(1)
Jim
Garrison,
On the Trail of the Assassins (1988)
I learned
that the Agency was actually attempting to obstruct our investigation.
This only added to my suspicions that the C.I.A. - or some part
of it-had been deeply involved in the assassination. The Agency's
attempted obstruction of our investigation became increasingly perceptible
when we tried to extradite Gordon Novel from Ohio. This legal maneuver
grew out of the clandestine visit by some of Guy Banister's associates
to the blimp base at Houma, Louisiana. They had removed munitions
from the Schlumberger bunker in the middle of the night and brought
them into New Orleans.
Some time
after we learned about this jaunt, an informant advised us that
Novel had taken a photograph of the truck used in picking up the
munitions. Subsequently, Novel had sold the photograph to Walter
Sheridan of N.B.C. I discussed this unusual case with the D.A. of
Houma, and he insisted that as far as his jurisdiction was concerned,
the removal of the munitions from the Schlumberger bunker had been
a burglary. In my judgment, the transport of the burglarized material
into New Orleans had been a felony, and the disposal of evidence
relating to the offense (sale of the photograph to NBC) also was
a crime committed in New Orleans.
However,
before I could question Novel about this latest adventure involving
Guy Banister and his personal war against Cuba, Novel picked up
word that I was looking for him (probably from one of the half dozen
CIA men I had naively embraced as associates) and hit the road.
We located
Novel in Ohio and moved for his extradition in April 1967. We wanted
to know why the ammunition had been taken from the Schlumberger
bunker, why it had been brought into New Orleans, and why the photograph
of the truck had been sold to Walter Sheridan.
In the following
weeks, Gordon Novel, through interviews and press conferences in
Ohio, began providing the public with more enlightenment about some
of the C.I.A.'s activities than we had been able to develop in the
previous several months. Among other things, he announced that the
Schlumberger bunker business had been a CIA enterprise all the way.
(2)
Gordon Novel, letter to his CIA contact (January, 1967)
I took the
liberty of writing you direct and apprising you of current situation,
expecting you to forward this through appropriate channels. Our
connection and activity of that period involves individuals presently
about to be indicted as conspirators in Garrison's investigation....
Garrison has subpoenaed myself and an associate to testify before
his grand jury on matters which may be classified TOP SECRET. Actions
of individuals connected with DOUBLE-CHEK CORPORATION in Miami in
first quarter of 1961.
We have
no current contact available to inform of this situation. So I took
the liberty of writing you direct and apprising you of current situation.
Expecting you to forward this through appropriate channels.
Our connection
and activity of that period involves individuals presently about
to be indicted as conspirators in Mr. Garrison's investigation.
We have
temporarily avoided one subpoena not to reveal Double Chek activities
or associate them with this mess. We want out of this thing before
Thursday 3/67. Our attorneys have been told to expect another subpoena
to appear and testify on this matter. The fifth amendment and/or
immunity (and) legal tactics will not suffice.
Mr. Garrison
is in possession of unsworn portions of this testimony. He is unaware
of Double-Chek's involvement in this matter but has strong suspicions.
I have been questioned extensively by local FBI recently as to whether
or not I was involved with Double-Chek's parent holding corporation
during that time. My reply on five queries was negative. Bureau
unaware of Double-Chek association in this matter. Our attorneys
and others are in possession of complete sealed files containing
all information concerning matter. In the event of our sudden departure,
either accidental or otherwise, they are instructed to simultaneously
release same for public scrutiny in different areas simultaneously.
Appropriate
counteraction relative to Garrison's inquisition concerning us may
best handled through military channels vis a vis D.I.A. man. Garrison
is presently colonel in Louisiana Army National Guard and has ready
reserve status. Contact may be had through our attorneys of current
record, Plotkin, Alverez, Sapir.
(3)
J. Edgar Hoover, memo to SAC, New
Orleans (27th April, 1967)
On 4/25/67
Mr. Howard Osborn, Director of Security, CIA, informed the Bureau's
liaison representative that Gordon Novel's alleged claim that he
was associated with is completely false. Mr. Osborn stated that
Gordon Novel, David William Ferrie and Sergio Arcacha Smith have
never been of operational interest to CIA. He also stated that the
Evergreen Advertising has no connection whatsoever with CIA.
(4)
Alan
J. Weberman,
Coup D'Etat in America:
The CIA and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy (1975)
Novel ran
an electronics firm in New Orleans which specialized in selling
equipment used for bugging. s' His lawyer claimed he held a position
identical to that of Hunt, an intermediary between the Cuban exiles
and the CIA." After initially denying that he had had any part
in the burglary, he stated that "It was one of the most patriotic
burglaries in history," and that it was done under the direction
of the CIA as part of the Bay of Pigs operation. Novel confessed
he had been given a key to the bunker and that the people he had
met there, Arcacha Smith and David Ferrie were also working for
the CIA."
Note the
fact that the munitions bunker that was burglarized was owned by
the Shlumberger Corporation, the same people DeMohrenschildt approached
for help in his Haitian venture. The New Orleans States Item reported
that a reliable source informed them that there were crates marked
"Shlumburger" in Guy Bannister's office soon after the
burglary.
Novel also
worked with the propaganda end of the invasion. As a director of
a CIA front called the Evergreen Advertising Agency, he was responsible
for transmitting cryptographic messages to alert the exiles to the
invasion date. Hunt was in charge of domestic propaganda for the
Bay of Pigs operation and was probably Novel's superior.
After Garrison indicted him, Novel eventually ended up in McLean,
Virginia, where he took a lie-detector test from a retired Army
Intelligence agent, which, of course, proved he was innocent. While
he was away from New Orleans, two women who had taken over Novel's
apartment discovered a note written in his hand which was seemingly
addressed to his CIA contact...
During the
planning of the Bay of Pigs invasion, Howard Hunt also worked for
Double-Chek, a dummy electronics firm located just outside Miami.
"Headquarters proved to be an office building converted for
our use and disguised as an electronics firm," Hunt stated.
Novel's lawyer said his client's work at DoubleChek had "little
or nothing to do with the assassination of President Kennedy,"
although he admitted that "...everything in the letter as far
as Novel is concerned is actually the truth."
(5)
Dave Reitzes, Gordon
Novel: CIA Agent or Con Artist? (2004)
Gordon
Novel has claimed at times to be or to have been involved with the
CIA. No evidence supports this - in fact, Novel's been caught in
any number of lies - and CIA internal memoranda from the time of
the Garrison probe deny any connection with or knowledge of Novel.
Here's a
repost of some assorted notes on Novel, beginning with the subject
that brought Novel his original notoriety - his claim that a munitions
burglary he participated in had actually been a CIA operation. (The
1961 heist consisted of explosives and possibly other arms from
a Houma, La., bunker owned by Schlumberger Well Surveying Corporation.
Other participants in the robbery included Sergio Arcacha Smith
and David Ferrie, and the booty was sent to some of Arcacha's anti-Castro
buddies for use against El Jefe.)
Contrary
to later claims by participant Gordon Novel (a self-proclaimed electronics
expert who was working with Garrison until Garrison decided that
Novel's associations were suspicious and subpoenaed him as a witness,
whereupon Novel left the state), the heist appears to have been,
in fact, a simple burglary, not the CIA "weapons transfer"
alleged in many conspiracy books.
