Official and Confidential (76 page)

Chapter 23

The late Norma Abrams was interviewed in 1988, as was Eduardo Disano. Herman Klurfeld, Joseph DiMona, and Lyle Stuart discussed the Lepke case, and Wm. Hundley described his encounter with Costello. Sam Giancana (nephew) recounted his father's version of the Chicago mobster's attitude to H., and Wm. Pepper
(supra.)
arranged the contact with Lombardozzi. Seymour Pollack was interviewed twice. The late Jimmy Fratianno was interviewed in 1990, and Nicholas Lore, Jim Henderson and George Carr discussed the encounter with H. that Fratianno described. Irving Resnick and his daughter Dana were interviewed, and Resnick's story was discussed with Pete Hamill, Jim Doyle, and Wm. Roemer. At Gatti's Restaurant, owner Mike Gatti and Edidio Crolla recalled H. and Lansky. Wm. Gallinaro told of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
taping a Lansky conversation. John Weitz and Gordon Novel were interviewed about alleged H.-Tolson sex photographs, and see
Esquire
, May 1993, p. 57, and author's reply in August edition. An earlier report of the Hundley-Costello meeting was found in 1978 memos of Mike Ewing in HSCA files. Possible deportation of Costello is discussed in memos re. Drew Pearson, Mar.-Sept., 1952, and Jun. 1, 1954, in FBI file 94–8–350. Documentation on Pollack was found at Hearings, House Select Cttee. on Crime, Dec. 7, 1971, p. 3.

Chapter 24

The head of the Justice Dept's Special Group, Milton Wessel, and Laurence Walsh, discussed H.'s response to Apalachin. Susan Rosenstiel was interviewed in France, and signed an affadavit swearing to the truth of her account. NY Crime Cttee. Chief Counsel Edward McLaughlin, investigator Wm. Gallinaro, Hank Messick, Jackie Somerville, Sidney Stricker, Stanley Penn, Jim Savage, Dr Elaine Needel, Dr Henry Foster, Robert Morgenthau and former Asst. Director Cartha DeLoach were interviewed about Rosenstiel. Kenneth Wells discussed the Freedoms Foundation. The author used FBI files on the Special Group obtained by Milton Wessel, and used Hearings, Subcttee. 5, House Judiciary Cttee., Serial 16, p. 102, and Hearings, Approp. Cttee. Subcttee., Mar. 6, 1961, p. 432. The testimonies of James Kelly, Yolanda Lora, John Harrington, Jeremiah McKenna, and Louis Nichols on Rosenstiel are in the files of the NY State Joint Legislative Cttee. on Crime, Its Causes, Control, Effects on Society, 1971. The author obtained a Dept. of Justice memo from Wm. Gallinaro to Henry Peterson, Jul. 27, 1970. Nichols' retirement corr. is in a private collection. H.'s office logs, May 6, Jul. 15, 1958, established his contacts with Rosenstiel. The 1958 FBI report on the mob is Belmont to Boardman, Jul. 14, 1958, FBI file 94–8–350–943. After hardback publication, the author received material on Lewis Rosenstiel from FBI file 94–41753, and on Susan Rosenstiel from FBI file 163–1486–2 (FOIPA release 298–462). The account of H.'s reaction is in
Kennedy Justice
, by Victor Navasky,
supra
., p. 44. H.'s denial of a mob coalition is in
Law Enforcement Bulletin
, Jan. 1962.

Chapter 25

Former agent Kenneth Whittaker and Jesse Weiss discussed H.'s relations with Joseph Kennedy. Lady Bird Johnson, Lynda Robb, Curtis Lynum, Robert Parker, Joseph Schott, Bobby Baker, and Cartha DeLoach were interviewed in connection with H. and Lyndon Johnson. Joseph Shimon recalled Joseph Kennedy's mob friendships, as did Edna Daulyton. Judith Campbell Exner was interviewed on several occasions. Evelyn Lincoln and Pierre Salinger discussed the 1960 Convention, and Ben Bradlee, Igor Cassini, Gore Vidal, and Jack Anderson described John Kennedy's attitude to H. Philip Hochstein reported H.'s assertion that JFK had not legitimately won the election. The documentation of this and other Kennedy chapters is so vast that scholars are strongly advised to use only the hardback edition. The references that follow are highly selective. Joseph Kennedy's 1955 letter to H. is in
The FBI Pyramid
, by Mark Felt (see
Bibliography
), p. 195, and his role as FBI ‘Contact' is in OC14. British reports on JFK drew on
Honeytrap
, by the author and Stephen Dorril, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1987. FBI reports on Inga Arvad are in OC7, i, ii, iii, and JFK's early courting of H. is in FBI file 94–37373. His father's similar corr. is in file 94–37308. The FBI's ‘highlights' of JFK's behavior are in Jones to DeLoach, Jul. 13, 1960, OC96. JFK and Lansky are covered in the transcript of
60 Minutes
, CBS-TV, Jun. 25, 1989, and Battaglia is in Rosen to Boardman, Mar. 4, 1958, FBI file 94–37374. The approach to Marcello is in
Pay-off
, by Michael Dorman, NY, David McKay, 1972, p. 109. JFK's activity at the Convention is covered in the author's book
Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe
, NY, New American Library, 1986, and
Kennedy and Johnson
(NY, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1968) and
My Twelve Years with John F. Kennedy
(NY, David McKay, 1965), by Evelyn Lincoln, and ints. Lincoln. H.'s postelection letter to JFK is at Nov. 9, 1960, in FBI file 94–37374.

Chapter 26

Mitchell Rogovin told the anecdote about the bust of Stanley Finch. Danny Selznick supplied his interview of Cartha DeLoach on Robert Kennedy's consultative visit to H., and the interaction of H. and RFK was based on interviews with former Asst.
Director Courtney Evans, former agents Curtis Lynum, Joseph Schott, Jack Danahee, Gordon Liddy, and with Arthur and Mara Forbes, Wm. Hundley, Joe Dolan, and Angie Novello. Jesse and Grace Weiss, and Billy Byars, Jr., discussed H.'s relations with the Weiss and Byars families, and Edward Munden and Robert Garvey spoke of the Alicia Purdom case. John Seigenthaler and Wm. Hundley talked about H. and black agents, while Kenneth Whittaker reported Joseph Kennedy's comments after golf, and H.'s outburst about RFK. Robert Morgenthau and Joe Dolan recalled the Des Moines fiasco. Documents on the Purdom episode are in OC13, i, ii. H.'s Jan. 10, 1961 memo to RFK about Communism is in IC6, p. 821. H.'s letters to JFK are in JFKL, and the warning to H. of possible dismissal is in Millen to Conrad, Dec. 5, 1961, HSF6.

Chapter 27

The Mar. 22, 1962 H. meeting with JFK was discussed by Evelyn Lincoln and Judith Exner. The ‘first marriage' story was recalled by Ben Bradlee, Tom Wicker, Courtney Evans, Igor Cassini, Walter Trohan, J. B. Stoner, and Bobby Baker. Cartha DeLoach, former agent Homer Young, and Dick Schumacher talked about JFK and Angie Dickinson. Gordon Liddy, Eunice Murray, Cartha DeLoach, John Sherlock, Harry Hall, Liz Renay, Billy Byars Jr., Arthur and Mara Forbes, and Anthony Calomaris, spoke of the relationship between the Kennedys and Marilyn Monroe. The duration of the Mar. 1962 H.-JFK meeting is established in JFKL records, and O'Donnell's account is from Dec. 7, 1976 interview supplied to the author by Prof. Herbert Parmet. Evidence that H. knew of the JFK-Campbell affair is in Evans to Belmont, Mar. 20, 1962, OC96. Angie Dickinson is discussed in
A Woman Named Jackie
, by David Heymann, London, Heinemann, 1989, and in
Those Wild Wild Kennedy Boys
, by Stephen Dunleavy and Peter Brennan, NY, Pinnacle, 1976, p. 49. My book
Goddess
,
supra
., was the main source for the Monroe material, but Peter Lawford's description of the affair came from David Heymann's book
Jackie
,
supra
. Winchell's article about Monroe and JFK is in Jones to DeLoach, Jul. 9, 1963, FBI file 105–40018.

Chapter 28

The 1963 decision to dump H. drew on interviews with Edwin Guthman, former AG Nicholas Katzenbach, Abba Schwartz, Robert Morgenthau, and Wm. Hundley. The notion of Yarmolinsky as a replacement was discussed with Joe Dolan and Yarmolinsky. Abba Schwartz described JFK's reference to keeping a file on H. Ben Bradlee and Bobby Baker discussed the Rometsch episode, and members of Bill Thompson's family spoke of his relationship with JFK. The coverage of the Profumo case drew on
Honeytrap
, by the author and Stephen Dorril,
supra
., FBI file 65–68218, and State Dept. and CIA documents released to the author. JFK's conversation with Martin Luther King is from an interview of Andrew Young in
Christianity In Crisis
, Feb. 16, 1976, and
My Soul Is Rested
, by Howell Raines, NY, Putnam, 1977, p. 430. Sources on Rometsch included FBI files 105–122316, WFO 105-54487, OC22,
Des Moines Register
, Oct. 26, 1963, and letters in the possession of Bobby Baker.

Chapter 29

The assassination of President Kennedy is a vast subject served by myriad books. This author's expertise derives from his work on the book
Conspiracy
, NY, Paragon, 1989, and TV documentaries. For this chapter, Robert Morgenthau, Burke Marshall, William Manchester, Edwin Guthman, Mark Felt, and Joseph Schott, discussed the way H. and RFK heard the news. Bill Koras and Joe Kelly recalled H.'s visit to the races the day after. Other new interviews included those with former FBI Asst. Director Courtney Evans, Rep. Hale Boggs' son Thomas, Ruth Paine, James Hosty – the agent who handled Oswald before the assassination – and Oswald's widow Marina. Col. Philip Corso discussed early information about an Oswald ‘double', and the late Aaron Kohn described Guy Banister. Former agents Paul Scranton and George Davis were asked about FBI contacts with Aleman, and Ed Becker, and former agents Julian Blodgett and George Bland discussed the FBI and the Marcello threat. Col. Corso also recalled H. saying the case remained a ‘mess.' Joe Dolan told of RFK saying the FBI now no longer worked for ‘us.' H.'s ‘shock' is in the Nov. 22 note in F6135–6, WHCF, Box 188, LBJL. Johnson's concern about his own safety is in H. to
Tolson, Nov. 29, OC92. Schlei's memory is in his Oral History, JFKL. Johnson's note of H. telling him ‘Evidence not strong,' is in LBJ notes, Nov. 23, Appointment file (Diary Backup), Box 1, LBJL. H.'s ‘big mouth' comment about Earl Warren is a notation on a UPI report, Apr. 24, 1964, in FBI file 62–109060. A study of Hosty's name in Oswald's address book is in HSCA,
Report
, p. 232, and
The Oswald Papers
, an unpub. ms. by Paul Hoch. Parts of Banister's FBI file were kindly supplied by Dale Myers, and John Davis shared an interview of Aaron Kohn. Johnson's theories on the case are drawn from DeLoach to T., Apr. 4, 1967, FBI file 44-24696, a Walter Cronkite int. of LBJ, Oct. 3, 1969, LBJL,
Atlantic Monthly
, Jul. 1973, and
Wall Street Journal
, Jan. 30, 1992. The Malnik-Weiss conversation is in FBI log MM877-C, kindly supplied by Hank Messick. Of course, I have referred throughout to the Reports and accompanying volumes of the Warren Commission and the House Cttee. on Assassinations.

Chapter 30

William Manchester described his 1964 meeting with H., and George Ball, and Nicholas Katzenbach described their impressions of H. H.'s relations with Lyndon Johnson were described by Mrs Johnson, Hugh Sidey, George Reedy, Madeleine Brown, Richard Goodwin, and Cartha DeLoach. Allan Witwer was discussed by Wm. Lambert, Robert Pelaquin, Wallace Turner, David Nevin, Joseph Dolan, and Richard Billings, and himself granted an interview. Robert Sherrill spoke of White House pressure on
Life
. Former Asst. Director Charles Bates and George Ball recalled H.'s intervention when British Prime Minister Wilson visited. Former Deputy AG Laurence Silberman described his examination of the Official and Confidential files, and former agents Harold Leinbaugh and Kenneth Whittaker, and former AG Ramsey Clark, Bill Brown, and Dr Joseph Rankin discussed the Walter Jenkins affair. Laurence Silberman and former Asst. AG Robert Mardian discussed the Goldwater incident, as did John Daley, Edwin Guthman, and Jeffrey Shulman. LBJ FBI files include 58–7086, 943830, 47–50152, and 47–44945. FBI reports on Peter Lisagor were released to the author in 1989 and 1991. Congressional investigation of FBI
abuses at the Atlantic City Convention are in IC6. The FBI report alleging that a Goldwater aide used prostitutes is Jones to DeLoach, Oct. 23, 1964, Mardian Papers, HIW.

Chapter 31

The late Ralph Abernathy was interviewed in 1989. Wm. Dufty and Gore Vidal spoke of rumours that H. had black blood, and Robert Parker recalled H.'s early comments on King. The FBI attitude to civil rights was discussed by John Williams, former agents Roy Moore, Neil Welch, former Asst. Directors Cartha DeLoach and Charles Bates, and Tip O'Neill, Cornelius Gallagher, Don Edwards, and Joe Waggoner described H.'s leaks about King to the Congress. Efforts to smear him in the press were covered in interviews with Ben Bradlee, former AG Nicholas Katzenbach, John Herbers, David Kraslow, Mike Royko, Eugene Patterson, Newbold Noyes, and former agent Joseph Woods. The FBI's response to King's assassination was discussed with former AG Ramsey Clark, Mitchell Rogovin, and former agents Arthur Murtagh and Donald Wilson. Philip Melanson, the late Gregory Stone, and former agent Frenchie LaJeunesse were interviewed on the murder of RFK, while Connie Ring and Donald King spoke of H.'s attitude to Edward Kennedy. The best source books on King are those by David Garrow
(Bearing the Cross
, NY, Morrow, 1986, &
The FBI and Martin Luther King Jr
., NY, Norton, 1981), and by Taylor Branch
(Parting the Waters
, NY, Simon & Schuster, 1988). H.'s birth certificate, filed only on September 21, 1938, is DC no. 419530-D. Daniel Selznick kindly provided his interview of Cartha DeLoach talking about King and prostitutes. Arthur Murtagh testified to a colleague's joyous reaction to the Mississippi killings in Nov. 1978, HSCA, VI, p. 117. Pres. Johnson's comment on ‘the sovereignties' is in the Burke Marshall Oral History, Oct. 28, 1968, p. 30, LBJL. H.'s ‘mores' and ‘alley cat' notations are at Oct. 7, 1964, FBI file 94–8–350–1323, and Oct. 14, 1964, FBI file 100–106670480/4. The undated draft of the anonymous letter to King is in OC24. Useful sources on King's death are the HSCA Final Report, and
The Murkin Conspiracy
, by Philip Melanson, NY, Praeger, 1989, Tolson's ‘Goddamn the Kennedys' is in
The Bureau
, by Wm. Sullivan
(see Bibliography)
, p. 48. The RFK autopsy pictures are
in OC97. The FBI reaction to Chappaquiddick is at Boston to H., Jul. 19, 1969, FBI 94–55752–108.