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DAVID ATLEE PHILLIPS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.1 N 2 V CC u ,n 4 T > 5 u a 6 c 7 0 4) ro 8 i m .c 9 1 w o 10 c 11 0 s 17 18 19 20 21 24 25 12U Mr Phillips I was on the outside and I was involved I in what was until I became - until I went inside to the official cover as a propaganda specialist Mr Brooten Now you testified I believe that you had certain wire intercepts to the Cuban consulate and Cuban embassy is that correct Mr Phillips Wire intercepts Mr Brooten Wire telephone intercepts Mr Phillips Yes. We are speaking in Mexico City Mr Brooten Yes Did they monitor both incoming and outgoing telephone calls Mr Phillips Yes sir Mr Brooten Did the Soviet wiretaps monitor both incoming and outgoing telephone calls Mr Phillips Yes they did Mr Brooten With respect to this specific transcript would there not have been two transcripts then one a call going out of the Cuban embassy and one a call coming into the Soviet embassy

 

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 18 19 20 21 22 23 121 Mr Phillips As I recall there was one transcript an incoming telephone call and then on the same sheet of paper outgoing telephone calls I don't recall that there were two one for outgoing and one for incoming Mr Brooten Well if you had a tap on all incoming calls and all outgoing calls for both places why didn't you have two transcripts Mr Phillips Because it was on a single line You don't tap inside the Embassy you tap outside the Embassy and so you are literally on the line and you've got what's coming both ways Mr Brooten But if a call-went out of the Cuban Embassy to Point A you would have that call intercepted would you not Mr Phillips Yes Mr Brooten And if the call came into the Cuban Embassy from anywhere else you would have that call intercepted would you not Mr Phillips Yes sir if it was one of those phones that was tapped Mr Brooten All right Now here you have a situation in which you have a call being placed from one tapped phone to another tapped phone and my question is why - Mr Phillips In that case there would be two intercepts 0014

 

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As part of your duties was it part of your responsibility 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 19 20 21 22 23 24 122 if it went to another telephone Mr Brooten And there should be transcripts of the two intercepts Mr Phillips Yes Mr Brooten And if there were two intercepts and your responsibility was for the Cuban intercept why then did you not receive and have primary responsibility for that Mr Phillips Because it was translated from the Russian thus putting it into the Soviet area Mr Brooten All right sir You stated that one of your duties was to know or you had a priority and you testified in response to Mr Sprague's question that you wanted to know who the intelligence agents were the diplomats and then went on down to the consulars you set up a protocol for that is that right Mr Phillips Yes Mr Brooten All right to know who the Cuban intelligence agents were Mr Phillips Yes Mr Brooten And with respect to Mr.E0 0 was it his responsibility to know who the Soviet intelligence agents were? Mr Phillips Yes Mr Brooten And did you know who the Cuban intelligence agents were 000]4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 15 123 Mr Phillips Yes I think our score was probably 90 percent Mr Brooten All right sir In addition to the wiretaps going both in and out of the Cuban Embassy in addition to the photographic surveillance that you related how many cameras were there surveilling the Cuban Embassy and the Cuban Consulate offices Mr Phillips I never visited this outside installation but I recall that there were at least two going at the same time on some occasions the Consulate and the Chancery the main building and I believe at one time there might have been as many as three but I'm not positive about that Mr Brooten All right Mr Phillips But ideally at least the two the two places to cover the two entrances Mr Brooten On September the 27th and 28th 1963 do you have any personal knowledge of how many cameras were surveilling the Cuban Embassy and Consulate in Mexico City Mr Phillips I know that one was not surveilling the Cuban Consulate and to the best of my recollection one was still working - no Saturday - no to the best of my recollection one was working that day on the Chancery but I'm not positive Mr Brooten All right Mfr Phillips I'm not positive perhaps because the other

 

3 u If) x ar > 5 U 14 6 'V C 0 7 ro 8 r 9 w 0 rn 10 c 11 0 r .Cc 12 E 13 . a 14 U 7 'o o 15 a a 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 124 camera had been pulled out - I don't know Mr Brooten Now do you know of your own personal knowledge that the camera was not working or did you arrive at the conclusion that the camera was not working because you did not find pictures for that day Mr Phillips We arrived at that because when'we said where are the pictures there was a - there was some - there was a technician who was responsible for things like that and said why wasn't it working well it was malfunctioning I had to pull it out or something like that He said it was routine and we accepted that Mr Brooten Now you stated that C 03 '] was in charge of the intercepts Mr Phillips As I recall he was the"outside man who was in charge yes Mr Brooten How long had E Q3 worked for the Central Intelligence Agency sir Mr Phillips Not too long because he had retired from the FBI in Mexico so three or four years Mr Brooten Do you know wherel 03 ] is now Mr Phillips The last I heard he was in Mexico Mr Brooten Did you also testify that it was 03 decision to transcribe or not transcribe intercepts Mr Phillips If I am correct in assuming that 03 kind of sat in there during a good part of the day 0014

20 15 16 Mr Brooten All right 17I To whom did they report 21 22 23 24 25 3 4 125 certainly he is the one they would go to Not knowing the operation it's possible he left it in charge of one of the Mexican nationals and they decided But if there was one of any real importance certainly it would 5 [ 03 and they would await his decision Mr Brooten All right sir Now in addition to the telephone interceptions and in addition to the photographing surveillance did you have any other types of surveillance inside any operatives inside the Cuban Embassy in September of 1963 (Pause.) Mr Phillips Yes we had 1 2r Mr Brooten What areas did they work Mr Phillips the administrative area and[24't.n [..4]in the r ~ 1 Mr Phillips To Bob Shaw Either directly or indirectl Mr Brooten And Mr Shaw worked for you Mr Phillips Yes Mr Brooten Can you identify those people Mr Phillips Counsellor may I ask if - it's the hardesit thing in the world to ask an ex-intelligence officer is to identify people who really in the Mexican climate might have a terribly difficult time if their identities were known Do

 

 

4 5 7 Mr Brooten Now with respect tot 03 and ] you stated that she had a previous background 127 standpoint I believe that is the way he said it Mr Brooten Do you know what the sanctions are for 3 violation of that security agreement Mr Phillips As I understand it there are no enforcable laws E o3 8 in Soviet work 9 Do you know what her prior posts were 10 Mr Phillips No I do not 11 Mr Brooten Do you know what Mr.{ OS prior posts 12 were 13 I Mr Phillips I don't recall.[ O3 3worked for 14 me again - worked for me when I became C 27 in 15 j r 16 '7 at a later date but that was subsequently 1~ 16 Mr Brooten Do they have a background in Soviet 17 intelligence 18 Mr Phillips Yes they did 19 Mr Brooten Did[ O3 'ever tell you that she had 20 any contact either directly or indirectly with-Marina 21 Prusakova the wife of Lee Harvey Oswald while they were in 22 the Soviet Union 23 Mr Phillips No she did not 24 Mr Brooten Did [.O3 :lever tell you that 25 Mr Phillips No he did not 0014

C.) N x a > c 0 L 4 -4 A c 0 Ia ai c u w 0 m O c 0 c a c i E 0 w v m u 0 u o a 3 4 6 19 20 128 Mr Brooten Do you whether either r 03 O ] had any contact either directly or indirectly with either Lee Harvey Oswald or its Russian wife prior to their entry to the United States Mr Phillips No I do mot Mr Brooten You stated that Robert Shaw worked for you Mr Phillips Yes Mr Brooten - at that time That Joseph Picolo wo= for you and he was replaced by1 O3 Do you know the whereat-outs today of Robert Shaw Mr Phillips He was in the Washington area the last I heard Mr Brooten Is he still with the Central Intelligence Agency Mr Phillips Yes Mr Brooten Do you kYow the whereabouts of [ 03 Mr Phillips He is it Washington at the Washington headquarters 21 Mr Brooten Do you kyour the whereabouts of Joseph 22 11 Picolo 23 Mr Phillips I do not 24 Mr Brooten Do you know the whereabouts of L O3 :1 25 Mr Phillips He has retired from the CIA and lives in 0I4 0

3 1 4 5 7 8 9 12 13 14 129 the Washington area Mr Brooten Do you know the whereabouts of Allen White Mr Phillips He is retired from the CIA and lives in the Washington area Mr Brooten Do you know the whereabouts of{ o& 03 Mr Phillips No Mr Brooten Do you know whether or not they are still in the Central Intelligace Alency Mr Phillips. I believe that they still are I heard that he was talking about retirement but I believe that they still are Mr Brooten Do you know the whereabouts of Ann Goodpastui Mr Phillips Yes She is retired and living in Dallas 15 Texas 16 Mr Brooten Now you stated that the information was 17 circulated to the local FBI agent 18 Who was that person 19 Mr Phillips Mr Clark Anderson 20 Mr Brooten Was Mr Clark Anderson a Legal Attache at 21 the American Embassy at that time 22 Mr Phillips He was 1 23 Mr Brooten You stated he worked with you in the Dominica 1 Republic in 1965 is that correct 25 Mr Phillips Yes 11Lf

 

1 6 11 131 Mr Preyer Sure Mr Sprague You have the transcript of that portion of the book with you that refers to the area we have been talking about Mr Phillips Yes sir Mr Sprague Would you be willing to turn that over to us so that we can examine it We will not at this time delay this hearing If we decide to put it in the record we will put it in the record and we will get it back to you Is that all right with you Mr Phillips Yes sir In addition I have the deletions as requested by the CIA when the book was cleared Mr Sprague Now that is the question I wanted to start asking Now this book that you are talking about can you just describe in general what it encompasses Mr Phillips Well it is a chronological and geographicrl story of 25 years of my intelligence career Mr Sprague And when did you commence writing this book Mr Phillips In June of 1975 Mr Sprague Have you ever written any books previous to that Mr Phillips I haven't written any hocks though I 00.14a

2 3 4 sir Mr Phillips It has been completed for some time 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 have written a number of plays stories Mr Sprague Is this hock now completed Mr Sprague And do yon have a publisher for it Mr Phillips Yes sir It is being actually printed no Mr Sprague When did you submit this to the CIA for apparently clearance Mr Phillips I snh ed some of the chapters very early I wanted to send twc chapters and an outline to New York so that the publishers could decide whether they wanted the book So there is a total of ten chapters and I sent two and then three and then it was finally only cleared about three months acc Mr Sprague When was that ycu commenced your inter views with Mr Kessler of the Washington Post Mr Phillips About a 3.cnth ago Mr Sprague What initiated those contacts that gave rise to the story Mr Phillips He cal ei me Mr Sprague Do you =ow how that came about at all Mr Phillips I ccy't kY.ow I can surmise that perhaps he saw me on a televisicr show or was aware - I give lectures around the country frequently and there is often newspaper publicity Sore of that ray have reached him 00 1 4 r

15 16 25 of publicity Having sold this book I obviously want it to 00145 4 5 6 8 10 11 12 13 1 3 19 20 21 22 23 24 133 But I can only surmise Mr Sprague With regard to the book when you commenced this book was it part of your arrangements to get CIA clearance on the book Mr Phillips Well I didn't say anything to them and it never occurred to me that I wouldn't I planned to do 7 it Mr Sprague We will look at those chapters I take it that the CIA going through your book asked you to excise certain parts of it Mr Phillips Yes sir Mr Sprague Which you then did and you have for us those things that they have requested you to excise Mr Phillips That is correct sir Mr Sprague You know the question does arise as to whether or not it is some advantage to you to be getting the kind of publicity that emanates by this kind of story appearing in the Post and media out there Now could you give me some comments about the sort of change in terms of the comments to the media and what you say here Has this thing somewhat for your part been thought of for purposes of the advantage to you Mr Phillips I was formerly an actor before I was a playwright and there is no question that I have some sense

0014 ~ -bile ve are investigating this matter and hopefully at some Zo 1 point rcmpt=y we can have an appropriate public hearing I request you not to discuss anything with anybody 134 be successful one reason being that I have five more kids to sera through college So there is no question that I am looking for_ an opportunity to get publicity which will help with t =e bock mere is absolutely no question at the same time that I wish t=Ft this publicity would not be a part of it The inference th.=t can be drawn by some readers that I might have played a role in a coverup of the murder of one of my Presidents dstrms me a great deal and my children So I assure you that this publicity was spontaneous and unwelcome Mr Sprague I assume we are about to adjourn shortly You rr e tared that testimony in executive session is not to be discussed anywhere Yr hiLips I do understand sir Y Sprague There can be no direction to you not to discuss w=.ate:er you want to however with others the news reed with friends and others but I would like to make the rerae z -- it is not official from the Committee - that I also request Mr Chairman that this witness remain s under subpoena .further call of the Subcommittee Yes Mr Sprague the Chairman agrees with :4 1 your request of -one 61 ,mess and will repeat that as coming

6 8 9 2 7 1 135 from the Committee and I take it that Mr Thone agrees with me on this that matters discussed in Executive Session should not be discussed And you will consider yourself as remaining under the subpoena until further notice Is there anything further that we need I want to thank you Mr Phillips and I thank all of you members of the staff working well beyond their lunch hour on a Saturday which I hope the record would duly note The Committee stands adjourned (Whereupon at 1:52 o'clock p.m. the Subcommittee recessed subject to the call of the Chair.) 22 23 24 0014r

ti INDEX OF THE TESTIMONY OF DAVID A PHILLIPS ON 4/25/78 Aliases .6-8 77-78 Arensburg Mariada .81-82 Asset .60-61 Berlitz School Havana .71 74-75 Buchanon Jerry .98 Cable 10/11/63 .28-31 Cable 10/9/63 .24-27 42 49 Castro Plots .85 Cogswell Jack .82-83 Covert Action Mexico .59-65 Cuba/Florida 65-68 70-72 Diaz Verson Salvadore 68-69 70 DRE .75-77 Employment History .3 Goodpasture Anne .21 Gupton Doug .73-74 Hendrix Hal .98 "Henry .91-93 Hunt E Howard .97-98 Lobo Julio .78-80 Lopez-Fresauet Rufo 80-81 McClendon Gordon .95-97 Melton .71 74-75 76 Nunez Portuondo .72 Phillips presence in Mexico City .49-53 Explanations .53-56 57 Photos Mexico Mystery Man 45-46 Operations .43-45 Posada Luis .84-85 Pseudonyms .6-7 Scott win 30 Tapes General erasure and retention .17 Oswald erasure .18-20 21 22-23 Testimony review of prior .9-17+ Transcripts .31-39 Substance .11-13 Timing .46-49 Veciana Allegation .85-90 94-95