The PosthunrlonnsAssassination of john R Kennedy Judith Exner, Mary Meyer and Other Daggers

ByJim DiEugenio

Currnt events, most mably a past issue indicatedan assassinin front ofKennedy.But a lot of evidenceto substantiatethat claim. of Uai, ki, afrtbe "f'.ning release of Sy another thing Gochenaur related in his Church There were few tears shedby most rightwing Hershl w book e*eod a issue that I have Committee interview was the tirade that groupsover Kennedy'sdeath. Five years later, dealt sirh in a talk I hat done several times Moore went into the longer he talked to him: they played hardball again. King and Bobby arormd 6e couary ir 6e last two years. It is how Kennedywas a pinko who was selling us Kennedywere shot. One would think the coup entitled -The TEo Asassinations of John out to the communists. This went on for was complete.The war was over. Kennedf- I call it rir* |.-ee there has been hours. Gochenaurwas actually frightened by That would be underestimating these an @Sifg ddaracter assassina- the time Moore drove him home. people.They are in it for the long haul. The -'r|IEfEn tion ffi lirc Keuedtr sas killed. But there is another more insidious strain power elite realizes that, in a very real and In !h tJtto.l-... he dealt primarily with of the rightwing in America. These are the pragmatic sense,assassination isn't enough. the attr&o Kdt ftom the left by Noam conservativeswho sometimesdisguise them- You have to cover it up afterwards,and then Chom$'d lis harlrrEn Alexander Cock- selvesas Democrats,as liberals.as "intema- be readyto smother any legacythat might lin- burn rtih mdr the time of the release tionalists." This group is rypified by men like ger.The latter is quite important sinceassas- of OliE s3#ttff- But historically speak- Averill Harriman, Henry Stimson,John Fos- sinadon is futile if a man's ideas live on ing dr rr-r. 6 6e Kennedys, both Jack ter Dulles and the like. The common rubric through others. This is why the CIA s Bill and Rotan: b= m come predominantly usedto catalogthem is the EastemEstablish- Harvey once contemplatedgetting rid of not from 6c bft. Thc rrrks ftom the right have ment. The Kennedy brothers were constantly only Castro, but his brother Raul and Che beea od me uuerous. And the attacks at odds with them. In 1962, Bobby clashed Guevaraas well as part of single operation. ftom 6r &cgb rere always harsher and with Dean Achesonduring the missile crisis. That would havemade a cleansweep ofit. (ln more 1rcd ir oe As we shall see, that Achesonwanted a surprise attack; Bobby re- America's case,one could arguethat such an persod re bws no limits. Through pa- jected it salng his brother would not go down operation was conductedhere, over a period pers lib 6e ltlr l6rE fimes and Washington in history as another Tojo. In 1961,JFK dis- of five years.) tost, de-'rrs Ec€nd into ttre Kennedys' sex obeyed their advice at the Bay of Pigs and re- The smothering effect afterward must lives. a bqk dat had not been crossed in fused to add air suppon to the invasion. He hold, sincethe assassinatedleader cannot be posr-rvrr flyira'F-rn media to that time. To was punished for this in Fonunemagazine with allowed to becomea martyr or legend.To use undetd 6eir longeviry and vituperative- an article by Time-Life employee Charles a prominent example,in 1973,right after rhe ness, it is necessary to sketch in how they all Murphy that blamed Kennedyfor the failure CIA and ITI disposedof SalvadorAllende and began- h that way, the reader will be able to of the plan. Kennedystripped Murphy of his his Chileangovemment, the StateDepartment see6r tlqsb's book, rhe y4niD,Fdil pieceon At Forcereserve status but - Murphy wrote announced (falsely) that rhe U. S. had noth- Judid htf' aod an upcoming work by John to Ed Lansdale- that didn't matter; his loy- ing to do with the coup. Later on, one of the Davis oI-f Meye4,are part of a continuum. alry was to anyway. In 1963, CIA agentsinvolved in that operation stated Kennedy crossed the Rubicon and actually that Allende had killed himself and his mis- ThefiudtheKernedys printed money out ofthe Treasurybypassing tress in the presidentialpalace. This was an- Thcca be no doubt that the light hated that crowning jewel of Wall Street, the Fed- other deception.Butitdid subliminallyequate the Krdfs and Mardn Luther King. There eral Resewe Board. And as Donald Gibson has Allende's demise with the death of Adolf is ako E fu$t that some who hated JFK written, a memberof this group, Jock Whitney, Hitler. had er*hming up his death.One could was the first to put out the coverstory about The latter tacticis quite prevalenrin co- use Scgtt Sayice agent Elmer Moore as an that Icazy Kid Oswaldon 11/22/63 (ProbeVol. vert oPerations.The use of sex as a discredit- exauph- rfs realed in Probe (Vol. 4 No. 3, 4 No.1). ing device is often used by the CIA and its pp- Z!21), llmre told one Jim Gochenaur allies. As John Newman noted in Oswaldand bor h xs in darge of the Dallas doctors Killing off the l*gacy lhc C/4, the Agency tried to discreditirs own t€$imt $e JFK case. One of his assign- In 1964, author Morris Bealle,a genuine assetJune Cobb in the wake of the Kennedy rnem s Fdso- for the Warren Commission conservativeand critic of the Eastem Estab- assassination.Itdid the sameto sylviaDuran, se€msb bE b€cn talking Dr. Malcolm Perry lishment, wrote a novel called Ganso/ tlre Re- Cuban embassyworker in Mexico City who out of his olti"'l sarement that the throat gressiveRight, depicting how that elite group talked to Oswaldor ar impersonatorin 1963. wound wa6 me of enuy, which would have had gotten rid of Kennedy. There certainly is continued.on page 6

Septenrber-Oatober,l99? ?:lOilE not appreciated until much later First, it Put writers like Jean Davison and Jack Anderson 2nd Assassination the focus on the plots against foreign leaders have been foisting on the public for years. that could be explained as excessesof anti- contintedfrom page5 SomeHits communist zealotry (which is precisely what The EstablishmettTckes In Probe(Vol. 4 No. 4, p. 9) we haveseen how the drafters of Church's report did). Second, The oolitical fallout ftom the Church Com- joumalist (and ClA-applicant) Hugh Aynes- all probesinto the assassinadonsofJFK RFK, mittee was quite intense- The CIA took quite wonh and the New YorkHeruA Tiibune tied to and MLK would be offlimils. The Church a few hits, though it emerged intact. Eastem smear Mark Lane with compromising Photo- Comminee would now concentrate on the per- Establishment-GoP mainstay Allen Dulles graphs. lf one goes to New Orleans, one will formance ofthe intelligence community in in- was implicated in the authorization of two (Lumumba srill meet Lhosewho say that Jim Garrisonin- wstigating the death ofJFI( not complicity in assassinationplots and Castro). dicted Clay Shaw becausehe was himself gay the assassinationitself. This distinction was Even Republican icon Dwight Eisenhower was and jealous of Shaw's position in the homo- crucial. As Colby must have understood,the implicated: all know how the sexual underworld. And we Agency and its allies could ride out exposure Thechain ol eventsrevealed by he doqmentsand by blackmail- FBI tried to drive King to suicide of plots against Marxists and villains like testimonyissfong enough to Prmita reasonablein- ing him with clandestinely made "sex tapes." Castro, Patrice Lumumba of the Congo and lerencefiat theplot to assassinate Lumumba was au- hodzedby President Eisenhovre. The C]nl.lrchCommittee Nixon was shown to be obsessedwith get- What precipitatedthese posthumous and should be noted that the personal attack on the Kennedys? Something "It ting rid of the Allende regime in Chile. And brieffng of IGnnedy haopenedin the seventiesthat necessitated lRobert] since he had already been disgraced with -"second Phase the assassination"ftom the light - was restricted to One of Watergate,his defenders, like Bill Safire of the i.e. the useof scandalto stampout Kennedy's the operation,which had ended Nzw YorFTimu, felt that this was piling on. As reputation and legary.That something was the about a year earlier. PhaseTvo we shall see,Safire smrck back through Judith church commiftee. Belated revelations about rras already rmdetway at the E (Irer. the CIAs role in watergate, and later of the time of the brie{ing, but But the plots against Castro took center sensational,fan- CIA's illegal domestic operations created a IGnnedy was not told of iC' - stage.They seemedfull of rastic revelations that seemed right out of a critical firestormdemanding a full-scaleinves- CIAs IG Report on ib Castro Bond movie:poison pills, explodingsea rigation ofthe CIA. The fallout ftom Watergate AssassinationPlos. 1967 James had produced large Democratic majorities in shells, contaminated diving suits etc. But no both housesofcongress via the 1974elections. mamer how hard they tded, the media mo- This majority, combined with some of the guls (New Yort limes, WoshingtonPost, las An- RafaelTLujillo ofthe Dominican Republic. The moderateRepublicans, managed to form spe- gels firnes)could not tie the Kennedysto thern exposure of domeslic plots against political cial congressionalcommittees. The commit- This didn't seem fair in light of all the mud leaders would have been lethal. tee in the Senatewas headed by ldaho's Frank heaped on Eisenhower, Dulles and the Cotby's gambit, plus the stricnrres put on Church. Orher leadinglights on that commit- watelgated Nixon. Unfonunately, not even the investigation as outlined by Marchetti tee were Minnesota's Walie! Mondale, the CIA's 1967 Inspector General's repon, above, enabled the intelligence community to Gary Hart, Tennessee'sHoward commissioned by Richard Helms for LBJ, im- Colorado's dde out the storm. The path chosen for limited Baker, and Pennsylvania's Richard Schweiker plicated the IGoredys. exposure was quite clever.The most documen- As writers Kate Olmsted and Loch Johnson tation given up by the CIA was on the Casro No Autlrmnrkorion have shown, the Church Committee was ob- assassinationplots. Furtheq,the Agencydecided The Inspector General's Repon (which is structed by two ofdre ClAs most potent allies: to give up many documents on both the em- quite thorough and methodical), and the the major media ard ftiendly public figures. In plol,rnent of the Mafia to kill Fidel, and the AM/ comminee's report dealing with as- the latter category Olmsted especially high- Chuch I,ASH plots, that is, the enlistment of a Cuban (ernided All4d AssassinttionPI* lights the deadly role of Henry Kissinger. But sassinations national close to Castro to try and kill him. Ldas) are bodr quite clear as Victor Marchetti revealed to me, there was Irrrolring Fonign Again, not enough credit has been given to the poinr For instance, when the former also something else at work behind the scenes. on this wisdom of these choices. In intelligence par- published details of In an interview in his son's ofEce in 1993, repon was aalzing the lance, tlere is a familiar phrase: muddying the Anderson 1967 leak Marchetti told me that he never really thought a Drew Pearson-Jack waters. This meals that by confusing and con- plots, it labeled the Pearson- the Agency was in danger at that time. He about the Casto founding the listener with diverse and prolific insinuation about Robeft Kennedy's stated that first. the cIA had infiltrated the Andenon amounts of information, the main point be- of the plots as "Not fiue." It later staffofChurch's committee and, second,the "approval" comesobfuscated. Since none ofthe Mafia plots goes to say that the role played by Roben Agency was intent on giving up documents on succeeded.one could claim they were ineffec- Kennedy in Pearson's story is "a garbled ac- only in certain areas. In Watergate terminol- tual. The huge amount of publicity gamered by count." What had happened was that through ogy, it was a "limited-hangout" solution to the them could eventually be deflected onto the FBI's discovery of a wiretapping favor done problem ofcontrolling the damage. the Mob's role in them and not the Agency's. The for Maheu's contact in the Plots (chicago Tlv EscaPeRoute AM,/LASH plocs,exposed in even more copi- mobster Sam Giancana) Hoover had leamed could be used in a similar The issue that had ignited so much public ous documentation, ofthe CIA-Mob link ard forwarded his knowl- knew about these plots within interest in the hearings had been that of as- way. If Castro edge to Roben Kennedy. Kennedy tumed it he then claim and sassination. CIA Director Bill Colby very his midst. couldn't tumabout over to Courtney Evans, his FBI liaison, and tactics by employing a Commu- clearly drew the line that the CIA had never use the same asked him to get back with all the known de- Kennedy? plotted such things domestically.Colby's ad- nist in the U.S. to kill This, or a com- tails. He was finally briefed on it in May of has been missionwas a brilliant tactical strokethat was bination of the two, what suspect 1962. There can be no doubt about his reac-

Septenber-Octobef,r 199? \\ I I tion. As one of Bobby's CIA briefers sated: dent at the request of Richard Goodwin and that - without this precis - seem to ake "If pu hve seeaMr. Kernedy's e''es get sEely Robert Kennedy. After a general discussion of place in a vacuum: motiveless,random, out at regu- and his iaw set and his voice get low and pre- Cuban matters,JFKasked him, "What would ofplace;yet in Exner'scase, recurring promulga- cise,Fr gei a deEnirc feeling of ur@Piness. " you think if I ordered Castro to be assassi- llr intervals. As we shall see the In a E€mo of a meeting Hoover bad with nated?" Szulc said he didl't think it would tors of the following, are very aware of the RFK after this briefing, Hoover wrote 'The help foster change in Cuba" ard he didn't think results of the Church Committee. me he warted to ad- Amelicans should be associatedwith such Attoraq General told Emer To The Rescue vise De of a situation in the Giancana case matters. Kennedy replied, "I agreewith you The committee had found that Hoover had which bad considerarlydisarbad hin" [empha- complercly."Szulc testified that: on March sis addedl . For his own part, llwer wrote of a meeting with PresidentKennedy Hewent on lor a fewminutes lo makethe point 22, L962. Through his investigation of Sam his talk about the matter with &e AG: hisbrothers felt that the united howstrongly he and Giancana, the Director had discovered that an Slatesshould nevel be in a situationof havingre- I €'Fed greatastonishmert al $b [&e asso- acquaintanceof his - Campbell- had called yar courseto assassination. ciafal h ol he badreflrffio d Maheuand Kennedy at the on numerous br* in usinga manof Giancana's t|e iudgment Szulc'snotes ofthe meeting state: occasions.Once Kennedywas told ofthis, the baqur{ br sudra projsa TheAtomey Gen- Campbell's erdsbEd tle saneviers. JFKhen saidhe was testing calls to the white House stopped. me,that he feft the same rvay name was included in IGmedy had made it d€a! to the CIA that - headded 'l'm glad you feel the first draft of the re- if they wre to have any more of these rypes thesame waf - becausein- "[FKl told me he believed the port. But indeferenceto of ideas about using lk characters, they deedhe U.S. monllymusl CIA had arranged to have her privacy and the fact wouH have to go tlrngb tbe Justice Depan- notb€ part {sic) to assassina- Diem and Trujillo bumped off. that she denied ever ment firsL ie- him- Er what RFK did not tons. He was pretty well shocked communicating any know is rha, as the L G- neport states: The chulch Commit- about that IIe thought it was messagesbetween the tt sd b d ti L HE of Kennedywas rce also heard testimony a stupid thing to do, and he two, the committee - r€sraH b Pbe h db Fralion, whichhad from Smatherswho stated wanted to get contol of what by a unanimous vote - not name her in the efg&aa F €*. PhGeTwo was akeady that once when it was the CIA was doing." did underqilE-dft ffE. butKennedywas up in his pres- final draft. She was re- brought - Senator George Smathers noaddA ence (presumably by the ferred to there as a In bc, o tu s day that RFK was CIA friendly Smathers), "close friend." some plants briefe4 tu Clfs sh.field Edwards (one of Kennedy got so mad he smasheda dinner plate staffers, perhaps the CIA to which the kihs) dqrilWrlliam Harvey agreed and told him he did want to hear ofsuch things Marchetti referred, leaked her name to the to fald& fu recud by saying all future plots again (Alleged. Assqssination Plots p. 124). washington Post.Significantly, /our daysbefore printed had to bc rrh.riql h'y the Director of the Smathen furthered this ponrait later when he the final report was issued, the furt her name in an article about her. This did the CIA- ltry xtnt- John Mccone was delib- stated that: uick. The fimes and Postused this to weaken erately lepto dtte loop by Richard Helms Kennedyseemed 'horifred' at ltreidea of Presklent the impact of Church's repon. No less than and HaIt+ tkeet admitted to the Church politicalassassinatjon. 'l emember him saying. . .$at printed in those two CommiFee fu 6e Edwards memo was a de- theCIA frequently didthings he didn't know about, and two dozen stories were libenrdy 6be rccord, a cover story. ln fact, hewas unhappy about it. He complained that$e CIA newspapersabout Exner. Altogether, those Hary€tbad ak€ady taken over the plots when wasalmost autonomous. Hetold me he believed fie two establishmentbastions kept her name in Edwads told Robert Kennedy they were ter- CIAhad an"nged to haveDiem and Truiillo bump€d the papers for six months.William Safire ofthe prettywell shocded about hat. mirrared off.He was Hethought NewYorkTimes, a former Nixon speechwriter, itwas a stupidhing to do, and he wanbd to get contol screamed there could be no "whitewash" of (Ite JFK Nelpr Ardhorizeil Them olwhatfie CIAwas doing." AssassinalionsiOal- this matter and made it his personal agenda lasand Eej,ord pp. 379J80) On rhe question of authorization, every of- to use Exner asJFKSconnection to the plots. fidaf ftrE lcnnedy's administration testified Such statements not only absolveKennedy, He himself wrote five columns on the sub- dratJFKm knew ofany plots, or authorized they actually provide a motive for the CIA to ject. Timemagazine did a feature on her. News- thern- Tlis irludes Dean Rusk Max Taylor, get dd of him, which is probably why the weeb,the Post'ssister publication did two. lohn lrcc @fuedArassinafion Ploti pp. 154- media ignored them- Exner - via the Timesand Post- became a 16f)- Et€tr McGeorge Bundy, about whom The fact that Kennedy had clean hands was media sensation. manyheHsuspicions, denied that Kennedy a biner pill to swallow. The establishment Riding the wave, Exner now took advan- had cr 41rorrcd them or been informed of organized a furious counterattack. Frank tage of rhe publiciry and decided ro wrire a anyfls Qra p. 156). To conclude the maneq, Church was accusedofbeing a partisan.The book. Big-time literary mogul Scott Meredith dre rrc peofle ia on them at this time (1962) Democrats were chargedwith "protecting" the was her agent.Meredith reportedlysold seri- said 6e w, ie- Richard Helrns (Ibid. pp. 148- Kennedys.There was an exchangeof letters alization rights to the book, sight unseen,to 152)d BilI Hawey (pp. 153-154). in the pressbetween David Eisenhowerand the NationelErquirer for $150,000.The book The OA did ry rc coax approval ftom him. one of Bobby Kennedy's sonsover the issue. outline wasprepared byMeredith's ofiice and The Chrch Conmittee took testimony from Finally, a solution appeared.Her name was was approvedby Exner's attomey. A co-au- two p@erio were quite compelling on this Judith Campbell Exner thor was arranged for poinc ltey were Trd Szulc, a reponer for the All ofthis essentialbackground is usually The co-author turned out to be ovid New Yorl l-nacsWashington bureau, and Sen. left out of any discussionof the following. It Demaris.This is significant.Demaris is usu- GeorgeSmaders ofFlorida ln late 196 i , Szulc can't be. As we shall see,in many ways it is ally described as a veteraa crime writer ofsuch had been called in to speak with the presi- crucial to an understandingof some events continxedon page8

SeDtember-October,I99? the Commerce street ramp on November 24th Coppola,wl|o di€ded IDe Godtrre4 says il best[,len po'ver f|e cililab h oursociety are distn- to kill Oswald. of and 2nd Assassination guishedonly by 0Fi dtEtixt, nott€ir monality. continuzdfrom page7 The authors' honesty and acuity are quite suspect in that one of their chief sources is In other words, as far as Emer and he are books as captive city arrdTheGreen Felt Jungle. Dallas Deputy DA Bill Alexander, notorious concemed, there is litde difference between This is true as far asit goes,but it doesnot go for his close relationship with FBI-CIA .iour- the Kennedys, Sam Giarcana, and Johnny far enough. nalist and cover-up artist Hugh Aynesworth, Roselli. Striking also is the fact that they described DemmisEnters the Scene one of the doctors treating Ruby as "having JudithEnvr:lvb Stoly In his prologue, Demaris writes that he was performed LSD experiments on an elephant" The book itself is more of the same. The in the midst of a multi-city tour for his previ- and left it at that. If they would have dug a aim is to make Exner as attnctive as possible; ous book when he heard about Exner's story little deeper, they would have found out that more personally attractive than those around The previous book was an oral biography of the man was longtime CIA doctor Louis J. her, especially Kennedy, his clan, and circle- Hoover entitled The Director. In the Hoover West, who also treatedAldous Huxley.It was Giancanaand Roselli arejust your avelageltal- book, Demarishas somedisparaging remarks West's diagnosis that Ruby was a "candidate ian-American good guys. To Exne4 they might about the Church Committee: it was politi- suitable for treatment" that allowed him to as well have owned Domino's Pizza. And cally motivated, inspired by "rehashesof old hp nlt nn rlnro< Demaris places her frankness beyond ques- charges," and was "flogging a dead horse." tion. She saysthat she will tell the truth, eves Demaris was also unhappy with the many about people and eventsshe doesn't careto. books on Watergateand the fall of Richard At the end, the book reveals It is her vow to tell the whole story. Exner rrstanding Nixon. He characterizesthem with the fol- that Demaris was inherited a lot ofmoney from her grardmotler lowing: "While someof their tall talesmaybe close to Jack Ruby when he (in the twenry year adult span of the booh true, they are not unaware that truth that is shot Oswald." In facg he was she only mentions one job of a few weeks strangerthan fiction will sell better in a mar- the first person to identify duration). ln her early years she gravitated ket alreadyjadedby exotic overexposure." Rubv. toward the Hollpvood acting colont since her Demaris' book on Hoover can only be sister and first husband were thespians.Sbe called s)rynpathetic.This is immediately indi- fell in with the Califomia-Malibu jet set: DeaD catedby his choiceof interviewees.They in- Demaris and Wills spend much of their Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis et. d. She clude high level FBI administrators like Roben time ddiculing the critics of the Warren Re- says she prefers the company of men over E. Wick, John P Mohr, and Mark Felt; former porf, especiallyMark Lane. They also attack women ard her book shows it. She is flying Attomey General Richard Kleindienst; Hoover Nancy Perin Rich, a witness who calls atten- from one to another so often that, at times it publicity flack Louis Nichols who named one tion to Ruby's very importart gunrunning into is hard to keep track ofwhere she is: Los Ao- of his sons after his boss; and actor Efrem Cuba. At the end, the book reveals that geles,PaIm Springs,Miami, Chicago,WasF Zimbalist who starred in ABC's glamorized Demaris was "standing close to Jack Ruby ington etc, She met JFK through Sinatra- serieson the Bureau.In the entire book, there when he shot Oswald." In fact, he was the I(enned,v immediately fell for her. Accordiog are eight pages on Hoover's infamous first person to identi$ Ruby. He then began ro E)oe4 ir \f,-asnot just physical. Kennedy COINTELPROoperations, i.e. the infiltration, interviewing wimesses and got especiallyclose became a dopey mooner in her hands. He disruDtion,and occasionaldestruction ofdo- to Ruby's lawyers.The authors are especially talked ofleaviag his wife for her. At times the mestic political movements. thankful to Elmer Gertz, the sameGertz who pressuresofhis life got so intensehe warted ln Hoover's disputeswith the Kennedys, has been revealedin the last two issuesofAobe to escapewitl her to a desenedisland. Since rherecan be no doubt where Demaris stands. as a lawyer for CIA agent Gordon Novel whose he cal't bear to lose her, whenevet there G SpeakingofHoover's reputed blackmailingof attorneys were "clandestinely remunerated" friction in the relationship, Kennedy pours m presidents,he writes: "It is possiblethat one for their services.Gertz also wrote a book on dre cham to smdr it out. Even when Hoors or two were intimidated by their own guilty Ruby.It is an equallygaseous whitewash that con-frontshim *irh 6e Ener-Giancana asso- conscience...."He sums uP Hoover by safng, also goesout of its way to attack the critics, ciation, K€nn€d!'insists on seeing her. At e "He was, whateverhis failings, an extraordi- againsingling out Mark Lane. tirne, he asks ber ro board Air Force One sid nary man, truly one ofa kind." The above gives To make the picture complete, in his pro- him. She won'r becauseshe wants to spare i us a hint of why Demaris hooked up with logue to the Exner book, Demaris writes about Jackie's digniry. I Exner But a previousworkofhis is morevalu- his new task at hand: There is oDe rene in the book that cape I able in that regard. her aforementioned personal appealvs. JFKs- | Legendsare not easily surendered. The press willfght In 1968 Demaris co-authored with Gary It crystalliz€s the Errol FlynnDon Juan irr topreserve itsmanuhclured illusions, ilsCamelob and I is, to age that E)mer wishes to construct out of Wills a book titled,fac&.Ruby. The book coodShips Lollipop, and God help anyonewhoinad- I by some authors of the saythe least,a radrer shallowponrait of Ruby vertentylhrcatens them. IGnnedy. It is used I basedon a string ofconversationswith People rype we will discuss, most notably CIA-FBI I rather the Washingtonk/st and.a.good the nightclub owner lvorked with. The Profile God, or toady and New YorkTimes-washinltonfusa vet- | that emerges is in total concordance with the review ftom the New Yor[ limes,helped them to eran Ron Kessler in his book Sinsofthe Fatfter-| 145,000 books including Waren Commission view of Ruby as a dim, the tune ofover sold, On the first day of the Democlatic conven- l emotional, husde! who killed Oswald because a mass market paperback sale. Demaris later tion in Los Angeles in 1960, Kennedysends 1 the he admired Jack and Jackie so much and adds, characterizing book's approach: for Exner. She arrives at the hotel but severd wished to sparethe widow the ordeal ofa trial. Shehas a storyto tell that is unique, and I wouldgladly people are there, including Kennedy'ssistel Other events are also in line with the Warren toppleall the Camelots, and King Arthurs, or Sh He assures her that they will all be leaving Report: the shooting is ftom the sixth floor, Lancelots,to giveher that dance. . . . FrancisFord momentarily and that he wants to be done Oswald killed Tippit, Ruby went straight down with her in his moment ofvictory Eventually geptenber-Octoberr 199? most ofthe visitors leave except for two: a tall (who will be discussed later) and the title of I guessour surveillarceslipped. I didn't knov/ skinny seqetarial type, and I

SayThct Again Please to become a CIA - associated reporter for surprisingsince two ofthe peopleinvolved in the the story are CIA counterintelligence There is one revelation in the artide that various papers including ChicagoTibune. shaping 1964, while walking along the chiefjames Angleton and .Relat- does not come off tongue-in-cheeL In the fall of path C & O Canal in Georgetown, ing to the Kennedy murder, much has been After talking to Smith's pal Hersh, E:

She burned it, and the witnesswas Anne there were not, or are lying about the pres- JFK & Meyer Truitt. enceof others. Rosenbaumgot interviews with some of the principals, Angleton, continuedfrom page11 Ron Rosenbcrm Bradlee,and others who gavehim bits of in- day can say what happened to it, or rehat it The longest treatment ofthis whole affair formation ( would seem to be a actually contained. To begin to explain why, was one ofthe earliest.Ron Rosenbaumdid a source).Yet in his detailed account he can, let me summarize the account about the mat- story forNew Timesin 1976.In hisversion, the with a straight face, write that the bonds ter given by Bradlee in his 1995 autobiogra- Angletons went to Mary's the day she died. among those involved in the searchwere so phy A GoodLife. When no one answered, they entered the strong thatyearslatet someofthem attended The night of the Meyer murdel at his house. From her answering service(!), they a seanceto attempt to establishcontacr with home, Bradlee got a call from , found out she was dead. They proceededto Mary's departedspirit. Can anyoneimagine Mary's artist fiiend and then the wife ofJim the Bradlees'home to make funeral arrange- Angleton or Bradleesitting through a seance? Truitt, Newsweel'sTokyo correspondent. Mary ments. Later that night, Jim Angleton retumed (I colld imagine Angleton arranging a fake bad rold Anne to rerrieve the diary in case to Mary's, but only to retrieveher kittens.The one.) anythinghappened ro her.The ne

geptenDer-October, 199? baum wrote his ugly satire on the Kennedy whether or not Kennedy's name was in the & lv[eyer research community for TexasMonthly which diary she is quoted as saying:"But the diary JFK in tum got him a guestspot on Nighdine.)This was destroyed.I'll tell you that much is true." continuedfrom page29 is also when Leary began hooking up with The suggestion in the last sentenceis that Mary had offered Kennedy a couple of mari- Gordon Liddy, doing carnival-qpe debates everythingelse is not. Or, at least,the diary's juana joints, but coke-snifferKenaedy said, acrosscollege campuses, an act which man- destruction is all she knows for a fact. i "This isn't like cocaine.I'll get you some of agedto rehabilitate both ofthem and put them lfMary's own sisteris not forthright, then that." both back in the public eye. who among the rest is? Don't rely on Rosen- t. The chemical addition to the storywas later There is another problem with Leary's baum to frnd out. He is a fiiend ofboth Angle- picked up by drug guru Tim Leary in his book book: the Phil Grahamanecdote. ln his book, ton and the fust. Considertheman who helped Flashbark. Exner-like, the angle grew append- Leary has Mary tell him that the cat was out him write his 1976 Mary Meyer piece, one ages.Leary went beyond grassand cocaire. the bag as far as her andJFK were concemed. Philio Nobile. When I interviewed Deborah According to Leary Mary Meyer was consult- The reasonwas that a well-known friend of Davis about the attempted censorshipofher ing with him about how to conduct acid ses- hers had blabbed about them in Dublic.This book,which exposedthe Postt ties to the C1A, sions and how to get psychedelicdrugs in is an apparent reference to fusf owner Phil she told me that her troubles began with a 1962. l,eary met her on several occasions and Graham'soutburst at a convention in Phoe- whispering campaign to her publisher. The she said that she arrd a small circle of friends nix, Arizona in 1963. This famous incident whisperer was Rosenbaum'spartner Nobile. had turned on several times. She also had one (which preceded his later alleged mental When that wasn't enough, Nobile talked to other friend who was "a very importart man" breakdown) included - according to Leary - Alexarder Cockbum of the ViIIageVoice . Cock- who she also wanted to turn on. After a reference to Kennedy and Mary Meyer. The bum printed the rumors that her book was Kennedy's assassination, Mary called Leary story of Graham'sattendance at this conven- unfoundedand that shehad cried in her pub- and mer with him. She was cryptic but she tion and what he did and said has been de- lishers' office when challengedon this. Both did say,"They couldn't control him any more. scribed in different ways in different books. accountswere untrue. But Cockbum was not He was dranging t@ fast. He was leaming too Unfonunately for Leary his dating ofthe con- an unbiasedobserver As Nobile must have much." The implicatioa being that a "tumed vention does not jibe with any that I have seen. known,his live-ingirlfriend at lhe time was on" JFK was behind the moves toward peace In 1986, Tony Chaitkin tracked down the cor- Kay Graham'sdaughter It is odd that Rosen- in 1963.Leary leamed about Meyer's murder rect date, time, and placeofthe meeting. No baum would chooseto write on such a con- in 1965, but did not pull it all together until one had done it correctlyup to that time. But troversial subject with someonewho seems the 1976jim Truitt dirlosure. with Leary, the Chaitkin and his associateswent one stepfur- to be such a friend to the Post.Related to that, end (for now) of the Meyer story colors in JFK ther. They interviewed people who were there. in his 1991reflections on the 1976article, and as the total sixties swingen pot, coke, acid, None of the attendeesrecalled anything said in the article itself, he tries to insinuatethat women, ald unbeknownst to Kennedy, Leary about Mary Meyer. these people - Bradlee,the Truitts, the has fulfilled his own fantasy by being To me, this apocryphal anecdote and Angletons - are actuallyftiends of Kennedy. Kennedy's guide on his magical mystery tour Leary's book seernways to bolster a tale that In addition, Rosenbaum and others never toward peace- needed to be rerycled and souped up before seemedto ask why thoseinvolved all seemed But there is a big problem with Leary his its chinks beganto show Leary's reasonfor so eagerto violate Mary's privacyby reading story, and those who use it (like David being a part of the effon may be through his the diary. In no version I have read was that Horowie and Peter Collier). Leary did not associationwith intelligence assetLiddy. or ever part of Mary's instructions.And Angle- mention Mary in any of his books until Flasfr- it may be becausehe was never enamoredof ton, the man who the Truitts seemto side with bacArin 1983, Eore rlran two decadesalter he the Kennedys' approach to the drug problem, against Bradlee, supposedly went through met Mary. It's not like he did not have the which was antagonistic to teary personally and them like an archivist. opportunity to do so. Leary was one of the a lot less liberal in its approach.L€ary was The Truitts' trust for and seemingloyalty most proli.fic authors I know. He got almost quite frank about this in his book Hkh l,riest to theAngletons is particularlyinteresting. In anything he wanted published. Although it is (p. 67) and later in ChangingMy Mind (pp.143 Rosenbaum's1976 piece, the followingpas- hard to keep track of all his work, he appears ff.). Whatever his modves, Leary's reftoactive saSeaPpears: to have published over 40 books. Ofthose, at endorsementis iust not credible. least25 were publishedbetween 1962,when TheTruitls were still in Tokyo when lhey received word olthe towpath murder, and lhe responsibility lorthe di- he sayshe met Mary,and 1983,when he first Th€ Split dt th€ Post arywas communicated to their mutral friend James mentions her. Some ofthese bools are month In fact,when it comesto Mary Meyer,sro- Angletonthrough still uncedain channels. to month chronicles e.g. Higft Priest. In none ries berweenthe samecouple are not consis- of the book I could find, i.e. most of them, is tent. As mentionedpreviously, Bradlee states with the quiet skill ofa cardsharp,Rosen- Mary mentioned or even vaguely described. in his book that Keruredy'sname was not in baum avoids ar important detail. Namely, how This is improbable considering the vivid, un- the diary. Yet his wife told, TheNational Enquirel the Tiuitts found out about Mary's death in forgettable portrait that t€ary drew in 1983. rhat although she only looked at it briefly, the middle of the night halfivay around the This striking looking woman walks in unan- Kennedy's name wr6 there. According to an world. Someone must have either called or nounced, mentions her powerful friends in interview with writer Debbie Davis, Ben wired them. Why is this matter never ad- Washington, and later starts dumping out the Bradleeonce told televisionpersonality David dressedin any version?The logical choiceas CIAs secret operations to control American Frost that the diary was not even a diary but contactswould be the Angletons.This is ap- elections to him. Leary who mentioned many in fact a sketchbook. parently off limits for Ron. If he drew atten- of thosehe tumed on throughout his books, In this regard, 'Ibny Bradlee made a telling tion to his lack of curiosity on this matter, it and dranks those who believed in him, deemed comment to the N4tionol Enquirerin 7976.ln would hint that something is bein8 papered this unimportart. That is until the 20th anni- the notes written up from her interview, after over in order to conceala point. versary ofIFKs death. (lVhich is when Rosen- she has discussed(with a bit of ambiguity) continuedon page 34 Septeober-October, I 997 operation, In the CIAs name traces conducted Garrison on the wrong track, but that Arcacha Gordonllovel by Angleton's staffduring the Garrisoninves- wasn't important, Phillips wasn't involved, continuedfrom page33 tigation, some mid to lower level operatives and Banister and Novel weren't even CIA. are acknowledged as CIA assets. But the CIA Amazing. And decidedlyunmre. anybody but Schlumberger to have fumished worked to distance themselvesfrom people Novel never had aly such doubts that he the key to that bunker and it is an impossibil- like Banister, Arcacha, and Clay Shaw (whose was working for the govemment: ity for those munitions to come from any place circle overlaps all of the people mentioned Obvbuslythb was not a li.tafiaoperation, elsebut Uncle Sam." here). Now we begin to understand why. Each whjchis fie onlyoher comprchet|sion hing itcould have Clearly, despite whar some laggard re- one of these people was no more than one M been. Soit hadto be soflEhing gcrtE on elati,,€ b bp secret. searchershave claimed over the years,there degreeofseparation (or possibly two in Shaw's is no denying that Arcacha, Ferrie, Manens, case) away from David Phillips, not to men- Gordon wasn't sure who he was workins Baaister and Novel were working for the CIA tion Oswald. Garrison nearly had Phillips by for until the Bay of Pigs. Bur when Arcachi in theseefforts. Novel later relatesthat these the tail; but he didn't know it. carrison called him tlte day after with an urgent requesr weaponswere destined for the Bay of Pigs bashers have tried to imply that not only was to find some blood, Novel figured it out. $

l------l Pla! low to stteDdthe CoPAlnnu8l Reglon8lMeettng DallasCoutrty Coulthouse, Mary grew disenchantedwith Cord, his co- CornmelceE EougtouStreets JFK & Meyer horts, and the Agency shop talk. She wanted Dallae,TX November2 1-eg continuedfrom page31 to becomeher own person,hence her inter- est in painting. She also admired Kennedy's Lodglng:P&ramount Eotel, 302 S. Eou6to[ Street Ifthat were so, then a previous occurence policies. If the aboveis true, why would she (off DealeyPlazs). 109/dght shgle or I ?g/nght inJim Truitt's caleerwould bearmentioning, entrust the double.Ca[ 3 l4-761-9090lor reserv'4ttotrs.Speclal secretsofher diary to, ofall peopte, since it quite closely resembles CoPAlates, gooduDtll Novernberl Beglstratlonat what he did Jim Angleton? This, plus the fact that his wife gste | 60 (hcludes 1098 CoPAmenbe$hip) later in 1976. In August of 1961, Tiuitt had and Anne Thritt now say that Angleton found called Bradleeand said he had evidencethat out about his "inheritance"of thediaryon the Wo*lng P8mlr ue€t gan-4pn Nov 22-25, Pa!a- Kennedy had been previously married before transcontinental call, seem to suggestsome gpeakers xoourt Eotel B8lhoon. and Filn0s?pn- his wedding to Jackie,and that this facr had sort ofcollusion betweenthe couDles.Orelse lopm Nove l-22, Ce rsl.Iury Roon,George -Alletr been covered up. Both Bradlee and Tiuitt pur- why would Anne Tiuitt switch tire "emrust- sued the story. But before they printed it they ment" of the diary from her to Angleton, as Speakers:Pet€r Dale Scott, WaIt Brcwn, Eobeft asked Kennedy about it. He refered them to she Groden,Johtr .rudge, aDd othelg. did in 1995, as if they were interchange- Piere Salinger,his press secrerary.Salinger able? And if Mary had instructed the diary be CoalltlonoD Polltloal,AssassltratloDs had already heard the charge from rightwing given to Angleton, why would he then tum it P0,Box 7?2, Washbgto& DC e0044 commentator Fulton Lewis. He had all his over to Tony Bradlee? 20?-?85-6399,/202-384-1021 (I8x) points lined up and proved the story false. Finally, let us assumefor a moment that the enall copa@nlcoxocon Bradlee's account in Conversatiot]EWith Kenne t diary did record the Kennedy-Meyeraffair and,/ webslt€:tttp//wwwDlcom.couy'- oopa (pp. 43-49) seemsto suggestthar Truitt ana or dre pot smoking. If that wete so, does aly- Bradlee still worked on rhe story after they one who knows anything about the CIA think were snown lt was wrong. that Angleton would not have found a way to Also intriguing is a flourish added in get it into the press? Or did I just answer my MaryrFerrie trthe Rosenbaum'sversion, which appearsheavily own question?Ifno such entries existed,Angle- reliant on the Truitts and Angletons MolkeyVinrs as ton would do the next best thing. 49 would 3nd Edition sources.Rosenbaum writes thatMary's diary, call on his friend Jim Truitt to acco"infilishit for although usually laid upon her bedroom book- him through TfieNa tional Enqiireaid into tte Ed l{sslamhas uptutedhl8 groundbreaklDg case,was found in a locked steel box in her mainsueam via lGnnedy's false friend Bradlee bookMary, Ienle 6 the MonkeyVbus. He lg studio. Rosenbaumdoesn't probe asto why it at the &st. For good measure,Thrin poured on nowofferlng an lmportantnew chspter entltled was not found in its usual resting place.The the pot algle which doesnot figure in rhe Exner 'The Machlne." locked steelbox is not a pan of any other ver- story, Need I add that the Meyer story came sion of the story I knoq including Tony out right after the Exner story i. e, on the heels Anllotrewho alrcady ha8 the lst edltlon catr Bradlee's,and, in all versions,she supposedly of the Church Committee's report. And Ron orderthls a.ddltlona.lchapt€r sepaxat€ly dlr€cily found the diary. Of course, a locked box sug- Rosenbaum,an unquestioning backerof Exne! gests fmm l'Iordsworth,the publlsher,for 18.00. If intrigue, but it strains reality.Are we to was there to unquestioningly accept the pack- you haven't ahea.dy,you can bW the complet€ believe that every time Mary wanted to make age on Meyer. book(2nd Ed.)for 119.95.Send a checkor an diary entry she would first fumble for her When Mary Meyet died in 1964, Angleton moneyorder to: keys? Even in her own bedroom while she's had just finished - with the help of Richard living alone? Helms and Allen Dulles - the CIAs Warren Wordsro b Of course, Rosenbaummakes nothing of Commission cove!-up. As we shall see in part ?800 Uortdoncry flP80 the two most obvious paradoxes in the entire two, Angleton will also figure in another pack- Albuquetq&, [U 8?I00 tale, Almost everyoneagrees that, while the aged"Kennedy brothers affaiq" namely Marilyn Meyers were married, she was knowledgeable Monroe. We shall also see that Rosenbaum's For moreloformatlon cal I-80OM0NKEY-X. about his CIA activities and that Cord Meyer favorite conspiracyaudrof John Davis, will pick was closeto Angleton. Reponedly,the liberal up the baton on Mary Meye!. + Septenber-Octobef,, 199?

F.