08-03-2010, 08:35 PM
Under the circumstances of this thread, reposting John Simkin's analysis of 28 August 2004 appears highly appropriate.
John Simkin
Aug 28 2004, 07:27 AM
Post #5
Super Member
Group: admin
Posts: 14134
Joined: 16-December 03
From: Worthing, Sussex
Member No.: 7
Pamela McElwain-Brown is right to say that Judyth Vary Baker has been treated appallingly by many JFK researchers. I have had a lot of contact with Judyth and she has been extremely helpful in providing evidence that supports her story. There is no doubt that Judyth did work at the Reily Coffee Company in New Orleans in 1963. It is also clear that she was an outstanding science student who went on to do cancer research.
Judyth has had difficulty proving that she had an affair with Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963. However, I would argue that we would all have problems providing documentary evidence that we had a secret affair with someone 40 years ago. The same goes for being involved in a CIA undercover project.
If Judyth’s story is true it provides an important insight to what was going on in 1963. One of the reasons I am sympathetic towards Judyth’s story is that it supports my own view of events.
I believe that Oswald was indeed working for the CIA in 1963. His task was to infiltrate anti-Castro groups. He was also being prepared to take part in an assassination plot against Castro. In the summer of 1963 the CIA officially had to call off this operation (under pressure from JFK). It was at this time that the CIA discovered that JFK was using William Attwood, Lisa Howard and Jean Daniel to carry out secret negotiations with Castro. It was now clear that an invasion of Cuba would now never take place.
Some fairly senior CIA agents, including David Morales, now decided to use these people involved in the plot against Castro in the assassination of JFK. Some of these people, including Oswald, objected to this change in policy. As Judyth points out, Oswald did what he could to undermine the operation. I suspect Richard Case Nagell was another who fell into this category.
Oswald was now clearly an unreliable agent. It was decided that he would no longer be part of the plot. Instead, he became the man who would be set up as the patsy. The plan was for him to be killed on what appeared to be on his journey to Cuba. The conspirators thought that this would guarantee that Johnson would send troops to overthrow Castro.
However, this elaborate plot collapsed for two major reasons. One was the failure to kill Oswald at the right time. Even so, although more difficult, this plot would have still worked when Ruby was able to kill Oswald before he could publicly tell the world what had happened.
The second problem was far more serious. The conspirators fully expected Lyndon Johnson to order an invasion of Cuba after J. Edgar Hoover told him on 23rd November, 1963, that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated as a result of a conspiracy that involved Cuba and the Soviet Union. This was confirmed at a meeting that day with John McCone (Director of the CIA).
Johnson was reluctant to do this. He knew that the announcement of a communist conspiracy to kill John Kennedy would be followed by a full investigation into the events surrounding the assassination. If this happened, Johnson was likely to be forced to resign in disgrace.
In November, 1963, Johnson was embroiled in a serious political scandal. According to Robert Winter Barger, Johnson told John McCormick: “… that son of a bitch (Bobby Baker) is going to ruin me. If that cocksucker talks, I’m gonna land in jail…. I practically raised that mother****** and now he’s going to make me the first President of the United States to spend the last days of his life behind bars!”
Senator John Williams was known as the "Sherlock Holmes of Capitol Hill". During a 15 year period his investigations resulted in over 200 indictments and 125 convictions. In the summer of 1963 he began investigating the activities of Bobby Baker, Fred Black and Billie Sol Estes. Baker was LBJ’s political secretary. Black was one of LBJ’s political advisers. Both these men were involved in the business activities of Billie Sol Estes.
Senator John McClellan, chairman of the Permanent Investigations Committee, also became involved in this inquiry. Williams and McClellan discovered that in 1962 Baker had established the Serve-U-Corporation with his friend, Fred Black, and mobsters Ed Levenson and Benny Sigelbaum. The company was to provide vending machines for companies working on federally granted programs. The machines were manufactured by a company secretly owned by Sam Giancana and other mobsters based in Chicago. It was claimed that LBJ was getting a rake-off from Serve-U-Corporation in return for arranging for vending machines to be placed in these company’s offices and factories.
Evidence also emerged that Lyndon B. Johnson was also involved in political corruption concerning the placing of arms contracts. This included the award of a $7 billion contract for a fighter plane, the TFX, to General Dynamics, a company based in Texas. Fred Korth, the Navy Secretary, and a close friend of LBJ, had been involved in negotiating this contract.
On 7th October, 1963, Baker was forced to leave his post as LBJ’s secretary. On 1st November, 1963, Korth was forced to resign over the TFX contract.
Rumours began to spread that JFK was going to drop LBJ as his running mate in 1964. Robert Kennedy appeared to confirm this by briefing against LBJ. This including information that suggested that LBJ would be prosecuted for political corruption.
At this time the key witness had yet to testify. His name was Don B. Reynolds. A close friend of Bobby Baker, Reynolds claimed that for many years he had a business relationship with LBJ. Reynolds was due to provide evidence before a secret session of the Senate Rules Committee on 22nd November, 1963. LBJ would not be there to hear what was said for on that day he was to be visiting Dallas with JFK.
On returning from Dallas LBJ discovered what Reynolds had told B. Everett Jordan and his Senate Rules Committee that day. According to Reynolds he had seen a suitcase full of money which Baker described as a "$100,000 payoff to Johnson for his role in securing the Fort Worth TFX contract".
LBJ immediately contacted B. Everett Jordan to see if there was any chance of stopping this information being published. Jordan replied that he would do what he could but warned Johnson that some members of the committee wanted Reynolds's testimony to be released to the public.
To Johnson the safe option would be to claim that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman. J. Edgar Hoover also had good reasons to accept this option. Any thorough investigation would show Hoover’s close relationship with Clint Murchison, a Texas multimillionaire who was suspected on being one of those who helped fund the assassination.
John McCone, Director of the CIA, also had his problems. An investigation would show that some senior figures in the organization, including Tracy Barnes, David Atlee Phillips, Ted Shackley, Desmond FitzGerald, William Harvey and David Morales were implicated in the assassination.
It did not take long for Johnson to convince J. Edgar Hoover and John McCone to take part in the cover-up. The problem for Johnson was to provide a good reason for this action. He knew that eventually historians would discover what he had done.
Lyndon Johnson taped every telephone conversation he had as president. However, he erased most of these tapes afterwards. He did keep some and these were donated to the Lyndon Johnson Library on his death. Over the last few years these tapes have gradually been released.
As historians the most important question to ask is: Why did LBJ decide to keep these tapes? We have to assume he eventually wanted this information in the public domain. One tape saved was a telephone call he made to his great friend, Richard Russell on 29th November, 1963:
“Richard Russell: I know I don't have to tell you of my devotion to you but I just can't serve on that Commission. I'm highly honoured you'd think about me in connection with it but I couldn't serve on it with Chief Justice Warren. I don't like that man. I don't have any confidence in him at all.
Lyndon B. Johnson: It has already been announced and you can serve with anybody for the good of America and this is a question that has a good many more ramifications than on the surface and we've got to take this out of the arena where they're testifying that Khrushchev and Castro did this and did that and chuck us into a war that can kill 40 million Americans in an hour…
LBJ explains that if he accepts a communist conspiracy he will be under pressure to invade Cuba. This is likely to lead to a nuclear war that would “kill 40 million Americans in an hour.” Therefore, the only safe course is to believe that Oswald was a lone gunman. That there was no communist conspiracy. Therefore, LBJ’s cover up helps to save the world.
The right-wing cabal that organized the assassination of JFK did not get the overthrow of Castro. However, they did get something very important out of the deal. The continuance of the Cold War. This after all is what the Military Industrial Complex wanted out of the assassination. In fact, the existence of a communist government so close to the United States helped to fuel the paranoia that was the life-blood of American foreign policy.
John Simkin
Aug 28 2004, 07:27 AM
Post #5
Super Member
Group: admin
Posts: 14134
Joined: 16-December 03
From: Worthing, Sussex
Member No.: 7
Pamela McElwain-Brown is right to say that Judyth Vary Baker has been treated appallingly by many JFK researchers. I have had a lot of contact with Judyth and she has been extremely helpful in providing evidence that supports her story. There is no doubt that Judyth did work at the Reily Coffee Company in New Orleans in 1963. It is also clear that she was an outstanding science student who went on to do cancer research.
Judyth has had difficulty proving that she had an affair with Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963. However, I would argue that we would all have problems providing documentary evidence that we had a secret affair with someone 40 years ago. The same goes for being involved in a CIA undercover project.
If Judyth’s story is true it provides an important insight to what was going on in 1963. One of the reasons I am sympathetic towards Judyth’s story is that it supports my own view of events.
I believe that Oswald was indeed working for the CIA in 1963. His task was to infiltrate anti-Castro groups. He was also being prepared to take part in an assassination plot against Castro. In the summer of 1963 the CIA officially had to call off this operation (under pressure from JFK). It was at this time that the CIA discovered that JFK was using William Attwood, Lisa Howard and Jean Daniel to carry out secret negotiations with Castro. It was now clear that an invasion of Cuba would now never take place.
Some fairly senior CIA agents, including David Morales, now decided to use these people involved in the plot against Castro in the assassination of JFK. Some of these people, including Oswald, objected to this change in policy. As Judyth points out, Oswald did what he could to undermine the operation. I suspect Richard Case Nagell was another who fell into this category.
Oswald was now clearly an unreliable agent. It was decided that he would no longer be part of the plot. Instead, he became the man who would be set up as the patsy. The plan was for him to be killed on what appeared to be on his journey to Cuba. The conspirators thought that this would guarantee that Johnson would send troops to overthrow Castro.
However, this elaborate plot collapsed for two major reasons. One was the failure to kill Oswald at the right time. Even so, although more difficult, this plot would have still worked when Ruby was able to kill Oswald before he could publicly tell the world what had happened.
The second problem was far more serious. The conspirators fully expected Lyndon Johnson to order an invasion of Cuba after J. Edgar Hoover told him on 23rd November, 1963, that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated as a result of a conspiracy that involved Cuba and the Soviet Union. This was confirmed at a meeting that day with John McCone (Director of the CIA).
Johnson was reluctant to do this. He knew that the announcement of a communist conspiracy to kill John Kennedy would be followed by a full investigation into the events surrounding the assassination. If this happened, Johnson was likely to be forced to resign in disgrace.
In November, 1963, Johnson was embroiled in a serious political scandal. According to Robert Winter Barger, Johnson told John McCormick: “… that son of a bitch (Bobby Baker) is going to ruin me. If that cocksucker talks, I’m gonna land in jail…. I practically raised that mother****** and now he’s going to make me the first President of the United States to spend the last days of his life behind bars!”
Senator John Williams was known as the "Sherlock Holmes of Capitol Hill". During a 15 year period his investigations resulted in over 200 indictments and 125 convictions. In the summer of 1963 he began investigating the activities of Bobby Baker, Fred Black and Billie Sol Estes. Baker was LBJ’s political secretary. Black was one of LBJ’s political advisers. Both these men were involved in the business activities of Billie Sol Estes.
Senator John McClellan, chairman of the Permanent Investigations Committee, also became involved in this inquiry. Williams and McClellan discovered that in 1962 Baker had established the Serve-U-Corporation with his friend, Fred Black, and mobsters Ed Levenson and Benny Sigelbaum. The company was to provide vending machines for companies working on federally granted programs. The machines were manufactured by a company secretly owned by Sam Giancana and other mobsters based in Chicago. It was claimed that LBJ was getting a rake-off from Serve-U-Corporation in return for arranging for vending machines to be placed in these company’s offices and factories.
Evidence also emerged that Lyndon B. Johnson was also involved in political corruption concerning the placing of arms contracts. This included the award of a $7 billion contract for a fighter plane, the TFX, to General Dynamics, a company based in Texas. Fred Korth, the Navy Secretary, and a close friend of LBJ, had been involved in negotiating this contract.
On 7th October, 1963, Baker was forced to leave his post as LBJ’s secretary. On 1st November, 1963, Korth was forced to resign over the TFX contract.
Rumours began to spread that JFK was going to drop LBJ as his running mate in 1964. Robert Kennedy appeared to confirm this by briefing against LBJ. This including information that suggested that LBJ would be prosecuted for political corruption.
At this time the key witness had yet to testify. His name was Don B. Reynolds. A close friend of Bobby Baker, Reynolds claimed that for many years he had a business relationship with LBJ. Reynolds was due to provide evidence before a secret session of the Senate Rules Committee on 22nd November, 1963. LBJ would not be there to hear what was said for on that day he was to be visiting Dallas with JFK.
On returning from Dallas LBJ discovered what Reynolds had told B. Everett Jordan and his Senate Rules Committee that day. According to Reynolds he had seen a suitcase full of money which Baker described as a "$100,000 payoff to Johnson for his role in securing the Fort Worth TFX contract".
LBJ immediately contacted B. Everett Jordan to see if there was any chance of stopping this information being published. Jordan replied that he would do what he could but warned Johnson that some members of the committee wanted Reynolds's testimony to be released to the public.
To Johnson the safe option would be to claim that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman. J. Edgar Hoover also had good reasons to accept this option. Any thorough investigation would show Hoover’s close relationship with Clint Murchison, a Texas multimillionaire who was suspected on being one of those who helped fund the assassination.
John McCone, Director of the CIA, also had his problems. An investigation would show that some senior figures in the organization, including Tracy Barnes, David Atlee Phillips, Ted Shackley, Desmond FitzGerald, William Harvey and David Morales were implicated in the assassination.
It did not take long for Johnson to convince J. Edgar Hoover and John McCone to take part in the cover-up. The problem for Johnson was to provide a good reason for this action. He knew that eventually historians would discover what he had done.
Lyndon Johnson taped every telephone conversation he had as president. However, he erased most of these tapes afterwards. He did keep some and these were donated to the Lyndon Johnson Library on his death. Over the last few years these tapes have gradually been released.
As historians the most important question to ask is: Why did LBJ decide to keep these tapes? We have to assume he eventually wanted this information in the public domain. One tape saved was a telephone call he made to his great friend, Richard Russell on 29th November, 1963:
“Richard Russell: I know I don't have to tell you of my devotion to you but I just can't serve on that Commission. I'm highly honoured you'd think about me in connection with it but I couldn't serve on it with Chief Justice Warren. I don't like that man. I don't have any confidence in him at all.
Lyndon B. Johnson: It has already been announced and you can serve with anybody for the good of America and this is a question that has a good many more ramifications than on the surface and we've got to take this out of the arena where they're testifying that Khrushchev and Castro did this and did that and chuck us into a war that can kill 40 million Americans in an hour…
LBJ explains that if he accepts a communist conspiracy he will be under pressure to invade Cuba. This is likely to lead to a nuclear war that would “kill 40 million Americans in an hour.” Therefore, the only safe course is to believe that Oswald was a lone gunman. That there was no communist conspiracy. Therefore, LBJ’s cover up helps to save the world.
The right-wing cabal that organized the assassination of JFK did not get the overthrow of Castro. However, they did get something very important out of the deal. The continuance of the Cold War. This after all is what the Military Industrial Complex wanted out of the assassination. In fact, the existence of a communist government so close to the United States helped to fuel the paranoia that was the life-blood of American foreign policy.