Why is Oswald Stll Considered the Assassin?

                                                   Why Is Oswald Still Considered the Assassin?

                                                                John Delane Williams

Initially, Lee Harvey Oswald was labeled as the assassin of John F. Kennedy, first by Henry Wade, the Dallas District Attorney, but also by the media, J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, along with the Presidential Commission handpicked by Lyndon Johnson.  Later, several well known  authors (well paid for their efforts) wrote books that continued to uphold the Warren Commission's findings, including Gerald Posner [1] and Vincent Bugliosi [2]. For the most part, the main stream media still considers Oswald to be the assassin.

A Post-Assassination Conspiracy-The Warren Commission

  John F. Kennedy's replacement, Lyndon Baines Johnson, immediately after taking office, appointed a Commission to investigate the murder of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.                                                                           As is well known, that commission eventually delivered to President Johnson what apparently was his desired document, in time for the 1964 election. But what sort of investigation was it? Fortunately, we have several documents and writings that help address that question. We, of course, have the document itself, with its 26 volumes of Appendices. [3] We also have, through the Freedom of Information Act, a transcription of the January 27, 1964 meeting of the President's Committee on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy (more commonly referred to as "The Warren Commission"). [4] This first meeting of the Warren Commission is telling in regard to the direction of the "investigation".  Harold Willens, a staff member for the Warren Commission, who came to the Commission from Bobby Kennedy's Justice Department, wrote a note following this first meeting of the Commission, "(W)hat the Commission was up to from the first (was) the search for a means of foisting off a preconceived conclusion, the deliberate hiding of what happened when JFK was killed." [5]

It is argued in Williams [6] that the Warren Commission was, in fact, operating in the arena of advocacy research, and from the prosecutorial viewpoint, arguing for Oswald's guilt as a lone assassin. That is, the evidence that pointed toward Oswald's guilt was, in the long run, the only evidence they wished to entertain. Most of the investigation was actually conducted by the FBI. The Commission's staff would choose which evidence to pursue and which evidence to file away. Some investigations and interviews were conducted by the Commission's staff. As we will see later, at least one staff member was entering deliberately falsified information. Also, the Warren Commission chose to not allow an advocate for the defense of Oswald to participate. Marguerite Oswald (Oswald's mother) asked attorney Mark Lane to represent her son's interests before the Warren Commission. The Commission denied Lane an opportunity to act as Oswald's defense counsel before the Commission. [7]

One Commission staff member, Wesley Liebeler, took issue with the nature of the report being written, which he viewed as a  "brief for the prosecution" against Oswald. Liebeler [8] chose to turn over most of his internal files to Edward Jay Epstein, who would eventually write Inquest. [9] In a remarkable book on the Warren Commission, Shenon [10] accepted Oswald as the lone assassin, but then proceeded to dissect the work of the Commission, pointing out many points of unethical conduct, the shutting out of the staff from exculpatory information regarding Oswald, and the "rush to judgment." It should be remembered that the investigation was proposed by Lyndon Johnson. Johnson picked the seven commissioners, and Johnson wanted (and got) the investigation completed in advance of the November 1964 presidential election. Is it any wonder that none of the Commission's interests included any investigation of Johnson himself? It would not be until 1998 when Walt Brown held a press conference in Dallas that would announce that Mac Wallace, a convicted murderer (who was sentenced to a five-year unsupervised probation by a Texas court; Wallace was also LBJ's hit man), was the person whose fingerprint was found on the sixth floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository (TSBD) directly after the assassination. [11] Shenon bemoaned the unanswered questions about the assassination, and the failure of entities such as the CIA to share information; indeed, James Jesus Angleton swooped down to Mexico City in 1971 upon the death of the CIA station Chief Win Scott, collecting everything he could find regarding Scott's tenure in Mexico City (which included the time of Oswald's 1963 visit). [12]

Victoria Adams and her Three Co-Workers: Proof that Oswald wasn't on the Sixth Floor at the Time of the Assassination

Victoria Elizabeth Adams was an employee of the Scott Foresman  Co. in the TSBD, who along with three other women watched the Presidential motorcade from a fourth floor window on November 22, 1963. Directly after the last shot, she and another employee, Sandra Styles, went down the stairs to the first floor. They neither saw nor heard anyone on the stairs. The only person they encountered on their way out of the building was a large black man, who was also employed at the TSBD.  A third employee had situated herself in a chair by the stairs, where she would have noticed anyone going up or down the stairs. It was several minutes before anyone passed her on the stairs. Those persons were policemen going up the stairs to investigate. Collectively, the observations of these three witnesses would preclude Oswald from being on the 6th floor at the time of the assassination. Among the four women, only Vicky Adams was interviewed by the Warren Commission, though each had been interviewed by the FBI (CE 1381). The report of the FBI interview of Victoria Adams follows:

Victoria Adams was interviewed by David Belin, a staff member working for the Warren Commission, on April 24, 1964. In this interview, a curious sentence appeared to have been added, different from Victoria Adams' FBI statement, that she had encountered Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady on the first floor after coming down the stairs, directly after the assassination. Her encounter with Shelley and Lovelady actually occurred several minutes later, after she re-entered the building.

A pertinent part of the interview follows:

----------------------------------------------------

Mr. BELIN: When you got to the bottom of the first floor, did you see anyone there as you entered the first floor from the doorway?

Miss ADAMS: Yes, sir.

Mr. BELIN: Who did you see?

Miss ADAMS: Mr. Bill Shelley and Billy Lovelady.

Mr. BELIN: Where did you see them on the first floor?

Miss ADAMS: Well this is the stairs, and this is the Houston Street dock that I went out. They were approximately in this position here, so I don't know how you would describe that.

Mr. BELIN: You are looking now at the a first floor plan, or diagram of the Texas School Book Depository, and you have pointed to a position where you encountered Billy Lovelady and Mr. Shelley?

Miss ADAMS: That's correct.

Mr. BELIN: It would be slightly east of the front of the east elevator, and probably as far south as the length of the elevator, is that correct?

Miss ADAMS: Yes, sir.

Mr. BELIN: I have here a document called Commission's Exhibit No. 496, which includes a diagram of the first floor, and there is a No.7 and there is a circle on it, and I have pointed to a place marked No. 7 on the diagram, is that correct?

Miss ADAMS: That is approximate.  (Excerpt from Victoria Adams' testimony, VI 386-393; also found in Ernest, B. (2013). The Girl on the Stairs. Gretna, LA: Pelican, pp. 284-294.

Though no one questioned this testimony at the time of the publication of the 26 volumes of Appendices to the Warren Report, on its face there appear to be inconsistencies in the interview. There are eight couplets of dialog between Mr. Belin and Miss Adams. The last couplet, where Belin introduces CE No. 496, would seem to precede the other couplets. But there is also an issue in the last couplet: how would Belin know where Victoria Adams encountered Mr. Shelley and Billy Lovelady to the point that he would have pinpointed the location on the first floor where Shelley and Lovelady were positioned already circled? Would it not have been more appropriate for Belin to ask Miss Adams to circle that place herself? The fourth couplet has Miss Adams looking at the first floor plan. It would surely seem this would have occurred after the last couplet. In retrospect, the unmistakable interpretation is that someone has significantly edited the testimony of Victoria Adams. She only saw the published transcript of her testimony years after it was published in Volume VI of the 26 volumes of Appendices. Later, she vehemently denied that the published transcript was accurate, when Adams was presented a copy of the published version of her testimony by Barry Ernst in 2002, the first time she ever saw it. She had previously only seen a typescript after the interview, at which time she made several corrections. Multiple changes were made in her deposition. The person she spoke to on the first floor was a large black man who was near the door as she exited. She never spoke to either Shelley or Lovelady, nor apparently did she even see them together. [13] She did not see either person on her way out directly after the assassination. In Shelley and Lovelady's depositions, Shelley said he saw Victoria Adams on the fourth floor (Adams' work station) somewhat after the assassination. Lovelady wasn't even sure he saw Victoria Adams. Neither Shelley nor Lovelady reported any conversation with her. [14]

It strongly appears Belin (or someone else within the Warren Commission staff) added changes after Vickie Adams had seen the typescript of her statement. Vickie was astonished by the changes, which she only became aware of years later. The changes of course, would have allowed Oswald time to come down the stairs, in that Shelley and Lovelady did not enter the building until five minutes after the shooting. It becomes clear that the evidence was being changed by the Commission staff to save the appearance that Oswald could have been the shooter. By not interviewing any of the other three women, and changing the testimony of Miss Adams, Belin was introducing a lie. Had a lawyer such as Mark Lane been able to rebut the information inserted by Belin, the Warren Commission might well have had a different outcome, apparently something not desired by the powers that be.

It can be seen that the testimony of Victoria Adams and her three co-workers would minimally place in doubt the conclusions of the Warren Commission, and cast David Belin as a person willing to bolster the case against Oswald and remove evidence that was exculpatory to Oswald.  Had her actual testimony, unaltered by Belin (or someone else in the commission staff), been included in the testimonies in the 26 volumes of Appendices to the Warren Commission Report,      the United States may have had a very different history since 1963; that history might have been much more truthful.

Highly Unusual Reports on Oswald Prior to November 1963.

 

a) Adele Edisen and her Encounter with Dr. Jose Rivera.

Here, two different accounts are reviewed that suggest Oswald was known reasonably well to persons employed by the United States government that render those within the government who claim Oswald was  not on the government's radar to be guilty of falsehoods. The first is regarding Adele Edisen, who was re-entering the workforce by applying for a post-doctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness (NINDB) at Tulane University in New Orleans School of Medicine, working in neurophysiology; she was awarded a two year fellowship. She attended a meeting in Atlantic City, NJ in April, 1963, where she met Dr. Jose Rivera, who was in charge of grants at the NINDB, a subdivision of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). They made arrangements to meet in Washington a few days later. Rivera, who had made reservations for dinner for the two of them, began talking about his travels with his work. Rivera said, "When you go to Dallas, you should go to the Carousel Club because it is a very nice night club." Rivera then said, "Do you know Lee Oswald?" Edisen replied she did not. Rivera told Edisen that Oswald had lived in the Soviet Union, was married to a Russian woman, and had a child. They were living in Dallas, and were moving to New Orleans. "You should get to know them, because they are a lovely couple."  From what was said, Edisen inferred that Oswald was a scientist and a friend of Rivera's. [15]

Later, as they were driving by the White House, Rivera, out of the blue, asked, "I wonder what Jackie will do when her husband dies?" When Edisen exclaimed, "What?", Rivera came back, "Oh. Oh, I meant the baby, she might lose the baby."  Shortly thereafter, Rivera said, "Write down this name: Lee Harvey Oswald. Tell him to kill the chief." When Rivera realized that Edisen had done precisely what he had said, he exclaimed," No, no, don't write that down. You'll remember it when you get to New Orleans. We are just playing a little joke on him."

Rivera then began to explain where "it" would happen. He explained there would be men on the fifth floor. Only after the assassination did Edisen understand that the assassination was referred to as "it". Rivera also stated, "Oswald was not what he seems. We're going to send him over to the library to read about great assassinations in history. After it's over, he'll call Abt [16] to defend him. Again, after it's over, someone will kill him. After it happens, his best friend will commit suicide. He'll jump out of a window because of his grief." Then Rivera continued: "When does the Shriner's Circus come to New Orleans? Oh, I remember, in November. It will happen after the Shriner's Circus comes to New Orleans." Then, "After it's over, the men will be out of the country."

Rivera dictated a number for Oswald, 899-4244. On her return to New Orleans, Edisen called the number and asked for Oswald. The man who answered said that there was no one there by that name. Thinking she might have misdialed, she called a week later, getting the same man. She again asked for Oswald. He said, "Oh, they've just arrived. Would you like to speak to his wife?" Edisen said yes, and a Slavic sounding woman said, "Hello." Edisen asked if she or her husband knew a Colonel Rivera. Marina Oswald didn't know but indicated Edisen could call back when her husband was home. The next time Edisen called, the man (landlord) got Oswald on the phone, Edisen asked Oswald if he knew of Colonel Rivera, who worked in Washington with the NIH. Oswald replied, "No, I don't." Edisen replied, "That's strange because he apparently knows you and your wife." Edisen then asked for the location of the phone, and Oswald gave the address at 4909 Magazine Street, which Edisen recalled was in a run-down part of town, a strange place for a scientist to live.

When Edisen called the  Secret Service in New Orleans after the assassination, she was asked to come down to the FBI office As she entered the room, she was told that Oswald had just been shot. She immediately remembered that Rivera had told her that, "After it's over, someone will kill him. They will say his best friend killed him." A liaison FBI officer joined the two of them. After Edisen gave her information, the FBI officer asked if he could have the note with Oswald's phone number on it. Edisen complied with his request. [17] It is clear that Dr. Rivera had considerable detailed information that would strongly suggest he was privy to detailed information known only to those planning the assassination.

It should be noted that researcher Bill Kelly interviewed Edisen extensively in 1999, after which he revealed that "Edisen also believes that Rivera surreptitiously gave her some drugs- a Mickey Finn, possibly an LSD psychotic [inducing] drug, and she believes he was testing some sort of drug on her and was involved in some sort of experiment or secret operation." [18]

'

b) The Search for Lee Harvey Oswald in Mobile, AL on November 21, 1963

A telegram was sent from Dallas to the New Orleans November 17, 1963, probably sent by Oswald to J. Edgar Hoover, which warned of an assassination attempt on the life of President Kennedy in Dallas, on November 22 or 23, 1963.  This telegram was likely the rationale for FBI agent James Ambrose, stationed in Mobile Alabama, to seek out Naif Michael Moore, Jr. (Junior Moore), proprietor of Jimmy's Billiards in Mobile, and a known gambler; being called upon by law enforcement to be a potential source of information was quite common for persons such as Moore, who made their livings outside the then current laws. Moore had been brought in and questioned numerous times previously. [19] Moore voluntarily walked the four blocks to the Mobile FBI office where he was questioned about Lee Harvey Oswald on the afternoon of  November 21, 1963, a time the FBI would maintain that they had at most minimal information on Oswald. This interview with Moore showed that such disclaimers by the FBI having no interest in Oswald was an outright lie. Further, when Moore tried to contact Ambrose in January, 1964, Moore was stonewalled about Ambrose's then current location.

As time went on, various things would be addressed in the media that would rekindle Moore's interest in the meaning of his experience. In 1975, Moore saw a Dan Rather television program, titled," The American Assassins." A segment of this program involved William Walter, the FBI agent in New Orleans who handled the teletype  on November 17, 1963, about a probable assassination attempt on JFK in Dallas. Moore would eventually get together with Walter. First, he tried again to tell the civil authorities about his 1963 experience in Mobile. At this  time (1975), Moore was living in Blythville, Arkansas.  Moore told his story to George Ford, Sheriff of Mississippi County (which contains Blythville). Ford turned the information over to Ed Cunningham, an FBI agent in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Cunningham passed the information onto his superiors, who in turn, asked Cunningham to get a statement from Moore. Eventually, an 8 page report was made, which included Moore's story and a denial by former FBI agent James Ambrose  that an interview of Moore regarding Lee Harvey Oswald ever took place. [20]  After moving back to Mobile, Moore then told his story to a reporter, Cathy Donelson from The Mobile Press Register. Donelson also contacted both Ambrose and Cunningham, who both denied talking to Moore about Lee Harvey Oswald. A few years later, the FBI report was released showing that such conversations had indeed taken place. Donelson's article [21] was published February 23, 1992. A few days later Donelson was fired. [22]

Moore contacted William Walter, the former FBI agent who received the November 17, 1963 teletype at the New Orleans FBI station with the JFK assassination warning for Dallas. They got together and a videotape was filmed by Ruby Moore, Junior Moore's wife. Moore and Walter told their respective stories, with a discussion between them about their respective roles. [23]  This is but another example of the lack of truthfulness in the Federal bureaucracy when it comes to the JFK assassination. 

 The Telegraph sent to the New Orleans FBI

A telegram was received by William  Walter and his wife Josey on Sunday morning, November 17, 1963 at the FBI office in New Orleans. They made a xerox copy of that telegram.  The telegram is reproduced herein:  

 “According to William Walter, the security clerk on duty at the time of Oswald’s request, Quigley asked Walter to check the security indices to determine if there was an existing file on Oswald. Walter did indeed find a file on Oswald, which he recalled carried an informant classification. He also recalled that Special Agent Warren deBrueys’ name was on the jacket of that file. Amazingly, Walter would testify that he had also seen a Telex shortly before the assassination, warning that a "militant revolutionary group may attempt to assassinate President Kennedy on his proposed trip to Dallas." Since no other FBI employee could (or would) corroborate Walter’s revelations, the HSCA chose to disregard his testimony. But the HSCA could not provide any motive for Walter’s supposed subterfuge. He had no ax to grind with the FBI, he left the Bureau on good terms, and started a career in banking. He also did not seek notoriety or financial gain and believed the Warren Commission’s conclusions. Walter summed up nicely for the HSCA his thoughts about his colleagues’ silence, "I had gotten the [gut] feeling from everybody I talked to that ‘we know it is true, but we are not going to talk about it.’" From Walter’s Executive Session testimony to the HSCA, March 23, 1978, HSCA document #014029.” [24]

Oswald as a Covert Operator

We don't have many extensive firsthand accounts about Oswald, but we have at least two such accounts. The first was written by Ernst Titovets [25], regarding his interactions with Oswald in the then Soviet Union, covering 1960-1962. The second is by Judyth Baker [26], covering April 1963 to November 1963. Together, they render the interpretation of Oswald described in the Warren Report as highly untenable. What we can do is piece together Oswald's life circumstances for the critical period from Oswald's repatriation to the United States.

What was Oswald doing, or, more to the point, what did Oswald think he was doing? It seems a reasonable hypothesis that Oswald desired to be a spy. This probably did not go unnoticed by government agencies likely to have come in contact with him. [27] It is conceivable that Oswald was, in his view, getting a chance to live out this dream. His Russian episode has been interpreted as probably acting as a spy for some U.S. agency or agencies. Otherwise, after attempting to renounce his American citizenship in Moscow and living in the Soviet Union for 32 months (October, 1959 to June, 1962), his repatriation on his return, with a Russian wife and their Russian born daughter, without any apparent repercussions, seems inexplicable. [28] Apparently, the American agencies may have seen that, for a small investment, they might be able to use him in some future operation. Oswald's employment by the Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall Company (referred to by the Warren Commission as "a graphic arts company") could well have had a clandestine direction for Oswald; Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall did secret photographic work for the U.S. government. Oswald's employment there started (October 11, 1962)  just days before the Cuban missile crisis. [29]

 Perhaps both the CIA and the FBI may have had some relationship with Oswald. It seems that this became intensified (more likely with the CIA) when he returned to New Orleans in April 1963. Oswald was hired by the William B. Reily Coffee Company, though much of his actual time was spent as a courier for a clandestine research project headed by Alton Ochsner, M.D., presumably funded by the CIA. The project involved developing a fast acting cancer which might successfully be used on Fidel Castro. [30] As a courier, Oswald received biological tissues from David Ferrie and took them to either Mary Sherman, M.D. or to Alton Ochsner, M.D. or to the Communicable Disease Laboratory at the US Public Health Service. Oswald also was scheduled to take the developed cancerous materials to Mexico City to a drop where the cancerous material would then be taken to Cuba by another person. [31]

 Suggesting that this scenario is at least tenable can be deduced from information regarding Oswald's income in the two months preceding the assassination and by sightings of Oswald with David Ferrie and Clay Shaw in Clinton, LA. Warren Commission staff lawyer Richard Mosk and IRS supervisor Phillip Barson filed a report to the Warren Commission on Oswald's income and expenses for September 25, 1963, the day he left New Orleans for Mexico, until the assassination, slightly less than a two month period. "His [Oswald's] income, including salary and unemployment insurance, totaled $3665.89, while his expenses, including the cost of the Mexico trip, totaled $3,497.79. It was a difference of $168, and that money was apparently accounted for, since Oswald left the $170 in cash for Marina in a drawer in the bedroom dresser." [32]

That statement is astonishing. Oswald's only employment was at the TSBD, from October 16, 1963 until November 22, 1963, five weeks and three days. At a wage of $1.25 per hour, Oswald would have earned around $280 at the TSBD during his employment there. As to unemployment insurance, Oswald cashed his last unemployment check from the State of Texas on October 15, 1963, in the amount of $6. [33] Clearly, Oswald had other sources of income. A likely source of some of that income was the CIA financed research project in New Orleans headed by Dr. Alton Ochsner:  "...Lee Oswald secretly worked as a team member on Ochsner's bio-weapon project, that Oswald met with Ochsner personally, and that it was actually Lee Oswald who requested that Dr. Ochsner set up his media coverage to help position him as a pro-Cuban activist, so that he could get into Cuba more easily and deliver their bio-weapon to sympathetic doctors, who would use it to kill Castro." [34] The CIA, through the New Orleans research project, would likely have funded not only his employment through the clandestine project, most likely they funded his trip to Mexico as well. The FBI likely also paid Oswald money during this period for some of his activities (by some accounts $200 a month).

Was Oswald involved in a Conspiracy or Conspiracies to Assassinate JFK?

This is an interesting question. Insofar as Oswald is concerned, there are four different kinds of conspiracies he could have been involved with. The first is an actual conspiracy, where all participants were working together to effect the assassination of President Kennedy. The second is where Oswald was the only participant in the conspiracy actively pursuing JFK's assassination, with the other participants being informants to some other entity. The third possibility is that Oswald had infiltrated a group planning the assassination, and fourth, unbeknownst to the participants, ALL were persons who were seeing themselves as infiltrators to an actual assassination group, when in fact none of them were actually participating in any plan to assassinate the president.

The first scenario, that all participants were involved in an actual conspiracy, seems unlikely. If this were the case, they presumably were all being paid by the same entities. What Oswald would bring to such a group, other than as a patsy, seems questionable. The second scenario, while a possibility, seems ludicrous. Given that Oswald was in the lunchroom at the time of the assassination, or at least NOT on the sixth floor of the TSBD, this scenario can be discarded. The third scenario, that Oswald infiltrated a group planning the assassination probably seemed plausible to Oswald. It seems this is how he perceived the situation. Still, the last possibility seems the most attractive possibility. The actual planners of the assassination may have prepared each of the participants as potential patsies, while the actual assassination teams were going about planning the assassination. This scenario had to be discarded, at least by the Warren Commission, as the result the new president had in mind was a lone assassin. Finding a conspiracy was too messy. The so-called conspirators (the potential patsies) may be allowed to actually tell the truth, which could extend the Warren Commission's "deliberations" beyond the time of the November 1964 election; Johnson wanted the assassination removed as an issue prior to the November election. In fact, letting truth be known could have ended Johnson's presidency. Besides, to many in government, Oswald was conveniently dead. Any prior relationship between Lee Harvey Oswald and his assassin, Jack Ruby, could be denied.

Sorting out the Conspiracy Scenarios- A meeting of "Conspirators" in late August, 1963

We know from the work of Dick Russell [35] that, according to Richard Case Nagell, a meeting involving Oswald took place in an undisclosed location, but which might have been Houston.  The date of the meeting was between August 23 and August 27, 1963.  In attendance were Richard Case Nagell, Lee Harvey Oswald, "Angel", and a fourth unidentified person. Nagell claimed to have surreptitiously recorded the meeting; [36] Russell had never found the recording. Nagell was serving as a double agent, somewhat to his surprise. Nagell signed a contract in 1962, stating that he was employed by the CIA. [37] But it appeared that his orders were coming from the Soviet KGB. The Soviets were aware that there might be plots against President Kennedy; they wanted Nagell to "eliminate" Oswald because they feared that, were Kennedy to be assassinated, Oswald would be blamed and, by inference, because of Oswald's having lived in the USSR, Soviet Russia may be seen as directing his actions. Were Oswald dead, it would be much harder to blame the Soviets. [38]

Nagell was in a quandary of deciding what to do. Nagell had gone to New Orleans in mid-September trying to convince Oswald to abandon his efforts, particularly of going to Mexico later that month. Then Nagell returned to Texas. He was in El Paso on the night of September 19, 1963, when he decided on his course of action. He did not wish to commit murder (on Oswald) particularly as it was being dictated to him by Soviet Russia. Nagell felt he had been "given over" to the KGB by the CIA, and he thus felt abandoned by the CIA. On the morning of September 20, 1963, he mailed three letters: one, containing $500 and an airline ticket to Mexico City, was sent to Oswald in New Orleans. A letter was also sent to Desmond Fitzgerald, CIA, and a "nastier' note to another person in the CIA. [39] A question to be asked here, if Nagell was to eliminate Oswald if Oswald wouldn't change his plans, is, why then did Nagell personally pay Oswald's expenses and pay for the ticket to Mexico City? One explanation is, this change of mind for Nagell occurred when he visited Oswald in New Orleans. Likely, Nagell figured out that Oswald was also involved in another CIA project (the project involving developing fast acting cancers to be used on Fidel Castro), and in a manner somewhat similar to Nagell, was also a double agent (CIA & FBI) and also trying to prevent Kennedy's assassination. To this end, when Nagell showed up at the Consulate General's Office in Barcelona on March 10, 1969 to discuss his circumstances with Consul Richard C. Brown, Brown reported, "He [Nagell] said that the reason he was arrested in the first place [in El Paso] was he had worked with Lee Harvey Oswald in an assignment with a U.S. intelligence agency." [40] That would also mean that the August meeting was bogus. It would have seemed likely that perhaps all participants were playing a role for their separate handlers. Another possibility of course, is that if some entity wanted to get a patsy for the assassination, any one of the participants could have been used.

Nagell's plan was to have him enter a bank, carefully shoot into the ceiling so that no one was injured, and then walk out and wait to be arrested. Strangely, he thought his actions would result in a misdemeanor. Instead, Nagell was convicted of a felony, and he was imprisoned until 1968. [41]

Why Oswald?

In a word, Oswald was a convenient scapegoat. By focusing on Oswald, the machinations and manipulations in the background would go undiscovered perhaps indefinitely, for those involved in framing him. Perhaps one of the few blanket statements that could be made about the JFK assassination is that Oswald was not the shooter. But at this point, pinpointing the actual shooter eludes us. A likely scenario is that the shooter or shooters were themselves fairly quickly eliminated. Perhaps even those who eliminated them were eliminated themselves. What that suggests is that those planning the murder of President Kennedy hoped the truth would be skirted "long enough". Surely, long enough so that the principals would avoid exposure during their lifetimes.

The Maintaining of False Beliefs

One of the false beliefs which was disproven centuries ago, but still maintains adherents, is the concept of a flat earth. Even though disproven, there was concern that explorers like Columbus might fall off the edge of the earth. There still exists today a Flat Earth Society; their website is: http://flatearthsociety.org. There are still those who maintain, probably for religious reasons, that the earth is less than 11000 years old; geology can't be right. Geology has made some mistakes, but suggesting the earth is much older than 11000 years is not one of them. One of their mistakes which was still being taught when I was an undergraduate student, is that there was no such thing as continental drift, a theory proposed in the early 1900's, and dismissed as impossible by

the geologists of the day. In the middle 1960's, continental drift, under the new name "plate tectonics", replaced the concept of stationary continents. [42]

The idea that the earth was the center of the universe held sway even after the writings of Copernicus were published (shortly before and shortly after his death) in 1543. Galileo took up Copernicus' theory, and added his understanding of gravity. Still, Galileo was placed under house arrest for his final eight years, dying in 1642. By 1758 the Catholic Church lifted the ban on his books supporting Copernican theory. [43] And on November 4, 1992, Pope John Paul II announced that the denunciation of Galileo was a tragic error. [44] It took 358 years for an apology to be delivered.

How Does This Apply to Oswald?

It is clear that there can often be a long time interval before appropriate corrections get made regarding inaccuracies that have previously been accepted as true.  In Oswald's situation, a political dimension impinges on accurate reporting. In most of the other cited cases, either a political or religious/political dimensions was also present. Changing the verdict at the official level could be perceived by current stakeholders as endangering their position. Such a circumstance would lead to foot dragging or other delaying tactics. One such delaying tactic, if the  preponderance of opinion were to accept that Oswald was not the shooter, would be to implicate Oswald in some other way, e.g., reposition Oswald as being involved in a conspiracy.

So, when will Oswald be exonerated?  

Will it take as long as Galileo? That was 358 years. Perhaps an issue is that "solving" the assassination would be embarrassing to various parts of the government, and to influential families whose patriarchs participated in some way. Were we to know how parts of our government participated either in the assassination or the cover-up of the assassination, it would be likely that many of us would demand change. That change would likely be considered dangerous to the status quo, which seems always to have its defenders.  I would guess that the process for exonerating Oswald will remain slow. A difficulty for some is that not only is Oswald a poor candidate for being the assassin, there presently doesn't seem to be a good replacement. Likely, the JFK assassination will move to the unsolved list, and that would not sit well with many. But finding the actual killer is not our present direction, though also highly sought. Getting the person wrongly accused exonerated, however, is. It will take as long as it takes.

Notes:

1. Posner, G. (1993). Case Closed. New York: Random House. For those that posit a possible shot from the Dal-Tex Building, Posner inadvertently shows the constructed ballistic evidence would include the Dal-Tex Building as being in the cones of possible origin of the shots. Posner eliminated this possibility by simply removing the Dal-Tex building from the drawings, thus leaving a "gaping" hole in his evidence. See Posner's Appendix A.

2. Bugliosi, V. (2007). Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. New York: Norton.

3. Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the 26 Volumes of Hearings and Exhibits. (1964). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Incredibly, no index accompanied this voluminous work. Fortunately, an excellent index was eventually completed by Walt Brown: Brown, W. (1995). Referenced Index Guide to the Warren Commission. Wilmington, DE: Delmax.

4. Weisberg, H. & Lesar, J. (1974). Whitewash IV: JFK Assassination Transcript. Frederick, MD: Weisberg.

5. Willens, H.P. (1974). In Weisberg & Lesser, p. 25.

6. Williams, J.D. (2015). Advocacy Research. JFK-E/Deep Politics Quarterly, (in press).

7. Lane, M. (1966). Rush to Judgment. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, p. 9.

8. Shenon, P. (2013). A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination. New York: Henry Holt. p. 500.

9. Epstein, E.J. (1966). Inquest: The Warren Commission and the Establishment of Truth. New York: Viking Press.

10. Shenon.

11. Brown, W. (1998). TSBD Evidence Places LBJ 'Hitman' in Sniper's Nest. Extra Edition of JFK Deep Politics/Deep Politics Quarterly, 3,3. A. Nathan Darby made a six point match of Mac Wallace's fingerprint to the previously unidentified fingerprint found in the sniper's nest at the TSBD. Later, a 34 point match confirmed Wallace's presence on the sixth floor of the Depository, reported in Brown, W. (2001). Malcolm Wallace Fingerprint: "It's Him!!" JFK/ Deep Politics Quarterly, 7,1,4-6. Among the critics of identifying Wallace from the fingerprint were Glen Sample and Mark Collom, who earlier wrote The Men on the Sixth Floor (1997). Garden Grove, CA: Sample Graphics. Sample & Collom had hypothesized that Wallace was present on the sixth floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository at the time of the assassination. It seemed strange that they would question a finding that gave evidence that their earlier assertion was likely true.

12. Shenon, pp. 532-534.

13. Ernest, B. (2013). The Girl on the Stairs. Gretna, LA: Pelican. See also Williams, J.D. (2014).The Girl on the Stairs-Was Oswald Even on the Sixth Floor at the Time of the Assassination? JFK-E/Deep Politics Quarterly, 1, 2, 3-16.

14. The relevant parts of the depositions of Billy Nolan Lovelady and William H. Shelley are given in Ernest, pp. 295-297.

15. Turner, K.S. (1999). From April to November and back Again. The Third Decade, 8, 1, 2-5. K.S. Turner was a pseudonym for Adele Edisen. She had also reported her experiences on the then extant website, JFK Research. H.P. Albarelli conducted several interviews with Edisen for his book, which also includes CIA clandestine use of hypnosis. Albarelli, H.P. (2013). A Secret Order: Investigating the High Strangeness and Synchronicity of the JFK Assassination. Waterville, OR: Trine-Day.

16. John J. Abt was an attorney in New York City to whom Oswald attempted to place a collect call, but the call was refused; Abt was out of town at the time. Benson, M. (1993). Who's Who in the JFK Assassination. New York: Carol Publishing Group, p. 4.

17. Turner (1999), Albarelli (2013).

18. Woody Woodland Interview of Bill Kelly on "Between the Lines" live radio program on WSMN AM 1590, Nashua, NH December 29, 1999. See jfkcountercoup2.blogspot.com/2012/10/bill-kelley-interview-1999.html

19. Moore, N.M, & Darring, W. (1992). Crossroader: Memoirs of a Professional Gambler. Mobile: Regency Press.

20. FBI File no. 62-109060-741; AARB record no. 124-10056-10063.

21. Donelson, C. (1992). Did the FBI ask Him about Oswald the Day before Kennedy Was Killed? The Mobile Press Register, February 23, p. 1A+.

22. A copy of that telegram can also be found in Williams, J.D. (2006). Was the FBI searching for Oswald in Mobile on November 21, 1963? Dealey Plaza Echo, 8, 2, 46-52.

23. Ruby Moore videotaped the meeting between Moore and Walter. Junior Moore sent me a copy of the videotape.

24. www://ctka.net/Let JusticeBeDone/notes.htm The copy of the telegram was provided by Judyth Baker.

25. Titovets, E. (2010). Oswald Russian Episode. Minsk, Belarus: Mon Litera Publishing House.

26. Baker, J.V. (2010). Me & Lee: How I came to know, love and lose Lee Harvey Oswald. Walterville, OR: Trine-Day.

27. Ibid, pp. 133-134.

28. Ibid, pp. 132-133.

29. Benson, M. (2002). Encyclopedia of the JFK Assassination. New York: Checkmark Books, p. 179.

30. Baker, pp.165-187.

31. Ibid, p. 482, p. 486, pp. 491-496.

32. Shenon, p. 452.

33. Armstrong, J. (2003). Harvey & Lee: How the CIA Framed Oswald. Arlington, TX: Quasar, p. 725.

34. Haslam, E. (2007). Dr. Mary's Monkey: How the Unsolved Murder of a Doctor, a Secret Laboratory in New Orleans and Cancer-Causing Monkey Viruses are Linked to Lee Harvey Oswald, the JFK Assassination and Emerging Global Epidemics. Walterville, OR: Trine-Day,

 p. 337.

35. Russell, D. (1992, 2003).The Man Who Knew Too Much. New York: Carroll & Graf. The page numbers in the references that follow relate to the 2003 edition.

36. Russell (2003), p. 275.

37. Ibid., p. 283.

38. Ibid., p. 283.

39. Ibid., p. 290.

40. Ibid., p. 437.

41. Ibid, pp. 1-3.

42. Henderson, B. (2014).The Next Tsunami: Living on a Restless Coast. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press.

43. biography.com/people/Galileo

44. lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVarticles/LearningFromTheVaticansReversalOnGalileo.html

.Published in the Dealey Plaza Echo, 2016, 19, 2, 14-22. 

LBJ as the JFK Assassination Mastermind and Colossus

                     LBJ: MASTERMIND OF THE JFK ASASSINATION AND COLOSSUS

                                                               John Delane Williams

Phillip Nelson has recently authored two books on LBJ and the JFK assassination;  LBJ: Mastermind of the JFK Assassination [1] and LBJ: From Mastermind to "Colossus". [2] The titles simply promise more than Nelson delivers. Nelson doe a very good job of bringing together the works of others and ties them together well. However, LBJ was a poor candidate for the "mastermind" of the JFK assassination. That Lyndon Johnson was a scoundrel of the worst sorts was widely known, and Nelson went to great lengths to remind us of Johnson's nefarious activities. But does it add up to Johnson being the "mastermind" of the JFK assassination? In my opinion, Nelson makes a  better case for James Jesus Angleton as being the "mastermind" than for Lyndon Johnson.

The Hearings of the Senate Rules Committee

One  aspect of the reporting that Nelson got particularly garbled was in regard to the hearing held by the Senate Rules Committee regarding Lyndon Johnson's relationship to Bobby Baker. Hearings were taking place on November 22, 1963; Donald Reynolds was being questioned regarding the transaction of  selling Johnson a life insurance policy, with Bobby Baker serving as a middle man. [3] Nelson somehow completely got this muddled: "[Senator] Curtis was on the Senate Rules Committee chaired by [Senator John] Williams, which was in the process of secretly interviewing Don Reynolds as JFK was being assassinated." (p. 581) The one correct part of this statement is that Senator Curtis (R-NE) was indeed on the committee. The actual chair of the committee was B. Everett Jordan (D-NC). Senator John Williams, (R-DE) was not only not the Chair (The Democrats were in the majority of the Senate, with a Democrat chairman selected; the Democrats held a 6-3 advantage in the committee); Senator Williams wasn't even on the committee. It may seem to be parsing words, but the meeting on 11/22/1963 was a closed session, not a secret session. And the Don Reynolds  interview ended at 1 PM EST (12:00 Noon, Dallas time), so that the Reynolds interview ended a half hour before the assassination occurred.  On the same page (p. 581), Nelson first indicates that there were seven Democrats on the Senate Rules Committee (The committee's actual name was the Senate Rules and Administration Committee); just four lines later, Nelson stated (correctly) that there were six Democrat members on the committee. Fact checking does not seem to be Nelson's forte.

What would the Characteristics of a "Mastermind" be?

Nelson (p. xv, Introduction, Book One) lists five characteristics for the mastermind of the assassination:

        a. Who has the most to gain?

        b. Who has the least to lose?

        c.  Who has the means to do it?

        d. Who has the apparatus in place to cover it up?

        e. Who has the kind of narcissistic/sociopathic personality capable of rationalizing the     

            action as acceptable and necessary, together with the resolve and determination to see

             it through?

I would grant that these are necessary, but not sufficient, characteristics for the mastermind; I would posit three additional characteristics:

        f. Who has a sufficiently strong intellect to carefully plan the details of the action?

        g. Who is sufficiently grounded in their psychological functioning so as to gain the support

             of other necessary high level plotters?

        h. Specifically, who would be trusted by James Jesus Angleton, J. Edgar Hoover, General

            Curtis LeMay and the other Chiefs of Staff, the top Mafiosi, and the moneyed oilmen?

I'm afraid that LBJ fails miserably on the new criteria. In fact I don't think any one person would fill the bill, if for no other reason than the last criteria. But LBJ wouldn't even be considered. He lacked in particular, sufficient intellectual ability. The one thing Johnson learned how to do was find the weak spots of a person he wished to use, a skill honed by him from J. Edgar Hoover. But that skill wouldn't be of much use in planning the assassination. Johnson was probably among the least able in terms of his psychological functioning. His probable bipolar disorder [See Hershman, 4] would have rendered Lyndon unable to function as a leader of people who were his intellectual superiors with somewhat more stable psychological functioning. Their egos would have been on a par with LBJ's. And at the time of the planning of the assassination, Johnson was the Vice-President. An earlier Texan vice-president was James Nance Garner, who famously summed up the Vice-Presidency as "not worth a bucket of spit." [5] Lyndon was so little involved with his Vice-Presidential duties that he left D.C. in October for additional 'planning' of the short Texas visit by President Kennedy. In other words Johnson's presence at the capital was unnecessary.         

Nelson's Scenario for the Assassination

Nelson envisioned three teams in and around Dealey Plaza. Team 1 would be on the sixth floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository Building. Oswald would take a shot from the window with his Italian Mannlicher-Carcano rifle to implicate him as the assassin. Mac Wallace would be in charge of making the scene fit Oswald as the shooter. Wallace had reportedly been involved with several murders on behalf of LBJ, and his presence would help insure LBJ's cooperation in the aftermath of the assassination. If the plot unraveled, LBJ stood to be a big loser with Wallace's presence. In fact, there is strong evidence that Wallace was present, though that evidence was not brought forward until 1998 when a 6 point fingerprint match from a box on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository (TSBD) was reported by Walt Brown at a  press conference in Dallas. [6] Nelson acknowledged that some critics labeled these results as inconclusive. Apparently Nelson did not see a later article when a 34 point match was reported, until after he finished the first book. Nelson does address the 34 point match in his second book. Team 2 would be composed of three French/Corsicans who presumably were stationed near the overpass by the grassy knoll directly facing the flow of traffic. This team included Lucian Sarti, a Corsican drug trafficker and killer, and two unnamed members of the Marseilles mob, according to Christian David, who had turned down the contract to kill Kennedy. [7] The third Team would be furnished by the Mafia, stationed either at the Dal-Tex Building, the County Records Building, or both. If the shot that hit the curb and then ricocheted from the curb that hit James Tague had emanated from the second floor of the Dal-Tex Building, it would have been a near miss of the limousine. Also, if the plan was to have Oswald take one of the shots, apparently this part of the plan didn't work out. Oswald was seen approximately 90 seconds after the shots were fired at John Kennedy, in the second floor lunchroom, with an open bottle of cola; he was seen by Officer Marion Baker, a motorcycle driver who had been part of the protection for President Kennedy in the motorcade,  and by TSBD Superintendent Roy Truly. Oswald did not appear to be breathing hard. Further, he was not seen nor heard on the stairs directly after the assassination by three women employees. These three employees, along with a fourth woman, had been watching the Kennedy Motorcade from a fourth floor window in the TSBD. Two of the women, Victoria Adams and Sandra Styles, began walking down the stairs seconds after the assassination occurred. They neither heard anyone on the stairs during their descent from the fourth floor, nor did they see anyone else until they were departing the building, when they met a large black man, also a TSBD employee. Another of the women, Dorothy Ann Garner, situated herself by the stairs and elevator, where she would have seen anyone descending or ascending either the stairs or elevator. Only after the police arrived did any one go up or down the stairs or elevator. It appears that Oswald was telling the truth when he said he'd been in the lunchroom eating his lunch. It is unlikely that he had been on the sixth floor at the time of the assassination. [8]

Planning the Assassination

At least two (and probably three) plots for the assassination preceded Dallas, all in the month of November, 1963. First was the planned shooting of President Kennedy from a high point in Kennedy's route to and/or from the Army-Navy football game played in Chicago on November 2. Secret Service agent Abraham Bolden informed the Secret Service in Washington details of the plan, which included a patsy and a team of shooters. The trip to Chicago was cancelled. [9]  A plan to kill JFK in Tampa was planned for November 18. A patsy there, Gilberto Lopez, had a brother who was studying in Russia; Lopez, like Oswald, also was involved with the Fairplay for Cuba Committee. The Tampa attempt was cancelled when the organizers of the assassination learned that their plan had been found out. Lopez travelled to Dallas, was present at the assassination, and would return by way of Mexico City to his former home in Cuba. There is the possibility that an assassination was planned for Miami also, but was aborted. These aborted assassinations would seem to be CIA-Mafia plans. [10]

Clearly, LBJ was unlikely to have played a role in these aborted attempts, other than perhaps to hope one of them was successful. But Nelson has LBJ playing a major role in Dallas. Part of that role was security stripping. [11]  Presumably, Johnson might have had an inkling of the two aborted assassination attempts (or three, including Miami). Only after the failure in Tampa on November 18 would the Dallas attempt be fully in play. Fairness would suggest the central figure in the plot was James Jesus Angleton of the CIA. Angleton would have set up the patsy, perhaps served as a liaison to the Armed Services, and would have coordinated the Mafia's role (obtaining the assassination team led by Lucien Sarti, as well as a Mafia team, and put Jack Ruby in place to kill the patsy; the Mafia also would eliminate persons deemed dangerous to the plot after the assassination). The actual coordinator for Johnson was reported to be Cliff Carter, according to Billie Sol Estes. [12] Other than supplying Mac Wallace to be on the sixth floor to leave a trail for Oswald as patsy, and security stripping in the Dallas motorcade,  Johnson's real role would seem to have been in the next conspiracy, the cover-up of evidence. [13] The cover-up was Johnson's master stroke. But even in the cover-up, LBJ would need substantial help from the CIA, the military, the secret service, the FBI, and the Dallas police. It seems entirely unlikely that either the CIA or the military would follow plans delivered by LBJ. More to the point, the CIA and military insulated themselves from exposure; if the plot failed and was exposed, Johnson would likely be implicated by Mac Wallace being present on the sixth floor of the TSBD. The area around Dealey Plaza was teeming with Mafia, which could lead to their being implicated. I can't imagine J. Edgar Hoover paying much attention to a plan from LBJ. More likely, regarding the assassination, LBJ would have been involved on a "need to know" basis. Presumably, there was a contingency plan for an assassination in Dallas if the other attempts failed. His part of the plan likely was delivered to him through someone like Cliff Carter. The most important part of LBJ's involvement was to cover-up the conspiracy.

Nelson presumed LBJ had the guile to plan all of the important aspects in the assassination in Dallas.LBJ couldn't even get President Kennedy to allow a change in the seating arrangements; LBJ wanted Governor Connally and Senator Yarborough to change their seating in the two limousines. This was denied by President Kennedy. A reason that neither the CIA nor the military would likely listen to any of Johnson's ideas was that Johnson was a known loose cannon. Even as the planned assassination was unfolding, Johnson was unsure as to whether he might also be a target, in addition to President Kennedy. Nelson describes this in vivid detail (pp. 472-485). Johnson started ducking BEFORE any shots were fired, which tells us two things; LBJ knew when and where the shooting would take place; and Johnson's own insecurities had him fearing for his own life. Such a man could not be trusted with any information that might implicate any of the main plotters.

The scene that Nelson describes at the airport may well be accurate. Nelson claims that the reason for Johnson  being sworn in on the tarmac was to give others time to place the body of President Kennedy on Air Force Two (Vice-President Johnson's airplane) and the ornamental casket on Air Force One,  the plane in which Johnson insisted that he travel back to Washington. Time would also be needed to move Johnson's luggage to Air Force One. Johnson need not know why this was being done, only that it needed to be done.

What happened from that point on is well covered in Douglas Horne's Inside the AARB. [14]

The President's body was transported to the Bethesda Naval Base morgue in a body bag. A pre-autopsy surgery-mutilation of the President's body was performed by Dr. Humes, a military pathologist. Then the body was taken outside and placed in the ornate casket, and brought back in as if it had just been delivered. Military brass, who were not pathologists, directed the three military pathologists as to what they could and couldn't do; eventually the brass got the written autopsy report that seemed to suit their needs. This part of the cover-up is mainly in the hands of the military, with perhaps some help from the Secret Service. This, of course is the short version. Horne's five volumes provides riveting detail as to the criminality of the botched medical evidence.

The Colossus

While Nelson points out many of LBJ's transgressions, one area not addressed is Lyndon's fathering of children out of wedlock while being married to Lady Bird. The name Mary Margaret Wiley is in the name appendix with no page number, nor is she mentioned in the first book; she is addressed in the second book. It is surprising that Nelson is so circumspect in this area. Nelson acknowledges that LBJ brought Mary Margaret Wiley to Washington from Texas, and that she was a favorite mistress. She "suddenly" married one of LBJ's key aides, Jack Valenti. Apparently Valenti agreed to allow the affair to continue after the marriage. As would happen, Mary soon became pregnant and a daughter, Courtenay, was born. Nelson only intimates that LBJ may have been the father. [15] Another former mistress, Madeleine Brown, was not so circumspect. She indicated that, as an adult, Courtenay would often appear in public with Jack Valenti, her legal father. She was taller than Valenti, and Courtenay wore her hair in such a way that her large ears (like Lyndon's) showed prominently. In Madeleine's view, Courtenay was letting people know who her actual father was [16].

Madeleine had had a son with Lyndon, Steven Mark Brown, born on December 27, 1950. Madeleine and Lyndon first met at a celebration of Johnson's "winning" the 1948 Democratic U.S. Senate nomination over Coke Stevenson, the infamous Box 13 election where Johnson stole the nomination away from Stevenson. Three weeks later, LBJ and Madeleine Brown became lovers. While Lyndon was doting to Steven, it was clear that he would never acknowledge Steven as his son. Nelson said very little about Madeleine Brown, other than that she and LBJ had a son together. [17]

LBJ and his Jewish Connection

In contrast to giving the LBJ-Brown affair the short shrift, Nelson goes on for 25 pages about LBJ's Jewish connections. Nelson claims first to not be construed as being anti-Semitic, then tells us that LBJ's maternal grandmother was Jewish and that LBJ was very pro Zionist in regard to Israel. It should also be pointed out that so have been the majority of American congressmen and senators, as well as presidents, pretty much to the present. There is no indication that the American position has changed one iota on Israel's right to exist, nor the United States' obligation to provide significant monetary aid to Israel. As recently as March, 2015, Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the U.S. Congress, criticizing President Obama's negotiations regarding Iran's developing  nuclear capabilities.

The Attack on the USS Liberty

In fairness to Nelson, the "Jewish Connection" serves as a lead-in to the linchpin of the second book. Though long kept a secret, perhaps President Johnson's most heinous act as president was the destruction of the USS Liberty. On the fourth day of the six day war, June 8, 1967, Israel attacked the USS Liberty, which was in international waters near Israel and Egypt. Before the war supposedly began, Israel had eliminated the airplanes of the Egyptian military (which included at least 30 Soviet airplanes). In a sense, the six day war was practically over on the "first day". According to Nelson, the planning of this war was a joint effort of the United States and Israel. The United States (or rather, Lyndon Johnson) wanted to enter the war to eliminate President Nasser of Egypt. To accomplish this, the Israelis were supposed to sink a designated American ship and the blame assigned to Egypt, setting the stage for American entry into the war, according to Nelson. This scenario considered the possibility that the Soviet Union may enter the fray, thereby precipitating World War III. In such a case, Johnson and the military, according to Nelson presumably intended to use a first strike of  nuclear weapons against the Soviets were they to signal their entry into the war. The designated vessel, chosen probably by its name, was the USS Liberty. [18]

Two weeks prior to the six Day war, the USS Liberty, docked in the Ivory Coast, was ordered to proceed to the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt at full speed (18 knots). At 8 AM Washington time on June 8, 1967, three Israeli Mirage jets (with their insignias painted over) began strafing the USS Liberty with 30mm cannons, rockets and napalm. The ship was also attacked by three torpedo boats, all with clear Israeli markings. The pilots of the jets would have seen the huge American flag, and before the shooting started, persons on the USS Liberty waved to the pilots, who waved back.

The next phase of the attack was the firing of torpedoes at the Liberty by three Israeli gunboats. The Liberty out- maneuvered four torpedoes, but the fifth left a 22 foot by 39 foot hole on the starboard side, which should have sunk the Liberty, but did not. Gunboats then circled the USS Liberty. Several sailors were ordered to abandon the ship into lifeboats, which were also attacked by the gunboats. Because the Liberty had not yet sunk, it would mean that survivors would be able to testify that they were attacked by the Israeli military, not Egyptian, delaying the entry of the U.S. into the war. Twice, rescue of persons on the Liberty was denied by persons in Washington (most likely Lyndon Baines Johnson, along with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara). In fact McNamara ordered planes that had been sent to rescue USS Liberty survivors to abort their mission and return to their base. President Johnson  reportedly made the comment, that he didn't give a damn if the ship sank, he would not embarrass his allies. [19]

It is inconceivable that McNamara's instruction was not given to him by the Commander in Chief (Johnson). Presumably, the hope was that the ship and its crew would all perish. The ship made it to Crete, where they were told to continue to Malta; perhaps it might sink on its way there. The ship made it to Malta on June 14, 1967. Of the original 294 crew members aboard, 34 had been killed in the attack, and at least 172 more were wounded. Fortunately, because the USS Liberty got to Malta after the end of the six day war, the U.S. was precluded from entering the war. The sailors aboard the USS Liberty were the heroes of this incident. A total news blackout was imposed. The crew members were warned, "You are never, repeat never, to discuss this with anyone, not even your wives. If you do, you will be court-martialed and end your lives in prison, or worse." [20]

The reporting of the USS Liberty attack by Israel is the highlight of the two books. The megalomania of the Commander in Chief is clearly evident. Nelson's reporting of the events is preceded by several books, but just as important, the many websites that have been created by survivors of the incident, in defiance of the warning they received in Malta. Doing a Google search of "USS Liberty" brings literally hundreds of sites. And perhaps to no one's surprise, there is a controversy not unlike the Warren Report. Those trying to "save appearances" [21] for President Lyndon Johnson, the American military, the American government, the Israeli military and the Israeli government maintain the lie that the attack was a simple mistake of misidentification by the Israeli military.  

 Some comments

Nelson has taken on a massive effort in getting  over 1200 pages among the two books published in short order. Toward the end of the second book, Nelson admits that his works were written from a prosecutorial approach, presenting the worst case scenario against Johnson. This affects his reportage on the USS Liberty as well. The approach used by Nelson is called "advocacy research". Advocacy research bolsters the case for a particular outcome, which typically is at best a partial truth. The book by Robert Allen [22] is a much more even (and much more in depth) consideration of the available information. The differences from Nelson's presentation are in the details, but they are important. Whatever the intentions of the United States was, the large presence of Soviet ships (at least 70) led to the U.S. speaking on the hot-line to Russia at the time of the Six Day War, and both sides were apprised of the other's concerns; a nuclear war with the Soviets was very likely off the table. Both the Soviets and LBJ would have liked the removal of Nasser. The Soviets were ready to unleash their military if Israel did not pull back from their offensive against Syria; the U.S. was also opposed to the Israeli invasion into Syria. The American planes that were called back from aiding the USS Liberty were prepared to attack whomever was attacking the USS Liberty. The attack by Israel was deemed to be deliberate, and they (e.g. Moshe Dayan) knew that the ship was American. The Israelis also knew the ship was a spy ship, collecting information from both the Egyptians and the Israelis. In the Israeli view, they could not be sure whether the Americans were sharing information with the Soviets or Egyptians, justifying the attack, at least to them. [23]    

With the caveats here presented, the second book has enough kernels of truth to render it worthy of reading. For those of us in the JFK research community who had never been aware of the USS Liberty's being needlessly sacrificed, Phillip Nelson has been of service for bringing this incident to our attention.

 Also worth considering is that, as a conspirator to the assassination, Lyndon Johnson would face the same charge as whomever were the masterminds. Several of Johnson's transgressions appear to have been treasonous, but with extraordinarily strong efforts to cover them up.

Notes:

1. Nelson, P.F.(2011, 2013). LBJ: The Mastermind of the Assassination. New York: Skyhorse.

2.Nelson, P.F. (2014). LBJ: From Mastermind to "Colossus". New York: Skyhorse.

3. Williams, J.D. & Conway, D. (2001). The Don Reynolds Testimony and LBJ. Kennedy Assassination Chronicles. 7,1,10-28.

4. Hershman, D.J. (2002). Power Beyond Reason: The Mental Collapse of Lyndon Johnson. Fort

    Lee, NJ: Barricade Books.

5. Cox, P. (2014). John Nance Garner and the Vice-Presidency-In Search of the Proverbial Bucket. //www.cah.utexas.edu/news/press_release.php?press=press_bucket

6. Brown, W. (1998). TSBD Evidence Places LBJ 'Hitman' in Sniper's Nest. Extra Edition of JFK Deep Politics/Deep Politics Quarterly, 3,3. A. Nathan Darby made a six point match of Mac Wallace's fingerprint to the previously unidentified fingerprint found in the sniper's nest at the TSBD. Later, a 34 point match confirmed Wallace's presence on the sixth floor of the Depository, reported in Brown, W. (2001). Malcolm Wallace Fingerprint: "It's Him!!" JFK/ Deep Politics Quarterly, 7,1,4-6. Among the critics of identifying Wallace from the fingerprint were Glen Sample and Mark Collom, who earlier wrote The Men on the Sixth Floor (1997). Garden Grove CA: Sample Graphics. Sample  & Collom had hypothesized that Wallace was present on the sixth floor of the Texas Schoolbook Depository at the time of the assassination. It seemed strange that they would question a finding that gave evidence that their earlier assertion was likely true. 

7. Twyman, N. (1997). Bloody Treason. Rancho Santa Fe, CA: Laurel Publishing, p. 414.

8. Ernest, B. (2012, 2013). The Girl on the Stairs. Gretna, LA: Pelican. Also see Williams, J.D. (2014). The Girl on the Stairs- Was Oswald even on the Sixth Floor at the Time of the Assassination? JFK-E/Deep Politics Quarterly. 1, 2,3-16.    

9. Bolden, A. (2008). The Echo from Dealey Plaza. New York: Harmony Books. See also, Williams, J.D. (2008). Echo from Dealey Plaza: Abraham Bolden. The Dealey Plaza Echo, 13, 1,1-4.

10. Waldron, L. & Hartmann, T. (2005). Ultimate Sacrifice. New York: Carroll & Graff.

11. Palamara, V. (1993).  The Third Alternative-Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service and the JFK Murder.  Pittsburgh: Author.

12. Estes, B.S. (2005). Billie Sol Estes: A Texas Legend. Granbury, TX: B.S. Productions., Also, see Williams, J.D. (2005). Estes Named Cliff Carter as the Master Strategist in the JFK Assassination. JFK/Deep Politics Quarterly,10,4,13-19.

13. Williams, J.D. (1999). Lyndon B. Johnson and the Assassination Conspiracies. JFK/Deep Politics Quarterly, 4,2,25-28.

14. Horne, D.P. (2009). Inside the AARB: Vol. I-V. Amazon.

15. Nelson (2014). pp. 153-154.

16. Williams, J.D. & Severson, G. (2001). Interview with Madeleine Brown, November 17-18.

17. Brown, M.D. (1999). Texas in the Morning. The Love Story of Madeleine Brown and President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Baltimore: The Conservatory Press.

18. Nelson, (2014), pp. 375-408.

19. Bamford, J. (2001). Body of Secrets. New York: Doubleday, p. 226.

20. Nelson (2014). p. 390.

21.Barfield, O. (1965). Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry. New York: Harcourt Brace & Jovanovich,

22. Allen, R.J. (2012). Beyond Treason. Create Space.(Available through Amazon.com.) This undoubtedly is one of the better presentations of the USS Liberty and its abandonment by President Johnson.

23. Allen, (2012), pp. 393-342. Another excellent source is Hounan, P. & Simpson, J. (2003). Operation Cyanide: Why the Bombing of the USS Liberty Nearly Caused World War III.   Chatham Kent, UK: Mackays of Chatham. A pro-Israeli view that emphasizes that the attack on the USS Liberty was simply a misidentification is Cristol, A.J. (2002). The Liberty Incident: The 1967 Israeli Attack on the Navy Spy Ship. Dulles,VA:  Brassey's Inc. (Books International).

Published in the Dealey Plaza Echo, (2015). 18, 2, 19-24.