CIA Countered Critics of Warren Report

In his introduction to Destiny Betrayed: JFK, Cuba and the Garrison Case by James DiEugenio, Zachary Sklar noted that “Although we still do not know the full extent of the disinformation campaign against Garrison, some evidence of it surfaced in a CIA memo dated April 1, 1967, and released in 1977 under the Freedom of Information Act.”

The CIA’s April 1, 1967 memo, titled “Countering Criticism of the Warren Report,” was apparently sent to “Chiefs, Certain Stations and Bases,” and it included the following recommendations:

“Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us…

“…We do not recommend that discussion of the assassination question be initiated where it is not already taking place. Where discussion is active, however, addressees are requested:

“a. To discuss the publicity problem with liaison and friendly elite contacts (especially politicians and editors)…Urge them to use their influence…

“b. To employ propaganda assets…Book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for the purpose…”

According to Chapter VI of the Warren Commission Report, titled “Investigation of Possible Conspiracy,” then-CIA Director John McCone and then-CIA Deputy Director Richard Helms “testified before the Commission that no one connected with the CIA had ever interviewed Oswald or communicated with him in any way.” Yet, according to a book published in the 1990s, the U.S. diplomat who interviewed Oswald prior to his “defection” to Russia in 1959—Richard Snyder—was apparently connected to the CIA. As Destiny Betrayed: JFK, Cuba and The Garrison Case by James DiEugenio noted:

“Oswald’s defection and entry into the U.S.S.R. and his departure were both handled by U.S. Moscow Embassy Consul Richard E. Snyder. Snyder was, in his own words, `the sole officer handling the Oswald case.’ Snyder sent Oswald his passport, months before his return, and processed Oswald and Marina’s exit from the Soviet Union as well. CIA document #609-786 says that Snyder joined the CIA in 1949…Julius Mader’s 1968 Who’s Who In CIA…lists Snyder as still in the Agency.”

(Downtown 5/12/93)

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