The journalist James Phelan wrote a very interesting memo about the discrepancies and contradictions in Perry Russo's stories. I blogged this memo once before, but I want to put it up once again. This blog post relates to point 10 - the conversation with Perry Russo and James Phelan that took place in Baton Rouge in March of 1967.
Russo told Phelan that he first mentioned an assassination plot in New Orleans, and not in Baton Rouge when initially interviewed by the press and by Andrew Sciambra.
Note that Matt Herron accompanied James Phelan in Baton Rouge. Let's look at what James DiEugenio says about this in Destiny Betrayed: (page 246)
"So the author looked up Mr. Herron and talked to him on two occasions. On both occasions, Herron said that Russo had told them that he mentioned Bertrand in Baton Rouge. And further, that Russo's statements on this were very strong in 1967. Because of this, Herron was surprised when he read Russo's testimony at the Shaw trial. He felt that, for whatever reason, it was now diluted. If you are counting, this is now three lies to three different people that Phelan told. Actually four lies, since he not only lied about Russo, but about what Herron would say about him."
Fortunately, we have a memo from 1967 written by Tom Bethell about this incident, and guess what? Herron corroborates Phelan:
This memo is very clear - it corroborates what Phelan reported, namely that Russo admitted that he did not discuss an assassination plot until he got to New Orleans. This contemporaneous memo trumps anything claimed, years later, by James DiEugenio.
Tomorrow: Perry Russ Talks - in Baton Rouge, Part Three
Let's hear from Perry Russo and what he told Shaw's attorneys in 1971.