Guy Banister and the CIA

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Tom Gram said:

Also, there's plenty of miscellaneous stuff in both files, so it's weird IMO that neither file contains CSCI-3464414 or UFGA-929. Were those records only filed under the name "Bannister"? Were they in a separate DCD file? I have no idea. If anyone can find any of this stuff let me know. 

 

Unless I'm wrong, this is CSCI 3/764414 (you can find a lot on that, this is from Coup d'Etat

Or is it another one ?

 

On March 30, 1961, ANGLETON sent CSCI-3/764,414 to Sam Papich regarding the 

Friends of Democratic Cuba. ANGLETON had either generated or had seen this 

document. It stated: 

1. Reference is made to Bureau Memoranda dated January 20, 1961, and 
February 7, 1961, both entitled "Frente Revolutionario Democratico 
(FRD)." 

2. The following information concerning the Subject, from a reliable 
source, is forwarded as being of possible interest to the Bureau. 

3. The Friends of Democratic Cuba was incorporated January 6, 1961, in 
New Orleans, Louisiana, with offices in the Balter Building for the purpose 
of collecting funds to assist Cubans in opposition to Castro. The funds 
were to be channeled through the Frente Revolutionario Democratico. The 
New Orleans delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Front, Sergio Arcacha, 
was to receive the funds collected, minus some percentage believed by 
source to be 20% to be retained by the Friends of Democratic Cuba. No 
public collection of money took place, but it is possible that some 
donations were received from some company or union. Mr. Arcacha 
stated the only amount collected was $100 received from a company with 

which Mario del Canal was connected. About one month after its 
organization Friends of Democratic Cuba closed because, according to its 
organizers, some Cubans exhibited a lack of understanding. 

4. The source provided the following information concerning the persons 
composing the Friends of Democratic Cuba, Inc. 

a. Grady Durham... 

b. Guy Banister, a former member of the FBI, is a former Second Chief of 
Police in New Orleans. The later position terminated with differences of 
opinion with the Mayor of New Orleans. Banister now has a detective 
agency at 531 Lafayette Street, New Orleans. According to the source, 
some of his informants consider Banister a decent person and others think 
he is a racketeer. 

5. The source stated that in his opinion Durham and Banister organized 
the Friends of Democratic Cuba strictly for personal gain. He further stated 
that he doubted that donations had not been received, and suggested that 
an investigation of the books of the New Orleans Exporters Company and 
the Stevedores Union which would reveal the personal gain realized by 
the promoters and perhaps also evidence of evasion of United States 
Federal taxes 

6. The source further advised that to his knowledge there is no radio plant 
in the offices of the Friends of Democratic Cuba, nor does that 
organization operate a transmitter from a boat. 

7. The FRD delegate in New Orleans is Sergio Arcacha assisted by Pedro 
(illegible). 

CSCI-3/764,414 
WH/4CI (Deleted) 3.16.61 
Distribution: Original & 1 Addressee 
1-RI 

1 -Cl R & A 

1 - CI/LIA; 1-WH/4? 

2 -WH/4/CI 

Based on (deleted) 1.23.61] 

[Gerry Down]

15 minutes ago, Jean Paul Ceulemans said:

Unless I'm wrong, this is CSCI 3/764414 (you can find a lot on that, this is from Coup d'Etat

Or is it another one ?

 

On March 30, 1961, ANGLETON sent CSCI-3/764,414 to Sam Papich regarding the 

Friends of Democratic Cuba. ANGLETON had either generated or had seen this 

document. It stated: 

1. Reference is made to Bureau Memoranda dated January 20, 1961, and 
February 7, 1961, both entitled "Frente Revolutionario Democratico 
(FRD)." 

2. The following information concerning the Subject, from a reliable 
source, is forwarded as being of possible interest to the Bureau. 

3. The Friends of Democratic Cuba was incorporated January 6, 1961, in 
New Orleans, Louisiana, with offices in the Balter Building for the purpose 
of collecting funds to assist Cubans in opposition to Castro. The funds 
were to be channeled through the Frente Revolutionario Democratico. The 
New Orleans delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Front, Sergio Arcacha, 
was to receive the funds collected, minus some percentage believed by 
source to be 20% to be retained by the Friends of Democratic Cuba. No 
public collection of money took place, but it is possible that some 
donations were received from some company or union. Mr. Arcacha 
stated the only amount collected was $100 received from a company with 

which Mario del Canal was connected. About one month after its 
organization Friends of Democratic Cuba closed because, according to its 
organizers, some Cubans exhibited a lack of understanding. 

4. The source provided the following information concerning the persons 
composing the Friends of Democratic Cuba, Inc. 

a. Grady Durham... 

b. Guy Banister, a former member of the FBI, is a former Second Chief of 
Police in New Orleans. The later position terminated with differences of 
opinion with the Mayor of New Orleans. Banister now has a detective 
agency at 531 Lafayette Street, New Orleans. According to the source, 
some of his informants consider Banister a decent person and others think 
he is a racketeer. 

5. The source stated that in his opinion Durham and Banister organized 
the Friends of Democratic Cuba strictly for personal gain. He further stated 
that he doubted that donations had not been received, and suggested that 
an investigation of the books of the New Orleans Exporters Company and 
the Stevedores Union which would reveal the personal gain realized by 
the promoters and perhaps also evidence of evasion of United States 
Federal taxes 

6. The source further advised that to his knowledge there is no radio plant 
in the offices of the Friends of Democratic Cuba, nor does that 
organization operate a transmitter from a boat. 

7. The FRD delegate in New Orleans is Sergio Arcacha assisted by Pedro 
(illegible). 

CSCI-3/764,414 
WH/4CI (Deleted) 3.16.61 
Distribution: Original & 1 Addressee 
1-RI 

1 -Cl R & A 

1 - CI/LIA; 1-WH/4? 

2 -WH/4/CI 

Based on (deleted) 1.23.61] 

Sounds like the CIA had a low opinion of Guy Banister. 

[Tom Gram]

21 minutes ago, Gerry Down said:

Sounds like the CIA had a low opinion of Guy Banister. 

That’s kind of the paradox here. Banister was rejected from QKENCHANT for derogatory information and a month later was given a covert security clearance - the same level clearance as trusted DCD informant William Martin. It might be buried at NARA somewhere, but I still haven’t seen any contemporaneous documentation on that clearance - for which the CIA has listed three different dates, 11/10, 11/12, and 11/16/60.

Also, CSCI 3764414 (thanks Jean Paul) does not reflect the opinion of the agency. It is passing on information “from a reliable source” - and the phrasing of the memo looks like it’s just inside information on the FDC passed on from an informant. The memo literally says “in his opinion, Durham and Banister organized the FDC strictly for personal gain”. 

The Russ Holmes name trace states that CSCI 376414 was based off of UFGA-929, so it seems pretty clear that UFGA-929 is the original report from the informant. The redaction at the bottom of CSCI 376414 that says “based on” is almost certainly that same document number. 

UFGA-929 was not turned over to the HSCA because it “couldn’t be located”, so the identity of the CIA informant might be pretty interesting.

Also, I think this confirms that UFGA-929 is not the DCD report from Banister on the Jeep thing - which is interesting. According to that CIA cable, Banister provided the Jeep information directly to the CIA and it was verbally passed on to HQ, i.e. it was not a third agency report from the FBI. I’m really curious now about that redaction in the cable. 

[Gerry Down]

1 hour ago, Tom Gram said:

That’s kind of the paradox here. Banister was rejected from QKENCHANT for derogatory information and a month later was given a covert security clearance - the same level clearance as trusted DCD informant William Martin. It might be buried at NARA somewhere, but I still haven’t seen any contemporaneous documentation on that clearance - for which the CIA has listed three different dates, 11/10, 11/12, and 11/16/60.

Also, CSCI 3764414 (thanks Jean Paul) does not reflect the opinion of the agency. It is passing on information “from a reliable source” - and the phrasing of the memo looks like it’s just inside information on the FDC passed on from an informant. The memo literally says “in his opinion, Durham and Banister organized the FDC strictly for personal gain”. 

The Russ Holmes name trace states that CSCI 376414 was based off of UFGA-929, so it seems pretty clear that UFGA-929 is the original report from the informant. The redaction at the bottom of CSCI 376414 that says “based on” is almost certainly that same document number. 

UFGA-929 was not turned over to the HSCA because it “couldn’t be located”, so the identity of the CIA informant might be pretty interesting.

Also, I think this confirms that UFGA-929 is not the DCD report from Banister on the Jeep thing - which is interesting. According to that CIA cable, Banister provided the Jeep information directly to the CIA and it was verbally passed on to HQ, i.e. it was not a third agency report from the FBI. I’m really curious now about that redaction in the cable. 

It seems to me the CIA did not trust Banister on a personal level, but were in no doubt about his right-wing credentials. According to Joseph Newbrough, Banister had a file on every known communist in the U.S. which amounted to 28,000 files. Even though Banister might have character problems, the files he held were valid and useful from the CIAs point of view. 

[Steve Roe]

On 2/1/2023 at 9:50 AM, Tom Gram said:

That’s kind of the paradox here. Banister was rejected from QKENCHANT for derogatory information and a month later was given a covert security clearance - the same level clearance as trusted DCD informant William Martin. It might be buried at NARA somewhere, but I still haven’t seen any contemporaneous documentation on that clearance - for which the CIA has listed three different dates, 11/10, 11/12, and 11/16/60.

Also, CSCI 3764414 (thanks Jean Paul) does not reflect the opinion of the agency. It is passing on information “from a reliable source” - and the phrasing of the memo looks like it’s just inside information on the FDC passed on from an informant. The memo literally says “in his opinion, Durham and Banister organized the FDC strictly for personal gain”. 

The Russ Holmes name trace states that CSCI 376414 was based off of UFGA-929, so it seems pretty clear that UFGA-929 is the original report from the informant. The redaction at the bottom of CSCI 376414 that says “based on” is almost certainly that same document number. 

UFGA-929 was not turned over to the HSCA because it “couldn’t be located”, so the identity of the CIA informant might be pretty interesting.

Also, I think this confirms that UFGA-929 is not the DCD report from Banister on the Jeep thing - which is interesting. According to that CIA cable, Banister provided the Jeep information directly to the CIA and it was verbally passed on to HQ, i.e. it was not a third agency report from the FBI. I’m really curious now about that redaction in the cable. 

Tom, I was just visiting with Fred Litwin yesterday about this Banister jeep document. He decided to write a blog post about it. This may be of considerable interest to your research. 

https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/was-guy-banister-a-cia-fbi-mastermind

[Tom Gram]

1 hour ago, Steve Roe said:

Tom, I was just visiting with Fred Litwin yesterday about this Banister jeep document. He decided to write a blog post about it. This may be of considerable interest to your research. 

https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/was-guy-banister-a-cia-fbi-mastermind

Everything Litwin says in that article looks correct, and has been discussed in depth in this thread - but he’s kind of missing the point. 

1. What I’m looking for, and the reason I started this thread in the first place, are the contemporaneous documents on Banister’s covert security clearance from November 1960. As far as I can tell those documents are not online; the version of Banister’s OS file on MFF is missing 16 pages; and “two sealed envelopes” were apparently deleted from Banister‘s OS file prior to review by the HSCA. 

2. It seems pretty clear that Banister told the CIA DCD the same information on the Jeeps that he told the FBI involving Maurice Gatlin. The timing of Banister’s clearance suggests that it was related to the same issue. Still though, where is the DCD report on that contact? Is the redaction in that cable the document number? Why is any mention of Banister’s contact with the DCD regarding the Jeeps restricted to that one cable and not reflected in any of the Garrison and HSCA era reports on Banister’s relationship with the agency? Was the CIA downplaying its relationship with Banister even though it wasn’t really a big deal in fear of it being spun into something suspicous?

3. Why was the CIA looking to use GB&A as a cover mechanism in the first place? What was the “alternate private detective company” furnished by Jim O’Connell for the CIA to use instead for non-official cover in New Orleans?

4. Who was the CIA informant that informed on Banister and the FDC in January ‘61? Where is the original report from that informant, UFGA-929, and why was it listed as “unable to locate” for HSCA? 

I’m just looking for a complete record here, and reserving any conclusions until I see all the relevant documents. If Litwin has or can find any of this stuff it’d be a big help. 

Lastly, I keep seeing references to Jack Ruby possibly being involved in this Jeep deal. Do you know anything about this? 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Tom Gram

[Tom Gram]

Here are a few more sources regarding Jeeps. The first is an FBI discussion of a newspaper article that alleged that Maurice Gatlin was involved in shutting down Jack Ruby's sale of Jeeps to Cuba. It's hardly conclusive, but there's some interesting stuff that suggests a possible Ruby - Banister connection. Also, Carlos Bringuier apparently told the FBI in '64 that the DRE had files on Ruby traveling to Cuba in 1962 and 1963 - which I didn't know about. There's also discussion of Ruby's trip to New Orleans in June '63 to recruit Jada, which is pretty interesting:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=9925#relPageId=338

This one is a Garrison interview with Joseph Oster, which possibly lends credence to the CIA cable suggesting that something was going on regarding Jeeps in 1963. I think the cable is just a bad copy and it really says 1960, but maybe not? 

This is wild speculation, but if Banister informed on Jack Ruby to the CIA at some point, that'd be a pretty damn good reason to keep all the relevant documents under wraps. 

The bit about the unknown Cuban that Oster met at Banister's hanging around Oster's office building and watching Oswald pass out flyers is pretty damn interesting. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Tom Gram

[Gerry Down]

19 minutes ago, Tom Gram said:

The bit about the unknown Cuban that Oster met at Banister's hanging around Oster's office building and watching Oswald pass out flyers is pretty damn interesting. 

It sounds like Banister had someone watching Oswald.

Where and what was Joseph Osters office?

[Tom Gram]

1 hour ago, Gerry Down said:

It sounds like Banister had someone watching Oswald.

Where and what was Joseph Osters office?

Oster said the Cuban told him at his office that he wasn't involved with Banister anymore, but the timelines aren't exactly clear.

Regarding Oster's office building, I'm not really sure. His actual employment isn't really clear either - he said he went from Southern Research to Joseph A. Oster Associates but the only record I can find of the latter is a "Joseph A. Oster and Company" incorporated in 1976:

https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_la/31431390D

Southern Research was based out of Shreveport, but they had an office in New Orleans since their inception in 1958. The New Orleans office of Southern Research was in the Maritime Building in the early 60s, but the latest confirmation I can find for that is from 1961. A separate New Orleans branch was incorporated in August '63 - under some very odd and questionable circumstances that I won't get into here - but no information was provided on the charter for the location of the actual office, and Oster was not listed as an officer.

In 1967, this separate branch was hired by Clay Shaw's lawyers to be Shaw's investigative team. At the time, they were working out of the Masonic Temple Building, which was the same building as the CIA DCD. The branch was liquidated and dissolved from early October through December '67 - and the guys involved got cushy government jobs with the state Labor Rackets Commission.

Basically, I have no idea where the SRC office was from '61-67. That information should be in the city directories, but I need to request reproductions from the NOLA library to get that stuff, and the directory for 1963 is missing. 

I don't think Oster was involved after a certain point with the core New Orleans SRC crew, which was led by former FBI agent Charles Carson, but he may have been working out of the same place. If this Cuban that was watching Oswald was really hanging out in the same office as Carson et al. it'd be pretty damn interesting, IMO. 

These were also the same guys who were investigating and surveilling David Ferrie for the Eastern Airlines investigation. Before they were hired by Shaw, Garrison actually hired SRC to watch Ferrie too...

Edited February 2, 2023 by Tom Gram

[Gerry Down]

4 hours ago, Tom Gram said:

Oster said the Cuban told him at his office that he wasn't involved with Banister anymore, but the timelines aren't exactly clear.

Regarding Oster's office building, I'm not really sure. His actual employment isn't really clear either - he said he went from Southern Research to Joseph A. Oster Associates but the only record I can find of the latter is a "Joseph A. Oster and Company" incorporated in 1976:

https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_la/31431390D

Southern Research was based out of Shreveport, but they had an office in New Orleans since their inception in 1958. The New Orleans office of Southern Research was in the Maritime Building in the early 60s, but the latest confirmation I can find for that is from 1961. A separate New Orleans branch was incorporated in August '63 - under some very odd and questionable circumstances that I won't get into here - but no information was provided on the charter for the location of the actual office, and Oster was not listed as an officer.

In 1967, this separate branch was hired by Clay Shaw's lawyers to be Shaw's investigative team. At the time, they were working out of the Masonic Temple Building, which was the same building as the CIA DCD. The branch was liquidated and dissolved from early October through December '67 - and the guys involved got cushy government jobs with the state Labor Rackets Commission.

Basically, I have no idea where the SRC office was from '61-67. That information should be in the city directories, but I need to request reproductions from the NOLA library to get that stuff, and the directory for 1963 is missing. 

I don't think Oster was involved after a certain point with the core New Orleans SRC crew, which was led by former FBI agent Charles Carson, but he may have been working out of the same place. If this Cuban that was watching Oswald was really hanging out in the same office as Carson et al. it'd be pretty damn interesting, IMO. 

These were also the same guys who were investigating and surveilling David Ferrie for the Eastern Airlines investigation. Before they were hired by Shaw, Garrison actually hired SRC to watch Ferrie too...

The leaflet incident Oster is describing is the Canal street leafleting of Aug 9th 1963, the one in which Oswald had the fight with Bringuier. The mexicano that was in Dean Andrews office with Oswald was also watching Oswald apparently during this same leafleting incident. Could the cuban and the mexicano be the same person? Maybe not as i'd imagine Oswald was making such a show of himself lots of people would have been watching Oswald. Even Orest Pena was driving by in a car at the time and saw the arresting take place.

Dean A. Andrews, Jr., Grand Jury testimony
March 16, 1967

BURNES: Was anyone with Oswald at this time?
ANDREWS: No, he was standing out there, giving them [leaflets] out -- as I swung to go into the office, the Mex was standing against one of Maison Blanche's display windows.
BURNES: The same Mex that you had seen in your office?
ANDREWS: Yes. 

Who do you think this cuban was that Oster was running into? Just some hanger-on at Banisters office doing odd jobs? Do you think he was FBI or CIA or something if he was hanging around close to the SRC office?

[Tom Gram]

1 hour ago, Gerry Down said:

The leaflet incident Oster is describing is the Canal street leafleting of Aug 9th 1963, the one in which Oswald had the fight with Bringuier. The mexicano that was in Dean Andrews office with Oswald was also watching Oswald apparently during this same leafleting incident. Could the cuban and the mexicano be the same person? Maybe not as i'd imagine Oswald was making such a show of himself lots of people would have been watching Oswald. Even Orest Pena was driving by in a car at the time and saw the arresting take place.

Dean A. Andrews, Jr., Grand Jury testimony
March 16, 1967

BURNES: Was anyone with Oswald at this time?
ANDREWS: No, he was standing out there, giving them [leaflets] out -- as I swung to go into the office, the Mex was standing against one of Maison Blanche's display windows.
BURNES: The same Mex that you had seen in your office?
ANDREWS: Yes. 

Who do you think this cuban was that Oster was running into? Just some hanger-on at Banisters office doing odd jobs? Do you think he was FBI or CIA or something if he was hanging around close to the SRC office?

This gets into the whole issue of Oswald’s alleged escort. There are an awful lot of independently corroborative reports of a dark-skinned stocky Cuban being seen with Oswald for it to all be coincidence. I have no idea who the guy was, or if it was even just one guy, but the evidence suggests that there was a guy. Your guess is as good as mine as to what the hell he was really up to. 

If there really is some connection to SRC with the so-called escort, and all we have to go on is Oster’s statement which isn’t much, I’m not really sure what to make of it. There’s no direct evidence connecting SRC to any government agency that I know of other than a bunch of it’s members being former FBI agents and a few accusations that they flashed phony FBI credentials on occasion to obtain interviews, etc. On the other hand, we still don’t know the name of the “alternate private detective company” the CIA selected for non-official cover in New Orleans instead of Banister. SRC was investigated during the Banister probe and no derogatory information was developed.

I’ve got some pretty interesting stuff on SRC, in particular the New Orleans branch, but I still have several leads to chase down and haven’t had a lot of free time lately. Long story short there’s reason to suspect that they were doing more than just a few background checks in the Summer of ‘63.  

[Benjamin Cole]

5 hours ago, Tom Gram said:

This gets into the whole issue of Oswald’s alleged escort. There are an awful lot of independently corroborative reports of a dark-skinned stocky Cuban being seen with Oswald for it to all be coincidence. I have no idea who the guy was, or if it was even just one guy, but the evidence suggests that there was a guy. Your guess is as good as mine as to what the hell he was really up to. 

If there really is some connection to SRC with the so-called escort, and all we have to go on is Oster’s statement which isn’t much, I’m not really sure what to make of it. There’s no direct evidence connecting SRC to any government agency that I know of other than a bunch of it’s members being former FBI agents and a few accusations that they flashed phony FBI credentials on occasion to obtain interviews, etc. On the other hand, we still don’t know the name of the “alternate private detective company” the CIA selected for non-official cover in New Orleans instead of Banister. SRC was investigated during the Banister probe and no derogatory information was developed.

I’ve got some pretty interesting stuff on SRC, in particular the New Orleans branch, but I still have several leads to chase down and haven’t had a lot of free time lately. Long story short there’s reason to suspect that they were doing more than just a few background checks in the Summer of ‘63.  

Fascinating work. 

You probably know about this document, HSCA, with many references to selling jeeps to Cuba. 

https://history-matters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol9/pdf/HSCA_Vol9_5C_Cuba.pdf

 

 

[Tom Gram]

I’ve seen this document before, and I may have even posted it earlier in this thread, but I didn’t really make the connection until now. This memo from Bruce Solie confirms that the two sealed envelopes “deleted” from Banister’s OS file were not reviewed by the HSCA:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=102735#relPageId=26

I’m posting this now because of the following statement by Solie:

Under procedures established with the HSCA, certain items of information were not reviewed by HSCA staff members. These items were placed in envelopes, sealed, appropriately identified, and put back into the security file prior to HSCA review. 

I know I’ve seen something on this before, but does anybody know what “procedures” were in place that allowed the CIA to conceal what appears to be 16 pages of material in Guy Banister’s OS file from HSCA investigators? Why the hell would the HSCA ever agree to something like that? 

My other question is about RIFs. Banister’s OS file is listed on MFF as being from the HSCA Segregated CIA Collection, Box 40, and had the old-style record number:

1993.08.02.09:55:54:590060

I’m pretty sure the CIA was in charge of assigning their own RIF numbers - and what they did with other multi-page files from the HSCA segregated collection was split them into individual records and assign a separate RIF to each document - which made it much harder for researchers to read documents in context. However, for at least some records, the original file is still traceable in the NARA database because the old style record number is listed in the subject line of the new RIF sheets. 

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, this is not the case for Banister’s individual OS file. I can’t find the 1993.08.02 number listed anywhere in the NARA database, so it’s essentially impossible to reconstruct the file and try to find RIFs for the missing 16 pages. 

Does anyone know another way to piece together complete files and find RIF numbers from the HSCA Segregated CIA Collection? The old style “RIF sheet” shows that the file was 42 pages long; only 26 pages are online; and two sealed envelopes worth of material were never reviewed by the HSCA. I’d be thrilled to be proven wrong on this, but it’s really looks like 16 pages of Banister’s OS file were deep-sixed and have never been seen by anyone.

EDIT: The number 1993.08.02.09:55:54:590060 actually is in the NARA database, but only in the RIF sheet comment line of a single one-page document, so it’s just as bad as if it wasn’t there at all. 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Tom Gram

[Guest]

I keep bumping into this one (the 58p doc)

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=102736#relPageId=2&search="OFFICE_OF SECURITY FILE ON BANISTER"

1993.08.02.09:57:29:400060  OFFICE OF SECURITY FILE ON GREY BANISTER ASSOCIATES, INC

and

1993.08.02.09:55:54:590060 OFFICE OF SECURITY FILE ON BANISTER, GREY

But as you say his personnal file is incomplete, unless they used ref cards for mutual docs or something like that (don't think so)

Darn, on weekends I sure get a lot of 403's on NARA... impossible to reach today 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Jean Paul Ceulemans

[Guest]

Never mind my previous post, was just frustrated in not being able to access...