On March 4, 1967, a Communist-controlled newspaper in Rome, Paese Sera, began a series of articles on Clay Shaw, his board membership on the Centro Mondiale Commerciale (CMC), and the organization's supposed ties to the CIA and right-wing extremists.
Paese Sera, March 5, 1967
Here is part of the first article in the series translated into English. This actually comes from the papers of Jim Garrison.
The third paragraph is on Louis Bloomfield, and Paese Sera got all the facts wrong. Bloomfield was not a "former American major," he was was a major in the Canadian military during World War II. He was not "presently a banker in Montreal," he was a lawyer in Montreal. And, he was not a shareholder in CMC - he represented some of the shareholders.
There is absolutely no evidence that "Bloomfield . . . had participated in the espionage activities of the OSS (now the CIA) during the war."
When these allegations, taken from Paese Sera, appeared in March 1967 in Le Devoir, a French-language newspaper in Montreal, Bloomfield wrote the editor demanding an apology.
No evidence has ever materialized that linked Bloomfield with the OSS. And yet, you can still find discussions of Bloomfield and the OSS in various conspiracy books.
For instance, Jim Garrison mentions this in his book, On The Trail of The Assassins: (page 88)
"One of the major stockholders of the Centro was a Major L. M. Bloomfield, a Montreal resident originally of American nationality and a former agent with the Office of Strategic Services, out of which the United States had formed the C.I.A."
"And although Litwin writes that Bloomfield was not in the OSS, John Kowalski, who has been through the Bloomfield archives, says he did see letters between the legendary World War II Canadian/British intelligence officer William Stephenson and Bloomfield."
Here is the letter that Bloomfield sent to William Stephenson:
William Stephenson was a Canadian who worked for the British Security Coordination (BSC) during World War II. He is best known by his code-name Intrepid. He lobbied people close to FDR to set up some sort of intelligence operation and was instrumental in the founding of the OSS.
Stephenson was a World War II hero. Here is a short bio from the Canadian Encyclopedia.
The letter above is hardly proof that Bloomfield was a member of the OSS. In fact, the letter is addressed to Richard Coit, who worked with Stephenson in the BSC.
Knowing William Stephenson was an honor, not a crime.