Mr. WILCOTT - Surely, sir. We are operating under House Resolution 222, which mandates the Committee to conduct a full and complete investigation and study of the circumstances surrounding the assassination and death of President John F. Kennedy, including determining whether the existing laws of the United States concerning the protection of the President and the investigatory jurisdiction and capability of agencies and departments are adequate in their provisions and enforcement; and whether there was full disclosure of evidence and information among agencies and department of the United States Government and whether any evidence or information not in the possession of an agency of department would have been of assistance in investigating the assassination and why such information was not provided or collected by that agency or department, and to make recommendations to the House if the Select Committee deems it appropriate for the amendment of existing legislation or the enactment of new legislation. Two weeks later when I made a follow-up call, Kellner said that his partner Frank Morrow vaguely remembered the letter, but could not provide any additional information. At my request, he sent me a copy. He was an accomplished journalist and author and had worked as a radio engineer in his early career. When Doug Kellner answered the phone, I described to him the contents of the letter. Wilcott's Full HSCA Testimony EXECUTIVE SESSION ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1978 House of Representatives, John F. Kennedy Subcommittee of the Select Committee on Assassinations, He said there were two musicians who had been with the band since the beginning and he would speak to them. Shelleys claim that he was an intelligence officer would make sense if, as an ROTC lieutenant, he received intelligence training and perhaps even given some assignments in counterespionage. Mr. WILCOTT - We had -- in Utica there was a group called the Vietnam Educational Council, which was informed people, formed to inform people as to what was going on in Vietnam, and we didn't feel that there was coverage enough in the media as to what was going on, and the purpose of the Vietnam Educational Council was to inform people as to what was going on. These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Mr. SAWYER - How long were you associated with that? Mr. CORNWELL - Did any event cause any disagreement between you and the Agency? Mr. GOLDSMITH - How many people in the CIA? Mr. WILCOTT - No, I didn't. As a CIA employee, Wilcott stated under oath that many people told him that Lee Harvey Oswald was an agent of the CIA after the assassination had occurred. Mr. WILCOTT - The principal reason. Mr. WILCOTT - The response was, among quote a few people "Oh, well, I am sure he was." He was not questioned by the Warren Commission. [6] They held a big meeting during which they warned everyone not to discuss the assassination with outsiders. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Were there any other times during your stay with the CIA at XXXXXXXXXX Station that you came across information that Oswald had been a CIA agent? TESTIMONY OF JAMES B. WILCOTT, A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: Mr. GOLDSMITH - For the record, would you please state your name and address and occupation? It achieved commercial success in 1970 with a hit song called "Mr. Bojangles. In 1992, the band was still active, touring the country and recording albums. In 1974, I met a person who says she was at that time working for Bill Schelly, who says he was Lee Harvey Oswalds superior at the time of the assassination. Thank you for your kind words and interest. Let us say, for instance, that there was a certain project going on, and the project was one that became known that this project was being carried out -- and we call it "flaps," -- and the Case Officer in charge might get word that somebody from headquarters was coming to review the files to investigate the flap. Mr. CORNWELL - Let me rephrase it. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Who was George Breen? Mr. GOLDSMITH - So, then, really, no purpose would have been served by checking those records? Its also includes links to many hours of online videos you can watch on the evidence covered. Adams said, I believe the President has been shot. Neither Shelley nor Lovelady said anything in reply. Assassinations, The subcommittee met at 10:20 a.m., pursuant to notice, in room 2344 of the Rayburn Office Building, the Honorable Richard Preyer (Chairman of the subcommittee), presiding. We publish here the Wilcott affidavit and interrogation by the HSCA, declassified by the Assassination Records Review Board. Mr. WILCOTT - My wife and I both left the CIA because we became convinced that what CIA was doing couldn't be reconciled to basic principles of democracy or basic principles of humanism. Mr. WILCOTT - I flipped through it. Mr. WILCOTT - To the best of my recollection, yes. New York, 1989) p. 319. A puzzling aspect of Glazes 1989 letter was his reference to the book depository having moved to a location near the intersection of Royal Lane and Interstate 35. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Do you remember when specifically this conversation took place? Joe was unable to determine if the arson was assassination-related. The November 14, 1961 date came from Leon, Sexton branch manager in Dallas from 1961 to 1964. This is more than just an investigative report. Mr. WILCOTT - Yes, he was. Finally, under threats and intense harassment from Dallas Police, I was forced to flee Dallas in early 1975. The CIA and the JFK Assassination. SILENCED! (At this time the school book depository had been relocated to a warehouse near the intersection of Royal Lane and Interstate 35.). Mr. WILCOTT - Yes. Mr. Shelly was Lee Harvey Oswalds supervisor at the time of the assassination of President Kennedy. Having a double life would not have made Shelley unique among the people who worked at the book depository. Spaulding Jones, former branch manager of MacMillan, said they moved in around 1957 or 1958. Additional gift options are available when buying one eBook at a time. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Just give us their names. 2 AM, Nov. 23. The significance of Glazes 1989 letter is that it provides a tantalizing piece of information which may indicate a covert side to the depository itself. Please try again. ). Mr. WILCOTT - Yes, he mentioned the cryptonym specifically under which the money was drawn. Mr. WILCOTT - No, sir, not that I can recall. Mr. SAWYER - Thank you. Present: Representatives Preyer (presiding), Dodd and Sawyer. Mr. WILCOTT - Or perhaps January. Mr. WILCOTT - My. Ruffians driving by yelled derogatory things and threw objects at the house such as half-empty beer cans. Mr. WILCOTT - I have been trying to talk about this thing and other things for the last ten years. Below is an excerpt from Harriss letter dated December 15, 1992: Enclosed is the Bill Shelley document I read to you over the phone. Since a cubic foot of books is about 25 to 30 pounds, a box such as this, when loaded with books, would have weighed around 375 to 450 poundstoo heavy to manage with a handcart. Garner went on to say that at the same time, around 1969, William Shelley quit the book depository and began working for Scott Foresman. Mr. SCHAAP - For the record, I have made a list of all of these spellings of the names which have been mentioned, which I will give to the stenographer so that he will have, them correctly. Mr. DODD - Am I to believe by that that you were not aware at the time you made the disbursement that it was, in fact, an Oswald project? I can't remember what it was. She died in 1969. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Did you bring your allegation to the attention of the Warren Commission? Mr. WILCOTT - Yes, I was on security duty, and on security duty, agents were coming in and out of the station, and I pulled a lot of security duty, three and four nights right in a row, and pulled as much as 24 hours on weekends, and an agent would come back from meeting with somebody and he would be waiting for his wife to pick him up or would be waiting for a call from one of the indigenous agents that he was running and a lot of times conversations would be talked. A huge cast of suspects. [22] And this likely included coaxing Shelly and Lovelady into making an ersatz trip across the street to the railroad yards before their return to the TSBD, which is now when they said they saw Styles and Adams. Mr. GOLDSMITH - And were you dismissed by the agency or did you resign? Mr. SCHAAP - Do you mean, how many people who were in the CIA or how many people in the general population? Mr. GOLDSMITH - Do you have a personal opinion as to how or for what purpose the CIA might have handled any projects that involved Lee Harvey Oswald? House of Representatives, That is what we are attempting to accomplish, which is quite a big order. Mr. WILCOTT - Yes, sir. It could be a hoax, but sounds sincere. He passed away on November 15, 2019, after a fall causing brain injury. Did you want to do this or intend to proceed with that line of questioning? They appear to be members of the security staff described by Joe Bergin, Jr. Glazes letters add a further detail that they were members of the FBI. And their security that there is in the Government didn't strike me as the kind of security that would keep me from getting attacked in some way, if someone wanted to do it. Mr. WILCOTT - Generally so, I would say, at that time. I do. Mr. PREYER - Well, that is the other question that I want to be very sure on. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Mr. Wilcott, did I ask you to prepare a list indicating the dates that you were employed with the CIA and where you were stationed? Mr. GOLDSMITH - With whom? Mr. WILCOTT - Yes, I am sure somewhere. Mr. DODD - And the information given you occurred sometime three months after the actual assassination. Mr. WILCOTT - Yes. The CIA then told him a story of how someone could be thrown out of a plane without a parachute and the CIA would protect them. Mr. WILCOTT - Yes, sir. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Where is Concord located? Mr. WILCOTT - Yes; it is my belief that he was a regular agent and this was a regular project of the Agency to send Oswald to the Soviet Union. Mr. CORNWELL - In other words, that is, the first two letters or the last ones would have been the same as this? Mr. WILCOTT - No; I think that I looked through my advance book -- and I had a book where the advances on projects were run, and I leafed through them, and I must have at least leafed through them to see if what he said was true. Wilcott was a private pilot and landed his plane at noon, 11-23-63, Tokyo time. RX-ZIM. Mr. DODD - I have no further questions. Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web. Mr. DODD - And it is your clear recollection that he was described as an agent? There is an interesting paradox about this issue. It was a guard-type function at the station, which I worked for overtime. Mr. PREYER - How many people were at the station in XXXXXXXXXXX approximately? Mr. GOLDSMITH - How do you spell XXXXXXXXXX last name? Mr. Wilcott. If Shelleys claim to Glaze about his association with the CIA is true, it indicates that he was leading a double life as a schoolbook man as well as an intelligence operative. Mr. CORNWELL - All you can recall is that, when you. His information was that he had been unwittingly involved with paying Oswald through a high security clearance, since he worked in the finance office. Regardless, it ended up in my files around the time we opened the JFK Center in 1989. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mr. CORNWELL - It was not normally part of your duties or the scope of the knowledge that you routinely acquired on your job, as I understand it, for you to know what the cryptonyms meant; is that correct? He had keen interests in history and weather, and much of his writing related to these. Mr. WILCOTT - Very much. Mr. WILCOTT - All in the finance -- in accounting all of the time. Mr. WILCOTT - Yes, sir. Mr. WILCOTT - It was at least a matter of weeks and perhaps as much as three months after. Mr. WILCOTT - That is correct. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Why has it been difficult? Mr. WILCOTT - That is right. In the new 2017 November release of JFK documents, he was interviewed in executive session under oath by the House Select Committee On Assassinations on March 22,1978. He was not questioned by the Warren Commission. Shelley told Glaze that he himself was arrested for the assassination. ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY JFK Assassination : The James B. Wilcott Files And The CIA Oswald Project: An Investigative Report. Mr. GOLDSMITH - What is that opinion? Jack Cason, the TSBD president, was a stocky, robust man before the assassination. I did not pay attention to this at the time. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Do you have any knowledge of any record of the CIA at the XXXXXXXX Station ever being destroyed out of the ordinary course of business, not as a matter of routine? Mr. PREYER - It was your conclusion from that talk that some of these people might have knowledge that he was a CIA agent rather than that they were speculating about it? During a follow up call, he told me that the two musicians were not in contact with former members of the band and knew nothing of their whereabouts nor of their current activities. [27] Gerald McKnight, Breach of Trust p. 115. [4] FBI report of Roy Truly interview by Nat Pinkston, November 23, 1963, File No. Mr. WILCOTT - Yes. Mr. GOLDSMITH - Do you remember where this conversation took place? I have no further questions. phone, and hang up, and I would get notes written in snow or my windshield and I had slips of paper left under my, windshield and this sort of thing. Mr. GOLDSMITH - And did you check any other records? Mr. GOLDSMITH - At the time that this allegation first came to your attention, did you learn the name of Oswald's Case Offficer at the CIA? James Wilcott worked out of the Tokyo CIA station at the time of the assassination. The incident interested me enough to question the F.B.I. Mr. WILCOTT - I believe our full strength was around XXXXXXX and we never actually had that many, I don't think. I was on the executive committee along with doctors and lawyers and some of the most respected people in the community. He followed environmental concerns and space exploration, and he enjoyed playing and watching sports. * 2017 JFK has a detailed guide to the massive JFK disclosures scheduled for October 2017. I asked Mr. Peets if he knew of any member of the band who disappeared in Dallas in the mid-1970s. Mr. CORNWELL - Do you remember anything about it? Mr. CORNWELL - Why did you leave the CIA? Mr. SAWYER - When you refer to Oswald as an agent, you are referring to the extent you have -- as an agent as opposed to a paid informer, in effect? When the woman heard that Glaze was planning to go to the FBI, or had already been to the FBI, she was terrified and told him that she would deny everything. While working as a journalist in Dallas, Tx. In 1999, a friend and fellow researcher named Steve Gaal discovered among the listings of the JFK assassination section of the National Archives website a notice of a letter written by a Mr. Glaze to the HSCA. Mr. CORNWELL - How many of them were newspaper or magazine reporters or involved in at least the news business ? Carolyn Walther, a street spectator waiting to see the presidents motorcade, observed a two-man sniper team at a window on the fifth floor on the far-right side of the building. 66-67. With perhaps two CIA agents on the same premises, a careful scrutiny of the company they worked for is needed to understand what happened the day President Kennedy was killed. Their whereabouts are completely unknown. Mr. WILCOTT - It was my Request for Advance Book. Mr. WILCOTT - No. All seven boxes had the names of schoolbook publishers stamped on them. The other one was the Lone Star School Book Depository, also located in the city of Dallas. Mr. WILCOTT - I left the agency in April of 1966 for the Miami Station. And we thought every year it was going to be coming out, and especially I didn't think that -- since what I had heard was all hearsay that I would never have seen Oswald or anything like that -- this is not the kind of thing that would be used for even something like the Warren Commission, and they would have to have something more substantial than that to go on, aside from the fact that I never would have done it in the CIA, being a very risky thing to do with the CIA. Would you tell the Committee what the "need-to-know" principle is? [1] Testimony of James B. Wilcott, RIF 180-10116-10096, pp.25-26. ", and things like that. Mr. WILCOTT - Gordon Finch. Mr. CORNWELL - That is, that subject matter, your statement on the Oswald agency matter, be printed or otherwise publicized in a news publication, radio or TV or anything like that on any other occasion? Mr. WILCOTT - Yes. Below is an obituary from the Austin American-Statesman published on Dec. 15, 2019. Mr. WILCOTT - Yes. Mr. WILCOTT - My current one that I had on my counter. Whether they are there now or not is hard to say. He learned this after the fact through various sources within the Agency, who all recognized what had happened after the assassination and the association of Oswalds name with the crime. Mr. PREYER - I understand this might be a good place for us to break and go and vote, so that we will take another recess for about ten minutes. I had been involved at one point with a group civil rights group, and they had investigated it and said that there was no wrongdoing on my part as far a this association with the civil rights group. Mr. GOLDSMITH - What were these people's names? [3] Telephone interviews of Campbell March 19, 1994; Jones, March 19, 1994; Williams, April 4, 1994; Garner, August 14, 1999. Mr. GOLDSMITH - And finally, as I said at the beginning is it fair to say that you are here voluntarily today? Try again. Mr. DODD - When you decided to release that information? Mr. WILCOTT - From the time I left I talked at various times, especially at parties and things like that, on social occasions, with people at headquarters and with people at my station, and we would converse about it and I used to say things like, "What do you think about Oswald being connected with the CIA? He was in the military service over there, and so you feel be was a double agent who was trained while he was in the military by the CIA, and you mentioned he was given a Russian course. Mr. WILCOTT - With any degree of certainty, other than just speculation, I would say, six or seven with some degree of certainty. Also at this location were the office suites of eight schoolbook publishing companies, including Scott Foresman, Southwestern, Macmillan, and McGraw-Hill. It would be easy to verify: (1) if a reporter named Glaze has ever worked for the Lubbock newspaper, (2) if a journalist named Glaze was living in Dallas in 1974/1975. Mr. GOLDSMITH - So basically, you checked only one of the advance books, is that correct? William Weston examines the curious letters of Elzie Glaze and considers potential connections between the CIA and the Texas School Book Depository. In November 1963, on the Friday before Thanksgiving, President Kennedy was riding in a Lincoln convertible rolling through the streets of Dallas. The search for a solution to these riddles leads into the murky world of intrigue involving the FBI and CIA dirty work. Mr. WILCOTT - Yes. Mr. WILCOTT - I believe they would at one time. As Rose points out, this is a bit odd also, since most of the building witnesses were taken to the sheriffs office, which was much closer to the TSBD than police headquarters. According to former CIA finance officer James B. 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