Pierre Lafitte datebook, 1963

[Leslie Sharp]

The ongoing investigation:

Continuity of the Coup (@copyright 2023)
We've yet to determine why both Richard Case Nagell and Pierre Lafitte were interested in Anita L. Ehrman who was found dead in her D.C. apartment on July 29. Ehrman was a former reporter for the Hearst news conglomerate who had worked for The Washington Post only six months before leaving on her own volition or being fired at the end of June 1963.

As Dick Russell indicates in his limited analysis of the Pierre Lafitte datebook presented in the Front Matter of Coup in Dallas,

"The only other reference to this [Ehrman] appears in my 1992 book, citing a notebook seized from Richard Case Nagell by the FBI on September 20, 1963 but not released until 1975. That entry says: “ANITA L. EHRMAN. 7-30-63 WASHINGTON, D.C.”" . . .

Nagell's own note identifying Ehrman coincides with that of Pierre Lafitte's datebook entry of July 30 which reads, "George .... D.C. ... A. L. Ehrman   2 yrs +1 <- 29th?   ... Kaack ..."

The "George" in Lafitte's July 30 entry is FBN agent George Hunter-White; "Kaack" is FBI SA Milton Kaack, New Orleans.

It was later determined that Ehrman, then 28 yrs old, likely died on July 28, and although the New York Times published a brief notice, The Washington Post did not follow up.

***

What was the shared interest between Lafitte and Nagell in a young reporter who had covered the Algerian War from the ground — including interviews with leaders of the FLN — as well as the installation of U Thant at the UN following the suspicious death of Dag Hammarskjöld (*see related comment) who the FLN had appealed to during their struggle? Were either or both issues of interest to Pierre and Richard, or was it something closer to home?
 

Ehrman had also traveled in the press pool when Jackie Kennedy visited Japan in '62, so it's possible from there she was introduced to the Georgetown Set and eventually landed a job at The Washington Post. With that access, did she hear gossip?

Ehrman, whose father was a well-known Lehman Bros. banker and a director of Republic National of Dallas in the 1950s, died five days before the Post's publisher Phil Graham allegedly committed suicide on August 3. He had been on a weekend pass from the Chestnut Lodge "insane asylum",  notorious for mind control experiments, read Sidney Gottlieb.

The day Ehrman is presumed to have died, July 28, Lafitte wrote in his datebook: "George / O.S. talk to Stockdale about P. Graham (George says Chestnut Lodge) —dupe—" [again, George Hunter-White, Phil Graham both in the same entry with Otto Skorzeny and Grant Stockdale whose own suspicious death occurred just four months later.]

***

Stranger still, Anita Ehrman's family were longtime residents of Armonk, a New York hamlet where Pierre Lafitte and his wife Rene (who appears in his note alongside Hunter-White and D.C. on July 30, 1963), maintained a residence in the early 1960s as evidenced on several flight passenger cards.

***

It's possible that Anita Ehrman died of natural causes and the timing of her death and that of Phil Graham is purely coincidental. 

It's also possible — considering Lafitte's Phil Graham entry of July 28 and his Ehrman entry of July 30 — that Ehrman was privy to insider gossip related to the brewing scandal involving Ellen Rometsch and President Kennedy, a topic apparently on Phil Graham's mind since early 1963 when he broke down in front of an audience of newsmen and women in Phoenix — the event that precipitated his eight month psychiatric ordeal.

***

We also can't discount out of hand other clues directly related to the political climate which both Ehrman and Graham would have been consumed with professionally regardless of their states of mind:

For instance, WaPo publisher Phil Graham's mistress Robin Webb who was a stringer for Newsweek in Paris had been recruited by the magazine's Washington correspondent Ben Bradlee who had been directly involved in Newsweek's buyout by the Post and later assumed editorial control over both.

We know that Phil Graham's Foreign Correspondent in Paris had been Waverley Root who also covered Algeria's war for independence; it's plausible Root knew Robin Webb in Paris, and knew Anita Ehrman via coverage of the war and possibly recommended her to the Post? (Root's relevant articles will be shared under a separate comment.)

Under Root's byline on September 2, 1962, only two months after President Kennedy's public statement in strong support of Algeria's newly won independence (see link), and a month following the attempt on French President de Gaulle's life in Petit Clamart, The Washington Post published a lengthy exposé under Root's byline, "A Fascistic France is New Aim of OAS". Root opens with, "The recent attempt to assassinate Charles de Gaulle confirms what qualified observers here had maintained all along: the real objective of the terrorist Secret Army Organization (OAS) was not to keep Algeria French but to upset the regime. . . . If Algerie Francaise had been the goal, the attempt to kill de Gaulle would have been without object — and so would the continued existence of the OAS. It would have died a natural death. Instead, it has transferred its major effort to France proper."

July 3, 1962 - President John F. Kennedy - Statement on the Occasion of Algerian Independence (see link):

 

Was Algeria a common thread that might have bound Lafitte, Ehrman, and Graham, along with Skorzeny, Stockdale, Hunter-White and Milton Kaack in July of 1963?

Did Lafitte meet Nagell when he was in New Orleans purportedly to talk to Oswald?

Was OAS Captain Jean Souetre in New Orleans at the same time?

Does the death of Dag Hammarskjöld factor in this angle of the investigation?

And why does  Ella Rometsch appear in the datebook on frequent dates pre and post the Lafitte's Ehrman - Graham entries of July 28 and July 30? 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YDKRqoRkfQ

Edited April 26, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

In light of this excerpt from Coup in Dallas, the April 2022 piece by French journalist Maurin Picard which follows is particularly intriguing. 

' . . . The source for the report’s information is described: “Competent American observer from a Western-European in close touch with Captain Jean Souetre, official of the OAS, from Souetre, who expected the information to reach officials of the US”

The information follows: 

On 21 May 1963, Rene Souetre*, who claimed to act as external coordinator for the OAS organization based in Portugal, said that after de Gaulle, there would be only two choices in France: Communism or the OAS? Therefore, the OAS believed that it was important to allow de Gaulle to remain in power while the OAS strengthened its organization. Souetre pointed out, however, that the OAS must be prepared to counter a Communist plot at any time, as de Gaulle was an old man and also since he could easily meet with an accident. Souetre smiled as he made this last statement, but hastened to add that the Communists might see fit to assassinate de Gaulle in order to precipitate the revolution. 

Souetre claimed that the OAS had a list of the Communist penetrations of the French Government and expressed the belief of the OAS that the de Gaulle government was siding with Communist takeover by seeking rapprochement with the USSR. Souetre particularly mentioned what he termed de Gaulle’s “chief advisor,” Jacques Foccart, as being a witting collaborator of the Communists.** The OAS, according to Souetre, was now trying to penetrate the French army and the Government in order to build a counter force to the Communists within the French Government.

Souetre explained that the OAS intended to prevent a Communist takeover at the Post-de Gaulle election by the expedient of preventing the election from taking place.

*Headquarters [CIA] Comment: Information from both press and official French sources indicates that Souetre is the name of a former French army captain who escaped from a detention camp in 1961. Subsequent to his escape he was alleged to have been involved in an assassination attempt against de Gaulle. Souetre was born 15 October 1930, in the Gironde Department of France.

** Headquarters Comment: Jacques Foccart is the Secretary General to the Presidency for African and Malagasy Affairs. He also has an undetermined role in intelligence matters probably derived from the fact that from 1958 to 1959 he was acting as technical advisor on security and intelligence matters to the President. One of his responsibilities is believed to concern political action in Black Africa, and another that of collating and digesting for the President the intelligence reports from the various French Services.” — Coup in Dallas

 

***

OPINION:

The Missing Link in a UN Cold Case? A French Death Warrant Against Dag Hammarskjöld Comes to Light

Maurin Picard, April 14, 2022

' . . . The warrant had no signature. Just three letters and a notorious acronym: OAS (Organisation Armée Secrète, or Secret Armed Organization), a far-right French dissident paramilitary group opposing Algerian independence and the the Gaullist regime. The clandestine movement, which was mostly operational from 1961 to 1962, even tried to murder President Charles de Gaulle on Aug. 22, 1962. It killed 1,700 to 2,200 people, mostly French and Algerian civilians, French soldiers, police officers, politicians and civil servants, during its brief existence.

Somehow, the death warrant — a facsimile that seemed to be a transcription of an original letter — ended up in the personal files of a legendary man from the shadows and chief adviser to President de Gaulle on African affairs and mastermind of the “Françafrique” networks, Jacques Foccart (who lived from 1913 to 1997). The document appears to be authentic, given the fact that it was found in Foccart’s confidential files preserved by the French National Archives.'
https://www.passblue.com/.../the-missing-link-in-a-un.../
 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Paul Brancato]

Leslie - This is so suspicious, lots of corroborating evidence, including eye witness. Perhaps Lumumba was killed by the same gang. I haven’t read any of the recent relevant books. I’d be curious what was in the UN final report referenced herein. 

[Pete Mellor]

8 hours ago, Leslie Sharp said:

Souetre particularly mentioned what he termed de Gaulle’s “chief advisor,” Jacques Foccart, as being a witting collaborator of the Communists.**

Jacques Foccart, after Anatoly Golitsyn's defection to CIA came under suspicion of French intelligence due to his relationship with a Czech named Saar, who was naturalised French after the war under the name of Demichel.  Demichel was involved in many business deals with the Soviets, who bought through him most of the industrial equipment they were getting from Western Europe.  The close relationship between one of de Gaulle's most trusted aides and a man of indeterminate extraction doing most of his business with Moscow certainly seemed strange.

Interestingly, the KGB false defector Yuri Nosenko in a meeting with CIA in 1962 made this interesting comment:- "Gribanov himself", (referring to the chief of the Second Chief Directorate, Oleg Gribanov), "is dealing with an important French businessman.  The guys name is Saar Demichel.  He lives in Paris and has a lot of business with the Soviet Union."   I would suspect this comment from Nosenko as being another provocation for Western intelligence.

Jacques Foccart also helped to create the Department Protection Security (DPS), security organization of the far-right Front National party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, so he certainly was not a witting collaborator of the Communists.

 

[Steve Thomas]

"Souetre particularly mentioned what he termed de Gaulle’s “chief advisor,” Jacques Foccart, as being a witting collaborator of the Communists"

"Jacques Foccart also helped to create the Department Protection Security (DPS), security organization of the far-right Front National party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen." 

Is it wonder why French politics are so bewildering?

Steve Thomas

[Leslie Sharp]

9 hours ago, Pete Mellor said:

Jacques Foccart, after Anatoly Golitsyn's defection to CIA came under suspicion of French intelligence due to his relationship with a Czech named Saar, who was naturalised French after the war under the name of Demichel.  Demichel was involved in many business deals with the Soviets, who bought through him most of the industrial equipment they were getting from Western Europe.  The close relationship between one of de Gaulle's most trusted aides and a man of indeterminate extraction doing most of his business with Moscow certainly seemed strange.

Interestingly, the KGB false defector Yuri Nosenko in a meeting with CIA in 1962 made this interesting comment:- "Gribanov himself", (referring to the chief of the Second Chief Directorate, Oleg Gribanov), "is dealing with an important French businessman.  The guys name is Saar Demichel.  He lives in Paris and has a lot of business with the Soviet Union."   I would suspect this comment from Nosenko as being another provocation for Western intelligence.

Jacques Foccart also helped to create the Department Protection Security (DPS), security organization of the far-right Front National party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, so he certainly was not a witting collaborator of the Communists.

 

 

11 hours ago, Pete Mellor said:

Jacques Foccart, after Anatoly Golitsyn's defection to CIA came under suspicion of French intelligence due to his relationship with a Czech named Saar, who was naturalised French after the war under the name of Demichel.  Demichel was involved in many business deals with the Soviets, who bought through him most of the industrial equipment they were getting from Western Europe.  The close relationship between one of de Gaulle's most trusted aides and a man of indeterminate extraction doing most of his business with Moscow certainly seemed strange.

Interestingly, the KGB false defector Yuri Nosenko in a meeting with CIA in 1962 made this interesting comment:- "Gribanov himself", (referring to the chief of the Second Chief Directorate, Oleg Gribanov), "is dealing with an important French businessman.  The guys name is Saar Demichel.  He lives in Paris and has a lot of business with the Soviet Union."   I would suspect this comment from Nosenko as being another provocation for Western intelligence.

Jacques Foccart also helped to create the Department Protection Security (DPS), security organization of the far-right Front National party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, so he certainly was not a witting collaborator of the Communists.

 

Jacques Foccart also helped to create the Department Protection Security (DPS), security organization of the far-right Front National party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, so he certainly was not a witting collaborator of the Communists.

I came across this on wikispooks, but I'm not tracking the citation.  Have you found it?

Is it possible Foccart was the quintessential triple agent? Or just one who relished a role as "kingmaker" behind the scenes? A French Al Ulmer?

For our purpose, and considering Lafitte's frequent reference to SDECE's Philippe de Vosjoli who was convinced de Gaulle's government had been infiltrated by the communists, Foccart is particularly significant.

I recognize the controversy that the gov't. source for Jean Souetre's presence in the US in early 1963 is tied to the SAC, and it could be  argued that Foccart was deliberately pointing fingers at the OAS; but ... Lafitte writes specifically on April 30, Walker + Souetre in New Orleans ...



 

[David McLean]

Curious you mention Al Ulmer…was he and his wife with the Bushes November 22?…and I recollect Bush saying something to the effect the assailant was either undoubtedly of the far left or the far right. 

[Michael Griffith]

I believe that JFK's dalliance with Ellen Rometsch was one of the things that at least some of the plotters used to rationalize and justify their conspiracy in their own minds. The last time I checked, murder was a much more serious sin than adultery.

Thomas Reeves argues that if JFK had not been killed, his presidency may well have imploded with the revelation of his affair with Rometsch. During one of JFK's last press conferences, a female journalist asked him a very pointed hypothetical question that was clearly referring to his adultery--her question asked something along the lines of if he thought that a man who was cheating on his wife should leave his wife and marry one of his mistresses after he was out of office/retired. If you watch the video clip, you can see the question caught JKF off guard and made him uncomfortable. 

Well, anyway, when JFK and the plotters stand before the judgment bar of God, I'm confident that the plotters will be shocked when they receive a far, far harsher punishment for their crimes than JFK will receive for his adultery. 

[Pete Mellor]

17 hours ago, Leslie Sharp said:

I came across this on wikispooks, but I'm not tracking the citation.  Have you found it?

Zilch Leslie. The Wiki on Foccart is not well endowed with citations unfortunately.  I don't see him as communist though.  A long time French colonialist who acted as advisor to many French presidents on African affairs.

17 hours ago, Leslie Sharp said:

For our purpose, and considering Lafitte's frequent reference to SDECE's Philippe de Vosjoli who was convinced de Gaulle's government had been infiltrated by the communists

Yes, de Vosjoli was Head of French Intelligence in U.S. & he learned from CIA's KGB defector Major Anatoly Golitsyn (KGB's First Chief Directorate) in early 60's about KGB agents in de Gaulle's cabinet & in France's SDECE.  In fact from Golitsyn's revelations CIA informed JFK of these spies in French intelligence, causing JFK to write a warning letter to de Gaulle.  The French Ambassador to Moscow, Maurice Dejean was also compromised in an adulterous affair with a KGB 'swallow'

However, it wasn't just in de Gaulle's cabinet and SDECE, but the Paris H.Q. of NATO was riddled with KGB agents, so much so that agents could produce on two or three days notice any NATO  document Moscow asked for.

Just hours after Kennedy's assassination, de Vosjoli was summoned back to Paris.  He then received a telegram warning him that he would be killed upon his arrival back in France.  He then went on the run to Mexico.  A 'goon' squad from France was sent to kill him, but he eluded them.  Subsequently U.S. authorities provided him a quiet life somewhere in Colorado.  Ian Fleming couldn't write this stuff. 

[Paul Brancato]

1 hour ago, Pete Mellor said:

Zilch Leslie. The Wiki on Foccart is not well endowed with citations unfortunately.  I don't see him as communist though.  A long time French colonialist who acted as advisor to many French presidents on African affairs.

Yes, de Vosjoli was Head of French Intelligence in U.S. & he learned from CIA's KGB defector Major Anatoly Golitsyn (KGB's First Chief Directorate) in early 60's about KGB agents in de Gaulle's cabinet & in France's SDECE.  In fact from Golitsyn's revelations CIA informed JFK of these spies in French intelligence, causing JFK to write a warning letter to de Gaulle.  The French Ambassador to Moscow, Maurice Dejean was also compromised in an adulterous affair with a KGB 'swallow'

However, it wasn't just in de Gaulle's cabinet and SDECE, but the Paris H.Q. of NATO was riddled with KGB agents, so much so that agents could produce on two or three days notice any NATO  document Moscow asked for.

Just hours after Kennedy's assassination, de Vosjoli was summoned back to Paris.  He then received a telegram warning him that he would be killed upon his arrival back in France.  He then went on the run to Mexico.  A 'goon' squad from France was sent to kill him, but he eluded them.  Subsequently U.S. authorities provided him a quiet life somewhere in Colorado.  Ian Fleming couldn't write this stuff. 

Lest we forget, it was Colonel Frank M Brandstetter who took Vosjoli in. It may have been in Acapulco where ‘Brandy’ worked and lived, but Professor PD Scott told me personally that he had it on good authority that Vosjoli joined the Colonel in Texas not MC. They knew each other well from Havana 1959 where Brandy ran the Havana Hilton at that time. Vosjoli, Golitsyn, Angleton linked in their belief that KGB had thoroughly infiltrated DeGaulle’s government. Brandy worked for Army Intelligence, and was assigned by them to join Crichton’s 488 Military Intelligence detachment around 1960. 

[Leslie Sharp]

11 hours ago, David McLean said:

Curious you mention Al Ulmer…was he and his wife with the Bushes November 22?…and I recollect Bush saying something to the effect the assailant was either undoubtedly of the far left or the far right. 

Yes, Al Ulmer and his wife were in from London where he had assumed a role within the Niarchos organization having left the CIA. Al's brother Dan was living in Tyler TX where Barbara and George joined both Ulmer couples along with Joe Zeppa and his wife. Zeppa's Delta Drilling had been critical to the [Algur] Meadows - [Otto] Skorzeny oil scheme in Spain in the early 1950s.  Ulmer was posted in Madrid during that time, as was, btw, sharpshooter Charles Atkins Military Attaché in the capitol to aid in Franco's refurbishment of his military.  

The infamous question of GHWBush's whereabouts on November 22 was finally resolved when Barbara wrote about their flight from Tyler to Fort Worth to drop Joe and back to Love Field where she and George sat on the tarmac waiting for AF Two to take off.  She casually mentions the Ulmers and the kindness of Zeppa that day; OR, one might argue she finally provided George with alibis and witnesses?

As Jeff Morley reported in "Our Man in Mexico", Al Ulmer had planned to go into business with Win Scott and a number of other retired intel officers from GB and the US. The enterprise, DiCoSe (Diversified Corporate Services) was a private corporate intelligence service. For whatever reason, Morley didn't pursue the relationship with Ulmer and Scott which obviously was one of trust or at least mutually rewarding ambitions, nor did he elaborate on Win Scott's post in the early 1950s - chief of the Western Division of the Office of Special Operations, described by Cleveland Cram as the most important division in the agency.  "He really had things going his own way. He was a big deal in the Agency." It's likely that the Ulmer-Scott relationship extends to Ulmer's post in Madrid at the same time. We know from at least one document that in the role, Win Scott was kept apprised of the machinations of Madrid resident — put into service by Wm Donovan and Allen Dulles — Otto Skorzeny.  And we know that another attaché, Jere Wittington, was reporting to Ulmer while he monitored the N-azi couple, Otto and Ilse Skorzeny.

There is so much more work to do regarding Win Scott's knowledge of international operations throughout the Cold War including drugs and gun-running through Mexico in the early 1960s. After all, it was on his watch that Skorzeny, Hans Ulrich-Rudel and German arms dealer and intelligence operative Gerhard Mertins established Merex, AG in MC.   

[Leslie Sharp]

4 hours ago, Pete Mellor said:

Zilch Leslie. The Wiki on Foccart is not well endowed with citations unfortunately.  I don't see him as communist though.  A long time French colonialist who acted as advisor to many French presidents on African affairs.

Yes, de Vosjoli was Head of French Intelligence in U.S. & he learned from CIA's KGB defector Major Anatoly Golitsyn (KGB's First Chief Directorate) in early 60's about KGB agents in de Gaulle's cabinet & in France's SDECE.  In fact from Golitsyn's revelations CIA informed JFK of these spies in French intelligence, causing JFK to write a warning letter to de Gaulle.  The French Ambassador to Moscow, Maurice Dejean was also compromised in an adulterous affair with a KGB 'swallow'

However, it wasn't just in de Gaulle's cabinet and SDECE, but the Paris H.Q. of NATO was riddled with KGB agents, so much so that agents could produce on two or three days notice any NATO  document Moscow asked for.

Just hours after Kennedy's assassination, de Vosjoli was summoned back to Paris.  He then received a telegram warning him that he would be killed upon his arrival back in France.  He then went on the run to Mexico.  A 'goon' squad from France was sent to kill him, but he eluded them.  Subsequently U.S. authorities provided him a quiet life somewhere in Colorado.  Ian Fleming couldn't write this stuff. 

Those of us who have spent time with the physical instrument — the 1963 datebook maintained by Pierre Lafitte — accept that de Vosjoli's official storyline fails to reveal critical ties to several, in addition to Frank Brandstetter of the 488th, who were more closely involved in the lead up to the assassination. That is not to say we concluded the SDECE officer should be directly implicated, but it's clear that he has the attention of Lafitte in the spring of 1963, much earlier than the official line.

' . . . A decade later, [Indiana native Thomas whose law partner Paul McNutt had served as head of War Manpower Commission] Proctor surfaced in the Horn of Africa, perhaps for the first time, when he attended a military parade with Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia. Phil [Proctor — original member of the Firesign Theatre] who initially couldn't explain why his father might have been invited to Ethiopia, still has the sword of the “blue people” gifted his father by the emperor. Phil was not aware that his father was known to Pierre Lafitte who on February 5, 1963 made the note: “WerBell guns – in desert with Proctor in Eritrea.” Certain words in the entry are nearly indecipherable, but once it was confirmed that Proctor spent time in Ethiopia, the location in the desert of Eritrea made sense. And when told the entry seemed related to a notorious gun trafficker, Phil seemed satisfied that it “all made sense.” 

De Vosjoli and Tom Proctor appear again on Pierre’s radar on May 20:

Vosjoli with Davis

(Carolyn — Proctor) ask OS (Ilse)

With this entry, Lafitte names Thomas Proctor in context with the Davis couple, and mention of Philippe de Vosjoli , the head of French intelligence in D.C. at the time), we revisited the illegible words in the February 5 WerBell / Proctor entry. The word “mission” is clear although spelled with only one s; the letters preceding mission may well be a rough notation “Vosjoli.” 

As this investigation progresses, we encounter more and more clues of Tom and Carolyn Davis’s connections to weapons manufacturers [Remington Arms], global arms dealers and gunrunners. We also pursue the role Philippe de Vosjoli may have had, witting or not, in the plans for Dallas. For now, a preview of Vosjoli should suffice: “In light of the harrowing story that he tells, it is well to note that de Vosjoli had close relationships with multiple people who are quite germane to this story, including Jim Angleton (de Vosjoli functioned as a CIA double-agent, working inside French intelligence) and Frank Brandstetter, who was a member of Jack Crichton’s 488th Intelligence Reserve unit. When de Vosjoli declined to return to France in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of President Kennedy, he fled to Mexico, where he spent several months with Brandstetter at the Las Brisas resort in Acapulco. Intriguingly, Pierre Lafitte, engaged in a pivotal meeting at an iconic Dallas hotel on November 20, 1963, jotted in his notebook: “Frank B. here…”

It should be recalled that Brandstetter's colleague in the 488th, Jack Crichton — also identified in the Lafitte datebook —  was a consultant on behalf of Dallas-based DeGolyer & MacNaughton to the Meadows-Skorzeny oil scheme of 1952, sanctioned by Spain's military dictator Francisco Franco. 

(photo of Thomas Proctor as a young man, courtesy of the Proctor family.)

Thomas Proctor private collection.pdf

Edited April 27, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

5 hours ago, Michael Griffith said:

I believe that JFK's dalliance with Ellen Rometsch was one of the things that at least some of the plotters used to rationalize and justify their conspiracy in their own minds. The last time I checked, murder was a much more serious sin than adultery.

Thomas Reeves argues that if JFK had not been killed, his presidency may well have imploded with the revelation of his affair with Rometsch. During one of JFK's last press conferences, a female journalist asked him a very pointed hypothetical question that was clearly referring to his adultery--her question asked something along the lines of if he thought that a man who was cheating on his wife should leave his wife and marry one of his mistresses after he was out of office/retired. If you watch the video clip, you can see the question caught JKF off guard and made him uncomfortable. 

Well, anyway, when JFK and the plotters stand before the judgment bar of God, I'm confident that the plotters will be shocked when they receive a far, far harsher punishment for their crimes than JFK will receive for his adultery. 

Was that Helen Thomas?

[Leslie Sharp]

7 hours ago, Pete Mellor said:

Zilch Leslie. The Wiki on Foccart is not well endowed with citations unfortunately.  I don't see him as communist though.  A long time French colonialist who acted as advisor to many French presidents on African affairs.

Yes, de Vosjoli was Head of French Intelligence in U.S. & he learned from CIA's KGB defector Major Anatoly Golitsyn (KGB's First Chief Directorate) in early 60's about KGB agents in de Gaulle's cabinet & in France's SDECE.  In fact from Golitsyn's revelations CIA informed JFK of these spies in French intelligence, causing JFK to write a warning letter to de Gaulle.  The French Ambassador to Moscow, Maurice Dejean was also compromised in an adulterous affair with a KGB 'swallow'

However, it wasn't just in de Gaulle's cabinet and SDECE, but the Paris H.Q. of NATO was riddled with KGB agents, so much so that agents could produce on two or three days notice any NATO  document Moscow asked for.

Just hours after Kennedy's assassination, de Vosjoli was summoned back to Paris.  He then received a telegram warning him that he would be killed upon his arrival back in France.  He then went on the run to Mexico.  A 'goon' squad from France was sent to kill him, but he eluded them.  Subsequently U.S. authorities provided him a quiet life somewhere in Colorado.  Ian Fleming couldn't write this stuff. 

Pete, I'm looking for the source for the "quiet life somewhere in Colorado"? I recall that he says he spent time with Leon Uris in either Aspen or Vail (or both?) but I thought he 'retired' to Florida.

[Ron Bulman]

3 hours ago, Leslie Sharp said:

Pete, I'm looking for the source for the "quiet life somewhere in Colorado"? I recall that he says he spent time with Leon Uris in either Aspen or Vail (or both?) but I thought he 'retired' to Florida.

HST, 11/22/1963, Aspen Colorado.  Fear and Loathing, first use. Can't find his letter to William Kennedy on msnbc/bing.  Frustrating.

Edited April 28, 2023 by Ron Bulman