Thomas Nelms Downing was
born in York County, Virginia, on 1st February, 1919. After graduating
from Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, he served in the United
States Army (1942-46). After the Second World War
Downing worked as a lawyer and substitute judge in Warwick.
A member of the Democratic
Party, Downing was elected to Congress in 1958. Downing was one
of the first to question the credibility of the Warren
Commission and
began
a campaign for a new investigation into the assassination of John
F. Kennedy.
Downing said he was certain that Kennedy had been killed as a result
of a conspiracy. He believed that the deaths of Sam
Giancana and
Johnny
Roselli were
highly significant. He also believed that the Central
Intelligence Agency and
the Federal
Bureau of Investigation had
withheld important information from the investigation.
Downing was not alone in taking this view. In 1976, a Detroit
News poll indicated that 87% of the American population
did not believe that Lee Harvey Oswald
was the lone gunman who killed Kennedy.
Downing
was appointed as chairman of the
House
Select Committee on Assassinations.
He
named Richard Sprague
as chief counsel of the
Gaeton
Fonzi was
to later say: "Sprague was known
as tough, tenacious and independent. There was absolutely no doubt
in my mind when I heard of Sprague's appointment that the Kennedy
assassination would finally get what it needed: a no-holds-barred,
honest investigation. Which just goes to show how ignorant of the
ways of Washington both Sprague and I were".
Sprague
quickly assembled a staff of 170 lawyers, investigators and researchers.
On 8th December, 1976, Sprague submitted a 1977 budget of $6.5 million.
Frank Thompson, Chairman of the House Administration Committee made
it clear he opposed the idea of so much money being spent on the investigation.
Smear
stories against Sprague began appearing in the press. David B. Burnham
of The New York Times reported
that Sprague had mishandled a homicide case involving the son of a
friend. Members of Congress joined in the attacks and Robert E. Bauman
of Maryland claimed that Sprague had a "checkered career"
and was not to be trusted. Richard Kelly of Florida called the House
Select Committee on Assassinations a "multimillion-dollar
fishing expedition for the benefit of a bunch of publicity seekers."
On 2nd February, 1978,
Henry
Gonzalez replaced
Downing
as chairman of the
House Select Committee on Assassinations.
Gonzalez immediately sacked Richard
Sprague as
chief counsel.
Sprague claimed that only the fill committee had the power to dismiss
him. Walter
E. Fauntroy agreed with Sprague and launched a campaign to keep
him as chief counsel. On 1st March, Gonzalez resigned describing Sprague
as "an unconscionable scoundrel"
Downing retired from Congress
in 1976.
Thomas Nelms Downing died
on 23rd October, 2001.
House
Select Committee on Assassinations
Open
Debate on the Kennedy Assassination
(1)
Thomas Nelms Downing,
interviewed by the Sixth
Floor Museum (11th February, 1998)
The
acoustical evidence... was the best evidence the Committee had,
and after you said that, you haven’t said too much. I mean,
a lot of people won’t buy those two bullets being so close
together. But that is certainly the best evidence the Committee
could come up with, and that’s just sitting in the Justice
Department now.
I think
the main opposition to the theory of assassination by more than
one person is a fact that now that - how many years? - thirty years
nearly have elapsed, and not one person has broken the silence…
not one person. And that is almost believable. Now, if the mafia
did it, they say the mafia can keep secrets.
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