Pseudonym: Nurnad, Clayton
104-10009-10020: COUNTERING CRITICISM OF THE WARREN REPORT
4/1/67, Dispatch from Chief, WOVIEW, to Chiefs, Certain Stations and Bases: Dispatch to counter the public criticism of the Warren Commission. Marginalia states: "This was pulled together by Ned Bennett of (Covert Action) staff in close conjunction with CIRA (Counter-Intelligence Research and Analysis). We provided most of the source material, produced (?) many of the themes, and provided general expertise. The Spectator article was written by Bennett. A. E. Dooley. 23 Jan 1967." The Chief of Covert Action signed the memo, using the pseudonym Clayton P. Nurnad (see page 4 of 54). "...A public opinion poll recently indicated that 46% of the American public did not think that Oswald acted alone...This trend of opinion is a matter of concern for the U.S. government, including our organization...Just because of the standing of the Commissioners, efforts to impugn their rectitude and wisdom tends to cast doubt on the whole leadership of American society. Moreover, there appears to be an increasing tendency to hint that President Johnson himself, as the one person who might be said to have benefited, was in some way responsible for the assassination. Innuendo of such seriousness affects not only the individual concerned, but also the whole reputation of the American government...The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries...(we suggest) a. to discuss the publicity problem with liaison and friendly elite contacts...b. to employ propaganda assets to answer and refute the attacks of the critics. Book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for these purposes. The unclassified attachments to this guidance should provide useful background material for passage to assets...a useful strategy may be to single out (Edward) Epstein's theory for attack, using the attached Fletcher Knebel article and Spectator piece for background..."
104-10404-10376: DISPATCH + WRITINGS: COUNTERING CRITICISM OF THE WARREN REPORT Notes
Continued...Originating officer was CA/PROP/G Edward Bennett aka Ned Bennett. Six coordinating officers - 4 covert action, 1 CIRA, 1 COPS. Releasing officer was C/CA Cord Meyer Pages 5-9 are a survey of JFK assassination books. Pages 10-14 contain The Spectator article anonymously written by Ned Bennett - the heading is simply "The Spectator", entitled "The Theories of Mr. Epstein". Fletcher Knebel's LOOK article, "A New Wave of Doubt", focuses on challenging Epstein at pp. 34-43.
104-10096-10131: CARD LISTS RE FRANK STURGIS, E. HOWARD HUNT, ET AL.
06/07/73: Names on left hand side: "AMCLATTER-1; Hamilton, Edward J.; AMSNAP-3 (car); BKHERALD; Alpha-6; Gervenot, Norris G.; Lettsome, Conrad P.; Ponchay, Anthony R.; Hunt, Howard E.; Cuba; Watergate." - - - Names on the right: Artime, Manuel; Nebecker, Joel N.; Nurnad, Clayton P.; Mastrovito, Michael; Sturges, Frank; Gonzalez, Virgilio; McCord, James; Farrell, Frank; Villamanan, Manolo; LNERGO; AMANCHOR-1...
https://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/31657-cia-on-the-dealing-with-the-critics-of-the-warren-commission/
07/31/2025: Post by John Simkin on the Education Forum: JFK Assassination Debate: "During Frank Church's Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities he managed to get the following CIA document released. Signed by Clayton P. Nurnad on April 1, 1967, it was sent to "chiefs, certain stations and bases" with the instructions "Destroy when no longer needed". Clayton P. Nurnad was the pseudonym of Cord Meyer, Chief of CIA's Covert Action Staff (he was also head of Operation Mockingbird at the time). It is one of the most important documents concerning "Operation Mockingbird". It is interesting to discuss whether CIA assets today use similar methods to those suggested by the CIA in 1967..."