There is not a single American adult who does not have a certain reaction when he hears the name Lee Harvey Oswald.  Unfortunately, the reaction of far too many is “Yeah, he’s the guy who killed JFK from that building in Dallas.  Dumb lucky communist.”

Think again.  In The JFK Assassination Chokeholds, co-author Paul Bleau (this writer is the other co-author) demonstrates that Oswald was in fact an asset of U.S. intelligence who was no “lone nut.”  Bleau dissects the historical record that supports this undeniable conclusion.  Here are some of the compelling points about Oswald.  

CIA officer William Kent was chief of the CIA’s JM/WAVE anti-Castro operation based in Miami, and also in New Orleans, where Oswald was active and public in the summer of 1963.  When interviewed by House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) investigator Gaeton Fonzi, Kent’s daughter recalled her father referring to Oswald as a “useful idiot.”

This is an admission from a CIA officer that the CIA was highly involved with Oswald through its anti-Castro operations in New Orleans. 

In the summer of 1963, Oswald was arrested following a minor street fight in New Orleans with anti-Castro activists.  In police custody, Oswald was granted a lengthy meeting with an FBI agent.  What “lone nut” communist reject gets this kind of opportunity?

Oswald’s known activities with retired FBI agent Guy Banister at 544 Camp Street in New Orleans further connect Oswald to the FBI as an informant.  Oswald used the address “544 Camp Street” on pamphlets to promote his phony “Fair Play for Cuba Committee” chapter in New Orleans.  This building was the center of anti-Castro activities in downtown New Orleans, where Oswald was known to associate with the likes of David Ferrie and Guy Banister.  Oswald was officially “broke,” according to the Warren Commission, yet somehow he had an office in this building to run his pro-Castro activities.

Other points covered in Chokeholds include the CIA’s knowledge that Oswald was a witting false defector to the Soviet Union and the CIA’s highly unusual handling of Oswald’s file to conceal known information on him, along with the removal of Oswald from the FBI Watch List shortly before the assassination in Dallas, which allowed Oswald to be on JFK’s motorcade route.

Oswald possessed six wallets, a spy camera, and the top of a small cardboard box with him when he was arrested at the Texas Theater immediately after the assassination.  One of those wallets (with his alias, Alek Hidell) was found at the murder scene of Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit.  The other was found on Oswald after his arrest at the Texas Theater.  

Oswald’s last known phone calls from police custody in Dallas were directed toward intelligence contacts.

In Chokeholds, Bleau discusses how Oswald is known to have had at least 64 touch points with plausible definitive intelligence assets.  This is clearly impossible for a disillusioned “lone nut” drifter, the Oswald that the Warren Commission tried to sell.  Strangely, these encounters took place before Oswald even became a U.S. Marine, and they continued through the day he himself was assassinated by Jack Ruby while in police custody in Dallas.   

Senator Richard Schweiker said it best about Oswald.  Leading the Senate Church Committee that investigated “performance or non-performance” of intelligence agencies during the initial investigation of the JFK assassination, Schweiker stated: “We do know that Oswald had intelligence connections.  Everywhere you look with him [Oswald], there are fingerprints of intelligence.”

As of today, the president and U.S. intelligence agencies still withhold over 4,600 records related to the JFK assassination.  Without question, a portion of these records will show Oswald’s undeniable intelligence connections and that Oswald was involved in an operation that led to JFK’s murder.  This alone proves that the Warren Commission Report is pure fiction.  Until the records are released as required by law, we are left with no other conclusion.  

Mark Adamczyk is a Florida attorney who has studied the history of the Kennedy assassination for 25 years.  He is co-author of the book The JFK Assassination Chokeholds.  In recent years, Mark has become an expert on the JFK Records Collection laws and spends significant time in looking at solutions for problem of government transparency and full disclosure of the JFK records.

Image: BernerAchim via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.