A hole in Bledsoe's story?

[Michael Capasse]

Some more from “History Will Prove Us Right” by Howard Willens, page 100:

Because Rankin had required that all investigative requests be reviewed by me before going to him for approval, I had more dealings than others on the staff with James Malley, the FBI inspector who was our official liaison with the bureau. There were approximately three hundred such investigative requests, most to the FBI. On occasion, Malley discussed a particular request with Rankin or me (or other lawyers) and suggested ways to rephrase or break it down into more limited requests. We almost always agreed to make these suggested changes. If the responsible lawyer and Malley could not agree, Rankin would resolve the issue. Malley described his relationship with the commission as businesslike, and I agree with that. He knew that I worked for the Justice Department and had access to high officials there. I knew that he had superiors at FBI headquarters who insisted that he keep them fully informed about the commission.

The commission’s lawyers weren’t hesitant about questioning the FBI’s work. They understood that they had been appointed from the private sector in large measure to ensure their independence in conducting a thorough investigation. In fact, they relished proving FBI conclusions wrong. Most of our lawyers focused on finding flaws in the FBI conclusion that there were no conspiracies involving Oswald or Ruby. Many likely thought that someone (or some organization) more able and intelligent than Oswald and Ruby might have had a hand in this national tragedy and that this possibility had to be fully investigated. The team worked hard to examine every possible angle from which a conspiracy might have arisen. Conspiracies are almost always eventually revealed. No one on the staff wanted to go down in history as among those who failed to uncover the conspiracy that had taken a president’s life. None of us regarded the FBI denial of conspiracies involving Oswald or Ruby as established fact.

James Malley, the FBI inspector = Captain's 1st mate to guide the ship.

Most of our lawyers focused on finding flaws in the FBI conclusion that there were no conspiracies involving Oswald or Ruby. Many likely thought that someone (or some organization) more able and intelligent than Oswald and Ruby might have had a hand in this national tragedy and that this possibility had to be fully investigated. The team worked hard to examine every possible angle from which a conspiracy might have arisen

No they didn't. One proof of that is how they handled the Hudgens allegations. They buried it.
They followed the mandate set out by the Katzenbach Memo.

Jan. 22 1964 | Executive Session
A: But they are concluding that there can't be a conspiracy without those being run out. Now that is not from my experience with the FBI.
Q: It is not. You are quite right. I have seen a great many reports.

[Zeon Mason]

It would not require much effort to cut a ticket from McWatters PRE PUNCHED ticket roll and then produce the ticket later and claim it was “found” in Oswald’s shirt pocket.

The question is which came 1st, the “finding” of the ticket during Oswald’s arrest, or the affidavit filed by Bledsoe?

If the former then planting the bus ticket makes no sense whatsoever.

Only if the latter is there any plausible reason possibly that someone decided that a pre punched ticket from McWatters roll of tickets could help establish Oswald shooting Tippit at 1:15 rather that Oswald being at the theatre at 1:15-1:20 as  claimed by Burroughs and Davis.

[Tom Graves]

It would not require much effort to cut a ticket from McWatters PRE PUNCHED ticket roll and then produce the ticket later and claim it was “found” in Oswald’s shirt pocket.

The question is which came 1st, the “finding” of the ticket during Oswald’s arrest, or the affidavit filed by Bledsoe?

If the former, then planting the bus ticket makes no sense whatsoever.

Only if the latter is there any plausible reason possibly that someone decided that a pre punched ticket from McWatters roll of tickets could help establish Oswald shooting Tippit at 1:15 rather that Oswald being at the theatre at 1:15-1:20 as claimed by Burroughs and Davis.

Point being?

[Charles Collins]

It would not require much effort to cut a ticket from McWatters PRE PUNCHED ticket roll and then produce the ticket later and claim it was “found” in Oswald’s shirt pocket.

The question is which came 1st, the “finding” of the ticket during Oswald’s arrest, or the affidavit filed by Bledsoe?

If the former then planting the bus ticket makes no sense whatsoever.

Only if the latter is there any plausible reason possibly that someone decided that a pre punched ticket from McWatters roll of tickets could help establish Oswald shooting Tippit at 1:15 rather that Oswald being at the theatre at 1:15-1:20 as  claimed by Burroughs and Davis.

If the former then planting the bus ticket makes no sense whatsoever.



Mr. BALL - Now, you were called down to the Dallas police department later, weren't you?
Mr. McWATTERS - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - What day was it?
Mr. McWATTERS - It was on the same day, the 22d.
Mr. BALL - 22d. Do you know how they happened to get in touch with you, did you notify them that you.--
Mr. McWATTERS - No, sir; I didn't know anything to that effect.
Mr. BALL - Did they come out and get you?
Mr. McWATTERS - They come out and--
Mr. BALL - What did they ask you?
Mr. McWATTERS - Well, they stopped me; it was, I would say around 6:15 or somewhere around 6:15 or 6:20 that afternoon.
Mr. BALL - You were still on duty, were you?
Mr. McWATTERS - Yes, sir.
Mr. BALL - Still on your bus?
Mr. McWATTERS - I was on duty but I was on a different line and a different bus.
Mr. BALL - What did they ask you when they came out?
Mr. McWATTERS - Well, they stopped me right by the city hall there when I come by there and they wanted me to come in, they wanted to ask me some questions. And I don't know what it was about or anything until I got in there and they told me what happened.


Mr. BALL - When did you first notify the police that you believe you'd seen Oswald?
Mrs. BLEDSOE - When I got home, first thing I did I went next door and told them the President had been shot, and he said, "Why, he has got killed." Well, I turned on the radio--television--and we heard ambulances and going around and there was a little boy came in that room in the back and he turned it on, and we listened and hear about the President, only one I was interested in, so, he went on back to work and they kept talking about this boy Oswald and had on a brown shirt, and all of a sudden, well, I declare, I believe that this was this boy, and his name was Oswald---that is---give me his right name, you know, and so, about an hour my son came home, and I told him and he immediately called the police and told them, because we wanted to do all we could, and so, I went down the next night. He took me down, and I made a statement to them, what kind of---Secret Service man or something down there.
Mr. BALL - Where?
Mrs. BLEDSOE - At the police station.


From the above testimonies, I believe that they must have already found the bus ticket on LHO in order to know that they should track down McWatters on 11/22/63 late in the afternoon.

And Bledsoe testifies that she didn't give her statement until the next night (11/23/63).


So it seems that it is "the former" and that, in your opinion, "planting the bus ticket makes no sense whatsoever."

[John Iacoletti]

You create your own argument that even doesn't exist.
No one is saying more than half of what you printed here.

That's why he is called Strawman "Smith".

[John Iacoletti]

You left out: “conduct its own investigation, and take the testimony of witnesses in Washington.”

But Charles, the outline that Rankin presented in a January 11, 1964 memo had a section titled "Lee Harvey Oswald as the assassin of President Kennedy".  This was before they took a single bit of testimony.

[John Iacoletti]

I believed then and now that any effort by the commission to embark on an investigation that ignored the facts implicating Oswald in the killing of the president and Officer Tippit would have smacked of pretense or naïveté that would have thoroughly impeached the commission’s credibility.

How would they know these were "facts" prior to doing any investigating?  Sounds like post-hoc rationalization of a predetermined conclusion to me.