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@ -43,37 +43,39 @@ On March 14, 1963, [[Fred R. Youngblood]], chief of the nonofficial cover branch
A memorandum for the record of July 28, 1975, summarizes the file. The agency opened files on Wackenhut and his company in May 1960 "for the purpose of obtaining cover support for Western Hemisphere Agency employees assigned to Florida." He "was investigated by this Agency with favorable results, and a Covert Security Approval for his use was granted on 21 November 1961. Subsequently, his company provided cover backstopping to Western Hemisphere employees stationed in the [[Miami]], Florida, area. In April of 1967 due to the notoriety that Mr. Wackenhut had received in connection with his activities in Florida, Mr. Wackenhut's Covert Security Approval was rescinded and this Agency severed our relations with him." That January Governor [[Claude Kirk]] had made Wackenhut the unpaid director of a privately financed "war on crime," staffed by the company's investigators.[^4][^5]
Routing slips of September and December 1969 added to the file the card of the manager of [[Wackenhut Protective Systems]] in [[Rockville, Maryland]]. In March 1971 the agency's security office approved a contact clearance for a Wackenhut employee. On April 20, 1971, the special agent in charge, [[Arthur C. Sheridan]], wrote to the Miami field office that "restrictions imposed on the use of Subject corporation in 1967 still apply and were recently reaffirmed in a cable dated 16 July 1970." The chief of a project with the cryptonym VENOM wanted contact with two Wackenhut men, [[Manuel J. Chavez]] and [[Junius Jaffe Mallin]]. "It is recognized that Subject firm could be an operational asset to [[Project VENOM]] in certain circumstances," Sheridan wrote, but "this office can accomplish its mission without the necessity of utilizing Subject corporation." Other records of the same Miami security office show VENOM collecting on the armed exile groups in the city: on [[Gerald Patrick Hemming|Gerry Hemming]] and [[Roy Hargraves]] in July 1970, when they were reported to be planning a missile attack on [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo]] to be blamed on [[Cuba]], and on [[Ricardo Morales Navarrete|Ricardo Morales]], whom the project had used briefly in 1964 and who in May 1971 was presenting himself at a Miami hotel as an agency operative "with mission to make an approach to local mafia."[^6]
On April 24, 1968, a year after the severance, the chief of the [[JMWAVE]] station in Miami sent headquarters a telepouch dispatch, subject "Wackenhut Corporation," reporting that the *[[Miami Herald]]* business section of April 23 "carried an article reflecting that the Wackenhut Corp., a Coral Gables, Florida firm, had announced an agreement to purchase the Reliable Reporting Service, Inc., Rockville Center, New York, which provides pre-insurance and pre-employment reports for more than 400 clients in the insurance, financial and industrial fields." It went to the chief of the Western Hemisphere Division "as a matter of information."[^6] Routing slips of September and December 1969 added to the file the card of the manager of [[Wackenhut Protective Systems]] in [[Rockville, Maryland]]. In March 1971 the agency's security office approved a contact clearance for a Wackenhut employee. On April 20, 1971, the special agent in charge, [[Arthur C. Sheridan]], wrote to the Miami field office that "restrictions imposed on the use of Subject corporation in 1967 still apply and were recently reaffirmed in a cable dated 16 July 1970." The chief of a project with the cryptonym VENOM wanted contact with two Wackenhut men, [[Manuel J. Chavez]] and [[Junius Jaffe Mallin]]. "It is recognized that Subject firm could be an operational asset to [[Project VENOM]] in certain circumstances," Sheridan wrote, but "this office can accomplish its mission without the necessity of utilizing Subject corporation." Other records of the same Miami security office show VENOM collecting on the armed exile groups in the city: on [[Gerald Patrick Hemming|Gerry Hemming]] and [[Roy Hargraves]] in July 1970, when they were reported to be planning a missile attack on [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo]] to be blamed on [[Cuba]], and on [[Ricardo Morales Navarrete|Ricardo Morales]], whom the project had used briefly in 1964 and who in May 1971 was presenting himself at a Miami hotel as an agency operative "with mission to make an approach to local mafia."[^7]
The 1975 memorandum ends: "In November of 1974 it was learned that Wackenhut Corporation was providing guard coverage to Global Marine Development, Incorporated (GMDI), [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], a firm that the Agency office of DDS&T was dealing with. This Agency made no attempt to persuade GMDI to terminate their contract with Wackenhut Corporation, and it is assumed that GMDI is still receiving guard coverage from them." Global Marine Development built and operated the [[Hughes Glomar Explorer]] for the [[Directorate of Science and Technology]], which used the ship in the summer of 1974 to raise part of a sunken Soviet submarine in [[Project Azorian]]. The [[Los Angeles Times]] disclosed the operation on February 7, 1975.[^4][^7]
The same item went on April 30, 1968, from the Office of Security to its New York field office "for your information only."[^8] The National Archives' index of the agency's file on the company lists, among records not yet reproduced here, a memorandum of April 25, 1967, from the deputy director of security, [[Victor R. White]], to the [[CIA Counterintelligence Staff|counterintelligence staff]] on "DCI opposition to the use of private investigative firm"; a *[[Washington Star]]* clipping of November 8, 1971, circulated to the director of security, on the retired Air Force Lieutenant General [[Joseph F. Carroll]], the first director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the retired Vice Admiral [[William Raborn]], director of central intelligence from 1965 to 1966, joining the Wackenhut board; a note of February 4, 1974, on a telephone call from Raborn "trying to arrange an appointment with [[William Colby|Colby]] for himself and Mr. Mayo"; a three-page memorandum from Howard Osborn to the director of February 6, 1974, on the company that "contains a recommendation for approval"; and a note from the director of February 11, 1974, "concerning telephonic contact with Admiral Raborn of Wackenhut Corp."[^9]
The 1975 memorandum ends: "In November of 1974 it was learned that Wackenhut Corporation was providing guard coverage to Global Marine Development, Incorporated (GMDI), [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], a firm that the Agency office of DDS&T was dealing with. This Agency made no attempt to persuade GMDI to terminate their contract with Wackenhut Corporation, and it is assumed that GMDI is still receiving guard coverage from them." Global Marine Development built and operated the [[Hughes Glomar Explorer]] for the [[Directorate of Science and Technology]], which used the ship in the summer of 1974 to raise part of a sunken Soviet submarine in [[Project Azorian]]. The [[Los Angeles Times]] disclosed the operation on February 7, 1975.[^4][^10]
### Federal Contracts, the Board, and the Files
The law firm of Senator [[George Smathers]] of Florida found the way around the 1893 federal statute that barred employees of private detective agencies from government work by creating a Wackenhut subsidiary that supplied only guards. The first large federal contracts, at [[Cape Canaveral]] and the Nevada Test Site, followed. The early board included Captain [[Eddie Rickenbacker]], General [[Mark W. Clark|Mark Clark]], and the [[John Birch Society]] leader [[Ralph E. Davis]]. After the [[Fair Credit Reporting Act]] took effect in 1971 the company cut its files from about 2.5 million names to about 250,000, and in 1975 it gave them to the [[Church League of America]] of [[Wheaton, Illinois]], to which [[George Wackenhut]] was a major contributor, keeping the right to consult them. The files are now in the [[Tamiment Library]] at [[New York University]].[^8][^9]
The law firm of Senator [[George Smathers]] of Florida found the way around the 1893 federal statute that barred employees of private detective agencies from government work by creating a Wackenhut subsidiary that supplied only guards. The first large federal contracts, at [[Cape Canaveral]] and the Nevada Test Site, followed. The early board included Captain [[Eddie Rickenbacker]], General [[Mark W. Clark|Mark Clark]], and the [[John Birch Society]] leader [[Ralph E. Davis]]. After the [[Fair Credit Reporting Act]] took effect in 1971 the company cut its files from about 2.5 million names to about 250,000, and in 1975 it gave them to the [[Church League of America]] of [[Wheaton, Illinois]], to which [[George Wackenhut]] was a major contributor, keeping the right to consult them. The files are now in the [[Tamiment Library]] at [[New York University]].[^11][^12]
The retired FBI agent [[William Hinshaw]] told Connolly: "It is known throughout the industry that if you want a dirty job done, call Wackenhut." [[Philip Agee]] said: "I don't have the slightest doubt that the CIA and Wackenhut overlap." Asked whether his company was an arm of the CIA, George Wackenhut answered, "No!" At the end of the interview he said to the reporter: "You've done an awful lot of research. How would you like to run all our [[New York City|New York]] operations?" Connolly reported that in June 1991 the head of the company's special investigations division, [[Wayne Black]], traveled to [[Caracas]] on an [[Abu Dhabi]] passport for a client, [[Blanca Ibanez]], to discredit the security chief of President [[Carlos Andres Perez]].[^8]
The retired FBI agent [[William Hinshaw]] told Connolly: "It is known throughout the industry that if you want a dirty job done, call Wackenhut." [[Philip Agee]] said: "I don't have the slightest doubt that the CIA and Wackenhut overlap." Asked whether his company was an arm of the CIA, George Wackenhut answered, "No!" At the end of the interview he said to the reporter: "You've done an awful lot of research. How would you like to run all our [[New York City|New York]] operations?" Connolly reported that in June 1991 the head of the company's special investigations division, [[Wayne Black]], traveled to [[Caracas]] on an [[Abu Dhabi]] passport for a client, [[Blanca Ibanez]], to discredit the security chief of President [[Carlos Andres Perez]].[^11]
### Horsch
The [[Philadelphia]] filmmaker [[R.C. Horsch]] said in a recorded interview that after leaving high school in 1961 he worked freelance for Wackenhut, "a security firm staffed by FBI agents," until about 1965. "I bugged telephones and committed burglaries for them," he said. "The burglaries were mostly to install electronics or bug telephones or just things like burglarizing a potential client to demonstrate that their security was not up to par." He said one regular client, introduced as "Mr. Smith," was [[Howard Hunt|E. Howard Hunt]] of the CIA, and described jobs at the [[Fairchild Hiller]] plant in [[Hagerstown, Maryland]], in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], and in Philadelphia. Horsch was convicted in later years of forgery, counterfeiting, and passport fraud.[^10]
The [[Philadelphia]] filmmaker [[R.C. Horsch]] said in a recorded interview that after leaving high school in 1961 he worked freelance for Wackenhut, "a security firm staffed by FBI agents," until about 1965. "I bugged telephones and committed burglaries for them," he said. "The burglaries were mostly to install electronics or bug telephones or just things like burglarizing a potential client to demonstrate that their security was not up to par." He said one regular client, introduced as "Mr. Smith," was [[Howard Hunt|E. Howard Hunt]] of the CIA, and described jobs at the [[Fairchild Hiller]] plant in [[Hagerstown, Maryland]], in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], and in Philadelphia. Horsch was convicted in later years of forgery, counterfeiting, and passport fraud.[^13]
### Florida, 1967
On January 13, 1967, FBI headquarters instructed its Florida offices to give Kirk's investigators nothing: "The Bureau does not recognize the Wackenhut Corporation as a properly constituted law enforcement agency." The order was repeated by telephone on April 3, after Kirk had seen the attorney general. [[Hank Messick]], the [[Miami Herald]] crime reporter whose articles had led to the indictment of two county sheriffs in 1966, and to whom the bureau had itself been passing leads, joined Wackenhut that December and left after six weeks. "I quit the Wackenhut Corp. because I have reluctantly concluded a cruel hoax is being perpetrated upon the people of Florida," he said. He objected that the company kept as a private client Sir [[Stafford Sands]], the former Bahamian minister with gambling interests, while it was supposed to be pursuing [[Meyer Lansky]]. Wackenhut replied: "I do not find it necessary to dignify Mr. Messick's remarks with a reply." A former Wackenhut detective, [[Norman Casper]], later worked as an informant for the [[Internal Revenue Service]] against the [[Castle Bank and Trust|Castle Bank]] in the [[Bahamas]].[^11]
On January 13, 1967, FBI headquarters instructed its Florida offices to give Kirk's investigators nothing: "The Bureau does not recognize the Wackenhut Corporation as a properly constituted law enforcement agency." The order was repeated by telephone on April 3, after Kirk had seen the attorney general. [[Hank Messick]], the Miami Herald crime reporter whose articles had led to the indictment of two county sheriffs in 1966, and to whom the bureau had itself been passing leads, joined Wackenhut that December and left after six weeks. "I quit the Wackenhut Corp. because I have reluctantly concluded a cruel hoax is being perpetrated upon the people of Florida," he said. He objected that the company kept as a private client Sir [[Stafford Sands]], the former Bahamian minister with gambling interests, while it was supposed to be pursuing [[Meyer Lansky]]. Wackenhut replied: "I do not find it necessary to dignify Mr. Messick's remarks with a reply." In September 1967 the Miami office reported the reaction of an informant inside the [[Bonanno crime family|Bonanno family]] to press reports that a "contract" had been let on the Dade County state attorney, [[Richard Gerstein]], a tip that "had been 'leaked' to the press by GERSTEIN'S office, which had received the tip from a Wackenhut Detective Agency source." The informant "stated that this was the biggest laugh to hit Miami in some time, in that GERSTEIN was, and still is, 'their' number one connection in the Miami area." He said: "Them guys, including Wackenhut, and all the locals haven't yet come close to us. The only people who have the proper line on us are those in the FBI."[^14] A former Wackenhut detective, [[Norman Casper]], later worked as an informant for the [[Internal Revenue Service]] against the [[Castle Bank and Trust|Castle Bank]] in the [[Bahamas]].[^15]
In the course of Governor Kirk's campaign Wackenhut told the legislature that "overlord of the whole state's criminal syndicates" was [[Santos Trafficante, Jr.|Santo Trafficante]], "longtime [[Trafficante crime family|Tampa Mafia]] boss, now living in Miami." The clippings are in the FBI's Miami file on the company. Trafficante's casino manager in [[Havana]], [[Lewis McWillie]], had been visited there in 1959 by his friend [[Jack Ruby]], and a CIA memorandum in the [[Warren Commission]]'s files reported that Trafficante, while held by [[Fidel Castro]]'s government that year, was "frequently visited" by "an American gangster" named "Ruby." McWillie told the House committee in 1978 that he had twice visited the detention camp and seen Trafficante there, and was not clear whether Ruby had gone with him. The FBI's four files on the company contain no reference to Ruby, to McWillie, or to a Wackenhut office in [[Texas]] before 1968.[^11][^12][^13]
In the course of Governor Kirk's campaign Wackenhut told the legislature that "overlord of the whole state's criminal syndicates" was [[Santos Trafficante, Jr.|Santo Trafficante]], "longtime [[Trafficante crime family|Tampa Mafia]] boss, now living in Miami." The clippings are in the FBI's Miami file on the company. Trafficante's casino manager in [[Havana]], [[Lewis McWillie]], had been visited there in 1959 by his friend [[Jack Ruby]], and a CIA memorandum in the [[Warren Commission]]'s files reported that Trafficante, while held by [[Fidel Castro]]'s government that year, was "frequently visited" by "an American gangster" named "Ruby." McWillie told the House committee in 1978 that he had twice visited the detention camp and seen Trafficante there, and was not clear whether Ruby had gone with him. The FBI's four files on the company contain no reference to Ruby, to McWillie, or to a Wackenhut office in [[Texas]] before 1968.[^15][^16][^17]
### The Assassinations Committee
The security file reached the public through the [[House Select Committee on Assassinations]]. On January 6, 1978, the committee's chief counsel, [[G. Robert Blakey]], sent the CIA a request for 38 files. Item 18 was E. Howard Hunt. Item 19 was "[[Jim Garrison]] aka Wackenhut Corp.," item 28 "Garrison 1967 investigation," and item 36 "Southern Research Corp." The [[National Photographic Interpretation Center]] answered on January 30 that it had "no documented information or files on the [[Southern Research Company|Southern Research Corporation]], presently known as the Wackenhut Corporation." The [[CIA Office of Logistics|Office of Logistics]] found under item 36 contract actions with Wackenhut for 1970 to 1975 in the management information system of the Directorate of Science and Technology. [[Bruce Solie]] of the [[CIA Office of Security|Office of Security]] certified on July 18, 1978, that committee staff had reviewed the Wackenhut file "in conjunction with the HSCA's investigation into the deaths of President [[John F. Kennedy]] and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."[^14]
The security file reached the public through the [[House Select Committee on Assassinations]]. On January 6, 1978, the committee's chief counsel, [[G. Robert Blakey]], sent the CIA a request for 38 files. Item 18 was E. Howard Hunt. Item 19 was "[[Jim Garrison]] aka Wackenhut Corp.," item 28 "Garrison 1967 investigation," and item 36 "Southern Research Corp." The [[National Photographic Interpretation Center]] answered on January 30 that it had "no documented information or files on the [[Southern Research Company|Southern Research Corporation]], presently known as the Wackenhut Corporation." The [[CIA Office of Logistics|Office of Logistics]] found under item 36 contract actions with Wackenhut for 1970 to 1975 in the management information system of the Directorate of Science and Technology. [[Bruce Solie]] of the [[CIA Office of Security|Office of Security]] certified on July 18, 1978, that committee staff had reviewed the Wackenhut file "in conjunction with the HSCA's investigation into the deaths of President [[John F. Kennedy]] and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."[^18]
The pairing of the names goes back to [[New Orleans]]. The lawyers who defended [[Clay Shaw]] against District Attorney Garrison's conspiracy charge, [[Edward Wegmann]] and his brother William, engaged two firms of former federal agents, Wackenhut and [[Holloway Associates]] of Texas. Edward Wegmann's files, given to the [[Assassination Records Review Board]] by his daughter in 1995, show Wackenhut men reporting to the defense with the WDSU television reporter [[Rick Townley]] on April 19, 1967, and interviewing the Cuban exile [[Carlos Bringuier]] on May 9. The researcher who first went through the files wrote that Wackenhut "was the same company that did the reports for [[Eastern Air Lines|Eastern Airlines]] in the dismissal proceedings against [[David Ferrie]]. The firm was then called Southern Research." The company's own histories do not mention the name, and the phrase "presently known as" first appears in Blakey's letter. [[Louisiana]]'s corporate register shows a Southern Research Company, Inc., chartered in [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]] on December 2, 1958, which absorbed a polygraph firm, [[Truth Verification of Louisiana]], in 1973 and is still in business, with sister companies in [[Baton Rouge]] and [[Lake Charles, Louisiana|Lake Charles]]. Its New Orleans company, Southern Research Company of New Orleans, Inc., was chartered on September 5, 1963. It filed notice of dissolution on October 5, 1967, and was dissolved on December 13. The Wackenhut Corporation had qualified to do business in Louisiana on May 3, 1965. Shaw was arrested on March 1, 1967. The CIA rescinded George Wackenhut's security approval the following month.[^15]
The pairing of the names goes back to [[New Orleans]]. The lawyers who defended [[Clay Shaw]] against District Attorney Garrison's conspiracy charge, [[Edward Wegmann]] and his brother William, engaged two firms of former federal agents, Wackenhut and [[Holloway Associates]] of Texas. Edward Wegmann's files, given to the [[Assassination Records Review Board]] by his daughter in 1995, show Wackenhut men reporting to the defense with the WDSU television reporter [[Rick Townley]] on April 19, 1967, and interviewing the Cuban exile [[Carlos Bringuier]] on May 9. The researcher who first went through the files wrote that Wackenhut "was the same company that did the reports for [[Eastern Air Lines|Eastern Airlines]] in the dismissal proceedings against [[David Ferrie]]. The firm was then called Southern Research." The company's own histories do not mention the name, and the phrase "presently known as" first appears in Blakey's letter. [[Louisiana]]'s corporate register shows a Southern Research Company, Inc., chartered in [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]] on December 2, 1958, which absorbed a polygraph firm, [[Truth Verification of Louisiana]], in 1973 and is still in business, with sister companies in [[Baton Rouge]] and [[Lake Charles, Louisiana|Lake Charles]]. Its New Orleans company, Southern Research Company of New Orleans, Inc., was chartered on September 5, 1963. It filed notice of dissolution on October 5, 1967, and was dissolved on December 13. The Wackenhut Corporation had qualified to do business in Louisiana on May 3, 1965. Shaw was arrested on March 1, 1967. The CIA rescinded George Wackenhut's security approval the following month.[^19]
The New Orleans office of Southern Research was run by [[Joseph Oster]], a former city police detective who had worked for [[Guy Banister]]. A credit report of July 1960 in a CIA security file describes him as vice president of "Southern Research, Inc., whose home office is in Shreveport," a firm of ten or twelve employees, and as having come to it from "[[Guy Banister Associates|Guy B------ Associates]], Inc." Oster told a lawyer for the Assassination Records Review Board in January 1996 that he had left Banister "because Banister was getting more involved in controversial political causes, to the detriment of attracting paying clients," that he had investigated Ferrie for Eastern Air Lines in 1962 and 1963, and that he had gone with the district attorney's men to Ferrie's house on the night of the assassination. He left the firm in the middle 1960s. The president of the Shreveport company, [[Thomas Ostendorff]], gave the board its file on Ferrie, number 11-N-224. Wegmann's records, the board wrote, "indicate that the Shaw defense team had retained Southern Research Company as of mid-1967," a witness before the [[Orleans Parish]] grand jury was asked in January 1969 whether he had been "interviewed by Southern Research or any investigating firm that is doing Shaw's investigation," and a file on [[Gordon Novel]] records that Southern Research interviewed his lawyer, [[Steven Plotkin]], on April 7, 1967. "Mr. Oster stated that neither he nor Southern Research had worked for the Clay Shaw defense team." The board's lawyer noted "the conflicting accounts we have found."[^16]
The New Orleans office of Southern Research was run by [[Joseph Oster]], a former city police detective who had worked for [[Guy Banister]]. A credit report of July 1960 in a CIA security file describes him as vice president of "Southern Research, Inc., whose home office is in Shreveport," a firm of ten or twelve employees, and as having come to it from "[[Guy Banister Associates|Guy B------ Associates]], Inc." Oster told a lawyer for the Assassination Records Review Board in January 1996 that he had left Banister "because Banister was getting more involved in controversial political causes, to the detriment of attracting paying clients," that he had investigated Ferrie for Eastern Air Lines in 1962 and 1963, and that he had gone with the district attorney's men to Ferrie's house on the night of the assassination. He left the firm in the middle 1960s. The president of the Shreveport company, [[Thomas Ostendorff]], gave the board its file on Ferrie, number 11-N-224. Wegmann's records, the board wrote, "indicate that the Shaw defense team had retained Southern Research Company as of mid-1967," a witness before the [[Orleans Parish]] grand jury was asked in January 1969 whether he had been "interviewed by Southern Research or any investigating firm that is doing Shaw's investigation," and a file on [[Gordon Novel]] records that Southern Research interviewed his lawyer, [[Steven Plotkin]], on April 7, 1967. "Mr. Oster stated that neither he nor Southern Research had worked for the Clay Shaw defense team." The board's lawyer noted "the conflicting accounts we have found."[^20]
On April 14, 1967, the FBI's [[FBI Domestic Intelligence Division|Domestic Intelligence Division]] recorded that [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Ramsey Clark]] had told reporters the bureau had investigated Shaw and cleared him. "This is not true and we so informed the Attorney General." The New Orleans office, it went on, had told "[[Charles R. Carson (Wackenhut)|Charles R. Carson]], a Wackenhut Corporation investigator, and [[Dean Andrews]]" only that it had no comment, and the bureau "has no intention of telling these or any other individuals that the Attorney General's statement is incorrect." A witness told the review board at a public hearing that the former FBI employee [[William Walter]] had said to Garrison in 1973 "that the FBI through Wackenhut, the [[Metropolitan Crime Commission]] and [[Aaron Kohn]], had wire tapped his office." On May 3, 1967, [[George Walker (Wackenhut)|George Walker]] of the company's [[Coral Gables, Florida|Coral Gables]] headquarters gave the FBI in Miami a letter from a man who said that before the assassination a Cuban in his boarding house, known as "Cash," had remarked that to kill Kennedy one had only to excite a Cuban with a high-powered rifle.[^17]
On April 14, 1967, the FBI's [[FBI Domestic Intelligence Division|Domestic Intelligence Division]] recorded that [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Ramsey Clark]] had told reporters the bureau had investigated Shaw and cleared him. "This is not true and we so informed the Attorney General." The New Orleans office, it went on, had told "[[Charles R. Carson (Wackenhut)|Charles R. Carson]], a Wackenhut Corporation investigator, and [[Dean Andrews]]" only that it had no comment, and the bureau "has no intention of telling these or any other individuals that the Attorney General's statement is incorrect." A witness told the review board at a public hearing that the former FBI employee [[William Walter]] had said to Garrison in 1973 "that the FBI through Wackenhut, the [[Metropolitan Crime Commission]] and [[Aaron Kohn]], had wire tapped his office." On May 3, 1967, [[George Walker (Wackenhut)|George Walker]] of the company's Coral Gables headquarters gave the FBI in Miami a letter from a man who said that before the assassination a Cuban in his boarding house, known as "Cash," had remarked that to kill Kennedy one had only to excite a Cuban with a high-powered rifle.[^21]
In November 1967 [[William Harvey]], the former head of the CIA's [[Task Force W]], who was planning a law practice, asked the FBI's liaison officer, [[Sam Papich]], about "reputable private investigators that might be willing to use Harvey's services to establish contacts and investigative coverage on the Continent." The CIA's director of security, [[Howard Osborn]], recorded the answer: "Mr. Papich suggested Wackenhut Corporation or the [[Fidelifax|Fidelifax Company]] as having a good reputation in the trade." The same memorandum reports two telephone calls in October from [[Johnny Roselli|John Roselli]] asking Harvey to act as his lawyer.[^18]
In November 1967 [[William Harvey]], the former head of the CIA's [[Task Force W]], who was planning a law practice, asked the FBI's liaison officer, [[Sam Papich]], about "reputable private investigators that might be willing to use Harvey's services to establish contacts and investigative coverage on the Continent." The CIA's director of security, [[Howard Osborn]], recorded the answer: "Mr. Papich suggested Wackenhut Corporation or the [[Fidelifax|Fidelifax Company]] as having a good reputation in the trade." The same memorandum reports two telephone calls in October from [[Johnny Roselli|John Roselli]] asking Harvey to act as his lawyer.[^22]
### Controversies and Allegations
@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ A particularly controversial aspect of Wackenhut's operations was its joint vent
Within the Cabazon Joint Venture, Michael Riconosciuto claimed to have modified the proprietary [[PROMIS]] computer software. This modification, allegedly spearheaded by [[Earl Brian]] and made available through [[Peter Videnieks]] of the [[Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]], was intended to facilitate the worldwide implementation of PROMIS in law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Riconosciuto's affidavit detailed his work on the software, including specific modifications for the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|RCMP]] and the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service|CSIS]] in [[Canada]]. This alleged pirating and modification of the PROMIS software became a central component of the [[PROMIS Software Scandal]].[^1]
It was here that the "trap door" was built into the U.S. version of PROMIS, based on [[Israel|Israeli]] information. This operation was conducted by a small CIA group, headed by [[Robert Gates]], who sought to keep it secret from the NSA due to interagency competition.[^19]
It was here that the "trap door" was built into the U.S. version of PROMIS, based on [[Israel|Israeli]] information. This operation was conducted by a small CIA group, headed by [[Robert Gates]], who sought to keep it secret from the NSA due to interagency competition.[^23]
### Danny Casolaro Investigation
@ -122,17 +124,21 @@ The Wackenhut/Cabazon Joint Venture was terminated on October 1, 1984, following
[^3]: Youngblood, Fred R. "The Wackenhut Corporation," CIA memorandum for the record, CS-2793, March 26, 1963. JFK Assassination Records Collection, record 104-10130-10472.
[^4]: Central Intelligence Agency, "Wackenhut Corporation, SF# 493 364," memorandum for the record, July 28, 1975. JFK Assassination Records Collection, record 104-10130-10454, released in full March 18, 2025. https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/2025/0318/104-10130-10454.pdf
[^5]: "Florida: I, Claudius," *Time,* 1967.
[^6]: Central Intelligence Agency, transmittal and routing slips, September 5 and December 10, 1969, records 104-10130-10470 and 104-10130-10471; request for contact security approval, February to March 1971, record 104-10130-10468; Sheridan, Arthur C., memorandum to SAC, Miami Field Office, "Wackenhut Corporation #493364," April 20, 1971, record 104-10130-10469. JFK Assassination Records Collection. On VENOM: CIA memoranda of July 23, 1970 (104-10120-10117), March 19, 1971 (104-10117-10341), and May 5, 1971 (104-10122-10166), as summarized in the Mary Ferrell Foundation cryptonym database, entry "VENOM."
[^7]: Burr, William, ed. "Project Azorian: The CIA's Declassified History of the Glomar Explorer," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 305, 2010. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb305/index.htm
[^8]: Connolly, John. "Inside the Shadow CIA," *Spy,* September 1992, pp. 46-54.
[^9]: Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University, finding aid to the Church League of America Collection of the Research Files of Counterattack, the Wackenhut Corporation, and Karl Baarslag, TAM 148. https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/tam_148/
[^10]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 1: Youth," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 171, September 13, 2026, audio at 18:34 to 22:49. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/13/ray-horsch-2/
[^11]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, airtel to SAC Jacksonville, January 13, 1967, and memorandum recording the instruction of April 3, 1967, headquarters file on the Wackenhut Corporation; "Wackenhut Aide Quits; 'Cruel Hoax,'" *The Tampa Tribune,* February 17, 1967, and *St. Petersburg Times* clipping, Tampa file. https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation ; Hougan, Jim. *Spooks*. William Morrow, 1978; House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* vol. 9, pp. 802-805, and testimony of Lewis McWillie, vol. 5.
[^12]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami file 80-1229, "The Wackenhut Corporation," with clipping "Wackenhut Is 'Shocked' At Crime's Extent In State," Times-Miami Herald Service, 1967. https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation
[^13]: Hougan, Jim. *Spooks: The Haunting of America: The Private Use of Secret Agents*. William Morrow, 1978, pp. 345-346, citing Warren Commission Document 206 and Commission Exhibit 1697.
[^14]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Security, "HSCA Chrono for 1977-1978 of Reports and Requests," CIA Reading Room document 00548292; Office of Legislative Counsel, HSCA request OLC 78-0070/1, January 12, 1978, with National Photographic Interpretation Center memorandum of January 30, 1978, document 00491180; McDonald, James H., Director of Logistics, memorandum on item 36, JFK record 104-10135-10200; Solie, Bruce L. "Wackenhut Corp.," memorandum for the record, July 18, 1978, JFK record 104-10130-10450.
[^15]: DiEugenio, James. "The Wegmann Files," *Probe,* vol. 4, no. 4, May-June 1997, pp. 8-9, in the Harold Weisberg Collection, Hood College; Central Intelligence Agency, "Names Traces on OLC Requests," February 6, 1978, CIA Reading Room document 00419231, listing item 36 as "Southern Research Corp (Wachenhut Corp)." Louisiana Secretary of State, business filings, charters 24407110D (Southern Research Company, Inc.), 26310590D (Southern Research Company of New Orleans, Inc.), and 27005970F (The Wackenhut Corporation), consulted September 21, 2026.
[^16]: Golrick, Philip D. Memorandum to David G. Marwell, "Phone Conversation with Joseph Oster," January 19, 1996, and letters and subpoena to Southern Research Company, Assassination Records Review Board electronic files of Philip G. Golrick (OSTER.WPD, SOURES.WPD); Central Intelligence Agency, report of investigation, September 13, 1960, JFK record 104-10109-10379, p. 14; Orleans Parish Grand Jury, testimony of Arthur Bidderson, January 9, 1969; Assassination Records Review Board, file inventory (082395.WPD). All consulted at the Mary Ferrell Foundation archive.
[^17]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Domestic Intelligence Division, informative note, April 14, 1967, JFK record 124-10369-10048; Assassination Records Review Board, public hearing transcript, testimony of James DiEugenio, p. 89; FBI Miami, memorandum of May 10, 1967, headquarters file 62-109060, section 129, p. 166.
[^18]: Osborn, Howard J. Memorandum for the record, November 8, 1967, JFK record 104-10133-10076.
[^19]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.
[^6]: Chief of Station, JMWAVE, telepouch dispatch UFGT-21770 to Chief, WOBONE, April 24, 1968, JFK record 104-10130-10474.
[^7]: Central Intelligence Agency, transmittal and routing slips, September 5 and December 10, 1969, records 104-10130-10470 and 104-10130-10471; request for contact security approval, February to March 1971, record 104-10130-10468; Sheridan, Arthur C., memorandum to SAC, Miami Field Office, "Wackenhut Corporation #493364," April 20, 1971, record 104-10130-10469. JFK Assassination Records Collection. On VENOM: CIA memoranda of July 23, 1970 (104-10120-10117), March 19, 1971 (104-10117-10341), and May 5, 1971 (104-10122-10166), as summarized in the Mary Ferrell Foundation cryptonym database, entry "VENOM."
[^8]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Security, cable to SAC New York field office, "Wackenhut Corp.," April 30, 1968, JFK record 104-10130-10473.
[^9]: National Archives, JFK Assassination Records Collection, record identification forms 104-10130-10459 (April 25, 1967), 104-10130-10466 (November 8, 1971), 104-10130-10463 (February 4, 1974), 104-10130-10461 (February 6, 1974), and 104-10130-10460 (February 11, 1974), agency file 80T01357A. Titles and dates from the index; the documents themselves have not been read.
[^10]: Burr, William, ed. "Project Azorian: The CIA's Declassified History of the Glomar Explorer," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 305, 2010. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb305/index.htm
[^11]: Connolly, John. "Inside the Shadow CIA," *Spy,* September 1992, pp. 46-54.
[^12]: Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University, finding aid to the Church League of America Collection of the Research Files of Counterattack, the Wackenhut Corporation, and Karl Baarslag, TAM 148. https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/tam_148/
[^13]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 1: Youth," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 171, September 13, 2026, audio at 18:34 to 22:49. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/13/ray-horsch-2/
[^14]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami office to Director, September 15, 1967, file 92-6054, pp. 3-4, JFK record 124-10293-10312.
[^15]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, airtel to SAC Jacksonville, January 13, 1967, and memorandum recording the instruction of April 3, 1967, headquarters file on the Wackenhut Corporation; "Wackenhut Aide Quits; 'Cruel Hoax,'" *The Tampa Tribune,* February 17, 1967, and *St. Petersburg Times* clipping, Tampa file. https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation ; Hougan, Jim. *Spooks*. William Morrow, 1978; House Select Committee on Assassinations, *Report,* vol. 9, pp. 802-805, and testimony of Lewis McWillie, vol. 5.
[^16]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami file 80-1229, "The Wackenhut Corporation," with clipping "Wackenhut Is 'Shocked' At Crime's Extent In State," Times-Miami Herald Service, 1967. https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation
[^17]: Hougan, Jim. *Spooks: The Haunting of America: The Private Use of Secret Agents*. William Morrow, 1978, pp. 345-346, citing Warren Commission Document 206 and Commission Exhibit 1697.
[^18]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Security, "HSCA Chrono for 1977-1978 of Reports and Requests," CIA Reading Room document 00548292; Office of Legislative Counsel, HSCA request OLC 78-0070/1, January 12, 1978, with National Photographic Interpretation Center memorandum of January 30, 1978, document 00491180; McDonald, James H., Director of Logistics, memorandum on item 36, JFK record 104-10135-10200; Solie, Bruce L. "Wackenhut Corp.," memorandum for the record, July 18, 1978, JFK record 104-10130-10450.
[^19]: DiEugenio, James. "The Wegmann Files," *Probe,* vol. 4, no. 4, May-June 1997, pp. 8-9, in the Harold Weisberg Collection, Hood College; Central Intelligence Agency, "Names Traces on OLC Requests," February 6, 1978, CIA Reading Room document 00419231, listing item 36 as "Southern Research Corp (Wachenhut Corp)." Louisiana Secretary of State, business filings, charters 24407110D (Southern Research Company, Inc.), 26310590D (Southern Research Company of New Orleans, Inc.), and 27005970F (The Wackenhut Corporation), consulted September 21, 2026.
[^20]: Golrick, Philip D. Memorandum to David G. Marwell, "Phone Conversation with Joseph Oster," January 19, 1996, and letters and subpoena to Southern Research Company, Assassination Records Review Board electronic files of Philip G. Golrick (OSTER.WPD, SOURES.WPD); Central Intelligence Agency, report of investigation, September 13, 1960, JFK record 104-10109-10379, p. 14; Orleans Parish Grand Jury, testimony of Arthur Bidderson, January 9, 1969; Assassination Records Review Board, file inventory (082395.WPD). All consulted at the Mary Ferrell Foundation archive.
[^21]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Domestic Intelligence Division, informative note, April 14, 1967, JFK record 124-10369-10048; Assassination Records Review Board, public hearing transcript, testimony of James DiEugenio, p. 89; FBI Miami, memorandum of May 10, 1967, headquarters file 62-109060, section 129, p. 166.
[^22]: Osborn, Howard J. Memorandum for the record, November 8, 1967, JFK record 104-10133-10076.
[^23]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.