A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination (92 page)

After Rusk’s testimony:
Memo from Slawson to Rankin, “Subject: Taking Testimony of Remaining State Department Witnesses,” June 12, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

CHAPTER 42

When FBI documents arrived:
Eisenberg interviews, Slawson interviews, Griffin interviews.

On Wednesday, June 17:
Letter from Hoover to Rankin, June 17, 1964, CIA, NARA. (This document appears in declassified files of the CIA, not of the files of commission stored at the National Archives.)
Years later, the FBI would reveal:
Barron,
Operation Solo
, pp. 112–14. The FBI has declassified many of its internal documents involving Operation Solo, and they are available online at the FBI’s Web site,
http://vault.fbi.gov/solo
.

Phillips, a forty-one-year-old:
See the
New York Times
obituary of Phillips, July 10, 1988.

He had two formal:
Testimony of David Atlee Phillips, April 25, 1998, HSCA.

The Cuban embassy there:
Testimony of David Atlee Phillips, November 27, 1976, HSCA.

The CIA was not authorized:
Phillips,
The Night Watch
, pp. 162–64.

Before the assassination:
Testimony of David Atlee Phillips, November 27, 1976, HSCA, pp. 103–35.

More significant, perhaps:
Testimony of David Atlee Phillips, April 25, 1978, HSCA, pp. 51–53.

“I was one of the two case officers”:
Morley,
Our Man
, p. 336. Also see Kaiser,
The Road to Dallas
, p. 288 (who reported that he had obtained the outline from Morley), and Anthony and Robbyn Summers, “The Ghosts of November,”
Vanity Fair
, December 1994. The author obtained a copy from a source who insisted on anonymity.

CHAPTER 43

William Coleman wrote nothing:
Coleman interviews.

They had first been introduced:
Coleman,
Counsel
, p. 58.

At Paul Weiss, Coleman began:
Coleman interviews; Coleman,
Counsel
, passim.

When it came time:
Coleman,
Counsel
, p. 149.

In 1952, Coleman finally:
Coleman,
Counsel
, passim.

The leaks first went:
See the
New York Times
obituary for Lewis, March 25, 2013.

Within days of the book’s:
New York Times
, June 1, 1964.

Although it was impossible to identify:
Julia Eide phone and appointment logs for Rankin, May 29, 1964, 2:00–2:40 p.m., staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

Warren immediately turned:
Warren Commission Executive Session, June 4, 1964.

“She became a chain-smoker”:
Manchester
, Death,
p. 635.

Marina Oswald returned:
Testimony of Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald, June 11, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 387–408.

By Thursday, July 2:
Testimony of Mark Lane, July 2, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 5, pp. 546–61.

CHAPTER 44

“The Warren Commission was a”:
Transcript of interview with Cavanaugh found in Fry,
Hunting and Fishing with Earl Warren
, pp. 1–69. Available online through
www.openlibrary.org
,
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL7213177M/Hunting_and_fishing_with_Earl_Warren
.

On May 29, the last Friday:
Testimony of Howard Willens, November 17, 1977, HSCA.

“I share your view”:
Letter from Warren to Carl L. Shipley, July 6, 1964, personal correspondence files, Warren papers, LOC.

The Supreme Court:
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
, 376 U.S. 254;
Escobedo v. Illinois
, 378 U.S. 478.

Warren said later that he:
Warren interview with Alfred Goldberg, March 26, 1974, as found in Warren Commission files, Warren papers, LOC.

Rankin reserved for himself:
Testimony of J. Lee Rankin, August 17, 1978, HSCA.

But after meeting with:
Given the effects of inflation, $1 million in 1964 would equal about $7.5 million in 2013.

On May 12:
Laulicht interviews.

Another late arrival:
Weinreb interviews.

Before departing, he completed:
Memo from Mosk to Redlich, June 7, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

Mosk reviewed the testimony:
Testimony of Eugene D. Anderson, July 24, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 301–4.

An FBI firearms:
Testimony of Robert A. Frazier, Warren Appendix, Vol. 3, pp. 390–441, and Vol. 5, pp. 58–74.

CHAPTER 45

“It brought a lot of problems”:
Testimony of Silvia Odio, July 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 367–89.

Her father, Amador:
Dallas Morning News
, May 5, 1962.

He turned in the ninety-eight:
Liebeler draft chapter, “Possible Personal Motive,” June 23, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

At the same time, it appeared:
Warren Report, pp. 407, 727–29.

On August 5, the FBI determined:
Testimony of Carlos Bringuier, April 7–8, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 10, pp. 32–50.

This included Dean Andrews:
Testimony of Dean Adams Andrews Jr., July 21, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 325–39.

Liebeler took what he thought of:
Testimony of Evaristo Rodriguez, July 21, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 339–45.

Liebeler remembered that in her:
Testimony of Silvia Odio, July 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, p. 383.

CHAPTER 46

The first documented case:
Memo from FBI Baltimore field office to FBI Headquarters “TO: DIRECTOR FBI, FROM SAC BALTIMORE, RE: ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY,” April 7, 1964, FBI. Also, memo from FBI Washington, DC, field office to FBI Headquarters, “TO DIRECTOR FBI, FROM SAC WFO,” April 8, 1964, FBI.

The FBI chief learned:
Memo from Belmont to Rosen (“Subject: James R. David, Information Concerning Security Violation”), June 9, 1964, FBI.

And Hoover sent a personal:
Letter from Hoover to James R. David, June 9, 1964, FBI.

Other staff lawyers said they:
Slawson interviews.

He had slaved:
Testimony of Wesley J. Liebeler, November 15, 1977, HSCA.

Ford passed his copy:
Memo from Fallon to Ford, July 31, 1964, congressional correspondence files, Ford Library.

“We want to ask you”:
Testimony of Silvia Odio, July 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 367–89.

She handed him a one-page:
Letter from Hoover to Rankin, August 7, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

What happened in Dallas:
Notes by HSCA investigator Gaeton Fonzi from his interview with Silvio Odio, January 16, 1976, staff files, HSCA, RIF: 180–10001–10132, NARA.

He announced that he had tried:
Slawson interviews; staff interviews with other staff members on condition of anonymity.

CHAPTER 47

“I would like to ask you”:
Testimony of Abraham Zapruder, July 22, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 7, pp. 569–76.

Years later,
Life
would:
Los Angeles Times
, August 4, 1999.

Richard B. Stolley,
Life
’s:
Richard Stolley, “Shots Seen Round the World,”
Entertainment Weekly
, January 17, 1992.

Walker, an outspoken:
See the
New York Times
obituary of Walker, November 2, 1993.

“I was sitting behind”:
Testimony of Major General Edwin A. Walker, July 23, 1964, Warren Appendix, Vol. 11, pp. 404–28.

Specter was annoyed:
Specter interviews; Specter memoir transcripts.

“That will conclude”:
Testimony of Jack Ruby, July 18, 1964, Warren Report, pp. 807–13.

The combined lists were:
Specter interviews; Specter,
Passion
, pp. 116–17.

The commission had not been:
Report of interview with Captain W. B. Frazier by FBI Special Agents James W. Bookhout and George W. H. Carlson in Dallas, December 7, 1963, FBI; Letter from Hoover to Rankin, July 30, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

CHAPTER 48

“There is no other way”:
Letter from Belin to Willens, August 25, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

“I have been led”:
Warren Commission Executive Session, June 23, 1964.

A copy was uncovered decades:
Summary was found in J. Lee Rankin papers donated to the National Archives in 1999, box 22, folder 350, Warren Commission, NARA.

David Slawson urged one last:
Memo from Slawson to Rankin and Willens, “Re: Possible Medical Testimony on Oswald,” June 2, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

He was not surprised:
Memo from Pollak to Rankin, “Subject: Comments on Volumes 1–4, 6, 7,” June 18, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

He asked that “the words”:
Memo from Rankin to Willens, August 17, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

In a brief note to the commission:
Memo from Rankin to Stern, June 30, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

CHAPTER 49

The Polish man looked:
New York Times
, June 30, 1964.

Kennedy literally wrapped:
See Thomas,
Robert Kennedy
, pp. 282, 333.

Kennedy had been aware:
Church Committee report, “Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders,” November 20, 1975, pp. 98, 126–34.

The CIA’s inspector general:
Ibid., pp. 88–89.

In June 1964:
Associated Press, October 12, 2012.

In the spring of 1964:
Schlesinger,
Robert Kennedy
, pp. 649, 615. Also, Califano interview.

“What do I do?”:
Thomas,
Robert Kennedy
, p. 284. Based on memo from Justice Department aide Harold Reis to the attorney general, June 12, 1964.

“I would like to state”:
Letter from Kennedy to Warren, August 4, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

CHAPTER 50

“Mrs. Odio’s reliability”:
Letter from Rankin to Hoover, July 24, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

Hoover wrote back:
Letter from Hoover to Rankin, August 12, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

“It is a matter of some importance
”
:
Letter from Rankin to Hoover, August 23, 1964, staff files, Warren Commission, NARA.

The commission’s request:
Hosty interviews.