The best evidence Ferrie and Clay Shaw were close acquaintences

[Tommy Shanks]

They're tall tales because they're not supported by any other evidence, as Fred points out in his own blog posting.

[Lance Payette]

How do you know they're tall tales?

I don't see anything tall about these tales. Pena is just saying he saw two people coming in to a bar together. Seems kinda mundane to me.

You are conveniently ignoring that he also said he was an FBI informant, knew Oswald was an FBI informant, saw Oswald with Warren DeBrueys, and saw Oswald 10-12 times in Pedro's restaurant, often in the company of Customs and INS agents. His claims about seeing Ferrie and Shaw are not, on their face, outlandish, although they are at odds with pretty much all the evidence and difficult to believe in the context of Shaw's life. It's Pena's other stuff that would make me put his Ferrie-Shaw stuff in the category of a tall tale. If the same thing had been said by some banker who had no connection of any sort with any JFKA stuff, that would be one thing - but Pena was knee-deep in JFKA stuff and clearly trying to implicate Shaw via innuendo for some purpose known only to him.

[Gerry Down]

You are conveniently ignoring that he also said he was an FBI informant, knew Oswald was an FBI informant, saw Oswald with Warren DeBrueys, and saw Oswald 10-12 times in Pedro's restaurant, often in the company of Customs and INS agents. His claims about seeing Ferrie and Shaw are not, on their face, outlandish, although they are at odds with pretty much all the evidence and difficult to believe in the context of Shaw's life. It's Pena's other stuff that would make me put his Ferrie-Shaw stuff in the category of a tall tale. If the same thing had been said by some banker who had no connection of any sort with any JFKA stuff, that would be one thing - but Pena was knee-deep in JFKA stuff and clearly trying to implicate Shaw via innuendo for some purpose known only to him.

I don't see anything unusual with LHO being in the company of FBI and customs. Oswald was ingratiating  himself with lots of people in that timeframe that he would be ideologically opposed to such as Bringuier and the Walker rally in October.

And it just happens that if LHO was in the company of the FBI that summer, it would explain why he called them when he was in jail.

It should be remembered that the customs building was directly opposite Penas bar so if one was to see LHO with customs, it would most likely have been in the vicinity of Penas bar.

[Benjamin Cole]

GD-

Thanks for your post.

I am a little taken aback by people who (never having met Shaw) say that, "Well, you know Shaw was an elite high-class guy, who would have never been seen in the company of Ferrie, or consorted with him."

Some forget that Shaw and Ferrie shared a strong ideological bond, an opposition to communism (then a big issue). They were both CIA assets. It assumed that Shaw must be a snob, with no evidence for that. And yes, Shaw and Ferrie shared a secret sex lifestyle (at that time and place). They had a lot in common.

The US is not really a class-conscious society; I am sure there are exceptions. But Shaw in the company of Ferrie? Why not?

[Fred Litwin]

Neither were CIA assets.

There is not one piece of evidence that they knew each other.

Except for the testimony of Perry Russo.

Just because they were both gay doesn't mean they knew each other.

Layton Martens, who knew both of them, said they didn't know each other.

fred

[Lance Payette]

Why not?

Because there is no evidence - would that be a reason?

Based on your goofy analysis, there are probably 2,000 people in my little town to whom I could be "plausibly connected" via innuendo but in fact have never met.

I forgot to mention that Shaw's housekeeper of 18 years said she had never seen Ferrie.

[Tommy Shanks]

The US is not really a class-conscious society; I am sure there are exceptions. But Shaw in the company of Ferrie? Why not?

Benjamin, because, as Fred Litwin has shown here, there is literally no evidence to support such a claim.. and, people who knew both of them and have no reason to distort the truth insist they never knew each other.