Don Adams RIP: an FBI agent who didn’t buy the official theory

Don Adams, FBI agent

Don Adams, whose career as an FBI agent spanned 22 years, never really bought the official line of his own employer: that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

Adams, who died on June 14 at age 83 in Akron, Ohio, eventually wrote From an Office Building with a High-Powered Rifle (Trine Day, 2012), in which he argued that “the FBI’s investigation was compromised from the top down, beginning with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.”

“I have learned that crucial evidence was withheld from me as an agent investigating a planned assassination of the president, just weeks before it actually took place,” Adams wrote.

“He never believed Lee Harvey Oswald was the shooter,” his son, Mark, a career police officer, told the Akron Beacon Journal. “One of his FBI assignments was to investigate a man [Joseph Milteer] who had threatened to assassinate the president who claimed Kennedy would be killed from an office with a high-powered rifle. He found out that the man was in Dallas when the president was shot, but was always puzzled as to why he had limited access to the man.”

In an interview with the Akron Beacon Journal published last year on the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, Adams, a former chief of the police force on which his son now serves, said he didn’t think Oswald killed President Kennedy and that he was a scapegoat in a conspiracy that reached the highest levels of government.

Adams recalled being shown the Zapruder film shortly after he was transferred to the Dallas FBI office in 1964 and, on seeing Kennedy’s hands go to his throat, remarking that the shot must have come from the front, not from the behind Kennedy’s limousine.

“Don, keep your comments to yourself,” he was told.

Former FBI Agent Don Adams on Joseph Milteer

30 thoughts on “Don Adams RIP: an FBI agent who didn’t buy the official theory”

  1. Pingback: Quora question: “A CIA document released in 1977 reports French government officials asking the FBI why a rogue French captain and OAS operative was being deported from Texas shortly after the JFK assassination. What do we know about him? Why was he

  2. Pingback: Quora question: “A CIA document released in 1977 reports French government officials asking the FBI why a rogue French captain and OAS operative was being deported from Texas shortly after the JFK assassination. What do we know about him? Why was he

  3. There is so much evedince now that it sure be clear to everyone that is was a huge conspiracy. From LBJ, Hoover, many CIA operatives, the Mafia, Ruby, to Dalls police. Oswald was a patsy who thought he was there to assist. There was a hit an who was suppose to kill him but he never did because he shot JD Tippet.
    James File shot the head shot that killed JFK from the grassy knoll. Chuck Nicolletti was also a shooter who was behind Kennedy. James File has admitted killing JFK. James Files was with Oswald the week before in Dallas. Files also drove Johnny Roselli, mafia guy, the morning of the assassination to meet Ruby. He gave them a new map of the parade route and fake secret service identification.

    Check the website: JFKmurdersolved.com

  4. Timelines of history not always accurate but a definitive Guage of when something happened or when something may happen again.

  5. since 22.11.63,5.6.68, us-democracy is as empty as the statue of liberty! MIK (Military-industrial-Komplex) and the Money”owners” (Bilderberger) pushed LBJ (look “the Wink of Thomas”) into war-shit, so mr.watergate became president,yeah… 50000 dead us-boys Vietnam, and more, many more Dollars for MIK!! While JFK was AGAINST any war, the USMilitary CALCULATED a nuclear war: 600 million dead! Now the next WARPUSH-Bush will come (yeah JEP)! But before: obama must be pushed into war! MH 17 had the same profil as putins-Plane (he fleu back from Brasil, the same route)…..The shots “came” 20 minutes too late…! Rockefeller and clique with BUSH NEED a “major crisis”….so than “thy all will accept OUR new WORLD order. There was another plane (in the Air!!!) exploding: JFK JUNIOR, because he planned go for president in 2000 with NEW party! POOR AMERICA : THEY KILL THE PRESIDENT AND NOTHING HAPPENS ……………..

  6. The following questions are directed squarely at Photon and Mr. McAdams. This will be the third time that I have tried to get a response from Mr. McAdams. I noticed that that you have tried to dismiss Mr. Adams claims—Mr. McAdams uses the word “debunk” I believe. Well, I would like Photon and Mr. McAdams to explain or debunk two questions that I have asked for thirty years when I first visited Dealey Plaza and began my search for the truth about JFK. How do the two of you explain FBI agent James Sibert, who wrote the 302 report that was hidden from view until discovered by Paul Hoch, when he says—and you can find him on YouTube—that there is not enough sugar to make him take a bite of the magic bullet theory? How do you further explain that Mr. Sibert, who stood no more than 2 feet from JFK’s body during the autopsy, called Arlen Specter, the inventor of the SBT, a “damn liar?” The two of you put great credence in “certain” JFK witnesses, like Howard Brennan, but anyone who differs from the official version has to be “debunked” or discredited by the WC defenders. Here is a man that works for the VERY government that you claim is telling the truth and he is saying the exact opposite. How do you square those facts? Am I to believe that you will somehow find some information that exists and says that Mr. Sibert did not see what he thought he saw because the lighting at Bethesda was not correct that evening? In addition, please explain to me the position of Dr. Robert McClelland—his three part interview is also on YouTube—and his unchanging view after 51 years that he saw a wound in the BACK of JFK’s head as he tried in vain to save the president. In his words, and you can recheck them on YouTube, he stood 12 -18 inches away from JFK’s head and stared at the wound area for around 12 minutes. How could a doctor be that close to JFK’s head for that long and create a drawing that has not changed since 1963, but yet he is “wrong” according to the WC defenders? Forget about the Zapruder film being forged—no one believes that—forget about spectroanaylsis and dictablets. Can the two of you answer how Sibert and McClelland have not been given the same credence from the WC defenders as Howard Brennan?

  7. Re: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/warren-commission-jfk-investigators-114812.html#.VNB9xoHpqrU
    The doubts of Adams and Slawson are worth noting. When Oswald died, he was a suspect. In the opinion of some of the investigators, the results of the WC were compromised. It may or not be relevant that someone like Milteer was or was not in Dallas or that Oswald was or was not in Mexico City, but the failure to pursue and present leads condems the entire process. 50 years after the fact, the American People deserve full disclosure.

  8. Speaking of FBI agents who decided to be loyal to our country…

    “In my opinion, anyone who kills the President of the United States is certainly an enemy of the state. A government bureaucracy such as the FBI, which does not bring that person or group of conspirators to justice when such is within their investigative jurisdiction and power, has, for all intents and purposes, committed treason. I did not expect the FBI to cover up the treasonous act of assassinating President John F. Kennedy. I did not believe, in my wildest thoughts, that the FBI could and would give aid and comfort to the rogue CIA agents, the Chicago Italian Mafia, and certain Cuban exiles, which conspired to kill the President of the United States. I did not believe that the FBI would actually cover up this nefarious deed and thus make itself guilty of treason, but that is exactly what happened. Since there is no statute of limitations on murder then the constant cover-up of Kennedy’s assassination is a continuing treasonous offense being perpetrated by the FBI and the CIA.”

    Swearingen, M. Wesley (2009-06-04). To Kill A President (Kindle Locations 198-205). BookSurge. Kindle Edition.

    http://www.amazon.com/Kill-President-M-Wesley-Swearingen-ebook/dp/B002C4KBWO/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422806122&sr=1-2

  9. A man named John Elrod was walking carrying a suitcase across the railroad 2 blocks from the assassination and was arrested. He showed me his name in one of the tabloids in the store I owned. He said it was the only time he had seen his name in print. I asked him if that was him and he said yes. I asked my dad about it and he said yes he remembered John being arrested as a suspect in the Kennedy assassination. I went back to John and talked with him. He explained the relationship between him, Oswald, Jack Ruby, his brother in law named Martinez (who lived in Dallas). His brother in law was connected to organized crime. You can see where this is going. I asked John if it was a conspiracy, he would never answer. He also was on a national investigative talk show to tell all about what really happened and he got scared a short time into the show and walked off and wouldn’t answer any more questions. The show was being filmed in his home that was on the back side of a small island along the Mississippi River. John died an alcoholic never coming forth with what I believe was the real truth about the Kennedy assissination.

  10. We are writing a book my wife’s dad , go figure was in the mafia after interviewing his girlfriend we know he was connected to Johnson she even was at a poker table with johnson while warjac was in jail in short warjac was given fifty years he only did 4 the day he got out of prison a state rep and a big Galveston figure took him to con ally’s office and got all his rights restored in one day! What has this thug done to enjoy such a right.

  11. I personally knew Don Adams when he was assigned to the Akron office. His integrity was beyond reproach. He was an outstanding agent and even a better human being. I believe every word he has written. His fight against organized crime in the Cleveland-Akron area was relentless. RIP my friend.

  12. Is it true that the govt will release the documents about jfk at another decade or two?

    I’ve wondered about that, as well as why the secrecy needed to be used, why the American people could not be told the truth.

    Thank you,
    Elliott
    Baltimore MD

  13. Edward F Hellwig

    I remember a series of articles in an adult male magazine called “OUI” by a Col. Prouty. It was about 6 issues long. I lost it first by divorce + after reordering the set, lost it due to the first floor of my house flooding but 2 things caught my attention 1.one shot missed by a mile (figuratively) + hit the curb ahead of the caravan + was repaired early the next morning by a work crew(they never work that fast) & 2.the way credible witnesses I believe 17 or more died of ‘natural causes’ or ‘accidents’ within so short a time as to be statistically impossible.

    1. Despite the HSCA’s astounding analyses, it still looks like Milteer lol. (They say the photo is not that clear either, and who knows if he’s standing on something to help him look over the crowds).

    2. I would say that Don Adam’s as the investigator of Joseph Milteer, is familiar enough with him to make a positive ID of him in the crowd in Dallas.

      This is a subjective call, despite the so-called “technical analysis” that McAdams leads us to, because at the very start it is admitted that the photo is too fuzzy and small to be positive. So They are guessing no less that Don Adams, they simply put it in technobabble.
      \\][//

      1. Exactly how many times did Adams meet Milteer? And if the photo ” was too fuzzy and small to be positive” how could Adams make a positive ID without the measurement analysis data of the HSCA which measured physical and dimensional aspects of the figure -aspects that rule out the individual being Milteer?
        Adams had no more knowledge of the case than your average buff-and misconceptions that prove that statement. For instance, his claim that Oswald couldn’t get off 3 shots in the ascribed time with a bolt-action rifle is a standard conspiracy line that has been disproven over and over again. His claim that after visiting the TSBD Oswald couldn’t get down to the lunchroom in time to run into the cop has likewise been debunked by many recreations-starting with the Warren investigation.
        After reviewing on alt. assassination the comments about the veracity of Trine Day editors I wonder about the accuracy of the original article itself . Where is there any evidence at all that Milteer was in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963?

        1. “many recreations-starting with the Warren investigation.”~Photon

          A perfect point my man, “recreations”. A “recreation” is nothing nothing but a reenactment using different actors and timeline plots; it is theater, and proves nothing.

          The Milteer photograph cannot be proven on way or the other. Again, that it is mere coincidence that someone looking so familiar being in the crowd in Dallas is as completely a subjective call as those seeing the likelihood of Milteer attending an assassination he was sure he was going to witness with satisfaction.
          \\][//

          1. Willy, You’re wasting your time and talent. The lonenut nay sayers have seen the film clearly showing JFK being shot from the front. They’re saying; “Willie,are you going to believe us or your lying eyes”
            God only knows their misguided motive; “there are none so blind as those who will not see”. Unfortunately, their objective is even more sinister. They know what really happened in Dallas. It couldn’t be anymore obvious that JFK was shot from both the front and the back. Witnesses reported simultaneous shots. It’s clear that both the initial shot to the throat and the head shot came from the front. Hell, the film may have been “accidentally damaged” by the FBI but they couldn’t hide the origin of the head shot. These guys will lie, deny and obfuscate ’til the cows come home. Now they want you to think this fine FBI agent is lying; For no particular reason (and at great peril,based on the fate of other outspoken witnesses). If your story doesn’t agree with the lone nutters, you’re a liar, psycho, feeble minded, conspiracy whack job with an agenda; It’s called smearing. Reasonable and rational people – at least those not looking for attention or in need of the little thrill they get from winding you up – understand that Kennedy wasn’t shot by US Marine hero, Patriot and intelligence asset Lee Oswald. Lee was gut-shot for his efforts on behalf of the Government. Don’t let the WC cover-up artists do the same to you.
            And thanks to Gerry Simone for a great link. But of course that wasn’t Milteer in the Dealey Plaza crowd – it was another fella that looked just like him – Right boys?

        2. First of all Photon – Don Adams was an FBI Agent who was assigned to Dallas – as part of the JFK investigation in June 1964 – he worked on the case for four months before the Warren Report was released. To label Mr. Adams “your average buff” is an insult to his memory – I knew Don very well – he was an extremely honorable man. Adams discussed the discrepancy regarding the height of Joseph Milteer in his book on P.’s 99,100, & 220 – read & consider.

          Adams was assigned to pick Milteer up & could not find him at his home in Quitman, Ga. until five days after the assassination. The FBI discredited Adam’s report by stating that Milteer was in Quitman on 11/22/63 & therefore could not have been in Dallas. Milteer rode with Adams in his car from Quitman to Atlanta – so of course he looked at him closely.

          The FBI & Warren Report also discredited the reports of officers who initially identified the rifle on the 6th floor as a Mauser. These Officers Eugene Boone, Seymour Weitzman, & Roger Craig all later said they were mistaken & that the FBI report of finding a Carcano was correct. However – Boone when shown the rifle in the National Archives very clearly stated that it is not the same rifle. Hoover’s conclusions had to be supported.

          The rifle’s authenticity was also questioned by Dial Ryder who worked at the Irving Sports Shop who place a scope on a rifle for a man named Oswald. Ryder was adamant that the rifle he placed the scope on was a completely different rifle. The Warren Report stated that Army rifle experts “had not yet pulled the trigger because of concern of breaking the firing pin.” It is pretty clear that the rifle simulations used to “prove” Oswald could have fired all three shots from the Carcano would not have held up after cross-examination.

          The same would be true of the claims of Victoria Adams & Dorothy Garner which were also discredited. Both ladies were adamant that Lee Oswald did not run by the them on the steps as they ran down past the second floor where Oswald was stopped by Roy Truly & officer Marion Baker within a minute or two after the assassination.
          No need to prove how quickly Oswald ran down the steps if he didn’t run in the first place.

          1. The FBI report was released December 9, 1963.
            Adams wasn’t even in Dallas by the time the report was released- how could he have been part of the investigation if it was completed months before he was ever exposed to the information?

          2. Photon – are you trying to argue that the FBI & Warren Commission were not interviewing witnesses and conducting further investigations of the assassination after December 9, 1963 & that Don Adams was not part of that?

            Hoover & the FBI had determined Oswald’s guilt as early as 3 PM Dallas time on 11/22/63 & issued their report documenting his guilt on on December 9, 1963 – that is the basis for why so many doubt the FBI’s conclusions.

            As Don Adams told me many times – the FBI does not work that way – they are not hasty in making conclusions. Hoover even hints at this in his own memos that the evidence against Oswald “was weak” & probably wouldn’t hold up – only after his murder did the job become easier – no cross examination of witnesses ever took place in a court of law with Oswald trying to prove his innocence.

            The reason that JFK Facts is here is because most Americans don’t accept the conclusions of the FBI & Warren Commissio.

          3. I have a question for you and anybody who happens to have the knowledge. Initially, the FBI came to the conclusion that three bullets struck the motorcade. So, how did the FBI account for these three bullets in their report?

  14. Mark Barsotti

    I’m sure Prof McAdams (by the way, I value his – and others who support the WC – postings here, they make discussion of historical matters a vigorous give and take debate. Pro-conspiracy folk nattering solely among themselves makes for a boring Fox News-like echo-chamber; all one hears are their own opinions pinged back at them) would say, “Opinions are not evidence.” Very true. And the evidence shows, unquestionably, that even if the FBI “got it right,” doing so was pure happenstance, since the outcome of their investigation was dictated from Mr. Hoover’s desk before the bodies were cold, so no other conclusion was possible.

    1. I was dismayed to find Don Adams has passed away…
      I had a VERY strange incident as a teenager with a Mr. Rosier of Nahunta Georgia…admitted to being a Klansman and to a murder…I wonder if there is/was ANY connection between him and the Nahunta Klan group and Joseph Milteer…any insight?
      Dia Perry

  15. Mark Barsotti

    I’m sure Prof McAdams (by the way, I value his – and others who support the WC – postings here, they make discussion of historical matters a vigorous give and take debate. Pro-conspiracy folk nattering solely among themselves makes for a boring Fox News-like echo-chamber; all one hears are their own opinions pinged back at them) would say, “Opinions are not evidence.” Very true. And the evidence shows, unquestionably, that even if the FBI “got it right,” doing so was pure happenstance, since the outcome of their investigation was dictated from Mr. Hoover’s desk before the bodies were cold, so no other conclusion was possible.

    1. OTOH, there’s a lot of pro-WC commentary that is spin designed to obfuscate. The more we see of this, the less believable the WCR becomes.

    2. The only single theory the government rests it’s case on is the “magic bullet” theory, which the only way they can get it right is by playing musical chairs. Everything else the WC has presented has already been challenged. The only report that came closest to the truth was the HSCA, to bad they ran out of funds and witnesses which only alludes to the ongoing cover-up.

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