Legacy of Secrecy (155 page)

In the fall of 1963, John and Robert Kennedy were using Manuel Artime in the coup plan;

his part of the operation was codenamed AMWORLD, as shown in this detail from a later

CIA memo (top). But the Kennedys didn’t know Artime was tied to the Mafia and was

part of the CIA-Mafia Castro assassination plots that Helms was hiding from them. All of

the CIA files about Artime and the Mafia were withheld from Congressional investigators,

and most are still classified, despite the 1992 law requiring their release (bottom).

On November 18, 1963, Trafficante, Rosselli, and Marcello planned to kill JFK during his

long motorcade in Tampa (left). But Trafficante’s inside man on the Tampa police tipped

him that authorities had learned of the threat, so the hit was cancelled. The Tampa Police

Chief told us the Floridan Hotel had been the likely site for the shooting, though the threat

was kept out of the press at the time. On November 22, 1963, the same plan was applied

in Marcello’s territory of Dallas, with at least one shot being fired from the Texas School

Book Depository (right) (
Chris Barrows/Mary Ferrell Foundation
).

The infamous “grassy knoll,” just moments

after JFK was shot. Two JFK aides directly

behind JFK’s limo clearly saw and heard

shots from the knoll, but one of them—Dave

Powers—told us they were forced to alter

their testimony for the Warren Commission.

Both men confirmed the account to Speaker

of the House Tip O’Neill (
JFK Library
).

Dallas gangster Jack Ruby, who worked

for Marcello and knew Trafficante, silenced

Oswald on November 24, 1963, in front of a

live TV audience (
HSCA
).

Robert Kennedy was usually at odds with Lyndon Johnson, but after JFK’s murder, both

men had to cover up important information to prevent “World War III” and to protect

Commander Almeida in Cuba. However, LBJ refused Robert’s request to continue the

coup plan, further straining their already bad relationship (
LBJ Library
).

Dean Rusk, Secretary of State for JFK and LBJ, told

us—and confirmed to
Vanity Fair
—that he only

learned about the coup and invasion plan after

JFK’s murder. Prior to that, he and most other

top officials thought their planning was merely a

contingency exercise in case a high Cuban official

offered to stage a coup (
LBJ Library
).

President Johnson receiving the Warren Report, only the first of at least six government

commissions and committees to investigate JFK’s murder. J. Edgar Hoover, Richard

Helms, Robert Kennedy, and military intelligence withheld massive amounts of infor-

mation from the Commission about the JFK-Almeida coup plan, Ruby and organized

crime, and the plot to kill JFK in Tampa. This allowed Marcello, Trafficante, Rosselli and

their men to remain free to pursue their criminal activities (
LBJ Library
).

Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy

had a sometimes difficult relationship, but

Robert grew into a tireless champion of civil

rights and an advocate for the poor—all

while deadly violence against blacks and

civil rights workers in the South continued

(
JFK Library
).

Joseph Milteer was a Georgia white supremacist

tied to two associates of Marcello. Milteer was

recorded on police undercover tape prior to JFK’s

murder, talking about JFK being shot by a high-

powered rifle from a building. Hoover botched the

investigation of Milteer, who was never arrested.

Milteer then began working with Hugh R. Spake

and two other partners to collect money in Atlanta

each week to pay for the murder of Dr. King

(
HSCA
).