The Cold Six Thousand (73 page)

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/4/67. Pouch communiqué. To: Fred Otash. From: Dwight Holly. Marked: “Confidential”/“Eyes Only”/“Read & Burn.”

F.O.,

No date or location yet. Continue with PROSPECT. Will try to secure RED RABBIT’s travel plans.

READ THIS & BURN.

D.C.H.

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/4/67. Atlanta
Constitution
headline and subhead:

KING ANNOUNCES “POOR PEOPLE’S MARCH” ON WASHINGTON
PLEDGES TO WORK FOR “REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH”

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/5/67. Cleveland
Plain Dealer
headline and subhead:

KING ON SPRING MARCH:
“TIME TO CONFRONT POWER STRUCTURE MASSIVELY”

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/6/67. Verbatim FBI telephone call transcript. Marked: “Recorded at the Director’s Request”/“Classified Confidential 1-A: Director’s Eyes Only.” Speaking: Director Hoover, President Lyndon B. Johnson.

LBJ: Is that you, Edgar?

JEH: It’s me, Mr. President.

LBJ: That goddamn march. It’s all over the news.

JEH: I’ve read the announcements. They’ve fulfilled my very worst fears and apprehensions.

LBJ: That son-of-a-bitch is bringing an army to protest me, after all I’ve done for the Negro people.

JEH: The march will unleash a bloodbath.

LBJ: I asked him to call it off, but the son-of-a-bitch refused. He’s killing my chance to get reelected. He’s in cahoots with that spoon-fed cocksucker, Bobby Kennedy.

JEH: I will let you in on a little-known fact, Mr. President. Bobby allowed me to tap and bug King himself, back in ’63. He has forgotten his initial misgivings in his rush to embrace that Communist.

LBJ: The cocksucker wants my job. King’s creating the fucking dissent that will get it for him.

JEH: I’m putting 44 agents on King. They will disseminate derogatory data nationwide. I will do everything in my power to subvert this march.

LBJ: Edgar, was there ever a better friend to the Negro people than me?

JEH: No, Mr. President.

LBJ: Edgar, has my legislation improved the lot of the Negro people?

JEH: Yes, Mr. President.

LBJ: Edgar, have I been a friend to Martin Luther King?

JEH: Yes, Mr. President.

LBJ: Then why is that cocksucker trying to cornhole me when I’ve bent over backwards to befriend him?

JEH: I don’t know, Mr. President.

LBJ: He’s a worse bane to my fucking existence than this fucking war I’m fucking knee-deep in.

JEH: I’m going to plant a Negro in the SCLC. He used to work as my chauffeur.

LBJ: Tell him to chauffeur King off a cliff.

JEH: I understand your frustration, Sir.

LBJ: I’m getting fucked from two flanks. I’m fighting a two-front war against a King and a fucking Kennedy.

JEH: Yes, Mr. President.

LBJ: You’re a good man, Edgar.

JEH: Thank you, Mr. President.

LBJ: Do what you can on this, all right?

JEH: I will, Sir.

LBJ: Goodbye, Edgar.

JEH: Goodbye, Mr. President.

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/7/67. Los Angeles
Examiner
subhead:

BUSINESS COMMUNITY ATTACKS KING FOR “POOR PEOPLE’S MARCH”

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/9/67. Dallas
Morning News
subhead:

SPRING MARCH ON WASHINGTON “SOCIALISTIC,”
BUSINESS LEADERS CHARGE

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/17/67. Chicago
Tribune
headline and subhead:

NIXON IN ’68?
EX-VEEP TO ANNOUNCE CANDIDACY?

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/17/67. Miami
Herald
headline and subhead:

CLERGYMEN ON WASHINGTON MARCH:
“A CALL TO ANARCHY AND RIOTS”

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/18/67. Chicago
Sun-Times
subhead:

RFK PRAISES WASHINGTON MARCH
MUM ON WHITE HOUSE PLANS

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/18/67. Denver
Post-Dispatch
headline and subhead:

WILL HE OR WON’T HE?
PUNDITS ASSESS LBJ’S REELECTION PLANS

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/20/67. Boston
Globe
subhead:

KING CALLS FOR WAR PROTESTERS TO EMBRACE POOR PEOPLE’S MARCH

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/21/67. Sacramento
Bee
subhead:

EXPECT NIXON TO RUN, GOP INSIDERS SAY

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/22/67. Los Angeles
Times
subhead:

RFK, HUMPHREY PLAYING COY?
AWAITING LBJ’S DECISION?

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/23/67. Kansas City
Star
subhead:

ROTARY PRESIDENT CALLS
KING MARCH “COMMUNIST INSPIRED”

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/28/67. Las Vegas
Sun
headline and subhead:

FRONTIER HOTEL FALLS TO HUGHES
BILLIONAIRE’S VEGAS ROLL CONTINUES!

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/4/68. Verbatim FBI telephone call transcript. (OPERATION BLACK RABBIT Addendum.) Marked: “Recorded at the Director’s Request”/“Classified Confidential 1-A: Director’s Eyes Only.” Speaking: Director, BLUE RABBIT.

DIR: Good morning.

BR: Good morning, Sir.

DIR: RED RABBIT is misbehaving. He’s being a very bad bunny.

BR: I’ve been reading the newspapers, Sir. I think he’s stepped over the line.

DIR: He has, but not to the extent where he’ll discredit himself finitely. He is immune to that form of censure. He is riding a wave of unjustified discontent that is bigger than any of us.

BR: Yes, Sir.

DIR: Lyndon Johnson is furious. He despises himself for the way he’s coddled RED RABBIT. He knows that this wave of silly discord is partially of his manufacture.

BR: Yes, Sir.

DIR: I’ve planted a Negro within the SCLC. My former chauffeur, no less.

BR: Yes, Sir.

DIR: He’s a sensible Negro. He despises Communists more than the white power structure.

BR: Yes, Sir.

DIR: He tells me the SCLC is in a state of great disarray. They are attempting to recruit an army of the wretched to compete with Hannibal’s hordes.

BR: Yes, Sir.

DIR: They will storm our nation’s capital. They will urinate and fornicate with abandon.

BR: Yes, Sir.

DIR: This display of pique will be a catastrophic disaster. It will encourage the unruly and criminally prone and give them an unprecedented license. The ramifications will be severe and nihilistically defined.

BR: Yes, Sir.

DIR: I am at my wits’ end, Dwight. I do not know what more I can do.

BR: There’s a counter-consensus brewing, Sir. I know you’ve been reading the bug transcripts.

DIR: I would define that consensus as too localized, too little, and too late.

BR: Some men are offering a bounty.

DIR: I would not be overly perturbed to see it happen.

BR: The concept is very much out there.

DIR: I would not like to be stuck with the task of investigating such an incident. I would be inclined to work for brevity and do what was best to put it behind us.

BR: Yes, Sir.

DIR: Unreasonable actions and unjustified rage serve to spark reasoned and measured responses.

BR: Yes, Sir.

DIR: I take comfort in that.

BR: I’m glad to hear it, Sir.

DIR: Is there anything I can do for you, Dwight?

BR: Yes, Sir. Could you speak to your contact and pouch me RED RABBIT’s itinerary for the next several months?

DIR: Yes.

BR: Thank you, Sir.

DIR: Good day, Dwight.

BR: Good day, Sir.

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/8/68. Pouch communiqué. To: Fred Otash. From: Dwight Holly. Marked: “Confidential”/“Eyes Only”/“Read & Burn Immediately.”

F.O.,

On go. Send update on PROSPECT. RED RABBIT’s travel plans to follow.

READ & BURN.

D.C.H.

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/18/68. Pouch communiqué. To: Dwight Holly. From: Fred Otash. Marked: “Confidential”/“Eyes Only”/ “Read & Burn Immeidately.”

D.H.,

Per PROSPECT’s activities from 12/3/67 to present date.

1 - I met with PROSPECT 6 times. I continued to give him $ as advances “against future jobs.” We discussed politics & PROSPECT frequently mentioned Geo. Wallace’s presidential campaign, “niggers” & “the bounty on Martin Luther Coon.” PROSPECT continued
to press me for travel papers & as previously I stalled him. PROSPECT divided his time between his apt (1535 N. Serrano, Hollywood), the Sultan’s Room at the St. Francis Hotel-Apts (Hollywood Blvd) & the Rabbit’s Foot Club (appropriate!!!!) also on Hollywood Blvd. PROSPECT continued to discuss his plans to travel to Rhodesia & on 3 occasions said he might “kill Coon, collect the bounty & seek political asylum in Rhodesia.”

2 - PROSPECT became involved with woman at Sultan’s Room, who talked him into driving her brother to New Orleans to “pick up her friend’s kids.” PROSPECT told me about this & asked for travel $. I gave him $1,000 & told him I would meet him in N.O. PROSPECT & woman’s brother drove to N.O. (12/15/67), arrived on 12/17 & stayed at the Provincial Motel. I met PROSPECT 3 times, gave him $ & promised future jobs. PROSPECT remained in N.O. & frequented pornographic bookstores. PROSPECT, woman’s brother & 28-yr-old girls left N.O. on 12/19 & arrived in L.A. on 12/21.

3 - PROSPECT settled into L.A. routine. I spot-tailed him on 6 occasions & met with him on 6 more. PROSPECT visited pornographic bookstores, took hypnosis courses & told me he intended to hypnotize women into acting in porno films that he would direct. PROSPECT frequented the Sultan’s Room & the Rabbit’s Foot Club, drank habitually & habitually used amphetamines. He frequently discussed the “bounty” & his plans to “escape” to Rhodesia. During this period PROSPECT visited the office of the L.A. Free Press & placed a classified ad seeking women for oral sex. PROSPECT also purchased liquid methamphetamine at the Castle Argyle Apts (Franklin & Argyle). He routinely stays up for 2 & 3 days at a time & I have noticed recent needle tracks on his arms.

4 - PROSPECT stated (4 occasions) that his intentions are to stay in L.A. & “do jobs” for me, join a swinger’s club & figure out a way to “get the bounty & shag to Rhodesia.” I’ve started talking about the bounty & ways to get at MLK & PROSPECT has not noticed any shift in my tone or personality, because (a) he’s seriously disturbed & extremely self-obsessed; (b) he’s beholden to me for $ & narcotics; (c) he’s strung out & impaired by his liquor & drug use.

5 - I think I can keep him in L.A. until our go-date & then get him to the spot to either participate or work the fall-back slot. We need his prints on a rifle & some other things, which should be easy to do.

6 - He’s the guy. I’m sure of it. We’re buffered on him (nobody will ever believe his “Raul” stories) & we’ll never let him get into custody anyway.

READ THIS AND BURN. Pouch me if you need further updates. F.O.

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/21/68. Boston
Globe
subhead:

MARINES IN LIFE-OR-DEATH SIEGE AT KHE SANH

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/24/68. New York
Times
headline and subhead:

TET OFFENSIVE SHOCKS U.S. FORCES
LARGEST BATTLES OF WAR RAGE

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/26/68. Atlanta
Constitution
headline:

KHE SANH—THE BLOODY SIEGE CONTINUES

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/27/68. Los Angeles
Examiner
subhead:

MASSIVE VIET BATTLES SPARK U.S. PROTESTS

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/30/68. Chicago
Sun-Times
headline and subhead:

KING CITES TET HOLOCAUST
CALLS FOR UNCONDITIONAL U.S. TROOP WITHDRAWAL

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 2/2/68. Los Angeles
Times
headline and subhead:

NIXON ANNOUNCES PREZ’L CANDIDACY
PLEDGES TO WORK FOR “HARDWORKING, FORGOTTEN MAJORITY”

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 2/6/68. Sacramento
Bee
subhead:

KING IN MOBILIZING EFFORT FOR POOR PEOPLE’S MARCH

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 2/8/68. Houston
Chronicle
headline and subhead:

RFK IN HEATED ATTACK ON WAR
CALLS FOR NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 2/10/68. Cleveland
Plain Dealer
subhead:

HOOVER WARNS OF BLOODSHED IF MARCH PERMITTED

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 2/18/68. Miami
Herald
headline and subhead:

HUGE NIXON CROWDS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
EX-VEEP ASSUMES FRONT-RUNNER STATUS

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 3/2/68. Boston
Globe
headline and subhead:

U.S. CASUALTY RATE MOUNTS IN VIETNAM
KING BLASTS “FUTILE” CONFLICT

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 3/11/68. Tampa
Tribune
headline and subhead:

WILL HE OR WON’T HE?
RFK ISN’T SAYING

DOCUMENT INSERT
: 3/13/68. Bug-extract transcript. Marked: “Confidential”/“Stage-1 Covert”/“Eyes Only”: Director, SA D. C. Holly.

Location: Office/Mike Lyman’s Restaurant/Los Angeles/listening-post-accessed. Speaking: Charles “Chuck the Vice” Aiuppa &
Bernard “Nardy” Scavone, organized-crime associates. (Conversation 6.8 minutes in progress.)

CA: It’s what you call a coalition. Bobby’s the president, but he needs the head ape to mobilize all the little apes and put him in power.

BS: Do the arithmetic, Chuck. They don’t have the votes.

CA: Then you add the Jews, the college kids, the comsymps and the welfare creeps. It gets to be a very tight race with those forces in play.

BS: Bobby scares me. That I will readily admit.

CA: Bobby needs the head ape to create the unrest. Then he comes in and promises all the fucked-up people the moon.

BS: Bobby would fuck us, Chuck. He’d fuck us like he fucked us when he was AG and Jack was the prez.

CA: Bobby’s only happy when he’s got some made guy’s dick in the vice.

BS: Watch it, Chuck. You say “vice,” you give me these urges.

CA: Control yourself. There’ll be more. Uncle Carlos has always got work.

BS: I’d like to put the head ape and Bobby in the vice. One squeeze and arrivederci.

(Non-applicable conversation follows.)