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Interesting clippings


Richard Booth

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A "Letter to the Editor" from the December 9 1978 issue of the Baltimore Sun written by William Synder, Jr., a lawyer who represents E. Howard Hunt.

Snyder takes issue with Steve Parks' November 26 1978 piece "Lee Oswald-the link to the FBI," addressing some of the things written in that piece that mention E. Howard Hunt:

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The attorney's assertion that Hunt remembers where he was in 11/22/63 should be contrasted with Mark Lane's account of this in Plausible Denial, which--regardless of whether or not you believe Hunt was involved in JFK's assassination--is worth reading and really leaves you with the conclusion that Hunt lied about where he was. There is no way around concluding that.

Regarding the assertion that Hunt was/was not acting Chief of Station at Mexico City, this seems to come from a 1973 book by Tad Szulc. Here is some history on that, from Wikipedia. Many or most here may already be very familiar with this:

In 1973, Viking Press published Tad Szulc's book about Hunt's career titled Compulsive Spy.[48] Szulc, a former correspondent for The New York Times, claimed unnamed CIA sources told him that Hunt, working with Rolando Cubela Secades, had a role in coordinating the assassination of Castro for an aborted second invasion of Cuba.[48] In one passage, he also stated that Hunt was the acting chief of the CIA station in Mexico City in 1963 while Lee Harvey Oswald was there.[49][50][nb 1]

The Rockefeller Commission's June 1975 report stated that they investigated allegations that the CIA, including Hunt, may have had contact with Oswald or Jack Ruby.[52] According to the Commission, one "witness testified that E. Howard Hunt was Acting Chief of a CIA Station in Mexico City in 1963, implying that he could have had contact with Oswald when Oswald visited Mexico City in September 1963."[53] Their report stated that there was "no credible evidence" of CIA involvement in the assassination and noted: "At no time was [Hunt] ever the Chief, or Acting Chief, of a CIA Station in Mexico City.[53]

Released in the Fall of 1975 after the Rockefeller Commission's report, Weberman and Canfield's book Coup d'Etat in America reiterated Szulc's allegation.[50][nb 2] In July 1976, Hunt filed a $2.5 million libel suit against the authors, as well as the book's publishers and editor.[54] According to Ellis Rubin, Hunt's attorney who filed the suit in a Miami federal court, the book said that Hunt took part in the assassination of Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.[54]

As part of his suit, Hunt filed a legal action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in September 1978 requesting that Szulc be cited for contempt if he refused to divulge his sources.[49] Three months earlier, Szulc stated in a deposition that he refused to name his sources due to "the professional confidentiality of sources" and "journalistic privilege".[49] Rubin stated that knowing the source of the allegation that Hunt was in Mexico City in 1963 was important because Szulc's passage "is what everybody uses as an authority ... he's cited in everything written on E. Howard Hunt".[49] He added that rumors that Hunt was involved in the Kennedy assassination might be put to end if Szulc's source was revealed.[49] Stating that Hunt had not provided a sufficient reason to override Szulc's First Amendment rights to protect the confidentiality of his sourcesUnited States District Judge Albert Vickers Bryan Jr. ruled in favor of Szulc.

To this day Szulc is the only source for the report that Hunt was "temporary Chief of Station" in Mexico City in 1963, as far as I know. It seems that Hunt was Chief of Covert Action for the CIA's Domestic Operations Division from 1962 to 1966. This comes from a 12/31/74 NY Times piece by Seymour Hersh and largely relies on Hunt's own testimony and an interview w/ Hunt. Given his penchant for lying I don't know what to make of it. Yet another report, on Morley's JFKfacts, says that Hunt served as chief of the Domestic Contacts Division of the CIA in Washington in 1963--I've never heard that before and I think that it's incorrect. 

If Hunt actually were in Mexico City in August-Sep-Oct 1963 that would be, interesting, to say the least.

This (Hunt/Mexico City) is probably something that has been examined in more detail by others, the details of which I am probably unfamiliar with. 

--Richard

 

 

Edited by Richard Booth
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On 9/16/2020 at 6:15 PM, John Butler said:

I don't mind speculation.  Half the fun of some comments is speculation.  I clearly label mine.  I don't hold it against anyone for speculating.  But, we do read a lot of speculation passed off as more substantial material.  

The above quote, although plausible, is simply speculation.  You can't prove that so it is speculation.

You quoted this and said this was speculation:

"You shoot and kill one of their own and now all of a sudden the cops want to nail this suspect to the wall."

Here is why that isn't speculation:

DPD Officer Jim Leavelle told Joseph McBride that the murder of Kennedy was, to the police, something that happens every day -- routine. Leavelle said that the killing of a cop, however, was very personal and a matter of honor to the police so they had to catch the culprit. This is directly from a DPD officer and shows this was their frame of mind, not by any means speculation.

The part of my post that you did not quote was regarding the general subject of the hypothetical motive of unnamed conspirators. Not only is that speculation, but it's both implied and understood to be so because there isn't any context in which you can discuss hypothetical motives for unnamed people where it's NOT speculation. By nature of the subject it has to be. So it's essentially obvious. 

Ultimately, I don't think we know why Tippit was killed. I suspect that it was not part of the script, but the direct result of it was to ensure the DPD would want to nail their suspect to the wall and that much we know for certain.

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On 9/20/2020 at 5:53 AM, Richard Booth said:

DPD Officer Jim Leavelle told Joseph McBride that the murder of Kennedy was, to the police, something that happens every day -- routine. Leavelle said that the killing of a cop, however, was very personal and a matter of honor to the police so they had to catch the culprit. This is directly from a DPD officer and shows this was their frame of mind, not by any means speculation.

Sorry Richard,

I don't buy it.  That's because it's from Leavelle who may have told the truth or not.  That may have just been Leavelle's reaction or his reaction because that was the way he was supposed to be.  Most DPD officers said what they were supposed to say about the assassination.  

I do have to agree about police taking care of their own.  In the state of KY people have a bad habit of shooting and killing State Troopers.  It happens every few years.  This goes back to the 50s.  I don't know about recent years since I haven't paid attention, but in the past the suspect killer rarely survived his capture.  I do recall one case in 1979 where the dad of one of my students killed a trooper and hid out for a year.  He was captured in Illinois, not Ky.  A KY State Trooper was sent to bring him back to Ky, but he didn't make it. 

Once again sorry.  But, I have read to many DPD and Dallas Sheriff Office people's testimonies to have much faith in anything they might say.   

On 9/20/2020 at 5:53 AM, Richard Booth said:

Ultimately, I don't think we know why Tippit was killed. I suspect that it was not part of the script, but the direct result of it was to ensure the DPD would want to nail their suspect to the wall and that much we know for certain.

I can't think of anything other than more speculation.  Someone didn't want to see Oswald killed.  IMO, it was the job of Officer McDonald to shoot Oswald with a throw down at the Texas Theater.  It could have been the same for Officer Tippit.  If you recall the newspaper article that links the two at the Texas Theater.  Maybe Tippit was to be killed there to blame Oswald and clear McDonald for shooting Oswald dead.  Tippit was killed earlier and couldn't join McDonald at the Texas Theater.  Someone gave McDonald an inoperative pistol.  My bet is Jack Ruby.

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On 9/21/2020 at 6:02 AM, John Butler said:

I don't buy it. 

That's fine

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  • 3 months later...

Thanks Matt. This is a bit third hand, and not  extemporaneous. It also lends credence to a shooter operating from the TSBD, something I personally don’t buy, whether Oswald or someone else. But I do agree that the source of a description that did not fit Oswald is important. I suspect it emanated from military intelligence, someone looking at an Oswald file that was deliberately falsified. It would be interesting to know whether Batcheler was MI. 

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