Guy Banister and the CIA

[Tom Gram]

In August 1960, the CIA considered Guy Bannister & Associates for use as a cover organization through the QKENCHANT program: 

The inquiry was conducted covertly i.e. without Bannister's knowledge. The CIA would later lie about this and say that Bannister approached the CIA and offered his services. During the investigation, the CIA found out that Bannister's operation wasn't very successful and developed derogatory information about him so the proposal was abandoned. However, the project itself was NOT abandoned, and Security Officer Jim O'Connell furnished the CIA with an alternate detective company to use instead:

During the course of the inquiry, the CIA also investigated Joseph Oster, who was the original Secretary-Treasurer for GB&A - but by September '60 Oster had been with Southern Research Co. for a year and a half. No derogatory information was developed on Oster, and the CIA determined that his company was quite successful and employed 10-12 people. Even though the CIA would later deny any relationship, this along with several other documents make me strongly suspect that the "alternate private detective company" was SRC. One thing that would bolster this suspicion considerably would be if Jim O'Connell was the author of the 9/13/60 security investigation report on Bannister that covered Oster. However, the author of that report is still redacted to this day:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=180727

There is compelling evidence that Bannister retained close ties with SRC, and I'm beginning to think (and have circumstantial evidence) that the two companies may have had a contractor-subcontractor relationship with SRC as the principal. If this is true, Bannister's use as a subcontractor in CIA projects was made possible very shortly after the QKENCHANT cover proposal was abandoned in favor of the "alternate company". On 11/16/60, Bannister was granted a CIA covert security approval for use as an intelligence source. Coincidence?

The CIA eventually placed a restriction on the use of private detective companies for operational use, but the earliest reference I can find for that restriction is 1970. For some reason in 1960, the CIA was actively looking for a detective company to use as a front in New Orleans, and found one. Why? I'm not very familiar with CIA records - does anyone know examples of how detective firms were utilized by CIA? Wackenhut is a big one with a ton of still heavily redacted NBR records, but I'm having a hard time finding any similar example of why the CIA would want to utilize a small firm for domestic purposes in New Orleans.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Tom Gram

[Gerry Down]

2 hours ago, Tom Gram said:

For some reason in 1960, the CIA was actively looking for a detective company to use as a front in New Orleans, and found one. Why? I'm not very familiar with CIA records - does anyone know examples of how detective firms were utilized by CIA? Wackenhut is a big one with a ton of still heavily redacted NBR records, but I'm having a hard time finding any similar example of why the CIA would want to utilize a small firm for domestic purposes in New Orleans.

One possible reason might be that the CIA wanted to use a detective agencies capability in screening new cuban exile recruits (which the CIA would not already have intel on) for their paramilitary operations against Cuba. Or perhaps to conduct surveillance on potential pro-castro spies that were trying to infiltrate cuban exile groups. 

[Larry Hancock]

It is also likely, as has been reported previously, that it was to serve as a cover for a variety of propaganda related activities in support of the Cuba Project....which would be consistent with David Phillips appearance there at that point in time. 

[Pete Mellor]

51 minutes ago, Gerry Down said:

does anyone know examples of how detective firms were utilized by CIA?

Well the obvious one that comes to mind is Robert Maheu.

In 1947 Maheu established his own investigative company. Maheu also worked for the CIA. He was later to admit "The CIA was my first steady client, giving me `cut-out' assignments (those jobs in which the agency could not officially be involved)." This work brought him into contact with Howard Hughes and in the late 1950s worked for him on a freelance basis. This included intimidating would be blackmailers and obtaining information on business rivals.

[Ron Bulman]

There is a good bit of interesting info on Bannister in Destiny Betrayed, second edition, pages 101-116, Chapter 6 "Witches Brew".

E.G. Sergio Arcacha Smiths CRC (funded by the CIA) office was located in the Balter building at the time Banister's office was there.  Howard Hunt was also seen there during this time.

Curious where you found these memo's, I've never seen them (that doesn't mean much).  Are they from MFF as well?

[Larry Hancock]

I cover the CIA clearance request for Bannister's office as well as related indications that it was intended to be a cover...and may have even been used as a meeting place ....for a Phillips anti-Castro Cuba propaganda campaign (very likely using INCA as at least one outlet) in the paperback edition of SWHT.

[Tom Gram]

2 minutes ago, Larry Hancock said:

I cover the CIA clearance request for Bannister's office as well as related indications that it was intended to be a cover...and may have even been used as a meeting place ....for a Phillips anti-Castro Cuba propaganda campaign (very likely using INCA as at least one outlet) in the paperback edition of SWHT.

Thanks Larry. I will have to check that out. Is this discussed in the Kindle edition of SWHT? If so I will buy it tonight. Your statements in this thread about are spot-on with the angle I've been looking into, so I'm very interested in reading what you've dug up.

Almost immediately after this "alternate detective company" is selected and Bannister gets a clearance, GB&A gets involved in all sorts of anti-Castro activities. A contractor-subcontractor type setup would add an additional layer of plausible deniability, and allow for covert funding and control of ground level assets with zero ties to the agency (David Ferrie?).

One thing I found that's interesting is that William R. Martin, Director of International Relations for the Trade Mart and future Garrison investigator, had worked part-time for Bannister flushing out pro-Castro subversives at Tulane. He was also a CIA source, and his CIA prior-employment listing reflects that as of late 1964, Martin was employed with Southern Research Co. on a "special assignment basis", and had been since '59.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=55559#relPageId=3 (name illegible but it's definitely Martin)

This was during his employment with the Trade Mart, and Bannister - and is potential evidence of crossover activities between the CIA, SRC and GB&A. I have other examples too, and one lead that's extremely provocative, but I'm trying to fill in as much as I can before I write anything up. I'll definitely check out your book, but any other information you can provide on CIA use of corporations, QKENCHANT, domestic propaganda ops etc. would be greatly appreciated.

[Tom Gram]

43 minutes ago, Ron Bulman said:

There is a good bit of interesting info on Bannister in Destiny Betrayed, second edition, pages 101-116, Chapter 6 "Witches Brew".

E.G. Sergio Arcacha Smiths CRC (funded by the CIA) office was located in the Balter building at the time Banister's office was there.  Howard Hunt was also seen there during this time.

Curious where you found these memo's, I've never seen them (that doesn't mean much).  Are they from MFF as well?

I got the memos from the Malcolm Blunt Archive. I've read Jim's book but I'll have to go back and review it. Here's the link to the file:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1f8Wdj1_s0giks1waCAlJ2pwhsVjoof1p?direction=a

[Larry Hancock]

Tom, it would be in the 2010 edition which shows on both paperback and Kindle from Amazon.  Hopefully the Kindle will work for you as we have had repeated problems putting up the Kindle version on Amazon...still, it does seem like its for sale now so maybe they finally got it right.  When you get the book drop me a note and I'll help you find the material.

For me one of the important things to remember about Bannister is that he was interested in everything from an anti-Communist viewpoint which means he was as deeply into racial matters as anything Cuba related.  His connections reached into the NSRP, the Klan and even what you might call neo-NAZIS. There are some excellent articles on that in Jerry Ross's 3rd and 4th Decade magazines which are available for reading on MFF and I really recommend that. 

Bannister seems to have been a sort of nexus for a variety of folks on the ultra right including the INCA folks, and one of his specialties was infiltration and "collections", hence his extensive files.  With so much traffic, so many connections and so many interests his business would have provided a great cover - simply due to the scope of its activities and contacts.  

Interestingly, many of his contacts and associates in the anti-Castro community were themselves separate sources to the FBI, the CIA and in some instances both.

In regard to "other information you can provide on CIA use of corporations, QKENCHANT, domestic propaganda ops etc." my work on CIA cover operations is largely found in my book Shadow Warfare - which deals with both the practices and risks of various types of Agency covers. 

 

 

[Ron Bulman]

1 hour ago, Tom Gram said:

I got the memos from the Malcolm Blunt Archive. I've read Jim's book but I'll have to go back and review it. Here's the link to the file:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1f8Wdj1_s0giks1waCAlJ2pwhsVjoof1p?direction=a

Thanks to Uncle Malcom once again as Bart Kamp used to refer to him on here.

A line on page 105 caught my attention and got me to thinking.  "Bannister employee Joe Newborough also stated that Bannister was a conduit of funds for the CIA".  The disburser of CIA funds in the summer of 1963 was George Joannides.  Who probably disbursed a few funds for some of Oswald's activities.  Through an intermediary in both cases I'd guess, on instruction from David Phillips or David Morales or ?

Now I'm going to pull SWHT off the shelf and let Larry refresh my memory (it needs having that done a little more every year now). 

[Tom Gram]

1 hour ago, Larry Hancock said:

Tom, it would be in the 2010 edition which shows on both paperback and Kindle from Amazon.  Hopefully the Kindle will work for you as we have had repeated problems putting up the Kindle version on Amazon...still, it does seem like its for sale now so maybe they finally got it right.  When you get the book drop me a note and I'll help you find the material.

For me one of the important things to remember about Bannister is that he was interested in everything from an anti-Communist viewpoint which means he was as deeply into racial matters as anything Cuba related.  His connections reached into the NSRP, the Klan and even what you might call neo-NAZIS. There are some excellent articles on that in Jerry Ross's 3rd and 4th Decade magazines which are available for reading on MFF and I really recommend that. 

Bannister seems to have been a sort of nexus for a variety of folks on the ultra right including the INCA folks, and one of his specialties was infiltration and "collections", hence his extensive files.  With so much traffic, so many connections and so many interests his business would have provided a great cover - simply due to the scope of its activities and contacts.  

Interestingly, many of his contacts and associates in the anti-Castro community were themselves separate sources to the FBI, the CIA and in some instances both.

In regard to "other information you can provide on CIA use of corporations, QKENCHANT, domestic propaganda ops etc." my work on CIA cover operations is largely found in my book Shadow Warfare - which deals with both the practices and risks of various types of Agency covers. 

 

 

Thanks Larry. I just got SWHT. I've been so deep in documents I haven't sat down and read a JFK book in quite a while, so I'm really looking forward to it. I'll definitely check out Shadow Warfare too. I've read some of Jerry Rose's articles - I recall  in particular a great essay on INCA and the Truth and Consequences Committee that I stumbled on while researching a prominent member of T&C, John Mmahat. Mmahat was a corrupt to the bone New Orleans lawyer and criminal that was ostensibly funding Garrison's investigation through T&C, but he was a hardcore political ally of Harry Connick and - get this - an attorney for and silent partner in the branch of Southern Research Co. that was working for Clay Shaw's lawyers. I'm still trying to figure out what type of influence the INCA controlled T&C had on Garrison, and what type of information they received on the investigation; but I think Rose's thesis was that T&C kept Garrison away from investigating INCA and  Bringuier, which would be pretty damn interesting if it's true. 

http://www.assassinationweb.com/roseb1.htm

[Larry Hancock]

You may very well be right on shielding INCA, which rather than some fly by night group, appears to have had an ongoing but distanced role in creating and circulating anti-Castro though Central America.  In fact it appears to have been part of a brand new and significant campaign build around Oswald's NO image - a campaign which was just about to launch across the Caribbean at the time of the assassination - including a commercial record of his radio interviews.

Several likely ties between Bannister, certain DRE members like Bringuier and the new propaganda campaign. If Garrison had really exposed INCA in that role he would have exposed the use of domestic "political" groups for CIA organized propaganda, not something that would at all please the CIA given how phobic they got over his even identifying relative minor single CIA assets. Perhaps even beyond their fear of a  Shaw inquiry exposing the use of international trade organizations for collections, courier work and likely more substantive CI on occasion. 

[David Boylan]

We know that Howard Hunt also had QKENCHANT clearance after he "retired."

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=162534#relPageId=8&search=hunt_and qkenchant

 

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=12960#relPageId=3&search=hunt_and qkenchant and Robert

[Benjamin Cole]

Kudos to Gram, Hancock and Boyle for the serious research done. 

Morley recently wrote that Joannides had a N.O. residence in the summer of 1963. But kept house and family in Miami. 

Of course, there were witnesses to LHO showing up in Bannister's office, and the whole 544 Camp Street address stamp fandango. 

I read a spiral-bound edition of SWHT and seemed to have retained about 10% of what I read. 

I hope all you of you produce "bite-size" accessible reports on what you develop, or even re-fab some old info into accessible formats. 

I suspect the N.O. episode in LHO's life was more indicative than LHO's trip to Mexico City. 

I do find it interesting that LHO met Valery Kostikoff on a Saturday at the Russian Embassy---but I suspect that is because someone (intentionally) leaked to Kostikoff that LHO was a US intel asset, and so Kostikoff met with him. That helped create the LHO biography. John Newman suspects the Kostikoff meeting was the planting of the WWIII virus that blocked a real investigation into the JFKA. 

The JFKA...never fails to fascinate. 

 

[Larry Hancock]

 

Ben, you will find a good bit about the "new" propaganda campaign being built around Oswald's media image in New Orleans in Tipping Point (on MFF) although I don't think I went back to revisit the earlier Bay of Pigs era abortive effort.   Actually I've come to think that New Orleans may indeed be more crucial to understand how Oswald ended up as a patsy in Dallas than the events in Mexico City.

Its pretty interesting to revisit Garrison's take on Oswald's allegiances in New Orleans, which most of us haven't looked at in awhile, if ever, and to recall that the Clinton incident occurred well after Oswald's  Cuba/Castro support media appearances.

http://22november1963.org.uk/jim-garrison-oswald-banister-new-orleans