Ultimate Sacrifice by Thom Hartmann & Lamar Waldron

[Ron Ecker]

Helms wrote in his autobiography that he and McCone spent that morning with the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), and were having lunch together in a small room adjoining McCone's office when word came of the assassination.

According to Clark Clifford's biography, Clifford chaired that PFIAB meeting, the subject of which was not Cuba but (according to Monte Evans in a Fourth Decade review of Fonzi's book) "how to dismantle and restructure the CIA in accordance with President Kennedy's desires."

Interestingly, if this is true, the shots in Dallas brought an immediate end to two things in Washington that day: the Don Reynolds hearing on Capitol Hill, and the dismantling of the CIA by the PFIAB.

I have now acquired a used copy of Clark Clifford’s autobiography, Counsel to the President, and find that what the Fourth Decade review says about the 11/22/63 meeting of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board is simply not true.

The review states the following:

“In his autobiography Counsel to the President, Clifford recalls where he was when he heard President Kennedy was shot. It seems he was chairing a meeting of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, a little-known but awesomely powerful entity; one can liken it to the President’s own hand-picked State Department. The subject of that November 22, 1963 PFIAB meeting was how to dismantle and re-structure the CIA in accordance with President Kennedy’s desires (emphasis added). Fortunately for CIA, that matter was immediately shelved upon news of the President’s passing. In other words, the shots in Dallas weren’t fired an hour too soon as far as the CIA’s fate was concerned. The monster’s hydra-head was actually on the chop block, only to receive a last-moment reprieve in Dallas.”

Here are the facts according to Clifford. He says that the PFIAP was created (actually it was the earlier Board of Consultants reactivated and renamed) after the Bay of Pigs disaster. JFK wanted such a board to “oversee the operations of the intelligence community” and make recommendations to insure, as Clifford puts it, “that the intelligence system becomes an effective tool in the hands of the President rather than a constant source of personal embarrassment and national concern” (p. 350).

The PFIAP, in other words, had a mandate not to “dismantle and re-structure the CIA” but to improve its performance. Clifford served on this board from May 1961 and served for almost five years as its chairman beginning in April 1963. At the time of JFK’s death, 85 of 125 recommendations approved by JFK had been implemented, most of them relating to intelligence activities within the Department of Defense. The rest were implemented under Johnson, and recommendations continued to be made throughout his tenure (p. 351).

On the PFIAP meeting of 11/22/63, here are Clifford’s own words (p. 378):

“On the morning of November 22, 1963, I chaired a meeting of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. The major subject that morning was how to improve the CIA’s image (emphasis added). John McCone was present, and blamed the CIA’s image problem on hostile journalists, singling out, of all people, James Reston of the New York Times—one of the most responsible and respected journalists in the city—as being determined to destroy the CIA. At 1:30, we adjourned . . .”

The moral is, don’t rely on any secondary source on something that seems of major importance, such as the CIA allegedly being saved from imminent destruction by a presidential assassination. Check out the primary source if you can find it.

[John Simkin]

The moral is, don’t rely on any secondary source on something that seems of major importance, such as the CIA allegedly being saved from imminent destruction by a presidential assassination. Check out the primary source if you can find it.

Who wrote the review Ron?

[Ron Ecker]

The reviewer's name was Monte Evans.

[John Simkin]

The current edition of Lobster includes a long review of Lamar Waldron’s Ultimate Sacrifice. Robin Ramsay accepts Waldron’s theory that after JFK rejected Lansdale’s Northwoods proposal, he developed a more subtle and more internationally defensible plot in which the US military would intervene in Cuba to “stabilize” it after an internal coup (organized by the US) had got rid of Castro.

Ramsay says: “There has been a great deal of debate about the Kennedys’ role in the CIA plots against Castro, with Kennedyphiles trying to fend off the charges of Camelot’s involvement. This argument should now cease. The authors show beyond dispute, in overwhelming, almost tedious detail that the Kennedys were planning a coup which would result in Castro’s death.”

Ramsay is less impressed with what he describes as “an extremely intricate version of the Mafia-dunnit thesis”. He suggests that there were in fact several plots against JFK and is not convinced that the Mafia story is the one that killed him. As Ramsay points out: “Of mob or Cuban hitmen on Dealey Plaza – or in Chicago or Tampa – there is no evidence.”

[J. Raymond Carroll]

The reviewer's name was Monte Evans.

Back in the early 90's, Monte Evans self-published a very interesting book on Dan Rather called "The Rather Narrative"

In that book he quoted one of Rather's colleagues as predicting that one day Rather would go stark raving mad on national television.

He uses the Nom-de- Plume Monte Evans, and declines to reveal his real name to other researchers.

[Wim Dankbaar]

Dear Mr. Waldron,

A few questions:

- Have you found any witnesses to confirm the top secret Kennedy plan to overthrow Cuba?

“The Plan for a Coup in Cuba” (as it was titled in a memo for the Joint Chiefs of Staff) would include a “palace coup” to eliminate Castro, allowing a new Cuban “Provisional Government” to step into the power vacuum, and would be supported by a “full-scale invasion” of Cuba by the US military, if necessary."

If they were planning an all out invasion within a month, how could only a dozen people know about the plan?

Who were these people besides the Kennedy brothers?

- Who orchestrated the cover-up / Warren Commission and why?

- What is your opinion on Chauncey Holt and Charles Harrelson? Do you agree Harrelson worked for Marcello and Giancana?

- Why did your partner Thom Hartmann interview Holt once and never published anything about it?

- If you implicate Roselli, do you agree that Giancana was involved too?

- Are in your scenario Marcello, Roselli and Trafficante the puppetmasters who pulled all the strings on the operation?

Thank you,

Wim Dankbaar

[Lamar Waldron]

1. More than one government agency was involved in the decision to make Commander Almeida's identity and work for JFK available to the public. So rather than focus on just the CIA (who was involved) or the ARRB, it would be more accurate for now to say that it was the decision of the US government. It is explained in more depth in the book's last chapter.

2. The US government's decision to make his identity known was make independent of - and before - publication of the hardback edition of Ultimate Sacrifice. Obviously, at the time the hardback was written and published, I assumed the US government wouldn't reveal it until 2017, which is why I worked so hard to not reveal his identity.

3. It was confirmed to me in writing in late November 2005 - just days after the hardback hit the stores - that his identity would remain available to the public. But it was March before it was clear there was no chance the decision would be reversed. That's when I decided to tell the full story in the trade paperback, and fully and as accurately as possible.

4. Castro has known about the official since 1990, when he disappeared for several years. That's when Kennedy associates first told us about the coup invasion plan (Dean Rusk, 1990) and all the details about the official's identity and work for the Kennedys (1992), because they thought he was dead. It surprised everyone when he turned out alive and back in the government in 1995. That's why - after Thom and I appeared on the History Channel and Vanity Fair in Nov. 1994 talking about the coup (and I wrote to the Review Board about it that same month) - we had to back off public appearances for years.

5. Apparently hoping his disappearance was for some other reason, the CIA tried an outreach to the official and his old allies in the Cuban military, in order to try to get them to stage a coup against Castro. This attempt even involved some AMWORLD veterans from 1963. However, it finally became clear to the CIA in 2001 that Fidel knew about Commander Almeida's work for JFK in 1963, and he was no longer in a position to help them even if he still wanted to.

6. So, it wasn't our decision to reveal his identity, and in fact, we argued against it. But once their decision was made, we felt the best thing we could do was to tell the whole story as accurately and fully as possible. As readers will see, the framework is already there in Ultimate Sacrifice. As a noted historian told me recently, at this point, wide publicity is Commander Almeida's best protection, so Fidel cannot take action against him in secret, as he did in 1990.

[Wim Dankbaar]

Thank you Mr. Waldron, but those are not answers to my questions.

Wim

Edited September 23, 2006 by Wim Dankbaar

[Wim Dankbaar]

Here's Holt-Hartmann interview I meant. It's apparently part 2 of two parts.

It's a very bad transcription full of errors. Nevertheless, I would like to know if the tape still exists, and what your opinion is on Chauncey Holt.

Wim

Subject: Holt2

Date: 11-Jun-93 at 08:25

From: Thom Hartmann, 76702,765

TO: Anthony Marsh,72127,2301

1>lking about.

A: Harvey was there.

Q: OK, William Harvey.

A: That is the only one.

Q: OK.

A: Cause I don't think there was anybody else there. But I have all, I have the initials

of everyone on there. On the top as who was there and discussed this. And I

scribbled this on a two page

Q: What name were you going under at that time?

A: December 1970. Pardon me?

Q: What name were you going under?

A: Sigler.

Q: Was this the first time

Q: Did you know Harvey before then?

Q: That is what I was going to ask. So this was the first time you met with William

Harvey?

A: That is the first time I met him.

Q: Was at this meeting?

A: Yeah. It was at this meeting.

Q: Who vouched for you? Who established your bonifides to be at that meeting?

A: Licabore.

Q: Who many approximately were there?

A: There was probably as many as eight people there. I, but I will have to look on

the sheet and see who, that was there.

Q: Fax that to me tomorrow.

A: I will.

Q: I have got a fax.

A: Oh, yeah.

Q: What was the purpose of this meeting?

A: Well they were, they were, that is when they were going to discuss, the first time,

that I had ever heard of Mongoose. As a matter of fact, they were discussing

Q: Was he called Mongoose that day?

A: No, I don't think so. I think that what, I think they more or lese decided they were

going to call him Mongoose cause they were, they were talking about what

acronym they were going to use and they said well obviously we can't use

anything that we can't use Cuba. We can't use, we won't be able to use that, why

don't we use something over in Thailand or something like that. So they, Thailand,

that was MO, and they were thinking well, you know, well how about Mongoose.

You know. So that is how they came up with that.

Q: I am sorry -

A: No go ahead.

Q: So OK, the purpose of the meeting was just kind of a general planning meeting?

A: A general planning meeting as to what was going to take off. We actually, we

actually did absolutely practically nothing as far as, you know, as far as Mongoose

was

Q: When you say we, you mean?

A: Licabole.

Q: Licabole and yourself.

A: You know Licabole at that time was, he was quite up in years, and I doubt that,

you know, if they would I mean, they only selected the thing because of he knew

Giancana and Roselli real well. And, they probably felt they were rather safe

because the Grace Ranch was a fortress. Had a tremendously huge gate, all

kinds of security, and but, although they were always worried about sweeping it

for bugs you know. If we went out, I went out and talked to Licaboli cause it

hadn't have been swept very recently, we used to go out, where the cattle were,

you know, and get out in the corral, or where the cattle roaming around you know.

Q: So Licaboli really didn't, he didn't do much?

A: He didn't do anything at all.

Q: Was there any role?

A: No, except

Q: Kind of providing a place for meetings?

A: Yes and providing the airstrip if anybody needed to be

Q: An airstrip?

A: To come into there, an airstrip. Or, if they were anybody wanted to come in from

out of the country illegally, they chose that route. They came to Frank Milanos

place, in Vera Cruze. He had a ranch in Vera Cruze. Then they would fly into,

they would come into Tucson, you can come in there. The, uh, surveillance

coming in,you know, when you come across, where you come across in tucson,

I have a mental block, I can't think of the name of that Mexican town. A little

Mexican town, they came across there and they had, the terrain was very good,

the terrain for flying. That you could fly under any kind of radar. That was the

traditional, that was the traditional route for, and when Frank Camarado, who was

Q: Drugs?

A: Yeah, drugs. And, when Frank Camarado who was Lickaboli's brother-in-law, he

was deported twice and that he came back over, both times that route, and he

was in Havana when he died. He was in Havana getting ready to come back the

third time. So they fly out, they fly out from anywhere they wanted to. Central

America, or anywhere, they would fly into Frank Milano's place and then on up to

Q: Right on out?

A: They would fly right on out.

Q: Let me ask you, that was the first time you met Harvey, did you have dealings with

him later?

A: Not much.

Q: What would be?

A: Not much.

Q: Did you see him later or ever talk to him again?

A: Well, maybe.

Q: You didn't know that he was Central Intelligence that day?

A: Oh yeah, yeah.

Q: Well did you know Angleton?

A: No, I knew of him. I knew who Angleton was. Never met him.

Q: So on Harvey, you said you did or didn't talk to him again later?

A: Oh yeah, I talked to him from time to time. Over the years, you know, all the way

up until they, until they cashiered him out and so forth.

Q: Was that like on an official level? Or, like an example.

A: You know sort of a quasi official thing, you know, and but, he was meeting with,

he was meeting all the time, meeting a lot of times with Roselli and he was meeting

with Giancana, and meeting with Mayhew.

Q: Do you recall any other specific time when you did meet, like in the 60's? Maybe?

A: No.

Q: Or may have talked to him?

A: I can't remember. After that

Q: After that one meeting, in February

A: The Bay of Pigs. No, I can't remember any specific conversations unless I, unless

I had time to actually look through all these, I got just, I got boxes and boxes of

stuff that has been stored in one place or another and every now and then I come

across. I had all this stuff, I mean, I kept all this stuff all these years. And, the stuff

back there, I probably never have any kind of a need for it you know, then I would

keep it you know.

Q: How many hours approximately can you remember how many hours

that,December, 1960 meeting lasted?

A: It was quite a while. Of course, it was almost like

Q: A social

Q: December 6, 61.

A: 61.

Q: This was after the Bay of Pigs?

A: Yes.

Q: 61, December 61.

A: Well, you know it lasted quite a while because it was sort of a social type thing too.

And I assume, I am just saying, but I assume that probably Roselli and Giancana,

and Licaboli were also talking about other things. Now when you came there, the

Grace Ranch was set up like a motel. I mean they had a lot of, you know, just

little, looked like a motel. You know, except the big ranch house. And, so

everybody stayed there and everybody had their own rooms and this that and the

other. And

Q: Sounds like a nice resort.

A: Oh yeah, had two olympic sized swimming pools, and had a riding stable,

Q: Had you been going there for a long time?

A: Oh yeah. I had been there a long time.

Q: I just noticed a couple of other people, we talked a lot about Montoya

Q: Let me ask you one question about this, what about communications did you all

establish any way to communicate with each other? Say you get in touch with me,

in this way or, were there any codes or any?

A: Well when I talked, when I talked to Licaboli, and the same thing if I talked to

anyone else, Licaboli, for instance, or if he called me, he had a list of probably a

half a dozen public telephones. He would call me, say in Beverly Hills, he would

call me. And he would, then I, he would ask me to call him back and he would

say, #1, #2 or so forth, at such a time, and then I would call him back. And this

was the way we operated almost with anybody, unless, if you were to go and talk

to someone, or somebody called you and there was something innocent. And of

course, that always was sometimes was kind of bad because Licaboli, when they

were trying to nail Licaboli, and he had purchased this painting. These two kids

had stolen a painting from their --

and was scribbling in my own hand writing, there is a lot of stuff, on there. That

a lot of stuff on there, so that was that meeting and I don't remember how long it

lasted, except for the meetings, the initials that are on there, I don't

Q: Do you remember if they were discussing like assinating Castro?

A: Oh yeah. They were talking, oh yeah. They were talking about, they were talking

about assinating Kenn, then they were talking about weapons and they were

talking about assination him, what they were going to have to do and so forth, that

is all on the memo. The full thing, just like, it is almost like the minutes of a

corporate board meeting. Just sitting there, you know.

Q: What, what, let me ask you too, cause we customs, a lot of people know a lot

about Bousch and Visciana and

A: Oh yeah.

Q: And we talked about Montoya. Lets, we just want to get as much as you know

about this guy named Serra. What do you know about him? Like when did you

meet him? What he knew about?

A: Uh, well we met him, oh we probably met him 59 or 60. Maybe. Uh, and knew

him up through oh, up until he got killed. Which was in the 70's. And, we were

in Puerto Rico three or four days before, that he

Q: You mean in 59?

A: No, no in, before he got killed.

Q: Oh I see, OK.

A: We had met him, he was from, he was from Puerto Rico. And, so he was down

there and he had been making apparently they,he had been making, he had been

making some statements about us. We went down to ask him if that was actually

true. And uh, then, a few days later, you now, just, you know he was killed.

Q: What was he doing? You said you met him around 59, what kind of things was

he doing in 60, 61, 62, 63?

A: Well he was a part of the, one of those violent Cuban groups, you know, he was

connected with Alfa 66, and he was connected with Mono Blanco with the White

Hand, two or three other

Q: Where did he mainly operate out of? Do you know?

A: What area?

Q: Yeah.

A: Miami.

Q: So he was one of the Miami guys?

A: Yeah. He was in the Miami group. He was into terrorism, no matter what.

Q: Terrorism in terms of hitting people, blowing stuff up?

A: Anybody. Blowing up airplanes, anything else. He was just as violent as Olan

Babarge.

Q: Do you know if he ever made any trips into Cuba or anything like that?

A: Yeah, he was in Cuba all the time.

Q: Where he was ever one of the people who tried to assassinate Castro? Is that

anything ever talked about?

A: I don't remember specifically talking about it, but it probably could be.

Q: What do you think happened to him after that day in Dallas?

A: Oh, I think he went back, probably went back to Miami.

Q: Did you

A: And, uh, I got a lot of stuff on him

Q: On Serabus?

A: I, we

Q: Did we get to finish this thing?

Q: This is amazing.

Q: What actually happened?

A: I mean I always felt that hey wait a minute,

Q: Description in 1963, how would you describe it to somebody?

A: About an average height. About 5'8 or 9. You know typically Latin look.

Q: But what did he look like?

A: Oh, yeah he looked Latin.

Q: Black hair? Dark hair?

A: Very dark hair, dark, very dark eyes, uh,

Q: Complexion?

A: Had the dark Latin complexion, wore a beard a lot of the time. Variations of

Q: Like mine?

A: Sometimes he would have a little beard. Sometimes he would have a Van Dyke,

sometimes he had a mustache, lot of times he was clean shaven.

Q: Sort of like Lauren Bacall?

A: He was very, he, actually he was very, very unassuming guy. I mean actually, no

more than Bousch. You know Bousch, you look at Bousch and know he looks like

a professional man. Which he is. You know, and he looked like it and you would

never, ever think that he was what he was. It was the same way with, the same

way with Serapin. Very few of those guys, we had some of them up there that

really looked, they really looked what they are. What they were. But, he was very,

very, very unassuming. Low key. Very quiet.

Q: Did he have a heavy accent?

A: No, not really a heavy accent. I mean, he didn't have any trouble, he didn't have

any trouble articulating. You know, and his accent, his accent wasn't like the

traditional ones that you see, you know, that is Spanish from Puerto Rico.

Because he, it was, he was more like a high class you know, more cultured.

Q: Castillian?

A: Yeah, more cultured type of tone. But,

Q: When was probably the next time you ran into him after November 63? Was it a

long time?

A: Oh no, I didn't see him, I didn't see him until we went down to see him in, in uh,

went down to see him in 75.

Q: So it was, so it was that long before

A: No, I didn't, I had no contact, I had no contact with him. I forget what he was

telling, he was going around and, somebody said that, oh, this information, this

information came from, this information came from Serapin. So we went down to

Q: Check it out?

A: To talk to him and ask him if, hey, you know, you, you know, if you got any of a

loose mouth, you know. What we want to find out about it, see, then, of course,

a few days later he got killed. And, we, they never

Q: They tried to blame you all?

A: Yeah. But, well, they found out we was there but that was about all. There wasn't

really any way to really connect us up with it you know, we just happened to be

there. We just were down there ostensibly on vacation at the Caribele.

Q: Another guy kind of like him is this Bayard guy. What can you tell us about him?

A: You mean Robert Bayard?

Q: Yeah.

A: Well, Bayard was a, he was a gun runner like you know, sold all kinds of weapons.

Q: Was he American?

A: Oh yeah, he was a Texan.

Q: Oh, OK. So,

A: He was, well he was like Vick Stadder or you know, he knew all those guys. Vick

Stadder, Cottondale, probably knew Mason, sold all kinds of weapons.

Q: Is that what he was doing say in 63? Was he still doing a lot of gun?

A: Oh, yeah.

Q: Who would somebody like that be running guns to and from? Around 63?

A: Most of them to you know, most of them, that was the, you know, the Cuban

groups. They were about the only ones that were in the business of buying guns.

I mean, same way as like you know Reynolds, he probably sold guns to Reynolds

too. Reynolds had a big, he had a big facility down there.

Q: What was Bayard's description? Do you have any photos of him, do you?

Q: Yeah.

Q: How does he, what does he look like? Do you remember?

A: Well,

Q: I know it has been a long time.

A: Well, yeah, you know he looks like, he was a typical, he looked like a typical

American, you know. Uh, he looks like, maybe like a little younger version of

McKeon, one of those guys. But, nothing about his appearance you know that

makes him stand out.

Q: You knew Thomas Mason?

A: John. Well I didn't know him, we sent a lot of stuff over to him back and forth

Q: You had never seen him?

A: No. So we sent a lot of stuff back and forth to him. We got a lot of ammunition

from him. We did a lot of reloading. We did a lot of reloading.

Q: Did you ever meet him in person? Mason?

A: No.

Q: Over what period of time did you sent him and currently do, have dealings with

him, during the 61, 62, 63, 64?

A: Up until, well we didn't have any dealings with him, we didn't have any dealings

with him after probably uh, maybe, 64, 65 something like that.

Q: How did you find out he was partners with Harralson?

A: We had heard he was partners with him.

Q: So that was just kind of the rumor mill?

A: Yeah.

Q: That they were in it together?

A: He's partners with Harralson. I would swear to that.

Q: In November, November 3rd, where the unregistered license in --, ammunition,

John Thomas Mason had went to prison, November of 1963.

Q: He was at the county jail, I mean the city jail when Oswald came in.

Q: That is right.

Q: Oh absolutely.

Q: Oh yeah he went to prison.

A: How long was he in? Do you know?

Q: A couple of three years, wasn't he?

A: Federal rap?

Q: Probably Federal.

A: Was it a ATF deal?

Q: Another one of these guys

A: Did they have, excuse me, good solid evidence against him?

Q: Yeah.

Q: For unregistered ammunition, that is what they got him on.

Q: I think they got him once for selling an automatic, wasn't it?

Q: Yeah. But not, it was November

A: I thought he was a Class 3 dealer.

Q: Maybe it was who he sold it to.

A: Oh, maybe that is right.

When he was killed.

Q: When Bayard was killed?

A: He was killed

Q: He was shot July 3rd.

Q: It was in 75 also when Serraphin was killed, right?

A: He was killed in October.

Q: OK.

A: Bayard was killed in July.

Q: OK.

A: Hoffa was killed in July.

Q: Where was Bayard killed? Do you know?

A: Atlanta.

Q: Oh, that is right, that was the

A: I was with

Q: That was on Oak and

A: We got covered up, I remember that. Flew him over there.

Q: I will look bad in front of the microphone, when I get back.

Q: Now on Eschavera, cause that is who we are particularly interested in. Gary, how

would you describe him physically? If you had to give a description of him?

A: Well, he didn't look as, he didn't look as Latin as, well Montoya didn't exactly look

Latin, I mean Montoya looked like, he looked like he might have been some other

extraction. It was hard to say from his accent, course he might have been. But

he didn't look, Eschavera, didn't look as, he didn't look as

Q: Can you pronounce that, cause I always mis-pronounce it?

A: Eschavera, Etchaparia, Homer Etchaparia. Uh, he didn't look, he wasn't as Latin

as he actually --

What the hell was the name of the lawyer that moved down from, came down from

Chicago, Paulino?

Q: Sierra?

Q: Yeah Sierra.

A: He was a, he knew him very well. And he was in part of his program and he had,

at one time, had some kind of an obscure job with United Car Company,

something like that, and he was trying to, get away, I think from the traditional

Cuban image. He was trying to improve his, trying to improve his image, you

know, and he spoke quite

Q: He was more Anglo?

A: Yeah, right. He was a, he would like to appear, cause he sort of looked like a, he

looked more like an Anglo.

Q: Again, do you remember like height, weight?

A: No.

Q: Any kind of appearance?

A: No, nothing unusual. Except, I would say he was bigger than, I started to say

bigger than most Cubans. But some of them were pretty big. Uh, he was

probably he is taller than I am. He is probably 5'7", something like that.

Q: So he was like taller than Montoya maybe?

A: Yeah. No, he wasn't taller than Montoya. Montoya, was uh, Montoya was a little

bit taller than I am.

Q: So you think maybe about the same height?

A: Yeah. About the same height. You know 170 lbs. probably, you know.

Q: Dark hair?

A: Oh yeah, dark, dark hair.

Q: I always have to ask that because I see that picture of Dee Aslantans.

A: Yeah. No, dark hair, not Hispanic, not too dark, not too dark a complexion. Like

he had a little, sight mixture of Caucasian and Cuban. But nothing that made him

stand out except he wore dark glasses, which

Q: That is unusual.

A: Yeah, he wore glasses. And, I don't think, well Bayard wore glasses too.

Q: Like in Dallas that day were either of them wearing glasses that day, do you

remember?

A: Yeah, they both were wearing glasses. I think they wore glasses all the time.

Q: When you are like me you have to.

A: I did too. But most of the time.

Q: Let me ask you some other things. These are other things that are like mentioned

in the manuscript, just want to get a little more detail on them. Did you ever meet

E. Howard Hunt, or just know him by reputation?

A: Oh yeah, I met him, you know, but I mean I met him back there quite a ways back.

When he was involved in the Bay of Pigs before he got, well he got into, he got

into a hassle with, with uh, someone else, I forget who it was. Somebody higher,

somebody

Q: Yeah there was a big flack.

A: There was a big flap and they brought in a guy by the name of, I think his name

was Engineer, I remember. Cause he talked that xxxx quite a bit. I think his name

was Will Car, I believer it is and he, now this guy came in and he really spoke, he

really spoke very, very you know fluent Spanish. I mean, he spoke Spanish like

a native.

Q: Now was this the guy who kind of replaced Hunt, or not?

A: Yeah he replaced Hunt in the Bay of Pigs.

Q: When did you first meet Hunt?

A: Bout the, he of course I don't think he was, I don't remember him being down in,

I don't remember seeing him in Quatemala in 54. Probably when they were

getting ready for the, probably when they were getting ready for the Bay of Pigs.

And he was in and out of,he was in and out of Miami all that time before they took

those guys and took them down to, you know, right to the, they were staying in

Opelika at that time and they had a barracks up down there. And they

Q: How would you kind of run into him? Where would you see him?

A: He would go, he was very, very close to the, he was very, very close to the

Cubans you know. And uh, he was using that, he was using a name uh,

Q: Edwardo.

A: Edwardo, yeah, they called him, the, he was Edwardo. And they were always

talking about him always talking about Edwardo. You know, and so, I didn't know,

I didn't realize probably until a few months later that his name was really E.

Howard Hunt. You know, Everet Howard Hunt.

Q: Some people didn't realize it until 70.

A: So I didn't really know that, I didn't really know that that was what his name was.

You know, but, I, we found out that, you know, that that was what it was where

they had this flap on with Car and somebody mentioned that you know, they said

hey, there is you know, the guy who is, I don't know whether it was, I don't know

whether it was Tracy Barnes that couldn't get along with him. Or, maybe it was

Bissell himself.

Q: Did you run into Hunt after the Bay of Pigs? Do you remember?

A: I remember -- to the Bay of Pigs. Uh, I don't know whether he came out, I don't

know whether he was, I don't think he went out to California or not when he came

out there to, they came out to Dr. Fielding's office. And, Gordon Liddy was out

there though and Eugeno Martinez was out there. And somebody else.

Somebody came in and said he was a detective and came in and said he was

from Technical Services Division and needs photographic work done. And some

processing and we had a really good processing film, but I am not sure what or

not that, what connections, what kind. I certainly didn't have any close connection.

Q: Cause I was going to ask you if you had heard from that Martinez Sturges?

A: Yeah. Well, yeah Sturgis, I sort of I met him. But there again, I really never had

anything to do with Sturgis, or Martinez either, because although I mean he was

a legend down there and was going back and forth to Havana all the time. You

know, and Bernard Barker, oh yeah, he was another one that was out there in

California.

Q: Yeah.

A: I didn't, I never knew him either.

Q: How about Perry Williams or Arteme?

A: No.

Q: Manuel Ortega?

A: No, you mean the golden boy?

Q: Yep.

A: Well, you know the problem is, I really think I think I really knew him at one time

because uh, he was partners or somebody he knew. He was partners with Bee

Bee Reboso in a meat processing plant or something there in Miami. And when

I saw pictures later of him, you know, and it just seemed like that that was that.

But I don't really know one way or the other or not.

Q: I know we have talked about some of these people like Christian Dobeed and

those people, did you ever know any of those guys? Who were you know

involved in that French connection? Kind of? Drug smuggling thing? Some of

that went up like through Montreal, like Sartee, you know these names better than

I would. Belard, any of those guys?

A: Except the one we, that we learned through, when we got the official, when the

examined, they did the study in Atlanta, why all those guys were dying.

Q: Thats, did you reach him there?

A: See, what happened is so, the guy came in one day, he came in the office there

in at the hospital and said hey I got, I really got something for you here. And, the

point is that he has got this, for your eyes only, for the Wardens eyes only, study

of, for the FBI, study of why eleven people were killed in five days in Atlanta. See,

I still have got the report. You will find that fascinating reading.

Q: That would be interesting.

A: Because they got diagrams of the thing and how, boy the way they use, this guy

was chocked to death. This guy, got him with a hatchet. This guy was burned

to death. And they were all, they never used the same method. Well but one I

really, that really thought was how they did, how they killed Orceede. Dominick

Orceede. Uh, they said that he was part of the, he was in the witness protection

program, but, the prison authorities at Atlanta had not been advised, and so they

didn't stick him. They put him out in the population. Well they killed him. Vincent

Poppa, they killed him the same day. But some of them they found out who they

were. I mean, what happened, some of them were out and out contracts, that was

left there in the institution and they --

The only thing that he would shrink from. Anything else he didn't.

Q: He would do?

A: He would do anything at all and liked doing it. I mean he made, he made a

fortune in real estate and didn't mean a thing to him. I mean, you could talk to

him, he would make a, he would sell some property, make money, -- but you

mention a scam to him. I don't care if it was you know, minor or not, and his eyes

would light up. He, I think he, I think he really, I think that is what kept him alive.

He would complain to me, the press was bothering, the press was harassing me

but, I am nothing but a bootlegger. I haven't done nothing in my life, you know,

they were running around with a suitcase full of stolen securities, you know, we are

trying to sell.

Q: Speaking with Lemoy too, how did he feel about Robert Kennedy's crack down

on organized crime? Was he as much of a target? Did he like, I would assume

he would be kind of pissed off.

A: Well he was. And, of course, he was, he you know, he thought he was

grandstanding and he said that you know he had often commented about the fact

that, hell Joe Kennedy made his fortune you know, in doing that and he had all

these bootlegging friends and everything, why should they treat me any different

than say the Rosenfields or the Bonthans? I mean, we were all in the same

business at that time. And, of course, he simply detested Kennedy.

Q: Bobby?

A: Bobby

Q: Bobby more than John?

A: Yeah. Either one of them and he said oh they are grandstanding and this and

that and the other. Trying to make hay out of us and he would say of course, hey

look, they are harassing us. See, he would say that. They were harassing him.

Q: What do you think, just personally think, about all the theories that organized crime

was basically behind Kennedy's assignation?

A: Well,

Q: Or did you ever hear any of the talk in those kind of terms?

A: Well, they certainly, they were interested in --

In that they wasn't the type of --

I think, my own personal opinion, is they would have done it --

Between all of the intelligence agencies and organized crime. And disorganized

crime, criminals of all stripes, they went very, very deep. And they scratched each

others backs. But you will find, you will never find a Mafia hit like the Kennedy

assignation. They do not hit that way. I mean, they, they they do not. It is just

like the example of how they killed Albert Anastasia. OK. They go up behind

Albert Anastasis, they shot him eleven times. Or shoot eleven times. Standing

right behind him. Five shots miss, and of the other shots, only the final shot, is

fatal. The Mafia, none of those Mafia killers, are really, really skilled like snipers

and that sort of thing. They can't depend on that. They depend on up close and

personal. They depend on bombs and so forth. And, but any other reason I

would say hey, the organized crime per se, didn't do it, but, they did, they would

say they might, they might utilize someone else you know. Now Harralson, of

course, he shot Wood, he shot him with a rifle. Didn't he?

Q: Uh, huh.

A: How far away was he? Do you know?

Q: Was he close?

A: Fairly close.

Q: I would, he was, it sticks in my mind he was close enough that it was an easy rifle

shot.

A: What was he doing? Getting in his car or something?

Q: Yeah, getting in his car.

Q: Seems to me, like he wasn't over 75 yards.

A: Yeah, well, thats point blank.

Q: That is point blank.

A: Yeah, with a rifle. So, I would, if I tell you this, if somebody like, I will comment on

the person I knew best, that was Licabaldi. Licabaldi was typical of those guys

that had, that had, was involved in three of the most sensational murders in the

twentieth century. He was a principal, he had planned, he had planned, he had

probably been responsible for killing 100 people.

Q: Are you stating it?

A: I am talking about the murder of Jerry Buckley, in Detroit, the crusading radio

commentator, who played both sides of the street, you know, just like Jake Lingle

did in Chicago. He was friends, he took money and then decided he would turn

on them. The second one was the killing of the beer baron of Toledo, who's name

was Jackie Kennedy, he shot him. Killed him and his four body guards, that is

what Yoni Vicaboldi, his brother, went to prison for. And of course, the third and

the most famous was the St. Valentines Day Massacre, you know, because they

were the ones that, it was because of them, you know, it was their trucks that

Buggs Moran --

Told that there was going to be a incident created and it was going to be in Miami.

Then we it was the thing changed, and they -- got to be changed and either got

to be in San Antonio or Houston, or Dallas, or someplace like that. These people

but they never, ever --

Creates some problems for these, for --

And after that, there won't be any more romancing between Kennedy and Castro.

I never heard the word.

Q: Who is they?

A: Well it came, who, the guy was talking about that, was

Q: Who was telling you?

A: Philip Twombly was telling us. Also, things came from Frances Sherry --

Ex-CIA guy that was down in, was down in Mexico. And, we were hearing from,

we heard it from a lot of different sources. We heard from Lee Echols, there was

a

Q: Who was Lee Echols?

A: Lee Echols was an ex-CIA guy that was living in San Diego at that time. I don't

think

Q: -- (can't hear) we had something very similar right here, it was planned just

before the Kennedy visit here, we have got some police department memos,

where the, they were planning, where General Walker, wasn't he the -- and his

group were planning to create an incident and blame it, make it appear and it was

Les Winters doing it. And we have got it right out here, on police memos.

Q: Police memos.

A: Well that was essentially

Q: It was like Echols and Twomley and Sheridan.

A: Echols, Twomley, as a matter of fact, I don't think, whoever, Echols was the guy

that said hey, that we are getting, we are getting this stuff from, comes right down

from Desmond Fitzgerald who is the, who is now the, is chief of the Cuban desk

at Langley. Now, Desmond Fitzgerald, had come back from the Far East, he had

been the, he had been chief of station, I mean division chief of the far east division,

which is a plum, I mean boy, I mean, you want, that is what yo want to be.

Coming back to take over the Cuban desk, at Langley, in my opinion, and

everybody else I talked to, was like almost like a demotion for him. And they were

saying that, I never, I couldn't , I couldn't swear I have said, I have said in the

book, and it is my own personal opinion, I have said in the book that David

Fitzgerald, Gordon Meyer, were responsible for somebody high up in the CIA, had

to know, it wasn't some rogue agents, some rouge agents, they wouldn't really

take this on their own, I don't believe that they would. I don't think they could, I

don't believe they could at all. Maybe they could, maybe they couldn't. So, there

is a hell of a lot in there that is supposition from what people are telling me, what

they were telling us and what people who are now most, a lot of people are now

dead. Gordon Meyer I think is still alive. Course naturally he would swear up and

down this is blasphemy. I mean, this is, this is taking a man with an honorable,

long career, you know, and black balling him. And if you were wrong about it, you

would sure hate, you would sure as hell hate to do it.

Q: That is why I wanted to find out from you, cause I wanted to distinguish

here what people had told you or what you had tried to figure out for

yourself? And just try to get a good feel for that?

A: A lot of it is you know, a lot of it is what people say, comes to piecemeal, it is just

like, it is just like when Twombly says we will, he says to you, hey look I giving you

this money to do this. Now you are going to be contacted by somebody and this

guy is Ok, his name is so and so, he is coming to get this. Now, make this guy

up, you know, give this guy identification, do this, do that, or now we want you to,

forge, we want you to forge some money. Not American money. Although we did

have the plates.

Q: I will turn off the recorder.

A: No, no, no.

Q: I will bet Cuban money though, right?

A: Yeah, Cuban money, Chilean money.

Q: I meant to ask you, when you all were in, you know, from like Arizona to Dallas,

and back, I think do you have anybody you were supposed to contact if you had

a big problem or anything like that?

A: Not anybody locally no.

Q: I mean nationally?

A: Oh, well, we always had, we would, we always had like for instance, Twombly. We

would call Twombly. Twombly, of course, you know, he owned a bank. I mean,

he could, there was no doubt that if you had any kind of problem that money

would solve, you could

Q: He could do it.

Q: Is he still alive?

A: I don't know. He asked me the same thing. Probably is. I will find out as soon

as I get back. He had a big ranch in Fullerton and so I have a feeling. I know he,

I know he was alive up in the 1980's. And he really wasn't that old, although he

had been around a long time, and he had been a vice president, executive vice

president of Coca-Cola, he was an executive vice president of Coca-Cola when he

was 29 years old. You know in charge of Caribbean operations and so, he

probably, chances are, he is probably still alive. But he would only be three years

older than I am, you know. So he is probably, a lot of those guys from Bank

America area still, those guys from Bank of America who also were alive are still

alive, had matter of fact, they, one of their names came up the other day, because

they helped form BCCI.

Q: Yeah.

Q: It all comes around.

A: So they had that, so a lot of those guys, I don't know whether they are alive or

not, because I never had any reason, I never had any reason to contact them or

anything. But, when I go back, I will try to find them. I promised Gary that I would

try to get everybody that I can think of, that will be able to tell him something

about me. Some of them may say, hey wait a minute. Including, I have to

mention, I will get the attorney, the attorneys that you know I had talked to, they

represented me at various stages, one of whom is now the commissioner of

insurance for the state of California. Uh, the judge who sentenced me, who saw

the, who saw and read the CIA file. And as you remember, you, when you talked

to Sue, you remember she told you what happened with that, they came down

there with two big, thick files, I mean they were thick and let one guy read one

sentence out of there, all it said was that Chauncy Holmes, Ernie Siegler, John

Armoo, William Dean Ruts, right down the line, are not now and never have been

employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. That is all they said. And, of

course, that, so they left them read that in, and they wouldn't let the, wouldn't let

my attorney cross examine him, or do anything. He just got up, the agents got

up and read this into the record. What they do --

(End of Tape)

[Dawn Meredith]

[quote name='Lamar Waldron' date='Sep 23 2006, 08:48 AM' post='75632']

Mr. Waldron:

How do you reconcile the efforts by President Kennedy- via Lisa Howard, McGeorge Bundy, Willian Attwood, and Carlos Lechuga-toward peaceful co-existencewith Castro, with a simultanous plot to murder him?

Thank You,

Dawn Meredith

[Wim Dankbaar]

As a noted historian told me recently, at this point, wide publicity is Commander Almeida's best protection, so Fidel cannot take action against him in secret, as he did in 1990.

Why would Castro have any second thoughts about prosecuting a traitor that conspired with his enemies to overthrow him? Why would he even want to do that in secret? The arrows of logic missed me here.

Wim

[Lamar Waldron]

Dear Mr. Waldron,

A few questions:

- Have you found any witnesses to confirm the top secret Kennedy plan to overthrow Cuba?

“The Plan for a Coup in Cuba” (as it was titled in a memo for the Joint Chiefs of Staff) would include a “palace coup” to eliminate Castro, allowing a new Cuban “Provisional Government” to step into the power vacuum, and would be supported by a “full-scale invasion” of Cuba by the US military, if necessary."

If they were planning an all out invasion within a month, how could only a dozen people know about the plan?

Who were these people besides the Kennedy brothers?

- Who orchestrated the cover-up / Warren Commission and why?

- What is your opinion on Chauncey Holt and Charles Harrelson? Do you agree Harrelson worked for Marcello and Giancana?

- Why did your partner Thom Hartmann interview Holt once and never published anything about it?

- If you implicate Roselli, do you agree that Giancana was involved too?

- Are in your scenario Marcello, Roselli and Trafficante the puppetmasters who pulled all the strings on the operation?

Thank you,

Wim Dankbaar

I think these questions may have been written by someone who hasn't read the entire book, but I'm happy to answer them.

Have you found any witnesses to confirm the top secret Kennedy plan to overthrow Cuba?

Several documented Kennedy associates, starting with Dean Rusk in 1990, as we detailed in the hardback of Ultimate Sacrifice. Keep in mind that Rusk confirmed the coup plan "on the record" to Vanity Fair, shortly before his death.

Also, we were told all the main information--and we talked about it on the record and on tape--before all the document releases of the mid to late 1990s (and documents are still trickling out). We talked about it in our ASK JFK conference presentations in 1993 and 1994 (both taped; anyone who has copies is welcome to circulate them for research purposes), to Vanity Fair 1994, on the History Channel in 1994, and in my written submission to the Review Board in November 1994. In that submission, I talked about a "Plan for a Coup in Cuba" in the Fall of 1963 and it was (I believe) two or three years before any documents from 1963 with that title where released. Also in that November 1994 submission, I told them for the first time about the Tampa assassination plot of November 18, 1994. As detailed in their Final Report, in January 1995, the Secret Service admitted at that time that they had just destroyed records for motorcades (which would include Tampa) in the weeks before Dallas.

After those publicity presentations in 1993 and 1994, Commander Almeida (Chief of the Cuban Army in Nov. 1963) resurfaced after having disappeared for several years (since 1990). Our sources had thought he was dead. Hence, Thom and had to pull back on our public efforts at that point.

"The Plan for a Coup in Cuba" (as it was titled in a memo for the Joint Chiefs of Staff) would include a "palace coup" to eliminate Castro, allowing a new Cuban "Provisional Government" to step into the power vacuum, and would be supported by a "full-scale invasion" of Cuba by the US military, if necessary." If they were planning an all out invasion within a month, how could only a dozen people know about the plan?

As the book explains, and the documents show, many of those doing the planning (like Rusk) in the summer and fall of 1963 were told the planning was just in case a high Cuban official was found who could stage the coup. Those official were also aware of efforts to try to locate a high official like that (AMTRUNK, CIA-DIA Task Force, Cubela, etc.). As Rusk told me in 1990, he only learned soon after JFK's death that the planning had been for real, that the Kennedys already had a very high Cuban official lined up, far more powerful than Cubela. Rusk said he wasn't angry that JFK and RFK had kept that from him, because it would have been impossible to keep secret otherwise. Rusk would have probably had to tell his subordinates; Rusk--like McNamara--was a high profile public official at the time, constantly talking to the press.

If an official like Rusk had been told months or even weeks earlier about Commander Almeida, he would have been in a difficult position with the press or his subordinates or even other Cabinet officials who hadn't been told, if one of them had asked about rumors that might have surfaced.

Plus, as I document in the book (a bit more fully in the new trade paperback, but it's also on the Mary Ferrell website), it appears that Rusk, McNamara, and some other Cabinet level officials would have been told just a few days prior to the coup. They likely would have been told that the US efforts to find someone to stage a coup had paid off, and all the plans they had all already signed off on were ready to be put to use.

Finally, keep in mind this was always supposed to appear to be a "palace coup" by Commander Almeida and his allies, with US forces being "invited" to help prevent a Soviet take-over. It was never supposed to be known the Kennedys had been working with Commander Almeida since May 1963 and were behind the whole thing. That would also protect the Kennedys if the coup had failed.

Who were these people besides the Kennedy brothers?

Some are named in the book. They would include Cyrus Vance, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Maxwell Taylor, CIA DIA Chief Carroll, McCone, Helms, FitzGerald, Enrique "Harry" Ruiz-Williams, and others.

Who orchestrated the cover-up / Warren Commission and why?

Again, as the book explains and documents prove, RFK was directing a secret committee in the weeks before Dallas (since September 1963), making plans for what to do if an American official was assassinated. Those plans weren't complete--and those doing the planning never imagined the "American official" might be JFK--but the thinking behind those plans no doubt influenced the actions of key officials after JFK's death. Starting with RFK, who was calling the shots at the autopsy. Remember, with RFK at Bethesda in the family suite (I believe on the 17th floor) were JFK aides Powers and O'Donnell, who had witnessed the shots from the grassy knoll.

McCone and Helms withheld info from the Warren Commission, as did RFK. Hoover wasn't officially part of the coup planning, but had no doubt picked up information about it from informants. LBJ had been out of the loop, and had to be quickly brought up to speed on the real coup plan, Cubela, AMTRUNK, and the CIA-Mafia plots. All knew that if the coup plan leaked, not only would in cost the life of America's ally, Commander Almeida, but just a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, could have triggered another nuclear confrontation with the Soviets.

What is your opinion on Chauncey Holt and Charles Harrelson? Do you agree Harrelson worked for Marcello and Giancana?

I think court testimony and other evidence shows at least that Harrelson worked for an associate of Marcello, and knew an associate of Jack Ruby.

Why did your partner Thom Hartmann interview Holt once and never published anything about it?

We did not find his claims about being one of the tramps to be credible. And, he admitted forging documents to back up his claim.

What little he knew that wasn't widely available in various books, he could have obtained from obscure sources or other associates, like Col. Robert Bayard or Aldo Vera Serafin. There is no evidence Bayard or Serafin was involved in JFK's assassination, but each man did know someone who did have some knowledge (like Artime). Holt put himself at the scene of each of those murders, both of which I believe are still unsolved (Bayard's slaying was in Atlanta). But I take anything Holt ever said with a huge grain of salt.

If you implicate Rosselli, do you agree that Giancana was involved too?

I don't just implicate Rosselli, but I think he was one of the three main Mafia bosses behind the assassination.

However, Giancana--like Hoffa--was under heavily federal surveillance in the fall of 1963, and thus could have no active role. That would fall to Rosselli, who would neutralize surveillance while working on the CIA-Mafia plots with Morales and--as documents withheld from Congress show--Artime.

Regarding Giancana, despite the heavy surveillance, the FBI appears not to have known that the #2 man in the Cook County/Chicago sheriff's office--Richard Cain--was a "made" member of the Mafia actually working for Giancana. Cain was also a CIA asset, and had learned about the coup plan. Cain was also in position to frame Secret Service agent Abraham Bolden, to keep him from telling Warren Commission staff about Secret Service laxity, the Chicago attempt, and (most importantly) the Tampa attempt (which the Warren Commission had heard nothing).

Are in your scenario Marcello, Rosselli and Trafficante the puppetmasters who pulled all the strings on the operation?

Sure, for all the reasons I document in Section II of the hardback (and trade paperback); and they used the people I document in the book. In the CIA that went at least as high as David Morales, though there were others below his level. For those higher, the evidence is not nearly as clear and their is exculpatory evidence as well for those officials. For example, while it's clear McCone, FitzGerald, Helms, and Angleton were involved in the cover-up, so was RFK. Plus, Helms had withheld so much (ongoing CIA-Mafia plots, trying to use Cubela as an assassin, etc.) from McCone, he had to cover that up as well.

And, as I note in the book, it soon became clear to Helms that one or more of his people had been involved in the assassination, and he did take some action to deal with that.

On the other hand, I don't think Helms would have allowed all the incriminating documents that have been released to survive (especially after he became CIA Director) if he had been an active participant in JFK's assassination. As I note in the book, Helms was meeting with RFK as late as 1967 to discuss withholdinbg information from LBJ. Remember, there are a million CIA files related to the JFK assassination that have been identified, but that are still secret.

No matter what anyone believes about the assassination, I think we should all join together in demanding the release of those one million files as soon as possible, now that Almeida's identity no longer has to be protected. I'm certainly willing to follow the evidence wherever it leads. And I'm confident the files will continue to support what Kennedy associates started telling me back in 1990, before any of the military or CIA or State Department files about the 1963 coup plans were released.

Likewise, I'm confident those files will contain additional information corroborating the innocence of Abraham Bolden.

[Wim Dankbaar]

We did not find his claims about being one of the tramps to be credible. And, he admitted forging documents to back up his claim.

What little he knew that wasn't widely available in various books, he could have obtained from obscure sources or other associates, like Col. Robert Bayard or Aldo Vera Serafin. There is no evidence Bayard or Serafin was involved in JFK's assassination, but each man did know someone who did have some knowledge (like Artime). Holt put himself at the scene of each of those murders, both of which I believe are still unsolved (Bayard's slaying was in Atlanta). But I take anything Holt ever said with a huge grain of salt.

Very interesting. Did you meet Chauncey yourself? Or was it just Thom Hartmann? Why did you and Thom not discredit him at the time? Is it not important to expose bogus claims, especially when you find the evidence? He admitted forging documents to back up his claims? And you didn't volunteer to say this when he was alive? Why would he admit that to you anyway if he wanted his claims to be believed? Is it correct that the only thing we have to believe that, is your word? Cause he's not around anymore to contest this extremely self incriminating claim, is he?

Why was Thom Hartmann so concerned to have that interview removed from the Internet? Why did he never answer my question why he moved so swiftly to get it erased when I made him aware of it? If Chauncey makes such a mockery of himself in that interview, why don't you share the rest of the interview with us?

So who according to you were the three tramps? By the way Chauncey never implicated Bayard in the assassination. Aldo Vera Serafin yes. Or rather, he saw him in a car in the parking lot behind the picket fence at some point. Was Aldo Vera implicated in a book before? Which one?

From which books could Chauncey have learned that Philip Twombly and George Reynolds were the spymasters working with Guy Bannister to frame Lee Harvey Oswald? From which books did he learn that Frank Belcher and Joe Ball were important CIA assets on the West Coast? From which book did he learn they owned a holiday mansion in Acapulco? Is it your belief he could not have learned it because he was put there during the Warren Commision? You say he knew little. For how long did you talk with him then?

Was it just Chauncey's luck that he looks so much as the tramp with the hat? he discovered it and said to himself : Hey, let's weave a story around that, right? And then he managed to have the best facial experts in the country corroborate him, right?

Wim

Edited September 25, 2006 by Wim Dankbaar

[Guest Mark Valenti]

Was it just Chauncey's luck that he looks so much as the tramp with the hat? he discovered it and said to himself : Hey, let's weave a story around that, right? And then he managed to have the best facial experts in the country corroborate him, right?

Wim

Wouldn't you say this looks a lot like the older tramp?

[J. Raymond Carroll]

Dear Mr. Waldron,

A few questions:

- Have you found any witnesses to confirm the top secret Kennedy plan to overthrow Cuba?

“The Plan for a Coup in Cuba” (as it was titled in a memo for the Joint Chiefs of Staff) would include a “palace coup” to eliminate Castro, allowing a new Cuban “Provisional Government” to step into the power vacuum, and would be supported by a “full-scale invasion” of Cuba by the US military, if necessary."

If they were planning an all out invasion within a month, how could only a dozen people know about the plan?

Who were these people besides the Kennedy brothers?

Thank you,

Wim Dankbaar

I think these questions may have been written by someone who hasn't read the entire book, but I'm happy to answer them.

Have you found any witnesses to confirm the top secret Kennedy plan to overthrow Cuba?

Several documented Kennedy associates, starting with Dean Rusk in 1990, as we detailed in the hardback of Ultimate Sacrifice. Keep in mind that Rusk confirmed the coup plan "on the record" to Vanity Fair, shortly before his death.

How could onlya dozen people know about the plan? good logical point by Wim.

According to Arthur Schlesinger, JFK had lost confidence in Rusk and planned to fire his sorry ass after the elections, if not before. Schlesinger was an insider, besides being a scrupulous historian. Why would JFK confide in a man (Rusk) he did not trust?