Post by Rob Caprio on Apr 29, 2024 20:23:59 GMT -5
All portions are ©️ Robert Caprio 2006-2024
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In 1966, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison decided to resume his look into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK) that he began on the weekend following it. He regretted stopping and forgetting about it for nearly three years and decided the events of the summer of 1963 deserved a deeper look than he gave it initially.
One of the people that intrigued him in this area was former FBI man Guy Banister. He was most interested in what kind of relationship he might have had with the accused assassin of JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO), and he made him a focal point of his investigation.
As we have seen previously in this series, Garrison stated in his book, On The Trail of The Assassins (OTTOTA), that he knew Banister fairly well and had lunch with him every so often when he was with the police department [Banister had been a deputy superintendent of the New Orleans police department]. Garrison said that Banister always dressed immaculately, and this is important to remember as it could have been the man seen with LHO in Clinton, Louisiana, and other places. Because the description is “white hair and immaculately dressed” researchers assume the person is Clay Shaw, but some of the sightings (or all of them) could have been Banister instead.
One of the main ways he felt a relationship between Banister and LHO could be established was through the location of Banister's office as it seemed to tie into an address that was on some of the pamphlets LHO was handing out in August 1963 in New Orleans near the Trade Mart Building.
Banister ran a private detective agency (Guy Banister Associates, Inc., Investigators) at 531 Lafayette Street in New Orleans. Garrison stated upon visiting the building he realized that both the 531 entrance and the more famous 544 Camp Street addresses both led to Banister’s office.
Of course, this has been attacked by defenders of the Warren Commission (WC) as they say that this isn’t correct. What else can they do since LHO passed out Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) leaflets on August 9, 1963, that bore the 544 Camp Street address on them? According to Jack Martin, a private detective and Banister associate, Banister was furious with LHO for doing this as he feared that it would lead to his office. Why would he think this if the WC defenders are correct?
The whole pamphlet episode was a staged event and Garrison found evidence to prove it. He explains how in his book On The Trail of The Assassins for us.
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...I noticed that one of the young men shown in local news photos handing out flyers with Oswald looked very much like the son of one of my artillery officers in the National Guard. I called Charles Steele and I learned that indeed it was his son, Charles Jr. We interviewed young Steele and discovered that Oswald had paid him and others two dollars an hour to hand out pamphlets with him. Oswald told them that they had to do this until the news photographers had departed after which they were free to go. (Jim Garrison, OTTOTA, p. 25 [hardcover edition])
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This is clear proof that all of this was a staged event. Why was LHO doing this? Most likely because he was ordered to do it by Banister, but Banister was just following orders himself as it came from a higher up source. CIA? FBI? Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)? Both? All three?
Unfortunately, we will never know for sure, but since the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) was being "watched" by the CIA they are likely a source for this action. The FBI has to be considered as well due to LHO asking to speak with an FBI agent on August 9, 1963, when he was arrested after an obviously contrived altercation involving the suspicious Carlos Bruguier. For all we know, the FPCC could have been an invention of either the CIA or the FBI as they have a history of creating groups like this so they can "watch" them and justify their budgets. Think about it -- without groups that could cause trouble for America why would we need the CIA or FBI?
Another event in the summer of 1963 that Banister may have assisted with was the radio debate that LHO did following his arrest. He was arrested for disturbing the peace so how would this make him so popular that radio programs wanted him on their show to tout the greatness of Marxism? These appearances feel staged just like his pamphlet outing. The reason Banister was mad about putting 544 Camp Street on the pamphlets was that would lead to him, and he didn't want that. Based on what Jack Martin said, and others, we know that Banister's work involved anti-Castro Cubans and one David Ferrie.
The reason Banister didn't want attention drawn to him was his office's location. It was surrounded by the offices of the ONI and the Secret Service (SS). His previous office was directly across the street from the New Orleans offices of the CIA and the FBI. Was all this just a coincidence? That is highly doubtful.
As we have seen in the post about Jack Martin in this series, LHO was at Banister's office.
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“There was a bunch of them. It was like a circus. There were all those Cubans—coming in and going out, coming in and going out. They all looked alike to me…Then there were all these other characters. There was David Ferrie—you know about him by now…He practically lived there.”
Garrison asked him, “And Lee Harvey Oswald?”
Martin replied, “Yeah, he was there too. Sometimes he'd be meeting with Guy Banister with the door shut. Other times he'd be shooting the bull with David Ferrie. But he was there all right.” (OTTOTA, pp. 31-32)
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/1265/garrison-chronicles-jack-martin
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Martin also told Garrison that Banister “was running the circus.” This makes sense due to Banister’s background in intelligence. At this point Martin got up to leave so Garrison asked him why he was going. Martin told him that pursuing this “would bring the whole goddamned federal government down on our backs.” Why would this be so if only LHO was guilty as the Warren Commission (WC) claimed, and the federal agencies had nothing to do with his "sheep dipping?"
Another clue who was running Banister's operations was in the fact that his widow told Garrison that within an hour or two of his death (he was found dead in his apartment on June 6, 1964) federal men showed up to take away his files. (Ibid., p. 37) She said that they were either FBI or SS, but she couldn't recall for sure. The state police showed up and took most of his index cards as well. Garrison found a couple and highlighted what one of them showed.
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American Central Intelligence Agency 20-10
Ammunition and Arms 32-1
Anti-Soviet Underground 25-1
B-70 Manned Bomber Force 15-16
Civil Rights Program of JFK 8-41
Dismantling of Ballistic Missile System 15-16
Dismantling of Defenses, U.S. 15-16
Fair Play for Cuba Committee 23-7
International Trade Mart 23-14
Italy, U.S. Bases Dismantled in General Assembly of the United Nations 15-16
Latin America 23-1
Missile Bases Dismantled--Turkey and Italy 15-16
Thus ended the myth of Guy Banister's "private detective agency." (Ibid., pp. 37-38)
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Clearly, this was stuff not related a local private detective agency in the South of the United States. Instead that was a cover for his true work which was using anti-Castro Cubans and people like LHO to accomplish the missions planned by the CIA, FBI and the ONI. Things like ammunition and explosives that were hidden in CIA bases for use against Cuba and other locations came to light because of Garrison's investigation.
He learned of this when he talked with Gordon Novel who had previous ties to the CIA. Novel described one such mission to Schlumberger Corporation to retrieve land mines, hand grenades, and rifle grenades that were stored in their explosives bunker. One of the people who accompanied Novel to Houma, Louisiana, was David Ferrie. (On The Trail of The Assassins, p. 40 [hardcover]). The Schlumberger Corporation was French and had ties to the French counter-revolutionary Secret Army Organization (O.A.S.) which had tried to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle several times in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. The CIA had supplied Schlumberger with anti-personnel ammunition, and it was taking it back on this trip. (Ibid., p. 40)
According to Novel the man running all of this was Banister. The big question about Novel was IF he was really ex-CIA as some say you never really leave the agency so was this a sanctioned action by them? Novel also bears a striking resemblance to the man in Dealey Plaza (DP) known to researchers as "The Umbrella Man." Was Novel there on November 22, 1963? He also had ties to another man mentioned in the JFK assassination saga a good bit - Sergio Aracha Smith. Coincidence?
An event occurred on January 20, 1961, that could also show a relationship of some kind between LHO and Banister. During his investigation stage he learned of an incident that occurred at Bolton Ford in New Orleans that happened in 1961. Salesmen Fred Sewall and Oscar Deslatte recounted how two men claiming to represent the “Friends of Democratic Cuba” showed up at their dealership three months before the Bay of Pigs (BOP) invasion. (Ibid., p. 57) Garrison further learned that one of the incorporators of the “Friends of Democratic Cuba” was one Guy Banister. (Ibid., p. 58)
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/1471/garrison-chronicles-bolton-ford-incident
Was this just another coincidence? That is highly doubtful. This could suggest that Banister was aware of LHO as early as January 1961. Garrison also thought that Kerry Thornley was the man who impersonated LHO at Bolton Ford. (Ibid., p. 73) Furthermore, he felt this was the work of the CIA, and given this incident was most likely tied to the BOP invasion that is a good assumption in my opinion.
Another person who pointed to a connection between LHO and Banister was Richard Case Nagell. He would tell Garrison that the men LHO was involved with in New Orleans, and he told Garrison they were David Ferrie, Clay Shaw and Guy Banister. I know some people have doubt about Nagell, but to me he is credible based on the work of Dick Russell and what that showed years ago. It is thought by some, me included, that Nagell used the alias "A. Hidell", went to Mexico City and was in close proximity to LHO on a number of occasions. I believe that is why they chose to use Nagell's known alias for LHO so they could compromise him into silence after the assassination. There is absolutely no evidence worth anything that shows LHO ever used "A. Hidell" as an alias.
Another witness was Delphine Roberts. She was Banister’s secretary and mistress. This subject was covered in the book Let Justice Be Done by William Davy as he followed up on the investigation conducted by Jim Garrison. Here is what he wrote about this topic.
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Oswald and 544 Camp Street
Delphine Roberts, Banister’s longtime secretary, mistress and confidante, revealed to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, and later to British journalist, Anthony Summers, that Oswald walked into Banister’s office sometime in 1963. He was given a form to fill out as one of Banister’s "agents." (21) After Oswald filled out the form, he met with Banister behind closed doors. According to Roberts, "Oswald came back a number of times. He seemed to be on familiar terms with Banister and with the office. As I understood it, he had use of an office on the second floor, above the main office where we worked...Roberts’ daughter, also named Delphine, told Summers that she and a photographer friend also saw Oswald at Banister’s on occasion. (23) Further corroboration of Oswald’s second floor offices comes from former Banister associate Bill Nitschke. In a 1967 interview with a New Orleans States Item reporter, Nitschke revealed that sometime before the Kennedy assassination, he visited Banister’s office and the second-floor anterooms. Nitschke recalled seeing crudely lettered placards that he believed had something to do with Castro. He told the States Item that "it didn’t make any sense to me how Guy got tied up to those signs." (24)
Dan Campbell, an ex-Marine that worked for Banister infiltrating left-wing groups on college campuses confirmed the gunrunning, recalling that "Banister was a bagman for the CIA and was running guns to Alpha 66 in Miami." (26) …The Banister menagerie he added "were the worst kind of fanatics." (29) Campbell also remembered one day when he was in Banister’s office and a young man came in and used the phone. "I knew he was a Marine from his bearing and speech pattern the minute he walked into 544 Camp Street," he recalled. (30) The next time he saw this young man was when his picture was on television as the accused assassin of President Kennedy. Interestingly, Campbell also recalled seeing Oswald’s buddy from his Marine Corps days, Kerry Thornley, pop in and out of Banister’s office. (31) Strangely enough on the day Kennedy was shot Thornley was with Allen Campbell, Dan’s brother. (32) Allen, like his brother, also worked for Banister. On one of the days Oswald was handing out his leaflets, Allen remembered Delphine Roberts returning to the office and complaining to Banister that "that young man is passing out pro-Castro leaflets in the street." (33) Allen recalled Banister’s reaction was calm, "Don’t worry about him. He’s a nervous fellow, he’s confused. He’s with us, he’s associated with the office." (34) (William Davy, Let Justice Be Done, Chapter Four)
(21) Interview with Delphine Roberts, August 27,1978, HSCA document #011196 and Summers, Conspiracy, p. 324.
(22) Summers, Conspiracy, p.324.
(23) Ibid., p. 325.
(24) Hoke May’s interview of Bill Nitschke, May 11, 1967, from Hoke May’s files.
(26) James DiEugenio’s interview with Dan Campbell, September 3, 1994.
(29) Ibid.
(30) Ibid.
(31) Ibid.
(32) DiEugenio interview with Allen Campbell, September 6, 1994.
(33) Summers, Conspiracy, p. 324.
(34) Ibid.
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It seems pretty clear that LHO was at Banister’s office a number of times. Banister’s ties to the intelligence community also suggests that LHO could have been doing work for them as well. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) talked with William Gaudet about this topic and he told them this.
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Gaudet noted that on one occasion he observed Oswald speaking to Guy Banister on a street corner. (HSCAR, p. 219, note 27)
www.historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/report/html/HSCA_Report_0125a.htm
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A Canadian television documentary called the Fifth Estate featured an interview with Gaudet by researcher Peter Dale Scott. In the interview Gaudet said the following.
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Gaudet told Scott that he did indeed observe Oswald though he never spoke to him, that he did not think Oswald capable of the assassination, that he thought Oswald was being manipulated by anti-Castro Cubans and others, and that Oswald had gotten in over his head and was a fall guy.
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Research over the years has shown there is a connection between Gaudet and Banister, and that Gaudet's offices were in the Trade Mart, the same place Clay Shaw ran a company called PERMINDEX. This is what Gaudet said about Banister.
"I knew Banister but I didn't know him well...now Ronnie Caire knew Banister much better than I did. Banister knew OSWALD. Ferrie was a friend of a lot of queers... I think he did know OSWALD...but I don't think either one of them is capable of planning a conspiracy like this... I was closely related with Ed Butler because one of the prime sponsors of the Information Council of the Americas in New Orleans was a very close personal friend of mine and an investor in my company, Alton Ochsner. The Information Council had a big, big banquet down here, a money raising thing, at which time they prevailed upon Nelson Rockefeller to come down and be one of the speakers, and that's the last time I personally saw Nelson Rockefeller... I feel certain the Rockefeller Commission will not call me as a witness." [Interview with Alan Stone WRR Dallas 5/7/1975; ARA file interview with Gaudet]
He told another interviewer in 1978.
"I knew OSWALD because he was in at the International Trade Mart for quite a few days. That's where I had my office, which was on Camp and Common in New Orleans. And he was there distributing pamphlets for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Who the Fair Play for Cuba Committee was, I don't know. I do know I saw him [OSWALD] one time with a former... I think he was an FBI agent and a man by the name of Guy Banister, and Guy of course is now dead. What Guy's role was in all this I... I really don't know, but I did see him discussing various things with Banister at the time and I think Banister knew a whole lot of what was going on... I never met OSWALD and I never talked to him personally."
He said this when asked if it was a coincidence that his name is right next to LHO's on the list.
"I would say so, yes, I know it's hard to believe because this word keeps cropping up in everything that I seem to do that er... I'm just loaded down with coincidence..." [Sanders interview with Gaudet 1/19/1978]
I am NOT stating he was assigned to provide surveillance on LHO as according to his CIA file and other things he was not in the business of clandestine operations. The HSCA said this about it.
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...The Committee did not find a basis for concluding that William Gaudet had contacted OSWALD on behalf of the CIA. Although there was a conflict between William Gaudet's testimony and his CIA file concerning the duration of his Agency contacts, as well as the performance of errands, there was no indication from his file or testimony that William Gaudet's cooperation involved clandestine activity. Again, it should be stressed that the Domestic Contacts Division, which was the Agency component that was in touch with William Gaudet, was not involved in clandestine operations. (HSCA Report, p. 219)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/report/html/HSCA_Report_0125a.htm
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So perhaps he was simply told to go there at a specific time to pick up a tourist card that had been arranged for him and then the person who would impersonating LHO would be there at that time. The HSCA failed to mention that Gaudet had worked for the CIA since he told the FBI this on November 27, 1963. If you look at this document's second paragraph you will see this statement.
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=60467#relPageId=3
They instead went with him "not recalling" doing any activity in a clandestine manner. Maybe he didn't, but who knows? Certainly not us since no one saw fit to find out for us. I can't say what they were hoping to get out of this per se, but my thoughts would be they would expect Gaudet to play along since he got the majority of the funding for his magazine through the CIA. Thus, they expected he would say he saw LHO at the Consulate, but for some reason he has NEVER said that. There is NO reasonable reason why he would say he did NOT see LHO there IF in fact he was there to me. Some may say it was to keep cover on a CIA mission, but IF that was the case the WC would have never discussed this matter at all. NO, there is NO reason why he would lie and say he did NOT see LHO if in fact LHO was there in my mind.
Based on Gaudet's comments -- Banister and LHO knew each other. Gaudet said LHO was at the Trade Mart for days so this would again lean towards LHO having some contact with Clay Shaw. Why else would he be there if not to meet with Shaw? There were many places to hand out pamphlets so why would you pick a conservative place like the Trade Mart when you were for socialism?
Thomas Beckham, a runner for Ferrie, Banister, Shaw, Sergio Arcacha Smith, and Grady Durham, told the HSCA that Ferrie came to meetings at Banister's office dressed in his green fatigues directly from the training camps at the Lake [Ponchartrain]. Beckham once flew to Miami with Arcacha and Louis Rabel with a large suitcase of money and delivered it to Eugenio Martinez, a future Watergate burglar along with E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis. Beckham told the HSCA in 1977 he felt members of the CIA plotted and carried out the assassination of JFK and framed LHO in the process.
It seems Shaw, Ferrie and Banister were the triangle of the plot in New Orleans. This is what Garrison's investigation showed him. Everything in the city went through them in regard to LHO.
Banister had connections to many key people in this case as well – Gordon Novel, David Ferrie and Kerry Thornley. He had connections to the intelligence world and the anti-Castro groups as he was one of the incorporators of the Friends of Democratic Cuba. This is the group several men claimed to be representing when they showed up at Bolton Ford on January 20, 1961. Is this just another coincidence in an unending number of supposed coincidences in this case? Of course not, Banister was sheep dipping LHO for the CIA and possibly the FBI and ONI.
Banister had been Special Agent in Charge (SAIC) for Chicago when he was in the FBI and one of his associates was Robert Maheu. Maheu would go on to join the CIA and researchers have said he was involved in the JFK assassination. He was also part of the Howard Hughes security team. It has been said Maheu (nicknamed IBM—Iron Bob Maheu) was the right-hand man of Mafioso Major Don Aristotle Onassis and he was tasked with forming a hit team for killing Cuban Premier Fidel Castro. Another thing that is NOT mentioned by anyone from what I have seen very much and is not discussed is the fact that Banister had been the Assistant Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, where he was given the task of investigating organized crime and corruption within the police force. This would have given him ample opportunity to bump into Carlos Marcello and his criminal activity.
This means Banister is a key man in this saga as he had contact with the Marcello criminal syndicate, David Ferrie, Clay Shaw and LHO (who had an uncle who worked for the Marcello syndicate), as well as the FBI, New Orleans Police Department, the ONI and the CIA.
This connection, along with Shaw, Ferrie and Jack Ruby, are the key to the case in my opinion. What do you think?
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In 1966, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison decided to resume his look into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK) that he began on the weekend following it. He regretted stopping and forgetting about it for nearly three years and decided the events of the summer of 1963 deserved a deeper look than he gave it initially.
One of the people that intrigued him in this area was former FBI man Guy Banister. He was most interested in what kind of relationship he might have had with the accused assassin of JFK, Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO), and he made him a focal point of his investigation.
As we have seen previously in this series, Garrison stated in his book, On The Trail of The Assassins (OTTOTA), that he knew Banister fairly well and had lunch with him every so often when he was with the police department [Banister had been a deputy superintendent of the New Orleans police department]. Garrison said that Banister always dressed immaculately, and this is important to remember as it could have been the man seen with LHO in Clinton, Louisiana, and other places. Because the description is “white hair and immaculately dressed” researchers assume the person is Clay Shaw, but some of the sightings (or all of them) could have been Banister instead.
One of the main ways he felt a relationship between Banister and LHO could be established was through the location of Banister's office as it seemed to tie into an address that was on some of the pamphlets LHO was handing out in August 1963 in New Orleans near the Trade Mart Building.
Banister ran a private detective agency (Guy Banister Associates, Inc., Investigators) at 531 Lafayette Street in New Orleans. Garrison stated upon visiting the building he realized that both the 531 entrance and the more famous 544 Camp Street addresses both led to Banister’s office.
Of course, this has been attacked by defenders of the Warren Commission (WC) as they say that this isn’t correct. What else can they do since LHO passed out Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) leaflets on August 9, 1963, that bore the 544 Camp Street address on them? According to Jack Martin, a private detective and Banister associate, Banister was furious with LHO for doing this as he feared that it would lead to his office. Why would he think this if the WC defenders are correct?
The whole pamphlet episode was a staged event and Garrison found evidence to prove it. He explains how in his book On The Trail of The Assassins for us.
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...I noticed that one of the young men shown in local news photos handing out flyers with Oswald looked very much like the son of one of my artillery officers in the National Guard. I called Charles Steele and I learned that indeed it was his son, Charles Jr. We interviewed young Steele and discovered that Oswald had paid him and others two dollars an hour to hand out pamphlets with him. Oswald told them that they had to do this until the news photographers had departed after which they were free to go. (Jim Garrison, OTTOTA, p. 25 [hardcover edition])
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This is clear proof that all of this was a staged event. Why was LHO doing this? Most likely because he was ordered to do it by Banister, but Banister was just following orders himself as it came from a higher up source. CIA? FBI? Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)? Both? All three?
Unfortunately, we will never know for sure, but since the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) was being "watched" by the CIA they are likely a source for this action. The FBI has to be considered as well due to LHO asking to speak with an FBI agent on August 9, 1963, when he was arrested after an obviously contrived altercation involving the suspicious Carlos Bruguier. For all we know, the FPCC could have been an invention of either the CIA or the FBI as they have a history of creating groups like this so they can "watch" them and justify their budgets. Think about it -- without groups that could cause trouble for America why would we need the CIA or FBI?
Another event in the summer of 1963 that Banister may have assisted with was the radio debate that LHO did following his arrest. He was arrested for disturbing the peace so how would this make him so popular that radio programs wanted him on their show to tout the greatness of Marxism? These appearances feel staged just like his pamphlet outing. The reason Banister was mad about putting 544 Camp Street on the pamphlets was that would lead to him, and he didn't want that. Based on what Jack Martin said, and others, we know that Banister's work involved anti-Castro Cubans and one David Ferrie.
The reason Banister didn't want attention drawn to him was his office's location. It was surrounded by the offices of the ONI and the Secret Service (SS). His previous office was directly across the street from the New Orleans offices of the CIA and the FBI. Was all this just a coincidence? That is highly doubtful.
As we have seen in the post about Jack Martin in this series, LHO was at Banister's office.
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“There was a bunch of them. It was like a circus. There were all those Cubans—coming in and going out, coming in and going out. They all looked alike to me…Then there were all these other characters. There was David Ferrie—you know about him by now…He practically lived there.”
Garrison asked him, “And Lee Harvey Oswald?”
Martin replied, “Yeah, he was there too. Sometimes he'd be meeting with Guy Banister with the door shut. Other times he'd be shooting the bull with David Ferrie. But he was there all right.” (OTTOTA, pp. 31-32)
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/1265/garrison-chronicles-jack-martin
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Martin also told Garrison that Banister “was running the circus.” This makes sense due to Banister’s background in intelligence. At this point Martin got up to leave so Garrison asked him why he was going. Martin told him that pursuing this “would bring the whole goddamned federal government down on our backs.” Why would this be so if only LHO was guilty as the Warren Commission (WC) claimed, and the federal agencies had nothing to do with his "sheep dipping?"
Another clue who was running Banister's operations was in the fact that his widow told Garrison that within an hour or two of his death (he was found dead in his apartment on June 6, 1964) federal men showed up to take away his files. (Ibid., p. 37) She said that they were either FBI or SS, but she couldn't recall for sure. The state police showed up and took most of his index cards as well. Garrison found a couple and highlighted what one of them showed.
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American Central Intelligence Agency 20-10
Ammunition and Arms 32-1
Anti-Soviet Underground 25-1
B-70 Manned Bomber Force 15-16
Civil Rights Program of JFK 8-41
Dismantling of Ballistic Missile System 15-16
Dismantling of Defenses, U.S. 15-16
Fair Play for Cuba Committee 23-7
International Trade Mart 23-14
Italy, U.S. Bases Dismantled in General Assembly of the United Nations 15-16
Latin America 23-1
Missile Bases Dismantled--Turkey and Italy 15-16
Thus ended the myth of Guy Banister's "private detective agency." (Ibid., pp. 37-38)
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Clearly, this was stuff not related a local private detective agency in the South of the United States. Instead that was a cover for his true work which was using anti-Castro Cubans and people like LHO to accomplish the missions planned by the CIA, FBI and the ONI. Things like ammunition and explosives that were hidden in CIA bases for use against Cuba and other locations came to light because of Garrison's investigation.
He learned of this when he talked with Gordon Novel who had previous ties to the CIA. Novel described one such mission to Schlumberger Corporation to retrieve land mines, hand grenades, and rifle grenades that were stored in their explosives bunker. One of the people who accompanied Novel to Houma, Louisiana, was David Ferrie. (On The Trail of The Assassins, p. 40 [hardcover]). The Schlumberger Corporation was French and had ties to the French counter-revolutionary Secret Army Organization (O.A.S.) which had tried to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle several times in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. The CIA had supplied Schlumberger with anti-personnel ammunition, and it was taking it back on this trip. (Ibid., p. 40)
According to Novel the man running all of this was Banister. The big question about Novel was IF he was really ex-CIA as some say you never really leave the agency so was this a sanctioned action by them? Novel also bears a striking resemblance to the man in Dealey Plaza (DP) known to researchers as "The Umbrella Man." Was Novel there on November 22, 1963? He also had ties to another man mentioned in the JFK assassination saga a good bit - Sergio Aracha Smith. Coincidence?
An event occurred on January 20, 1961, that could also show a relationship of some kind between LHO and Banister. During his investigation stage he learned of an incident that occurred at Bolton Ford in New Orleans that happened in 1961. Salesmen Fred Sewall and Oscar Deslatte recounted how two men claiming to represent the “Friends of Democratic Cuba” showed up at their dealership three months before the Bay of Pigs (BOP) invasion. (Ibid., p. 57) Garrison further learned that one of the incorporators of the “Friends of Democratic Cuba” was one Guy Banister. (Ibid., p. 58)
jfkconspiracyforum.freeforums.net/thread/1471/garrison-chronicles-bolton-ford-incident
Was this just another coincidence? That is highly doubtful. This could suggest that Banister was aware of LHO as early as January 1961. Garrison also thought that Kerry Thornley was the man who impersonated LHO at Bolton Ford. (Ibid., p. 73) Furthermore, he felt this was the work of the CIA, and given this incident was most likely tied to the BOP invasion that is a good assumption in my opinion.
Another person who pointed to a connection between LHO and Banister was Richard Case Nagell. He would tell Garrison that the men LHO was involved with in New Orleans, and he told Garrison they were David Ferrie, Clay Shaw and Guy Banister. I know some people have doubt about Nagell, but to me he is credible based on the work of Dick Russell and what that showed years ago. It is thought by some, me included, that Nagell used the alias "A. Hidell", went to Mexico City and was in close proximity to LHO on a number of occasions. I believe that is why they chose to use Nagell's known alias for LHO so they could compromise him into silence after the assassination. There is absolutely no evidence worth anything that shows LHO ever used "A. Hidell" as an alias.
Another witness was Delphine Roberts. She was Banister’s secretary and mistress. This subject was covered in the book Let Justice Be Done by William Davy as he followed up on the investigation conducted by Jim Garrison. Here is what he wrote about this topic.
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Oswald and 544 Camp Street
Delphine Roberts, Banister’s longtime secretary, mistress and confidante, revealed to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, and later to British journalist, Anthony Summers, that Oswald walked into Banister’s office sometime in 1963. He was given a form to fill out as one of Banister’s "agents." (21) After Oswald filled out the form, he met with Banister behind closed doors. According to Roberts, "Oswald came back a number of times. He seemed to be on familiar terms with Banister and with the office. As I understood it, he had use of an office on the second floor, above the main office where we worked...Roberts’ daughter, also named Delphine, told Summers that she and a photographer friend also saw Oswald at Banister’s on occasion. (23) Further corroboration of Oswald’s second floor offices comes from former Banister associate Bill Nitschke. In a 1967 interview with a New Orleans States Item reporter, Nitschke revealed that sometime before the Kennedy assassination, he visited Banister’s office and the second-floor anterooms. Nitschke recalled seeing crudely lettered placards that he believed had something to do with Castro. He told the States Item that "it didn’t make any sense to me how Guy got tied up to those signs." (24)
Dan Campbell, an ex-Marine that worked for Banister infiltrating left-wing groups on college campuses confirmed the gunrunning, recalling that "Banister was a bagman for the CIA and was running guns to Alpha 66 in Miami." (26) …The Banister menagerie he added "were the worst kind of fanatics." (29) Campbell also remembered one day when he was in Banister’s office and a young man came in and used the phone. "I knew he was a Marine from his bearing and speech pattern the minute he walked into 544 Camp Street," he recalled. (30) The next time he saw this young man was when his picture was on television as the accused assassin of President Kennedy. Interestingly, Campbell also recalled seeing Oswald’s buddy from his Marine Corps days, Kerry Thornley, pop in and out of Banister’s office. (31) Strangely enough on the day Kennedy was shot Thornley was with Allen Campbell, Dan’s brother. (32) Allen, like his brother, also worked for Banister. On one of the days Oswald was handing out his leaflets, Allen remembered Delphine Roberts returning to the office and complaining to Banister that "that young man is passing out pro-Castro leaflets in the street." (33) Allen recalled Banister’s reaction was calm, "Don’t worry about him. He’s a nervous fellow, he’s confused. He’s with us, he’s associated with the office." (34) (William Davy, Let Justice Be Done, Chapter Four)
(21) Interview with Delphine Roberts, August 27,1978, HSCA document #011196 and Summers, Conspiracy, p. 324.
(22) Summers, Conspiracy, p.324.
(23) Ibid., p. 325.
(24) Hoke May’s interview of Bill Nitschke, May 11, 1967, from Hoke May’s files.
(26) James DiEugenio’s interview with Dan Campbell, September 3, 1994.
(29) Ibid.
(30) Ibid.
(31) Ibid.
(32) DiEugenio interview with Allen Campbell, September 6, 1994.
(33) Summers, Conspiracy, p. 324.
(34) Ibid.
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It seems pretty clear that LHO was at Banister’s office a number of times. Banister’s ties to the intelligence community also suggests that LHO could have been doing work for them as well. The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) talked with William Gaudet about this topic and he told them this.
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www.historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/report/pages/HSCA_Report_0125a.gif
Gaudet noted that on one occasion he observed Oswald speaking to Guy Banister on a street corner. (HSCAR, p. 219, note 27)
www.historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/report/html/HSCA_Report_0125a.htm
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A Canadian television documentary called the Fifth Estate featured an interview with Gaudet by researcher Peter Dale Scott. In the interview Gaudet said the following.
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Gaudet told Scott that he did indeed observe Oswald though he never spoke to him, that he did not think Oswald capable of the assassination, that he thought Oswald was being manipulated by anti-Castro Cubans and others, and that Oswald had gotten in over his head and was a fall guy.
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Research over the years has shown there is a connection between Gaudet and Banister, and that Gaudet's offices were in the Trade Mart, the same place Clay Shaw ran a company called PERMINDEX. This is what Gaudet said about Banister.
"I knew Banister but I didn't know him well...now Ronnie Caire knew Banister much better than I did. Banister knew OSWALD. Ferrie was a friend of a lot of queers... I think he did know OSWALD...but I don't think either one of them is capable of planning a conspiracy like this... I was closely related with Ed Butler because one of the prime sponsors of the Information Council of the Americas in New Orleans was a very close personal friend of mine and an investor in my company, Alton Ochsner. The Information Council had a big, big banquet down here, a money raising thing, at which time they prevailed upon Nelson Rockefeller to come down and be one of the speakers, and that's the last time I personally saw Nelson Rockefeller... I feel certain the Rockefeller Commission will not call me as a witness." [Interview with Alan Stone WRR Dallas 5/7/1975; ARA file interview with Gaudet]
He told another interviewer in 1978.
"I knew OSWALD because he was in at the International Trade Mart for quite a few days. That's where I had my office, which was on Camp and Common in New Orleans. And he was there distributing pamphlets for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Who the Fair Play for Cuba Committee was, I don't know. I do know I saw him [OSWALD] one time with a former... I think he was an FBI agent and a man by the name of Guy Banister, and Guy of course is now dead. What Guy's role was in all this I... I really don't know, but I did see him discussing various things with Banister at the time and I think Banister knew a whole lot of what was going on... I never met OSWALD and I never talked to him personally."
He said this when asked if it was a coincidence that his name is right next to LHO's on the list.
"I would say so, yes, I know it's hard to believe because this word keeps cropping up in everything that I seem to do that er... I'm just loaded down with coincidence..." [Sanders interview with Gaudet 1/19/1978]
I am NOT stating he was assigned to provide surveillance on LHO as according to his CIA file and other things he was not in the business of clandestine operations. The HSCA said this about it.
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historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/report/pages/HSCA_Report_0125a.gif
...The Committee did not find a basis for concluding that William Gaudet had contacted OSWALD on behalf of the CIA. Although there was a conflict between William Gaudet's testimony and his CIA file concerning the duration of his Agency contacts, as well as the performance of errands, there was no indication from his file or testimony that William Gaudet's cooperation involved clandestine activity. Again, it should be stressed that the Domestic Contacts Division, which was the Agency component that was in touch with William Gaudet, was not involved in clandestine operations. (HSCA Report, p. 219)
historymatters.com/archive/jfk/hsca/report/html/HSCA_Report_0125a.htm
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So perhaps he was simply told to go there at a specific time to pick up a tourist card that had been arranged for him and then the person who would impersonating LHO would be there at that time. The HSCA failed to mention that Gaudet had worked for the CIA since he told the FBI this on November 27, 1963. If you look at this document's second paragraph you will see this statement.
www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=60467#relPageId=3
They instead went with him "not recalling" doing any activity in a clandestine manner. Maybe he didn't, but who knows? Certainly not us since no one saw fit to find out for us. I can't say what they were hoping to get out of this per se, but my thoughts would be they would expect Gaudet to play along since he got the majority of the funding for his magazine through the CIA. Thus, they expected he would say he saw LHO at the Consulate, but for some reason he has NEVER said that. There is NO reasonable reason why he would say he did NOT see LHO there IF in fact he was there to me. Some may say it was to keep cover on a CIA mission, but IF that was the case the WC would have never discussed this matter at all. NO, there is NO reason why he would lie and say he did NOT see LHO if in fact LHO was there in my mind.
Based on Gaudet's comments -- Banister and LHO knew each other. Gaudet said LHO was at the Trade Mart for days so this would again lean towards LHO having some contact with Clay Shaw. Why else would he be there if not to meet with Shaw? There were many places to hand out pamphlets so why would you pick a conservative place like the Trade Mart when you were for socialism?
Thomas Beckham, a runner for Ferrie, Banister, Shaw, Sergio Arcacha Smith, and Grady Durham, told the HSCA that Ferrie came to meetings at Banister's office dressed in his green fatigues directly from the training camps at the Lake [Ponchartrain]. Beckham once flew to Miami with Arcacha and Louis Rabel with a large suitcase of money and delivered it to Eugenio Martinez, a future Watergate burglar along with E. Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis. Beckham told the HSCA in 1977 he felt members of the CIA plotted and carried out the assassination of JFK and framed LHO in the process.
It seems Shaw, Ferrie and Banister were the triangle of the plot in New Orleans. This is what Garrison's investigation showed him. Everything in the city went through them in regard to LHO.
Banister had connections to many key people in this case as well – Gordon Novel, David Ferrie and Kerry Thornley. He had connections to the intelligence world and the anti-Castro groups as he was one of the incorporators of the Friends of Democratic Cuba. This is the group several men claimed to be representing when they showed up at Bolton Ford on January 20, 1961. Is this just another coincidence in an unending number of supposed coincidences in this case? Of course not, Banister was sheep dipping LHO for the CIA and possibly the FBI and ONI.
Banister had been Special Agent in Charge (SAIC) for Chicago when he was in the FBI and one of his associates was Robert Maheu. Maheu would go on to join the CIA and researchers have said he was involved in the JFK assassination. He was also part of the Howard Hughes security team. It has been said Maheu (nicknamed IBM—Iron Bob Maheu) was the right-hand man of Mafioso Major Don Aristotle Onassis and he was tasked with forming a hit team for killing Cuban Premier Fidel Castro. Another thing that is NOT mentioned by anyone from what I have seen very much and is not discussed is the fact that Banister had been the Assistant Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, where he was given the task of investigating organized crime and corruption within the police force. This would have given him ample opportunity to bump into Carlos Marcello and his criminal activity.
This means Banister is a key man in this saga as he had contact with the Marcello criminal syndicate, David Ferrie, Clay Shaw and LHO (who had an uncle who worked for the Marcello syndicate), as well as the FBI, New Orleans Police Department, the ONI and the CIA.
This connection, along with Shaw, Ferrie and Jack Ruby, are the key to the case in my opinion. What do you think?