JFK Files: J. Edgar Hoover said public must believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone

[sandensea]

Source: NBC News

"There is nothing further on the Oswald case except that he is dead."

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover dictated that line in a memo he issued on Nov. 24, 1963, the day Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald as the gunman was being transported to the Dallas County Jail after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Hoover appeared to be particularly concerned that the public would have to be compelled to believe that Oswald was a lone actor — not part of a larger conspiracy.

In the 1964 Warren Report on Kennedy's assassination, Hoover was firm in stating that he hadn't seen "any scintilla of evidence" suggesting a conspiracy — a sentiment he expressed in other public forums, as well, but not in words as blunt as those he used the day Oswald was killed. Hoover dictated: "The thing I am concerned about, and so is Mr. Katzenbach, is having something issued so we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin."

Hoover argued against appointing an independent commission to review the evidence, contending that the matter should be left to the Justice Department, the FBI's parent agency. Lyndon Johnson, the new president, announced the creation of the Warren Commission a few days later.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/jfk-assassination-files/jfk-files-j-edgar-hoover-said-public-must-believe-lee-n814881?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_ai

---

"We'll speak again, Mr. Hoovah," Kennedy famously once told his renegade FBI director. They never did.

[BigmanPigman]

1. ...and I have always trusted Hoover.

[sandensea]

3. Who can blame you!

The only people who ever trusted that little Napoleon were the Mafia.

And we know why.

[yardwork]

15. They didn't trust him. They had pictures of him wearing tutus.

[sandensea]

20. That's the very thing I was getting at.

"Trusted" should have been in quotations.

[dflprincess]

2. One of members of the Warren Commission, Hale Boggs,

once said Hoover "lied his eyes out" when he testified to the Commission.

Hardly surprising to hear that.

[sandensea]

4. Boggs, like the great Paul Wellstone, met similar fates as you know.

I doubt that surprised too many in Washington either.

[brooklynite]

6. And, the conspiracy theories begin again...

[Judi Lynn]

5. Same Hale Boggs whose small airplane crashed in Alaska. Interesting. Thanks. n/t

[burrowowl]

7. What are they covering up not releasing everything?!

[sandensea]

8. Among God knows how many other things,

only the truth.

[burrowowl]

9. Yup!

[Midnight Writer]

10. They will never release everything. This Hoover story is getting attention, but it is old news.

[AntiFascist]

21. CIA was trying to frame Oswald as a KGB spy...

and blame the Communists for the assassination, thus tilting public opinion in favor of war to take control of Cuba. Oil, gambling, sugar, etc industries would have been in favor of Cuba returning to capitalism.

Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy had conducted his own investigation into the assassination digging into possible ties with the ultra-right anti-Castro and militant organizations that were preparing to invade Cuba.

I believe that RFK and Hoover came to a compromise realizing that these conspiracy theories would tear the nation apart, and decided that it was best to make Oswald the lone assassin and leave it at that. CIA then became busy covering its tracks in light of what RFK knew.

That is my CT and I'm sticking to it!

[Irish_Dem]

25. CIA/Dulles brothers. nt

[TomVilmer]

11. Always fun to twist such words...

... and make them sound sound so much more suspiciously.

[Ford_Prefect]

12. Given that Hoover had no evidence to base the claim on at the time he issued the memo...

The allegation was made even then that he was at least premature in his assertion. As the Warren Commission and others since have shown there were indeed reasons to consider that Oswald may not have acted alone, and that he may not have been the shooter, or may not have been the only shooter. The chain of custody of so many key pieces of evidence including the postmortem, the weapon and the bullet(s) makes such a statement impossible to support forensically whether by Hoover or anyone at that point in time.

[TomVilmer]

17. He made a written statement of intent...

... on his very official phone. It is only in James Bond movies, that the villain publicly need to brag about his crime. If this need to be a clever conspiracy, you need to bring way better pieces for the puzzle. Dig deeper - this memo is not new and has been known since last century!

[Ford_Prefect]

18. I never said they were clever nor implied a conspiracy. The evidence at the time of his statement

didn't support Hoover's official public conclusion nor could it at that point in the investigation.

It has been clear for some time that Hoover like other officials of that day was afraid that if the public came to believe that conspiracy was possible there would be riots and other dire public consequences. At that time he was on record as viewing the Civil Rights movement as capable of fomenting riots and insurrection in their cause as well as being a communist supported front group.

Hoover had seen the labor riots, the veteran's riots, the miner's riots and strikes and seemed to feel that were a large enough section of the public sufficiently motivated by the idea that someone in power was responsible they could bring down government. Although I never trusted him I have to say he was likely right about that last observation.

My opinion, for what it is worth, is that whatever Oswald did actually do he was neither alone nor unexpected. He either had assistance directly or was duped, and that the setting for the parade was staged to allow his success, or that of someone else acting in the same capacity. I do not know who arranged these events nor if Oswald was a knowing participant.

I don't know if anyone else was on the grassy knoll or in another building but the idea that only one shooter did this is ridiculous on the face of it. It was certainly clear during The House Assassinations Committee hearings that more went on than could be explained by Hoover's hypothesis.

I do not presume to know who arranged it all. One can speculate on Cui bono and on various contentions about which elements of the Right Wing, the MIC, or the Oil industry may have colluded to bring about regime change, or to stop what they feared was capitulation to the USSR.

[get the red out]

13. Unsuccessful

Hiding documents did the OPPOSITE of making people believe Oswald acted alone. Not being a conspiracy theorist, I just know that telling people something then denying access that would prove your point is just asking for distrust. I was a fetus when Kennedy was killed, so I don't know how fast the conspiracy theories began.

[cubbies01]

14. But in his defense

There are memos he sent to Dallas where he was concerned about Dallas Police having lax security and begging them to increase it ......and then livid when they ignored it and Ruby killed him. I think he knew such an event would cause many to think conspiracy.

[Javaman]

16. I will always believe it was Allen Dulles that ordered it

Who actually carried it is anyone's guess

[sandensea]

19. Same here.

Means, motive, and disposition.

He and his alcoholic brother (and Prescott Bush) helped fund Hitler's rise to power, after all - and continued managing the Nazis' Wall Street investments even during the war.

They were charged but given a pass, sacred cattle that they were.

[JonLP24]

22. K&R

Saw this in your journal otherwise I would have missed it.

He left microdots and often visited embassies (spy nests) there is no way he was working alone.

[Judi Lynn]

23. This item from the article would suggest the Russians already had heard about Operation Northwoods,

which was a project concocted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

• Soviet officials thought the assassination was a conspiracy on the part of the ultraright to start a coup and worried that "some irresponsible general might launch a missile at the Soviet Union," according to one of the just-released memos.

Operation Northwoods:

Operation Northwoods was a proposed false flag operation against the Cuban government that originated within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of the United States government in 1962. The proposals called for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or other U.S. government operatives to commit acts of terrorism against American civilians and military targets, blaming it on the Cuban government, and using it to justify a war against Cuba. The plans detailed in the document included the possible assassination of Cuban émigrés, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and orchestrating violent terrorism in U.S. cities.[2] The proposals were rejected by the Kennedy administration.[3]

At the time of the proposal, communists led by Fidel Castro had recently taken power in Cuba. The operation proposed creating public support for a war against Cuba by blaming it for terrorist acts that would actually be perpetrated by the U.S. Government.[4] To this end, Operation Northwoods proposals recommended hijackings and bombings followed by the introduction of phony evidence that would implicate the Cuban government. It stated:

The desired resultant from the execution of this plan would be to place the United States in the apparent position of suffering defensible grievances from a rash and irresponsible government of Cuba and to develop an international image of a Cuban threat to peace in the Western Hemisphere.

Several other proposals were included within Operation Northwoods, including real or simulated actions against various U.S. military and civilian targets. The operation recommended developing a "Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington".

More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods

Had never heard these comments by creepy Director Hoover. Very interesting to learn about it now. What a shame he got away without a proper send-off, a loud raspberry and a "thanks for nothing" from a multitude.

Thank you, sandensea.

[sandensea]

24. Excellent point, Judi.

It's always seemed to me that Northwoods and Kennedy's assassination had more to do with each other than has been let on.

Kennedy, as you know, vetoed the idea, and then proceeded to fire Joint Chiefs Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer (who had enthusiastically backed the ploy) as well as transfer responsibility for all covert ops to the Pentagon rather than the CIA - as Truman had intended - so as to keep as much of it within presidential control as possible.

As we all know though, it proved to be incredibly naive on his part. He should have guessed that they weren't about to take that lying down.

So in the end, Kennedy's efforts proved futile - even his nixing the murderous Northwoods, which they certainly found another use for.

But then, such is the world.

Thanks again, Judi.

[burrowowl]

26. Good observation!

[sandensea]

28. Thank you.

It is what it is, I suppose.

[DiverDave]

27. Huh...

So it worked?
If you say anything about a second shooter people are
Screeching that you are deluded.

Oswald didnt kill Kennedy.
Warren commission was a coverup.
Now, im waiting

[sandensea]

30. Not everyone agrees with the Official Story.

Poll after poll - and one's own experience whenever the subject comes up in conversation - shows that many, if not most, Americans realize that there was indeed a conspiracy to assassinate the president.

Just who exactly took part is the real mystery.

[lagomorph777]

29. Did Trump release the file that shows Ted Cruz' dad did it?

I haven't seen that yet.

[sandensea]

31. What he should do is release files pertaining to the plot to pin it on Castro

That's where the elder Rafael Cruz comes in, as an accomplice of CIA asset (and rabid anti-Castro exile) Carlos Bringuier.

That fact of the tragedy has never been properly investigated.