Here is an excerpt from a transcript: (42:10)
Jefferson Morley: And so the organization chart [of JMWAVE in Miami] tells us at least how many people Joannides had working for him when Oswald was under surveillance. The organization chart is also useful in another JFK story that has emerged in recent years, and that's a story that we didn't know till, I think 2017
and that was -- this one, when I tell people this one, their eyes kind of open, okay, because we hear a lot about this is all a nothing burger, and everybody knows that one man shot the president for no reason, and anybody who doubts that is kind of crazy. Well, the important thing to know is what we now know is the CIA itself did not believe the lone gunman theory. And a document that emerged in 2017 showed that.
It showed that the CIA station, a couple of days after Kennedy was killed, and a couple days after Oswald was killed, the CIA station launched an effort to query all of its agents in South Florida with a series of questions, and all of these questions focused on anti-Castro, anti-JFK, Cubans known to the CIA station. The CIA did not consider for a moment that Oswald was the sole gunman. They believed that Oswald was dead and somebody else might well have been involved. And they gave these questions. There were like five questions, and all of the officers in the station were asked to go query their agents. So you had a couple hundred officers in that station, and each officer might have five to ten agents. So the officer who told about this investigation said this was a, you know, this was a massive effort. I think that was the word that he used, Donald Heath was the name of the CIA officer.
By the time the memo was released, he was dead. So we couldn't ask him a question about it, which is typical of how the CIA handles these things. But anyway, Heath's memo was plenty revealing, and the organization chart that we received can help us understand. Now, one of the things that we have requested through Representative Luna is the results of that investigation. The way it was described by the officer, the people who were tasked with collecting information from their agents, were asked to submit what are called Situation Reports, or SITREPS. And those were collated as part of the investigation. So, we're trying to track down the SITREPS of the Miami Station's investigation of the possible involvement of Cuban exiles in the JFK assassination. So, we've learned a lot. And, we've obtained a lot. But this one of the things that we didn't get, and were expecting to get, and so we're looking forward to getting because it will shed light on this question of what was going on with Oswald. And why the CIA itself did not think that he was solely responsible for the President's death.
I am not sure exactly which document has the organization chart for the Miami Station or JMWAVE. This document has some details, and so does this document.
Jefferson Morley wants the supposed SITREPS (Situation Reports) related to queries put out by Donald Heath in 1964.
Here is the relevant paragraph about what was asked of the Miami Station:
There is nothing in the memo that says the CIA did not believe that a lone gunman killed JFK. That is, nothing in this memo suggests that Heath or the CIA thought there was a second gunman. The instructions are pretty clear -- "to contact our agents inside Cuba and our support agents in Miami for leads possibly linking Castro Cuba or the Cuban exile community to the murder."
Interestingly, Morley says the instructions "focused on anti-Castro, anti-JFK, Cubans known to the CIA station," when, in fact, the instruction included Cuba.
Heath wrote that the instructions went to his twelve case officers, and yet Morley believes that "a couple hundred officers" were given the task. Morley claims that Heath said it was a "massive effort" but those words do not appear in his report.
Morley states that "By the time the memo was released [with his name unredacted], he was dead. So we couldn't ask him a question about it, which is typical of how the CIA handles these things." That's quite a claim. A better explanation is that the CIA regularly redacted names of CIA officers who wrote memos.
Would we really need to question Heath? He wrote nothing about any of the reports the station received back, and a lot of the reports might not have been in writing:
I wish Congresswoman Luna the best of luck in tracking down the supposed SITREPS. We sincerely would like to have such documents extracted from the existing ARC files or any other source
11/25/63: Cable from JMWAVE to Director, WAVE 8142: "IMMEDIATE ACTION. Sitrep 24 and 25 November 1963. I. INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS A. KUJUMP Intel nothing to report. B. WAVE intel nothing to report. C. KOLA AND KUTUBE-D nothing to report. D. Press and radio...DRE held Castro responsible for President's death, and recalled threats Castro made against Kennedy in remarks made (illegible) September 63. DRE also recalled Lee Oswald attempts infiltrate DRE and his clash with DRE in New Orleans earlier this year (WFAB 22 Nov)...OPERATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS..."Amidst exile rumors circulating in reference to Pres. Kennedy's death is story that Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo commented on 21 Oct that 'something very big would happen soon that would advance Cuban cause'. Possibly related is SNFE member Manuel Rodriguez, alleged to be violently anti-Kennedy, is living in Dallas, Texas. (see WAVE 8130)."
There might be other SITREPS in the assassination collection, although they might not be easy to find.
One thing is clear -- the Heath memo says nothing about what the CIA thought about the JFK assassination. It was completely proper to ask case officers in the field to query their agents about possible leads.
Thank you to Paul Hoch for helping with some of the research for this article.
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Jefferson Morley
Morley misreads Angleton's testimony before the HSCA.
An FBI memo that quoted James Angleton is used by Morley to reach an unwarranted conclusion.
Several months ago, I posted an article, in association with several researchers, that showed what was contained in the redacted section of Schlesinger's memo.
Morley somehow knows what is in the supposed 2,400 recently-discovered FBI files.
Morley discusses Israel with Tucker Carlson.
Morley believes that the United States can never be great unless it solves the JFK assassination.
An analysis of the 13 documents Morley wants to see.
Morley claims I am a CIA apologist and then misquotes me.
It would be worthwhile for the CIA to release the Joannides file just to stop the incessant posts from Jefferson Morley.
Actually, Oswald stayed at two budget-priced hotels in Helsinki.
He keeps asking the same questions, and we keep posting the same answers.
Conspiracy authors are playing fast and loose with the facts.
There is no evidence that Diaz was involved in the JFK assassination.
There are clues as to what is in a redacted section of Schlesinger's memo.
Chad Nagle and Dan Storper's article on New Orleans gets everything wrong.
Believing Michael Kurtz is problematic.
Morley wrote that there are two redacted memos on CIA reorganization, but there is only one. He wrote about Goodwin's copy as if it was a different memo, rather than a copy of the Schlesinger memo.
The phrase 'who shot John' does not refer to the JFK assassination.
Only one word is redacted in Harvey's deposition.
There are no redactions in the Operation Northwoods document.
Kilgallen had nothing to tell.
An underwhelming interview of Marina Oswald.
Morley often repeats stories and changes their meanings.
Chad Nagle claims there was an assassination plot against JFK in Chicago in November 1963. One problem: There is no evidence of such a plot.
A response to Morley's Substack post alleging that I am a CIA apologist.
A rebuttal to Morley's response to my post Was Bill Harvey in Dallas in November of 1963?
There is no credible evidence Harvey was in Dallas in November of 1963.
Morley repeats the claim that Dulles was at a CIA training center during the weekend of the JFK assassination. He wasn't.
Morley's claims about Efron are all wrong.
Morley responded to my article "The Truth about Operation Northwoods." Here is my reply.
W. Tracy Parnell is one of the best JFK assassination researchers out there. Here is his look at Jefferson Morley with several important articles.
Operation Northwoods can only be understood as part of the Kennedys' war against Cuba and Operation Mongoose.
And a response from me.
There is no evidence that Dr. West petitioned the court to examine Jack Ruby before his trial.
There is absolutely no evidence that Dr. Louis Jolyon West interfered with Jack Ruby's case.
Jefferson Morley used a fake Oswald handbill in his press conference for the Mary Ferrell Foundation.
An examination of redactions in the JFK collection of documents.
Morley doesn't understand Alecia Long's arguments about homophobia and Jim Garrison.
Jefferson Morley asks why "what the CIA knew about Herminio Diaz is still off limits."
Morley misses that a lot of redactions are actually available.
Jefferson Morley's press conference presents evidence that belief in a conspiracy has dropped.