In response to my post about JFK files that presumptive CIA director John Brennan should release, readers offered two additional suggestions.
Steve proposed the files of David Sanchez Morales, deputy chief of the Miami station in 1963, and someone else (I can’t find their message right now) nominated the files of WIlliam K. Harvey, who created the CIA’s assasination capabilities in 1961.
The CIA has still-secret files on both men.
According to the National Archives online data base, the CIA retains a 123-page operational file on Harvey, whose hatred for the Kennedy’s was not well hidden. This is an important file and it should have made my top five list.
When Harvey’s CIA colleague John Whitten was asked by investigators why Harvey might have told his wife to destroy his papers after his death, he replied, “He was too young to have assassinated McKinley and Lincoln. It could have been anything.”
The CIA also has a 61-page administrative file on Morales, who later boasted that he was involved in JFK’s assassination. While the administrative file will not contain information about Morales’ covert operations, it may contain details that could clarify his travels, responsibilities, and contacts in 1963.
Hello everyone.
That ‘too young’ reference speaks volumes, lol.
Jeff – I enjoy the site. One thing I think would be useful for future content is a “top facts” for people who ridicule “jfk conspiracy theorists,” sort of an update of the article you did a few years ago. There are just a lot of facts now that have been firmly established that should make any person, even a firm believer in the LHO did it alone theory, scratch their head. I’m not talking about some of the speculative stuff (which is fun, but not overly convincing), I’m talking about hard facts.
For example, a lot of the stuff you have written about concerning Mexico City and the Newman “Oswald and the CIA” stuff. But I’d like to see it expanded to also include things like the Katzenbach memo and forensic facts like the Tague wounding, etc., stuff that is thorny even for the more honest WC defenders.
At this stage, I think defending the WC conclusion without any real reservations, like an O’Reilly, is just preposterous. We have to at least establish that first, don’t you think?
I agree Jason. We often talk about such a feature and I will take your comment here as a goad to action.
William King Harvey is worthy of our attention. His role inside Staff D, as the sole proprietor of ZR/RIFLE, as a free-wheeling loose cannon who developed close professional and personal relationships with infamous Mafia executives, who controlled and dispensed unauthorized anti-Castro guerrilla teams at the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis when any such provocations were dangerous and destabilizing to the authority of our government’s executive branch, and whose career was effectively ended by the stroke of a pen set in the hand of the 37 year old Attorney General of the United States is, in my opinion, not a completely unjustifiable suspect in the assassination of President Kennedy.
His relationship with Angleton may be of ultimate relevance. The (apparent) fact that one of Harvey’s operatives (Mertz/Soutre) was picked up and deported with no known explanation as to why he was in Texas at the time of the assassination remains intriguing to say the least.
There’s a lot there. But it’s not cut and dried. Harvey may have had a hand, he may have been aware, or he may have been set up as the destination of one (false) road that would lead to a disgruntled “rogue” player with mob connections.
David C. Martin’s Wilderness of Mirrors is recommended. Also, Spycatcher by Peter Wright, and Flawed patriot by Bayard Stockton.
Thank you for all the invaluable work you contribute.
Note for Jeff regarding his upcoming book from above by Alan Dale “His relationship with Angleton may be of ultimate relevance.” Time for lunch?
Have all the (Thomas)Dodd Committee files been released??
Dale Myers presented a good case that LHO did=not=work for Dodd’s delinquency inquiry. I’m sure there will be absolutely nothing relevant in extant files,but I am curious about this.
Regarding Dodd I recently came across a link to this on the EDU Education Forum. Deep and interesting. Old but more new info for me.
http://www.ctka.net/2016/PeaseDodd1-2.pdf
This specifically caught my eye on page 20. “George Michael Evica alleged that strong circumstantial evidence supports the conclusion that Senator Thomas Dodd (or someone close to Dodd with access to is commission files) ordered weapons in the name of Oswald or “Hidell” 10.”
Contractors are usually never mentioned in any documents that reach the archives. These for the most part, have been scrubbed, sanitized, and generated after all ops to leave no trail and start the cover story. Robertson is no exception to this.
Robertson’s close ties to the Big Indian from Guatemala on are reason enough to research, but when you get to the Bay of Pigs it gets even more interesting. Establishing a chain of command from Morales to Robertson to Izquierdo would be a good start in finding a connection to the JFK story.
Or maybe better yet, since the National Archives JFK Assassination Records Collection has no ‘Rip Robertson’ entries, “researchers” can continue to go pound sand for another 50 years. That’s cool too.
In the video I’ve posted below there is quite clearly a man helping LHO hand out FPCC literature on Canal St. In New Orleans, June 16th 1963. It is approximately 3:08 seconds in. I had heard before that he had someone there helping him, but this is the first time I’ve actually visually confirmed it via this extended piece of video.
Who is this other person passing out the leaflets with Oswald? Is the identity of this man known?
Hi Shane
In his book, “trail of the assassins”, Jim Garrison mentions this if my memory serves me correct.
He said he found out that LHO hired people from a local job recruitment agency to help him hand out the leaflets.
Garrison mentioned that although LHO appeared to be the only member of the New Orleans chapter of the FPCC he still had money to pay people to hand out leaflets.
I think Garrison mentioned that he was able to identify one man doing this work because he was a son of someone he knew.
Re: Morley’s reference to John Whitten’s testimony.
This is basically what Col. L. Fletcher Prouty talks about in, “The Secret Team.” That the way a leader is optimally taken out is to simply relax the security around the leader. There are any number of individuals who might like to assassinate a leader, but it is the tight security which for the most part prevents that from happening.
But, when that security is relaxed, then that leader can be an easy target. To wit: Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated along a parade route BY his security forces.
‘The Secret Service did not follow its standard operating procedure in making sure that on every floor of every building on the parade route there was a selected man of confidence who would be charged with the responsibility of seeing that no one not known to him was in that building, or on a floor of that building. That is standard operating procedure and was not done.’ – John Whitten a.k.a John Scelso in testimony to the HSCA.
JM,
I’m not sure that I follow, that you personally don’t know how Robertson might be connected to the JFK Story?
Maybe I’m missing the subtext – that you’re focused solely on the 1,100 pages and that you’re certain that Robertson will not be mentioned?
LS
Yes, I don’t know how Robertson might be connected to the JFK story. And since I don’t know of any Robertson files that are known to exist I’m not inclined to follow the story. That would be a fishing trip. In JFK research, I avoid fishing trips.
@Jeff…Rip Robertson was reportedly connected to, I believe his last name was “Martino”, who had been arrested by Castro, along with his son. Martino gave the confession just before his death that he had prior knowledge of the JFK assassination and told his wife that JFK would be killed if he went to Texas. Martino, and his son stated that the son was told to stay home from school that day and keep his eyes on the TV. He was to report any unusual news to his father. I will see if I can find that link and post it for you. These statements were confirmed by his wife and son.
Here’s the link you’re looking for S.R.
Larry Hancock told the John Martino story for JFK Facts earlier this year:
“If there was a conspiracy, wouldn’t somebody have talked?” (January 2, 2013)
If you’re actually interested in solving this thing, maybe add Rip Robertson to the top of the list.
I personally don’t know how Rip Robertson might be connected to the JFK story, but there’s a lot of I don’t know. So if you care to expand Turk, please feel free.
You should know that my list is NOT a wish list. When I say Brennan should release this or that file. I am referring to files included in batch of 1,100 CIA records that are known to exist today. These records are part of the National Archives’ JFK Assassination Records Collection, and they remain in the possession of the CIA today.
A search of the Nation Archives data base of these records does not disclose the existence of any Rip Robertson records.
This doesn’t mean that such documents don’t exist. The National Archives data base of the 1,100 records is incomplete. The records might also exist elsewhere.