A newly declassified CIA doc, often called the “Donald Heath Memo,” confirms that the CIA, within the rapid aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, rejected the notion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
The 11-page doc, authored by Donald Heath—a CIA officer assigned to the Miami Station through the early Sixties—particulars the company’s intense investigative efforts following Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963.
The memo particulars how the CIA’s Miami Station was mobilized within the hours and days following the assassination to analyze potential hyperlinks between the Cuban authorities, Cuban exiles, and the Kennedy killing.
Removed from accepting the Warren Fee’s narrative of a lone shooter, the memo exhibits the company actively probing a broader conspiracy.
This doc confirms the CIA rejected the lone gun principle within the weeks after the JFK assassination. It’s known as the Donald Heath memo.
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Donald Heath:
“On the time of the Kennedy homicide I used to be on suspension from energetic responsibility as a result of I had let my finance accountings fall behind. I used to be, nonetheless, current within the FI Department on the Miami Station when my chief, Mr. Warren Frank, issued orders to all case officers (there have been about 12 of us within the Department at the moment) to contact our brokers inside Cuba and our help brokers in Miami for leads probably linking Castro Cuba or the Cuban exile group to the homicide.I don’t recall whether or not Mr. Shackley was on Station that day, however I recall that Mr. Anthony Sforza, AMOT case officer, advised me later that he had obtained particular directions from Shackley about how the AMOT service was to go about aiding within the investigation.
I additionally recall fairly clearly that there was communication from Hqs. to our Station about the necessity to question our belongings. There was additionally some communication from the FBI and different businesses to our Station asking for details about potential Cuban involvement within the Kennedy homicide.”
Heath recalled being directed to query brokers on matters akin to:
- Suspicious disappearances of Cuban exiles earlier than or after the assassination.
- Requests for big sums of cash, weapons, or autos throughout fall 1963.
- Cuban exiles thought-about able to orchestrating the assassination.
- Rich exiles who may need financed such an operation.
These queries counsel the company was severely exploring the likelihood that JFK’s homicide was both backed or executed by actors with connections to Cuba.
Heath recounts a directive from CIA officer Theodore G. Shackley to activate “quick response investigative programs,” usually reserved for imminent threats or acts of terrorism. This response included:
- Fast intelligence gathering by way of Cuban brokers contained in the island
- Activation of the AMOT intelligence service to probe exile communities
- Use of covert belongings to assemble insights on the Cuban authorities’s response to JFK’s dying
One significantly telling element: Heath recounts an agent in Cuba observing Osmani Cienfuegos, a senior Cuban official, visiting an American technician who reportedly constructed audio surveillance tools for Cuban intelligence—simply hours after information of Kennedy’s dying reached Havana.
Donald Heath:
“I recall that the night time of the day that Kennedy was murdered (AMWEE-1) noticed Osmani Cienfuegos, a Cuban chief, drive as much as the home throughout the road from (AMWEE-1’s) home at about 0100 hours. He stayed in that home for a number of hours. The home was occupied by an American expatriate technician who constructed audio-surveillance gear for the Cuban intelligence service.I recall that AMWEE-1 opined that Cienfuegos visited the American that night time as a result of he was one of many few American sources the Cuban authorities may discuss to in Cuba about what was occurring within the USA on account of Kennedy’s homicide.”
“14. In closing I ought to level out that my involvement in in search of Cuban results in the Kennedy homicide was slight. Different officers would have been extra concerned than I.
I might assume Mr. Shackley has the clearest recollection of duties the Station might have been given to help investigation of the Kennedy homicide.
One closing comment about Miami Station investigation of the Kennedy homicide, violations of the Neutrality Act, and different developments: All of us have been very properly knowledgeable concerning the limitations on CIA’s proper to conduct investigations of individuals residing within the USA, whether or not they have been alien residents or US residents.
I don’t recall anybody ever in search of info on safety issues within the USA which was not associated to Cuban exiles and their actions with respect to Cuba.
Every so often, I might come throughout info indicating motion by US residents to a) help in violating the Neutrality Act or b) conduct espionage on behalf of a international energy.
In such cases, I wrote up what I found and despatched it by Station channels to the suitable US Company involved with the actual sort of violation that was suspected after which withdrew from additional makes an attempt to amass info.”
You possibly can learn the memo beneath:
