Two Questions for Joan Mellen

[Charles Drago]

Dear Ms. Mellen,

Please forgive me if, in posing the following questions, I have overlooked de facto answers you may have published previously.

In his presentation at "Making Sense of the Sixties," this year's Cyril Wecht-sponsored symposium at Duquesne, William Turner offered the following:

"In May 1968 RFK's California campaign aide, Richard Lubic, tracked me down by phone in Garrison's office to advise, 'after he's elected, Bobby's going to go. He's going to reopen the investigation.' When I conveyed the glad tidings Garrison broke into a Cheshire cat grin.

"Several months before, comedian Mort Sahl, who was aiding the DA's investigation, had arranged a secret meeting between Garrison and Sahl's friend Bobby at the Carlyle Hotel in New York. Garrison briefed Bobby, who agreed that he was on the right track. 'What are you going to do about it?' Garrison asked. 'I'm going to wait until I'm president, then reopen the case,' Bobby replied. (emphasis added)

"'If it was my brother, I'd reopen it right now,' Garrison retorted. On June 3, two days before he was shot, RFK said, 'I now fully realize that only the powers of the presidency will reveal the secrets of my brother's death.'"

1. To the best of your knowledge, did the RFK/Garrison meeting described by Turner -- or anything like it -- ever take place?

2. If so, might RFK's overt hostility to Garrison's investigation have been designed to disinform the watchers?

As I've noted on another forum, my respect for your work is immeasurable -- even though I find myself in disagreement with your RFK-related conclusions vis a vis Garrison.

Your participation in the Deep Politics Forum is to be devoutly wished.

Regards,

Charles

[Peter Lemkin]

Since I know Joan is not watching this Forum, I took the liberty to forward the questions to her.

[Charles Drago]

Thanks, Peter.

Be well.

[Peter Lemkin]

Dear Charles Drago,

Thank you so much for your kind words. I appreciate them. To my knowledge, no such meeting between Jim Garrison and Robert Kennedy ever took place. If you look, for example, at the transcripts of the televison programs that Garrison did (ABC, etc.) available at the Archives, you can see his perplexity, his wondering why Bobby did not help him, and in fact, as Garrison put it, "torpedoed" his investigation.

When Bobby died, Garrison was upset, and reiterated the point that the only way for Bobby to have saved his own life was to come forward with what he knew.

I talked to Lubic, but did not find him credible. I couldn't use a word of what he told me. This was after "A Farewell to Justice" came out and I was trying to run down a lead that Bobby had addressed a group of Cuban exiles at Homestead Air Force base with Oswald in the crowd. I could not corroborate this information, although I talked to about forty people before I gave up. I pursued this lead more out of curiosity than anything else.

There were several sides to Bobby Kennedy, in my view. I don't "despise" him as someone said on a forum, as if this were something personal. He was an odd figure for me. But that's another story, not what you asked.

Best,
Joan [Mellen]

[Charles Drago]

Dear Joan,

Your prompt, informative reply is most appreciated.

Further, it necessitates that I direct the following questions to Messrs. Turner and Sahl:

Will you, Mr. Turner, offer additional details on the alleged Sahl/RFK meeting?

Will you, Mr. Sahl, confirm or deny that, to your direct knowledge, a meeting between Robert Kennedy and Jim Garrison took place during the latter's investigation of the JFK assassination; that the principals discussed the investigation in meaningful detail; that RFK ventured that Garrison was on the right track; that you facilitated such a meeting or at least attempted to do so?

I'll pose these questions on a dedicated thread.

And thanks again, Joan, for your continuing and impassioned inquiry.

Regards,

Charles

[Peter Lemkin]

Dear Charles,
I would have to factor in examples of the "other" side of Bobby Kennedy, his collaborations with Charlie Ford, William Harvey and Sam Halperin on Mongoose, and the Venezuela fiasco; the Otepka case; the wiretapping in the Hoffa case while denying he favored wiretapping; etc. As for Jim Garrison, he really was perplexed, and later he said that the way Bobby could have preserved his life was by coming forward with what he knew and what he suspected.
I try to avoid the "would have dones." I know what Garrison tried to do, and that he never held back. There were political consequences, and he suffered them, but he was not ambitious in the way that Bobby Kennedy was. I have never written this, but looking at this debate, it occurs to me that Bobby Kennedy owed Jim Garrison an enormous debt of gratitude. Garrison cared what happened to Bobby's BROTHER.
Plus: Is there an adult human being who doesn't recognize that there may be no "later"?
- Joan Mellen