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NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Scrolling text from U.S. Senate report detailing the CIA's operations against Chilean General Rene Schneider. Attempts at kidnapping him were carried out after U.S. President Richard Nixon called for the end of Chilean President Salvador Allende's government.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
U.S. Senator Frank Church (D - Idaho) says, “In the Schneider case, we included it as we did the Diem case. Not because it was ever intended by any American official that either Diem or Schneider should be assassinated, but because they knew-- the officials that is-- that there would be a high risk of an assassination occurring. You mention Schneider. The problem with Schneider was that he was a constitutionalist. He must have been trained at West Point. He didn’t think that it was the right of the Chilean army to depose a government that had been elected by the Chilean people. And since he was Chief of Staff of the Chilean army, he had to be removed. He was an obstruction to an attempt ordered by President Nixon to overthrow the Allende regime or to prevent Mr. Allende from becoming President. It was known from the beginning-- this being the objective-- that Schneider had to be removed. An abduction was planned. You don’t plan a forcible abduction without understanding that one of the reactions to a kidnapping is to resist. And in the resistance, there is perilous danger that an assassination will occur and that of course happened.”
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
U.S. Senator Charles Mathias (R - Maryland) says, “I think if there’s any apology to be made for this report, it’s the fact that the committee has devoted so much time and so much effort on such a limited part of the whole problem. It isn’t just assassinations. It’s the whole area of activity of government covered by a cloak of excessive secrecy, in many fields. Some of them we are aware of, some of them we only suspect, some of them we still may be in ignorance of. And this is, I think, the one weakness of this report that it covers only a part of the area of government which I think has a corrosive effect on the constitutional process. And I hope the committee will have the fortitude and will have the time to finish the job that we’ve begun with this report.”
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke introduces Simmons Fentress of Time Magazine. Fentress discusses how the U.S. Presidents will emerge from the Senate report and hearings, says the committee gave them the benefit of the doubt regarding their knowledge of political assassinations. Fentress brings up Cold War factors and “dealing with dead people." Fentress says he cannot conceive a situation in which U.S. Presidents were not aware, that they were motivated to take part in political assassination plots due to imperialism, rather than the Cold War.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke discusses the cautious and tentative tone of the report on political assassinations. Duke mentions Senators Walter Mondale and Barry Goldwater, speculates Senate Committee head Frank Church may have agreed to change the language of his report due to his own political ambitions. Simmons Fentress of Time Magazine weighs in on the tentative language of the report, says it avoids placing the majority of blame solely on Democrats or Republicans.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Moderator Paul Duke asks Simmons Fentress of Time Magazine if, after reading the report, he believes the CIA had a special unit for dealing with political assassination plots. Fentress says the report discusses a special executive action unit within the CIA.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke brings up the topic of assassinations and coups in Chile and possible involvement by National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger. Simmons Fentress of Time Magazine believes Kissinger was involved, brings up U.S. President Richard Nixon not wanting Salvador Allende to hold power in Chile. Duke brings up the assassination of Chilean General Rene Schneider, who was a believer of American-styled democracy. Duke says the U.S. Government has never learned from the consequences of its actions.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Simmons Fentress of Time Magazine discusses the power vacuums created by U.S.-backed political assassinations and coups. Fentress mentions the assassination of Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo. Moderator Paul Duke mentions the assassination of the Republic of the Congo leader Patrice Lumumba.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Simmons Fentress of Time Magazine says U.S. involvement in political assassinations was more influenced by imperialism rather than the Cold War. Program moderator Paul Duke asks if the U.S. is moving away from the idea it has the right to remove foreign leaders from power as it sees fit. Fentress says yes, in light of the publication of the Senate Committee report.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Image and/or narration of Jim Lehrer requires additional clearances. Continuation of Jim Lehrer interviewing Senator Frank Church (D-ID). Lehrer brings up Senator Barry Goldwater and the suggestion that Church and his committee gave the benefit of the doubt to Democratic Presidents, letting them off the hook and placing more of the blame on the CIA. Sen. Church says that if Goldwater thought that if the committee treated any matters with partiality between Democrats and Republicans, Goldwater would have never signed the report. Senator Church says that with respect to treating all of the Presidents more easily than others, he does not think it true; the committee simply followed the evidence as far as they could. Sen. Church points out facts not brought up in Lehrer’s discussion with other reporters. Sen. Church says Robert Kennedy did have knowledge of past attempts on Fidel Castro’s life, and it is possible that this information was passed on to President John F. Kennedy by his brother or FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, information related to past attempts on Castro's life. Senator Church says the committee did reprimand Presidents for failing to make it clear that assassinations were out of order. Sen. Church says these presidents are dead men and without clear evidence that they knew all of the facts, and did in fact authorize these assassinations, the committee would have brought injustice upon them. Lehrer clarifies that Church does not agree the committee applied a double standard to the Presidents. Church says the committee only wanted to do justice and treated everyone concerned evenly; if that had not happened, the report would not have been unanimously signed.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Image and/or narration of Jim Lehrer requires additional clearances. Continuation of Jim Lehrer interviewing Senator Frank Church (D-ID). Lehrer asks Senator Church if the committee investigated if any members of Congress were aware of assassinations. Church says the committee did investigate and the evidence was spotty. As far as the committee knows, no one in Congress was told of assassinations. Congress did not watch the CIA and the CIA decided what to tell Congress. Lehrer brings up a law Senator Church has proposed to make it a crime to attempt, plot to, or assassinate a foreign leader. Lehrer asks how such a law could be enforced. Church says it was a surprise to find that such a law did not exist., that it will be a criminal law with sanctions and penalties. Lehrer brings into question the mechanics of the law, asks who would be responsible for investigating the assassination of a foreign leader. Sen. Church says the Justice Department will be responsible for investigations, that just as any other situation, you can’t indict someone without probable cause. Church gives an example of how the statute could keep the CIA in check.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Image and/or narration of Jim Lehrer requires additional clearances. Continuation of Jim Lehrer interviewing Senator Frank Church (D-ID). Lehrer clarifies that Senator Church does not see any issues with enforcing a law against the assassination of foreign leaders. Sen. Church brings up the idea of whether it would have been good to assassinate Hitler as a defense for political assassinations of foreign leaders. He dismisses the “Hitler defense,” in this case we are talking about black leaders and Latin leaders of small countries that could not influence the United States. Sen. Church says the only time Fidel Castro made Cuba a threat to the U.S. was when he allowed the Soviets to position missiles in Cuba (Cuban Missile Crisis); it was at this exact time that all efforts to assassinate Castro were ceased. Jim Lehrer thanks Senator Church. End of interview.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke in tv studio, holding a copy of the Church committee report. Duke introduces topic of the program, to review the report and the committee's findings.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke introduces U.S. Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho), who is off-stage in an interview section of the studio.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke reports that CIA Director William Colby is upset that the Church committee report was made public and wants to have 12 names stricken from it. U.S. Senator Frank Church (D-ID) says there is good reason to keep the names in the report.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
In Senate hearing room. U.S. Senator Frank Church (D-ID) explains the committee's reason for not removing the 12 names in question from the public report. "Precautions eliminating references that could, in the judgment of the committee, endanger any person. We took the same precautions to avoid any references to sources that that might betray or undermined out intelligence capacity abroad. And in the process of considering various names, we cooperated with the agencies, applying our own criteria, and we eliminated some 20 names from the report, or 20 references, because we thought the argument was justified. With the respect to the remaining names, the committee felt the arguments were not justified. And after a full hearing, from Mr. Colby and the agency and all other spokesmen for the executive departments, the committee chose to retain those names in the report. Now I want you to know what the names were. One example had to do with Mr. Dearborn who was the ranking US official in the Dominican Republic where the assassination of Trujillo occurred. He was in close and continuous contact with the assassins even transferring weapons. And has identified himself publicly by writing a letter to the editor of the Washington Post on the assassination. That was one name."
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
U.S. Senator Frank Church (D -ID) continues discussing the committee's decision to not remove 12 names in question from the public report. "A second name that they demanded to have stricken from the report was Mr. Conein. He was the contact with the assassins in another country. And his role was fully publicized when the Pentagon papers were published. In fact, this was South Vietnam and had to do with Diem and it was necessary in the committee's opinion to include his name to make it clear that the United States never at any time intended, planned, plotted, or desired the assassination of Mr. Diem. Three other names, those of Harvey, King, and Tweedie, were high ranking CIA officials who helped develop detailed plans for assassination plots. And two of them held policy making positions. Two foreign persons, Mr. Vio and Mr. Valenzuela, Chileans, were convicted by military tribunals for their roles in such plots in their own countries. And now a government favorable to them has been restored to power. Then the three others were Mr. Robert Maheu, who was the CIA s contact with the mafia. He not only testified before the committee and his appearance was not only widely reported in the press, but he held a press conference himself in which he gave details concerning his role. The next name was Mr. John Roselli, who was the mafia leader contacted by Maheu at the CIA s request to locate Cubans through his gambling syndicate in order that contracts could be made to assassinate Castro. His appearance before the committee was highly publicized and his role in the plot has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles. And finally the name of Santo Trafficante who was a mafia chieftain with gambling interests in Cuba who was used by Roselli and Maheu to locate Cubans to carry out the assassination plot. Now those were the names we listed, and to suggest that the committee in so doing was in anyway imperiling the lives of legitimate agents or employees of the CIA is in my judgment absurd."
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke closes segment about the names in the Church committee report.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke in television studio, listing the five cases covered in the Senate report: Congo leader Patrice Lumumba, South Vietnam President Diem, dictator of the Dominican Republic Rafael Trujillo, army general Rene Schneider of Chile and Fidel Castro of Cuba.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Simmons Fentress of Time Magazine discusses the plot to assassinate Fidel Castro, on going from 1959-1965. Mention of the involvement of the CIA, U.S. Presidents, and the Mafia being used as a contact in Miami.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke in television studio, CIA emblem on screen behind him, discusses the CIA actions under investigation. Duke discusses the assassination of Congo leader Patrice Lumumba, image of Lumumba on screen in BG. When the Congo gained its independence amid internal conflict in 1960, the U.S. discussed ways to eliminate Lumumba, later killed by his own people trying to establish a socialist regime. Duke discusses Dominican Republic leader Rafael Trujillo, image of Trujillo reviewing Navy in BG. The U.S. initially supported Trujillo, but when Fidel Castro took over Cuba the U.S. feared a similar revolt in the Dominican Republic. The U.S. supported a rebel group planning to kill Trujillo, who was killed by rebels in 1961. Duke discusses the U.S. encouraging opposition to South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963. Photo of Diem over Map of South Vietnam in BG. Due to lack of public support in South Vietnam, the U.S. did not believe Diem could effectively wage a war on North Vietnam. In 1963 President Diem and his brother were killed by revolting generals in Saigon.
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
Program moderator Paul Duke reviews the committee’s conclusions on U.S. involvement in the assassination of foreign leaders Patrice Lumumba, Rafael Trujillo, and Ngo Dinh Diem. Photo of Lumumba on screen behind Paul Duke. Rolling text on screen with narration, summary of the committee’s conclusions: “The committee found strong evidence for a plot to assassinate Lumumba. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s strong expression of concern for Lumumba was taken as authority to assassinate Lumumba by Allen Dulles (former Director of Central Intelligence). Instruments for the assassination of Lumumba were delivered to the Congo by the CIA. Evidence permits a reasonable inference that the plot to assassinate Lumumba was authorized by President Eisenhower... Trujillo was assassinated by an opposition group on May 30, 1961. Trujillo was a brutal dictator. Both the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations encouraged the overthrow of his regime. Both administrations approved sending arms to the opposition, but no evidence proved that these weapons were used in the assassination. Although there is no evidence that the U.S. instigated an assassination, certain evidence links U.S. officials to assassination plans." Re: South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem: “Diem and his brother were assassinated during a coup by Vietnamese generals on Nov. 2, 1963. Evidence indicates that the U.S. government offered encouragement for a coup, but neither desired or was involved in the assassinations. The assassination of President Diem seems to be a spontaneous action of Vietnamese generals. The is no evidences to give an indication of direct or indirect involvement of the U.S. in Diem’s death.”
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
U.S. Senator Charles Mathias (R-MD) comments on the source of authority for assassination plots against foreign leaders, says, “One thing that was asked of every witness involved in these events was, what was the source of his authority? Who order it or authorized it? Without exception every witness stated that he was authorized. When you get to the top of the bureaucratic ladder, the only source of authority would be the White House. This is a very important finding of the committee. This is why I referred to the need for a statutory charter for the intelligence community. There has to be a system of accountability, which insures that the intelligence community works with national policy and leadership. Without that we will be in great trouble in the future.”
NPACT coverage of Church Committee Hearings - Assassinations
U.S. Senator Walter Huddleston (D-KY) comments on the conclusion of the committee’s report, says, “The conclusion from reading the report is that the CIA was divided by those on the upper and lower level. Both sides had different ideas about what certain things meant and no one inquired to whether they were on the same wave length. We asked a head of the CIA if it ever occurred to him to go to the President and ask if it was really meant that so and so should be assassinated. He said it never occurred to him to present that kind of a question to a chief executive. It seems to me that any person who believes he has an order to carry out on assassination would certainly want to know precisely what he is expected to do. Witnesses said they had the understanding that they were acting with the highest authority. He identified the highest authority as either being the President or the President’s chief adviser, certainly the White House. Yet, you can never pin down what those instructions were.”