I" 7 .4 S

The University of Georgia School of Law

June 23, 1995

Mr. Harold Weisberg 7627 Old Receiver Road Frederick, Maryland 21702

Dear Mr. Weisberg,

I have just finished reading your latest book on the JFK assassination, Case Closed.

Enclosed please find copies of my three most recent articles on the assassination.

Please keep up the good work, and remember that there are millions of Americans who have had their eyes opened because of your important work.

Very truly yours,

Donald E. Wilkes, Jr. Professor of Law 706-542-5179

tsmIDEW Enclosures

Athens, Georgia 30602-6012 • Telefax (706) 542-5556 An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution

1-1 efossor diike, 6/267."-J5

lotto.• an,J. -.,.1')....".3.asuren. I regret that -,-;uur artga2,es did

wider ,:t...entiOn. 1l carrievt for:Vorr...! a bit the, enclosed_ rotypod rough

dr. -;.'t of an artiol , . About tuo ynrro old 'Oiled a hr-L.' when it was available.

lIztve no • bj,x:tion:.•:•. to oth..Ts 5e0L-.!4,- it buj.; do not it 11,50 VithOULt perraiS540r1

b::Gause 11a77.? scm Le.flo Mr it.

C.a.p.o.,,Oboil, was co:..,,aetod 1.).fore th'• end of 1993. It -uas butchered in publica-

tio.0 w.i.t: , at L :t 7 jUrit elloD2C)il put.I hop;-:•t-•bc. bL, to use that part in sone

.Co:mer's brieZ as a defense .i.awycr would. have

r31;11Citto"[A14 actwAl official ovLLmce..

vao1.11 et*p.otod about T-banksgivinr,--time i l'_;142 and was sat

on unti... liany fewer errata. .1'12 sorry I've not been nbl: iv :]. ;e .% copies

sp 1 can.ot send ye4 ono. is in th:: stores or they con order it. The index uas

.i.- how omitted! I encl000 a copy in the elmnt got book. I'm told it is off

first by a page and then by too panes. It is unreai and unedited.

-I've a ooquel to hCAIN conoleted as -iell as a nui:/ber of other rough

0..17r -fts but 1,.o .)1.zb:losher n net in a nooition seek oi-ither an agent or a publisher

at 02 and in iinajled 11.::!.,.1th. But 1 an gct:;ing hat J. can on oapzT and it will all

be available at lo:.v).1 'Lood Collogo.

If anyone ever copioo all of Ii.usseli's file on the CorkAssion I'd like to

got a copy to deposit at hood.

Ple•se excuse ty?inc. Oorryit cos tot be any hotter.

Sincercly,

Harold Ueisberg

„ U

S e

agree 7'4 4.4 SP*444.34,

Vitf4

Pk orelaw

• • t—

e

so.

gl) e

rk sh ow

late ,S or doubted

• 441.-

iiigsbf Warr

nunissioh

behind the assassination.

I By D

ON

AL

D E

. WIL

KE

S JR

.• G

eorgia's Richard R

ussell, who rep-

Doctim

eats recently uncovered in ihoV resented this slate in the U

.S. Senate show

' for 38 years,' never wanted to serve on

ly Oeor-. the W

arren Com

mission. A

ppointed by on

, had

Presid

ent L

ynd

op Joh

nson

anyw

ay, is of th

e Ru

ssell soon b

ecame' im

own

as this

Un

tyersity of Georgia L

i Seri:T

idy:1rd Rossetti! the

wgian ..on the. W

arren grave donbrs about

death re O

rit

(1 Warren R

eport on the assithiruition of r . ."Great D

issenter”, on the Com

mission.

r President John F

. !Com

edy, but kept The transcript of a Jan. 27, 1954, secret ,

silent ab

out h

is reservations for tw

o session of th

e Warren

Com

mission

, IV

years. These docum

,ems, located bra. - 1 declassified and published in 1974, is

university student doing research on 11 typical. It shows R

ussell asking goes-the JF

K assassination, also reveal R

119- lions and making com

ments indicating

sell: apparently disgusted with W

arren that he was highly displeased w

ith the C

omm

ission,7precedures,„ prepared but quality of both the FB

I's investigation: '

never sent a IOW

. iptiliplin,g from the and the inform

ation being fed the Corn-

Com

mission tired m

onths after JEK

's m

ission by the FB

I and CIA

, - death:

- .; tf/

6 T

o prevent any embarrassm

ent to Ik

e Warren

Riixtal. w

as released 25 P

residen

t John

son, th

e loyal Ru

ssell years ago. at S

ept. 27, 1964.

signed

the W

arren R

eport

without

President K

ennedy died in a burst of publicly disagreeing with anything In.

sniper: fire in Dailey P

lasâ in down- 1IL

But tw

o years later the senator could

Sen. Richard R

ussell (second from left, front) w

atches as Warren C

omm

ission chairman E

arl Warren presets' thei

report to Pres. L

yndon Johnson. Behind R

ussell and Warr&

stands then Rep. G

erald Ford, later to beetling "re*.

den

t him

self. Ru

ssell, wh

o had

serious d

oub

ts abou

t the in

vestigation of K

enn

ed7's assassin

ation, p

lann

ed at an

t pint to resign from

the comm

ission, (Photo courtesy o

f Richard B

, Russell C

ollection, Richard II; R

ussell Mem

:whit

Library, U

niversity of Georgia L

ibraries, Athens)

town D

allas, Texas, on N

ov. 22, 1963. restrain himself no longer. H

e publicly T

he Warren R

eport concluded that Lee ; announced his "lingering dissatisfac-

HatV

ey Osw

ald, acting alone, shot JFIC

lion" with part of the report. In an

from. the T

ops School Book D

eposit,: interview published in the A

tlanta Can-

that there imp no conspiracy

See R

US

$EW

S, page

. 7A.

*Russell's objections ...from page 1 krilution Nov. 20, 1966, Russell expli-citly stated he could not agree that Oswald acted alone. He could accept the conclusion that Oswald fired the shots that killed JFK, but he could not rule out the possibility that Oswald was part of a conspiracy.

In the interview Russell also dis-agreed with the report's single bullet theory: the theory that one of the bul-lets fired from behind the presidential limousine struck JFK in the back, exited the front of his neck, and then struck Texas Gov. John Connally.

The Warren Commission embraced the theory in its report to try to explain why films show JFK and Connally both reacting to wounds in less than the amount of time it takes to fire two shots from the rifle supposedly used by Oswald. Without the theory, the Com-mission would have been forced to acknowledge the existence of multiple gunmen.

On Jan. 19, 1970, less than a y:ar before his death, Russell again pro-Claimed his doubts about the Warren Report, this time in a television inter-view. Although professing to have not "the slightest doubt" that Oswald fired the fatal shots, Russell went beyond his 1966 remarks and stated flatly that he "never believed that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President Kennedy without at least some encouragement from others."

Russell added: "I think someone else worked with him."

When the Warren Report was pub-lished other members of the Warren Commission also had silent doubts. Sen. John Sherman Cooper as well as Rep. Hale Boggs shared some of Rus-sell's concerns, but, like Russell, did not speak out at the time.

The documents recently found in the UGA Library include a dissenting statement prepared by Russell but omitted from the Warren Report. Whether Russell intended to have his dissenting statement published in the report is unknown. Something that might throw light on the matter, the transcript of the final meeting of the Warren Commission held on Sept. 18, 1964, two days after Russell dictated his dissenting statement, disappeared (apparently from the National Arc-hives) years ago.

The existence of the dissenting state-ment proves the doubts Russell first publicly voiced in 1966 dated back to even before the report was issued.

In his dissenting statement, dictated on Sept. 16, 1964, Russell disagreed with the Warren Report view that JFK and Connally were hit by the same bul-let, and also disagreed with the report's conclusion of no conspiracy. In Rus-sell's judgement, the insufficiency of the evidence gathered against Oswald "preclude(d) the conclusive determina-don that Oswald and Oswald atone, without the knowledge, encouragement or assistance of any other person, planned and perpetrated the assassination."

Russell's plan to resign from the Warren Commission is reflected in an entry on his desk calendar for Feb. 22/23, 1964: "write Pres J & Resign from Commission." In a two-page let- ter of resignation addressed to Presi-dent Johnson dated Feb. 24, 1964, but never mailed, Russell complained the Commission was scheduling, holding, or cancelling meetings without notify-ing him. Why Russell changed his mind about resigning is unexplained.

The passage of a quarter-century has confirmed many of Sen. Russell's doubts about the Warren Report. Almost every major study of the JFK assassination since 1975 has rejected the single bullet theory, although there is disagreement as to whether this necessarily means more than one gun-man shot at JFK.

A 1977-78 congressional reinvestiga-tion of the assassination specifically found that the FBI and the Warren Commisison failed to investigate adequately the possibility of a conspi-racy to assassinate JFK and that the CIA was deficient in supplying infor-mation to the Commission. The con-gressional committee concluded, con-trary to the Warren Report, that JFK probably was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy, although the committee did not know who the members of the conspiracy were. Where the Warren Commission found that Oswald fired all the shots at the president's limou-sine, the congressional committee found it highly probable that two gun-men did the shooting.

It is no wonder that the Warren Report has failed to withstand the test of time. As Sen. Russell's public pro-nouncements and his previously undis-closed papers show, even members of the Warren Commission didn't believe it.

Donald E. Wilkes Jr. is a professor at the University of Georgia Law School.

photo comer/ of do Riche's' Russell Ubsery

JFK killer not alone UGA Professor hsays

raesemr „erheP-5by Donald E. Wakes Jr. Tift—i /2----

recording released earlier this year by the L Johnson Presidential Library has brought to light

important new facts concerning the Warren Commission's investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As a result of disdosure of the recording it is now evident, more than three decades after the assassination, that President Lyndon B. Johnson and three members of the Warren Commission (Sen. Richard B. Russell, Sen. John Sherman Cooper, and Rep. Hale Boggs) rejected the so-called single bullet theory, an essential part of the Commission's single-assassin thesis.

Thirty years ago, on Friday, Sept 18, 1964, at 7:54 p.m. Sen. Richard B. Russell placed a long distance telephone call from his Georgia home to President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House. Russell's purpose was to tell Johnson about what had happened earlier that day at the final official meeting of what Russell called "that dang Warren Commission,' of which he was a reluctant member.

The recording of that conversation was not released to the public until Apr. 15, 1994. The recording confirms a well-established fact: Sen. Russell vehemently disagreed with the so-called single bullet theory, a key aspect of the

continued on page 4A

Moro eaerlmy al Itlelurd FIM1111 IMMetarial Library LIKE OTHER AMERICANS Senator Richard Russell we shocked by rise assassination of President Kennedy. He did not bellow a single sniper =add have wounded Gov iebn CanthallY and killed Kennedy.

4A

The Athena Obwerer

Thursday, December 8, 1994

Warren Commission's 1964 report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The recording also discloses an amazing fact previously unknown: 181 agreed with Russell that the Warren Report's single bullet theory was unworthy of belief.

The singie bullet theory is the theory that a nonfatal bullet fired from behind the presidential lim-ousine pierced WK's back, exited his throat without hitting any bones, struck Texas Gov. Connally in the back, exited his chest after shattering ribs and puncturing a lung, smashed through his right wrist, and then came to rest, virtually intact, in Connally's left thigh.

The proposed final draft of the Warren Report unconditionally accepted the single bullet theory as conclusively proved by the evi-dence. However, due to objec-tions by Russell and other Commission members at that final meeting on Sept. 18, 1964, the official version of the report endorsed the single bullet theory but refused to rule out other pos-sibilities. Denying that the single bullet theory was essential b its overall conclusion that Oswald was the lone gunman in the sixth floor window, the report found 'there is very persuasive evi-dence' to support the single build theory and that the theory is 'most probably' correct, yet also (in deference to Russell's objections) acknowledged that certain 'factors have given rise to some difference of opinion as to this probability

In his Sept. 18, 1964 tele-phone call to President Johnson, Russell, after an opening exchange of pleasantries, immedi-ately complained 'that dang Warren Commission business has whopped me dawn ... I was just worn down fighting over that damn report'

A cause of the difficulties at the Warren Commission's final session, Russell made plain, was the single bullet theory: "Inhey was trying to prove that the same bullet that hit Kennedy first, was the one that hit Connaliy and went through him and went through his hand and his bone and into his leg and everything else ...'

When LB/ asked, 'Well, what difference does it make which buffet got Connally?,' Russell answered: 'Well, it don't make much difference!' Then he

added: 'But they said that _ the Commission believe's} that the same bullet that hit Kennedy hit Connally. Well, 1 don't believe le-

L13,1 essicidy responded 'Well, I don't either!'

Russell then gave LSI two rea-sons for rejecting the theory: it corgradicted Connaliys testimony that he was hit by a different bullet, and it required the further finding--a finding accepted by the Warren Report—that one of Oswald's three shots missed the limousine entirely, which seems highly unlikely given the assass-in's deadly shooting abilities.

On Sept. 16, 1964, two days before Or call to till, Russell had dictated a dissenting statement detailing his many doubt about the single bullet theory and about the Warren Ccmerissions conclu-sion that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, had murdered President Kennedy. This dissent-ing statement was not included in the Warren Report but is in the senator's papers at the UGA's Russell Library. Shortly after the Warren Report was released, Russell first made public his doubts about the Report when he told The Adana Constitution for Sept 29, 1964 that it still was not known whether Oswald had aced with the encouragement or knowledge of anyone else.' Russell attacked both the single

-

bullet theory and the lone assas-sin notion in an interview pub-Ished in The Manta Constitution Nov. 20, 1966. In an interview with WSB-TV In February 1970, less than a year before his death, Sen. Russell again voiced doubt about parts of the Warren Report

Sen. Russell's objections to important findings of the Warren

it has been known for years that ilk

believed, not with- standing The Warren

Report, that President Kennedy was actaqsinated by

a conspiracy.'

Report received further publicity when the senator's views were mentioned In various JFK rikassr, nation books, including notably Edward Epstein's inquest (19661, Harold Weisberg's Whitewash IV (1974), Bernard Fensterwald's Coincidence or Conspiracyt (1977), and Henry Hurt's Reasonable Doubt (1985).

(For more information on the rejection of various findings in the Warren Report, including the single bullet theory, by Russell and otherrnembers of the Warren

Commission, see Wilkes, "Ansel! Disagreed with OK Death Report,' The Athens Observer, Nov. 9, 1989, p. 1.)

While Russell's disbelief in the single bullet theory has been well known for decades, Lffil's dis-agreement with the theory is a surprising new discovery.

it has been known for years that Lilj believed, notwithstanding the Warren Report, that President Kennedy was assassinated by a conspiracy. As a U. S. Senate report published in t976 reveals, a dose aide to LBJ told a high-ranking FBI official in 1967 that Johnsen "is convinced there was a plot in connection with Kennedy's assassination.' In a 1971 Interview with another former aide—an interview pub-lished in Mantic magazine seven months after his January 1973 death—LBJ reiterated his belief that the JFK assassination had been parr of a conspiracy. In the interview Johnson said that when

he became president he had learned that America was 'meat-ing a Murder, Inc. In the Caribbean' It appears LB) thought the JFK assassination a retaliation for CIA-Mafia murder plots in the early 1960's aimed at killing Cuba's Fidel Castro.

When the Warren Commission, with knowledge of the distances and locations In Dealey Plaza, examined the

famous Zapruder film it con-cluded that less than 2 seconds elapsed between the eariiest point in time at which JFK could have been shot in the back, and the latest point in time when Connally could have been shot in the back

However, it had also been established that it took at least 2.3 secants to fire the 'Oswald rifle' twice (without aiming). If, there-fore, there was only one assassin then both JFK and Connally must haw been struck in the back by the same rifle bullet—the single build. As Burt Griffin, a member of the Warren Commission staff, bluntly phrased it: 'To say that [JFK and Connally) were hit by separate bullets is synonymous with saying that there were two assassins.'

The Warren Correnission was totally committed to the single assassin thesis—that Oswald, acting alone, fired all the shots with a Mannlicher-Carcano 6.5 mm bolt-action rifle, that a total of three shod were fired, and that the shots cane from a window en the sixth floor of the school book depository. The Commission's slavish devotion to the single assassin notion, no matter what facts or leads the investigation uncovered, is widely recognized as one of the reasons the Warren Report Is deficient.

Although the Warren Commission denied it, the truth is that without the single bullet theory the Commission would have been forced to abandon Its fundamental premise that Oswald was the sole assassln. It was not the inconclusive firearms tests, but the Commission's fixation with proving that Oswald acted alone, that induced the Commission to favor the single build theory.

Three decades after publica-tion of the Warren -Report, Americans are finally In a position to understand tine tetra* trine In 1964, when the Warren Commission annowiced its find-ings, the American people were being asked to believe a lone assassin scenario underpinned by a ballistics theory which, unknown to them, the President of the United States and nearly half of the members of the Warren Commission had deemed not worthy 01 belief.

Donald E Wilkes is a Picasso, d Law at the University of Gonia.

Photo onirtay of Udell' Itimell ,..,.,cod 11bary

Plata osm., et Illowd Il ra.n Marwial 1.14.wy A InaLICTAIVT MEMBER a/ the Wanes Comm stun. Remelt had to fight * o go r a senamene that the Commission

TO LYNDON JOHNSON Russell confided his dcubts about the single bullet theory'. Johnson said he did

New JFK book "continued coverup" claims university Law professor

•

Lu 0 6

•

0

By D

onald E. W

ilkes Jr. W

hat a shame it is that attor

ney Gerald P

osner's book, Case

Closed (R

andom H

ouse, 1993) is n

ow

, in th

e 30

th y

ear after the

assassination of President John F. K

ennedy, a national best-seller. T

he book purports to prove that th

e Warren

Rep

ort w

as right:

that 2

4-y

ear old

Lee H

arvey

O

swald

was a v

iolen

ce-pro

ne,

disg

run

tled, p

ro-C

om

mu

nist

misfit an

d lo

ner w

ho

, with

ou

t help

from

anyone, m

urd

ered

JFK

; that Osw

ald accomplished

the assassin

ation w

ith a b

olt-

action 6.5mm

Italian rifle manu-

factured around 1940 and amm

u-nition m

anufactured in 1944; that shortly afterw

ards Osw

ald killed a D

allas policeman, J. D

. Tippet,

with

a pisto

l; and th

at the ev

i-den

ce of O

swald

's guilt as th

e lone assassin is so strong that the JF

K m

urder may be described as

a closed case. P

osn

er's bo

ok

is interestin

g;

the author has obviously done a lo

t of research

, and h

e dem

ol-

ishes sev

eral extrav

agan

t con-

spiracy

theo

ries concern

ing th

e assassination; but nonetheless the book w

holly fails to demonstrate

that th

ere was n

o co

nsp

iracy

beh

ind

the assassin

ation

. Th

e effect of the book is to continue th

e coveru

p o

f the sin

ister and

strange circu

mstan

ces of th

e assassin

ation

, a cov

erup

wh

ich

beg

an

with

the W

arre

n

Com

mission in 1964 and contin-

ues to be embraced by the m

edia an

d p

ress establish

men

t. If the

case is dosed, it is only because the coverup continues.

Posner is one of the very few

researchers to have looked at the evidence and concluded that the W

arren Report w

as right, and in that sense he is a so

rt of lo

ne n

ut

among JF

K assassination buffs.

Th

e review

s of P

osn

er's bo

ok

g

enerally

hav

e been

favo

rable,

but th

is is unfo

rtunate, sin

ce P

osner's book is not the result of a judicious and im

partial inquiry; it is not the fruit of a quest for the tru

th; it is a

work

of sp

ecia

l ple

adin

g. In

ord

er to

pro

ve

Osw

ald's guilt as the sole assase

sin o

f a presid

ent an

d th

e lon

e m

urd

erer of a p

olice o

fficer, P

osn

er ign

ores o

r disp

arages

facts to th

e con

trary, an

d erro

-neously asserts that certain m

at-ters are p

roven

facts when

in

actuality they are not. Incredibly, he attem

pts to resuscitate the dis-credited "single bullet theory—the theory that a bullet fired from

behind transected JF

K's back or

neck and then struck Texas G

ov. John C

onnally. In appraising the activ

ities and

statemen

ts of th

e police and intelligence agencies w

hich

failed to

warn

or p

rotect

JFK

and then failed to adequately investigate the assassination, he displays a disturbing naivete sur-prisin

g in

a lawyer su

pposed

to

be a so

ph

isticated in

vestig

ator.

He can

not g

ive a g

ood reaso

n

wh

y O

swald

wo

uld

kill th

e

President, and his lam

e explana-tion of O

swald's alleged m

otive flies in

the face o

f Osw

ald's

behavior after the assassination. In a vain effort to uphold the

single g

unm

an th

eory

, Posn

er constructs an absurd account of th

e a

ctu

al a

ssassin

atio

n: h

e

asserts that a lone Osw

ald, who

would

hav

e had

an easy

, unob-

structed shot as the presidential lim

ousine approached the Texas

Sch

ool B

ook D

eposito

ry, fo

ol-

ishly waited until the lim

ousine h

ad p

assed th

e Dep

osito

ry an

d

was m

ov

ing

away

from

him

before firing, w

hen his target was

hard

er to h

it; that O

swald

then

pro

ceeded

to fire h

is first shot

while his view

of the limousine

was o

bstru

cted b

y b

oth

a tall street lam

p an

d a tree, rath

er th

an w

aiting th

e three seco

nds

more it w

ould take for the car to m

ov

e to a p

ositio

n w

here h

is view

was unobstructed; that the

first shot missed and his second

shot, fire

d 4

seconds la

ter,

wo

un

ded

bo

th JF

K an

d G

ov

. C

onnally

(even

though n

one o

f th

e eyew

itnesses th

ought b

oth

m

en h

ad b

een h

it by

the sam

e bullet, even though C

onnally and h

is wife ad

aman

tly m

aintain

ed

that C

on

nally

was h

it by

a sho

t fired after JF

K had already been

hit, and even though the famous

Zapruder film

of th

e assassina-

tion shows that C

onnally did not react to

his in

jury

un

til secon

ds

after JFK

had reacted to wounds

far less serious than Connally's);

and finally, that 5 seconds later, usin

g a ch

eap, flim

sy, d

ilapi-

dated, 25-year old second-hand rifle that sold for $2.00 w

holesale, O

swald (a poor shot) w

as able to sh

oo

t JFK

in th

e head

at a dis-

tance of 265 feet (88 yards) while

the p

residen

tial limousin

e was

movin

g aw

ay, d

ow

nhill, an

d at

an angle from the sniper's perch

in th

e Dep

osito

ry. P

osn

er even

refers to

the fatal h

eadsh

ot—

a shot w

hich would have required

the co

mb

ined

talents o

f Ro

bin

H

oo

d, W

illiam T

ell, and

An

nie

Oakley—

as -a simple sh

ot" (1

) (C

ase Closed, re 476).

Do

nald

E. W

ilkes P

osn

er's b

ook is n

ot ab

ove

stating

as "fact" matters w

hich

are by no m

eans proven. T

o link Osw

ald to the Italian rifle fo

un

d o

n th

e sixth

floo

r of

the D

eposito

ry, P

osn

er asserts th

at in th

e Warren

Com

missio

n

proceedings the FB

I fiber experts w

ho

exam

ined

the p

aper b

ag

Osw

ald alleg

edly

used

to carry

the Italian rifle to the D

epository "d

iscovered

that th

e bag

con-

tained

micro

scopic fib

ers from

th

e blan

ket w

ith w

hich

Osw

ald

kep

t his rifle

wra

pp

ed

" in a

garage prior to the assassination (p. 225). In actuality, the F

BI fiber

expert w

ho testified

befo

re the

Warren

Co

mm

ission

refused

to

mak

e a positiv

e iden

tification,

statin

g (W

arre

n C

om

missio

n

Hearin

gs, v

ol. 4

, p. 8

1): "A

ll I w

ould

say h

ere is that it is p

ossi-

ble th

at these fib

ers cou

ld h

ave

come from

this blanket ..." In

an attem

pt to

po

oh

-po

oh

th

e large b

od

y of evidence th

at a hidden gunm

an fired at JFK

from

the g

rassy k

no

ll to th

e righ

t fron

t of th

e p

resid

entia

l limousin

e,

Po

sner h

eaps sco

rn o

n th

e eye-

witn

esse

s who sa

w a

puff o

f sm

oke arisin

g fro

m th

e knoll at

the tim

e of th

e shootin

g, assert-

ing that 'since m

odern amm

uni-tion is sm

okeless, It seldom cre-

ates even a wisp of sm

oke" (Case

Clo

sed, p

. 256). H

ow

ever, th

e p

an

el o

f firearm

s e

xile

: is

retained

by th

e U. S

. House o

f R

epre

senta

tives

Select

Com

mittee o

n A

ssassinatio

ns

(which

in 1

977-7

8 rein

vestig

ated

President John F. Kennedy, Jr. w

as assas:nated on Novem

ber 22 1963. His death has

stirred controversy as to the actual assallant(s) for 30 years now.

the JF

K m

urd

er) reported

that

even

smokeless p

ow

der em

its resid

ue an

d sm

oke w

hen

a car-tridge is fired; and the panel fur-th

er reported

that w

hen

they

te

st-fired th

e 'O

swald

" rifle

"som

e sm

oke w

as o

bse

rved

coin

ing fro

m th

e muzzle o

f the

weapon. 1" (H

ouse Assassinations

Com

mittee H

earings, v

ol. 7

, p.

373.) C

onsider also Posner's state-

ment of the "proof" that O

swald

kille

d T

ippet, a

killin

g th

at

Posn

er sa

ys "is [th

e] k

ey to

understan

din

g

Osw

ald's"

mu

rder of JF

K (C

ase Closed, p.

280). Four bullets w

ere removed

from the body of O

fficer TipaL

In

1964, at th

e request o

f the

Warren

Com

missio

n, ex

perts

from the F

BI C

rime L

aboratory co

mpared

those b

ullets w

ith

sample b

ullets fired

from

the

pisto

l taken

from

Osw

ald after

his arrest. The F

BI experts deter-

min

ed th

at becau

se the b

arrel had

been

modified

(apparen

tly

before Osw

ald obtained it), bul-lets fired from

the pistol did not have sufficient identifying m

arks to be linked w

ith the pistol, and th

ey th

erefore co

nclu

ded

that,

although th

e bullets in

Tip

pet's

body could have been fired from

Osw

ald's pistol, it was "not pos-

sible" to say with scientific cer-

tain

ty th

at th

ey h

ad b

een

(Warren C

omm

ission Hearings,

voL 3, p. 475). A

nother ballistics ex

pert retain

ed b

y th

e Warren

C

om

missio

n, Jo

seph N

ichol o

f th

e Chicag

o P

olice L

aborato

ry,

also tested the bullets and agreed w

ith the FB

I experts, except that N

ichol claim

ed th

at his tests

proved one of the Tippet bullets

had

been

fired fro

m O

swald

's pisto

l. Thus N

ichol claim

ed to

have p

roved w

hat th

e F

BI

experts said it was "not possible"

to p

rove. T

he W

arre

n

Com

mission accepted the view

of the F

BI experts that the T

ippet bullets co

uld

not b

e show

n to

a scienti fi r- rot kai-oh,

fired fro

m th

e Osw

ald p

istol

(Warren R

eport, pp. 172,176), In 1

978 th

e H

ouse

Assassin

ations C

om

mittee h

ad

the Tippet bullets exam

ined by a pan

el of fiv

e firearms ex

perts

who, lik

e the F

BI ex

perts, co

n-

cluded that the bullets "could not be co

nclu

sively

iden

tified o

r elim

inated as having been fired fro

m th

e [Osw

ald] rev

olv

er.' (I-louse

Assassin

ations

Com

mittee H

earings, v

ol. 7

, p.

371.) Y

et this is how P

osner states tha "facts" concerning O

swald's

pistol and the bullets that killed T

ippet: "On three of the bullets,

the b

est the ex

perts co

uld

con-

dude was that the bullets had the

same characteristics as O

swald's

revolver, but they could not iso-

fourth bullet had enough unique chara

cte

ristics th

at it w

as

match

ed to

his rev

olv

er to th

e ex

clusio

n o

f all oth

ers." (Case

Closed, p. 279.) In a footnote sup-

posedly supporting this empha-

sized m

istruth

, Posn

er auda-

cio

usly

cite

s the te

stimony

Nic

hol g

ave to

the W

arre

n

Conunissloni

In claiming that O

swald w

as a lo

ner w

ith n

o ties to

Am

erican

intelligence agencies, Posner dis-

misses su

mm

arily a m

assive

amount of evidence that O

swald

had intelligence connections and freq

uen

tly h

ung aro

und w

ith

right-w

ingers, an

d refu

ses to

accept th

e p

lain

truth

that

"loner" Osw

ald associated with

intelligence operatives, including C

IA o

perativ

e and rieh

twin

a

another far-rightist, ex-FB

I agent G

uy B

annister, b

oth

of w

hom

had dose dealings w

ith Osw

ald, th

e supposed

Marx

ist, in N

ew

Orleans in the sum

mer of 1963.

He also

finds "u

nderstan

dab

le, ra

ther th

an sin

ister° (p

. 87),

Osw

ald's clo

se relationsh

ip in

T

exas w

ith th

e m

yste

rious

Georg

e d

e M

ohre

nsc

hild

t, a

wealth

y, rig

ht-w

ing, R

ussian

aristo

cra

t whose

cover w

as

'petro

leum

engin

eerin

g' a

nd

whose entire life w

as steeped in intelligence w

ork. A

mazingly, P

osner accepts at face value solem

n denials, sworn

testim

ony, a

nd a

ffidavits b

y

Am

erican in

telligen

ce agen

cies den

yin

g th

ey h

ad d

ealings w

ith

Osw

ald, and appears to actually believe that the absence of proof in the files of these agencies that O

swald w

as an intelligence agent dem

onstrates th

at he w

as not

such an agent. L

ike all single-assassin theo-rists, P

osn

er can ad

van

ce no

plau

sible reaso

n w

hy O

swald

w

ould have desired JFK

's death. T

here is no evidence that Osw

ald ev

er said an

yth

ing b

ad ab

out o

r in

dicated

any h

ostility

to JF

K,

and th

ere

is evid

ence th

at

Osw

ald ad

mired

JFK

. The b

est ex

plan

ation h

e can o

ffer is that

Osw

ald was the classic lone nut,

a wifeb

eater, a Marx

ist, a mal-

conten

t, a misfit; O

swald

, he

says, killed JFK

because he was

"driv

en b

y h

is ow

n tw

isted an

d

impenetrable furies" (p. 472) and

becau

se he w

anted

the "fam

e" and "glory' that crazies attribute to assassins w

ho kill notable per-

perh

aps m

illions o

f peo

ple as

sick o

r strange as O

swald

sup-

posed

ly w

as, and th

ey d

o n

ot

attempt p

residen

tial assassina-

tions; why then w

ould he? And if

Osw

ald w

anted

to b

ask in

the

splen

dor o

f bein

g a p

residen

tial assassin, w

hy after his arrest did he d

eny g

uilt? W

hy, w

hen

he

was su

rrounded

by th

e press,

when

the cam

eras were ro

lling

and th

e whole w

orld

listenin

g,

did he not (like all previous pres-id

ential assassin

s) glo

ry in

his

deed

and b

rag ab

out it to

the

world

? Why d

id h

e instead

say,

did

n't sh

oot an

ybody," "I'm

just a patsy," and "I em

phatically deny these charges"?

At the end of his book P

osner flatly

claims th

at Osw

ald "w

as the only assassin in D

ealey Plaza

on Novem

ber 22,1963," and con-tends that "N

o say otherwise" is

"to mock the P

resident he killed" (p

. 472). A

s usu

al, P

osn

er is

wrong. T

o leap to the conclusion th

at O

swald

is "a m

an w

ith

blo

od o

n h

is han

ds" (p

. 472), to

claim

that there is overwhelm

ing ev

iden

ce or scien

tific pro

of th

at O

swald w

as the lone assassin, in den

y th

at the ev

iden

ce again

st O

swald

is weak

, to ig

nore th

e co

mpellin

g ev

iden

ce that JF

K's

moto

rcade cam

e under g

unfire

from several directions, or to oth-

erwise try to cling to the quaint,

obso

lesc

ent n

otio

n th

at L

ee

Ilarvey Osw

ald alone killed John P

. Kennedy, is w

hat really consti-tutes m

ocking the truth.

Donsid. E

. Wry

Jr. is a profea so

r at th

e University o

f Geo

rgia

so

ns. B

ut th

ere are thousan

ds,

School of taw.

,-.03151032ERE

.