Authors: Lamar Waldron
may have resulted in a counterplot by Castro to assassinate President
Kennedy.” He then added that “Sen. Russell Long (D-La.) has told us
that Lee Harvey Oswald . . . trained with Castro revolutionaries in Minsk
during his Soviet stay,” and that “Long swore [the] information . . . is
reliable.”
It was highly unusual for a senator like Russell Long to be talk-
ing about such matters to Anderson, especially on the record, but it
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was no coincidence. Long was actively involved in Carlos Marcello’s
Spring Hoffa plan, and one of Marcello’s associates likely leaked to
Long the false claim that could tie Oswald to the “Castro counterplot”
against JFK.5
Anderson’s column in the
Post
concluded by saying his “sources
agree that a plot against Castro definitely was taken up inside the CIA
at the time. Sen. Robert Kennedy, D-N.Y., was riding herd on the agency
for his brother. The report is that Castro got wind of the plot and threat-
ened to find someone to assassinate President Kennedy.”6
For Bobby Kennedy, Anderson’s latest column must have seemed
like another punch to the gut, amplifying his fear that Anderson’s or
Garrison’s investigations might reveal his darkest secrets from 1963.
Though he was a senator, Bobby’s influence was at a low point in the
current administration, so he would have to take steps on his own to
keep crucial evidence beyond the reach of Anderson, Garrison, or LBJ.
Anderson’s new column must have tempered any satisfaction Bobby
felt in knowing that Jimmy Hoffa was reporting to Lewisburg Federal
Prison that day, to start his thirteen-year sentence.
For President Johnson, seeing Anderson’s new story after receiving
the FBI report about the CIA-Mafia plots was a sign that the matter
wasn’t going to go away on its own. LBJ would have to get all the infor-
mation he could, since the 1963 date in the new column meant Ander-
son might be describing operations that had been going on when LBJ
became president.
Neither LBJ, Bobby, nor Richard Helms would have wanted to see
the story pursued. The same was true for J. Edgar Hoover, who could
have easily leaked his report on the CIA-Mafia plots to the press—but
didn’t, probably so he could have something to hold over the CIA’s
and Bobby’s heads. No other mainstream journalist printed any type of
follow-up to Anderson’s story, or even noted what Anderson had
reported. Jack Anderson, on the other hand, knew he was onto some-
thing and would soon go to New Orleans to consult with Garrison and
continue his digging.
For Richard Helms, the second Anderson story was apparently the last
straw. Helms knew the small number of people involved in the CIA-
Mafia plots, and it wouldn’t have taken him long to pinpoint William
Harvey, Rosselli’s friend, as the likely source of at least some of the infor-
mation in Anderson’s story. According to later CIA Director William
Colby, Harvey had been recalled from Rome “in February of 1967 [and]
reassigned to CIA headquarters.”7 That was apparently when Harvey
began talking to Jack Anderson, supporting Rosselli’s story.
An account that “one of the CIA’s most senior officers” gave to intel-
ligence journalist David Martin said that not long after William Harvey
returned to CIA headquarters, Harvey was asked to resign, after CIA
personnel “began finding gin bottles in his desk drawer.”8 However, the
CIA had previously used a noted mental-health facility near Towson,
Maryland, for its officials who needed help. If Helms had really wanted
to retain Harvey (still a legend in the CIA because of his work on the
Berlin Tunnel project), he could have sent Harvey to that facility for a
few weeks or months; one CIA official had stayed there for two years.
The fact that the CIA didn’t even attempt to get Harvey such treat-
ment indicates that the request for Harvey’s resignation was probably
punitive.
For pension purposes, Harvey’s official retirement date was set at
the end of the year, but CIA files show that he was effectively out of
the Agency long before that. These CIA files also show that Helms was
right to be concerned about Harvey, since the former agent considered
joining Ed Morgan’s law firm (one account even says he did become
affiliated with the firm).9 The files also show that by 1967, Harvey’s
loyalty lay more with Johnny Rosselli than with the CIA. Harvey would
later tell the CIA’s Director of Security that “‘Johnny’ [Rosselli] was his
friend,” and “that he would not turn his back on his friends.” Harvey
explained that “he had told ‘Johnny’ at the outset of their association that
if anything happened to ‘blow the operation’ that . . . ‘Johnny’ could not
look to anyone other than Harvey for assistance.”10 Just weeks after Jack
Anderson’s second article, Harvey would suggest to the CIA’s Security
Director that “it would be a simple matter for the Director [Helms] to
see Mr. [J. Edgar] Hoover personally and determine . . . what actual
case the Justice Department had against Johnny [Rosselli].” That the
disgraced Harvey would even suggest that Helms do such a thing shows
the “unusually vulnerable position” Helms and the CIA were in because
of Rosselli.11
Bobby Kennedy was also in a vulnerable position, and on March 14,
1967, he literally buried crucial medical evidence. JFK had originally
been laid to rest next to the bodies of his infant son and daughter, in
a relatively plain grave distinguished only by an eternal flame. In the
summer of 1966 (during the first wave of JFK conspiracy books), work
had begun on a more elaborate site twenty feet away, though some have
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wondered why it couldn’t have been constructed around the original
grave.
Bobby still possessed important medical evidence—including JFK’s
brain, tissue samples, and possibly X-rays and photographs from
JFK’s autopsy—that are not at the National Archives. In addition to
whatever they might have revealed, Bobby had wanted to ensure that
JFK’s autopsy material never became a public spectacle. After Garri-
son’s investigation became public and a grand jury was impaneled in
New Orleans to investigate, Bobby’s concerns must have increased.
They would have grown even more when Clay Shaw was arrested
on March 1, 1967, because that meant a trial could be held in the near
future. Declassified US military memos show that activity for JFK’s re-
interment accelerated greatly that very day.12
By March 2, 1967, the relocation of JFK’s grave was scheduled for
that month, even though the new burial site wouldn’t be completed
until July. Within days, very detailed plans were drawn up for what was
essentially a major military operation. As one author noted, once a New
Orleans grand jury started considering the possibility of “exhuming
[JFK’s] body for a proper autopsy,” plans were finalized in Washington
to move JFK’s body on the night of March 14, 1967. That evening, Gus
Russo wrote that “300 military personnel arrived and closed Arlington
National Cemetery to the public, clearing it of all unauthorized persons.
An Army road block shut down Arlington Memorial Bridge [and] troops
ringed the area.”13
While a small, private memorial service was planned for the follow-
ing morning, Bobby Kennedy, Frank Mankiewicz, Cardinal Cushing,
and a few others were there to observe the excavation. Russo said, “The
re-interment became the prime opportunity for a simultaneous re-burial
of JFK’s brain. Interestingly, in several newly surfaced photos of the
late-night operation, a small box appears by the Kennedy graveside, at
the feet of Cardinal Cushing.”14
At the time of JFK’s original autopsy, his personal physician, Admiral
Burkley, had told two of the autopsy doctors that JFK’s “brain, as well
as tissue samples” would be given to “Bobby Kennedy for subsequent
burial.” Frank Mankiewicz told a Congressional investigator that JFK’s
“brain is in the grave. . . . Bobby . . . buried it when the body was trans-
ferred.” JFK’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, reportedly said to a friend that
JFK’s brain was “where it belongs.”15
On the morning of March 15, 1967, LBJ joined Bobby, Jackie, and a few
other family members and associates at the site for a private memorial
service. The
New York Times
carried a UPI report saying that “the bodies
of President Kennedy and his two dead children were quietly moved
about 20 feet . . . under cover of darkness, and without word to the public
[they were] reburied . . . in the center of the still unfinished memorial to
the slain President.”16
Three days after seeing LBJ at the ceremony, Bobby surprised his close
associates by proclaiming that he was supporting LBJ in the next year’s
presidential election. Newspapers quoted Bobby as saying that LBJ “has
been an outstanding president and I look forward to campaigning for
him in 1968.”17 While Bobby’s announcement disappointed his support-
ers, it makes sense in light of Bobby’s weakened public support at that
point: He had reversed his stance on Vietnam, faced controversies over
bugging and Manchester’s book, and worried about the still unfolding
drama of Jack Anderson’s revelations. Bobby knew that President John-
son had the upper hand in dealing with any fallout from Anderson’s
columns and Garrison’s investigation.
News reports of Bobby’s support for LBJ told Carlos Marcello and Santo
Trafficante they had achieved the first big victory in their unfolding strat-
egy. Their effort to compromise and divert Jim Garrison’s investigation
continued to go well, especially when Garrison took a trip to Las Vegas
in early March. One of Marcello’s associates paid for Garrison’s room,
though a long-rumored $5,000 gambling credit for Garrison turned out
to be false.18
According to a CIA Inspector General’s Report, “Jim Garrison,
Edward Morgan, and Rosselli were all in Las Vegas at the same time.
. . . Garrison was in touch with Rosselli; so was Morgan.”19 However,
Garrison was not as bought and paid for as it might seem. It was not
uncommon at the time for public officials to have their Las Vegas rooms
comped by mob-owned casinos or covered by supporters. Regarding
the CIA’s assertion that “Garrison was in touch with Rosselli,” Richard
Helms was unable to say, during later questioning from Congressio-
nal investigators, where the claim had originated, and Garrison denied
under oath ever meeting with Rosselli. The same was true for Rosselli
when asked about meeting Garrison.
Johnny Rosselli was not a well-known Mafia figure to the public at
that time, so if Rosselli were using an alias, Garrison could have met him
without realizing the mobster’s true identity. Likewise, Rosselli may
have wanted the CIA to think he was meeting with Garrison, and Ros-
selli could have used William Harvey (who was interviewed for the CIA
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LEGACY OF SECRECY
Inspector General’s Report) to plant the story. The CIA report includes
an odd passage: “The Rosselli-Garrison contact in Las Vegas in March
is particularly disturbing. It lends substance to reports that Castro had
something to do with the Kennedy assassination in retaliation for US
attempts on Castro’s life.” It’s hard to see any basis for that reasoning
in the Report but it does confirm that the CIA was very worried about
Rosselli’s sharing information with Garrison and Anderson—and the
agency’s fear worked to Rosselli’s benefit.20
As for Garrison, the detailed notes of
Life
magazine reporter Richard
Billings (who had almost daily contact with Garrison during much of
the winter and spring of 1967) show that the District Attorney really did
seem to be trying to solve the JFK assassination. However, the case defied
simple explanation with the information that was available, so Garrison
was constantly grasping at leads, changing directions, and shifting to
new suspects. Garrison came close to what we now know to be the truth
on several occasions, and within weeks of his Las Vegas trip would tell
an FBI informant that he planned “to indict Carlos Marcello in the Ken-
nedy assassination conspiracy because Garrison believes Marcello is tied
up in some way with Jack Ruby.” It’s even possible that Garrison real-
ized that someone in Las Vegas, or one of his volunteers in New Orleans,
was trying to steer him away from organized crime, thus making him
more suspicious of the mob. Certainly, Garrison didn’t seem to buy the
Castro retaliation story that Rosselli had told Jack Anderson.21
But whenever Garrison got close to the truth, something always hap-
pened. He was intentionally diverted, he let his ego get the best of him,
or he seemed reluctant to really go after Marcello. Garrison later told
filmmaker Oliver Stone that “he’d only met [Marcello] two brief times