New John Newman Interview

[Joseph Backes]

Benjamin,

You want corroborating evidence from Russian records.

Exactly where would one go to get such records?  There isn't an open national archives in Russia where one could look at their intel agency records.  There isn't anything like the JFK Act governing the records of a foreign nation.  Russia doesn't have a FOIA.  How would you get the internal KGB records, the NKVD? 

Joe

 

[Benjamin Cole]

7 hours ago, Joseph Backes said:

Benjamin,

You want corroborating evidence from Russian records.

Exactly where would one go to get such records?  There isn't an open national archives in Russia where one could look at their intel agency records.  There isn't anything like the JFK Act governing the records of a foreign nation.  Russia doesn't have a FOIA.  How would you get the internal KGB records, the NKVD? 

Joe

 

Very fair question. 

I don't know. That is what Newman should try to find out. 

After the "fall of the Soviet Union" some records were released on what the Russians thought of LHO, and what they had learned by spying on him (bugging his apartment for example). 

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/center-jfk-briefing-unveils-new-evidence-better-deeper-sense-soviet-unease-oswald

I am not criticizing Newman, and I have not read his book. Perhaps he did due diligence, and asked some of his sources could they contact the right people in Russia, and at least take a stab at retrieving Russian archives. 

I would try myself, but I know nothing of the right way to start (and I have this nagging problem of earning a living). 

EF-JFKA'ers? Anyone have clues to how to at least try to get Russians to verify if McCord and Solie were KGB assets? 

 

 

[Pete Mellor]

8 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

EF-JFKA'ers? Anyone have clues to how to at least try to get Russians to verify if McCord and Solie were KGB assets? 

Send stamped self addressed envelope to a Mr. V. Putin, c/o The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia.

[Pete Mellor]

Apologies for jumping onto this Newman thread but unable to find any other appropriate topic, I came across a series of reports on CIA projects/operations where this was listed.  Totally new to me.  Any thoughts?

Project Mockingbird was a warrantless wiretapping operation carried out on the orders of President John F. Kennedy between March and June of 1963.  It was kept under wraps until 2001.

[Benjamin Cole]

1 hour ago, Pete Mellor said:

Send stamped self addressed envelope to a Mr. V. Putin, c/o The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia.

Haha.

But seriously, this goes back 70 years now. I guess anybody alive today in Moscow would not know if Solie was a Kremlin asset or not.

But maybe they would not regard the records as sacred anymore. 

I am just saying, why not try somehow?   

 

 

 

[Benjamin Cole]

1 hour ago, Pete Mellor said:

Apologies for jumping onto this Newman thread but unable to find any other appropriate topic, I came across a series of reports on CIA projects/operations where this was listed.  Totally new to me.  Any thoughts?

Project Mockingbird was a warrantless wiretapping operation carried out on the orders of President John F. Kennedy between March and June of 1963.  It was kept under wraps until 2001.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mockingbird

 

[Michael Griffith]

On 9/27/2023 at 4:15 PM, Jonathan Cohen said:

You think just because there aren't surveillance photos of Oswald at the Cuban consulate that Oswald wasn't there? Guess that means you're intentionally ignoring the mountain of evidence proving he was.

"Mountain of evidence"??? It's a mole hill and it's full of holes.

If Oswald had entered the Cuban Consulate, he would have been photographed entering and leaving by the 27/7 surveillance cameras that the CIA operated outside the consulate. The claim that the CIA mixed up the photos and somehow "lost" the Oswald photos is absurd. Those photos would have been catalogued by date and time frame and camera.

Similarly, if Oswald he had called the Soviet Embassy, the call would have been recorded by CIA wiretaps, and the tape would have been carefully catalogued by date and time frame. I worked in signals surveillance in the military for years. The idea that the CIA "sent the wrong tape" to the FBI is ludicrous. 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Michael Griffith

[Bob Ness]

34 minutes ago, Michael Griffith said:

"Mountain of evidence"??? It's a mole hill and it's full of holes.

If Oswald had entered the Cuban Consulate, he would have been photographed entering and leaving by the 27/7 surveillance cameras that the CIA operated outside the consulate. The claim that the CIA mixed up the photos and somehow "lost" the Oswald photos is absurd. Those photos would have been catalogued by date and time frame and camera.

Similarly, if Oswald he had called the Soviet Embassy, the call would have been recorded by CIA wiretaps, and the tape would have been carefully catalogued by date and time frame. I worked in signals surveillance in the military for years. The idea that the CIA "sent the wrong tape" to the FBI is ludicrous. 

Ludicrous is an understatement. The ol' BS meter is pinned right.

[Bob Ness]

14 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

Very fair question. 

I don't know. That is what Newman should try to find out. 

After the "fall of the Soviet Union" some records were released on what the Russians thought of LHO, and what they had learned by spying on him (bugging his apartment for example). 

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/center-jfk-briefing-unveils-new-evidence-better-deeper-sense-soviet-unease-oswald

I am not criticizing Newman, and I have not read his book. Perhaps he did due diligence, and asked some of his sources could they contact the right people in Russia, and at least take a stab at retrieving Russian archives. 

I would try myself, but I know nothing of the right way to start (and I have this nagging problem of earning a living). 

EF-JFKA'ers? Anyone have clues to how to at least try to get Russians to verify if McCord and Solie were KGB assets? 

 

 

The only extensive information I'm aware of (there is probably other sources) is the Vassiliev files but I believe they predate most of what Newman's talking about. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/search?f[0]=topics:86448&fo[0]=86448

It's possible that Oleg Kalugin may have written about it but I haven't looked at that book for a while. He can probably be contacted directly.

Bob Baer wrote something along those lines: Russia Had “Fourth Man” as Spy Inside CIA, Book Says (theintercept.com)

Edited September 29, 2023 by Bob Ness

[Benjamin Cole]

8 hours ago, Bob Ness said:

The only extensive information I'm aware of (there is probably other sources) is the Vassiliev files but I believe they predate most of what Newman's talking about. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/search?f[0]=topics:86448&fo[0]=86448

It's possible that Oleg Kalugin may have written about it but I haven't looked at that book for a while. He can probably be contacted directly.

Bob Baer wrote something along those lines: Russia Had “Fourth Man” as Spy Inside CIA, Book Says (theintercept.com)

Thanks for your reply. 

If Russian archives can confirm Solie and McCord were compromised or worse, that would be big stuff. 

 

[Bob Ness]

On 9/29/2023 at 5:29 PM, Benjamin Cole said:

Thanks for your reply. 

If Russian archives can confirm Solie and McCord were compromised or worse, that would be big stuff. 

 

Not necessarily Russian. Other Eastern Bloc countries could reveal information. It's not as likely though. I haven't looked into archives from those countries though.