ROLE OF ORGANIZED CRIME 'OPEN', SLAYINGS PANEL TOLD BY COUNSEL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R000600210001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 8, 2004
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 29, 1978
• Content Type: NSPR

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THE WASHINGTON STAR (GREEN LINE)
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE A-7
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Slay~n g-'s Pang! Told b* C
By Jeremiah O'Leary
washiagtoo star Staff writer .
29 September 1978
He said Trafficante ranked so high
In the Cosa Nostra hierarchy that he
never would have served as-a mere
interpreter between, the American,
though the Kennedy public hearings
have concluded, except for perhaps
one- or. two yet. unscheduled days of
.additional, hearings,: allof the evi-
dence is notyetin:
"I RECOGNIZE there have been
loose ends.in our hearings," Stokes.
said. "Most of them we hope to be
able to tie down in, our final report.
.
But life itself contains loose ends."
He- said 59 witnesses appeared be-
fore the committee on::the Kennedy
case and well over 500,exhibits were
put in the record. Investigators made
385 trips to 564 places and witness
-interviews totaled more than 1,548.
Stokes said 75 witnesses were ques-
tioned in executive session, 41 of
whom were immunized. 'More than
.500 files from government agencies
were reviewed,. including the FBI file
on Lee Harvey Oswald which. alone
consists of 238 volumes. .
Salerno, a veteran investigator of
.organized crime with the New York
Police Department and an expert on
La Cosa Nostra, said Trafficante
earlier in the day did not accurately
explain his role in organized crime.
There is no way Trafficante would
have acted as an interpreter, consid-
ering his high rank as Mafia boss for
southern Florida, for the_Cuban.con-
,spirators or his fellow mobsters;
:Roselli and Giancana.
Salerno explained in great detail-
the:mob's national organization and
rank structure,' and,, brought one of
the few laughs that came from the`
,otherwise somber proceedings- with
an illustration of how the Mob func-
tions.'. ._ Y
HE SAID GANGLAND leader
Carlo Gambino has the ? cover-of
being-a labor consultant. "Gambino
doesn't know the difference between
Samuel Gompers- and Ringo Starr,"
Salerno testified. But that is one of
the ways the Mafia operates its busi-
ness on a scale like that of U.S. Steel
in narcotics,. labor racketeering.
prostitution and gambling, he said.
He said that it was possible but un-
likely that the late lack Ruby, who
shot Lee Harvey Oswald to death,
would have been, used by:- La Cosa
Nostra. to do-anything important, for
them.. although' sometimes under.1
world'. "families" do use undepend-
able people. '
"Jack Ruby would not have made
a pimple on the back of an organized
crime figure's neck." 'Salerno testi-
fied. "But my professional opinion is
that there is no evidence-that the na?
tional commission?of the Cosa Nostra
directed or approved the assassina
tion of President Kennedy.'$
It-is always possible, he conceded,
that some. leaders ` might have
ordered Kennedy's death. .and
presented numerous transcripts 'of,
wiretapped Mob conversations indi-
cating that. Cosa ' Nostra figures
wanted Kennedy dead because of th
trouble the. Kennedy brothers were
making for the organization in 1963.
TO THIS DAY, he said, authorities
do not know why Roselli and. Gian-
cana were murdered, but it may
have been because of their contact
with the CIA or some internal mat-
ter.
The frail, 63-year-old Trafficante.
with immunity from prosecution fur
nished on an. order from federal
Judge Oliver Gasch, would most
likely never have dealt personally
with any decision to violently elimi-~
nate Castro or anybody else.
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As the House Assassinations Com-:'
mittee wound up public hearings on
the John F. Kennedy phase of its
. investigation, it was told by its com-
mittee counsel that the question of
organized crime's involvement in the
murder.of a president was still an.
open one. ? '
Nothing that has, been uncovered
excludes it, counsel G. Robert Blakey
said yesterday, and much that is new
points to it. Blakey said organized
crime had the motive, the ' oppor-
tunity and the means to involve itself
in the plot to assassinate Kennedy
and that the possibility can be nei-
Lher dismissed nor established. -
But in a closing soliloquy, Commit-
tee Chairman Louis-Stokes, D-Ohio,
cautioned the public on what. it
makes of conspiracy theories, noting
1 that conspiracy is founded on associ-
ation, but more than association' is
required 'to establish' a conspiracy.
Stokes said the committee may find,
as the Warren Commission did but
for different reasons, that Kennedy
'died by the hand of a lone assassin.
The remarks of the committee
counsel and its chairman came after
the panel heard Mafia leader Santo
Trafficante claim he only acted as an
interpreter in a meeting with a
Cuban exile in which Kennedy's fu-
ture was mentioned. It then heard an
organized crime expert testify he
found it incredible than a leading
Cosa Nostra figure such as Traf-'
ficante would be acting. in such a'
minor role in the contact.
ORGANIZED CRIME- expert
Ralph Salerno yesterday told the
committee it would be naive to ac-
cept Trafficante's testimony at face.
value.
Trafficante testified both about a
meeting with exile Jose Aleman and-
meetings with gangland figures John
Roselli and Sam Giancana in the
CIA-Cosa Nostra plot to kill Commu-
nist Cuban leader Fidel Castro. I '
Testifying on the 17th and final day
of this series of public hearings on
the murder of Kennedy in Dallas on
Nov. 22. 1963. Salerno told the panel,
"I believe John Roselli got the first
approach and would not have worked
with the CIA on the Castro plot with-
out the permission of his superior,
Sam Giancana: I believe Giancana.,
approved it and then approached his
peer; Mr; Trafficante. and asked for
his cooperation. -
.
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~lls~
IV Is I
1f,ePutPd-.-..Go0jath.er'
By George Lardner Jr
waaRlDtton Paat Statf Wrtter
Casually tossing his dark blue hat
on the floor beside him, reputed Ma-
;fia don Santo Trafficante told .the
::House Assassinations Committee yes-
- terday- of taking part in a plot, to kill I
: Cuban President Fidel Castro,. but in-
;.sisted that. his, role had been. greatly
:exaggerated.
"I thought 1 was. helping the-United
States government" Trafficante said.
He: swore that his "total involvement
was to be an interpreter," and said he
never took a penny- for his efforts.
Testifying. under a court-ordered
grant of immunity that kept him from
invoking the Fifth Amendment, Traf-
?ficante strenuously denied- ever pre-,
dieting that President Kennedy would
one day be "hit" and. disclaimed any'
advance knowledge of that assassina-
tion.
"Absolutely not," he said. "No way.-
Plainly skeptical as its public hear-
ings= on the Kennedy assassination
drew to an inconclusive finale,- the
committee. poured into the public rec-
=ord a sheaf of FBI electronic surveil--
lance- records,- showing, that Under-
-world leaders often voiced hopes that
`Kennedy and 'his brother,-. Robert,.
'-would..be-killed. But-committee'=mem-
bers and lawyers acknowledged that
there were still too many loose ends
for- any firer findingss.'. ..
Chairman Louis-: Stokes (D-Ohio)
said he hoped to, tie'. down most of
.those'loose ends-in the' committee's ij
eat report at the- end of the-year, but'
he conceded- that this may not be?pos-
THE WASHINGTON POST
29 September 1978
"There is ii affillatfoii wh'atsoe`ver
``between the Castro government andj
myself;"the. grandfatherly looking un-
derworld figure said :"Never- ` has
been." -
He- also.-denied` ever entertaining
k any: real hopes- of reestablishing his
:operations in Cuba; where he had
once been the alleged overlord of syn-
dicate gambling. Trafficante fled' from
Cuba on a pretext in 1960, after Ca
. tro? had closed. down. the casinos in Hal
tvana,. but he shurgged off-the episode)
as one.of,life-s.little setbacks:- _- _I
t'Most,of the money I had there-was
-Cuban money,' he:, said. 'I. was. young.
I had a good time. I checked-it off to
experience:'.
Now 63: and suffering from chronic
hypertensive vascular disease, among
other ailments, Trafficante said he
was first contacted about the CIA as-
sassination plot in. late 1960. or early I
.1961 by John Roselli, a close associate
of Chicago underworld boss Sam
(Momo) Giancana,. at the. Fontainbleu
Hotel in Miami Beach.
"Seeing the United States "govern-
ment wanted it done," he said'he rea-
soned,. "I go along. with it.. I figured
it was like: a war." He* said Giancana
entered the scheme. shortly thereafter.
According, to a CIA. inspector. gener
:'al's report in 1987, it was: Trafficante
who procured the-services of a Cuban
;exile leader and. a. Castro government'
,.official ,"as_ twos persons.; who. could-
serve as `potential assassins,' " and it
was- Trafficante whot received poison:
pellets to be used in the attempt. and
then passed, them on. to. the Cuban
contacts.:
':-,Trafficante denied such - vigorous.
Participation, and maintained that the.
,Cubans, identified. at the hearing only
as Mr. X and Mr. Y. had actually been
enlisted by. Raphael (Macho) Gener..~
an antiCastro activist whom. Roselli
had asked about.
"He asked me what Kind of man he
[Gener] was,? Trafficante testified. "I
said he was a good man, at least he
was antiCastro."
..`_. "The pills wre- supposed to be ad- 1
ministered' -by Mr.. X," Trafficante
said, but he said, "I did. not give' any
pills to X. I did not give any money to
X. 1 did not receive no pills- from Bo.
selli." Instead; he said. that "after a
couple of meetings, they told me they
didn't need -my services anymore.'
When they told me that, I just backed
off."
Trafficante said ne' :would like to
have gone back to Havana in the
event of Castro's downfall and the re-
turn of legalized gambling.. but - hel
said that talk of his wanting' "gam-
bling monopolies. and all that trash
'about dope and prostitution,- that's
cot true."
The reputed underworld leader,
I who gave his occupation a9 "retired,".
without saying, from' what told the.
committee: he did. have discussions
with' exile Aleman about a Teamsters
union loan that Aleman hoped to get.
-Trafficante said he may-also have told
Aleman on one. occasion- that
"Kennedy was not going to-get reelec-
ted, [but] not that he was going to get
hit" % . .
"I was speaking to him in Spanish," '
TTrafficante -protested. "In ' Spanish,
there was no way- I could have told
him Kennedy was going to get `hit' - .
That's- not right. That's not. .true::
That's all I can- say
regime and implied that this' may,
have led to'the president's death. _
T_ rafficante replied. In effect, that
he never had much to do with Castro
beyond-joining in, the abortive. CIA-
sponsored scheme to kill him., ' '
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. "Frankly,'Iife itself' contains loose
ends,' Stokes said. ".,.:-'- -Not every-
question that'can be asked can be an-
swered.' ::...:..:.., .....
A._ prominent Cuban; exile, Jose Alt-
-man, told the committee Wednesday
that Trafficante had once predicted
to him. that Kennedy would never be
reelected because he. was going to be.
"hit." Aleman charged that tue-under..
.world had. by then actually entered
into a secret alliance with the Castro
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
ARTIC E A;pr.ARED 29 September 1978
ON PACE __1_-...
. Reputed Mafia leader Santo Trafficante
said he participated in a CIA plot to kill Fi-
del Castro but knew of no Cuban attempt to
retaliate. Testifying with immunity before a
House panel; Trafficante also denied he told
an FBI informer. that President Kennedy
would be "hit" five months before Kenne-
dy's assassination.
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 ARTICLE j For Release 2004/07/08: CIA-RDP81 M00980R0.0060021000l-2
_ THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
ON PAGc,-~--- 28 September 1978
t r a I Intelligence Agency Director. able to assume that Johnson already niability. ? . . . -
Richard Helms for having failed to . knew about-the plots to waste Castro. Which meant that nobody asked too
spill his guts to the Warren Comtais from McCone, .who. reported directly many-questions, including Congress;
sion. about government plots, to get rid .:' to the_.Oval. Office under both Kennedy- and intelligence chiefs operated under
of Cuban' Premier Fidel Castro.. and Johnson. purposefully vague orders .-that gave-
But-they are conveniently overlook- , .. It--also is not. unreasonable to as- them the. greatest latitude:- and-:' their
ing the fact that a host of higher-tips, .,. sume that McCone told- both his bosses bosses the. greatest degree. of- protec-
in the - American. government ?also what' was going on on - an . informal . tion from. `personal ;accountability:. if
were, aware of the -effort to assassi- basis. -' something went wrong. ,;Y
nate a foreign chief of state.: ;~~. -'X- -: Nevertheless, Helms 'walked right. In fact? Presidents swore their- Intel-
And that at the time they think' into the- arias of his'critics when he ligence agency chiefs . to' an: oath never-
Helms should have told all to the War- expressed. regret to the- House panel- .to reveal secrets tor.unauthorized.out-
ren Commission, John F: Kennedy's- that . he hadn't given, the-: Warren- siders... f -'~= -? -
owm brother,- Robert; then -attorney Commission an honest count when it.. ' That was the `atmasphere- under.
general of the. United States; knew all. clearly was.- the duty of others to, do which Helms functioned. during the
about the anti-Castro plots, too. so..' ::_...._ _ .. .: . t Cold-War years -when- his 'critics`:now-
So why : do: they, now, think, that He admitted having made a mis- - think he. should-1have-told the Warren'.
Helms; while he served as deputy. CIA. e
chief in charge- of clandestine operas take: He said that if he had to do it all :Commission the-.- whole 'truth. ? forget-
over: again, he ' would have told the . " ting that the ; then-" attorney general
tions, should have taken- it upon- him- Warren Commission the truth. At himself was. as fully qualified -and
self to tell the secrets when they were . least, Helms had the candor to public-.- - more securely situated to tell the pan- -
k n o w n: by people in. far- loftier- -
positions? ly purge himself... ... ,.: el the. same thing ;
- "-However, the people who immediate- THE DOCTRINE of plausible denla?
EVEN HELMS offered that in his ly climbed' all over. his back didn't bility worked well- until Watergate.
defense when he told a House Commit- have the decency to recognize the tra- Then Congress 'and- the courts decided
tee last week that he wasn't prepared ditional doctrine of plausible deniabili- to change the rules of the intelligence
to accept. the sole blame for having.. ty, that has' protected- Presidents from game. They . moved-. to apply the - new
kept the Warren - Commission in thetaking undue heat on intelligence-oper- American morality retroactively..
'
dark. ations from Harry Truman through doing so, they crucified a number
Helms testified that Bobby Kennedy` Richard Nixon.
was aware of the anti-Castro' schemes:: They failed to take into. account the of intelligence agents who had alleged-.
at the time the Warren. Commission: fact : that had Helms informed the, : ly committed illegal acts n the belief
was investigating his brother's assns Warred Commission about: the get-rid-. mein commander-in-chief had. author-
sination in 1963. .:. , ized them.
of-Castro.; schemes, Lyndon Johnson
So-was- former-Defense-..Secretary:.'-mostlikelp would have had his scalp. Now, for having" admitted what he
Robert McNamara; the.National Seca-s;, . r :. - perceives. today : to have been- a mis-
rity Council, and others- working close;.'-: .: SINCE . THE`. WATERGATE years, it take, Helms' critics are ready to place
ly with then-President r' Lyndon B is that "plausible deniability. doctrine . him in a public pillory for something
Johnson: "` i that. has 'gotten a host of. "American for which 'men' in far more. , exalted
And,, if" Helms='knew the-information hitelIigencp agents in 7 trouble. They positions should have accepted. respon--'
in his role as deputy -CIA chief, so did have been- left hanging defenseless-, sibility.. =
John A. McCone, who headed the from a limb after thinking they were -I. suppose his. latest-.-sin is merely -
agency- from the time Kennedy ap- acting under the color of presidential ' being available. He is alive..-But the
pointed him in .1962 until he was suc: authority in national security matters. - . rest of the practitioners of the- doc-
ceeded by- retired Adm: William F. - . Actually, they were. But nobody - trine of plausible deniability either are
Raborn. under Johnson in 1965. ever had reduced to writing or statute:- dead or have dropped out of sight.
Helms didn't become CIA chief him- the authority, of Presidents to approve --And Helms is left Landing alone at
self until Johnson gave him the job in - covert acts to, defend national securi a handy target for the retroactive wis-
1966. Until then, he was a s'ibordinate.. tydom of those who believe an interna
But a year later, Helms testified, he -Nor had anyone publicly` admitted tional -conspiracy took John F. Keane-
personally informed Johnson about all that for almost 30 years,` Presidents dy's life in Dallas nearly 1.i years ago-
the anti-Castro' plots. had kept their own skirts clean by ' It must be grand to have hindsight.
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