@ggreenwald@jeffersonmorley "John Connally, who during long days of conversation with this author was willing to answer almost any question put to him, no matter how delicate the topic, wouldn't answer when asked what Johnson said about Robert Kennedy. When the author pressed him, he finally said flatly: 'I pic.x.com/RWTBKmZugO
"John Connally, who during long days of conversation with this author was willing to answer almost any question put to him, no matter how delicate the topic, wouldn't answer when asked what Johnson said about Robert Kennedy. When the author pressed him, he finally said flatly: 'I am not going to tell you what he said about him.' During the months after the convention, when Johnson was closeted alone back in Texas with an old ally, he would sometimes be asked about Robert Kennedy. He would reply with a gesture. Raising his big right hand, he would draw the side of it across the neck in a slowing, slitting movement. Sometimes that gesture would be his only reply; sometimes, as during a meeting with Ed Clark in Austin, he would say, as his hand moved across his neck, 'I'll cut his throat if it's the last thing I do.'"
Transcript of Shane Stevens' tape of his grandfather, Billie Sol Estes, talking with Clifton "Cliff" Carter (LBJ's fixer and the former executive head of pic.x.com/OUDJaeeLkZ
The most important disclosure of 2025, thus far, is the Cliff Carter tape (unrelated to the forthcoming declassification.
Transcript of Shane Stevens' tape of his grandfather, Billie Sol Estes, talking with Clifton "Cliff" Carter (LBJ's fixer and the former executive head of the DNC) in 1971:
Estes: "Sure good to see you. How's life treating you today?"
Carter: "Well, Sol, it's been a pretty touch and go situation. Lyndon and I have had quite a few unpleasant words here lately over the deal that he hired Mac Wallace to assassinate the president. It's been hectic in every way, but uh we've lived through it this far and I guess we'll continue to do so. Uh, Lyndon should have never issued that order to Mac, but we've had our differences and I'm true blue to Lyndon as I've always been and tried to carry out every order that he's ever given me. But this is one I'll probably never be able to forget. And the times that we've had in Texas and the embarrassment that Lyndon had gotten from the Kennedy—I guess there wasn't anything else to do but what he did.
Estes: "Well, you know Lyndon (inaudible)…"
Carter: "Well, Lyndon's the kind of person that doesn't want to help anyone. He's all for Lyndon and that's pretty much the way he's always been."
Estes: "Well, they had me backed up on that Henry Marshall killing and they just kinda blackmailed me to keep my mouth shut and if I hadn't had a bunch of tapes that I played after he got killed—cuz you know 17 got killed in this situation very mysteriously—and I've spent a lot of time and I've lost a lot of money and he's hurt my family a whole lot and it's really got me just disgusted with Lyndon in one way and in one way I feel real sorry for him.
But I really feel that in Lyndon's heart he felt like he was doing the right thing. He felt like he was the savior of the common man. I feel like in his heart he wanted to help people (inaudible)…I don't believe that anything (inaudible)…sanctioned all the killings that he has done. What do you think about it, Cliff? Do you think it could've been handled in any way without killing all of these people and got rid of the Kennedys? Do you think he would've won the election against him?"
Carter: "Well, I don't really believe so. You know he tried desperately to do just that and there didn't seem to be any other way. I know that he regrets a lot of the things that he has done, but still it has been a battle from day one…"
