I've already written eighteen blog posts about the book Chokeholds. But there is so much more to write about. Here is one story from the book that is completely fictional.
Here is an excerpt from Chokeholds: (from Chapter 10: Sixty Years of Obstruction of Justice by Paul Bleau and Andrew Iler)
About Larry Crafard: “Crafard had worked at Jack Ruby’s Carousel Club before he was seized by FBI men as he was hightailing it out of town the day after the assassination, having told someone, “They are not going to pin this on me!” In the interview, Warren asks Crafard what he did before he was a bartender. “I was a master sniper in the Marine Corps,” Crafard answered. The next question that Warren immediately asked was: “What kind of entertainment did they have at the club?”[549]
Footnote 549 is as follows: Gaeton Fonzi, speech on receiving the Mary Ferrell-JFK Lancer Pioneer Award [21st November, 1998], https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKcrafard.htm
It's a great story except that it's completely made up. Fonzi got this story from comedian Mort Sahl who included it in his act "Mort Sahl's America." Here is an excerpt from The New Yorker of April 25, 1994:
His America turns out to be talk shows, movie studios, cocktail parties, and Presidential banquets, with an occasional detour into the Warren Report. In fact, he reads verbatim a snatch of Earl Warren and the then Representative Gerald Ford interviewing a barman, Curtis LaVerne Crafard, who had worked at Jack Ruby’s Carousel Club before he was seized by F.B.I. men as he hightailed it out of town the day after the Kennedy assassination, saying, “They are not going to pin this on me.” In the interview, Warren asks him what he did before he was a bartender. “I was a master sniper in the Marine Corps,” Crafard says. Warren’s next question is “What kind of entertainment did they have at the club? It’s the one pure moment of political comedy in a show that otherwise bears out one of Sahl’s best quips: “An intellectual in show business is like the smartest bear in the zoo.”
Of course, this is not verbatim testimony from the Warren Commission. Crafard never said anything about being a master sniper, and he never thought that anything was being pinned on him.
There is a brief glimpse, an illustration of the level at which that deceit was carried out, in an incident that occurred during the Warren Commission’s investigation. Commission chairman Earl Warren himself, with then Representative Gerald Ford at his side, was interviewing a barman, Curtis Laverne Crafard. Crafard had worked at Jack Ruby’s Carousel Club before he was seized by FBI men as he was hightailing it out of town the day after the assassination, having told someone, “They are not going to pin this on me.”
In the interview, Warren asks Crafard what he did before he was a bartender.
“I was a Master sniper in the Marine Corps,” Crafard answered.
The next question that Warren immediately asked was: “What kind of entertainment did they have at the club?”
You can read Crafard's testimony here, and here. You won't find anything about Crafard being a master sniper in the Marines.
Did anybody do any fact checking for Chokeholds?
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Chokeholds:
Chokeholds leaves out a lot of information about Aloysius Habighorst.
Bleau doesn't tell his readers about Roger Craig's credibility problems.
Bleau believes the Rose Cherami story.
Bleau claims the Shaw jury believed there was a conspiracy in the JFK assassination. This is just not true.
Bleau doesn't tell you everything about Lyndon Johnson's feelings towards the Warren Report.
Bleau leaves out some important details about the beliefs of Burt Griffin.
Bleau leaves out an important paragraph from Alfredda Scobey's article on the Warren Commission.
Bleau misleads readers on the testimony of John Moss Whitten.
Bleau gets it all wrong on Dr. George Burkley.
Bleau doesn't tell the whole story about John Sherman Cooper.
Bleau claims that J. Lee Rankin questioned the findings of the Warren Report. This is just not true.
Bleau tries to make it appear that Dallas policeman James Leavelle had doubts that Oswald could be found guilty at a trial.
Bleau gets it all wrong on the FBI Summary Report.
Bleau discusses the conclusions of the HSCA but leaves out it most important finding.
Bleau leaves out some important details about a Warren Commission staffer.
Was Oswald a loner? Bleau says no, and then says yes.
Bleau leaves out some important details about Malcolm Kilduff.
An introduction to Paul Bleau's new book, Chokeholds.