Investigative reporter Mark Shaw discussed his latest research on the JFK assassination, including revelations about Warren Commission members Sen. John Sherman Cooper, Sen. Richard Russell, and 'whistleblower' Morris Wolff. A legislative assistant to Sen. Cooper, Wolff was interviewed by Shaw on two occasions (related document) and told him that the Warren Commission knew about Jack Ruby's connections to organized crime but chose to ignore them. Further, Wolff said that Cooper told him, "The commission members want to bury the truth under a pile of stones, and Earl Warren is acting like a third-world dictator." Cooper issued a dissent to the findings of the Commission's conclusion that Oswald acted alone, but his objections were covered up and never released to the public, Shaw stated.
Senator Russell also joined Cooper in dissenting from the Commission's report. "Like Russell, Cooper was impressed by the strong and compelling testimony of Governor Connally, and thus was willing to follow Russell's lead in rejecting the silver bullet theory and the Oswald alone conclusion," Shaw said, explaining that they rejected the idea that a single bullet had struck both Kennedy and Connally. Wolf also revealed a connection between journalist Dorothy Kilgallen and John Sherman Cooper through parties at Cooper's Georgetown home. Shaw has concluded that Kilgallen was murdered to keep her from going public with what she knew about the JFK assassination.
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Russ Baker is an investigative journalist who specializes in exploring power dynamics behind major events. In the latter half, he revealed the strange story of David Harold Byrd, a powerful man who owned the building (the Texas Book Depository) from which Oswald supposedly killed Kennedy. Byrd later made millions on his military contracting investments after his friend LBJ ascended to the presidency. Baker also detailed a previously little-known discussion between LBJ and J. Edgar Hoover in which they spoke of Kennedy's shooters as "they" and described Connally as "getting in the way" of a shot at Kennedy, that is, from the front.
He also talked about Oswald spending several years living in Russia, and how that had been used to characterize his political views and to suggest that somehow this resulted in his wanting to kill Kennedy. Yet, Baker learned that Oswald was critical of the USSR and was a supporter of JFK's policies. It was also curious that Oswald was hired by the Book Depository at a time that was the off-season for the company. He was hired to lay down flooring, which is what he was doing on the sixth floor, when he supposedly shot Kennedy from the window there. Baker also spoke about his work investigating the Bush dynasty, and the curious admission from George H. W. Bush, who had said he didn't remember where he was the day JFK was killed. Baker tracked him to a campaign speech the night before the assassination (he'd been running to become a Texas US senator). For more, view Baker's article "JFK Assassination at 60."
News segment guests: Mish Shedlock, Jeff Nelken