Questions for Manuel Ray

[Pat Speer]

Lamar, I know that RFK said it to Haynes Johnson but how do you interpet the statement?

Clearly Johnson had no "guys".

Your comment would be appreciated.

Tim, as Johnson was co-writing a book on the Bay of Pigs with several of the Brigade's leaders, to Kennedy, Johnson may have had any number of "guys".

[John Simkin]

Lamar, I know that RFK said it to Haynes Johnson but how do you interpet the statement?

Clearly Johnson had no "guys".

Your comment would be appreciated.

Tim, as Johnson was co-writing a book on the Bay of Pigs with several of the Brigade's leaders, to Kennedy, Johnson may have had any number of "guys".

Pat is of course right about this. In 1963 Haynes Johnson was working on the book, "The Bay of Pigs: The Leaders' Story of Brigade 2506". In the book, Johnson makes it clear it was co-written by Manuel Artime, Jose Perez San Roman, Erneido Oliva and Enrique Ruiz-Williams (their names actually appear on the title page). Robert Kennedy knew about this book and when he used the term "guys" he was refering to Artime, Roman, Oliva and Ruiz-Williams.

According to Gene Wheaton, Chi Chi Quintero was involved in the assassination of JFK. In 1963, Quintero was Artime's deputy. Wheaton also argues that the assassination team had initially been trained to kill Castro but had been redirected towards JFK by CIA official, Carl Jenkins. It is also interesting that within a couple of hours of the assassination, RFK asked John McCone, if any of his "guys" did it. Therefore, is it possible that RFK had some sort of knowledge of what Jenkins and Artime were up to in 1963?

[Lamar Waldron]

News reports, CIA files, and Bobby Kennedy's phone logs show that in 1963 Bobby was working closely with a Cuban exile veteran from the Bay of Pigs, in plans to overthrow Castro. This Cuban exile had been wounded at the Bay of Pigs and after being released because of his injuries, he worked with Bobby to get all of the Bay of Pigs prisoners released. Most exiles knew him as Enrique Ruiz-Williams, though Bobby called him "Enrico" Williams. Americans often called him "Harry Williams" or "Harry Ruiz-Williams." Though he tried to work behind the scenes and stay out of the news, do you recall hearing about this man? Do you recall if you - or your subordinates or associates - talked to him?

[David Talbot]

Lamar, I know that RFK said it to Haynes Johnson but how do you interpet the statement?

Clearly Johnson had no "guys".

Your comment would be appreciated.

Actually, Haynes Johnson wrote about it in TWO different ways in the Washington Post -- originally, when he wrote about the incident in 1981, he reported that Bobby told Ruiz Williams, not him. In his later article, in 1983, as Lamar points out, Johnson said Bobby was talking to HIM. I interviewed Johnson about this last year to clear up the confusion. He now insists that Bobby was talking to Ruiz Williams, as he originally reported. But he also strongly believes that Bobby did not mean to implicate Ruiz Williams in particular -- in fact, they remained friends after the assassination. Johnson believes that RFK was simply referring to Cuban exiles in general. I have another theory: I think that by the time Bobby talked to Ruiz Williams, he might have already heard that Oswald had been arrested -- and RFK associated Oswald with the anti-Castro Cuban exile effort. Johnson himself implied this in one of his Wash Post pieces, but not in my interview. This is intriguing of course, because it raises the question, how did Bobby know the name Oswald and his political background on Nov. 22?

[Pat Speer]

Lamar, I know that RFK said it to Haynes Johnson but how do you interpet the statement?

Clearly Johnson had no "guys".

Your comment would be appreciated.

Actually, Haynes Johnson wrote about it in TWO different ways in the Washington Post -- originally, when he wrote about the incident in 1981, he reported that Bobby told Ruiz Williams, not him. In his later article, in 1983, as Lamar points out, Johnson said Bobby was talking to HIM. I interviewed Johnson about this last year to clear up the confusion. He now insists that Bobby was talking to Ruiz Williams, as he originally reported. But he also strongly believes that Bobby did not mean to implicate Ruiz Williams in particular -- in fact, they remained friends after the assassination. Johnson believes that RFK was simply referring to Cuban exiles in general. I have another theory: I think that by the time Bobby talked to Ruiz Williams, he might have already heard that Oswald had been arrested -- and RFK associated Oswald with the anti-Castro Cuban exile effort. Johnson himself implied this in one of his Wash Post pieces, but not in my interview. This is intriguing of course, because it raises the question, how did Bobby know the name Oswald and his political background on Nov. 22?

Does anyone know when Oswald's run in with Bringuier was first reported? Is it possible Bobby saw it as the publicity stunt many now believe it to be?

[John Simkin]

Anymore questions for Manuel Ray?

[Pat Speer]

Anymore questions for Manuel Ray?

John, Mr. Ray answered all your questions, but none from anyone else. Was this an oversight? Is he coming back?