Into the Storm by John Newman

[James DiEugenio]

Sorry about this being late, so tied up with Oliver's film.  But better late than never.

This one is a mixed review.  But there are three things in the book that are very important.

First, the Oswald file at CIA and Bagley's analysis of the routing.  I do not think Malcolm Blunt sent John the Betsy Wolf notes that he sent me.   So I added that to what John had written. Makes for a compelling case I think.  In Oliver's film, Horne will add another important piece.

Second, John's analysis of how the CIA switched their CIA/Mafia plots onto the Kennedys is simply first class. Only an intel analyst could do something like this.  And what the Church Committee left out of their report is even more important than what they put in. BIssell was such a BSer.  Halpern was even worse, since he actually lied about someone he worked with.  John proves Sam lied with his own documents.  

John traces the Northwoods plots to their origin under Ike, and how Lansdale and Lemnitzer tried to bring them back. Kennedy would not hear of them and when Lyman insisted, Kennedy got really hot and this was the final straw. Out the door goes Lyman.  Yet he lands at NATO, yep, while Gladio is going on. In his talk for FFF John mentioned Permindex.

BTW, does everyone know that Lemnitzer was appointed to the Rockefeller Commission?  Under Belin and Ford.  LOL

https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-reviews/into-the-storm-by-john-newman

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by James DiEugenio

[Benjamin Cole]

5 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

Sorry about this being late, so tied up with Oliver's film.  But better late than never.

This one is a mixed review.  But there are three things in the book that are very important.

First, the Oswald file at CIA and Bagley's analysis of the routing.  I do not think Malcolm Blunt sent John the Betsy Wolf notes that he sent me.   So I added that to what John had written. Makes for a compelling case I think.  In Oliver's film, Horne will add another important piece.

Second, John's analysis of how the CIA switched their CIA/Mafia plots onto the Kennedys is simply first class. Only an intel analyst could do something like this.  And what the Church Committee left out of their report is even more important than what they put in. BIssell was such a BSer.  Halpern was even worse, since he actually lied about someone he worked with.  John proves Sam lied with his own documents.  

John traces the Northwoods plots to their origin under Ike, and how Lansdale and Lemnitzer tried to bring them back. Kennedy would not hear of them and when Lyman insisted, Kennedy got really hot and this was the final straw. Out the door goes Lyman.  Yet he lands at NATO, yep, while Gladio is going on. In his talk for FFF John mentioned Permindex.

BTW, does everyone know that Lemnitzer was appointed to the Rockefeller Commission?  Under Belin and Ford.  LOL

https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-reviews/into-the-storm-by-john-newman

 

 

 

Excellent review.

John Newman does have a dark, and sometimes even peevish, assessment of Antonio Veciana.  Newman has said Veciana first referred to a "Morris Bishop" in interviews, but later to a "Maurice Bishop," as if this was a telltale clue of fakery. Veciana's native language is Spanish. After 40 years, Veciana might have been off on some dates. 

We also know that Bill Harvey backdated documents, and falsified others, as standard operating procedure. Primary research on documents is a necessity, but when those documents come from the CIA....take with a grain of salt. 

Newman is an outstanding and steady researcher. I agree the long diversion into 1960s civil rights actions is not necessary. I gather no one edits Newman's works. 

For the general reader, as usual, we end up in a muddle: Did Veciana meet David Atlee Phillips, in the company of LHO,  or not? 

 

[James DiEugenio]

Ben, thanks for that.

I am on the fence about that issue.  I would have felt  better if John had talked to Marie Fonzi or Ana, Veciana's daughter, who could have translated for her father.

I contacted them both and they said he had not.

As far as I know, John does not have an editor in any real sense of that word. I will be glad to be corrected if I am wrong about that.

But the three things I listed redeem the book.  If you have not seen John's presentation at FFF, you should.  It was quite good I think since it was professionally prepared in addition to the content.

Edited September 26, 2021 by James DiEugenio

[James DiEugenio]

BTW, John is in Oliver's film twice.

He is there on Vietnam, along with Jamie Galbraith.  And he does part of the Oswald in New Orleans aspect with Morley.

John is such a good guy.  We were stuck because the writer who was going to do that, Bill Davy, was recovering from cancer and had to cancel. So since Oswald and the CIA has a nice section on New Orleans, I called John and he agreed to do it.  We flew him across the country for that one.

Between Jeff and John I think that section of the film came out well.

Edited September 26, 2021 by James DiEugenio

[Benjamin Cole]

1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:

Ben, thanks for that.

I am on the fence about that issue.  I would have felt  better if John had talked to Marie Fonzi or Ana, Veciana's daughter, who could have translated for her father.

I contacted them both and they said he had not.

As far as I know, John does not have an editor in any real sense of that word. I will be glad to be corrected if I am wrong about that.

But the three things I listed redeem the book.  If you have not seen John's presentation at FFF, you should.  It was quite good I think since it was professionally prepared in addition to the content.

Yes, Newman's work, the series for the FFF, is completely fascinating history. Newman knows his stuff, and is a real historian. 

Some researchers are more comfortable with documents, and avoiding confrontations, and others like to engage people personally, even challenge sources. 

That said, if anybody is essentially going to publicly discredit another person's statement, you owe that person a phone call, a chance to tell their side of the story.  That applies left- or right-wing, pro- or anti- lone nut, whatever.  That is good journalism, good practice, courtesy, fair play. 

 

 

[Anthony Thorne]

Really good review and I need to go back to my Kindle and have another look at Newman's book, which I've read most of but not all of. I think Volume 4 isn't too far off.

[W. Tracy Parnell]

13 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

Newman has said Veciana first referred to a "Morris Bishop" in interviews, but later to a "Maurice Bishop," as if this was a telltale clue of fakery. Veciana's native language is Spanish. After 40 years, Veciana might have been off on some dates. 

Hw also reffered to Bishop as possibly being "Jim" or "John" a fact that has somehow escaped the attention of the conspiracy people. After a 13-year relationship, wouldn't Veciana know what alias his contact used? How did he refer to him -"hey you"?

13 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

Did Veciana meet David Atlee Phillips, in the company of LHO,  or not? 

One person says so-Veciana. Unless you still believe Wynne Johnson that is:

My Final Word on Wynne Johnson ~ W. Tracy Parnell (wtracyparnell.blogspot.com)

[W. Tracy Parnell]

13 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

After 40 years, Veciana might have been off on some dates. 

Veciana first said he met Bishop in mid 1960. Later, he said 1959. The problem is neither date works (if you believe Bishop was Phillips) as Newman explained in his book.

[Paul Brancato]

Jim - really good review of Newman’s book. 
I read Last Investigation many years ago and was very influenced by it - great book. I watched Veciana’s 2014 coming out party, and I’ve read some of Into The Storm. Veciana surely lied lots, and no one is really sure where the lies stop and the truth starts. Even if David Phillips was his CIA handler, his story of seeing Phillips with Oswald may be untrue. One doesn’t lead to another. The jury is out. But what is important, and Jim points out this is not Newman’s unique contribution, is that the Pentagon was running Alpha 66. I saw Newman present this evidence and found it convincing. This does hurt Veciana’s general credibility, and also brings Army Intelligence right into Dallas. And of course we know that Army Intelligence backgrounds were a common denominator in the DPD. I await more info on Lemnitzer from Newman’s future books.

I find Newman’s beliefs about Nosenko and Golitsyn incredibly illogical and troubling, especially as his source Bagley was closely associated with Angleton. Golitsyn did much harm, and made so many wild and ultimately false accusations against people here and elsewhere. There is a Big Lie lurking somewhere when it comes to understanding the Cold War. Does favoring Detente, or even Peace with the USSR make one a KGB tool? Was JFK a KGB tool? We really should ask who was Angleton working for?

The hard line way of perceiving politics is alive and well, and more destructive than ever. And when we look at these events, these Spy games, in hindsight, I believe we get a glimpse into secret workings of power, a Deep State if you will that is not bound by National borders and is united by enormous financial power and gain. 

[W. Tracy Parnell]

In his review, Jim D. writes:

"The next year, 2013, Marie asked Antonio to identify Bishop. She did not mention Phillips in that request."

But according to a presentation Mrs. Fonzi gave at the 2014 AARC Conference, she admitted that she "solicited" the "revelation" about Phillips.

Marie Fonzi and Veciana's "Revelation" ~ W. Tracy Parnell (wtracyparnell.blogspot.com)

BTW, Jim D's review merely restates Fonzi's assertions as fact. Anyone can read Fonzi's rough notes of the three original interviews and see that Fonzi's assertions often do not jibe with the record as I have been reporting since 2017. Old myths die hard it seems. There will be much much more in my forthcoming book:

Gaeton Fonzi and the Veciana Allegations ~ W. Tracy Parnell (wtracyparnell.blogspot.com)

Newman should be congratulated for some of the work he has done. Unfortunately, he is trying to relpace one conspiracy with another.

Edited September 26, 2021 by W. Tracy Parnell

[James DiEugenio]

I actually had to get this review out since John's next volume is coming up soon.

I had the book, plus the 2017 version of JFK and Vietnam, but have been working on the documentary  for so long that I was only using them as sources.  But I finally got a chance to review them.

Its correct to say Bagley was closely associated with Angleton especially with Nosenko.  And John has revised how Popov got caught.  Through Bagley he disagrees with Mangold, it was not by tracing him on a drop, it was through a mole.  John also buys these ex KGB guys.  In my review of Operation Dragon I tried to explain why I have my reservations about them. 

About Veciana, as I pointed out, according to Larry Hancock, if Alpha 66 was G2 sponsored it was not for much since this came after the Missile Crisis.  What I think John is going to end up doing is something like this: Veciana did what he did with Fonzi in order to detract from the JCS role in Kennedy's assassination.  As you can see, he is very keen on Lemnitzer.  But IMO, I think he downplayed some of the evidence Gaeton accumulated. Where did Veciana get that description of Bishop which so much looked like Phillips that four people who knew him said the artists' sketch was him?  Where did those CIA sources come from who said someone used that name as an alias?  Did someone feed all this info to Veciana?  Or did Veciana meet Phillips in a casual manner at some time?

I don't know and I hope the author attempts to clear this up later.

But as I said, even with that, the other three things he does are quite good.  But I do not think he had the Betsy Wolf notes which I think are one of the most important things to come from the ARRB.  For me its the clincher about the Oswald file at CIA.  Someone rigged the system in advance. And if Bagley had known that I think even he would have reconsidered his opinion about Oswald.

Edited September 26, 2021 by James DiEugenio

[David Boylan]

A good point that John Newman brought forth was just how much Veciana left out of his interviews and book. He neglected to mention just closely he worked with Army Intelligence specifically ASCI Detachment A. His ASCI contact was Col. Milford Hubbard aka Patrick Harris. Veciana would sometimes room with Owen Darnell in San Juan. Darnell was a "confidential source" for ASCI and looked like the Maurice Bishop drawing according to Hubbard.

Some notes I had:

 

Veciana joined forces with Eloy Guiterrez Menoyo's Second National Front Escambray (SNFE) in Sept 1962. Guiterrez was an Army Intel asset. Veciana had been working for the CIA as a PM asset prior to joining with Guiterrez. Cal Hicks was his case officer. Hicks was working for Harvery's Task Force W in 1962. He later worked for JMWAVE as a paramilitary officer. He most likely was the "Cal" that Bradley Ayers met at JMWAVE.

 

Cal Hicks aka Carl Hitch worked with Jim Peckich aka Jim Boulden/Jim Bender/Mr. Dimitry and "Harold Bishop" (Alias of Bishop) in Veciana's and Reynold/Reinol Gonzalez's attempt against Castro. After Gonzalez was released from prison he was debriefed by Carl Jenkins. - https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=48268&relPageId=3

 

Gonzalez had worked closely with MRP, Manuel Ray, Rogelio Cisneros and Sylvia Odio's father Amador Odio who also used the name of Cesar Odio which was also his son's name. Gonzalez CIA cryptonym was AMCALL-1.

 

Fonzi and Escalante interview regarding Bishop - https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=146892&relPageId=25

 

 

John Newman pointed out that Veciana's primary ASCI contact was a US Army Captain using the pseudonym of Patrick Harris. Harris' real name was Milford Hubbard. Hubbard worked for ACSI OSD, aka Detachment A. Detachment A was a very small and secret office of the ACSI headed by Col. J.E. Boyt.

 

Hubbard mentioned that Veciana would have been under control of the Miami Station (Army) headed by Major Junius "Duke" Watlington. Laureano Batista was also an asset of the ACSI Attachment A. 

 

 

Hubbard, when shown the sketch of "Maurice Bishop" stated that the sketch resembled Owen Darnell. Darnell was a source/spotter/assessor in Puerto Rico for Hubbard. Darnell was Hubbard's entree for SFNE and Alpha-66. He was close to Veciana and Veciana would occasionally stay at Darnell's place in San Juan. Darnell had previously lived in Cuba, spoke Spanish fluently and had a Cuban wife. Hubbard admitted to going to Mexico City on a tip from Darnell's wife.

 

 

http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/jfk/NARA-Oct2017/2018/180-10104-10394.pdf  

 

Two members of USAOSD (using assumed names) met w/Veciana on 1/22/63. · Purpose of meeting was primarily to gather details on a boat, used by org., which had been confiscated by U.S. Customs. V. was also queried on the capabilities and mission of the group, his role, and what assist. might be provided org.

 

Veciana said purpose.org.'was to cause war in Cuba by conducting raiding ops., est. guerrilla groups in Cuba- to harass and destroy troops and strategic facilities as to make populace aware that overthrow poss. Envisions internal Cuban uprising thru external Cuban refugee action:. ' Does not desire direct u.s. participation, has no political aims, other than to overthrow Castro. This is reason v. did not cooperate. with other refugee groups, and why they did not desire to work w/CIA, because aims would be subiterted to political ones.
Claims several military bases in Caribbean. Bases manned by small groups w/mil. experience. Also had assets in Cuba. Maintain Hq. in PR, Miami, and NY and plan to establish offices in Washington, Chicago and LA.
 

Veciana contacted initially to contact two frogmen involved in attack on Russian target. Meeting arranged. · Capt. Hubbard and Col. King in meeting. Discovered V. working w/SFNE, thought given to consideration of utilization of v. for intelligence purposes as Menoya has ISR from 1961 and known to have contacts in Cuba. Picked up ISR from CIA 11/2/62. V. gave Army two rifles,. ammo. taken from Russians. Operation discussed but stymied by lack of clear policy on actions against. Matter brought to higher levels; i.e., General Landsdale.
 

Some discussion of possibly passing info to CIA for their recommendation. This suggestion turned down by Landsdale, who felt CIA, when informed, then took over op. Also in no better position to determine national policy.
Persons involved in discussions - Col. Boyt, Col. Rolfe, Cols. Albro and Boucher, Col. DePuy of Special Warfare and Generals Lansdale and Leonard. 

 

http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/jfk/NARA-Oct2017/NARA-Nov9-2017/104-10103-10158.pdf

 

JMCOBRA 0490 (IN 63607) 2 Aug 68:
VECIANA told Cuban Affairs officer Miami 1 Aug 68 that Orestes Guillermo RUIZ Perez (DGI) married to VECIANA's cousin, was dissatisfied with Castro . regime and· receptive to recruitment. VECIANA reported same·info. to Cuban Affairs officer in 64. In 68 VECIANA served with AID in La Paz. 

 

Guillermo Ruiz was expected to help Alpha-66 as far back as 1962. Veciana described Ruiz as a cold blooded killer. (bottom of page and next page)

 

Barney Hildalgo claiming that he knew a Maurice Bishop and was good friends with David Phillips but they were not the same person. Was he blowing smoke to cover for Phillips?

 

 

 

Darnell as ACSI Source

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=148763#relPageId=3

[W. Tracy Parnell]

1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:

Veciana did what he did with Fonzi in order to detract from the JCS role in Kennedy's assassination. 

I know Jim has me on ignore, but I'll reply for the benefit of the rest of the forum.

It's more than that. He is saying that Veciana was let out of prison specifically by acolytes of the JCS for the purpose of shifting attention away from them and toward the CIA. Unfortunately, Veciana did no such thing after his release and never said that anyone let him out of jail early for any reason. This article discusses Newman's theory:

Newman Says Phillips Was Not Bishop ~ W. Tracy Parnell (wtracyparnell.blogspot.com)

BTW, Newman has filed suit to gain access to Veciana's release recrods:

Update on John Newman ~ W. Tracy Parnell (wtracyparnell.blogspot.com)

1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:

Where did Veciana get that description of Bishop which so much looked like Phillips that four people who knew him said the artists' sketch was him?

Something like a sketch is subjective. Here is a list of 14 relevant people that Fonzi showed the sketch to. Only 3 of these thought it looked like Phillips. One was Phillips himself who believed that Fonzi had manufactured the sketch resembling him. The second person was Schweiker and the third was Joseph Burkholder Smith. But Smith's "identification" of Phillips is tainted by the fact that he and Fonzi were discussing Phillips just before he saw the sketch.

The Bishop Sketch-Who Did it Look Like? ~ W. Tracy Parnell (wtracyparnell.blogspot.com)

1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:

Where did those CIA sources come from who said someone used that name as an alias? 

CIA people like McCone thought that a Bishop had worked at the agency. Carmine Savastano found that several had:

Regarding Maurice Bishop — TPAAK

Barney Hidalgo said he knew Bishop and he was not Phillips. I deal with Crozier in my book.

[James DiEugenio]

I actually thought this was the most interesting, and important, part of the review.

I really do not think Malcolm Blunt sent John the Betsy Wolf notes which, I do not think, were made into typed memoranda.   But this is quite compelling. 

The Brit Malcolm became friendly with Bagley while the former agent was living in Brussels. By 2012, Malcolm had done some work on the declassified HSCA files of Betsy Wolf. One of her assignments was to investigate the Oswald file at CIA. Betsy was a thorough and conscientious researcher. One of the oddities about Oswald’s file that puzzled her was the fact that no 201 file had been opened on the man after he had defected in 1959. Betsy began to inquire with other CIA officers and to look up certain division charters. She found out that in not opening that file, the Agency was violating its own internal rules.

The other problem she pondered was that Oswald’s files did not go where they should have gone, which was the Soviet Russia (SR) division. Instead, they went to the Office of Security (OS). The more people she talked to, the weirder this situation got. She came to suspect that somehow, someone had rigged the system so that no 201 file would be opened on Oswald. As she dug deeper, she realized such was the case. For OS did not open 201 files. This is why certain outside agencies were sending multiple copies of files on Oswald to CIA, but they were not getting distributed. After months of research work on this, Betsy interviewed the man who was the then present Chief of Security, Robert Gambino. He told her that the office of Mail Logistics is alerted in advance of where certain files should be headed in the system. She concluded that this is what had happened: someone had instructed that office in advance to misdirect Oswald’s files. (Click here for details, plus a diagram of how Oswald files were routed)

Malcolm drew for Bagley the diagram of how Oswald’s incoming files were routed in 1959. That is, not going to where they should have been going, namely the SR division, where Pete had worked, but instead being diverted to OS where no 201 file would be opened. After looking at the diagram, Bagley asked Malcolm if Oswald was a witting or unwitting defector. Malcolm did not want to reply, but Bagley pushed him on the question telling him he had to know the answer. Malcolm said, “Okay, unwitting.” Bagley instantly countered with, “Oh no, he had to be witting!” (Newman, p. 339) What makes this even more interesting is that Bagley thought Oswald had killed Kennedy. So you had, for the first time, a veteran CIA counter intelligence officer—who thought Oswald had killed Kennedy—saying that the man was a witting false defector.

[Benjamin Cole]

The weight of evidence suggests LHO was being run by the CIA, for many reasons, including this excellent research work by Malcolm Blunt. 

But I think John Newman is preparing to sketch out the idea that military-Army-intel did the JFKA, which also runs counter to Larry Hancock's work and insights, which lean to the Miami-base of the CIA, and Cuban exiles, who were certainly capable of the job.  

Interesting.