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SEPTEMBER 1991 S 3.95

On the Trail of the Assassins with Oliver Stone and by Steven Hager

Gatewood Galbraith's

7 Spectacular Bid t by John Holmstrom

Jefferson's Nightmare: DEA Wages War on College Campus EDITOR-IN-CHIEF STEVEN HAGER EXECUTIVE EDITOR JOHN HOLMSTROM PAGE SIX MANAGING EDITOR IUDY McCUIRE SENIOR EDITORS ON THE TRAIL OF THE CIA PETER GORMAN, ED ROSENTHAL. LOU STATHIS NEWS EDITOR STEVE BLOOM Although there are many remarkable couples involved in the counterculture, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Ellen Ray and Bill Schaap KAREN WILSON are certainly among the most productive. As founders and editors of Covert Action Information Bulletin, CORRESPONDENT they provide a JON GETTMAN national watchdog on CIA activities. As founders and editors of the monthly Lies of Our Times magazine, they document the political biases of ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR The New MARK BARNET York Times. As founders of Sheridan Square Press and the Institute for Media CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Analysis, they hold conferences and publish numerous books on government DALE ASHM UN, STEVEN BLUSH, corruption, including MIKE EDISON, MARIA FARROW, On the Trail of the Assassins by Judge Jim Garrison_ ROB HAMBRECHT, RA JAMES, .10. KING, Ray studied journalism and political science at the University of Nebraska. PAUL KRASSNER, AID MaeSPADE, JAMES MARSHALL, CARLO McCORMICK After graduating in '62. she went to work for Columbia Pictures and later TED PETRAMALO, LESLIE STACKEL. RICHARD STRATTON. MAIA SZALAVITZ became a left-wing documentary filmmaker. Schaap graduated from Cornell in '61 and attended the University of Chicago Law School. He started his career on ART DIRECTOR Wall Street before moving to a small, politically-active firm. IOHN DINSDALE They met during a business meeting. "I'd just made a 35mm color feature," ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR recalls Ray. "It was a hippie/nudie/political Western that was set to open in BRIAN SPAETH England." Schaap was hired to review the contract for the film's premiere. "We ART ASSISTANT FRANK MAX ended up going off to Asia to defend Gis and forgot all about filmmaking," says Ray. PHOTO EDITOR SUN WILDER "When I first met Ellen, all she could talk about was Jim Garrison and the CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS AND Kennedy assassination," says Schapp. Ray wanted to make a documentary PHOTOGRAPHERS about Garrison back in the '70s, but had been scared off the story after receiv- ACE BACKWORDS, MATT BALER. DOUG BEEKMAN, ERIC DROOKER. ing death threats. A few years ago they heard that Garrison had a new FLICK FORD. BRADLEY KEOUGH, MILTON KNIGHT. PAUL MAVRIDES, manuscript that had been rejected by its original publisher. After securing the HARRY MEADOWS, JAMES ROMBERGER, rights to the story, they hired Zach Sklar to edit it. The finished manuscript was JONATHAN SCHNEIDER. GILBERT SHELTON. sent to Oliver Stone. who quickly took out an option and hired Sklar as LAWRENCE VAN ABBEMA, CAPT WHIZZ° coscreenwriter. PUBLISHER As a longtime Kennedy assassination buff, I was immediately interested in RICH SHUPE Stone's film. As soon as I became aware of a disinformation campaign against ADVERTISING MANAGER the movie, I decided to review Garrison's case for the readers of HIGH TIMES. PETER HALEY The resulting story starts'on page 32. Since I was unable to obtain interviews CONTROLLER with Garrison or Stone. much of the material for the article was taken from SHEILA AVON On the Trail of the Assassins, which I consider one of the most reliable guides to PUBLISHED BY TRANS-HIGH CORPORATION the assassination's coverup. Without the efforts of Ray and Schaap, this book NATIONAL ADVERTISING OFFICE might never have been published. For this alone we owe them a tremendous 211 EAST 43rd STREET thanks. There are many others who were helpful in the writing and editing of , NY 10017 (212)972-8484 this story, including Steve Bloom, Mark Lane, Jim Lesar, L. Fletcher Prouty, David Schein,, FOUNDING PUBLISHER/EDITOR Ned Scott Jr., J. Gary Shaw, Lou Stathis, John Stockwell, Zack THOMAS KING FORCADE, 1945-1978 Sklar, Elin Wilder

/Hull TIME-5. SEI TTEMPIER I 9441 No 1Ni 1.15514 lighted moroMy by Trona-MIA (wpm torao 211 ($1162-630XL pah- and Harold EuEl 4,rd Borne, Neu it YwA. NY 10017 . HIGH TIMES earl Ira.-H,,1, Corporallon reaponoutnlor ko Am. i‘sardIr an Weisberg_ I thank Cl.,,,,, Ed tegersenrsauvo crammed on Ow meoaalne or in my arlionnyernenr nor no grey encourage the illegal war of any of We Pleareia Adrerltard amt. • Marl ICYOVII/IliON% tpdriede them all. [boom of arklulAr (game in US finals) and 410. MI. Mama. IL 6101 ■nelOne rano raven, roarimp label I to PO Boa .1 -3 • Suluangarona Ihe Hailed Wean 12 us. Sincerely, Mr 09.90. 24 UAL. Mr 04 UA • Blare copy win: nate. foe 511.11, 2l S3.05 • MCA/man 12 mum for SAX 47 •All other caanue l2 raw., for S,V 43 r. Na urrfora marl . All tuber ,ornincy Ay email UV 07 Eat, 43,0 11. Neu YorE. NY 1001 . Offices al 211 7. Strand ,Lae. 'ravage peon 41 Ton.. arldournar Ma New dan, ollirea • M.nn,cnp. soon ay a yelf.rotare4.un ramped caudal:a • 01.1 '0 Kamp* fully rooranereds hut the nalarown 8n ...h... will be tam trawl, asunne no reu4ovullalln lo,. or morn rat ankolicora mortal • I:W. 4 nirpOral.. MrEhirry In Itels tuabhanlem nil, to 41110 1 71 by Trnna-7110, n-prralacen to cutter in unort .n gam am*w apmfa nutter aomUonen. and Minuet. cr All neon. van, Ilbo red- 'Mph Tirana a+ a mpoered madman.. All ening war .arson., produce, loin where prohlhared. Pnarrnearer sivt, Yana annoy. oranges to 111C4I TIMES. 01 Bo, . 1,1050 4 10. Mr Alamo 11. Steven Hager Editor-in-Chief

6 HIGH TIMES September 1991 Why does the blood spilled in on November 22, 1963 refuse to wash out of the American imagination? Could the murder of John F. Kennedy provide the only window we have on the forces that rule our planet? Does a free and open press exist in America? Just ask Judge Jim Garrison and Oliver Stone....

"No one wants to recognize that somewhere along the • line. America has ceased to • be the home of the brave and the land of the free. and that only in alter-dinner speeches is it still the sweet land of liberty. No one wants to admit that in America. peace is dangerous business." —Jim Garrison. A Heritage of Slone. 1970

The Warren Commission was bunk. It lucked us all up. We're a generation of Hamlet figures." —Oliver Stone. Mother Jones. March/April 1991

DAVID WOO MORNING NEW (though John F. Kennedy was neither a saint peace. nor a great intellectual, he was the youngest The President's primary obstacle in this quest was a president ever elected, which may explain massive. power-hungry bureaucracy that had emerged after why he was so well attuned tc the changing WWII—a Frankenstein monster created by anti-Communist mood of America in the '60s. Americans had grown weary of paranoia and inflated defense budgets. By 1960, the Cold War hysteria. They wanted to relax and have fun. Like Pentagon was easily the world's largest corporation, with the majority of people across the planet, they wanted assets of over $60 billion. No one understood this monster

32 HIGH TIMES September 1991 OF STONE - r- by Steven Hager

t Later this year. ip Warner Bros. will . IA release JFK. direct- a. _ ed and co-written by Oliver Stone. below. ANNIIII EN Stone's re-creation ,A, ..t...... . . of the assassination -, -- --* -,,- has been 4 , , ,„.q.---ma meticulously well- ,--- --`' ,,,.., . ' "... - •—"! documented, includ- , :-...#:A ,:-r ing the body rr. - language of the '›Ar4. ,`• spectators at Dealey Plaza. left.

better than President Dwight D. Eisenhower. On January 17, 1961. in his farewell address to the nation, Eisenhower spoke to the country and to his successor, John Kennedy. "The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experi- ence." said Eisenhower. "We must guard against the acqui- sition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or AP WIDE WORLD

HIGH TIMES September 1991 33 unsought. by the military-industrial Although Kennedy's Vietnam policy has complex." not received widespread publicity, he At the beginning of his administra- turned resolutely against the war in June tion, Kennedy seems to have followed of 1963. when he ordered Defense the advice of his military and intelligence Secretary Robert McNamara and officers. What else could such an inex- • man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff perienced President have done? Signs of General Maxwell Taylor to announce from a serious rift. however, first appeared the White House steps that all American after the Bay of Pigs, a CIA-planned and forces would be withdrawn by 1965. At -executed invasion of Cuba that took the time, 15,500 US "advisors" were sta- place three months after Kennedy took 54 • tioned in South Vietnam, and total casual- office. The invasion was so transparent 12 ties suffered remained a relatively low and misconceived that Kennedy refused ,,`'2 100. massive air support and immediately On November 14, Kennedy signed an afterward fired CIA Director Allen Dulles. order to begin the withdrawal by remov- Deputy Director General Charles Cabe!! ing 1,000 troops. In private. Kennedy !et and Deputy Director of Planning Richard it be known the military was not going to Bissell. railroad him into continuing the war. Kennedy's next major crisis occurred Many of the hard-line anti-Communists-- on October 16, 1962, when he was including FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover— shown aerial photos of missile bases in Was this photo of Lee Harvey would have to be purged. Bobby Kennedy Cuba. The Joint Chiefs of Staff pressed Oswald. which appeared on the would be put in charge of dismantling the for an immediate attack. Instead. cover of Lite magazine. a fake? Many CIA. President Kennedy told Senator Mike Attorney General Robert Kennedy was researchers believe Oswald's head Mansfield of his plans to tear.the CIA sent to meet with Soviet Ambassador was stuck on someone else's body. "into a thousand pieces and scatter it to Anatoly Dobrynin. In his memoirs, the winds." But these plans had to wait Premier Nikita Khrushchev quotes the younger Kennedy as for Kennedy's reelection in 1964. And in order to win that saying: "The President is in a grave situation.... We are under election, he had to secure the South. Which is why Kennedy pressure from our military to use force against Cuba.... It the went to later that month. situation continues much longer, the President is not sure Could John that the military will not overthrow him and seize power." Kennedy have stopped Military hopes for an invasion of Cuba evaporated as the war in Vietnam, as Khrushchev and Kennedy worked out a nonviolent solution was his obvious inten- to the crisis. In return, Kennedy promised not to invade tion? America will Cuba. Angered over the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the CIA refused never know. His com- to bend to Kennedy's will and continued their destabilization mand to begin the campaign against Castro, which included sabotage raids Vietnam withdrawal conducted by a secret army, as well as plots against Castro's was his last formal life, which were undertaken with the help of such well-known executive order. Just Mafia figures as Johnny RoseIli. Sam Giancana and Santos after noon on Trafficante. A bitter internal struggle developed around November 22, Kennedy's attempts to disband the CIA's paramilitary bases President Kennedy in Florida and Louisiana. was murdered while On August 5, 1963. the US, Great Britain and the Soviet driving through down- Union signed a limited nuclear-test-ban treaty. Engineered by town Dallas, in full President Kennedy and long in negotiations, the treaty was a view of dozens of severe blow to the Cold War warriors in the Pentagon and ardent supporters, CIA. On September 20, 1963. Kennedy spoke hopefully of and while surrounded peace to the UN General Assembly. "Today we may have by police and personal reached a pause in the Cold War," he said. '' both sides bodyguards. Twenty- can now gain new confidence and experience in concrete eight years later, collaborations of peace, then surely, this first small step can grave doubts still be the start of a long, fruitful journey." linger as to who "Years later, paging through its formerly classified pulled the trigger(s), records, talking to National Security Council staff, it is diffi- who ordered the cult to avoid the impression that the President was learning assassination, and- the responsibility of power," writes John Prados, in his why our government recent book Keepers of the Keys, an analysis of the National has done so little to Security Council. "Here was a smoother. calmer Kennedy, bring justice forth. secretly working for rapprochement with Fidel Castro and a In 1963, no withdrawal from Vietnam." American wanted to JFK, Jacqueline and Texas Governor John believe that President the President would be dead. Kennedy's death was a coup d'etat. lines. Following the war, he attended law planned by the military establishment and school at Tulane, joined the FBI, and executed by the CIA. Today, such a claim served as a special agent in Seattle and can no longer be dismissed. Why has the Tacoma. After growing bored with his national media done such an abysmal job agency assignments, he returned to New of presenting the facts to the American Orleans to practice law. He served as an people? Hopefully, some light will be shed assistant district attorney from 1954 to by Oliver Stone's upcoming film, JFK. a 1958. $30-million epic starring Kevin Costner. In 1961, Garrison decided to run for scheduled for release later this year. As district attorney on a platform openly his focal point for the story, Stone has hostile to then-New Orleans Mayor Victor chosen former New Orleans District Schiro. To the surprise of many, he was Attorney Jim Garrison, the only prosecu- elected without any major political back- tor to attempt to bring this case to court, ing. He was 43 years old and had been and a man subjected to one of the most district attorney for less than two years effective smear campaigns ever orches- when Kennedy was killed. "I was an old- trated by the US government. It is a fright- fashioned patriot," he writes in On the ening story of murder, corruption and Trail of the Assassins (Sheridan Square cover-up. Even today, 24 years after he Press, NY), "a product of my family, my brought the case to court, a powerful military experience, and my years in the media disinformation campaign against Le' _.. legal profession. I could not imagine then Garrison continues. On February 18. 1967. New Orleans that the government would ever deceive District Attorney Jim Garrison the citizens of this country " Born November 20. 1921, in Knoxville, announced arrests ''will be made" A few hours after the assassination. Iowa. Earling Carothers Garrison—known for JFK's murder. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Two as "Jim" to friends and family—was days later, while in Dallas police custody, raised in New Orleans. At age 19, one year before Pearl Oswald was murdered by nightclub-owner Jack Ruby. Harbor. he flamed the army. In 1942. he was sent to Europe, Garrison learned that Oswald was from New Orleans, and where he volunteered to fly spotter planes over the front arranged a Sunday afternoon meeting with his staff. With such an important case. it was their responsibility to investi- gate Oswald's local connections. Within days, they learned that Oswald had recently been 1( seen in the company of one David Ferrie, a fervent anti- Communist and freelanCe pilot linked to the Bay of Pigs inva- sion. Evidence placed Ferrie in Texas on the day of the assas- sination. Also on that day, a friend of Ferrie's named Guy Banister had pistol-whipped Jack Martin during an argu- ment. Martin confided to friends that Banister and Ferrie were somehow involved in the assassination. Garrison had Ferrie picked up for questioning, and turned him over to the local FBI, who immediately released him. Within a few months, the Warren Commission released its report stating that Oswald was a "lone nut" murdered by a misguided patri- ot who wanted to spare Jackie Kennedy the ordeal of testify- ing in court. Like most Americans, Garrison accepted this conclusion Three years later, in the fail of '66, Garrison was happily married with three children and content with his job, when a chance conversation with Senator Russell Long changed his views on the Warren Commission forever. "Those fellows on the Warren Commission were dead wrong," said Long. "There's no way in the world that one man could have shot up Jack Kennedy that way." Intrigued, Garrison went back to his office and ordered the complete 26-volume report. "The mass of information was disorganized and confused," writes Garrison. "Worst of all, the conclusions in the report seemed to be based on an appallingly-selective reading of the evidence. ignoring credi- ble testimony from literally dozens of witnesses." Garrison was equally disturbed by the background of the B. Connally on the morning of November 22, 1963. An hour later men chosen by President Johnson to serve on the commis-

STONE Banister and Ferrie. Like many others continued from page 35 connected with the assassination, Shaw was a former Army Intelligence sion. Why, for example, was Allen operative. The case against Shaw was Dulles, a man fired by Kennedy, on the highly circumstantial, but Garrison did panel? A master spy during WWII, have an eyewitness willing to testify Dulles had supervised the penetration of the Abwehr (Hitler's millitary intelli- that Shaw had met with Lee Harvey Oswald just prior to the assassination. gence agency) and the subsequent Just as Garrison was marshalling incorporation of many of its undercover agents into the CIA. He was powerful, his case, some strange events took well-connected and had been Director place. On February 17, 1967, the New States-Item published a story of the CIA for eight years. Certainly, he Orleans was no friend to John Kennedy. on Garrison's secret probe, indicating Serving with Dulles were that he had already spent over $8.000 Representative Gerald Ford, a man of taxpayers' money investigating the described by Newsweek as "the CIA's Kennedy assassination. Soon there- best friend in Congress:" John McCIoy, after, Garrison received an unusually former assistant secretary of war and strong letter of support from a Commissioner for Occupied Germany; oil businessman named John Miller, and Senator Richard Russell, chairman hinting that Miller wanted to offer of the powerful Senate Armed Services finantial support to the investigation. Committee. Russell's home state of When Miller arrived in New Orleans, he Georgia was filled with military bases met with Garrison and one of his and government contracts. The balance "I want to train killers," said CM assistants. of power on the commission was clear- operative David Ferrie. "You're too big for this job." said ly in the hands of the military and the Miller. "I suggest you accept an CIA. The entire "investigation" was experimental rats in his house. He appointment to the bench in federal supervised by J. Edgar Hoover, who reportedly had flown dozens of solo district court, and move into a job wor- openly detested the Kennedy brothers. missions for the CIA in Cuba and Latin thy of your talents." Another interesting link also turned America, and had links to Carlos "And what would I have to do to get up: The mayor of Dallas was Earle Marcello, head of the Mob in Louisiana. this judgeship?" asked Garrison. Cabell, brother of the General Charles Like Banister, he was Cabell JFK had earlier fired from the extremely right wing, "I CIA. Earle Cabell was in a position to want to train killers." control many important details involved Ferrie had written to the in the case, including the Dallas police commander of the US 1st force_ Air Force. "There is noth- Based on these general suspicions, ing I would enjoy better Garrison launched a highly-secret than blowing the hell out investigation around Lee Harvey of every damn Russian. Oswald's links to David Ferric and Guy Communist, Red or what- Banister. Unfortunately, Banister had have-you." died nine months after the assassina- On the day of the tion. An alcoholic and rabid right-wing assassination, Dean fanatic, Banister had been a star agent Andrews, a New Orleans for the FBI and a former Naval attorney, had been asked Intelligence operative. He was a mem- to fly to Dallas to repre- ber of the John Birch Society, the sent Oswald. When asked Minutemen. and publisher of a racist by the Warren • newsletter. His office at 544 Camp Commission who had Street was a well-known meeting place hired him, Andrews had for anti-Castro Cubans. replied Clay Bertrand. Ferrie's background was even more Bertrand, Garrison discov- bizarre. A former senior pilot for \1 efed, was a pseudonym Eastern Airlines, Ferrie had been the used by Clay Shaw, direc- head of the New Orleans Civil Air tor Of the International Patrol, an organization Oswald had 4'Trade Mart. Shaw, a dar- joined as a teenager. Ferrie suffered ling of New Orleans high from alopecia, an ailment that left him society, was also well- hairless. He wore bright red wigs and connected in international painted eyebrows. Ferrie had founded high-finance circles. He Although Clay Shaw, center, was put on trial by Garrison, his own religion and kept hundreds of was also an associate of the help of the national media, which cast Garrison as ct

COURTESY ASSASSINATION ARCmivES WASHINuION SO HIGH TIMES September 1991 "Stop your investigation," replied Lyndon Johnson, announced from Miller calmly. Washington that the federal govermer4i Garrison asked Miller to leave his had already investigated and exonerat-71/ office. ed Clay Shaw. "Needless to say," writes "Well, they offered you the carrot Garrison, "this did not exactly make me and you turned it down," said his assis- look like District Attorney of the Year." tant. You know what's coming next, Meanwhile, all sorts of don't you?" backpedalling was going on at the Justice Department. If Shaw had been Suddenly, reporters from all over the investigated, why wasn't his name in country descended on New Orleans, the Warren Commission Report? "The including the Washington Posts attorney general has since determined George Lardner, Jr. At midnight on that this was erroneous," said a February 22, 1967, Lardner claims to spokesman for Clark. "Nothing arose have conducted a four-hour interview indicating a need to investigate Mr. with Ferrie. The following morning Shaw." Ferrie was found dead. Two unsigned, Realizing he was in a political mine- typed suicide notes were found. The field, Garrison presented his case as letters made reference to a "messianic cautiously as possible. A grand jury district attorney." was convened that included Jay C. Three days later the coroner Guy Banister, a former Naval Albarado. "On March 14, three announced that Ferrie had died of natu- intelligence officer, operated a criminal-court judges heard Garrison's ral causes and placed the time of death "detective agency" at 544 Camp case in a preliminary hearing to deter- well before the end of Lardner's sup- Street, an office Oswald frequently mine if there was sufficient evidence posed marathon interview. Lardner's visited while in New Orleans. against Shaw to hold him for trial," complicity in the affair would never be Albarado recently wrote in a letter to called into question, while his highly- media, and the first in a long series of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. influential articles in the Washington bodies connected with the case that "What did they conclude? That there Post branded Garrison's investigation a would mysteriously turn up dead. was sufficient evidence. Garrison then "fraud." It was just the beginning of a With Ferrie gone, Garrison had only presented his evidence to a 12-member long series of disruptive attacks in the one suspect left. He rushed his case to grand fury. We ruled there was suffi- court, arresting Clay cient evidence to bring Shaw to trial. COURTESY ASSASSINATION ARCHIVES, WASHINGTON. DC Shaw. Were we duped by Garrison? I think Ellen Ray, a docu- not." mentary filmmaker from Thanks to all the unwanted publicity, New York, came to New Garrison's staff had swollen with volun- Orleans to film the story. teers eager to work on the case. The (She is now the director 6'6" Garrison, now dubbed the "Jolly of the Institute for Media Green Giant," had already become a Analysis, see Page 6.) hero to the many citizens and "People were getting researchers who had serious doubts "qv killed left and right," she about the Warren Commission. recalls. "Garrison would Unfortunately, a few of these eager vol- subpoena a witness and unteers were later exposed as govern- two days later the wit- ment informers. Shortly before the cas h ness would be killed by went to trial, one of the infiltrators parked car. I thought xeroxed all of Garrison's files and turn- Garrison was a great ed them over to Shaw's defense team. American patriot. But On September 4, 1967, Chief Justice. things got a little too Earl Warren announced that Garrison's heavy when I started case was worthless. The New York getting strange phone Post characterized the investigation as

; calls from men with "a morbid frolic." Newsweek reported Cuban accents." After that the conspiracy was "a plot of several death threats, Garrison's own making." Life magazine Ray became so terrified published the first of many reports link- that instead of making a ing Garrison with the Mafia. (Richard PA% documentary on the trial, Billings, an editor at Life, had been one she fled the country. of the first journalists to gain access to Attorney General Garrison's inner circle, under the guise his attorneys quickly turned the affair into a media circus with Ramsey Clark, a close of "wanting to help" the investigation.) ief clown. friend of President Walter Sheridan, a former Naval I to li .

HIGH TIMES September 1991 51 gator, appeared in New Orleans with a majority of eyewitnesses in Dealey across their conclusions. A good analy- film crew. Their purpose? An expose Plaza testified that the fatal shot came sis of the film can be found in Cover- titled The Case of Jim Garrison, which not from the Texas School Book Up, by J. Gary Shaw with Larry R. was broadcast in June '67, it required Depository—where Oswald worked— Harris (PO Box 722, Cleburne, TX only a few minutes to see that NBC had but from a grassy knoll overlooking the 76031): classified the case as criminal and had plaza, the FBI had encouraged many appointed itself as the prosecutor," witnesses to alter their testimony to fit Had the Zapruder film of the JFK assas- writes Garrison. the 'lone nut' theory. Those that didn't sination been shown on national televi- Puzzled by the intensity of NBC's were simply ignored by the commis- son Friday evening, November 22, attack, Garrison went to the library an sion. The ballistic evidence was flawed 1963, the Oswald/lone assassin fabri- did some research on the company. and obviously tampered with. Even cation would have been unacceptable learned the network was a subsidiary of though the FBI had received several to a vast majority of Americans.... The RCA, a bulwark of the military-industri- warnings of the assassination, they had car proceeds down Elm and briefly dis- al complex whose defense contracts ignored them Security for the appears behind a sign. When it had increased by more than a billion President was strangely lax. Although emerges the President has obviously dollars from 1960 to 1967. Its chair- Oswald's killer, Jack Ruby, had ties to been shot.... Governor Connally turns man, retired General David the CIA and Mafia, this evidence had completely to his right, looking into the Sarnoff, was been surpressed. Ruby was never back seat; he begins to turn back when OF ICST1cF. allowed to testify before the commis- his body stiffens on impact of a bullet. arierts usrkrrosy;v TIGIMOS 161E0*************** ssss 107.1i sion, and when interviewed in a Texas Very shortly after Connally is hit, the 11141.1., 77 ••■ jail by Chief Justice Warren and Wombat 14., 1965 President's head explodes in a shower Gerald Ford, he told them: "I would of blood and brain matter—he is itSragal like to request that I go to slammed violently backward at a speed Washington.... I want to tell the estimated at 80-100 feet per second. truth, and I can't tell it here.... Gentlemen. my life is in danger." Although Time, Inc. could have made a Ruby never made it to small fortune distributing this film Washington. He remained in jail around the world, they instead secured and died mysteriously before the rights from Zapruder for $225,000, Garrison could call him as a wit- then held a few private screenings ness. pefore locking the film in a vault. It was Even more disturbing was shown to one newsman, Dan Rather, the treatment given the who then described if on national tele- deceased President's corpse. vision. Rather asserted that Kennedy's Under Texas law, an autopsy head went "forward with considerable should have been performed force" after the fatal head shot (a state- by a civilian pathologist in ment that would have supported a hit Dallas. Instead, the body was from behind, from the direction of the removed at gunpoint by the School Book Depository). Several Secret Service and flown to months later, Rather was promoted to a naval hospital in White House correspondent by CBS. As Maryland, where an incom- if to buttress this fabrication. the FBI plete autopsy was performed under the reversed the order of the frames when FB1 Director supervision of unnamed admirals and printing them in the Warren Report. J. Edgar Hoover admitted that generals. The notes from this "autop- When researchers later drew this rever- the Zapruder Wm was incorrectly sy" were quickly burned. Bullet holes sal to the FBI's attention and demanded published in the Warren Report, a were never tracked, the brain was not an explanation, Hoover attributed the "mistake" that helped cover up the dissected, and organs were not switch to a "printing error." direction of the bullet that killed JFK. removed. The autopsy was a botched Although Garrison proved his con- Hoover attributed this to a "printer's and tainted affair, performed under mil- spiracy, the jury was not convinced of error." itary supervision. (The medical aspects Clay Shaw's role in it. He was released of the case were so weird, they would after only two hours of deliberation. a well-known proponent of the Cold later form the basis for a best-selling War. book or'the assassination, Best The end of the Clay Shaw trial was just "Some long-cherished illusions Evidence by David S. Lifton [Macmillan, the beginning of a long nightmare for about the great free press in our coun- New York].) Garrison. On June 30, 1971, he was try underwent a painful reappraisal dur- The most important and lasting arrested by federal agents on corrup- ing this period," writes Garrison. piece of evidence unveiled by Garrison bon charges. Two years later, the case Clay Shaw was brought to trial on was an 8mm film of the assassination came to trial at the height of Garrison's January 29, 1969. it took less than one taken by Abraham Zap ruder, a film that reelection campaign. Although he won month for Garrison to present his case. only three members of the Warren the case, he lost the election by 2,000 Demonstrating a cover-up was the Commission had seen, probably votes. However, The Jolly Green Giant easy part. Although the overwhelming because it cast a long shadow of doubt remains widely respected in his home state, and has recently been elected to of the Warren Commission. His book, (Berkley, New York). his second term on the second highest The Secret Team: The CIA and Ifs Allies "Could the Mafia have whisked court in Louisiana. in Control of the and the Kennedy's body past the Texas authori- In 1967, the machinations of the CIA World, is a frightening portrayal of the ties and got it aboard Air Force One?" were unknown to most Americans. hidden rulers of America. writes Garrison. "Could the Mafia have Today. thankfully, many brave men On March 6, 1975, the Zapruder film placed in charge of the President's have left their comfortable careers in made its national-television debut on autopsy an army general who was not a the agency and spoken out against CIA- ABC's Goodnight America. As a result physician? Could the Mafia have sponsored terror around the world. One of this long-delayed national screening, arranged for President Kennedy's brain of these is Victor Marchetti, who was enough public pressure was put on to disappear from the National executive assistant to Director Richard Congress to reopen the case. Archives?" Helms, and then coauthored The CIA Unfortunately, this reinvestigation Today, we know the CIA frequently and the Cult of Intelligence with John became as carefully-manipulated as the hired Mafia assassins to carry out con- 0. Marks. In 1975 Marchetti confirmed Warren Commission, eventually tailing tracts. Undoubtedly some of these men that Clay Shaw and David Ferrie had under the control of Professor G. were involved in the assassination and been CIA operatives, and that the agen- Robert Blakey, a man with close ties to cover-up. Shortly before his disappear- cy had secretly worked for Shaw's the CIA. As could be expected, Blakey ance. Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa said: "Jim Garrison's a smart man. Anybody who thinks he's a kook is a kook him- self." Was Hoffa silenced because he knew too much about the plot? Just before their scheduled appearances before the House investigation, Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana were brutally murdered in gangland fashion. Was this a message to other Mob figures who had fragmentary information on the case? In July, 1988, The Nation published an FBI memorandum from Hoover dated November 29, 1963. Obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the memo implicated "George Bush of the CIA" in the Kennedy assas- sination cover-up. Although President Bush denies any contact with the CIA prior to his being named director in 1976, it is reasonable to assume that Zapata. the oil company Bush founded in 1960, was a CIA front. On December 11, 1968. Garrison announced Shaw would be brought to trial. Former President Richard Nixon is also implicated in the cover-up. Nixon was in Dallas the day before the assas- defense. led the investigation away from the CIA sination, and his greatest fear during Over the years, many high-ranking and toward the Mob. Blakey's conclu- the early days of Watergate was that officials have come forward to support sion was that President Kennedy was the "Bay of Pigs thing" would be Garrison's theory. "The big story in the killed as a result of a conspiracy and uncovered. According to H. R. Kennedy assassination is the cover- that organized crime had the means, Haldeman in The Ends of Power, "Bay up," says retired Colonel L. Fletcher method and motive. "The Garrison of Pigs" was Nixon's code phrase for Prouty, Chief of Special Operations for investigation was a fraud," said Blakey. the Kennedy assassination. the Joint Chiefs of Staff until 1964. Richard Billings, the former Life editor, As liaison between the CIA and the Prouty was on assignment in New was a prominent member of Blakey's Pentagon during the Bay of Pigs. Zealand on the day of the assassina- staff. Fletcher Prouty was put in charge of tion. After carrying a New Zealand Recently, however, a number of ordering supplies for the invasion. "The newspaper article back to Washington. highly-detailed books on the assassina- CIA had code-named the invasion he checked the time of Oswald's arrest tion have appeared, most of which sup- 'Zapata,'" recalls Prouty. "Two boats against the hour the paper had been port Garrison's thesis rather than landed on the shores of Cuba. One was printed and. with great horror, reaiized Blakey's. The best of these include named Houston. the other Barbara. Oswald's bio had gone out on the inter- Conspiracy by Anthony Summers They were Navy ships that had been national•newswire before Oswald had (Paragon House, New York), Crossfire repainted with new names. I have no been arrested by the Dallas police. by Jim Marrs (Carroll & Graf, Inc.. New idea where the new names came from." Prouty has since become one of the York) and High Treason by Robert At the time Bush was living in most persuasive and persistent critics Groden and Harrison Livingstone Houston. His oil company was called

HIGH TIMES September 1991 53 Zapata, and his wife's name was Rush to Judgment, Barbara. one of the first American people will be bombarded books critical of the Warren If Garrison's investigation was not a with information about the Kennedy Commission, agrees. "The CIA is bring- fraud, its reasonable to assume that assassination. Most of it will be critical ing out the spooks who pose as jour- high-placed individuals in the conspira- of Stone and Garrison. It's important to nalists," says Lane. "The amazing thing cy would either be dead or would have understand that much of this criticism about the Lardner piece is he's review- obtained considerable power in the last will be written by intelligence assets ing the film months before it's even 28 years. According to an article in the working for the CIA. Although the Cold completed." March 4 issue of War is supposed to be over, the CIA U.S. News & World Time magazine also slammed the Report. budget is at an all-time high: $30 billion Nixon and Bush have remained film long before its release. "Garrison is close associates. "Nixon is in contact of taxpayers' money buys a lot of pro- considered somewhere near the tar-out with Bush or his senior staff every paganda. fringe of conspiracy theories." writes month," writes Kenneth Walsh. "Nixon How extensive is the CIA's infiltra- Richard Zoglin, a film critic who admits also speaks regularly on the phone with tion of the national media? I called for- to knowing "very little" about the assas- (National Security Advisor] Brent mer agent Ralph McGehee, author of sination. (For the 25th anniversary of Scowcroft... and Chief of Staff John Deadly Deceits. the assassination back in '88. who has compiled a Sununu." Time ran computer database on everything pub- a cover story titled "Who Was the Real Earlier this year Len Colodny and lished about the agency, "In 1977, Carl Target?" Inside was an excerpt from Robert Gettlin published Bernstein wrote an article in Silent Coup, a The Great Expectations of John Rolling well-documented analysis of the real Stone Connally that named over 400 journalists forces behind the Watergate scandal. by James Reston, a curious uncovered by the Church Committee book that argued Oswald really meant According to the authors. Nixon fell who were working for the CIA." says to kill Connally prey to a military coup after refusing to and only hit JFK by mis- McGehee. If anything, their numbers take. Someday this book may be work with the Pentagon. They claim the have only increased in the last 12 years. viewed as a textbook example of CIA- famous Deep Throat was, in fact, When will the subversion of the sponsored disinformation.) General Alexander Haig. national media end? When the Time Inc., it will be remembered, is American people demand it. the same company that hid the In the meantime, a well-orchestrated Unfortunately, the public has not flexed Zapruder film for five years. When disinformation campaign against Oliver any muscle in this country since they HIGH TIMES requested slides from the Stone's movie has predictably ended the war in Vietnam. If you want film to accompany this article, the cur- appeared, long before Stone could even to help bring Justice in this case, there's rent copyright holder sent us a three- begin editing his film. Longtime plenty you can do: 1) Assist the page contract to sign. It included a pro- Kennedy researchers were not sur- 'Assassinations Archives in Washington hibition against "any reference...that the prised to find the charge led by George in their quest to obtain the documenta- Zapruder film was ever owned by Time, Lardner. Jr.. of the tion on the Kennedy case that remains Washington Post. Inc...." the last man to see David Ferrie alive. sealed to the public. For more informa- We decided not to run the photos "Oliver Stone is chasing fiction," tion call Jim Lesar at (202) 393-1917. rather than assist Time, Inc. in their wrote Lardner in the May 19 edition of 2) Subscribe to continuing cover-up of the real facts Covert Action Infor- the Post. "Garrison's investigation was mation Bulletin, behind John F. Kennedy's assassina- a national newsletter a fraud." Later in the article. he adds: on covert CIA activities. For more infor- tion. "There was no abrupt change in mation call (202) 331-9763. If you want In the next few months, the Vietnam policy after more detailed information on the CIA, JFK's death." McGehee's database can be "That is one of the purchased for $99. For more most preposterous information call him at (703) things I've ever heard," 437-8487. 3) Write your repre- says Zachary Sklar. edi- sentatives in Congress. Tell tor of On The Trail of the them you want a law passed Assassins, and prohibiting journalists from coscreenwriter with working for the CIA. Although Stone on JFK. "Kennedy such a bill has been proposed was trying to get out of many times, it never makes its Vietnam, and Johnson way out of committee. led us into a war in Finally, stop accepting every- which 58.000 Americans thing you hear on TV and read died. Lardner's article is in the newspapers. Buy books a travesty." on the assassination and cover- "I wouldn't give up and educate yourself. Only in Lardner the time of day," this way can we keep hope alive adds Gary Shaw. "I think that one day America will be the he's bought and paid sweet land of liberty her for." Many still wonder. Was the myth of a free press founders intended. • Mark Lane, author of buried with JFK?

54 HIGH TIMES September 1991 •