Did the FBI invent Jack Ruby’s ties to organized crime after the assassination of JFK?

[Jim Hargrove]

7 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

Jim, the second part about Byron, after the fact, supposedly comes from WC CE1235 which doesn't just pop up in a quick search.  Why would the guy make this up to the FBI in 1964 based on a 1939 memory?  

I’m far more suspicious that the FBI would just make stuff up rather than a witness they allegedly quoted.  Look how the FBI flat-out lied about Dealey Plaza witnesses in this three minute Gil Jesus YouTube video proving that the FBI LIED.

[Jim Hargrove]

7 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

If you've access to the Chicago Tribune archives you might search the name Leon Cooke and December 8-9-10-11-12 1939 as the 8th was when he was murdered by allegedly Ruby or Martin.  Keep in mind murders were not uncommon in Chicago at the time and the city had more than one newspaper at the time, E.G. the Chicago Defender and I believe at least one more.

I don't think Seth Kantor made up the part about Ruby's picture in the Tribune.  He was a well accredited journalist who spent 10 years writing his book.  Well after his word with Ruby on 11/22/63 at Parkland.  

Thanks, Ron. This gets interesting.  Here are the results of the Chicago Tribune search you suggested:

 

Of the five hits listed above, the first and fourth are the most interesting, both of which point to a 12/9/39 front page article.  The second, third, and fifth results do not mention Ruby or any of the variants of his name.

Here is the lead of that 12/9/39 Tribune story.  As you can see, the article indicates that Atty. Cooke named his assailant from his hospital bed, and he said it was union president John Martin, who apparently fled the scene with his married girlfriend.  

Later in the article, the name “Jack Rubinstein” comes up.  I’m going to assume this is our Jack Ruby, although his name is misspelled in the Tribune report.  The story indicates that “Much of the information was obtained from Jack Rubinstein (sic), secretary of the union…. Rubinstein (sic) was absent at the time of the shooting.”

The story continues on page 2 of the 12/9/39 Tribune and includes the following photos and caption:

Assuming “Rubinstein” is our “Rubenstein,” (and the image suggests that it is), Ruby was clearly taken in as a material witness to the investigation, but I see no indication whatsoever that the cops suspected him in the crime, though the union finances were clearly under scrutiny.

No other Tribune stories about the Leon Cooke story mention Rubinstein/Rubenstein, and I suspect that he cooperated satisfactorily with police investigators.

It always struck me as weird that a supposedly mob-affiliated guy like Jack Ruby so clearly enjoyed hanging out with cops.  Can you name another criminal like that?

One thing I noticed, though, is I’ve got to redo my searches using "Rubinstein" instead of "Rubenstein" since there is clear confusion about the spelling. Thanks again for you help on this.  Do you believe this event tells us that Ruby was mob-affiliated?
 

[Steve Thomas]

1 hour ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Do you believe this event tells us that Ruby was mob-affiliated?

 

Jim,

You might be interested in Richard C. Lindberg's & John William Tuohy's take on Jack Ruby's past.

http://www.richardlindberg.net/articles/chicago_mob.html

Steve Thomas

[Ron Bulman]

11 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

I’m far more suspicious that the FBI would just make stuff up rather than a witness they allegedly quoted.  Look how the FBI flat-out lied about Dealey Plaza witnesses in this three minute Gil Jesus YouTube video proving that the FBI LIED.

Jim I'm familiar with the FBI changing Dealy Plaza witness statements.  It illustrates their duplicity.  Gil and Mark Lane are hero's of mine.  What's just as disturbing to me is the FBI did interview multiple acquaintances and associates of Ruby from Chicago in the 30's and 40's and seemingly just took the word of known mafia operatives.  For example Lenny Patrick and Dave Yaras  were top executioners for the mob, but They give a thumbs up to Ruby not being involved in anything, with a wink and a nod (?).  Kind of like asking Eve if she picked an apple.  The FBI was also known (like the WC) for ignoring statements in both Dealy Plaza and Chicago.  Like ones about him being involved at times in running a club known for it's bookmaking operations or that he had a interest in or worked in a managerial capacity at a strip join on North Clark street.  Wouldn't that experience have come in handy at the Carousel? 

[Ron Bulman]

12 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

Jim,

You might be interested in Richard C. Lindberg's & John William Tuohy's take on Jack Ruby's past.

http://www.richardlindberg.net/articles/chicago_mob.html

Steve Thomas

Thanks for this Steve.  It dovetails well with what I've read primarily in Kantor's Ruby Connection and David Scheim's Contract on America, though I disagree with the premise and conclusion of the latter, it is well documented.  There are difference in dates, one says Ruby changed his name from Jacob Rubenstein to Jack LEON Ruby in December 1946 in Dallas.  COA offers this tidbit as well.  Ruby's sister Eva Grant testified that Cooke "was a highly reputable lawyer, that's why They killed him."   

[Jim Hargrove]

Thanks again to all for their helpful leads in this thread, but I’d like to re-emphasize that I’m looking for descriptions that appear in the public record before 11/22/1963 that describe Jack Ruby (or Rubenstein or Rubinstein) as a criminal or a mobster, descriptions that match—or even come close—to the post-assassination condemnations of Ruby. 

So far, a wide-ranging newspaper database search, as well as a specific look into the Chicago murder of Atty. Leon Cooke, and an examination of the Kefauver Committee Final Report yields the sole result that Ruby was employed by the same local chapter of a labor union that employed the man who killed Atty. Cooke.  Again, according to the Chicago Tribune report excerpted above, before he died Cooke named union president John Martin as his shooter, not Ruby.

Despite everyone’s help here, from my point of view a Warren Commission document that allegedly pre-dated the assassination is insufficient.  From examination of, for example, the rifle documents, it is clear to me that the FBI had a habit of creating phony docs and then dating them earlier than they were created, making untangling the mess even more difficult.  Documents allegedly from any number of Federal agencies all filtered through the FBI.

My working theory is that, confronted by a case utterly drenched in National Security State connections, Hoover quickly discovered (if he didn’t already know) that Jack Ruby had been actively involved in running guns to Cuba, apparently under CIA protection.   And so Hoover decided to make Ruby a mobster to draw attention away from Ruby’s connections to Federal agencies.

But even the emerging mobster connection was too conspiratorial for the Warren Commission, which required Lone Nuts® to abound in this case, and so Hoover had to switch gears mid-stream, covering up the very legend he had been in the process of creating.  This is conjecture, of course, but with the Ruby problem and the problem of Oswald’s true biography, Hoover had his hands full.  It is no wonder he made mistakes, and lots of them.

I’m not asking anyone reading this to accept my working theory, but I am asking for help finding references to Ruby the Mobster® that became part of the public record prior to 11/22/1963.  So far, I've found nothing.

[Ron Bulman]

On 6/6/2020 at 5:17 AM, Jim Hargrove said:

On 6/6/2020 at 12:18 AM, Ron Bulman said:

Guthrie also told the FBI in 1964 that Paul Roland Jones told him in 1946 that Ruby would be the "payoff guy".  he was protected by the people he paid off.  

Guthrie told the FBI in 1964 he was told in 1946 Ruby would be the paymaster.

According to Ian Griggs interview of Ruby stripper Shari Angel he was.  Vice squad members and detectives went to his office for payment.

There's a FBI report of a known traveling gambler whose name escapes me Ruby financed on a set up of a football bet with H L Hunt in the mid 50's.....

There it is, the strippers name was Shari Angel.

[Matthew Koch]

On 6/9/2020 at 5:21 AM, Jim Hargrove said:

Thanks again to all for their helpful leads in this thread, but I’d like to re-emphasize that I’m looking for descriptions that appear in the public record before 11/22/1963 that describe Jack Ruby (or Rubenstein or Rubinstein) as a criminal or a mobster, descriptions that match—or even come close—to the post-assassination condemnations of Ruby. 

So far, a wide-ranging newspaper database search, as well as a specific look into the Chicago murder of Atty. Leon Cooke, and an examination of the Kefauver Committee Final Report yields the sole result that Ruby was employed by the same local chapter of a labor union that employed the man who killed Atty. Cooke.  Again, according to the Chicago Tribune report excerpted above, before he died Cooke named union president John Martin as his shooter, not Ruby.

Despite everyone’s help here, from my point of view a Warren Commission document that allegedly pre-dated the assassination is insufficient.  From examination of, for example, the rifle documents, it is clear to me that the FBI had a habit of creating phony docs and then dating them earlier than they were created, making untangling the mess even more difficult.  Documents allegedly from any number of Federal agencies all filtered through the FBI.

My working theory is that, confronted by a case utterly drenched in National Security State connections, Hoover quickly discovered (if he didn’t already know) that Jack Ruby had been actively involved in running guns to Cuba, apparently under CIA protection.   And so Hoover decided to make Ruby a mobster to draw attention away from Ruby’s connections to Federal agencies.

But even the emerging mobster connection was too conspiratorial for the Warren Commission, which required Lone Nuts® to abound in this case, and so Hoover had to switch gears mid-stream, covering up the very legend he had been in the process of creating.  This is conjecture, of course, but with the Ruby problem and the problem of Oswald’s true biography, Hoover had his hands full.  It is no wonder he made mistakes, and lots of them.

I’m not asking anyone reading this to accept my working theory, but I am asking for help finding references to Ruby the Mobster® that became part of the public record prior to 11/22/1963.  So far, I've found nothing.

Ruby's stripper Candy Barr was an ex GF of Mickey Cohen. Mickey Cohen's lawyer Melvin Belli then represented Ruby in his trial and in his book said that Ruby reminded him of Cohen. Also Ruby was talking to Barney Baker who was working for Jimmy Hoffa, who was giving Teamster Loans to Trafficante and other mob connected people. He was also meeting with Joe Campisi at the Egyptian lounge the night before the Assassination and Campisi attended the famous Appalachia meeting for Carlos Marcello. 

[Michael Griffith]

It's not that the FBI invented Ruby's Mafia ties after the assassination: it's that Ruby's Mafia ties were suppressed for years and only began to surface thanks to the work of private researchers. Ruby's Mafia connections became impossible to deny after the HSCA investigation. Subsequent research has shed even more light on those ties.