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CIA-MAFIA Timeline:
Apr 18, '61 FBI records indicate that Mahue
informed the FBI that the Ballenti tap involved the CIA and suggested
Edwards be contacted, Mahue informed the FBI that the tap had
played a part in a project "on behalf of the CIA relative
to anti-Castro activities," a fact which could be verifed
by Sheffield Edwards, CIA Director of Security. (FBI Memo Apr
20, 61; Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders,
11/20/75 p79)
May 3, '61, Edwards memoranda to FBI read
that Giancana had been recruited "in connection with the
CIA's clandestine efforts against the Casto government."
No results yet, but "several of the plans are still working
and may eventually pay off." Edwards stated, "he had
never been furnished with any details of the methods used by
Giancana and Maheu because this was 'dirty business' and he could
not afford to know the specific actions." ***He also wrote
that Richard Bissell had "told the attorney general that
some of the [Bay of Pigs] planning included the use of Giancana
and the underworld against Castro." (Rappleye and Becker,
p 211-212;
***May 22, 1961, FBI Director Hoover sent
the Attorney General a memorandum about the Las Vegas wiretip.
An attachment to that memorandum quoted Sheffield Edwards as
saying that Bissell in "recent briefings" of Taylor
and Kennedy "told the Attorney General that some of the
associated planning included the use of Giancana and the underworld
against Castro."Bissell told the Church Committee that he
did not remember any briefing other than for the review of the
Bay of Pigs - The Taylor Report. (Bissell, 7/22/75) Taylor told
the Church Committee that no mention was made of an assassination
effort against Castro.
The summary of Edwards' statements to the
FBI that was sent by Hoover to Attorney General Kennedy on May
22,1961, stated, in part that:
Colonel Edwards advised that in connection
with CIA's operation against Castro he personally contacted Robert
Maheu during the fall of 1960 for the purpose of using Maheu
as a "cut-out" in contacts with Sam Giancana, a known
hoodlum in the Chicago area. Colonel Edwards said that since
the underworld controlled gambling activities in Cuba under the
Batista government, it was assumed that this element would still
continue to have sources and contacts in Cuba which perhaps could
be utilized successfully in connection with CIA's clandestine
efforts against the Castro government. As a result, Maheu's services
were solicited as a "cut-out" because of his possible
entree into underworld circles. Maheu obtained Sam Giancana's
assistance in this regard and according to Edwards, Giancana
gave every indication of cooperating through Maheu in attempting
to accomplish several clandestine efforts in Cuba. Edwards added
that none of Giancana's efforts have materialized to date and
that several of the plans still are working and may eventually
"pay off." Colonel Edwards related that he had no direct
contact with Giancana; that Giancana's activities were completely
"back stopped" by Maheu and that Maheu would frequently
report Giancana's action and information to Edwards. No details
or methods used by Maheu or Giancana in accomplishing their missions
were ever reported to Edwards. Colonel Edwards said that since
this is "dirty business", he could not afford to have
knowledge of the actions of Maheu and Giancana in pursuit of
any mission for CIA. Colonel Edwards added that he has neither
given Maheu any instruction to use technical installations of
any type nor has the subject of technical installations ever
come up between Edwards and Maheu in connection with Giancana's
activity. Mr. Bissell, in his recent briefings of General Taylor
and the Attorney General and in connection with their inquiries
into CIA relating to the Cuban situation [the Taylor Board of
Inquiry] told the Attorney General that some of the associated
planning included the use of Giancana and the underworld against
Castro.'
The summary of Edwards' conversation with
the FBI was accompanied by a cover memorandum from Hoover stating
that Edwards had acknowledged the "attempted" use of
Maheu and 3 "hoodlum elements" by the CIA in "anti-Castro
activities" but that the "purpose for placing the wiretap...has
not been determined...." (FBI memo to Attorney General,
5/22/61) The memorandum also explained that Maheu had contacted
Giancana in connection with the CIA program and CIA had requested
that the information be handled on a "need-to-know"
basis.
RFK writes in the margin of the memo to his
aide, Courtney Evans, "I hope this will be followed up vigorously,"
after being assured the alliance had been discontinued by CIA's
Edwards. (Hoover memo to RFK and RFK's notation quoted in Assassination
Plots, Interim Report: Alleged Assassination Plots Involving
Foreign Leaders, pp127-128)
Note: Courtney Evans had worked closely with
the then Senator John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy on the McClellan
Committee which had investigated the relationship between organized
labor and organized crime. During the McClellan Investigation
Sam Glancana was one of the major crime figures examined. After
becoming Attorney General, Robert Kennedy had singled out Giancana
as one of the underworld leaders to be most intensely investigated.
Supposedly RFK was briefed on the Mafia episodes even earlier by Bissell according to Sheffield Edwards but Bissell denied it. Assassination was not specifically mentioned.
http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/church/reports/ir/html/ChurchIR_0068b.htm
June 6, 1961 - A memorandum from Evans to
Allen Belmont, Assistant to the Director (FBI) dated June 6,
1961, stated:
"We checked with CIA and ascertained that CIA had used Maheu
as an intermediary in contacting Sam Gianeana, the notorious
Chicago hoodlum. This was in connection with anti-Castro activities.
CIA, however, did not give any instructions to Maheu to use any
technical installations. In connection with this information
received from CIA concerning their attempted utilization of the
hoodlum element, CIA requested this information be handled on
a "need-to-know" basis. We are conducting a full investigation
in this wiretap case requested by the Department and the field
has been instructed to press this investigation vigorously. Accordingly,
'the Attorney General will be orally assured that we are following
up vigorously and the results of our investigation will be furnished
to the Department promptly."
Aug 16, 1961 - Entries in the FBI files indicate
that the FBI vigorously pursued its investigation of the wiretap
case. However, on August 16, 1961, the Assistant United States
Attorney in Las Vegas reported his reluctance to proceed with
the case because of deficiencies in the evidence and his concern
that CIA's alleged involvement might become known. The Department
of Justice files indicate no activity between September 1961,
when the FBI's investigation was concluded, and January 1962,
when the question of prosecution in the case was brought up for
reconsideration. (Assassination Plots, Interim Report: Alleged
Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders, pp127)
<B>There is no indication that the FBI
concluded that the CIA had used the Mafia for assassination plots.</B>
Also:
Nov 9, 61 - JFK meets with reporter Tad Szulc
and asks about Castro. Szulc's notes from that day read: "JFK
said he raised the question because he was under terrific pressure
from advisors (think he said intelligence people, but not positive)
to okay a Castro murder, said he was resisting pressures."
A few days later, aide Richard Goodwin discussed the matter of
assassinating Castro with the president. It was to Goodwin that
Kennedy observed, "If we get into that kind of thing, we
'll all be targets." (Mahoney p135; Schlesinger, p530)
Nov 16, 61 - JFK delivers speech at the University
of Washington (Seattle) commencement: "We cannot as a free
nation, compete with our adversaries in tactics of terror, assassination,
false promises, counterfeit mobs and crises."
Then:
March 22, 62 - Hoover had a private luncheon
with President Kennedy. There is no record of what transpired
at that luncheon. According to the White House logs, the last
telephone contact between the White House and Judith Campbell
occurred a few hours after the luncheon.
Mar 23, 62 - The day immediately following
his luncheon with the President, at which Rosselli and Giancana
were presumably discussed, Hoover sent a memorandum to Edwards
stating: At the request of the Criminal Division of the Department
of Justice, this matter was discussed with the CIA Director of
Security on February 7, 1962, and we were advised that your agency
would object to any prosecution which would necessitate the use
of CIA personnel or CIA information. We were also informed that
introduction of evidence concerning the CIA operation would be
embarrassing to the Government. The Criminal Division has now
requested that CIA specifically advise whether it would or would
not object to the initiation of criminal prosecution against
the subjects, Balletti, Maheu, and the individual known as J.
W. Harrison for conspiracy to violate the "Wire Tapping
Statute."
Apr 10, 62 - Edwards responds in writing to
Hoover's Mar 23 memo that prosecution of Maheu and presumably
other Mafia figures for wiretapping "Would result in most
damaging embarrassment to the U.S. government." In demanding
a written response from the CIA, Hoover effectively cleared himself
of any involvement. He also effectively blackmails President
Kennedy with his knowledge.
***May 7, '62 - RFK briefed on past
CIA-Mafia Plots: RFK meets with Richard Helms (Helms later denied
this meeting took place despite a specific indication on RFK's
calendar), and later that afternoon with Sheffield Edwards and
CIA general council Lawrence Houston for a briefing on pre-Bay
of Pigs organized crime assassination plots. (Testimony
of Lawrence Houston HSCA, p62 National Archives) "Mr. Kennedy
stated that upon learning CIA had not cleared its action in hiring
Maheu and Giancana with the DOJ he issued orders that the CIA
should never again take such steps with first checking with the
DOJ."; CIA does not tell RFK the organized crime plots will
continue. (Memo for IG from Sidney D. Stembridge Acting Director
of Security 3.16.76, quoting FBI memo FBI 62-109060-4984 - states
May 9,'62 as the date for this briefing.) Houston testified that
RFK insisted "There was not to be any contact of the Mafia...without
prior consultation with him." (Church Committee, Houston,
6/2/75 p37)
McCone later testifies to the Church Committee
that Helms brought the only copy of the Edwards-Houston memo
with him to brief McCone on the Mafia plots in Aug.'63.
http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/church/reports/ir/html/ChurchIR_0061a.htm
May 9, '62 - RFK tells Hoover the CIA has
used organized crime figures in an effort to assassinate Castro
(phase one). A memo by Hoover of the conference with RFK states:
The Attorney General told me he wanted to advise me of a situation
in the Giancana case which had considerably disturbed him. He
stated a few days ago he had been advised by CIA that in connection
with Giancana, CIA had hired Robert A Maheu, a private detective
in Washington, DC, to approach Giancana with a proposition of
paying $150,000 to hire some gunmen to go into Cuba and to kill
Castro. I expressed great astonishment at this in view of the
bad reputation of Maheu and the horrible judegment in using a
man of Giancana's background for such a project. The Attorney
General shared the same views. ...CIA admitted that they had
assisted Maheu in making this installation and for these reasons
CIA was in a position where it could not afford to have any action
taken against Giancana and Maheu. ...the Attorney General told
him that he asked CIA whether they had ever cleared their actions
in hiring Maheu and Giancana with the DOJ before they did so
and he was advised by CIA they had not cleared these matters
with the DOJ. He stated he then issued orders to CIA to never
again in the future take such steps without first checking with
the DOJ. (Memorandum from Hoover, 5/10/62)
May 14, '62 - After the May 7th meeting with
RFK, Edwards, with Houston's assistance, prepared a memo (relating
what had transpired at the May 7, '62 briefing) for the Attorney
General's file that would establish his being "informed"
of the plots, and that, to Kennedy's knowledge, they had been
terminated. (Interim Report: Alleged Assassination Plots Involving
Foreign Leaders p106)
That same day Edwards had a telephone conversation
with William Harvey. As a result of that conversation, Edwards
prepared an internal memo for the record dated May 14, '62, which
falsely stated that the operation involving Rosselli was then
terminated. Interim Report: Alleged Assassination Plots Involving
Foreign Leaders p132) Note: Harvey found out about this memo
when questioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee in 1975,
and he was furious. He declared that it "was not true, and
Col. Edwards knew it was not true"; the falsification was
intended to show that Edwards was "no longer chargeable
should the operation backfire." (Senate Assassination Plots
Report p134)
May 22, 62 - After being fully briefed, Hoover
sends memo to RFK noting CIA had used Giancana in "clandestine
efforts" against Castro. "Colonel Edwards said that
since this is 'dirty business' he could not afford to have knowledge
of that action of Maheu and Giancana in pursuit of any mission
for the CIA Mr. Bissell, in his recent briefings of General Taylor
and the attorney general and in connection with their inquiries
into CIA activities relating to the Cuban situation told the
Attorney General that some of the associated planning included
the use of Giancana and the underworld." (FBI 62-109060-4984;
Church Committee Interim Report, p127)
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