President John F. Kennedy was assassinated Friday, November 22, 1963 at 12:30
P.M. That same afternoon, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson went to the airport,
transferred his luggage to the President's plane, put the dead President and
the widow in the back, took his oath of office, and then flew back to Washington.
The assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested, charged, and then executed on
national television before an audience of millions. On Sunday, Shortly thereafter,
Texas officials in charge of investigating the assassination declared the case
closed. The following day the President was buried and America had a new leader,
a bitter enemy of the former President, sitting in the oval office waiting
to go to work.
What role, if any, did LBJ have in the assassination of JFK? Attorney/Author
Craig Zirbel says a big role. Now, after 25 years of research and study, Craig
has published his findings in the book "The Texas Connection" (available through
The Texas Connection, 7500 E. Butherus Dr., Scottsdale, AZ 85260, tel.(602) 443-3818.
The cost is $21.95 plus $3 postage and handling).
"The Texas Connection" has been out since Dec. '91 and the public response to
the book has been overwhelming. Since mid-January 1992, Craig Zirbel's book has
been on the best seller list of the Miami Herald. In late February The Texas
Connection made the New York Times best seller list.
We talked with author Craig Zirbel about LBJ, JFK and the attention his book
is receiving.
Question - Craig, if I was a member of the Johnson Family, I
would be quite upset with your book. I'm just wondering if anyone from the Johnson
family contacted you.
Answer - No. There was an absolutely hostile interview in Florida, from a guy
who was a talk show host and used to work for Johnson. That's the only real bad
criticism from any body who was at all connected with the Johnson family. That
was just an aide. I'm not going to mention his name. He controls the mike, so
no matter what I said, never came across. All I basically did was get screamed
at for even suggesting this, even though people have thought about it from the
day of the assassination. It was (the radio show) about as close to hell as you
can get. Even though Hugh McDonald in the 70's wrote a book "LBJ and The JFK
Conspiracy," and even though the Europeans have been talking about it since the
day of the assassination, I guess it upset them too much to even think that somebody
like this could be involved.
Question - President Bush recently said in a news conference
in Australia, "I have seen no evidence that has given me any reason to believe
the Warren Commission was wrong." He went on to say, that when he was the CIA
Director he never looked at the JFK files because he "didn't have any curiosity.
I saw no reason to question the Warren Commission report. Still see no reason
to question it." Do you believe the President when he says he never looked at
the files?
Answer - Whether I believe he was not interested enough is subjective. The only
problem with that is he's involved in everyday activities and if he isn't one
of the great masses of Americans that's interested in the assassination, you
know, there's other people like that. Whether he looked at it or not, that's
speculating. If he wasn't interested, that's kind of the exception. The thing
that disturbs me is if we start out with the findings of the Warren Commission
issued in 1964, the official government findings, finds Lee Harvey Oswald was
the lone assassin without a motive, with no conspiracy. Now the problem is, as
Americans, the dilemma we face is should we accept the Warren Commission Report
or should we accept the finding of another government entity 15 years later that
issued a report in 1979 that said although Lee Harvey Oswald was probably the
assassin or the shooter, also a conspiracy probably existed. That's another government
entity. Which one should Americans believe? If they believe the latter, written
and disclosed by the House in '79, all of a sudden Pandora's Box is opened. And
once Pandora's Box is opened, then you can go anywhere.
