1 The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign ...

Q: Yes.
MILLER: Well, gradually, all of the impediments to access to the information we sought
were removed and we believe we were able to do serious research and inquiry based on
plausibly complete information. The committee, both staff and senators, decide to divide
the work into two parts: first, those who are interested in pursuing abuse, investigate
assassinations and overthrows, of leaders like Allende.
Q: Allende.
MILLER: Allende, Lumumba, all of the classic cases. The station chiefs from Chile,
Congo and those in charge of such activities were brought in for questioning, and of
course when Castro and Kennedy appeared in the records, the issues became charged
politically and I'd say that was the most delicate part of the investigation, because they
were so charged politically.
Q: And you also had Senator Edward Kennedy around, too.
MILLER: No, he wasn't on the committee, but he certainly was interested. Many senators
were, of course, interested in Kennedy's girlfriends and the connection with the Mob,
Sam Giancana and his girlfriend and the White House trysts and all of that. You can
imagine how charged that was, and somehow we kept it contained. Barry Goldwater had
a very important role, and Howard Baker, in knowing about it but not using it politically.
And Goldwater's approach to all of this, his philosophical view was – I won't say
philosophy, I'd say his opinion and his dogmatism was that, "All presidents did these
things. It was necessary for the security of the United States, and that's enough. That was
it. They're all the same. We have to respect the president, and that's it."
The others had some immediate partisan interests. Others were just interested personally
in some voyeuristic peering, you might say, but most were very disciplined among all of
these matters. But seeing the underworld was really something, but extremely dangerous,
too. It was dangerous to the underworld people. When our group of underworld figures
came to testify, they put large paper bags on their heads. The paper bags with cut-out eye
holes were so comic. There was cartoon I remember, I guess it was a Washington Post
Herblock cartoon, that shows the committee sitting at the table and in comes a man with a
paper bag over his head and all of the senators are pictured as rushing to duck under the
table. As it happened, three of the witnesses that came for testimony were disposed of
later by the Mob.
Q: Oh.
MILLER: Yes, it was dangerous for them. After their testimony, several met violent
deaths. One mobster was found in pieces stuffed into a barrel floating in Miami Bay. Sam
Giancana was one of these gangsters.
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