"plausible Denial"
"Plausible Denial: Was the CIA Involved with the Assassination of Kennedy?" by Mark Lane, Thunder's Mouth Press, New York 1991.
Almost simultaneous with the release of Oliver Stone's film "JFK," was the publication of Mark Lane's book, "Plausible Denial." While Lane's book is likely to have less impact on the general populace than the movie, it is a better work.
Like "JFK," "Plausible Denial" is ostensibly an account of a trial, that of E. Howard Hunt. Hunt, the famous Watergate burglar and CIA operative, claimed that he was libeled by the ultraconservative Liberty Lobby, which published a piece by ex-CIA man Victor Marchetti claiming that Hunt was in Dallas at the time of the Kennedy assassination. Hunt sued Liberty Lobby and won.
Liberty Lobby appealed, won a new trial, and in one of the most unusual political marriages of the century, hired radical lawyer Mark Lane to defend its case. Lane turned the dispute into a trial on the CIA's complicity in the assassination. Legal tools of discovery and the jury system were brought to bear. For the first time a jury heard the JFK assassination case, without media hysterics, through formal evidence in court. Anyone reading this book would find it difficult to avoid the conclusion that the CIA was involved, although how and why are still open to debate.
Most explosive was the testimony of Marita Lorenz. Lorenz is an ex-CIA spook who was recruited by the agency after she had established an intimate relationship with Fidel Castro. Among her assignments was an assassination attempt against Castro, an assignment that she was unable to carry out, both because of her own reticence and because of some technical glitches. Most riveting was her testimony of how she drove E. Howard Hunt to Dallas two days before the assassination, with a great deal of money in tow. While she did not know the purpose of her assignment, and repeatedly claimed so, it is difficult for a reader to avoid the conclusion that she was driving the paymaster, E. Howard Hunt, to the scene of the assassination. While Hunt was working for the CIA at the time, it remains to be determined whether this mission was an official assignment, whether he was running a Contra-like renegade operation, or whether he was just cooperating with Mafiosi or Cubans.
The jury agreed with the defense, acquitted Liberty Lobby, and in effect found that the CIA was involved with Kennedy' s assassination. Some attack the verdict because the crucial evidence was provided by Marita Lorenz, who - fearing for her life - testified in a deposition taken at a secret location. Yet the government has neither claimed perjury nor come forward with evidence to attack the jury's decision.
(At press time, "Plausible Denial" was number six on The New York Times bestseller list.)