Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 9

in-honse prober of the Kennedy assassination, NOY.zt lear~s,The Secret Serviceto sn,,o.

ot aFer" 18~ ~ o7 a r~gl~t-wm,~ ptot cancels himself ignorant of the plots later testified that ;~ta~;al ~,~tor~ade in Miami ~ ,~l-~o~ .... .......... knowledge of them would have been an absolutely vital factor" in his inquiry. Preszdent John t7. Kennedy [rom an o~ce Public revelation of the CIA conspiracy would building with a high-powered rifle." An have raised ugly questions: Was Lee Harvey extremist close to the plotters has predicted Oswald, who had associated with anti-Castro operatives linked to the plots, a tool of rogue that a patsy will be set up "within hours intelligence agents? Did Jack Rubys own undera[terwards.., just to throw the public o[~." world associates bring him into the same con~]~. ~ ~o President Kennedy arrives spiracy? In short, did the CIA unwittingly cause in Dallas to shore up wavering political Kennedys death? The CIA could not know in 1963--and may support in the South. Reacting to the tense still not know today--whether its murder plots political atmosphere, he turns to his wile against Castro caused the brutal slaying in Daland says, "You know, were heading into las. To this day, the agency withholds from the nut country today." American people vital information relating to the Across the Atlantic Ocean a top CIA officase. What is clear in retrospect, however, is that cer is holding a clandestine rendezvous in people in high places went to great lengths to Paris with a disloyal official---code-named see that no one would ask the question. The cycle of c0ver-up and blackmail, only now dimly AMLASH--o[ Fidel Castros lout-year-old understood, would ultimately convulse American regime. The CIA officer, misrepresenting politics in a morass of intrigue culminating in himsel[ as a personal emissary o[ Attorney our greatest national scandal: Watergate. General Robert Kennedy, claims that the White House plans to overthrow Castro. Then the CIA man hands AM.LASH an innocent-looking pen that delivers a lethal poison, and promises to smuggle into Cuba a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight. The mission: assassinate Castro. Even as they are ta~ing, at 12:30 p.m. Dallas time, Kennedy waves to the crowds ~rom his open limousine. Three or more shots ring out. The president dies almost instantly American politics almost beyond recognition. Kennedys murder struck down hopes for relaxing the Cold War, and installed a new president committed to militarizing foreign policy and winning in Vietnam. The assassination--and several more that followed--shattered smug assumptions about Americas political stabi~ty. Long before Watergate, it led millions of citizens to question the credibility of leaders who allowed polities, not the truth, to guide their investigation of the case. But behind closed doors, out of public view, the .assassination had other effects no less profound. It launched the CIA and other covert forces--including powerful members of organized crime--into a prolonged cover-up of crimes that preceded Kennedys presidency but might have caused his death, a cover-up that would warp American government for years to The CIA hid from the Warren Commission and other investigators its dkrtiest secret: how it teamed up with gangsters and hoodlums, without presidential sanction, to try to murder Fidel Castro. Had the commission, or the public, learned of the plots (initiated under fight-lipped commission member Allen Dulles, former &rector of the CIA), the whole course of the investigation might have changed. The CIAs own

represented the Chicago syndicates interests in Las Vegas and Hollywood. Roselh m~roduced the CIA to his own boss, Sam Giancana of Chicago, who in turn put the agency in touch with the crime chief of Tampa, Fire, Santos Trafficante. (It was all a matter of protocol, of going through the proper channels.) Trafficante, who controlled a small army of Cuban exiles, became the point man in the plots; it was he who would select the first crop of assassins and pass the poison along to them.
From the CIAs perspective, these gangsters had a lot going for them. They unquestionably had the know-how for a "wet job." And they were hot to avenge Castros takeover of theLr fabulously lucrative gambling casinos. But the Mafiosi who so patriotically volunteered their services exacted a price. Once covered by the mantle of "national security," they could no longer be touched. As early as 1961, the CIA had to call off an FBI probe of Maheu, who had fllagally bugged a I_as Vegas hotel room as a favor to Giancana, the Chicago godfather. The CIA told the stunned investigators that prosecution of Maheu would endanger a national security operation. Totd about the cover-up in 1962, Attorney General Robert Kennedy demanded an explanation. Two CIA briefing officers sketched for him the outlines of the plots--a year and a half after they had begun. He reacted with outrage. If you have seen Mr. Kennedys eyes get steely and his jaw set and his voice get low and precise." recalled one of the officials, "you get a definite feeling of unhappiness." The CIAs reluctance m brief the Kennedy brothers about the plots was understandable. The plots got under way only after Bobby had named Giancana and Trafficante as public enemies in a book on corruption in the Teamsters Union. As chief counsel to the McClellan rackets committee, Bobby had grilled Giancana (who took the fi~h) with questions l~ke, "Would you tell us, if you have opposition from anybody, that you dispose o~ them by having them stuffed in a trunk? Is that what you do. Mr. Giancana?" Beyond that, Maheu, the CIA-Mafia go-between, had helped Teamster boss Jimmy Hoff~ fend off Bobby Kennedys investigations of union racketeering in the 1950s. One highly reliable government informant even insists that the CIA recruited Hoffa himself to the kill-Castro project. By its choice of operatives, therefore, the knew it was undermining the Kennedy brothers commitment to smash organized crime. "It would be very difficult to hfitiate any prosecution against Giancana," Bobby lamented after hearing about the plots, "as Giancana could immediately bring out the fact the U.S. Government had approached him m arrange for the assassination of Castro." The attorney general took comfort in the thought that he had turned the plots off by his stern words to the CIA. Little did he know that behind his back--and contrary to their strict assurances--CIA officers kept the Mafia ~lots alive, without even informing the agencys-new director. The CIA relying on its own resources continued

p ~abb.ed !n, 197_2 as o_~e. of t~.e W.at.ergate @. boss. so POWeyful tIm.t he could kill with impurdty w, no zn me mu of 1960, Sturg~ clmms, he plotted rival bosses from other parts of the country~ He y ~v~..th ~_o s m~.~. ess to po_..mon the .C.uba~ ~_ruler. had every r~ason to hate the Kennedys, both for Chica;g~ o .l~.a_ chi.e~f,S.~ Giancana himself may their unrelenting prosecutions of organifed ,. _ ~esll have backed Sturgts plot. crime and for their "vendetta" agalr~ his friend was re.~vin.g the .ass~.mation Jimmy Hoff-a. . As ff Oswalds dangerous associations werent .very t~m.e..Presldent Ke~medy was considering enough, the CIA also had Jack Ruby to worry In September 1962, Trafficante met with a mcomp.etenceT-,wm, ch" m the cas.e of the CIA ~e, posslbthty of n.ormaliza.fion of relations with. about. Cuban exile friend of AM/_~SH to ~dscuss a $1 The Warren Commi~inn p~.rtmyed the .man million loan from the Teamster pension fund. As .Cuba--an extmor,di.nary.acla.0n. I~ it was not total Who sh.ot Oswald as a shghtly demon_ted, stmc_fl,y, the exile later recounted to investigators, Traffican_not be excmueu--~t was a studied attempt to smafl-tmae Dallas bar owner. The reality couldn t canto told him, "It is not right what they are have been more different- Ruby (the name had doing to Hefts. Mark my word, this man Kensubvert national, policy." The CIA didn t.brief Presid.ent Kennedy about been shortened from Rubinstoin) had grown up nedy is in tr, ouble, and he ",viii get what is cornthe plots, an official later testified, because it was in Chicago, where as a youth he had run errands ing to him. When asked how that could be r. e essary to ~rur~rm the president of detmis, for AI Capone himself. In the late 1930s, he had because Kennedy would hkely v~n the next elecAfter Nov. 22, 1963, the CIA didnt tell the the played a key role in the violent rise to newer of a tion Trafficante revlied "You dont understand Warren Commission, either. One top agency offi- crooked Chicago union boss who woul~d become me. Kennedys not~goin~ to make it to the eleccial from that period explained that he and his a leading Midwest ally of Jm~ay Hefts and a tion. He is going to be hit." colleagues "didnt think it was relevant. I would target of Bobby Kennedys investigations. The story won powerful ,~orroborafion from Ruby had moved to Dallas in the 1947 to help Iohn Roseffi, Robert Maheu s original recruit to On the contrary, the information was all too the Chicago mob muscle in on local rackets. the CiA/Mafia plots. Rosefli told Jack Anderson relevant. Later FBI reports tagged blm as the "chief payoff in I976 that Kennedys murderers were "Cubans man" to the Dallas police department. In 1963, from the old Trafficante organization" who according to phone records, Ruby stayed in "lined up an ex-Marine sharpshooter. Lee Harvey touch with mobsters and Teamster officials Oswald, who had been active in the pro-Castro around the country. Beset with reports that Oswalds killer was in As Anderson recounted Rosellis story, fact a big-time hoodlum, the commission "Oswald may have shot Kennedy or may have accepted the word of two notorious Chicago hit acted as a decoy while others ambushed him men that Ruby was per~eetly clean. A more from closer range. When Oswald was picked up, objective look turns up Rubys own connections Roselli suggested, the underworld conspirators to the CIA murder plots. feared he would crack and disclose irfformafion Those two hit men associates of Ruby, for that might lead to them. This almost certainly example, happened to have been Havana casino would have brought a massive crackdown on the partners of Santos Trafficante. According to Mafia in the United States. So ~ack Ruby was reports, Ruby himself had run guns to Cuba. In ordered to eliminate Oswald, making it appear as 1959, according to Congressional investigators, an act of reprisal against the Presidents killer." he most likely accompanied another mobster to Shortly before his scheduled appearance visit Trafficante, whom Castro had temporarily before a Congressional committee investigating imprisoned in the aftermath of the revolution. his role in the assassination plots, Rose!Iis torAfter Kennedys murder, the CIA must surely tured body turned up in a drum off the Florida After 20 years of scrutiny, Lee Harvey Oswalds as Ruby himself did (according life remains a riddle. He lef~ behind a track of have worried, that "now theyre going to find to coast. "Authorities believe it was a raembar of a jail visitor), out the Trafficante organization who was able to lure aliases po~ office boxes and contradictuw documentation that- mark him as some kind of intelli- about Cuba, theyre going to find out about the Mr. Roselli to his death," the New York Times gence operative. In the final months of his lif~, guns, ftnd out about New Orleans, find out about reported. that track split into multiple branches, as Oswald everything." But with the Warren Commission in took-alikes apparently planted evidence that charge (see box, opposite page), Ruby neednt would incriminate him as a violent personality have worried. Only years later did the House with leftist sympathies. But the real Oswald was Select Committee on Assaasdnations suggest that always elsewhere, o~en maneuvering fartively Ruby (who died of cancer in 1967) wasnt lying with individuals on the periphery of the CIAs ,w, hen he told his prison psychiatrist that he knew who had President Kennedy killed" and that he death squad. was "framed into killing Oswald." * in the summer of 1963, Oswald seems to have been involved in a shadowy scheme to discredit the pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba Cornmince, then a prime target of FBI and harassment. HIS associates in this mission belonged to the Cuban Revolutionary Council, set up by future Watergate burglar Howard Hunt as a political arm of the free Cuba movement. By 1963 the CiA/Mafia funded CRC was controlled by the very Cuban exile leader recruited by Santos Trafficante to poison Castro. ~ In August 1963, Oswald attempted to talk his way into an anti-Castro Vzaiinng camp outside New Orleans. A witness later alleged that an employee of Trafficantes closest Mafia ally took Oswald to the camp "to train with rifles." One of the camps exile leaders tin-us out to have been a "lifelong friend" and confidant of the CIAs other The blackmail efforts really took off in 1966, hit man, AMLASH. In short, the camp brought when Sam Giancana used CIA immunity through the world of CIA plots to Oswalds door. the Justice Department to kill a federal indict.Finaliy, one of the key figures in the training rhent- Robert Maheu likewise prevailed on the camp was Frank Sturgis, a soldier of fortune Take Santos Trafficante, for example, a Mafia CIA to block a Congressional investigation of

The report--much of which remains highly accusations that he engaged in illegal wiretapping. There is also considerable evidence, too classified--taffy labeled as n true" the Andercomplex to detail here, that Mafia allies of son/~Pearson claim that "Robert Kennedy may Jimmy Hoffa tried to use their knowledge of the have approved (the) plot." But it did highlight Castro assassination plots to keep the Teamster the ongoing danger of further revelations, citing boss from goLng to jail in 1967 on a jury-tamper- the two columns as evidence that none of the Mafiosi involved "would have compunctions ing conviction. Meanwhile, John Roselli was having problems about dragging in his CIA connections when he of his own. In May 1966, the FBI threatened to was being pushed by law enforcement agencies." have him deported unless he informed on Mafia That conclusion appeared under the ominous activities. Roselli turned to his former CIA con- heading, "Should we try to silence those who are tact, who in turn talked to the FBL But his legal talking or might later?" problems didnt end. Neither did the CIAs. In March 1967, Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson published two exp!osive columns based on leaks from Rosellis attorney. According to their account, the Kennedys had tried to kill Castro, only to have the Cuban dictator retaliate on Nov. 22, 1963. For the time being, the allegations pointed more to the Kennedys than the CIA. But the truth was dangerously near the surface. And the blackmail was forcing the governments hand. As the FBIs liaison to the CIA observed bleakly, Rose!li and Giancana had the CIA "over a barrel" and the FBI wouldnt be able to touch them as a result. The columns caught the attention of President Johnson, who asked the CIA for a briefing. The next day, CIA director Richitrd Helms ordered his inspector general to prepare a report on agency-sponsored assa~inafion plots.

was the ~,
To see how Nixon succumbed to the pressure, lets take another look at Robert Maheu, the man who brought the CIA and the Mafia ~ogether. By the mid-1960s, Maheu was firmly entrenched as chief of Nevada operations for Howard Hughes. The eccentric billionaire, as he came to be known, was investing incredible sums m Las Vegas, buying up casinos, hotels, immense tracts of land, and politicians. Maheus superb mob contacts ensured Hughes his pick of casino properties. But by 1968 the mogul wanted more. He wanted to own the President of the United States. "I want you to go see Nixon as my special confidential emissary," Hughes told Maheu. "I feel there is a really valid possibility of a Republican victory this year.., that could be real~ed under our sponsorship and supervision every inch of the way." D,esl~,ite his bosss grandiose notions, Maheu couldn t buy the elecfion~bnt he did contribute at least $50,000 to the Nixon campaign. And the financial relationship didnt stop there. After the election, Nixons f-dend Bebe continued

DALLAS
CAMPBELL Unique Eyewear The Pruney~rd 1875 S, Balm 377-2076 LO~ ~ATO~ Los G~ O~i~ 20 S. Sant~ C~ Ave. ~07 3~7474 SAP~ JOS~: John Grana~ Optician 3467 McKee Rd. 272~717 Peninsula Opt~ca~-Wes~ate 600 Saratoga Ave. 378~877 ~ 160 Blossom 256-3464 The insight 228Meridian Ave. 297-6950 Optical C~. 2512 Samaritan Ct.. Suite R 356-2989

FACETED FRA~E$ BY TURA:

LOOK LIKE A MILLION FOR LESS


Now Tara has faceted the flame to gwe you the same, opulent look as faceted lenses, but at a much lower price. The Faceted Frame by Turn. In five luxar~oaB frame colors.

Rebozo, the Florida banker, proposed Pearsons successor. Jack Anderson-that Hughes ante up some more cash. who was also represented by avcorney This time, $I00,000 made its way into Morgan--might reveal this time around Rebozos coffers. about the Hughes-Nixon relationship, Hughes seeros to have gotten his monespecially with Morgan so close to the eys worth. The federal government sudThe situation stayed under control denly began relaxing its antitrust enforcemerit, and regulatory relief arrived from until November 1970, when--after a bita varie~ of agencies. ter factional struggle within the Hughes orgamzation=-representatives of Howard The arrangement was too cozy for Rebozos taste. When Hughes attorney, Hughes ordered the immediate firing of Ed Morgan, volunteered to deliver some Robert Maheu and his allies. Overnight of the Hughes cash directly to Nixon. Mabeu found himself locked out. Hughes Reboso demurred, on grounds that (as he thought, and would later charge, that later testified) "Ed Morgan representedMaheu had been robbing him blind. Drew Pearson." Now there was someMaheu was out in the cold--but far thing to worry about. In 1960. the colum- from defenseless. He took with him nists revelation of the Hughes "loan" to sheafs of memos incriminating all sorts Nixons brother Donald had helped cost of people in everything from illegal politiPdchard the president~l election. cal p@offs to CIA covert operations. (ReRebozo must have wondered what member the Hughes~,,,,~- Glomar F~p!orer epi-

~ ULTIMATE IRONY WOlYt~ SIJI~ELy BE IF

the Warren Commission mn~s out to have been right after all--if one lone nut. Lee Harve.v Oswald. "did it" on his own, Dont count on it. Months of detailed probing by a small army ef investigators and scientists in 1977 and 1978 convinced members of the House Select Committee on Assa-csinations that Kennedy "was probably ~sassinated as a result of a conspiracy." Whoever did shoot the president is probably !ong dead, and those rasponsible for the cN_me arent going to talk. That leaves the assassinologists with a free field for speculation: Who really Idlled Kennedy? If you still beheve in the nut theory of history, rush your resume to the Ne~v York Times. In January 1979, a~er reporting experts" conclusious that "Second Gunman Almost Certainly Shot "at Kennedy," editors a~ the nations newspaper of record still denied there was any conspiracy, preferring ~o envision "two mamacs ms~ead of one." The Washingro~ Post no~ ro be outdone, speculated that "as many as three or four social outcasts. with no ties to any one organization" just happened "in some spontaneous way" to develop "a common determination to express their alienation in the killing of President Kennedy," How comforting.

Edward J. Epstein in his I978 opus Legend: The Secret Life o Lee Harvey Oswald. Epstein wove together a lot of tantalizing clues to suggest that Oswald had been recruited as a KGB agen~ in the 1950s. and presumably continued to serve the Soviet spy agency unti! his death. But Epstein stopped short of alleging that tl~e Soviets used Oswald to kill Kennedy;, after all. what would they have gained? He cant quite explain. either, why the Soviets would employ as a secret agent a man who paraded his left-wing views on televis~n and radio. The real value of the hook lies in its revelations about the exLTaordinary debates and bureaucratic wars waged over these questions wihLdn the CIA.

The Cu~ns This theory suffers from the same flaw--why choose Oswald?--but at least there is a motive: Castro perhaps sought revenge for a~ the plots against his ow~ life. As we have seen, the "Cuban retaliation theory" first surfaced in the Drew Pearson Jack Anderson columns. The House assassinatious committee took it seriously but concluded that Castro would have changed nothing and risked everythlng--including an American invasion of his isIand--by murdering the president. All of Oswalds significant associations were with anti-Castro Cubans, not Marxists.

The closest anyone has seriously come "the mob did it," concluded Robert to blaming the Soviet Union was Biakey, chief counse! of the House

sode?) He passed a great many of the memos on to Jack Andersons longtime friend Hank Greenspun, publisher of the Los Vegas Sun. Maheu may have hoped to pressure the Hughes organization-through its political allies in the Nixon administrafion--to reinstate him, or at least to compensate him for his losses. Anderson pubhshed two new columns on CIA assassination plots in January 1971. a month and a half after Maheus firing, and during a fight by Ruselh to block a deportation order. As before. Anderson suggested that the plots had unleashed forces culminating in the assassination of John Kennedy. As before. the attorney for Roselli. Maheu and Anderson--Ed Morgan--supplied vital information. Andersons columns served warmng that unless Maheu and Roselli got better treatment, the ax would fall

Sure enough, the CIA asked Immigration to lay off Roselli to prevent "public disclosure of Rosellis past operational activity with CIA." For the White House, though, there was a special complication. Maheu knew about the Hughes payoffs to Nixon and might tell Jack ~,A~,,derson. Worse yet, he might tell larry O Brien, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, whom Maheu had put on retainer to the Hughes organdzation as a Washington represenrafive. The same day Andersons first colurnn appeared, the White House began investigating both Mabeu and OBrien. An assistant to White House counsel John Dean, reacting to the Anderson columns, proposed examining Maheus "covert activities . . . with the CIA in the early 1960s." But he also warned that any attempt to discredit Larry continued

assassinations committee. "It is a historical truth." Blakeys committee determined that the crime chiefs of New Orleans and Tampa, Carlos Marcello and Santos Trafficame. were the "most likely family bosses . . . to have participated in such a unilateral assassination." Both had the "motive. means and opportunity to have President Kennedy assassinated"; both hated the Kennedys for cracldng down on their racke~s: both issued death threats in front of credible witnesses; both had access to Oswald and Ruby. Blakeys case works backward from Jack Ruby, indisputably a mob figure, whose murder of Oswald, can no longer be viewed as the impulsive act of an irrational man. (Ruby later admitted that his lawyer invented that legal defense.) Someone obviously made him an offer he couldnt refuse. OK. but where does that leave Oswald? The House commi~ee never made a convincing case for Oswald as Mafia hit man, But decide for yourself: Read Blakeys own account {with Richard Billings), The Plot to Kill the President (1981) and David Scheims encyclopedic Contracz on America: The Ma~ia Murders o/ John and Robert Kennedy

Army intelligence unit claim falsely on Nov. 22 that Oswald was a Cuban defector? We can only speculate, because the Army destroyed its files on Oswald--a Fact the House assassinations committee called "extremely troublesome." Given their hatred of the Ken,n, edys (bordering on "purple passion in the case of the man who ran the CIA plots against Castro), their access to killers and their ability to cover up afterward, certain government agents must be considered suspects in the case. Thats a lot different, however, from saying any of these agencies knew of or approved any plot to bump off the president. Anthony Summers Conspiracy (1980), the best single wink on the assassination, makes a convincing case for intelligence involvement.

(1983).

At least one ~hot almost ce~n~ c~e from the "grassy knoll" in front of Kennedys motorcade. Police who ran up there in pursuit of the ldller met suited "Secret Service" agents who showed their IDs, The only trouble was. the Secret Service hadnt stationed any of its agents there. Were they instead Army intelligence agents detailed to presidential security for the day? Were they the assassins spotted by eyewitnesses on the scene? Why did a local

Youve heard it before: Right-wing oil billionaires teamed up with the Minutemen and Southern racists to gun down the president. New Orleans D.A. Jim Garrison liked this theory. The latest twist came in 1977 when the CIA released a document concerning a French army deserter active in the fascist Secret Army Organization. which plotted numerous times to kill Charles de Gaulle. The man "had been expelled from the U.S. at Forth Worth or Dallas 18 hours after the assassination of President Kennedy" and indeed had been in Dallas on Nov. 22. The French government had wanted to know his whereabouts, so it could protect De Gaulles life during his planned trip to Mexico. This report, even if innocuous, is a sobering remmder of how much goes on m the conspiratorial netherworld that we normally never even guess at.

WEST November 20. 1983

create a fashionable profile with the minimizer" bra by lilyette


Sometimes its better to minimize your assets, Lilyettes marvelous Minimizera bras help reduce your bust "profile" from 3/4" to giving you a slimmer, more proportioned look--and, in addition, new fashion confidence! Shown, the bandless Minimizer~ underwire bra in soft nylon tricot/Lycra~ spandex with delicate embroider~ White or beige, sizes 34-40 C, D; white also in DD cup. SIyle 470, 15,00, To assure perfect fit of your bra, make an appointment with one of our expert fitting consultants, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the following locations: Cheryl Roland in San Francisco, 11/21; Serramonte, 11/22; Hillsdale, 11/23; Sacramento, 11/25. Anne Hurrabiell in Fresno,11/21; Concord, 11/22; Birdcage, 11/25, Gloria Barron in Oakridge, 11/22; Valley Fair, 11/23; Sunnwale, 11/25. Bras [d, 26} - all Macys.

OBrien "might well shake advanced a better explanation. loose Republican skeletons The break-in, of course, from the closet." sealed Nixons fate. The counNixon didnt need to be told terattack began three days after what those skeletons were. the capture of the burglars, Besides the potential damage when the Democratic National of revelations about the CommRtee filed suit against Hughes payoffs to Nixon in the Committee to Re-elect the !968 and 1969, there was a Prasident--and here the story much bigger ghost to haunt comes frill circle. The DNCs him, Nixon had been White attorney--Edward Bennett House liaison to the C~A when Williams--also represented the Bay of Pigs invasion was Nixons nemesis, the Washingplanned, and more--when ton Post. In addition, williams Robert Maheu signed on with had represented CIA assassinathe CIA to kill Castro. Nixon tion plotters Sam Giancana may or may not have known and Jimmy Hoffa;-had been a about the plots in 1960. But !ongfime employer of Robert they were planned by men Maheu; and was the man who under his supervision--a fact had introduced Maheu to John he might not care to have Reselli. revealed. On Sept. I5, 1972, the PresiOn Jan. 24, 1972, Anderson dent of the United States said published a shocking account of Wi!liams: "I think we are of the Hughes payoffs to going to fix the son-~-a-bitch Rebozo, citing "documentary ... Weve got to, because hes evidence" he had seen. Rebozo a bad man . .. He misbehaved assumed that Maheu was the very badly in the Hoffa case." source of the leaks. He later But Nixon was the one who got testified that Mabeu "knew fixed. about it and he was having this problem with Hughes ... and he was a friend of Morgans... had him on retainer. I felt that is where it all came from." A few days later, the New York Times reported that Andersons friend Greenspun, the Las Vegas publisher, had wads of Maheu memos in his safe. The White House could put two and two together. On Feb. 4, Attorney General John Mitchell gathered his "Pltunbers Squad" around him and discussed plans for a political intelligence campaign. High on his list of targets: the Greeuspun safe. The White House wanted those memos and would risk a burglary to get them. The Plumbers went ~e Wate~ate b~ were west in April. They made an no ordina~ lot of ~ans. attempt to get into the safe, There w~ ~e s~ve ~ Howwith help from a Hughes secu- ~d H~t, ~te~ sophi~cate, of William F. ~.ed?fficer, but apparently bosom buddyhi~-~n~ng C~ BucEey and The Feb. 4 meeting with o~c~. He ~d been in ch~e Mitchell produced another tar- of politi~ or~ni~g for ~e get: Maheus friend aud Demo- Bay of Pigs inv~inn ~d w~ cratic Party boss Larry one of ~e fi~ in ~e Agency to OBrien. On June 17, the p~pose ~l~g C~ro. Watergate burglars were Then ~ere w~ F~nk S~caught red-handed, trying to ~, self-described C~ro ~bug OBriens office. Was that sinafion ploRer, C~ ope~five fateful break-in thus just a con- ~d sol~er of fore. Jmmas tinuation of the effort to pre- McCord had worked in ~e vent Maheus leaks from sink- C~s ~ce of ~c~, ~ere ing Nixons re-election the CIA-Mafia plots were chances? So concluded an hatched. E~enio ~ez had unpublished staff report by the mn h~dre~ of ~o~e ~Senate Watergate Committee. sions into Cuba. Be~ard To this day, no one has B~ker ~d se~ed ~t on ~e con~nued on page 34

I~

LITTON
ELECTRONIC TOUCH CONTROLS TWO MEMORIES, VARIABLE POWER DIGITAL CLOCK AND FOOD PROBE

NOW ONLY
$25 REBATE

CIAs payroll until he was dropped in 1966 for dealing with "certain gambling and crimina] elements," as CIA director Richard Helms later put it. And so on. Consider then, within _~_a,t_ context, President Nixen s astonishing strategy for enlisting the CIA in his cover-up. When the following White House conversation of June 23. 1972, finally became public, two years later, the "smoking gun" was at hand and Nixon had to resign. But in the short run, it served its purpose well: "We protected (CIA director Richard) Helms fi*om one hell of a lot of things. (Hixon said) ... Of course, this Hunt, that will uncover a lot of things, You open that scab theres a hell of a lot of things... If it gets out that this is al] involved, the Cuba thing, it would be a fiasco. I~ would make the CIA look bad, its going to make Hunt look bad, and h is very likely to blow the whole Bay of Pigs thing which we think would be very unfortunate--both for CIA and for the counwy, at this time, and for American foreign policy... the problem is it tracks back to the Bay of Pigs." Nixon was ordering a political cover-up on national securhy grounds--using the mos~ sensitive pressure he could dev~e m pull the CIA along with him. And it worked, When H.R. Haldeman relayed Nixons "Bay of Pigs" cover-up threat to Helms on June 23, the reaction of the CIA director was striking. "Turmoil in the room." Haldeman recalled, "Helms gripping the arms of his chair, leaning forward and shouting, ~he Bay of Pigs had nothing to do with this. I ha~ rm concern about the Bay of Pigs. " Yet the reference did the

hand, Nixon would have had leverage ~ both the and, he hoped, the Kennedy wing of the Democratic party. But Helms--whom Hixoz~ firdd in the fall of 1972--never would give it to him. Haldeman himseIf offers the most intriguing explanation of Helms discomfort. "When Nixon said. "Its likely to blow the whole Bay of Pigs thing" he might have been reminding Helms, not so gently, of the cover-up of the CIA assaasination attempts on... Fidel Castro---a CIA operation that may have triggered the Kennedy t~gedy-and wh~cl~He]ms desperately wanted to hide." That was the very hypothesis Anderson had planted in his columns of January 1971.

the VERY BEST m After-Sale Service


(~e~een 24~ & 25th off 10! Fr~way)

~~~ m~k@ of Web ~ ~[~[~|~g ~h~ ~ ~l~rd@r g[ ~ ~~ i~ h~d @f $~ [h~gh ~illfl~]~ @[ @~1@ ~id~ ~ ~ ~$~@~ d[~ @~ Twenty years after his death we still dont know who tdiled Inhn Kennedy (see box, page 16), although this Tuesdays arm~versary is sure to produce renewed speculation on the subject;,The "Casino retaliation theory, for one, will not die. Resurrected again in the mid1970s by Jack Anderson. Hank Greenspun and the Rockefeller Commission on the CIA (on which Ronald Reags~ sat), it still emerges from time to time in the press, usually trotted out by conservatives seeking to discredit the Cuban leader. But in the absence of absolute proof, neither the retaliabOb. Helms next his deputy, tion theory nor its more sinisoth For the and two weeks, Gen. Vernon Waiters. asked ter counterpart, the roguethe FBI to "desist from agent theory, any longer has expanding this investigation." the power to twist government Just what was the "Bay of agencies and warp public polPigs thing" that prompted the icy. The reason ~s simple: CIA cover-up? Nixon had been Though the mystery remains trying since 1971--without unsolved, the background of success--to force Helms to the case is now out in public turn over to the White House a view. and thus no longer useful copy of the inspector generals as blackmail. American democreport on the CIA assassination racy didnt collapse from the plots. (In his roman a clef, The official admission of CIA Company, John Ehrlichman crimes, nor did national securefers to this as the "Primula rity suffer. Truth and openness Report.") With the report in served the country well.

evils can nowbe curbed, and contained, it is only because, for a few short years, the "post-Watergate mentality" opened a window on this dei:k quadrant of American politics. But the nation is fast returning to business as usual. The unpublished records of the House Select Committee that th~ves in on ~inations have been put under ~eltered from wraps for 50 years. More broadly, the public scrutiny and debate. Reagan administration is clamping Secret government--where the down on the Freedom of Information .laWns of natmnal security take pro- Act, unposmg stringent new classificacedence over common sense--breeds tion standards, and gagging~former guyconspiracy and blackmail even as it eminent officia~,s. With the renewed emphasis on covert operations" .wi~e~ d.em_oc~__cy. E~oth the assassinat~on o John F. Kennedy and the Waterabroad and domestic security at home, dece~t and mampuLlation. To the e:~ent once agat~ continued

PAT BA RONE

Carping is t~e a d~in, Ws only as strong as ~ weakest link. if you have one or two aseas that we~ badly, it m~y deVact from the look of the rest of your fi~rfectly are some tips to The lowing good carpeting. pre vent this from happening. Stair treads t~ke a pounding. Its a good idea to buy an extra foot of carpeting for thbarea. This can be folded under one or two risers at the tops of the s~irs and this ~11 emble you to sh~ tee carpet down when wear hegira to show. Extra-heavy undetpadding is dso a good idea. For heaW trd~ lanes, use runners or throw rugs. Extra

CARPET PROTECTION
pieces of erall--to-w~ll carpeting are ideal here. Have the edges bound and use them to help absorb daily wear at doorways, in hails, etc. Such protectors can easily be taken up, ff you w~sh, when guests are coming. Finally, consider the same sort of protection for areas where family members tend to eat and drink, for instance where children take their snacks in front of tee T/.

its subsequent cover-up possible. Until those institutions and A note oa somces: This article did not depend on any "Deep Throat." Nearly all 6f the informarion here can be found--ff y~h look hard documents~ What ed books or enough--in pubis new is the way the information is put together, and put in context. Even the argument, though, is not wholly original. I am particulariy indebted to Peter Dale Bao~s masterful--if arcane---llttle book, Crime and Coverup (Westworks. 1977). Scott. a formet Canadian diplomat and a
This Winter Season with storm windows. A new aluminum storm window, installed on your existing window, will reduce heat loss by as much as 50 per cent. John Balamida demonstrates to Lupe Caballero a RyLock Model W-I Inside Storm Window on display at The Screen Shop. Storm windows will conserve energy, lower utilit~ bills, and provide an excellent way of reducing outside noises. They are available in standard stock or custom sizes. Complete installation service is offered or do-it-youreelf. The Screen Shop has more than 250 sizes of RyLock aluminum windows and sliding patio glass doom in stock. THE SCREEN SHOP, 601 Hamline Street, San Jose, Phone 296-7384. Off Highway 17. Coleman Ave. and Newhall St.

quent blackmail efforts of the CIA/Mafia plotters.. The House Select Co_ mn~i.ttee on Assassinations broadened our knowledge of Jack Rubys links to the CIA/Mafia milieu with a 1,169-page study of organized crime and the assassination. Rubys background was previously explored by Seth Kantor--a reporter for the Detroit News who had known Ruby in Dallas--in his biography, Who Was Jack Rugby? (Everest House., 1978). xne House assassinations cornmittec also published separate
staff smdias on Cuban exile activities and the CIA plots against Castro. This latter report added important details to the history of post-assassination blackmail schemes. And it is here, buried in a footnote, that we learn that the CIA inspector generals 1967 report on the plots raised the sinister question, "Should we try to silence those who are talldng or might later?" Sections of the inspector generals report released by the CIA appear in volume 4 of the House committees hearing records. Most of the report remains classifie& On Jimmy Hoffas role in the CIA/Mafia plots (and related matters), see Dan Moldea, The War~ (Paddington Press, 1978). The Watergate part of the article drew heavily from an unpublished study by the Senate Watergate Committee staff on the motivarious for the break-in itself (a subject that remains highly controversial). Another important source was volume 21 of the Senate Watergate Committees hearings (on the "Hughes-Rebozo Investigation, and Related Matters"), which includes the flurry of White House memos generated by Jack Andersons 1971 revelations about Robert Maheus role in the CIA/Mafia plots. Additional valuable material on the White House came from H.R. Haldemans The Ends Power (Times Books, 1978). The definitive treatment of Howard Hughes is Empire (W.W. Norton, I979), by two prize-wlnning reporters for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Donald Bartlett and James Steele. Also essential is Elaine Davenports The Hughes Papers (Sphere Books, 1976).

We boast one o~ the largest seloctions-of ceramic tile in the Bay Area... at the lowest prices possible. Imported & domestic k~tchen, bath & entry tile in stock. Wilma& Debbie will be happy to assist you in coordinating colors & estimating the quantity youll need to do the job. Free instructions & use of handcutter with every purchase. We c~rry Customs grout, sealers, thin set, "Wonder-Board," cement, lime, paper, wire & mastic for easy installation. STANDARD TiLE SUPPLY CO., INC:, Your Ohe-Stop Tile center. 1700 Pomona Ave., San Jose. Ph. (408) 998-3217. Mon.-FrL 8-5:30, S~t* 9-5. Also in San Luis Obispo & Las Vegas, Nev.

professor at UC-Berkeley, is a rec~ ognized expert on the JFK assassination, Vietnam War and other aspects of recent American political history. Other important essays can be found in a collection he edited with two colleagues, Paul Hoch and Russell Stetler (from whom I have also learned much), The Assassinations: Dallas and Beyond (Random House, 1976). The bulk of the material used for the article came from densely hctual and rarely read government reports. The most essential of these were two studies published in the mid-70s by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (the "Church committee"). Book V of its final report, The investigation of the Assassination o[ President John F. Kennedy: Per[ormance of the Intelligence Agencies, did more than expose how the FBI, the CIA and the White House sought to suppress the math. It also explored at length the Castro retaliation hypothesis, discussed government blackmail by participants in the CIA/Mafia plots and aired new evidence linking Oswald (through the New Orleans training camps) to participants in those plots. The earlier interim report on Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders gave the public its first full discussion of the history of the CIA plots against Castro--inchiding the Nov. 22, 1963, meeting in Paris between a top CIA oi~cial and AMLASH, the potential assassin_ As is so often the case, this report relegated much of its most interesting information to the footnotes, including details of the subsu-

WEST November 20, 1983

Вам также может понравиться