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Appendix




The Secrecy Oath the author signed after Robert Blakey took over the HSCA,
and correspondence between the author and various committee members.





                           Exhibit A
___________________________________________________________
    
     
     
Select Committee on Assassinations Nondisclosure Agreement


   [Richard E. Sprague]
I, ____________________, in consideration for being
employed by or engaged by contract or otherwise to perform
services for or at the request of the House Select Committee
on Assassinations, or any Member thereof, da hereby make the
representations and accept the obligations set forth below as
conditions precedent for my employment or engagement, or for
my continuing employment or engagement, with the Select Com-
mittee, the United States House of Representatives, or the
United States Congress.

     1.  I have read the Rules of the Select Committee, and I
hereby agree to be bound by them and by the Rules of the House
of Representatives.

     2.  I hereby agree never to divulge, publish or reveal by
words, conduct or otherwise, any testimony given before the
Select Committee in executive session (including the name of any
witness who appeared or was summoned to appear before the Select
Committee in executive session), any classifiable and properly
classified information (as defined in 5 U.S.C. Section 552(b)(1)), 
or any information pertaining to intelligence sources or methods 
as designated by the Director of Central Intelligence, or any con-
fidential information that is received by the Select Committee
or that comes into my possession by virtue of my position with
the Select Committee, to any person not a member of the Select
Committee or its staff or the personal staff representative of
a Committee Member unless authorized in writing by the Select
Committee, or, after the Select Committee's termination, by
such manner as the House of Representatives may determine or,
in the absence of a determination by the House, in such manner
as the Agency or Department from which the information origin-
ated may determine.  I further agree not to divulge, publish
or reveal by words, conduct or otherwise, any other information
which is received by the Select Committee or which comes into
my possession by virtue of my position with the Select Committee,
for the duration of the Select Committee's existence.

     3.  I hereby agree that any material that is based upon or
may include information that I hereby pledge not to disclose,
and that is contemplated for publication by me will, prior to
discussing it with or showing it to any publishers, editors or
literary agents, be submitted to the Select Committee to deter-
mine whether said material contains any information that I
hereby pledge not to disclose.  The Chairman of the Select Com-
mittee shall consult with the Director of Central Intelligence
for the purpose of the Chairman's determination as to whether
or not the material contains information that I pledge not to
disclose.  I further agree to take no steps toward publication
until authorized in writing by the Select Committee, or after
its termination, by such manner as the House of Representatives
may determine, or in the absence of a determination by the
House, in such manner as the Agency or Department from which
the information originated may determine.

     4.  I hereby agree to familiarize myself with the Select
Committee's security procedures, and provide at all times the
required degree of protection against unauthorized disclosure
for all information and materials that come into my possession
by virtue of my position with the Select Committee.

     5.  I hereby agree to immediately notify the Select Com-
mittee of any attempt by any person not a member of the Select
Committee staff to solicit information from me that I pledge
not to disclose.

     6.  I hereby agree to immediately notify the Select
Committee if I am called upon to testify or provide information
to the proper authorities that I pledge not to disclose.  I
will request that my obligation to respond is established by
the Select Committee, or after its termination, by such manner
as the House of Representatives may determine, before I do so.

     7.  I hereby agree to surrender to the Select Committee
upon demand by the Chairman or upon my separation from the
Select Committee staff, any material, including any classified
information or information pertaining to intelligence sources
or methods as designated by the Director of Central Intelligence,
which comes into my possession by virtue of my position with the
Select Committee.  I hereby acknowledge that all documents
acquired by me in the course of my employment are and remain the
property of the United States.

     8.  I understand that any violation of the Select Committee
Rules, security procedures or this agreement shall constitute
grounds for dismissal from my current employment.

     9.  I hereby assign to the United States Government all
rights, title and interest in any and all royalties, remunera-
tions and emoluments that have resulted or may result from any
divulgence, publication or revelation in violation of this
agreement.

    10.  I understand and agree that the United States Government
may choose to apply, prior to any unauthorized disclosure by
me, for a court order prohibiting disclosure.  Nothing in this
agreement constitutes a waiver on the part of the United States
of the right to prosecute for any statutory violation.  Nothing
in this agreement constitutes a waiver on my part of any defenses
I may otherwise have in any civil or criminal proceedings.

    11.  I have read the provisions of the Espionage Laws,
Sections 793, 794 and 798, Title 18, United States Code, and
of Section 783, Title 50, United States Code, and I am aware
that unauthorized disclosure of certain classified information
may subject me to prosecution.  I have read Section 1001, Title
18, United States Code, and I am aware that the making of a
false statement herein is punishable as a felony.  I have also
read Executive Order 11652, and the implementing National
Security Council directive of May 17, 1972, relating to the
protection of classified information.

    12.  Unless released in writing from this agreement or any
portion thereof by the Select Committee, I recognize that all
the conditions and obligations imposed on me by this agreement
apply during my Committee employment or engagement and continue
to apply after the relationship is terminated.
     
    13.  No consultant shall indicate, divulge or acknowledge,
without written permission of the Select Committee, the fact
that the Select Committee has engaged him or her by contract
as a consultant until after the Select Committee has terminated.

    14.  In addition to any rights for criminal prosecution or
for injunctive relief the United States Government may have for
violation of this agreement, the United States Government may
file a civil suit in an appropriate court for damages as a
consequence of a breach of this agreement.  The costs of any
civil suit brought by the United States for breach of this
agreement, including court costs, investigative expenses, and
reasonable attorney fees, shall be borne by any defendant who
loses such suit.  In any civil suit for damages successfully
brought by the United States Government for breach of this
agreement, actual damages may be recovered, or, in the event
that such actual damages may be impossible to calculate, liquidated
damages in an amount of $5,000 shall be awarded as a reasonable
estimate for damages to the credibility and effectiveness of the
investigation.

    15.  I hereby agree that in any suit by the United States
Government for injunctive or monetary relief pursuant to the
terms of this agreement, personal jurisdiction shall obtain and
venue shall lie in the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia, or in any other appropriate United States
District Court in which the United States may elect to bring
suit.  I further agree that the law of the District of Columbia
shall govern the interpretation and construction of this
agreement.

    16.  Each provision of this agreement is severable.  If a
court should find any part of this agreement to be unenforceable,
all other provisions of this agreement shall remain in full force
and effect.

     I make this agreement without any mental reservation or
purpose of evasion, and I agree that it may be used by the
Select Committee in carrying out its duty to protect the security
of information provided to it.




         [July 19, 1977]            [Richard E., Sprague]
Date: _____________________      _________________________________


[ I am submitting a list of
  material and information  
  which has already been        _________________________________
  given to the committee,       LOUIS STOKES, Chariman 
  or which I intend to          Select Committee on Assassinations
  give to the committee in
  the near future.  I intend
  to publish some of this
  information.]






                             Exhibit B
  ____________________________________________________________
   
     
                                             193 Pinewood Road
                                             Hartsdale, NY  10530
    
                                             February 10, 1978
     
     
     
Mr. Louis Stokes
Chairman, Select Committee on Assassinations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.  20515

Dear Louis:

As I am sure you know, I signed a non disclosure agreement for the
Select Committee, given to me on July 19, 1977 by Robert Blakey.  Not
being a lawyer, I did not really appreciate some of the provisions of
that agreemont at the time I signed it, even though some things in it
seemed strange to me.

In the last fow months I have gone over the agreement several times,
with particular attention to those strange portions.  The more I re-
read the agreement, the more puzzled I have become.

I was finally triggered into writing you this letter by a conversation
I had with Richard A. Sprague.  As you may recall I helped him and Bob
Tanenbaum from November 1976 forward with the photographic evidence in
the JFK case, and several other areas derived from my relationship with
Jim Garrison and the Committee to Investigate Assassinations.  I had no
written agreement with the Committee at that time and did not ask for
compensation for the work I had been doing.  I had signed no non dis-
closure agreement and such an agreement had never been mentioned.

The first time I had any idea that the Committee would want to pay me
for my assistance was some time after Dick Sprague resigned, when Mr.
Blakey approached me about it through Bob Tanenbaum, shortly before
Bob resigned.  My recent meeting with Dick Sprague naturally led to
discussion about my continuing work for the Committee.  He raised the
subject of the non disclosure agreement signed by each staff member,
saying that he would never have enforced such a document while he was
chief counsel because he believes it gives the CIA and other agencies
too much power to control the activities of the Committee.  It was
because of that statement that I read the agreement again in the
light of what he said.

I know that you had a lot of faith in Richard A. Sprague and did not
personally want him to resign.  For that reason I'm writing to you
rather than Mr. Blakey, seeking answers to my questions.

Encloged is a copy of the agreement with my signature.  I have circled
on it the paragraphs in question, and underlined the key words.  My
questions, Mr. Stokes are as follows:
        
1.  Are paragraphs 2, 3 and 7 inserted for the purpose of giving the
    CIA power over the Select Committee to investigate the CIA's
    role in the assassinations or the cover up crimes following the
    assassinations of President Kennedy or Dr. King?  I believe those
    paragraphs could be so interpreted, especially if each committee
    member and each staff member signed a similar agreement.

2.  If the purposes of paragraphs 2, 3 and 7 are not as questioned
    above, then how can the Select Committee, its staff or its con-
    sultants, ever discover whether the CIA was involved in the
    assassinations or whether the CIA, as I maintain, is still
    involved in covering up the conspiracies?

    For example, paragraph 3 states that you as chairman, shall con-
    sult with the Director of Central Intelligence--to determine
    whether or not the material I might receive contains information
    that I pledge not to disclose.

    Assuming that all committee staff people signed that paragraph,
    it would seem to me that you would really be hamstrung in investi-
    gating the CIA's possible role.  Your staff could not be working
    with any documents or other materials pointing toward CIA agents'
    involvement in the assassinations, without you personally having
    to show those documents to the Director of Central Intelligence
    and to obtain his agreement to disclose the information to the
    public.

    The CIA Director has the power of judging what can be released.
    Obviously, anything incriminating to the CIA, especially higher
    level people who may have been involved, would be judged unreleas-
    able.

    None of this would take on the significance that it does, were it
    not for my belief that the CIA itself has continued to cover up
    the original conspiracy and that several CIA agents or contract
    employees carried out the murder.

3.  Is paragraph 12 really logical, or even legal?  Can an agreement
    with a body be extended ad infinitum after the body has dissolved?

4.  Paragraph 14 bothers me.  It seems to say that I agree to allow
    the government to sue me and to bear the expenses of such a suit.
    Is it really legal to ask me to agree to be sued as a condition 
    of my consulting contract?  Couldn't the government sue me and
    collect expenses anyway if I did something wrong, without such a
    clause?  Paragraph 16 seems to anticipate that Paragraph 14 may
    not stand up in court.  (Or some other paragraph.)

I want to make it clear that my concerns in this matter are not related
to any obligation I may have.  Rather, I am concerned about the
purposes of those clauses in the agreement, as they affect the
investigations.  I believe every staff member signed them.

I would appreciate hearing directly from you on these questions Mr.
Stokes, rather than referring this letter to Mr. Blakey.

                               Yours sincerely,


                               Richard E. Sprague






                           Exhibit C
____________________________________________________________

 
 
      LOUIS STOKES, OHIO, CHAIRMAN
 
 RICHARDSON PREYER, N.C.           SAMUEL L. DEVINE, OHIO
 WALTER E. FAUNTROY, D.C.          STEWART B. MCKINNEY, CONN.
 YVONNE BRATHWAITE BURKE, CALIF.   CHARLES THONE, NEBR.
 CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, CONN.        HAROLD S. SAWYER, MICH.
 HAROLD E. FORD, TENN.
 FLOYD J. FITHIAN, IND.
 ROBERT W. EDGAR, PA.
              ------------
             (202) 225-4624
 
 
                          Select Committee on Assassinations
                             U.S House of Representatives
                          3331 HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, ANNEX 2
                               WASHINGTON, D.C.  20515
 
 
                                      MAR 16 1978
 
 
 
 
 
  Richard E. Sprague, Esq.
  193 Pinewood Road
  Hartsdale, New York 10530
 
  Dear Mr. Sprague:
 
 
         In response to your letter of February 10, 1978
  concerning the non-disclosure agreement which you signed
  with the Committee, I wish to first remind you that the
  agreement was explicitly explained to you provision by
  provision by Mr. Blakey, and that you were given the
  opportunity to ask any questions that you desired prior
  to your signing the agreement.  I want to assure you that
  the intent of the agreement is not to prevent information
  from ultimately being disclosed to the American public.
  The non-disclosure agreement only governs the timing of
  disclosure of information to the public.  In response to
  your specific questions:
  
         I.  Paragraphs 2, 3 and 7 obviously are not for
  the purpose of giving the CIA power over the Select Committee
  to investigate the CIA's role in the assassination.  If
  you read these paragraphs carefully, they clearly provide
  that the Select Committee, during its existence, will be in
  full control and have access to all information.  The paragraphs
  do prevent you from disclosing the information, without the
  authorization of the Select Committee.
 
             Paragraph 3 does state that I, as Chairman, will
  consult with the Director of Central Intelligence to determine
  whether or not material contains information which you pledge
  not to disclose.  I, however, retain ultimate authority and
  I only consult with the Director of Central Intelligence -
  I am not bound by his opinion.
 
         II.  Paragraphs 12 and 14 are indeed legal.  Should
  you have any specific questions concerning the legality of
  any of the provisions, I suggest you consult your own attorney.
 
         I assure you that the very purpose of the non-
  disclosure agreement is to give the Select Committee full
  control over the conduct of the investigation, including
  the ultimate disclosure of information to the American
  public.  In no manner should it be construed as the Committee
  being restricted in its investigation by the CIA or any other
  federal agency or department.
  
         In closing, I remind you of paragraph 13 of the
  non-disclosure agreement which provides that you may not
  "indicate, divulge or acknowledge" the fact that you have
  been retained as a consultant until after the Select Committee
  has been terminated.  I have seen a press release concerning
  yourself issued by Mr. Altmans in conjunction with a new article
  in Gallery magazine.  I note that while you technically did
  not violate the non-disclosure agreement which you signed,
  by carefully wording the release to describe the work you
  had done for the Committee in the past, this is the exact
  kind of exploitation of a consultant relationship that the
  Committee desires to avoid during its existence.
  
         If you have any other questions or comments on the
  non-disclosure agreement, they should be addressed to Mr.
  Blakey as Chief Counsel.
 
                                Sincerely,
 
                              [Louis Stokes]
 
                                Louis Stokes
                                Chairman
 
  LS:jwc






                           Exhibit D
____________________________________________________________

     
     
                               193 Pinewood Road
                               Hartsdale, NY  10530
     
                               April 5, 1978
     
     
 Representative Louis Stokes
 U.S. House of Representatives
 Raybur House Office Building
 Washington, D.C. 20515
 
 Dear Louis,
 
 Thank you for your most reassuring letter of March 16, 1978.
 As you know I have great faith in your own personal integrity
 and your goals as discussed with you at lunch nearly a year
 ago.  I understand the necessity for non disclosure and 
 sensitive discretion in the way the Select Committee is pro-
 ceeding.  I believe I understand it more than most researchers
 because of my close working relationship with the staff and the
 committee ever since it started.
 
 You can rest assured that it is my intention to continue to
 assist you and to support your efforts right up to the finish 
 line.  I want to avoid as much as you do any exploitation of my
 relationship to the committee that would cause problems for you
 or for me, especially with the media.
 
 In this regard, the press release you mentioned in your letter
 from Gallery magazine was initially prepared by their public
 relations department, and included a statement taht I am a
 consultant to the Select Committee.  I asked them to delete the
 statement and they insisted on retaining something about my
 assistance to the committee in order to help establish my
 credibility with their readers.  After some discussion I was
 able to get them to modify the statement to apply to the past
 work for Richard A. Sprague and Henry Gonzalez.
 
 There will be another article in the June 1978 issue using this
 same statement.  I believe I mentioned the article to you several
 months ago.  It is about the CIA weapon system developed by 
 Charles Senseney at Fort Detrick, Maryland using rocket propelled
 flechettes carrying paralyzing poison launched by an umbrella.
 I described in the article the evidence pointing toward the use
 of this weapons system in Dealey Plaza.  The article will appear
 on May 2 on the newsstands.
 
 I read your March 16 letter, on March 22, upon my return from a
 trip to Japan and a vacation.  I contacted Gallery asking them to
 delete entirely the statement about me and the Select Committee.
 They told me it was too late, that the issue had already gone to
 press.  However, they did agree to delete the statement from any
 
 
 [the remainder of this letter was missing from the copy of the
  edition used to make this on-line version.  --ratitor]






                           Exhibit E
____________________________________________________________

   
   
      LOUIS STOKES, OHIO, CHAIRMAN
   
   RICHARDSON PREYER, N.C.           SAMUEL L. DEVINE, OHIO
   WALTER E. FAUNTROY, D.C.          STEWART B. MCKINNEY, CONN.
   YVONNE BRATHWAITE BURKE, CALIF.   CHARLES THONE, NEBR.
   CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, CONN.        HAROLD S. SAWYER, MICH.
   HAROLD E. FORD, TENN.
   FLOYD J. FITHIAN, IND.
   ROBERT W. EDGAR, PA.
              ------------
             (202) 225-4624
   
   
                          Select Committee on Assassinations
                             U.S House of Representatives
                          3331 HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, ANNEX 2
                               WASHINGTON, D.C.  20515
   
   
                                      May 15, 1978
   
   
   
   
 Mr. Richard Sprague
 193 Pinewood Road
 Hartsdale, NY 10530
          
 Dear Mr. Sprague:
          
      Thank you for your thoughtful letter of April 5
 and I hope that you will excuse my delay in responding.
          
      I appreciate your expression of confidence in me
 and your reassurance of your continued support. With
 regard to the matter of the press release, I understand
 your situation and it was most thoughtful of you to
 advise me in advance about the article in the June issue
 of Gallery magazine.
          
      Your letter has been sent on to the Committee staff
 in order that they might share your recommendations about
 Richard Case Nagell.
          
      Thank you again for your continuing support.
          
                               Sincerely,
          
          
                              [Louis Stokes]
          
                               LOUIS STOKES
                               Chairman
          
 LS:thn






                        Exhibit F
_________________________________________________________

   
   
   
    
                             193 Pinewood Road
                             Hartsdale, New York  10530
    
                             September 22, 1978
    
   
    
    Representative Yvonne Burke
    U.S. House of Representatives
    Washington, D.C.  20515
    
    Dear Mrs. Burke:
    
        I don't know whether you recall our meeting on
    July 21, 1977 when Jack White, Robert Groden and I
    made presentations to the J.F.K. subcommittee of the
    Select Committee on Assassinations.  You may
    remember my showing a summary of photographic evidence
    of conspiracy in the Kennedy assassination.  You asked
    some very pertinent questions which I answered about
    how to obtain films and photos from media organizations
    that were stonewalling at the time.
    
        I am truly sorry that you have missed the first
    three weeks of the J.F.K. hearings because I feel that
    your presence would have created at least a minority
    of one against the carefully orchestrated cover up that
    is now takinq place.  I had great faith in the committee,
    especially after a luncheon meeting with Louis Stokes
    in 1977 and after the presentation to you.
    
        I want you personally to know that I have now lost
    all of that faith.  The farce that is going on is really
    almost unbelievable to an honest researcher.  All
    witnesses (except Cyril Wecht), all panels employed by
    the committee, the staff and the committee members doing
    the questioning, obviously made up their minds a long
    time ago that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin,
    that there was no conspiracy and that the Warren
    Commission was right.
    
        I cannot understand how this came about.  As the
    most likely committee member to still keep an open mind,
    I would like to ask your opinion.
           
        How did the committee staff ignore all of the
    evidence of conspiracy.  I am speaking not only
    about the photographic evidence, but about the
    information that Clifford Fenton and his team
    uncovered in New Orleans.  I know you know about
    that from my conversations with Ted Gandolfo and
    Jim Garrison.
    
        Do you believe there was a conspiracy?  If you
    do, will you say so when you return to Washington?
    Will you insist that the committee hear from the
    important New Orleans witnesses as well as the
    others I recommended long long ago.  Specifically,
    will you insist that the committee call as witnesses:
    James Hosty, Warren du Bruys, Regis Kennedy, Richard
    Case Nagell, Harry Dean, Ronald Augustinovich, Mary
    Hope, Guy Gabaldin, Frenchy, William Seymour, Emilio
    Santana, Jack Lawrence, Jim Braden, E. Howard Hunt,
    Richard Helms and the others listed in the document
    I gave Louis Stokes in 1977.  If you can't or won't,
    God help this country.
    
    
                            Yours sincerely,
    
    
                            Richard E. Sprague
    
    
    
    P.S.  In the case of key witness Richard Case Nagell,
    Mr. Stokes assured me this spring that the committee
    would contact him.  As of this date, he has never
    been contacted.  He knows who killed President Kennedy.
   
   




                            Exhibit G
 ____________________________________________________________
       LOUIS STOKES, OHIO, CHAIRMAN
   
   RICHARDSON PREYER, N.C.           SAMUEL L. DEVINE, OHIO
   WALTER E. FAUNTROY, D.C.          STEWART B. MCKINNEY, CONN.
   YVONNE BRATHWAITE BURKE, CALIF.   CHARLES THONE, NEBR.
   CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, CONN.        HAROLD S. SAWYER, MICH.
   HAROLD E. FORD, TENN.
   FLOYD J. FITHIAN, IND.
   ROBERT W. EDGAR, PA.    ------------
              (202) 225-4624
   
                           Select Committee on Assassinations
                              U.S House of Representatives
                           3331 HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, ANNEX 2
                                WASHINGTON, D.C.  20515
   
   
                                   October 10, 1978
   
   
  Mr. Richard Sprague
  193 Pinewood Road
  Hartsdale, New York 10530
  
  Dear Mr. Sprague:
  
         I was greatly disturbed by your letter of September
  23, 1978 in which you stated that, "I have one last hope
  that what we are witnessing in your hearings is a charade
  meant to fool the FBI and the CIA.  If it is, you have fooled
  me.  If it is not, your statements to me over the past year
  about getting at the truth were all meaningless.  I have
  lost all faith in you and the committee."
  
         I must say that I deeply regret the fact that you
  have lost faith in the performance of my committee.  We
  have attempted to do a thorough, competent and professional
  job which would be a source of pride for you and other
  concerned Americans.
  
         I should state here for the record, Mr. Sprague, that
  I find nothing inconsistent in my statements to you over the
  year indicating that the committee would be seeking the truth
  and nothing but the truth during the course of the investigation
  and the testimony that the committee has received during its
  public hearings.  Perhaps you are confused because I did not
  explicitly state that the truth the committee is seeking is
  not your truth or my truth, but truth supported by the weight
  of the evidence.
  
         Thanks again for your past and current concerns.  I
  assure you that the committee will make every effort to tell
  the whole story to the American people.
  
                               Sincerely,
  
                             [Louis Stokes]
                               Chairman
  
  LS: icmj






                           Exhibit H
____________________________________________________________
                                          193 Pinewood Road
                                          Hartsdale, NY  10530

                                          October 30, 1978

   Representative Louis Stokes
   Select Committee on Assassinations
   U.S. House of Representatives
   3369 House Office Building, Annex 2
   Washington, D.C.  20515
   
   Dear Louis:
   
   I appreciate your responding to my September 23 letter.
   I am truly sorry to be so disturbing to you concerning
   the committee's hearings.  I wish I could be more
   complimentary and positive about your work.
   
   I could not agree with you more that the "truth supported
   by the weight of the evidence" is what we are all after.
   I'm enclosing for your information one more copy of the
   document I gave to Henry Gonzalez, Richard A. Sprague,
   Bob Tannenbaum, and you in 1976 and 1977.
   
   Unless you call the witnesses listed on pages 4-6 of this
   document, Louis, you have not dealt with the most impor-
   tant evidence of all.  How can you possibly claim to have
   unearthed anything approximating the truth, unless you 
   and the rest of the committee interrogate with strength,
   the following important witnesses that you missed:
   
   Richard Case Nagell, James P. Hosty, Louis Ivon, Victor
   Marchetti, Gorden Novel, Ronald Augustinovich, Mary Hope,
   Manuel Garcia Gonzalez, William Seymour, Emilio Santana,
   Guy Gabaldin, Major L.M. Bloomfield, Harry Williams,
   Sylvia Odio and Jim Garrison.
   
   The document explains how each of these witnesses was
   involved in the assassination of investigations of it.
   It is based, not just on my research, but on painful
   hours of investigative efforts of many, many people,
   including Jim Garrison's professional staff, the
   Committee to Investigate Assassinations and others.
   
   I understand that James P. Hosty is finally ready to
   tell his real story, at the risk of physical harm to
   himself and his family.  You have not called him.
   Richard Case Nagell has been ready to testify for a
   long time.  Despite my requests to Dr. Blakey and to
   you, he has not been called and no effort has been
   made to locate him through the only person who knows
   where he is, Dick Russell.
   
   If you will pardon my saying so Louis, something about
   just those two failures stinks, not to mention all of
   the others.
   
   It is not too late to save your reputations.  You can
   still call those witnesses in December.  I hope you do.
   
                                    Yours Sincerely,

                                    Dick Sprague






                           Exhibit I
____________________________________________________________

       
       
   
   
                                          193 Pinewood Road
                                          Hartsdale, NY  10530
   
                                          November 24, 1978
   
   
   
   
   Representative Louis Stokes
   Select Committee on Assassinations
   U.S. House of Representatives
   3369 House Office Building, Annex 2
   Washington, D.C.  20515
   
   Dear Louis:
   
   I am still waiting for a reply to my letter of October 30,
   1978.  I thought I should write again to remind you that
   the witnesses you should call in December are not going to
   be around much longer.  I'm afraid that Gorden Novel,
   Richard Case Nagell, James Hosty and Warren de Brueys, in
   particular may go the same way that Regis Kennedy, William
   Sullivan, and George de Mohrenschildt went.  You really
   must call them before they die.
   
   Regis Kennedy reportedly died of natural causes the day
   before you were to talk with him.  I do not believe that.
   How many more key witnesses have to die before you would
   be convinced?  Kennedy, du Brueys and Hosty were Oswald's
   points of contact in the FBI, receiving his reports on the
   conspiratorial group planning JFK's assassination.  I have
   known this since 1971 directly from Hosty's own lips via
   Carver Gaten and Jim Gochenaur.  Regis Kennedy also knew
   why the FBI was searching for Clay Shaw under his alias
   Clay Bertrand in New Orleans, before Dean Andrews received
   that phone call from him about defending Oswald.  Kennedy
   may also have been one of the three agents who took the
   Babushka lady's film away from her.  At least she told me
   he was one of them from his photo.
   
   So Regis Kennedy had to die.  So do Warren du Brueys and
   James Hosty.  If they die of "natural causes" in the next
   month or two, don't say I didn't warn you.
   
   Nagell and Novel are in even greater danger.  Nagell may
   now be safe.  He fled the country recently.  However, the
   CIA has tentacles everywhere, so he will not really be safe
   wherever he is.  Novel could easily be killed, since he is
   in prison.  That is one of the easiest places for the death
   squad to catch up with him.

   As I have had told you in previous letters, the reason you
   must call Novel is that there is a very strong possibility
   that he is the umbrella man.  If you laugh at that and try
   to tell me that you found the umbrella man, Mr. Witt, I'll
   laugh right back at you and tell you that farce you put on
   for the American public didn't fool anyone with his eyes
   even half way open.  In addition to the obviously planned
   sequence of events and the way in which Mr. Witt surfaced,
   his umbrella was certainly not the one used in Dealey Plaza.
   It was the wrong size, had the wrong number of ribs, and was
   missing the two round white bulbs on either end when folded
   up.
   
   No, Louis, Mr. Witt was either planted upon you or else
   your staff planted him.  I'll give you the benefit of the
   doubt for the moment and assume that you do not know he
   was a plant.  If you let it go as is, you and Mr. Preyer
   and the rest of the committee are going to look pretty
   silly.
   
   You absolutely must call as witnesses, Gorden Novel, and
   at the other end, Charles Sensenay and the CIA people asso-
   ciated with Fort Detrick, Maryland, where that umbrella 
   launching system was made.  Incidentally, two Bulgarian
   intelligence agents have recently been assassinated in
   England with an umbrella weapon using poison flechettes,
   very similar to the one used on JFK.
   
   I would appreciate a response to this letter telling me
   what you plan to do about those witnesses.
   
   
                                     Best regards,
   
   
   
                                     Dick Sprague
       
     
     



                         Exhibit J
____________________________________________________________

    LOUIS STOKES, OHIO, CHAIRMAN
 
 RICHARDSON PREYER, N.C.           SAMUEL L. DEVINE, OHIO
 WALTER E. FAUNTROY, D.C.          STEWART B. MCKINNEY, CONN.
 YVONNE BRATHWAITE BURKE, CALIF.   CHARLES THONE, NEBR.
 CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, CONN.        HAROLD S. SAWYER, MICH.
 HAROLD E. FORD, TENN.
 FLOYD J. FITHIAN, IND.
 ROBERT W. EDGAR, PA.
            ------------
           (202) 225-4624
 
 
                        Select Committee on Assassinations
                           U.S House of Representatives
                        3331 HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, ANNEX 2
                             WASHINGTON, D.C.  20515
 
 
                                December 4, 1978
 
 
 
 
 
 Mr. Dick Sprague
 193 Pinewood Rqad
 Hartsdale, New York  10530
 
 Dear Mr. Sprague:
 
      Thank you for your letter of November 24, 1978.
 
      I am aware of the amount of time you have spent
 analyzing the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
 and your interest in the work of the Select Committee on
 Assassinations since its inception.
 
      However, I regret that under our Rules, it is
 impossible for us to respond to your letter in a manner
 which would reveal the substance or procedure of our
 investigation, or the names of those persons who will be
 called to testify before the committee.
 
      The committee is, of course, grateful for your
 suggestions and those of the many other concerned citizens
 who have taken the time to write.
 
                              Sincerely,
 
                            [Louis Stokes]
 
                              LOUIS STOKES
                              Chairman
 
 
 
 LS:jl






                            Exhibit K
 ____________________________________________________________

    
       LOUIS STOKES, OHIO, CHAIRMAN
    
    RICHARDSON PREYER, N.C.           SAMUEL L. DEVINE, OHIO
    WALTER E. FAUNTROY, D.C.          STEWART B. MCKINNEY, CONN.
    YVONNE BRATHWAITE BURKE, CALIF.   CHARLES THONE, NEBR.
    CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, CONN.        HAROLD S. SAWYER, MICH.
    HAROLD E. FORD, TENN.
    FLOYD J. FITHIAN, IND.
    ROBERT W. EDGAR, PA.
               ------------
              (202) 225-4624
    
    
                           Select Committee on Assassinations
                              U.S House of Representatives
                           3331 HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, ANNEX 2
                                WASHINGTON, D.C.  20515
     
    
                                       JAN 16 1978
                                    
    
    
    
    
   Richard E. Sprague, Esq.
   193 Pinewood Road
   Hartsdale, New York 10530
   
   Dear Mr. Sprague:
   
             In response to your letter of January 9,
   1978, I have reviewed your proposed article "The
   CIA Weapon System Used in the Assassination of
   President Kennedy."  It is my opinion that the article
   is derived from your own sources of information, and
   contains no information that has come into your
   possession by virtue of your consulting work with the
   Committee.  Accordingly, your proposed publication of
   the article does not violate the terms of your non-
   disclosure agreement.  As I am sure you can appreciate,
   further comment by myself upon the article or its
   proposed publication would be inappropriate, and
   consequently I decline to express any review or
   comment upon it.
   
             Thank you for your continuing cooperation
   with the Select Committee.
   
                               Sincerely,
   
                               [G. Robert Blakey]
   
                               G. Robert Blakey
   
   GRB:jwc






                         Exhibit L
____________________________________________________________

    
    
    
    
    
                                              193 Pinewood Road
                                              Hartsdale, NY  10530
    
                                              August 3, 1978
    
    
 Mr. Robert Blakey
 Select Committee on Assassinations
 U.S. House of Representatives
 Washington, D.C.  20515
 
 Dear Bob:
 
 Following our telephone conversation on Tuesday August 1,
 I checked with Bob Cutler, my co-author on the Umbrella
 Weapon System article in Gallery June 1978.  Bob told me
 he left with Mr. Preyer and with you, photographic material
 showing that The Umbrella Man (TUM) was quite probably
 J. Gordon Novel.
 
 Your news photo of him reinforces that belief for both of
 us.  I did not have that portion of the Couch film from
 WFAA and so had never seen TUM's face as clearly as it
 appears there.  The Bothun photo of him has a light
 reflection around his nose, as I'm sure you know.
 
 We have a 1962-3 photo of Novel taken from the same angle
 as the Couch, film of TUM and a photo comparison convinces
 us more than ever that Novel is TUM.  Mr. Preyer no doubt
 told you back in April that Novel is in a jail in Georgia,
 framed for a crime he and Jim Garrison, his former lawyer,
 both claim he didn't commit.
 
 
                                Best regards,
 
 
 
                                Dick Sprague
 
 DS/mc
 
 P.S.  I am still waiting for a response to my letters to
       Louis Stokes about attending the hearings beginning
       August 14.
 
 cc:   L. Stokes
       R. Cutler




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