Vince Foster, JFK and the Rise of Chris Ruddy

[James DiEugenio]

Writing this article was like navigating the 405 South at five o'clock.  Lots of different sources and subjects, including the transmutation of the GOP from Taft/Ike to Gingrich/Ryan.  

But I should single out two sources in particular.  The Foster case shows why Henry Lee is one of the finest criminalists we have.  And I am glad we have him on our JFK documentary.  Secondly, Pat Speer's essay on the fingerprint and palmprint evidence should be read by everyone here.  The late Mike Sullivan really pulled a fast one for PBS on the 30th anniversary of JFK's murder. 

https://kennedysandking.com/articles/vince-foster-jfk-and-the-rise-of-chris-ruddy

[Ron Ecker]

Jim,

Excellent job. Ruddy's book is the only one I've read on the Foster case, and that was years ago. But I have some questions, based on my recollection of that book, that you don't cover in your article.

The Park Police did not find any car keys in Foster's pocket. The official explanation was that the officer missed the keys because they were under Foster's side. If any part of a pocket was under Foster's side, you would think any competent person searching that pocket would know it, by not being able to get to that part of the pocket. It just sounds fishy. And a little more on this shortly.

According to Ruddy, the person who did the autopsy did not x-ray Foster's body because the x-ray machine allegedly wasn't working. Whatever happened to "Be Prepared"? For such a notable autopsy, couldn't an x-ray machine be borrowed for the occasion, even if you have to go to where the machine is? It just sounds fishy (if true).

You cover the torn-up note that was found in Foster's briefcase. But you don't point out that Foster's immediate WH supervisor (I think his name was Nussbaum) had searched the briefcase and found nothing. Shades of the Park Police unable to find car keys in Foster's pocket. It just sounds fishy.

One other thing, and my recollection is hazy, but there was some speculation that Foster had some ill-gotten gains, like a million dollars or more, and one reason for his depression was that he discovered that his bank account containing all that money had been emptied. Whatever that was all about may have involved the Clintons. Does that ring any bell? I don't remember now where I read it, I don't think it was Ruddy.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by Ron Ecker

[James DiEugenio]

Here is the answer to the keys question.

The  keys were found in Foster's pants pocket at the hospital morgue.  By the same guy who was supposed to have checked at the park.

He was at hospital and left before the WHI reps got there and they were never int the same room together  This comes from the Starr Report through of all people Byron York.

I will get to the to the other two later.  Thanks for creating this extra work for me Ron, you are a real sweetheart.

[Ron Ecker]

41 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said:

Here is the answer to the keys question.

The  keys were found in Foster's pants pocket at the hospital morgue.  By the same guy who was supposed to have checked at the park.

"Supposed to have checked"? But he did check. That's the problem.

He was at hospital and left before the WHI reps got there and they were never int the same room together  This comes from the Starr Report through of all people Byron York.

Then apparently (if someone planted the keys at the hospital) the WH reps weren't involved.

I will get to the to the other two later.  Thanks for creating this extra work for me Ron, you are a real sweetheart.

"You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Or something like that.

 

 

[James DiEugenio]

The "problem" you  indicate above is right out of Ruddy.

Any objective reviewer would understand  that Rolla did not do a real check at the scene.  Which is why he went to the hospital.  And that is what the team for Starr concluded. Without jumping on him.

Concerning your other two  questions:

1. When cross examined the original autopsy doctor said that they did not take x rays because of the problem with their machine.  When asked why they did not go somewhere else, he said if it had been a penetrating would and not a perforating one, they would have. (Anyone who studies the JFK case would know the difference.)

In other words, the Ruddy question you suggest was not posed and answered, was posed and answered.

2. As per the note, when the search was performed, the papers were taken out,  but the briefcase was not turned upside down or sideways. Why would it be?  When the briefcase was to be inserted into a box to store it for return to the family, it was turned sideways and this is when the torn note was discovered.  The police were then called.

Please source the so called "ill gotten" gains of Foster that you say disappeared.  I do not recall this in either the Fiske Report or the Starr report.  And they employed literally scores of FBI agents combined, and well over a dozen attorneys. Foster was a very good lawyer who made partner within two years of his employment at Rose Law Firm.  He was making something like 300 K per year at the time he left for Washington.  What would have been the need for the alleged  "ill gotten gains"?  And Foster was such a straight arrow, that does not fit his character. This sounds to me like Ambrose Evans Pritchard stuff.

Why do I say that?  In my review of the Foster case, I have rarely seen not just such bad journalism, but people who actually and deliberately made stuff up. And I pointed out some of this in my article.  It was not like in the JFK case, where its the actual evidence that poses insurmountable problems--disappearing bullet particles, miraculously appearing pristine bullets--its people like Pritchard and Ruddy and Irvine who created allegedly insurmountable problems that were simply not there.

As I noted, by the time Ruddy's book came out, even the conservatives were sick of such a spectacle.  The interview with Hickman Ewing in the appendix of Moldea's book is  revealing of this.  If you recall, Ewing prosecuted James Earl Ray at the HBO mock trial.  Even he said that people like Ruddy and Irvine were off the wall and there was simply no basis to conclude that Fiske was wrong.  And Starr showed through the new evidence that he put forth, which I detailed in my article, that such was the case.

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by James DiEugenio

[Ron Ecker]

Jim, thanks for the info. You've certainly done a thorough job on the case.

What I still question about the official story (well, the briefcase business doesn't sound all that convincing - I have to assume that the guy who searched it and found no torn-up note did look down into it) is the search of Foster's pockets. You say that any objective reviewer would understand that the Park Police's Rolla did not do a thorough search. It seems to me that any objective reviewer might justifiably conclude there were no keys there because no keys were found. Rolla stated in a deposition that "I searched his pants pockets. I couldn't find a wallet or nothing in his pants pockets." Two other Park Policemen told the FBI that they watched Rolla do it.

As to why he went to the hospital, I would imagine he went there because the question arose as to why they had found no keys. When he first searched the pockets, he wasn't specifically looking for car keys, he was looking for anything like ID or a suicide note.

I can't source the "ill-gotten gains" story because I don't remember where I read it. I thought you might have come across it in your research. I suspect it may have been on the old Newsmax website (I say "old" because I haven't been there in years, since we don't have the Clintons to kick around anymore - no, wait!), but I don't know.

 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Ron Ecker

[Joseph McBride]

"Something wrong." -- Dr. Henry Lee.

[Ron Ecker]

Did a web search on Lee.

According to this article, he has been "accused of botching evidence in multiple trials." This includes helping send two apparently innocent men to prison for murder based especially on Lee saying there was blood on a towel when in fact there was no blood there at all.

The article doesn't mention the Foster case, but based on the numerous cases it does mention involving Lee, I wouldn't put any stock in anything Lee says about Foster.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/henry-lee-how-many-murder-cases-did-the-celebrity-forensic-scientist-botch?ref=scroll

 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by Ron Ecker