Jefferson Morley's Unbearable Lightness of Being

[Jon Banks]

From what I can see, all the conspiracy people here need to go back and re-read Fred's article carefully. They are not getting the facts right. Here's one major fact. It is not just Bringuier saying that he had nothing to do with Joannides. None of the DRE people are claiming or have ever claimed that Joannides told Bringuier what to do. Bringuier did what came naturally when he saw a pro-Castro supporter like LHO.

That's not the point.

The point is, the DRE reported to a CIA officer named "Howard" who we now can confirm was Joannides.

Which means, Joannides knew about Oswald before the assassination and advised the DRE on what to do with the information they had on Oswald after the assassination.

You guys act as if LN'ers didn't spend years accepting the CIA's denials that "Howard" existed. The CIA's rep for the ARRB has more integrity than you all because at least he admits that he was wrong.

[W. Tracy Parnell]

That's not the point.

The point is, the DRE reported to a CIA officer named "Howard" who we now can confirm was Joannides.

Which means, Joannides knew about Oswald before the assassination and advised the DRE on what to do with the information they had on Oswald after the assassination.

You guys act as if LN'ers didn't spend years accepting the CIA's denials that "Howard" existed. The CIA's rep for the ARRB has more integrity than you all because at least he admits that he was wrong.

We don't have proof that Joannides knew about Oswald before the assassination-only after. One or two of the members said they told Joannides about Oswald. That is all the evidence we have on that. But even if they told him before, there is no evidence that he thought much about it or did anything about it. And nobody says that he did. That is why it is a nothingburger.

[Jon Banks]

We don't have proof that Joannides knew about Oswald before the assassination-only after.

Given that Oswald's confrontation with Bringuier made the local news (plus Oswald requested to speak to the FBI while in police custody) and they also had a radio show appearance together, the odds that Joannides had no knowledge of Oswald prior to 11/22/63 are very low.

Bringuer also noted that he reported everything that happened with Oswald to the DRE leaders in Miami who reported to "Howard".

Unless Joannides was bad at his job, we can assume he read Bringuer's reports and had heard of LHO before 11/22/63 via other information sources.

One or two of the members said they told Joannides about Oswald. That is all the evidence we have on that. But even if they told him before, there is no evidence that he thought much about it or did anything about it. And nobody says that he did. That is why it is a nothingburger.

We can agree that none of this information directly connects Joannides to JFK's assassination if that's what you mean. Even if LHO was wittingly or unwittingly part of the CIA's campaign against the "Fair Play for Cuba" organization, it doesn't prove the CIA was complicit in JFK's murder.

I'm fully aware of that and am not arguing that this is some sort of "Smoking Gun". I don't think Jeff Morley is suggesting that either.

But it does however raise questions about what else the CIA has lied about in the official records.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

From what I can see, all the conspiracy people here need to go back and re-read Fred's article carefully. They are not getting the facts right. Here's one major fact. It is not just Bringuier saying that he had nothing to do with Joannides. None of the DRE people are claiming or have ever claimed that Joannides told Bringuier what to do. Bringuier did what came naturally when he saw a pro-Castro supporter like LHO.

We have to add the actions of Stuckey - who was almost as critical to any supposed operation as Bringuier - to the mix. It was Stuckey who met Oswald, was impressed enough to interview him on TV and then invite him to a debate. If Stuckey meets Oswald and thinks, "This is a nut, no thanks" then the whole matter fades away.

Multiple people involved here, directly or indirectly, with no evidence, from them or elsewhere, of being controlled or directed by Joannides. And it sure as heck isn't in the Joannides file.

Stuckey's testimony is here: https://www.jfk-assassination.net/russ/testimony/stuckey.htm

[W. Tracy Parnell]

We have to add the actions of Stuckey - who was almost as critical to any supposed operation as Bringuier - to the mix. It was Stuckey who met Oswald, was impressed enough to interview him on TV and then invite him to a debate. If Stuckey meets Oswald and thinks, "This is a nut, no thanks" then the whole matter fades away.

Multiple people involved here, directly or indirectly, with no evidence, from them or elsewhere, of being controlled or directed by Joannides. And it sure as heck isn't in the Joannides file.

Stuckey's testimony is here: https://www.jfk-assassination.net/russ/testimony/stuckey.htm

Very good points Steve.

[W. Tracy Parnell]

Given that Oswald's confrontation with Bringuier made the local news (plus Oswald requested to speak to the FBI while in police custody) and they also had a radio show appearance together, the odds that Joannides had no knowledge of Oswald prior to 11/22/63 are very low.

Bringuer also noted that he reported everything that happened with Oswald to the DRE leaders in Miami who reported to "Howard".

Unless Joannides was bad at his job, we can assume he read Bringuer's reports and had heard of LHO before 11/22/63 via other information sources.


We can agree that none of this information directly connects Joannides to JFK's assassination if that's what you mean. Even if LHO was wittingly or unwittingly part of the CIA's campaign against the "Fair Play for Cuba" organization, it doesn't prove the CIA was complicit in JFK's murder.

I'm fully aware of that and am not arguing that this is some sort of "Smoking Gun". I don't think Jeff Morley is suggesting that either.

But it does however raise questions about what else the CIA has lied about in the official records.

What you have to have is GJ's knowledge of LHO before the assassination AND GJ running Bringuier's interactions with LHO for a nefarious purpose. All you have is the possible knowledge of LHO by GJ who by all accounts did nothing with said knowledge BEFORE the assassination. Without all of these things you have a nothingburger.

BTW, Morley is right back to claiming there was an Oswald Operation. He is just not saying he has a smoking gun anymore because he doesn't and never did. But he is still claiming the same thing-there was a nefarious operation run by GJ that somehow involved LHO.

[Jon Banks]

Multiple people involved here, directly or indirectly, with no evidence, from them or elsewhere, of being controlled or directed by Joannides. And it sure as heck isn't in the Joannides file.

Stuckey's testimony is here: https://www.jfk-assassination.net/russ/testimony/stuckey.htm

The 17 months worth of information missing from Joannides' files overlaps with the summer of 1963. Therefore we can't say for certain what Joannides knew or wrote about Oswald:

"Harrelson’s memo also noted that progress reports on Joannides’s Miami operation were missing for the 17 months he was there"


All I can say is that some of you have too much pride to admit that you were lied to...

[Jon Banks]

What you have to have is GJ's knowledge of LHO before the assassination AND GJ running Bringuier's interactions with LHO for a nefarious purpose.

I disagree. Read what Jose Lanuza told the Miami Herald in 2019:

Jose Antonio Lanuza, 83, a former member of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil, or Revolutionary Student Directorate, a Cuban exile anti-Castro organization active in the 1960s, told the Herald he was hoping the remaining documents would confirm a long-held suspicion that he, and other Directorate members, were used by Joannides, the organization’s case handler in Miami, to create and later spread the fake narrative that Oswald was a pro-Castro sympathizer, providing a handy motive for the assassination.

“I think [the CIA] built this legend,” Lanuza said. “Why? Because when it became known that he had killed Kennedy, an idiot named José Antonio Lanuza, that’s me, suddenly his memory would tell him, hey, I know this guy, this is Castro sympathizer.”

Morley has also advanced a version of this theory, but he told reporters last week that he believes Joannides may have used Oswald to undermine the work of Fair Play for Cuba.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article270075417.html#storylink=cpy

BTW, Morley is right back to claiming there was an Oswald Operation. He is just not saying he has a smoking gun anymore because he doesn't and never did. But he is still claiming the same thing-there was a nefarious operation run by GJ that somehow involved LHO.

GJ was into some pretty nefarious stuff including attempts to recruit assassins for anti-Castro operations.

Plus he ran a CIA operation in the US, which is illegal.

Joannides would NOT have been approved to be the CIA’s liaison for the HSCA had Congress known his background at that time.