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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 8, 2020 8:13:21 GMT -5
427 Oswald's bogus birth certificate
If young Lee Oswald had actually attempted to fool the Marines,
as the HSCA seemed to conclude, it may explain yet another enduring
mystery about his identification records
Related:361 Navy officer Steel's reports on Lee Harvey Oswald
426 New Orleans French Hospital Oswald recordsA very curious incident was brought forth in the testimony of Marguerite Oswald before the Warren Commission […]. She was trying to explain an enigmatic letter that had been entered into evidence (CE 199). On October 2, 1955, a note signed by “Mrs. M. Oswald” was sent to Lee’s school, Warren Easton High, requesting that any of his records, including his birth certificate, be given to him, as the family would soon be moving to San Diego. Mrs. Oswald was quite resolute that she had not written this note. In October of 1955, Lee desired to join the Marine Corps. Marine recruits from New Orleans are sent to San Diego, and this note and its stated goal of assembling Lee’s identification documents seem to be indicative of his plans. However, he was only 16, a year younger than the generally acceptable age of enlistment. Despite this setback, Lee was adamant that he be given a chance. He informed his mother that he had dropped out of school with the intentions of enlisting. Marguerite testified: “So Lee was determined at age 16 and his birthday was going to be October 18th… that he was going to join the Marines. So what he wanted me to do was falsify his birth certificate. Which I would not do.' (…)  Marguerite Oswald
She discussed the situation with a “family friend,” prominent New Orleans attorney Clem Sehrt, who said he could offer her no legal advice, but stated “a lot of boys join the service at age 16.” She also talked to a uniformed military officer she randomly encountered. (...) Despite her reservations, and for reasons which remain unclear, Marguerite returned to Clem Sehrt, who evidently had a change of heart about his legal obligations surrounding Lee’s enlistment. “Lee’s birth records were in New Orleans, and I knew the authorities could easily check on this child, age 16- his birth record. So in order to have a happy situation, so I could work, and to see Lee, I went to an attorney and paid $5 and said that I lost Lee’s birth certificate, and kind of motioned to the attorney. I knew it would not stand up. I bought Lee a duffle bag and everything, and Lee went-we told him goodbye, and Lee was going to join the Marines. I had to accept that, gentlemen. There was no other way I could do, but accept the fact to let him go.” When asked at her testimony who the attorney was, Marguerite stated it was, indeed, Clem Sehrt, which elicited a sudden response from Warren Commission member Hale Boggs, US Representative from New Orleans, who stated he he knew Sehrt “very well.” Marguerite seemed rather shaken by this statement; indeed, these were the only words uttered by Boggs during her three days of testimony. She immediately switched gears and changed the subject. The topic of Lee’s bogus birth certificate was not discussed again.  Sehrt's law office was located in the Pere Marquette Building, the same building where David Ferrie worked for
lawyer G. Wray Gill, and where Jim Braden worked as an oil consultant in the fall of 1963.
The existence of the bogus birth certificate has never been conclusively verified, although the HSCA (the 1976- 1978 investigation into the assassination) had this to say on the matter: “While it is not entirely clear from her testimony, Mrs. Oswald apparently succeeded in getting Sehrt to assist her in securing for Lee a false birth certificate. Subsequently, she indicated, Sehrt apparently agreed with her that the falsified birth certificate “would not stand up” and that she should allow Lee to enter the Marines, but would at least mollify or humor him in his misguided intentions … Mrs. Oswald further stated that the Marines apparently discovered the erroneous birth certificate when Lee tried to enlist and that Lee returned home.” What the HSCA did not indicate, however, is that if a falsified birth certificate had been created and presented to the Marines, numerous laws had been broken, particularly by Sehrt, who procured (or created) a deceitful birth record with the intent of defrauding the US military for his own profit. Consistent with the selective nature of the investigational inquiry of the Warren Commission, the accusations made by Marguerite Oswald against Sehrt regarding this fraud were never scrutinized. It is no surprise that Hale Boggs should have known Sehrt “very well”: Sehrt was a very prominent and powerful New Orleans attorney with close political connections that led all the way to the state capital.13 He was also elected president of the very prosperous National American Bank of New Orleans in 1963. (...)  Oswald ca 1955If young Lee Oswald had actually attempted to fool the Marines, as the HSCA seemed to conclude, it may explain yet another enduring mystery about his identification records: why FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover believed there may have been an impostor using his birth certificate while he was in the USSR. Simply put, the government may have been alerted to a second document for Oswald years before the assassination. After Lee’s active duty had expired 1959, he received an honorable discharge and seemingly intended to attend college in Switzerland. He applied for and received a US passport to travel overseas. According to his mother, Lee had taken his birth certificate with him to Europe.22 By June 3 of 1960, Hoover had become alerted to the possibility that someone else was using Oswald’s birth certificate, releasing a document to the State Department requesting any information about the ex-Marine, who had then been living in the Soviet Union for eight months. It is unclear from the memo why Hoover suspected someone was using Oswald’s identification, other than a reference to the fact that he was expected to start school in Switzerland at the expected start date of April, 1960. This memo has caused considerable debate among assassination scholars. Did Hoover have evidence of another “Oswald” attempting to use a birth certificate? (...) In January of 1961, Gordon Lonsdale, a Soviet spy was caught in Great Britain passing military secrets to the Soviets. Upon arrest, Lonsdale (real name Konon Molodi), who spoke “perfect English,” possessed numerous pieces of fake ID, including counterfeit birth certificates and passports.24 It is possible that the Lonsdale affair rekindled the government’s interest in Oswald’s identification, for according to author Peter Whitmey: “On March 31, 1961, a memo was sent from the passport office to John White, an official at the consular section of the State Department… in regard to the possibility of an impostor obtaining Oswald’s passport (in addition to the likelihood that his birth certificate was in the hands of the Soviets)… Oswald’s file indicated “that it has been stated that there is an impostor using Oswald’s identification data…’” (...)  Richard Russell (right) did not want to serve on the Warren Commission
After the assassination of President Kennedy, Senator Richard Russell of the blue-ribbon Warren Commission panel had serious doubts about the findings, believing that there could have been a conspiracy. He enlisted the aid of Colonel Philip Corso, a former Army intelligence officer with “FBI connections”26 to perform some investigative work concerning Oswald’s background during the investigation. Corso reported to Russell that there were, according to William Sullivan, head of the FBI’s Domestic Intelligence Agency, two birth certificates for Lee Harvey Oswald and that one of the documents had been used by an impostor,27 which seemed to confirm Hoover’s 1960 statement. The existence and identification of this second “Oswald” has never been determined. (Excepts from Zach Jendro, The Possessions of Lee Harvey Oswald: Identification Documents, Debunked blog, 2014)
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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 10, 2020 12:05:32 GMT -5
428 The identity of a white Dodge driving gunrunner
429 The identities of four Dallas B&T division officers
Related:86 Army intelligence records on Fort Hood arms theft 93 Identity of Fort Hood gun deal informant Frank Ellsworth's investigation was coming to a head. On the evening of Nov. 18, 1963, the ATF agent was preparing to arrest John Thomas Masen. In his sworn testimony and a 1993 interview, Ellsworth recalled arranging with Masen to make a big buy of stolen guns -- the latest and best stuff, he had been assured. But again the FBI acted behind Ellsworth's back. Unbeknownst to the ATF agent, an FBI agent and four detectives of the Dallas Police Department were conducting a stakeout at a lonely intersection just blocks away. According to court records from the resulting criminal trial, the lawmen crouched in two unmarked cars watching a pale blue 1962 Thunderbird convertible pull up alongside a white Dodge. They saw two men get out and start passing a number of high-powered rifles and shotguns from the white car to the adjacent convertible.  Trunk & Main, Dallas. Here, on a small empty lot in 1963, a white Dodge and a Thunderbird where watched by
FBI agent Abernathy and four Dallas policemen.
When the Thunderbird pulled away, the FBI agent and two detectives radioed for help. Two Dallas police officers cruising nearby in their squad car followed radio instructions to arrest the men in the Thunderbird for a traffic violation. When the patrolmen turned on their toplight and honked for the Thunderbird to pull over, the convertible sped off. The ensuing chase through downtown traffic reached speeds of 60 mph. Five blocks later the Thunderbird sideswiped two cars, tried to make a left turn at full speed and crashed head on into a utility pole. The driver of the Thunderbird got out and managed to run some 30 feet before being tackled and arrested. His name was Donnell Darius Whitter. He worked at a local Texaco station where he fixed cars -- including that of Jack Ruby. The passenger in the blue Thunderbird was unable to leave the car. His face had smashed into the windshield. He was identified as Lawrence Reginald Miller. He was treated at the emergency room of Parkland Hospital and charged with multiple criminal violations arising out of the incident. After having his face stitched up, Miller was remanded to the Dallas city jail. ( Ray and Mary La Fontaine, The Fourth Tramp, Washington Post, 1994)  FBI Agent Joe B. Abernathy
“Having now missed or declined the option of an on-the-spot arrest,
the Dallas Police Department detectives made a seemingly curious choice”
The five crouching lawmen watched the two arrivals get out of the sports car, a 1962 Dodge convertible, and start passing weapons from the white car to the adjacent convertible. The impassive man in the dodge stared straight ahead. He did not move to help, and did not talk to the pair unloading the arms from his car. The cache of guns transferred from one vehicle to the other, it was found later, consisted of two .30 caliber Browning automatic rifles, two air-cooled . 30 caliber Browning machine guns, and one .45 caliber M-3 submarine gun. (…) Of the shady trio, the impassive man in the white Dodge presumably held the most interest for Agent Abernathy, since the driver of this car appeared to be one link closer in the chain to the Terrell armory break-in than the two men receiving the contraband weapons. But Abernathy wasn't making the calls this night. The stakeout was a Division of B&T operation and the tipped-off detectives had invited the agent along – he had ridden in one of their cars – in view of his ongoing investigation of the recent army burglary. Having now missed or declined the option of an on-the-spot arrest, the Dallas Police Department detectives made a seemingly curious choice. Despite being capable of puruing both cars with the two unmarked police vehicles at the site, they decided to follow only the guns. (…) It has not been determined who the man in the white Dodge was (the license number was never recorded), who provided the B&T division with the tip leading to the stakeout, or even who brought agent Abernathy with them that Monday. They did not appear later in court and their names were succesfully barred from the record. (Ray and Marie La Fontaine, Oswald Talked, s. 20-21) “The reference to a 1958 Dodge, which was to be destroyed,
could also have connected events in Winnipeg with gunrunning activities in Dallas”
 By the time Giesbrecht died in 1990, his story was never fully proven or discredited
One of the most important, given its proximity to the events of Feb. 13, 1964, is a seven-page, hand-written letter from Mr. Giesbrecht's lawyer, Harry Backlin (who had represented him and his brother in business dealings for several years) to Mr. John H. Morris, the U.S. Consulate General in Winnipeg, dated Feb. 18, 1964. The letter was headed "Absolutely Personal" and began: "Further to our recent telephone conversation in which I set forth certain personal and confidential information concerning the Oswald case. I am writing this memorandum because I do not wish the information herein contained to get into too many hands. I have your undertaking that this information shall be dealt with in the strictest confidence." Backlin pointed out "..Before passing the information on to you, I checked out the man and firmly believe that what he has divulged to me is fact." (As it turned out, the FBI ended up concluding that Giesbrecht had an overactive imagination.) The remainder of the letter outlines the comments which Mr. Giesbrecht had overheard and noted in writing (he tore up his notes while driving home, but his brother assisted him in rewriting them that evening.) Here are some excerpts: "On the afternoon of Feb. 13th my client, a salesman, had an appointment to meet a customer at the new International Airport. My client arrived early and sat in the cocktail lounge to have a drink. After finishing his drink he walked around the new building...then returned to the same table...Immediately behind him were seated two men who were not there previously...he could overhear them talking about the Oswald case. One of the men was wondering 'how much Oswald really knew' and 'how much does she know.' [This was undoubtedly a reference to Marina, who had testified before the Warren Commission on Feb. 4; her photo was on the cover of the most recent issue of Time.] A name was mentioned -- sounding like 'Isaacs' -- who was apparently seen on film after the landing.' [The FBI later wrote 'Love Field' next to this comment in the six-page report.] Further conversation could be heard in bits and pieces, such as...'if Oswald is found guilty the bureau will not stop investigation.' They talked about 'merchandise coming from Nevada...too risky in the past months. We'll have to close shop temporarily.' My client couldn't hear everything too clearly about the next matter but it related (to) the subject of 'mercury'." Reference was made in Backlin's detailed letter to a planned "sales meeting," the first "since November," to be held "in a place sounding like Townhouse in Kansas City". Mention was made of the names "Kellogg" and "Broadway," which turned out to be the main streets in downtown Wichita, KA, where the Townhouse Motor Hotel was located. It would appear that the proposed meeting was slated for March 18, and a "banquet room" had been reserved for the unidentified group in the name of a "textile firm". Backlin's client (not identified by name in the letter) recalled reference being made to "...the name of a person soundling like 'Hoffman" or "Hauckman" [Troy Houghton of the Minutemen perhaps?] in conjunction again with this man 'Isaacs'." Isaacs was to be relieved and the car destroyed [the FBI report identified it as a 1958 Dodge]. One of the men could clearly be overheard saying ' Isaacs, a man with such a good record would get involved with a psyco (sic)...like Oswald.'" This comment would suggest that "Isaacs" had become a liability to the group because of his connection to Oswald, and implies that the two men were primarily concerned with "guilt by association" in the assassination of JFK. (...) Given how thoroughly the FBI had checked out various leads related to Giesbrecht's allegations, it is hard to believe that the Dallas office overlooked Charles R. Isaacs, since his name would have been in their files once Ruby's notebook was examined. The reference to a 1958 Dodge, which was to be destroyed, could also have connected events in Winnipeg with gunrunning activities in Dallas, involving the transfer of stolen weapons from a Dodge to a Thunderbird, only days before the assassination (as described in Oswald Talked, with links to both Ruby and Oswald.) Although the Thunderbird had been seized and the occupants arrested, the Dodge and its driver (possibly Isaacs himself) managed to flee the scene. (Peter R. Whitmey, The Winnipeg Airport Incident Revisited, The Fourth Decade, 1999)
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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 11, 2020 12:15:26 GMT -5
430 Report on pre-Oswald-debate Stuckey FBI contact
See also:101 Forty pages of Priscilla MacMillan's HSCA interview192 Guy Banister's Files 203 New Orleans FBI security file on Oswald William K. Stuckey - Radio commentator at WDSU, New Orleans (now living in NYC). Interviewed LHO on two occassions in August of 1963 on “Latin listening post” and set up debate with Bringuier on “Conversations Carte Blanc.” Familiar with most Cuban groups in New Orleans at the time; says “checked with FBI on LHO, was told “they knew all about him.” ( HSCA 180-10128-10002 New Orleans)  A recording of radio program broadcast by WDSU radio in
New Orleans on August 20, 1963 was later commercially released.From "Marina and Lee," by Priscilla Johnson McMillan, pp. 352-3: Meanwhile, Stuckey had decided to do some checking on Oswald. That same Monday [August 19, 1963], he made the entire thirty-seven minute tape available to the local FBI office, where the stenographer pool made a transcript, then returned the tape to Stuckey along with a copy of the transcript. [Footnote: 11H165 and Stuckey letter of April 16, 1976 to McMillan] While he was talking to an FBI source over the telephone that day, Stuckey, as he remembers it, was put through to the chief or deputy chief of the New Orleans bureau, and this man read aloud to him over the phone portions of Oswald's FBI file, including the facts that he had been to Russia, tried to renounce his U.S. citizenship, stayed there nearly three years, and married a Russian woman. Stuckey went to the FBI office and was permitted to examine the file, as well as newspaper clippings from Moscow [sic!] at the time of Oswald's defection. [Footnote, p. 494:] Letter from Stuckey to the author, January 24, 1976. The FBI's contact with Stuckey at this stage, while alluded to in Stuckey's testimony, does not appear in FBI reports on its surveillance of Oswald in New Orleans as published in the twenty-six Warren Commission volumes. Warren Commission Exhibit No. 826, a report filed by Special Agent Milton Kaack in October 1963, which summarizes most of Oswald's political activities in New Orleans, states erroneously that Stuckey's first contact with the FBI on the subject of Oswald did not occur until August 30, 1963. It is possible that Kaack's superior did not tell him of the contact with Stuckey, and thus it failed to appear in the file on Oswald in New Orleans. (Paul Hoch, EVIDENCE RELATING TO STUCKEY'S CONTACT WITH FBI, AUGUST 21, 1963)  Letter from Stuckey to Priscilla McMillan, Jan. 24, 1976. Interestingly, Oswald-did-it-alone author McMillan reveals yet another suspicious FBI “error”. The predebate Bureau contact with Stuckey mentioned in the letter “does not appear in the FBI reports on the surveillance of Oswald in New Orleans published in the twenty-six Warren Commission volumes,” she notes. “Warren Commission Exhibit No. 826, a report filed by Special Agent Milton R. Kaack in October 1963, which summarizes most of Oswald's political activities in New Orleans, states erroneously that Stuckey's first contact with the FBI on the subject of Oswald did not occur until Aufust 30, 1963.” [i.e. After the debate] (Footnote from Oswald talked, Ray and Mary La Fontaine) McMillan, Marina and Lee, pp.439–440; 11 H 165, 167–169, 175, WCT William Kirk Stuckey; see CE 826, 17 H 763, which says, apparently erroneously, that Stuckey’s first contact with the FBI regarding Oswald was eleven days later, on August 30. With respect to this apparent error, Stuckey told McMillan in a January 24, 1976, letter that he got the information of Oswald’s background from, as he recalls, either the chief or the deputy chief of the FBI’s New Orleans office on Monday, August 19, 1963. McMillan, Marina and Lee, pp.440, 615, 616 footnote 7. He told the Warren Commission he received the information on Wednesday from a “news source.” 11 H 167, WCT William Kirk Stuckey. (Footnote from Reclaiming history, Vincent Bugliosi)
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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 12, 2020 11:53:30 GMT -5
431 Joseph Moore and the Bolton Ford OswaldRelated:195 Oswald's paraphernalia at 544 Camp Street389 Tape recording of plotters meeting in New OrleansA salesman named Oscar Deslatte of the Bolton Ford Dealership, New Orleans, was visited by two men who claimed to represent a group called FRIENDS OF DEMOCRATIC CUBA, on January 20, 1961. These men wanted to buy ten trucks from Mr. Deslatte, and the man who did most of the talking identified himself as Joseph Moore. As price was discussed, Moore said that he thought they should get the trucks for "no profit" for his organization, since theirs was a worthy cause .
Mr. Deslatte told the FBI later that Moore did not specify whether the trucks would be used here in the United States or in Cuba. When Mr. Deslatte checked with his Manager, Fred Sewell, it was decided to give the gentlemen a break on the price, and reduce the usual profit margin from $75 per truck to $50 per truck. Deslatte filled out the order for the ten trucks and wrote in Joseph Moore's name as the buyer representing FRIENDS OF DEMOCRATIC CUBA. But Moore told Deslatte to change the name on the bid from "Moore" to "Oswald."
Copy of the original bid
It was at this point that the second gentleman spoke up and said that "Oswald " was "his name and it should go on the form as he was the man with the money and would pay for the trucks, if they were purchased." (...)
The FBI didn't seem interested in Deslatte's tale, especially since Deslatte could not identify a photograph of Lee Harvey Oswald an agent showed him on 11/25/63, and he was unable to give a good description of either man to the FBI. He told the Bureau that he remembered the incident because of the organization's name, not the name "Oswald." Deslatte called the FBI after the President was assassinated and after conferring with Manager Fred Sewell about "those two guys who was in here from Cuba trying to get some buses cheap."
Of course it makes perfect sense that Deslatte didn't think the photograph of Oswald was either "Joseph Moore" or the other man who said he was "Oswald" if the real Oswald was not in New Orleans in 1961 but in the Soviet Union.
(Steve N. Bochan, The Bolton Ford Dealership Story, 1995)  View of the side of the Bolton Ford building. Several cars are seen in the lot of the building. The 1800 block of
Canal Street is the location.
Joseph Moore – According to Deslatte, Moore and Oswald appeared at Bolton Ford on January 20, 1961 and attempted to buy pick-up trucks for Friends of Democratic Cuba. When shown a photograph of LHO, Deslatte did not identify him as the man he saw with Moore in 1961. (There is no indication as to who Moore is or how he can be contacted.) ( HSCA 180-10128-10002 New Orleans) People who worked with Banister remembered that he kept extensive files on everyone, including Cuban exiles and their activities. Some of the exiles, "soldiers of fortune," and other contacts included: Joseph Moore was an ex-Marine who had been honorably discharged at the end of WWII. He was described as 5'8" tall, weighed 150-160 lbs, and had blond hair and blue eyes. Moore showed up in New Orleans during the same week that Bill Dalzell formed the Friends of Democratic Cuba (January 1961). In January 1961, Joseph Moore and Lee Oswald visited the Bolton Ford Dealership in New Orleans and tried to buy trucks on behalf of the Friends of Democratic Cuba. Moore was in New Orleans for only a few weeks before he left for Miami and, allegedly, participated in the CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961. (John Amstrong, Harvey & Lee)  In January, 1961 the Friends for Democratic Cuba was founded by ex-FBI agent Guy Bannister and former Oswald
employer Gerard Tujague. Members included FBI Agents Lansing Logan and Regis Kennedy, CIA Agents William
Dalzell and Joseph Newbrough, anti-Castro Cubans Sergio Arcacha Smith and Carlos Quiroga, soldier of fortune types
like Jim Ivey and local businessmen like Gerard Tujague and Grady Durham.
In a talk before the Junior Chamber of Commerce in January, 1961, Arcacha declared that that the "Cubans will launch an invasion sometime in 1961 to overthrow the regime of Fidel Castro. While the actual invasion would not be launched from U. S. territory, "Cuban citizens are being recruited by the front [FRD] in this country and sent elsewhere to train for the invasion." Six months of fighting were expected to be necessary to achieve victory. Arcacha asked for help in combatting Communist propaganda "all over Latin America." (NOTP; January 5, 1961; s 1, p 2) Speaking along with Arcacha were Oscar Higgenbotham, former "general manager of Central Espana Sugar Mills in central Cuba" and Carlos Marquez Diaz, former Cuban consul who was "removed when Castro came to power." Of Castro, Marquez said, "He has destroyed everything that represents decency and honesty in Cuba." (ibid) The next day, William Dalzell announced the opening of the offices of the Friends of Democratic Cuba, Inc. at 402 St. (…) An October 26, 1967, CIA document on Arcacha Smith states the following about his involvement with the Friends: Arcacha SMITH was also one of the promoters of a New
Orleans organization knows as the Friends... This
organization was created by several New Orleans business
and political figures, including the deceased former FBI
agent, Guy BANISTER, to collect money to aid Cubans in
their fight against Communism. One month after the FDC was
created, it was put out of business by strong criticism
from prominent Cubans. There was evidence that the FDC was
organized strictly for the personal gain of the promoters.
( Jerry P. Shinley, Sergio Arcacha Smith and the FRD (Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front) , 1998)
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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 13, 2020 10:08:44 GMT -5
432 Richard Giesbrecht's original notesMore about the Winnipeg incident:428 The identity of a white Dodge driving gunrunner THE WINNIPEG International Airport terminal, with its 42,546 square feet of Solex glass curtain walls, looks almost light enough to take off. Inside this $18,000,000 monument to the Department of Transport the decor is determinedly modern, with $35,000 worth of art objects including enormous geometric murals by prairie professors and metal sculptures imported from Toronto. There are fountains, birch trees, chairs that seem to have been made of chicken wire, a splitlevel black-carpeted lounge called the Horizon Room, and, under a milkwhite ceiling illuminated by 8,000 fluorescent tubes, a marble-tiled mezzanine the size of a football field.  On February 13, 1964, in this improbably exotic setting, where James Bond might have struggled with SMERSH, an overweight Winnipeg salesman named Richard Giesbrecht was caught up in the maelstrom that had begun in Dallas three months before and continues to this day. Giesbrecht believes he was a witness to nothing less than a meeting of two men who had conspired to kill President John F. Kennedy, and swears that a third man, a burly, suitably ominous figure with a smashed nose and flushed cheeks, played a bizarre cat-and-mouse game with him all over the mezzanine to frighten him into silence. Ever since, Giesbrecht, a palpably sincere and rational 35-year-old Mennonite with four children, has swung between fear and frustration. Fear that the disclosure of his identity — his name is revealed here publicly for the first time — would lead to harassment by cranks, or worse. (He is aware that 20 or so people tenuously linked to investigations of an alleged conspiracy have died since November, 1963.) Frustration because he believes that the FBI deliberately squelched his story. Giesbrecht talked to an agent named Merryl Nelson whom he contacted through the U.S. consulate in Winnipeg. He says that Nelson remarked, “This looks like the break we’ve been waiting for” — only to tell him a few months later to forget the whole thing. “It’s too big,” Nelson is supposed to have said. “We can’t protect you in Canada.” ( Joe Ruddy, Did this man happen upon John Kennedy’s assassins?, MacLeans, 1967) One of the most important, given its proximity to the events of Feb. 13, 1964, is a seven-page, hand-written letter from Mr. Giesbrecht's lawyer, Harry Backlin (who had represented him and his brother in business dealings for several years) to Mr. John H. Morris, the U.S. Consulate General in Winnipeg, dated Feb. 18, 1964. The letter was headed "Absolutely Personal" and began: "Further to our recent telephone conversation in which I set forth certain personal and confidential information concerning the Oswald case. I am writing this memorandum because I do not wish the information herein contained to get into too many hands. I have your undertaking that this information shall be dealt with in the strictest confidence." Backlin pointed out "..Before passing the information on to you, I checked out the man and firmly believe that what he has divulged to me is fact." (As it turned out, the FBI ended up concluding that Giesbrecht had an overactive imagination.) The remainder of the letter outlines the comments which Mr. Giesbrecht had overheard and noted in writing (he tore up his notes while driving home, but his brother assisted him in rewriting them that evening.) ( Peter R. Whitmey, The Winnipeg Airport Incident Revisited, The Fourth Decade, 1999)
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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 15, 2020 13:36:35 GMT -5
433 William King Harvey's operational diariesSee also:309 Bill Harvey's travel vouchers William King Harvey and Allen DullesWilliam Harvey was intricately involved in the planning for the Bay of Pigs invasion and the various assassination plots against Fidel Castro. The Review Board received a query from a researcher concerning the possible existence of “operational diaries” that Harvey may have created. CIA searched its Directorate of Operations records and did not locate any records belonging to Harvey. The introduction to the 1967 CIA Inspector General’s (IG) report on plots to assassinate Castro notes that Richard Helms directed that, once the IG’s office produced the report, CIA should destroy all notes and source material that it used to draft the report. CIA may have destroyed Harvey’s alleged diaries in response to Helms’ directive. Finally, Review Board staff also asked various CIA reviewers who worked on records relating to the Bay of Pigs whether they had located any operational diaries belonging to Harvey. Despite its efforts, the Review Board did not locate any diaries. ( ARRB Final Report, p. 96)
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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 17, 2020 12:22:40 GMT -5
434 One protective intelligence file on the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
Related:
2 Presidential protection survey reports for President Kennedy's trips in the fall of 1963 3 Unidentified kid's pictures110 About five Secret Service JFK assassination related file cabinets The FPCC and Dallas-related files apparently were destroyed,
and the Review Board sought any information regarding the destruction.
Congress passed the JFK Act of 1992. One month later, the Secret Service began its compliance efforts. However, in January 1995, the Secret Service destroyed presidential protection survey reports for some of President Kennedy’s trips in the fall of 1963. The Review Board learned of the destruction approximately one week after the Secret Service destroyed them, when the Board was drafting its request for additional information. The Board believed that the Secret Service files on the President’s travel in the weeks preceding his murder would be relevant. The Review Board requested the Secret Service to explain the circumstances surrounding the destruction, after passage of the JFK Act. The Secret Service formally explained the circumstances of this destruction in correspondence and an oral briefing to the Review Board. The Review Board also sought to account for certain additional record categories that might relate to the Kennedy assassination. For example, the Review Board sought information regarding a protective intelligence file on the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) and regarding protective intelligence files relating to threats to President Kennedy in the Dallas area (the Dallas-related files were disclosed to the Warren Commission).  The FPCC and Dallas-related files apparently were destroyed, and the Review Board sought any information regarding the destruction. As of this writing, the Service was unable to provide any specific information regarding the disposition of these files. The Secret Service submitted its Final Declaration of Compliance dated September 18, 1998, but did not execute it under oath. The Review Board asked the Service to re-submit its Final Declaration. (ARRB Final Report, p. 150)
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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 20, 2020 13:02:15 GMT -5
435 Secret Service interview with Philip Geraci III
Related:
422 Report of interview with mother of Philip Geraci III 434 One protective intelligence file on the Fair Play for Cuba CommitteePhilip Geraci, (born February 21, 1948; died of accidental electrocution, 1968) was a mentally unbalanced guerilla warfare buff. While he was raising money for CARLOS BRINGUIER in the summer of 1963 he informed the FBI of BRINGUIER'S activities. Philip Geraci testified: "Well CARLOS and me and Vance were kind of talking among ourselves and he came in...and he asked 'Is this the Cuban exile headquarters?' And, 'Are you a Cuban exile?'...CARLOS said yes. He asked him some questions like was he connected with the Cosa Nostra...and CARLOS said no, he wasn't."  Image found by Linda Giovanna Zambanini On May 6, 1965, Philip Geraci was declared a missing person. The Deputy Sheriff of Jefferson Parish alerted the FBI that it had come to his attention that "Geraci had an interest in guerilla warfare, explosives and the organizing of groups...Geraci is a mentally disturbed youth who received psychiatric treatments...His investigation reflected Geraci had offered to join Alpha-66, a group of Cuban refugees...Geraci's services were refused. Geraci also offered to join the Morgan Brigade, a group of Americans who wished to go back to Cuba and overthrow Castro, and was also refused." Philip Geraci's interview with the United States Secret Service was missing from the National Archives, as was the FBI's interview with his mother. [WCD 72 #2; National Archives Sec. Class. Prob. Inv. WC Comm. on Gov. Ops. 11.11.75] (AJ Weberman, Nodulex 18)
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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 23, 2020 4:39:57 GMT -5
436 Edward Butler's Office of Security filesContext:
315 DeBrueys' 25 October 1963 report on Oswald and the FPCC Two other acquaintances of Butler's were Bill Stuckey, a broadcast and print reporter, and Carlos Bringuier, a CIA operative in the Cuban exile community and leader of the DRE, one of its most important groups in New Orleans. These three figure in one of the most fascinating and intriguing episodes in the Kennedy assassination tale. In August of 1963 --- three months before the assassination --- Bringuier was involved in a scuffle with Oswald as he distributed literature for the FPCC, the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. As many commentators have noted, Oswald was the only member of that "committee" in New Orleans, and some of the literature he distributed gave as the FPCC headquarters address, the office of rabid anti-communist Guy Banister --- further exposing who Oswald really was. WDSU filmed some of these leafleting events. When Bringuier found out about this, he confronted Oswald on the city streets and verbally and physically assaulted him. The police came. Bringuier got off; Oswald was busted for disturbing the peace --- even though Bringuier was the aggressor. This event brought Oswald to the attention of Stuckey who had him on his WDSU show, Latin Listening Post, on August 17th. After the show, Stuckey and his friend Ed Butler asked Oswald to return four days later. Oswald continued his leafleting, this time in front of the International Trade Mart. In the interim, through contacts in Washington, they found out about Oswald's voyage to Russia, his stay there, and his attempted defection. The morning of the program, the 21st, Stuckey informed the FBI that Oswald would appear on the program. Butler and Stuckey used the Washington information to "unmask" Oswald on the show, and thereby discredit the supposedly liberal and sympathetic FPCC as harboring Soviet Communists in its midst. Right afterwards, Butler went over to a neighboring TV station, WVUE, where he was put on the air to announce Oswald's exposure on the 10 PM news. ( James DiEugenio, Ed Butler: Expert in Propaganda and Psychological Warfare, 2004)  Carlos Bringuier and Ed ButlerEdward Butler published Revolution Is My Profession in 1968. In it he suggested that "square" Americans become "conflict managers" who would "penetrate the Party." According to Donald Freed, in 1969 Edward Butler worked with NIXON aide Charles Colson, and helped organize violent "hard hat" counter-demonstrations at Vietnam peace rallies. Charles Colson mailed out American Security Council material under cover of White House stationery. In 1970, Richard Warren, the man running the Information Council of the Americas in the absence of Edward Butler, appeared in New Orleans with BRINGUIER and Dr. Alton Ochsner. BRINGUIER stated: "This country is slowly being taken over by communists." [FBI 105-1095-299] Edward Butler was dropped by the Domestic Contacts Division in 1970: "After he took up residence in Los Angeles he subsequently created, edited and published the magazine, The Westwood Village Square. He currently has a weekly TV program entitled 'The Square World of Ed Butler.' It is believed that his current business activities in California offer little opportunity to obtain positive foreign intelligence information." A CIA document revealed that Edward Butler's Office of Security files were "inadvertently destroyed in 1979 after moratorium lifted on destruction of files."
(AJ Weberman, Nodulex 18)
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Post by Arjan Hut on Oct 25, 2020 8:47:35 GMT -5
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