Oswald's Guilt a Foregone Conclusion

[Gil Jesus]

In a January 11, 1964 memo, "For the Members of the Commission", Chief Counsel J. Lee Rankin outlined the areas of the Commission's "work". In this memo, he used the phrases, "Lee Harvey Oswald as the Assassin of President Kennedy", "Evidence Demonstrating Oswald's Guilt", "Evidence Identifying Oswald as the Assassin of President Kennedy", the "Permissable Inferences of Oswald's Murder of Tippit", "Lee Harvey Oswald: Background and Possible Motives" and "Lee H. Oswald as the Assassin".

Keep in mind that this memo naming Oswald as the President's lone assassin, was written almost one month BEFORE the Commission heard its first witness or saw its first piece of evidence.

This was NOT a criminal investigation. This was a collection of evidence against one suspect who had been deemed guilty by his accusers. If this were a court case, you could say that the verdict was in before the trial had even begun.

And there'd be no defense.

Edited March 11 by Gil Jesus

[Paul Jolliffe]

On 3/11/2024 at 7:31 AM, Gil Jesus said:

In a January 11, 1964 memo, "For the Members of the Commission", Chief Counsel J. Lee Rankin outlined the areas of the Commission's "work". In this memo, he used the phrases, "Lee Harvey Oswald as the Assassin of President Kennedy", "Evidence Demonstrating Oswald's Guilt", "Evidence Identifying Oswald as the Assassin of President Kennedy", the "Permissable Inferences of Oswald's Murder of Tippit", "Lee Harvey Oswald: Background and Possible Motives" and "Lee H. Oswald as the Assassin".

Keep in mind that this memo naming Oswald as the President's lone assassin, was written almost one month BEFORE the Commission heard its first witness or saw its first piece of evidence.

This was NOT a criminal investigation. This was a collection of evidence against one suspect who had been deemed guilty by his accusers. If this were a court case, you could say that the verdict was in before the trial had even begun.

And there'd be no defense.

All true Gil, but note that Nicholas Katzenbach (the acting Attorney General in RFK's immediate absence) wrote out this infamous memo in his own hand on a yellow legal pad during the afternoon of Sunday, November 24, 1963.

It was then typed up by his secretaries the next morning and distributed.

So, as soon as Katzenbach was sure that "Oswald" was dead (around 2:17 pm, Washington D.C. time), Katzenbach got to work, pinning it all on "Oswald" and "Oswald" alone. 

Exactly why Katzenbach wrote this on Sunday afternoon is a still unsolved mystery, but we now know he was "encouraged" by Eugene Rostow, the dean of Yale's Law School in conjunction with unnamed others . . . 

Here is the typed version of the Katzenbach memo, the absolute proof that the fix was in right from the start:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=62268#relPageId=29

[Matt Cloud]

"And the thing is," Ralph Dungan had said on November 22, 1963, "they will blame it on that 25 year old boy."

 

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Daniel_Patrick_Moynihan/bm-BjcLtRwwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=dungan

 

See pp. 66-68

Edited March 13 by Matt Cloud

[Robert Morrow]

2 hours ago, Matt Cloud said:

"And the thing is," Ralph Dungan had said on November 22, 1963, "they will blame it on that 25 year old boy."

 

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Daniel_Patrick_Moynihan/bm-BjcLtRwwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=dungan

 

See pp. 66-68

Lyndon Johnson was blaming it on JFK for instigating the coup in Vietnam that resulted in Diem's murder. At other times LBJ blamed Castro for JFK's murder many times, saying that Castro killed JFK before the Kennedys could kill him.

Author Larry Hancock on who LBJ blamed for

the JFK assassination:

            “The day after John Kennedy’s funeral, Johnson pointed at a picture of Diem and told Hubert Humphrey that, “We had a hand in killing him; now it’s happening here.” Johnson later told Pierre Salinger a story about “divine retribution” and implied that perhaps also applied to Kennedy’s death. A few days after Kennedy’s funeral, Kennedy aide Ralph Dungan was working late in his office in the West Wing when he heard a noise at the door. Dungan looked up and there was President Johnson, in nothing but a t-shirt and boxer shorts. He told Dungan he wanted to talk to him and motioned him to the Oval Office, where Johnson forced him to sit on the sofa and in a low voice said, “I want to tell you why Kennedy died.” A stunned Dungan sat while Johnson pointed his finger and said, “Divine retribution … he murdered Diem and then he got it himself.” (Mahoney 302-303, from Mahoney interview with Dungan).

[Larry Hancock, Someone Would Have Talked, p. 462]

Edited March 13 by Robert Morrow

[Matt Cloud]

Just now, Robert Morrow said:

Lyndon Johnson was blaming it on JFK for instigating the coup in Vietnam that resulted in Diem's murder. At other times LBJ blamed Castro for JFK's murder many times, saying that Castro killed JFK before the Kennedys could kill him.

Author Larry Hancock on who LBJ blamed for

the JFK assassination:

            “The day after John Kennedy’s funeral, Johnson pointed at a picture of Diem and told Hubert Humphrey that, “We had a hand in killing him; now it’s happening here.” Johnson later told Pierre Salinger a story about “divine retribution” and implied that perhaps also applied to Kennedy’s death. A few days after Kennedy’s funeral, Kennedy aide Ralph Dungan was working late in his office in the West Wing when he heard a noise at the door. Dungan looked up and there was President Johnson, in nothing but a t-shirt and boxer shorts. He told Dungan he wanted to talk to him and motioned him to the Oval Office, where Johnson forced him to sit on the sofa and in a low voice said, “I want to tell you why Kennedy died.” A stunned Dungan sat while Johnson pointed his finger and said, “Divine retribution … he murdered Diem and then he got it himself.” (Mahoney 302-303, from Mahoney interview with Dungan).

[Larry Hancock, Someone Would Have Talked, p. 462]

I'm familiar with your thesis, Robert.  It is incorrect in my judgment.

[Robert Morrow]

Just now, Matt Cloud said:

I'm familiar with your thesis, Robert.  It is incorrect in my judgment.

I posted that because you mentioned Ralph Dungan. Also, when I clicked on your web link I could not find Dungan's quote. What page in Moynihan's book does it appear?

[Matt Cloud]

Just now, Robert Morrow said:

I posted that because you mentioned Ralph Dungan. Also, when I clicked on your web link I could not find Dungan's quote. What page in Moynihan's book does it appear?

As indicated above, pp. 66-68.  It's not Moynihan's book as such but a posthumous publication of (some) of his writings and correspondence.  If it's not appearing on the available pages of google books you can go to my twitter account @realmattcloud and search for Dungan and see the pages yourself.

[Robert Morrow]

2 hours ago, Matt Cloud said:

As indicated above, pp. 66-68.  It's not Moynihan's book as such but a posthumous publication of (some) of his writings and correspondence.  If it's not appearing on the available pages of google books you can go to my twitter account @realmattcloud and search for Dungan and see the pages yourself.

Got it. Thank you.