any govt agency not to divulge information after any national security risk is long over.

Edited April 9, 2018 by Mike Kilroy

[Michaleen Kilroy]

1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:

As per Oswald being associated with other groups besides the DRE, I think the idea Mike was trying to convey is that the DRE was the public group in this regard.  Therefore they would be perfect for the purpose of launching a propaganda broadside. It would not be very smart to have Alpha 66 or Sylvia Odio do it, since those trails would lead to serious problems with the official story e.g. like an Oswald double, and Oswald being an informant.

Think you may have improved upon what I was saying, Jim.  But yes, that makes complete sense that since the DRE was the most prominent, then they would be used for any propaganda purpose.  And again, the CIA could've cleared this up at any time in the past 50-plus years and still can if they are innocent of any wrongdoing.

Edited April 9, 2018 by Mike Kilroy