Legacy of Secrecy (157 page)

In the wake of Oliver Stone’s
JFK
, Congress unanimously passed the 1992 JFK Act, creating the

JFK Assassination Records Review Board to release the remaining files. According to the Review

Board’s final report, in January 1995—six weeks after the authors first informed the Board about the

Tampa threat and JFK’s coup plan—the Secret Service admitted they had just destroyed files cover-

ing the time of JFK’s Tampa trip and other important files. Even today, a report by the government

watchdog group OMB Watch says that “well over a million CIA records” are still unreleased.

Commander Almeida is more prominent in Cuba than ever since the revelation of his

secret work for JFK in the authors’ previous book,
Ultimate Sacrifice
. Almeida is often at

the side of Raul Castro at Cuba’s largest events, including the time when Raul issued a

rare olive branch to the US.

Several Cuban exile allies of JFK from 1963 remain active trying to resolve the impasse

between the US and Cuba, so it’s possible that John and Robert Kennedy’s dream of a

democratic Cuba—the cause of so much secrecy over the past forty-five years—could

yet come to pass (
AP
).

Acknowledgments

Legacy of Secrecy
wound up three times longer than originally planned, because

so many people helped us find so much important new material. Unfortunately,

the book’s current length doesn’t leave us enough room to detail the fantastic

assistance of everyone who helped, but we’ll try to at least mention everyone.

Counterpoint publisher Charlie Winton is the person most responsible for

shaping this book, allowing us an extra year to write it with all the material

we wanted to include. He is both a hands-on publisher and a knowledgeable

editor, with a football coach’s skill at bringing out the best in those he works

with. His contribution can’t be overstated, and his wife, Barbara, and their fam-

ily often sacrificed nights, weekends, and vacations so that work could proceed.

Charlie’s outstanding staff at Counterpoint has been integral to making this

book possible, especially Laura Mazer, Sharon Donovan, Abbye Simkowitz, and

Julie Pinkerton. Kudos also to the excellent copyediting team of Annie Tucker,

Elizabeth Mathews, Katie Vecchio, and Greta Baranowski. Cover designer Sarah

Juckniess made it all look good, as did Web wizard John Spriggs.

The encouragement and support of my father, Clyde Waldron, was instru-

mental in bringing the project to fruition. His interest in history was shared by

Thom’s father, Carl Hartmann, who passed away in 2006. Thom uses that love

of history in his many books and his daily
Air America
radio show, expertly

produced by his wife, Louise Hartmann (www.thomhartmann.com).

Brad Strickland took time from his own career as a successful novelist and

English professor to edit the entire manuscript, and I learned a great deal from

him in the process. Paul Hoch provided valuable feedback on the factual under-

pinning for the book, keeping me focused on being as accurate as possible.

But neither is responsible for any less than stellar wording or interpretation of

fact—that responsibility rests with us.

Larry Hancock is one of the most conscientious and objective writers in the

field today, and was generous in sharing his own research and observations.

His upcoming project with Stuart Wexler will provide new insights into the

assassinations of both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. Hancock and

Wexler work with Debra Conway and Sherry Fiester to put on the impressive

JFK Lancer conference in Dallas, and their Web sites (www.larry-hancock.com

and www.jfklancer.com) are full of valuable information and documents.

786

LEGACY OF SECRECY

The most extensive online resource for research—and many of the docu-

ments contained in
Legacy of Secrecy
—is available at the website of the Mary

Ferrell Foundation (www.maryferrell.org). Continuing the work of the late

grand dame of JFK research, the foundation’s Tyler Weaver and Rex Bradford

make available the world’s largest online archive of US government files about

the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and Dr. King. The site spotlights many of the

most important documents in
Legacy
and
Ultimate Sacrifice
, along with video

clips of Lamar Waldron talking about both books.

The Foundation also works with Jim Lesar and the Assassination Archives

and Research Center (www.aarclibrary.org), one of the earliest JFK research

facilities, founded by Lesar with the late Bud Fensterwald. Lesar is one of the

country’s premiere Freedom of Information attorneys, still battling the CIA

and FBI for important documents. Another valuable online resource is the JFK,

RFK, King, and Watergate forums run by John Simkin at Spartacus Educational

(www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKindex.htm), which feature photos from

the collection of James Richards of many of those chronicled in
Legacy
.

The staff at National Archives II in College Park, Maryland, home to more

than four million pages of JFK files, have always been incredibly helpful. We

have also made use of the extensive online resources of the National Security

Archives, located at George Washington University (www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv).

The website of The King Center (www.thekingcenter.org) has valuable informa-

tion about life and tragic death of Martin Luther King.

Columnist Liz Smith was the first journalist to tell the public about
Legacy’s

revelations, and she continues in the best tradition of Jack Anderson, being the

first to break important stories. Literary icon Gore Vidal has been generous in

his praise of our work, both in print and on film, for which we are very grate-

ful. We are likewise appreciative of fine actor and comedian Richard Belzer’s

interest and encouragement.

Earl Katz, Richard Foos, and Stuart Sender are spearheading a documentary

project based on the JFK revelations in
Legacy
, while writer and producer Ste-

phen Kronish is working to bring
Ultimate Sacrifice
’s story of Johnny Rosselli

to the screen. German Public Television’s
The Kennedy Murder
featured author

Waldron looking at Marcello’s JFK confession at the National Archives, and

we’d like to thank its producers, Joerg Muellner, Jean-Christoph Caron, and

Britta Reuther. Their documentary also included Senator Edward Kennedy,

Gore Vidal, and former Mafia prosecutor Ronald Goldfarb.

Mr. Goldfarb’s consideration and knowledge are always much appreciated.

We are also grateful to his former fellow prosecutor, G. Robert Blakey, for taking

the time to speak with us. The work of Congressional investigator and journalist

Gaeton Fonzi continues to be a source of inspiration, as does that of ex-FBI agent

William Turner. Turner’s pioneering work on the assassinations of JFK and RFK,

and the Kennedys’ secret war against Cuba, were a major influence on
Legacy
.

We are also grateful for the help of former Secret Service agent Abraham Bolden,

and hope to see him one day receive the pardon he so richly deserves.

Acknowledgments

787

Authors whose work we relied on a great deal include Peter Dale Scott,

Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, Dan Moldea, John H. Davis, John New-

man, and Dick Russell, and we encourage our readers to seek out any and all of

their work. Mike Cain was a source of valuable information about the Chicago

Mafia and his half-brother, Richard Cain. Robert Dorff’s pivotal work on the

case of David Morales was crucial. From England, Paul Byrne was very helpful

on the Tampa and Chicago aspects of the case, while French journalist Stephane

Risset provided crucial information about Michel Victor Mertz. Australia’s Kate

Willard was generous with her time and excellent research.

Gordon Winslow continues to be a fountain of information about Cuban

exiles in general, and Rolando Masferrer in particular. Vince Palamara con-

tributed valuable work about the Secret Service and Bolden. Two important

researchers passed away before publication of
Legacy
: George Michael Evica, an

early influence on our work, and Jim Olivier, who made important discoveries

about Rose Cheramie.

We’ve admired the work of Mark Crispin Miller for a long time, and his

support is greatly appreciated. Mark Karlin’s excellent news site, buzzflash.

com, continues to be a source for important information often overlooked by

mainstream news sources.

We are grateful to all those we interviewed during our research. While we

can’t list them all, the following people lived important parts of the history we

write about: Thomas K. Kimmel, Dean Rusk, Pierre Salinger, J. P. Mullins, Sena-

tor Gary Hart, Tom Kennelly, Marvin Loewy, John Diuguid, Richard Goodwin,

Antonio Veciana, and Don Adams. We’d like to thank all of our confidential

sources, some of whom risked their careers, or more, to speak with us.

Susan Barrows and Chris Barrows were unfailingly helpful. Ashley Zeltzer’s

photography never fails to amaze. Jim Steranko’s interest and encouragement

have been part of this project since the beginning.

The work of the fol owing people was useful in our research, even though at

times we may differ with some in our conclusions: Edwin Black, Dan Christensen,

Gary Shaw, Jefferson Morley, David Talbot, Michael L. Kurtz, Tim Gratz, CAMCO,

Ian Griggs, Walt Brown, Jerry Rose, A. J. Weberman, Frank DeBenedictis, Jake

Shepard, David Scheim, Jim Allison, Scott Malone, Michael T. Griffith, David

Corn, Gus Russo, Allan Holzman, Doug Smith, David Lifton, Evan Thomas,

Josiah Thompson, Ed Becker, Charles Rappleye, Warren Hinckle, Michael Ben-

son, Bradley Ayers, Gary Mack, Jerry P. Shinley, Don Bohning, Michael Coffey,

Wim Dankbaar, David Kaiser, Jeff Bowman, and William Pepper.

Finally, we’d like to thank anyone we forgot, and all those who spend long

hours digging through files and searching for the truth.

Lamar Waldron

Thom Hartmann

October 1, 2008

Notes

All government documents cited in these endnotes have been declassified and are available at the

National Archives II in College Park, Md., near Washington, D.C. Information about many of them, and

full copies of a few, are available at the National Archives and Records Administration Web site, and a

link to their site is available at legacyofsecrecy.com. Most of these files can be viewed at maryferrell.org, using the document numbers or dates provided.

Regarding the interviews the authors conducted for this book: for brevity and consistency, the inter-

viewers are generally referred to as “we,” even if only one of the authors was present for that particular

interview. Within quotes used in the book, for clarity we have often standardized names, commonly used

terms, and date formats. Frequently used terms:

HSCA = House Select Committee on Assassinations

HSCA King = House Select Committee on Assassinations, Investigation of the

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

NARA = National Archives and Records Administration JCS = Joint Chiefs of Staff.

INTRODUCTION

1.
We give hundreds of examples in this book and in
Ultimate Sacrifice
, (New York: Carol & Graf Publishers, 2005), for example: Army copy of Department of State document, 1963, Record Number 198-10004-

10072, Califano Papers, declassified 7-24-97. CIA memo, AMWORLD 11-22-63, #84804, declassified 1993.

2.
Army document, summary of plan dated 9-26-63, Califano Papers, Record Number 198-10004-10001,

declassified 10-7-97; Army copy of Department of State document, 1963, Record Number 198-10004-10072,

Califano Papers, declassified 7-24-97; interview with Harry Williams 7-24-93; interview with confiden-

tial C-Day Defense Dept. source 7-6-92.
3.
From the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, NLK 78-473, declassified 5-6-80.
4.
LBJ call to Richard Russell 11-29-63, quoted in Michael R. Beschloss,
Taking Charge
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997), p. 72.
5.
Robert Kennedy testimony (and other public comments at the time) to hearings by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Organized Crime

and Illicit Traffic in Narcotics, 9-25-63; Ed Reid,
The Grim Reapers
(New York: Bantam, 1970).
6.
David Talbot,
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years
(New York: Free Press, 2007), p. 314.
7.
In addition to concerns about Hunt by some of our confidential sources, the late E. Howard Hunt was extremely

litigious, his lawsuits aided by files that his former employer, the CIA, withheld both from Congress

and from opposing counsel.
8.
Marcello: FBI contact investigation 3-7-86, FD-302 declassified 6-98 and on file at the National Archives; Rosselli: Richard D. Mahoney,
Sons & Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby
Kennedy
(New York: Arcade, 1999), p. 229; Trafficante: Frank Ragano and Selwyn Raab,
Mob Lawyer
(New York: Scribners, 1994), pp. 344-62. For all three Mafia bosses, there is extensive corroborating evidence

throughout
Legacy of Secrecy
.
9.
“A Presumption of Disclosure: Lessons from the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board,” report by OMB Watch, 2000, available at ombwatch.org.