Welcome to JFK in The Enduring Secret.

I'm your host, Jeff Crudell.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the podcast.

Today's episode is episode 161 and it's the story of Perry Russo, Part 2.

Where we left off at the end of episode 160 was the series of sodium pentothal and hypnosis sessions that Russo underwent prior to testifying in public for the first time at the preliminary hearing for Clay Shaw.

Those and one other traditional but intensive review session with the DA's office just before the hearing were the prep work, so to speak, before Rousseau's big public debut in court under oath.

Jim Phelan was the first person outside of the DA's office who had seen the Shambra memo on Perry Russo.

Phelan knew that the memo was important because Rousseau seemed to be the only witness that was relied upon when deciding to charge Shaw.

So, naturally, the first question Phelan asked himself was whether or not there was enough in that memo, enough that truly happened, as documented in that initial interview of

Perry Russo by Shambra, enough in that memo to justifiably charge Shaw, as they had done on March 1, 1967.

Getting the memo in advance of the preliminary hearing only served to heighten the scrutiny

that Rousseau's testimony would receive from Phelan.

And it did just that.

Phelan wasted no time, he read the memo carefully, page by page, scouring it for any

and all facts which might be relevant.

Much to his astonishment, he found that the memo contained absolutely no reference to the assassination planning party,

and it did not even mention Clayshaw or Clay Bertrand or Clembertrand or even Lee Harvey Oswald

ever being present at those same parties. Phelan would join Garrison on a trip to Las Vegas. But this trip was not helpful

either when it came to solidifying Phelan's confidence in Garrison and the theory and substance

behind the Clayshaw investigation. The more he listened to Garrison, the less confident that Phelan was about anything that

Garrison was espousing. He found Garrison to be scattered, with no real substantive evidence

supporting his arguments. So, for Phelan, there was only one thing left to do, and that was to challenge

...