John Moss Whitten Quotes
It was a morally representative act. Helms withheld the information because it would have cost him his job.
Helms and his top executives had decided to withhold from the Warren Commission investigating the Kennedy assassination many of the material facts known to the CIA. The most dramatic was the fact that under Helms, the Central Intelligence Agency had hired organized crime figures to assassinate Fidel Castro, thus the Kennedy killing might have been a retaliation. This may seem shocking but the Central Intelligence Agency has been a problem ever since its inception. The agency frequently lied and withheld critical material of the President –see {634612}.
John Moss Whitten, 1920-*, CIA Agent in Charge of Covert Action for Mexico & Central America, CIA Agent assigned to study the agency’s performance in the Kennedy Assassination Investigation, Testimony, Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, (often referred to as the “Church Committee” as it was chaired by Senator Frank Church), 1976
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This is a major issue for the nation. How can the president be responsible if he is not informed? However, some argue that the President must have “plausibility deniability” so he can deceive foreign leaders without lying to them. The laws require that nothing may be withheld from the President but there are some in the agency including past directors who believe that they sometimes should lie to the President or withhold information when it is in the national interest—which of course only they judge without any checks and balances.
