A Special Relationship: Trump, Epstein, And the Secret History of the Anglo-American Establishment: Book I 9798571807616

Table of contents :
A Special Relationship
Trump, Epstein and the Secret History of the Anglo-American Establishment
Book I
By
S. William Snider
Copyright © 2020 by S. William Snider
Content
Introduction
A Premonition of the Conspiracy
Part 1
Origins
Chapter One
Clubland
Chapter Two
The Honourable Company
Part Two
Acolytes
Chapter Three
The Robber Barons
Chapter Four
The Lords of War
Part Three
Honey Pots
Chapter Five
Profumo
Chapter Six
The Cousins
Part Four
The Game of Thrones
Chapter Seven
JFK
Chapter Eight
Coups
Selected Bibliography
Glossary
Names

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A Special Relationship Trump, Epstein and the Secret History of the Anglo-American Establishment

Book I By

S. William Snider

1

Copyright © 2020 by S. William Snider

All rights reserved.

2

Content Introduction...............................4 Part 1 Origins Clubland.........................................49 The Honourable Company.............94 Part 2 Acolytes The Robber Barons.......................150 The Lords of War..........................192 Part 3 Honey Pots Profumo........................................244 The Cousins..................................301 Part 4 The Game of Thrones JFK................................................351 Coups............................................374 Selected Bibliography..................415 Glossary.......................................445 Names..........................................452

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Introduction A Premonition of the Conspiracy

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A

nyone who has spent time sifting through conspiracy theories has inevitably come across accounts of pedophile networks involving leading figures in finance, entertainment, poli­ tics, and the national security apparatus (i.e., "the Establishment"). In the year 2020, these claims achieved new heights of popularity thanks to the Qanon collective, an alt-right network allegedly comprised of military intelli­ gence officers engaged in efforts to restore "constitutional government" in these United States (US).1 As the 2020 COVID-19 lock1(Taylor 2020). The most senior figure in national security circles to allege ties between Qanon and military intelligence is General Paul Vallely, of the far-right Center for Security Policy. General Vallely has a background in psychological warfare, being

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downs went into effect, it became an article of faith among Q-bots that this was an elaborate plot to initiate martial law, thus enabling Presi­ dent Donald J. Trump to crush the "Pedophoc­ racy" once and for all.2 These allegations are commonly paired with Satanic cults, Aleister Crowley, and other trap­ pings of the occult underground. The public at large first glimpsed this netherworld during the 1980s as part of what is referred to as the "Satanic panic."3 At the heart of these allega­ the principal author on one of the more storied texts of conspirol­ ogy, "From PSYOP to Mind War: The Psychology of Victory." His coauthor was Colonel Michael Aquino, a psychological warfare officer and one-time member of the Church of Satan (CoS). Aquino did not find the CoS to be serious enough for his tastes, spurring him to found his own Temple of Set (see Arthur Lyons, Satan Wants You: The Cult of Devil Worship in America, 125-131). By the 1980s, Aquino would himself be accused of Satanic Ritual Abuse at a daycare center located near the Presidio military base. Thus, QAnon's highest level of confirmation came from a man who once collaborated with an occultist many conspiracy theorists believe to have run a Satanic, military-sanctioned pedophile rings for decades (see John DeCamp, The Franklin Cover-Up: Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraska, 328-330). Such is the hall of mirrors QAnon and this whole subject reside in. 2(Ailes and Coxwell 2020). "Pedophocracy" is a term coined by popular researcher David McGowan to describe the child abuse networks among the elite. See McGowan, Programmed to Kill: The Politics of Serial Murder (2004). 3A still relevant account can be found in Arthur Lyons' classic Satan Wants You: The Cult of Devil Worship in America (138-160).

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tions was the concept of Satanic ritual abuse, a pedophilic practice with occult trappings. Frequently, this was said to constitute a core tenet of the religious practices of the Establish­ ment. From the publication of Michelle Remembers to the fallout from the McMartin Preschool allegations, these dark rumblings remained a part of the underground currents surrounding 1980s America. The golden age of the Satanic panic petered out around the early 1990s. Still accounts of elite pedophile networks, often with occult trappings, bubble to the surface time and again, both in the US and beyond. One of the most striking recent instances occurred shortly before the 2016 US presiden­ tial election. I am, of course, referring to what is now commonly referred to as "Pizzagate." 4 Pizzagate has its origins in two separate and equally dubious reports that emerged on November 2, 2016, six days before the election. 4"Pizzagate" is a highly controversial topic that has received ridiculous coverage from both the alt-right and the mainstream press in equal measures. While this author is loathe to use websites as source material, the great Institute for the Study of Globalization and Covert Politics (ISGP) has provided what is easily the most scholarly and non-biased account of this whole affair (Reijden 2017). This researcher is heavily indebted to the website for this portion of the intro.

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One came from the infamous 4chan forum, a mecca of the alt-right, from a poster dubbed "qymNxRx3" under the heading "PODESTA IS A FUCKING PEDO." The next day another post appeared on 4chan entitled "Podesta/Pizza PAC Investigation Thread 15" that initially linked Comet Ping Pong to John Podesta's alleged pedophile ring. From this came the infamous Reddit post by "DumbScribblyUnctious" that gained national attention.5 But let's return to November 2, for another curious thing happened on that day. Specifi­ cally, Truepundit.com published an article enti­ tled "BREAKING BOMBSHELL: NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laun­ dering, Sex Crimes with Children, Child Exploitation, Pay to Play, Perjury." The gist of the article is this: authorities investigating disgraced former Democratic congressman (and longtime Clinton backer) Anthony Wein­ er's laptop6 turned up evidence linking Bill and 5(Reijden 2017) 6Weiner was accused of sexting a minor in 2016. Authorities had originally considered charging Weiner with child pornogra­ phy, but later opted for the single charge of transferring obscene material to a minor (Weiser and Rashbaum 2017). Weiner pleaded guilty and was sentenced to twenty one months. He served fifteen and was released in 2019. Weiner is the ex-husband of Huma Abedin, a longtime aide of Hillary Clinton (Guse 2019). Abedin left

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Hillary Clinton to a pedophile ring. On the same day that this article was published, former military intelligence officer and Trump backer Michael Flynn shared the article on Twitter,7 ensuring that it went viral. Two days later, these charges were repeated on Breitbart by none other than Erik Prince, the founder and former CEO of the infamous Blackwater private military company (PMC).8 While the Truepundit and Breitbart pieces did not directly contribute to the mythos emerging around Pizzagate, they helped add legitimacy to what were otherwise baseless claims. The fact that they were promoted by two men deeply linked to Trump, and with extensive ties to the US intelligence commu­ nity, is noteworthy(Note: Prince's sister, Betsy DeVos, was Trump's first Secretary of Educa­ tion while Flynn became his first National Security Adviser). Flynn is best known for his brief tenure as National Security Adviser and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Weiner in the midst of the sexting scandal, which appears to have ended both his major and potentially the political career of Clin­ ton. 7(Reijden 2017) 8ibid

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(DIA) during former US president Barack Obama's administration. But Flynn's intelli­ gence reputation was based upon his time serv­ ing as intelligence chief for the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) under the famed General Stanley McChrystal.9 JSOC was created circa 1980 to coordinate the efforts of leading special operations units within the military, such as the Army's Delta Force and the Navy's SEAL Team 6. Throughout the Global War on Terror (GWOT), JSOC has increasingly usurped responsibility for covert operations from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).10 During the former president George W. Bush's administration, Prince's Blackwater would support both the CIA and JSOC in covert activities.11 As such, there is a strong chance that Flynn and Prince first encountered one another during this period. 9(Scahill 2013, 143-145) 10(Scahill 2013, 170-175). Throughout the Cold War, the CIA had enjoyed a near-monopoly on covert operations. The military was a distinctly junior partner, principally tasked with supporting and providing personnel for the Special Activities Division, the para­ military arm of the CIA. But at the onset of the Global War on Terror, the CIA simply did not have the paramilitary personnel available to meet the new commitments (Scahill 2013, 58), which provided an opening for JSOC to eventually take the lead in covert operations.

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Prince, a former Navy SEAL and well placed among such circles, recruited heavily among special operators. That two men, so deeply embedded in the black ops' netherworld, were at the forefront of spreading allegations linking the Clintons to a pedophile ring, is significant. As we shall see, far-right wing former members of the US mili­ tary and intelligence community appear to pop up a lot doing this. As for Pizzagate , it predictably devolved into a real shit show with tragic results. For weeks afterward, both Comet Ping Pong and nearby businesses received a regular stream of threats. Then, on December 4, a month after the infamous Reddit post and Erik Prince's proclamations to Breitbart, a Salisbury, North Carolina man named Edgar Maddison Welch entered Comet Ping Pong on a Sunday after­ noon. He was brandishing an assault rifle, which he would soon discharge harmlessly. Fortunately, Mr. Welch had not come to Comet Ping Pong to commit a mass shooting or a robbery. Instead, he was seeking to "investi­ 11(Scahill 2013, 177-178; 251-253). Blackwater is also alleged to have taken over an assassination program originally set up by the CIA (Roberts and Wright 2011, 285-286n) during this time frame as well.

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gate" the claims surrounding Pizzagate, which he apparently surmised could be best accom­ plished by threatening staff members with a rifle. No doubt, the rifle would help rescuing the children if a child sex brothel resided some­ where on the premises.12 Mercifully, police were able to disarm and arrest Mr. Welch not long afterward with no injuries resulting from his "investigation." *** What then are we to make of these develop­ ments? Should responsible adults not just dismiss such claims? As Pizzagate aptly demon­ strates, there is a danger here, especially when reactionary intelligence and military officers are potentially manipulating these narratives for political gain. Is it then time to breathe soundly in the knowledge that VIPs being engaged in the systematic abuse of children only exist in the minds of unhinged Alex Jones followers and the like? If only it were so. Sadly, compelling evidence has emerged over at least three decades that some elites may possess such perverse appetites. Nor are these instances confined to these United States. In 12(Debies-Carl 2017)

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the late 1980s, a series of scandals broke across the world that raised some alarming prospects. It began with the Franklin scandal in America's heartlands; it was reinforced by the revelations that emerged in Belgium in the aftermath of the arrest of serial killer Marc Dutroux; and it became impossible to ignore after Jimmy Savile was exposed in the United Kingdom (UK). And that was before the long-simmering scandal involving rogue financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein bubbled to the surface again in 2019. Rumblings concerning Epstein first began to emerge during the prior decade. Journalist Vicky Ward uncovered allegations of sexual abuse against minors committed by Epstein while working on an article about him for Vanity Fair during 2002.13 Ward's allegations of sexual impropriety were ultimately taken out of her article by her editor at Epstein's request. Epstein also enlisted media baron Conrad Black (Black's name also appears in Epstein's infa­ mous "black book")14 to pressure Ward via her

13(Ward, I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 2015)

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ex-husband.15 At the time, Black was both uncle and boss to Ward's ex. It was not until 2005 that authorities took a serious look at Epstein. Florida's Palm Beach Police Department (PBPD) was first on the scene. The PBPD was able to amass compelling evidence that Epstein was a serial abuser of teenage girls. Still, State Attorney Barry Krischer had already begun to negotiate a plea for Epstein that would have resulted in no jail time by 2006.16 Outraged, the Palm Beach chief of police demanded that the Federal Bureau of Investiga­ tion (FBI) launch an investigation. The Bureau complied, which gave rise to "Operation Leap Year" by the end of 2006. In June 2007, the investigation had resulted in a 53-page indict­ ment prepared by the US Attorney's Office. Epstein and his all-star team of lawyers imme­ diately begin negotiating a plea. By the end of the year, US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Alexander Acosta (who would serve 14(Cohan, "He Was Like Boo Radley”: The Mysteries Of Jeffrey Epstein's Financial Black Book 2019) 15(Ward, Jeffrey Epstein’s Sick Story Played Out for Years in Plain Sight 2019) 16(J. K. Brown 2018)

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as Secretary of Labor in the Trump administra­ tion) had reached a tentative agreement with Epstein's defense team. Epstein's victims were not notified of the plea; the deal was kept under seal; and, all grand jury subpoenas were canceled. In exchange, Epstein was sentenced to 18-months imprisonment, followed by a year of house arrest. He also had to register as a sex offender, which Epstein and his attorneys vigorously fought.17 But you can't win them all, huh? Unsurprisingly, Epstein was out of prison less than a year later. In the years that followed, incredible allegations emerged from Epstein's first brush with the law. Cameras were present all over Epstein's numerous prop­ erties and they were used to record the frolics of Epstein's guests with minors for blackmail;18 Acosta gave Epstein a proverbial slap on the wrist because he was an asset of some type of intelligence service.19 And, Epstein's mysteri­

17(J. K. Brown 2018) 18(Bhagat 2015) 19(Ward, Jeffrey Epstein’s Sick Story Played Out for Years in Plain Sight 2019)

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ous fortune is purportedly derived from his sex trafficking activities.20 *** What is undisputed is that Epstein's high society contacts were impeccable. The disgraced financier knew former US President Bill Clinton and future US President Donald J. Trump, and scores of politicians, celebrities, businessmen, scientists, and other VIPs from all walks of life21. They included the likes of movie and rock stars such as Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey,22 Ralph Fiennes,23 Michael Jack­ son,24 Courtney Love, and Mick Jagger; tycoons 20(Stieb 2019) 21The following names are all taken from Epstein's "black book," the contents of which were published by the website Gawker in 2015 (Bryant, Here Is Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book 2015). The book first came to public attention in 2009 when it turned up in court proceedings after Epstein's former "house manager," Alfredo Rodriquez, attempted to sell it. In an FBI affidavit, Rodriquez described it as the 'Holy Grail" and "Golden Nugget" for understanding Epstein's sprawling sex trafficking network. 22Spacey himself was accused of sexually abusing then-14-yearold actor Anthony Rapp (Robinosn 2017) in addition to being sued for sexually harassing an 18-year old boy. The lawsuit was later dropped before going to trial (Andone and Casarez 2019) 23Fiennes is also an eighth cousin to Prince Charles, the heir apparent to the British throne (Aspden 2014).

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Bob Weinstein,25 David Koch, Leslie Wexner, and a member of George Soros' family; political dynasties such as the Kennedy family and deep state heavyweights like Henry Kissinger. But for my money, the really compelling names belong to the British Establishment: storied families such as the Astors, Mountbat­ tens, Macmillans, and Rothschilds, among others. It is these names that trace back to an even older scandal: the Profumo Affair (Profumo). Profumo is little known in the US nowadays and not without reason: It broke in the UK in 1963. While it managed to topple the govern­ ment of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, such things are of little concern to most Americans (and probably most Britons) as the second decade of the twenty-first century comes to a close. But it is this now nearly-six-decades old scandal that lingers like a specter in the back­ grounds for Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged onetime friend, President Donald J. Trump. 24The "King of Pop" has, of course, been accused of sexually abusing children for over two decades now. His estate continues to deny the allegations (Tsioulcas 2019). 25Bob Weinstein is the brother of Harvey, the infamous Holly­ wood producer accused of sexually harassing and abusing dozens of women.

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As to the latter, at least two of Trump's future associates crop up in Profumo: his infa­ mous former attorney and political mentor, Roy Cohn; and a curious private detective who was a true international man of mystery. What's more, at least two figures, both Ameri­ cans, who appear in Profumo, would go on to play critical roles in the murky history of Resorts International (Resorts), a mobbed-up (and intelligence connected) gaming interest that emerged in the late 1960s. Trump would eventually become the CEO of this entity in 1987. Profumo was littered with spooks, and the same would appear to be true of Epstein's network and Resorts. Indeed, there are indica­ tions that the network underlining these sinis­ ter doings is some type of intelligence cabal that traces back to at least the interwar years between the world wars. Later, the inevitable organized crime elements would also join in on the fun. This book and the broader series that it is a part of is ambitious: I humbly seek to map out the netherworld behind Profumo; examine the ties this cabal has to previously mentioned scandals such as Franklin, Dutroux, and Savile; 18

and finally, bring it all back home by linking this network to not only Epstein and Trump, but also Brexit. When work began on this project nearly a year ago, it was intended to be a single book primarily focused on sexual blackmail opera­ tions conducted by various intelligence services. But as with all projects I embark upon, it has since taken on a life of its own. Simply put, I realized that not only was I chronicling one of the more unsavory aspects of the Anglo-American intelligence services, but also the secret history of the storied AngloAmerican establishment itself. Unsurprisingly, it soon became evident that a trilogy was necessary for such an undertaking. This book will run roughly from the 1930s to 1964. The second installment will span the late 1960s to 1980 or so. The final installment will run from the 1980s to the present. Finding a starting point for such ambitions is always tricky, but an obvious one is defining "the Anglo-American Establishment," an oftused phrase that can mean many things to different people. Much of this book is dedicated to exploring the intrigues of the British Estab­ lishment during the crucial years following the 19

conclusion of World War II. I have made this choice for two reasons. First, this book will principally be read by an American audience mostly unfamiliar with developments that unfolded in the UK during the Cold War and the profound implications for the US. Thus, an understanding of the British geopolitical aspects is crucial to understanding the bigger picture. Secondly, while much has been written involving the turbulent twenty-year period in the US that witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy (JFK), Watergate, and the October Surprise between 1960-1980, the UK experi­ enced similar and related instabilities that received far less consideration. I contend that during this period the US and UK elites were engaged in a low-key civil war that resulted in the political reorientation of both nations under former US President Ronald Reagan and former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This led to a new era of rough elite consensus that lasted through the Cold War until the 1990s. However, a new wave of instability bubbled to the surface at the onset of the twenty-first century and the GWOT. What was initially an elite cold war appears to have heated up during the middle of 20

the next decade. With the rise of Trump and Brexit, it is all but impossible to ignore. *** This book is obviously not a history that will be supported by mainstream accounts. As the British experience will be explored in greater depth throughout this work, I would like to briefly touch upon what was unfolding in America, leading up to the turbulent 1960s. Conspiracy theorists have long alleged that US elites (and all others on Earth, in most cases) are engaged in a plot to bring about a "New World Order" (NWO). This is often defined as a "One World Government," under the control of the United Nations (UN) and a host of other transnational institutions such as the Interna­ tional Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO), etc. A host of clandestine, elite institutions are believed to be working towards this agenda. They include the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commis­ sion, the Club of Rome, and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and various secret societies and occult orders such as the Freema­ sons, Skull and Bones, Bohemian Grove, etc. At

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the top is the dreaded "Illuminati," a cult believed to have hijacked the world.26 Such notions first gained traction among the American far-right during the late 1950s, thanks to the efforts of such outfits as the John Birch Society, the Prison Planet of its day. 27 This perspective was later crystallized in the conspiracy "classic" None Dare Call It a Conspiracy by Gary Allen and Larry Abraham. Other works such as those by David Icke, Dr. John Coleman (a reputed former MI6 man), and Jim Marrs (who had once been a respected journalist) ensured the NWO mythos was as vibrant as ever at the end of the century.28 Fortunately, we can all take solace in the fact that these are simply the mad ravings of the tin-foil hat crowd, right? Sadly, things aren't that simple. A standard charge of the conspira­ torial right is a globalist agenda, and there is credible footing for such a claim. Since the era 26(Banyan 2008) 27(Mayer, 38-41). Fred Koch, the father of David and Charles, was one of the eleven original members of the JBS. Another early backer was Harry Bradley, whose Bradley Foundation would be instrumental in funding the right wing drift that emerged in the States after the 1970s. Curiously, David Koch's name would later appear in Epstein's black book. 28(Banyan 2008)

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of World War One (WWI) there has been a vibrant internationalist movement within American elite circles. However, it never main­ tained the kind of unity conspiracy theorists often claim. Indeed, there were two competing schools of internationalist thought. By far the most well-known is the Wilsonian school of progressive internationalism. This movement rose to prominence during Woodrow Wilson's presidency, and was initially comprised of left­ ists --feminists, pacifists, socialists, and social reformers. The result was the League of Nations.29 The emerging field of neo-liberalism would later hitch its cart to this movement as well, dramatically re-orienting it by the WWII era.30 As the business community embraced liberal internationalism, it was re-branded as a vehi­ cle not just for collective security --the driving force behind the World War I-era liberals who sought to avoid another Great War --but also for opening up the world's markets to free trade. 31 This greatly appealed to specific 29ibid. 30See, for instance, Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism (27-54). 31(Swanson, 48-49)

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segments of the population: those educated at Ivy League universities, employed by the great Wall Street banking houses, Anglophiles, and typically based out of New York or the New England area. This network came to be defined as the "Eastern Establishment," and for years their worldview was articulated by the Council on Foreign Relations.32 But wait a minute --this sounds remarkably like what the conspiratorial right has been alleging for decades! That there is an Eastern Establishment and that they have been promoting an internation­ alist/globalist agenda for at least a century through organs such as the CFR is, in fact, a reality. What is not real is the total control the 32ibid, 49-51; Obviously, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) remains a highly controversial topic. Probably the most scholarly accounts concerning its influence can be found in Shoup and Minter's Imperial Brain Trust: The Council on Foreign Relations & United States Foreign Policy (11-111) and a lengthy online essay by the great Will Banyan entitled "The Illusion of Elite Unity: Elite Factionalism, the 'War on Terror,' and the New World Order [Part 1] (2008). Of course, there's also the highly controversial account offered by Georgetown historian Carroll Quigley in the conspiratorial "classic" Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time (952-954). Other compelling accounts can be found in Peter Dale Scott's The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America (2007) and Jerry W. Sanders' Peddlers of Crisis: The Committee on the Present Danger and the Politics of Containment (1983).

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Eastern Establishment is purported to have over the US political system and the inevitabil­ ity/unity of this agenda. Even within the East­ ern Establishment/CFR clique, there was always something of a division between the socalled "trader" and "Prussian" factions. The former, centered around the infamous Rocke­ feller family, was never enthusiastic about the Cold War and sought to impose detente33 with the communist world whenever there was an opening. The latter was centered around the military-industrial complex and professional foreign policy establishment that emerged after WWII. They never truly embraced the utopian dreams of the United Nation and favored containment regarding the communist world.34 33Within American foreign policy and military circles during the Cold War, there were principal ideological views for dealing with the Soviet Union. Liberal internationalists preferred "detente," which sought peaceful co-existence with the Soviet Union while subverting it through trade and other capitalistic measures. Conservative internationalists conceived of "contain­ ment," the dominant strategy throughout much of the Cold War. Containment, as the word implies, sought to restrict the further spread of communism through a variety of options, including mili­ tary ones. Finally, there was "rollback," the most militant ideology of them all. Rollback, long favored by the far-right, wanted noth­ ing less than the destruction of the Soviet Union and communism through any means available. 34(Banyan 2008); (Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America, 30-31); (Sale, 266-267).

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But beyond this, there were other factions at play now, namely America's "Conservative Establishment." Curiously, this network also had its origins in the early twentieth century's internationalist movement. The difference is that they had a distinctly more right-wing and even imperialistic take on it. While liberal internationalism was at its height during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, its conserva­ tive counterpart was nurtured during the earlier administration of William McKinley. His administration would produce the standard bearers for both conservative internationalism and "isolationism." As to the former, no one better personified it than the man who succeeded McKinley as president: Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (TR). At the onset of the twentieth century, these competing visions of internationalism as defined by TR and Wilson would vie for the nation's future. While the Wilsonian vision triumphed, TR's was never far from the public discourse and may well guide the country in the twenty-first century. 35 Wilsonian internationalism, with its ultimate goal of world government, was a truly revolu­ tionary vision. By contrast, TR's international­ 35(Banyan 2008)

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ism was firmly rooted in the "balance-ofpower" politics of the old European empires, especially the British one. TR disavowed inter­ national law and ridiculed concepts of world government. He and the movement he personi­ fied sought stability, not change in the global order. To this end, they were favorably disposed towards the British Empire, and even to some extent, collective security. An AngloAmerican alliance would no doubt dominate the world and deter any would-be European challengers.36 But, when all was said and done,, TR and his lackeys were unreconstructed nationalists. They wanted nothing less than for these United States to dominate the world. To this end, they resisted any diminution to American sovereignty and especially military strength. And while collective security was all right up to a certain point, they believed the US should always reserve the right to undertake indepen­ dent, coercive action when the national inter­ est was threatened.37 36ibid. See also, Serge Ricard's "Anti-Wilsonian International­ ism: Theodore Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star," From Theodore Roosevelt to FDR: International and Isolationism in American Foreign Policy (1995). 37(Banyan 2008).

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Today's neo-conservatives (neo-cons) are very much the ideological descendants of TR and the foreign policy clique that came to surround him during his presidency. For our purposes here, two figures are especially important: two-time Secretary of War Henry Stimson and William Howard Taft, who had been TR's second Secretary of War, and later his chosen successor as president. We will presently consider the influence of Stimson and Taft, but do keep TR in mind. We shall encounter several of his ancestors throughout this book. Here's a hint: TR had numerous family members involved in senior roles with the US Military and intelligence community, likely until the 1980s. But for now, the acolytes. Following TR's unexpected death in 1919, many of the conser­ vative internationalists had drifted into the CFR along with their liberal counterparts by the end of the decade.38 This was the origins of the divide between "traders" (liberals) and "Prussians" (conservatives). Chief among the latter was Elihu Root (a staunch imperialist and TR's former Secretary of War preceding

38ibid.

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Taft), and his protégé Henry Stimson.39 Natu­ rally, Stimson's foreign policy outlook was greatly influenced by TR.40 Influence from Root and Stimson ensured that conservative interna­ tionalism wielded considerable sway over US foreign policy throughout the Cold War. By the Kennedy years, Root and Stimson were viewed as the "household deities" of Washington's permanent foreign policy establishment.41 This was mainly due to Stimson's second term as Secretary of War in the Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) administration. While FDR was a distant relation to TR's branch of the family, the politics they personified were quite different. Allegedly Theodore Roosevelt Jr., TR's son, then a former Lt. Colonel in the US Army and co-founder of the American Legion, was sounded out for participation in the socalled "Business Plot." The Business Plot was a 39(Shoup and Minter, Imperial Brain Trust: The Council of Foreign Relations & United States Foreign Policy, 16). 40(Sanders, 70-71). Stimson was very close to General Frank Ross McCoy, TR's onetime military advisor and family friend. McCoy oversaw a loosely-knit foreign policy circle dubbed "The Family" that promoted the imperialism of TR. Stimson was a part of this circle. See A.J. Bacevich, Diplomat in Khaki: Major General Frank Ross McCoy & American Foreign Policy, 1898-1949 (1989). 41(Shoup and Minter, 63).

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proposed coup against FDR by elements of the business community.42 As with everything related to the Business Plot, these claims remain highly speculative. What is not speculative is Stimson's profound influence on the American civil service during his second tenure as War Secre­ tary. Stimson assumed the post in June 1940, and by the end of the year, had put together an impressive staff of like-minded individuals "imbued with TR's values --struggle, honor, glory." This is generally cited as the beginning of America's permanent foreign policy estab­ lishment.43 The group of men Stimson brought into the War Department with him formed the nucleus of what is often referred to as the "Wise Men," a foreign policy clique that would dominate Democratic and Republican adminis­ trations alike through the 1960s. It included Dean Acheson (Secretary of State under Truman), Charles Bohlen (a Soviet expert and longtime ambassador), W. Averell Harriman (longtime ambassador, Secretary of Commerce under Truman, and leading State Department fixture), George F. Keenan (another ambas­ 42(Yeadon and Hawkins, 181). 43(Sanders, 70-71).

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sador, State Department bigwig and leading architect of "containment"), Robert A. Lovett (Truman's Secretary of Defense), and John J. McCloy (US High Commissioner for Germany and the second president of the World Bank). Both Lovett and McCloy worked directly under Stimson in the War Department, along with other emerging foreign policy gurus like Harvey Bundy, Robert Cutler, and Robert Sher­ wood.44 This cabal of mostly former Wall Street lawyers turned bureaucrats are principally responsible for enshrining the modern national security state. In the immediate aftermath of WWII, the liberal internationalist view was dominant. There was a real belief that the joint security personified by the "Grand Alliance" (the US, UK, and the USSR) of WWII could be preserved into the postwar years under the banner of the United Nations.45 The Wise Men and the foreign policy establishment they shaped are often wrongly depicted as disciples of this universalist creed. It is pure myth making that the Wise Men only reluctantly embraced containment after the Soviet Union's 44ibid, 71; (Banyan 2008). 45(Banyan 2008)

31

imperial ambitions became too blatant to ignore. Indeed, many Wise Men and their allies had warned against the Soviet threat even before WWII concluded. In the aftermath, they, in conjunction with the Pentagon and figures within the US intelligence community, exagger­ ated Soviet imperial ambitions (and likely mili­ tary capabilities to boot) generated contain­ ment support. And as far as the UN were concerned, many Wise Men were weary of it if not holding it in contempt. Along with the Pentagon, the Wise Men were instrumental in overturning the postwar UN consensus.46 Rather than world government, these men dreamt of Pax Americana.47 While opposition to containment is usually depicted as coming solely from the "isolation­ ist" far-right, Wall Street interests that domi­ nated liberal internationalism also needed some convincing. Containment was not going to be cheap, necessitating a massive increase in defense spending. In an era where wealthy individuals and multinational corporations were subjected to high tax rates, much of the bill would be picked up by the Eastern Estab­ 46(Banyan 2008) 47ibid; (Sanders, 78)

32

lishment. To this end, the Wise Men and many veterans of Stimson's War Department created the first incarnation of the Committee on the Present Danger (CPD) to "educate" both the broader public and the Eastern Establishment as to the wisdom of universal conscription and defense budgets in the tens of billions of dollars.48 Since the 1950s, there have been three later versions of the CPD. The second incarnation emerged in 1976. While there were no members from the original CPD, several lead­ ing figures such as Paul Nitze had been close to the Wise Men clique. Further, while it's inter­ esting to note that the original CPD had been much closer to the liberal internationalist traders, CPD Version 2.0 was more closely linked to the far-right. Indeed, CPD Version 2.0 was instrumental in the rise of the neo-cons.49 Bear in mind many of the early neo-cons were pro-Israeli Democrats centered around longtime Democratic Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson.50 They were the direct descendants of the containment hawks within the administra­ 48(Sanders, 64-65; 71; 78) 49(Sanders, 212-213); (Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America, 57-59)

33

tion of Democrat Harry Truman. Thus, a direct line of progression can be drawn: from the conservative internationalists of Republican Theodore Roosevelt; to the containment mili­ tarists within the Truman administration; to the latter neo-con movement that would domi­ nate the Bush II presidency. This faction entered into an uneasy alliance with the liberal internationalist traders in the wake of TR's death in 1919 that held for nearly 50 years. But following the 1968 split between the trader and Prussian factions within the CFR,51 their paths increasingly diverged. By 1973 the traders had rallied around David Rockefeller's Trilateral Commission.52 Three years later, the Prussian side of the old CFR consensus responded with the CPD Version 2.0 and increasingly made cause with the American far-right. In many ways, this was a logical alliance, least of all because the far-right also had ties to TR's conservative internationalists. It came in the (robust) form of William Howard Taft.53 50(Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America, 58) 51ibid, 21. 52ibid, 58; (Sanders, 175); (Banyan 2008). 53(Banyan 2008).

34

Under TR, Taft served as governor-general of the recently conquered Philippines and later as Secretary of War. How close Taft truly was to TR is debatable. Reportedly, TR preferred General Leonard Wood, his former Rough Riders cohort, to succeed him as president.54 Fortunately for Taft, he was the favored son of the Ohio political machine that dominated the Republican Party from the end of the nine­ teenth century until the early decades of the twentieth. Beginning with Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877, and continuing through Calvin Coolidge's presidency (1923-1928), the Buckeye state produced half a dozen Republican presi­ dents in just a little over 50 years.55 What's more, the powerful Ohio wing of the party had a profound influence on both Republican Party politics and the nation. Given what a crucial role Ohio played in forging the modern Conser­ vative Establishment in the US, it's fitting Epstein later found his way to Ohio and its vaunted political machine. But we have a lot of ground to cover before that, such as the rift that has existed in the American political estab­ lishment since its inception. 54(A. W. McCoy, 119). 55ibid, 98.

35

From roughly the founding of the modern US until the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), US foreign policy was dominated by Manifest Destiny: the notion that America had a quasidivine mission to continue its westward expan­ sion. By the conclusion of the Mexican-Ameri­ can War, the US had acquired virtually all of the territory in what is now the continental United States.56 Support for this rapid expan­ sion (roughly 1783 till 1848) mostly came from the Democratic-Republicans, which later became the Democrat Party under Andrew Jackson's presidency (1828-1836). The staunch­ est supporters of this policy were Southerners and the inhabitants of the ever-expanding West. By contrast, opposition historically came from the Northeast, first via the Federalist Party (1789-1829), and later the Whigs (roughly 1833-1856). While the modern-day Republican Party is not a direct successor to the Federalists or the Whigs, it embraced many of their platforms, and in the case of the Whigs, former members. The Mexican-Ameri­ can War caused a divide in the US, ultimately resulting in a long period of Republican rule 56(Bradley, 62-64)

36

following the election of Abraham Lincoln (between 1861 and 1912, Democrats would only hold the presidency for eight years). Initially, Republicans primarily opposed further westward expansion. This changed with the rise of Ohio within the party hierar­ chy, however. It was TR's predecessor, Buckeye William McKinley, who launched America's second wave of imperialism. His presidency would take America's westward expansion into the Pacific. Not only did McKinley launch the Spanish-American War, but he also annexed Hawaii.57 By the end of his first term, the US had also acquired the Philippines, Guam, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, from the Spanish Empire and intervened in China to suppress the Boxer Rebellion. In many ways, this marked the true beginning of the "Imperial Presidency," and the adoption of Manifest Destiny by the Republican Party, something their predecessors had always been ambiguous concerning. Conversely, the Democrats would increasingly look towards Europe rather than the West in the twentieth century, leading to a significant realignment in the American political system.

57ibid, 61-96.

37

TR and many of the imperialists who surrounded him hailed from New York state. As was noted, this region of the US was histori­ cally less inclined towards westward expan­ sion. While TR and many of these men were Anglophiles, they were also far more sympa­ thetic to Manifest Destiny even if ultimately favoring Europe.58 Their somewhat centralist position would make their successors well placed to mediate in the "Great Debate" of East and West that unfolded at the onset of the Cold War. Taft was every bit the imperialist as TR. Their differences appear to have been rooted more in loyalty to their cronies initially, and later in domestic issues. As TR drifted more to the left in that regard, Taft increasingly cham­ pioned the cause of limited government. But neither man disputed the wisdom of Pax Amer­ 58ibid, 3, 95. Bradley depicts TR as enthusiastic about westward expansion early in life, but coming to regret his early advocacy in later years. While the West would always have a certain allure for TR and the affluent scions of the Eastern Establishment of his generation who fretted over "going soft," their Anglophilia was deeply rooted. When Mother England began to sweat during WWI, TR and his backers were among the most fanatical proponents of intervention. See Serge Ricard's "Anti-Wilsonian Internationalism: Theodore Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star," From Theodore Roosevelt to FDR: International and Isolationism in American Foreign Policy (1995).

38

icana, even if they had a preference for Europe or Asia. The divide in foreign policy positions among conservatives would not crystallize until the onset of the Cold War. As was noted, many of the containment militarists leading the charge for the modern national security state were products of TR's conservative internationalism. But the same was true of the "isolationist" wing of the Republican Party that offered them their stiffest challenge. In the immediate post­ war years, it was dominated by Taft's son, Robert A. Taft. Robert A. Taft was a close ally of Herbert Hoover, who became president in 1928. Taft served under him in the US Food Administra­ tion during World War I. Later, the two men journeyed to Paris for the Versailles Peace Treaty. Both left greatly disillusioned with both Europe and President Woodrow Wilson, having rejected the conference's liberal international­ ism.59 Taft entered politics after returning home, first serving as an Ohio state legislature beginning in 1921. He would serve there until 1938, when he was elected to the US Senate. Over the next ten years, the press would dub 59(Swanson, 147-148).

39

him "Mr. Republican" due to his relentless assault on FDR's policies, especially relating to the New Deal.60 Robert Taft also became a vigorous isolationist throughout the 1930s, only changing his position after Pearl Harbor.61 Ever the politician, Taft deftly avoided associ­ ating too closely with openly fascist move­ ments during this period. He tentatively endorsed the positions of the America First Committee, but never actually joined the outfit, for instance.62 This left Robert Taft well-positioned to emerge as the unquestioned leader of the Republican Party's right-wing in the postwar years. Thus, Taft led the "isolationist" chal­ lenge against the containment militarists within the Truman administration.63 However, this was hardly a debate over peace or war, but 60ibid, 149-151. 61ibid, 153-155. 62(Simkin, America First Committee 1997). Interestingly, the America First Committee was founded by a Yale Law School student named R. Douglas Stuart Jr. The first members were all fellow students at Yale. See John Roy Carlson, Under Cover: My Four Years in the Nazi Underworld of America (244). Robert A. Taft was a graduate of Yale Law School while the whole family had strong ties to the university. 63(Swanson, 155-161); (Sanders, 56-58)

40

rather what theater the US should focus on. Both the containment militarists and liberal internationalists viewed Europe and its revival as the linchpin of global order.64 Conversely, the Republican right, since the last decade of the nineteenth century, looked to East Asia as a logical point of continuation for Manifest Destiny. At the onset of the Cold War, this was still their overriding concern. Robert Taft vigorously supported rearmament and a continual US presence in Asia. Indeed, his primary objection to containment militarism was the emphasis that it placed on Europe rather than Asia.65 As such, this Great Debate was largely one between two different factions of the right.66 The liberal internationalist vision of a UNdriven world government did not even register. A compromise was eventually reached whereby the US embarked upon a period of extensive military intervention in Asia, climaxing with Vietnam, in exchange for rebuilding and rearm­ ing Western Europe.67 This compromise between imperialists of slightly different stripes had profound effects 64(Sanders, 78) 65ibid, 79-81.

41

for the nation, most notably the transference of wealth. At the end of WWII, much of the nation's wealth was centered upon the North­ east. The rise of the military-industrial complex led to an unprecedented transfer of wealth to the South and West, leading to Texas and California emerging as major political centers of power.68 In 1945, there was no ques­ tion the Wall Street-oriented Northeast domi­ nated the nation. But when former congres­ 66For those of you who seek the hidden hand of secret societies everywhere, I've got one for you: the fingerprints of Yale's Skull and Bones are all over the conservative internationalists of the WWII era and the immediate aftermath. Henry Stimson was a Bonesman (Class of 1888) and several of the more notable men he brought into the War Department during FDR's administration were fellow Bonesmen such as Harvey Bundy (Class of 1909) and Robert Lovett (1918). Another Wise Man, W. Averell Harriman (1913) was also a Bonesman. However, it wasn't just the contain­ ment militarists who were Skull and Bones. Robert A. Taft, the de facto kingpin of postwar "isolationism," was also a Bonesman (1910). And do keep in mind, the America First Committee had its origins at Yale, as noted above. Other luminaries of the Cold Warera Republican Party such as George H.W. Bush (1948) and William Buckley (1950) were also initiates. Popular accounts of Skull and Bones such as Anthony Sutton's America's Secret Estab­ lishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones (1983, 1986, 2003) generally depict the Order as working towards the inevitable, UN-based world government. The reality was very much a Pax Americana-centric world government at best, and one firmly committed to the struggle against communism, either via containment or "rollback." 67(Banyan 2008).

42

sional staffer Mike Lofgren published The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of the Shadow Government in 2016, he cited three distinct power centers in America: Wall Street, the military-industrial complex (centered around Houston) and the tech indus­ try (with its power base in the West, specifi­ cally San Francisco).69 Such was the transformation that the conser­ vative internationalists, many of them weaned in the War Department, brought to this coun­ try. Whether it was intentional is impossible to say. Regardless, the result was that the Penta­ gon (which is the driving force behind both the military-industrial complex and the tech indus­ try) emerged with the resources to match those of Wall Street and the liberal internationalist worldview that prevailed there. With the Bush 68(Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America, 1-20; 93-97). The 1970s produced two classic studies on the rise of the Southern Rim economically and its influence on American politics: Carl Oglesby's The Yankee and the Cowboy War: Conspiracies from Dallas to Watergate and Beyond (1976) and Kirkpatrick Sale's Power Shift: The Rise of the Southern Rim and Its Challenges to the Eastern Establishment (1976). In 2020 both works are somewhat dated, but nonetheless offer a compelling insight into the transformation America has undergone with such a dramatic regional transference of wealth. 69(Lofgren 2016).

43

II presidency and now Trump, Pax Americana has arguably become the dominant Establish­ ment worldview. By the early Cold War years, this new nexus centered around the American Security Council (ASC), for much of the Cold War the principal rival of the CFR in the US. The ASC brought together elements of the pre-WWII America First Committee, the Pentagon, Hoover's FBI, and the new wealth generated from oil and the defense industry. It was a potent combination to be sure and one that contributed another foreign policy objective to the Cold War stew: rollback. While the liberal internationalists preferred detente (peaceful coexistence with the communist bloc), and the Wise Men promoted containment (holding the communist bloc to its designated sphere of influence), roll­ back sought nothing less than the destruction of the communists.70 During the early Cold 70The ASC still exists today as the American Security Council Foundation, but is largely a shadow of its former self. Sadly, there has never been a full-length work on this mysterious organization. It is featured at length in works such as William Turner, Power on the Right (Berkeley, CA: Ramparts Press, 1971), 199-214; Jerry W. Sanders, Peddlers of Crisis: The Committee on the Present Danger and the Politics of Containment (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1983), 223-227; Thomas Bodenheimer & Robert Gould, Rollback! Right-wing Power in U.S. Foreign Policy (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1989); Russ Bellant, Old Nazis, the New Right, and the

44

War, the liberal internationalists forged a loose alliance with the containment militarists against the far-right's rollback objectives. But by the 1970s, the proponents of containment were increasingly in line with the ASC's more militant agenda. The stage was now set for the Reagan revolution and the long, drawn-out decline of liberal internationalism. *** So, what does all of this have to do with Jeffrey Epstein, and where does the UK and Brexit fit into the narrative I'm weaving? Well, that's what the rest of the book is for, but in brief: Upending the liberal internationalist order was not easy and has resulted in differ­ ent periods of elite civil war. As was noted, the first conflict unfolded during the 1960-1980 period, resolving itself with the rise of Thatcherism and Reaganism. What's more, the Republican Party (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1991) 29-57, etc; Sara Diamond, Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States (New York: The Guilford Press, 1995), 46-51. There is also the ASC's official history compiled from its records: John Fisher, "History Milestones: American Security Council and American Security Council Foundation" (Wayback Machine, captured 12/07/12, https://web.archive.org/web/20121207230636/http://www.asc­ fusa.org/app/webroot/files/fckfiles/HISTORY%20MILE­ STONES.pdf).

45

challengers have frequently resorted to a scorched earth policy against their rivals. Sexual blackmail is a reoccurring staple, even when it threatens to bring down the entire house of cards. And as for the British, there's no one nation that has had more influence on the destiny of the US than the UK. Further, it's essential to keep in mind that many early conservative internationalists around Theodore Roosevelt favored a universal Anglo-American Empire to dominate the world.71 For many years, this was very much a minor­ ity view within the American establishment. The far-right, and especially J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, long despised the British. At the same, the liberal internationalist increasingly favored a more universal, inclusive empire (or perhaps "free trade zone" would be more apt). However, many within the British establish­ ment long dreamt of hitching their cart to the emerging power of these United States. For years, they attempted this through an extended courtship with the liberal internationalist and even some of their conservative counterparts. Ironically, it was their eventual alliance with the far-right that proved to be the most 71(Banyan 2008)

46

successful. This would bear fruit with the Reagan-Thatcher revolutions that unfolded almost concurrently in the US and UK. In turn, these revolutions would lay the foundation for Trump, Brexit and possibly the long fantasized Anglo-American Empire. In certain circles, this was the ultimate omelet. But like all omelets, it could not be managed without breaking a few eggs along the way. Jeffrey Epstein indeed broke some of those eggs, as did the men who came before him. This first book is their story, and it's a distinctly British one as the methods Epstein employed to such devastating effect was largely based upon the techniques brought to these shores from the UK. It is a strange and terrible story, to be sure. But more than anything, it is the story of the Special Relation­ ship, one that seeks nothing less than world domination. And without further ado, we now turn our attention to that story.

47

Part 1

Origins

48

Chapter One

Clubland

49

O

ne of the hardest things about chronicling a decades-spanning conspiracy is determining where to start. These types of things generally don't have a clear origin. Fortunately, this work's title --A Special Relationship --provides an unintentionally apt starting point. Many special relationships will be exam­ ined in this series, least of all the ones Epstein had with underage girls. In point of fact, the principal Special Relationship that the title alludes to is between these United States and the United Kingdom. And that is where we begin. 50

For many Americans and Britons, this Special Relationship speaks to our shared cultural, political, economic, and even spiritual heritage. It's ingrained in the very fabric of the US, where it persists to this day despite waves upon waves of immigrants from outside the Anglo-sphere As such, it has the air of eternity about it, as though these two nations shall forever remain bound together in some curious fashion. In actuality, the notion of the Special Rela­ tionship did not become popularized until the Second World War. And, its principal promoter was a curious outfit known as the British Secu­ rity Co-ordination (BSC).72 The BSC was a WWII-era intelligence outfit set up by Sir William "Bill" Stephenson, a wealthy Canadian industrialist, on behalf of MI6. Stephenson was tasked with overseeing all aspects of British "unconventional warfare" efforts throughout the Western Hemisphere,73 with a particular emphasis on the US. This amounted to a covert campaign against Ameri­ 72(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 49-50) 73(B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 79); (Lee, The Beast Reawakens, 143-144)

51

can isolationists, especially the infamous Amer­ ica First Committee, trying to thwart war aid to Britain.74 Political warfare was the preferred tactic to achieve this aim. Members of the press and radio were recruited, news agencies were subsidized, stories planted, opinion polls manipulated, and members of the opposition smeared.75 A large scale, nation-spanning propaganda effort, in other words. These methods proved highly effective, contributing significantly to Lend-Lease and other economic and arms initiatives that the US embarked upon before officially entering the war. A more long-term benefit appears to be the notion of the "Special Relationship" between the US and the UK, which grew out of the BSC's propaganda efforts.76 74(Waller, 63); (Dorril, 49-50). Stephenson went to great lengths to destroy the America First Committee, the leading isola­ tionist organization leading up to America's entry into the Second World War. Stephenson's agents infiltrated the Committee and procured information of its financial backers, which were later leaked to the press. As some had ties to the Nazi regime, this proved to be most embarrassing. He also arranged for protestors to picket and disrupt Committee rallies and to harass leading members (Hyde, Room 3603: The Story of the British Intelligence Center in New York during World War II, 72-74); (Lovell, 342343) . 75(Dorril, 50); (Lovell, 342-344)

52

There was also a more ominous aspect of the BSC's war against American isolationists and other opponents of the UK that is especially relevant to this work. Namely, that is the outfit's use of "honey-traps." Typically, a honey-trap involves setting up a target in a compromising sexual situation that can later be

76See Susan A. Brewer's To Win the Peace: British Propaganda in the United States During World War II (1997). Brewer princi­ pally focused on the efforts of the American division of the British Ministry of Information (MOI); the U.S. based British Press Service Library of Information, which later combined as the British Information Service; and the BBC. In theory, the BSC was principally concerned with "black" propaganda (as opposed to the "white" or overt propaganda of the other agencies) that sought to counter German propaganda and discredit isolationists. However Stephenson, as the name of his agency implies, was tasked with overseeing all intelligence functions in the Western Hemisphere. This seems to have included all propaganda in that region before 1942. Stephenson made his fortune off of inventions for the emerging radio industry. As such, he was on good terms with said industry as well as the BBC. He would later own a film studio (Hyde, 10-14). What it amounts to is that Stephenson had contacts throughout the media and entertainment industry before becom­ ing Britain's spymaster in the West and by all accounts he put them to good use. He cultivated leading American journalists such as Walter Lippmann, Leonard Lyons, Walter Winchell, and Drew Pearson (Hyde, 199). Finally, he maintained close ties with the Office of War Information, the American counterpart to the Ministry of Information (Hyde, 168-171). As such, Stephenson likely did as much as anyone to craft the "special relationship" during WWII, especially during the pivotal 1940-41 period before America entered WWII.

53

used for blackmail. By all accounts, the BSC was especially adept at these dark arts. Two BSC agents, John Pepper and the enig­ matic Ingram Fraser, were tasked with this operation.77 One of their most storied agents was the legendary Elizabeth "Betty" Pack (code-named "Cynthia"), whose work with British intelligence has been described as "of incalculable value to the allied war effort."78 Pack was, in fact, an American. Her father was 77(West, The Guy Liddell Diaries Vol. I: 1939-1942, 264). Pepper would later become a close associate of Stephenson's in the post­ war years, as we shall see. Elsewhere, Ingram Fraser is something of a man of mystery. He has been described as one of several busi­ nessmen and financiers that signed on with the BSC (Hyde, Room 3603: The Story of the British Intelligence Center in New York during World War II, 181). In his diary, MI5 chief Guy Liddell describes Fraser as having worked with the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the UK's covert operations arm during WWII. Much more will be said concerning the SOE later in this chapter. In future ones, we will encounter several noteworthy Frasers, all of them members of the Clan Fraser of Lovat, one of the most storied and influential Scottish families. It is unknown to this researcher if Ingram Fraser was a relation. 78(Hyde, Room 3603: The Story of the British Intelligence Center in New York during World War II, 105). Hyde would now as he was himself a BSC agent and close to Stephenson. Probably the best account of Betty can be found in the excellent biography of her by Mary S. Lovell (Cast No Shadow: The Life of the Ameri­ can Spy Who Changed the Course of World War II 1992). Other useful information is available in West's The A to Z of Sexpionage (210-212), O'Donnell's Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs (26-31), and Hyde's Room 3603 (105-110; 115-120)

54

a highly decorated colonel in the US Marine Corp. Her mother was the daughter of a US Senator with ample financial resources.79 Pack became sexually active at a young age, losing her virginity with a 21-year old Irish lad from a prominent family at 14. This occurred in Newport, Rhode Island, where her family vaca­ tioned every summer to hobnob with high soci­ ety from New York and Washington, DC. After her family moved to Washington, DC in 1925, she found ample opportunities to continue charming older men, frequently foreigners tied to the embassies, while still a teenager.80 At 19, she married Arthur Pack, a member of the British Civil Service, attached to the embassy. Arthur had quite a thing for younger women. He'd courted a 16-year-old while he was around the age of 36. The object of his affection rejected his proposal because of their age difference.81 Arthur was initially attracted to Betty while she was still a minor and would later boast to his old flame that Betty was younger than her was when they married. During WW II, Arthur also provided intelli­ 79(Lovell, 3-4) 80(Lovell, 10-12) 81(Lovell, 15-17)

55

gence, in his case, to the Ministry of Economic Warfare.82 As for Betty, she cut her teeth working for MI6 in Poland during 1938.83 There, she seduced a leading Pole to procure information on the nation's cryptanalysis of Germany's Enigma code. Her efforts are said to have significantly contributed to the breaking of the code by the British. In 1940, she relocated to the US and began to work for the BSC (and, later, American intelligence). Eventually, she seduced members of the embassy staff for Italy and Vichy France, leading to more invaluable intelligence on those respective regimes.84 But before she was put to work on these crucial enemy embassies, her targets were principally American isolationists. The most 82(Lovell 1992, 168-169) 83(West, The A to Z of Sexspionage, 210). This is some dispute as to when Pack went to work for British intelligence. She may have already been passing intelligence in an earlier capacity during the Spanish Civil War a year before. It seems highly likely that she'd been recruited before she arrived in Warsaw (Lovell, 59). 84For more details on these exploits, see Lovell (150-166; 171230); Hyde (104-110; 115-120), West (211-212), and O'Donnell (2831). West does question whether the quality of intelligence produced by Pack, especially about the Italian embassy caper, was as strong as has often been claimed.

56

noteworthy was the powerful American Sena­ tor Arthur Vandenberg,85 who inexplicably changed his isolationist stance and backed Lend-Lease not long after coming into contact with Pack. Reportedly, Vandenberg was being manipulated in this fashion into supporting an internationalist position that was favorable to the British in the early post-war years.86 Special relationships are certainly funny things, but most especially the one between the US and UK, as Vandenberg no doubt came to realize. In essence, the one between the US and 85(Dorril, 45); (West, The A to Z of Sexspionage, 299). Per West, Vandenberg was originally compromised by Mitzi Sims, with Pack taking over after Sims' husband died, and she was recalled to the UK. Later, Pack was replaced by the "statuesque blonde" Eveline Paterson in 1941. This affair would reportedly continue until 1948. Elsewhere, Pack also seduced or attempted to seduce Senator Tom Connally, but nothing appears to have come (har har) from these efforts (West, The A to Z of Sexspionage, 211). Whether Pack used sex to turn Vandenberg is also debatable. Her biographer. Mary S. Lovell does not indicate that sex was involved in her encounter with the Senator, but rather she used first-hand experiences from Europe concerning conditions und Hitler (Lovell, 146) 86(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 45); (West, The A to Z of Sexspionage, 299). Vandenberg's nephew, General Hoyt Vandenberg, was the director of the Central Intelligence Group (CIG), the immediate processor to the CIA. Vandenberg played a crucial role in establishing the future CIA's special operations capabilities and early Cold War efforts. See Hersh (185-186) and Simpson (139-141).

57

UK was the creation of an intelligence agency, and one known to employ sexual blackmail to achieve its aims.87 Further, this curious state of affairs is crucial to locating a starting point for the tangled web about to be unraveled. *** To understand Epstein, his networks, and its ties to the nearly six-decades-old Profumo scandal (which was itself an elaborate honeytrap, as we shall see), we must first understand the meta group from which these things origi­ nated. I have traced the genesis of it back to the interwar period between the World Wars, but the following outline is in no way meant to be the final say in the matter. Some form of this meta group likely existed even sooner in Anglo-American fellowship "clubs" that sprang up around the turn of the twentieth century, such as Quigley's Round Table movement88 and the Pilgrims Society.89 But it is the special rela­ tionship between American and British intelli­ gence that, more than anything, gave rise to 87Stephenson also ran an assassination squad. Rumors have persisted for years the he made use of the Mafia in that capacity (Dorril, 611). Thus, Stephenson may have also helped forge the special relationship between the US intelligence services and organized crime. There are just so many special relationships that Stephenson brought to these shores.

58

Epstein and his network. As such, it behooves us to consider the origins of this collaboration. To wit, there is the mysterious entity known only as "The Room."90 Frequently described as a private intelligence network, this outfit 88Carroll Quigley was a highly controversial professor who spent much of his career at the elite Georgetown University (19411976). In 1966, Quigley published a work entitled Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time (1966). It purported to tell the origins of powerful and influential think tanks such as the American Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the British Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) in the so-called "Round Table movement" of Cecil Rhodes and Lord Alfred Milner, among many others. In the UK, this movement achieved a consid­ erable degree of power by the interwar years, via its control of the Rhodes and Beit Trusts, and publications such as The Times, The Observer, and The Round Table. It also dominated the RIIA, the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, All Souls College, and Oxford (Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Times 1966, 581) . The American branch was largely centered around J.P. Morgan and Company and the CFR. It wielded considerable influ­ ence over publications such as The New York Times and The Wash­ ington Post. Quigley would later elaborate upon this network's British wing via a posthumous publication, The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to Cliveden (1981). Quigley's claims should be taken with some suspicion. He offers no citations in either work, but insists that he had access to this group's records. On the other hand, a scholarly account of the CFR entitled Imperial Brain Trust: The Council on Foreign Relations & United States Foreign Policy (1977, 2004) was published a little over a decade later. Using credible open source material, authors Shoup and Minter confirmed Quigley's claims concerning the group's origins. Carl Oglesby, in his much more controversial geopolitical examination, The Yankee and Cowboy War, also gave

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reportedly emerged sometime after 1918.91 It would remain active throughout the 1920s and much of the 1930s. It was initially concerned with monitoring Japanese naval expansion in the South Pacific and the political and credence to Quigley's plans, leading to compelling theories concerning the nature of America's power structure as it stood during the 1970s. It would be nearly 40 years until additional fulllength accounts of the Round Table movement would be attempted. The second decade of the twenty-first century witnessed two: the scholarly Lord Milner's Second War: The Rhodes-Milner Secret Society, the Origin of World War I, and the Start of the New World Order (2013) by John P. Cafferky; and Sean Stone's more glossy and less substantive New World Order: A Strategy of Imperialism (2016). Unsurprisingly, conspiracy theorists have latched on to Quigley's unsupported claims for decades as proof of some type of New World Order/World Government plot. However, Quigley makes it clear that the principal concern of even the more moder­ ate elements of this network was nothing less than an AngloAmerican empire: "The more moderate Round Table group... sought to weaken the League of Nations and destroy all possibility of collective security in order to strengthen Germany in respect to both France and the Soviet Union, and above all to free Britain from Europe in order to build of an 'Atlantic bloc' of Great Britain, the British Dominions, and the United States. They prepared the way for this 'Union' through the Rhodes Scholarship organization..., through the Round Table groups..., through the Chatman House organization, which set up the Royal Institute of International Affairs in all the dominions and a Council on Foreign Relations in New York, as well as through 'Unofficial Common­ wealth Relations Conferences' held irregularly, and the Institute of Pacific Relations set up in various countries as autonomous branches of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. This influ­

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economic conditions in Peru, the Caribbean, and the Panama Canal Zone.92 However, its focus soon shifted to rallying Anglo-American support for the containment and possible liqui­ dation of Bolshevism.93 But, above all, it was committed to a liberal-capitalistic world ential group sought to change the League of Nations from an instrument of collective security to an international conference center for 'non-political' matters like drug control or international postal services, to rebuild Germany as a buffer against the Soviet Union and a counterpoise to France, and to build up the Atlantic bloc of Britain, the Dominions, the United States, and if possible, the Scandinavian countries" (Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Times, 582). 89The Pilgrims are even more mysterious that Quigley's Round Table movement. Despite ample overlap in membership, Quigley never mentions them in his works concerning the Anglo-American Establishment. Indeed, it's all but impossible to find any reference at all to the Pilgrims prior to 2005. In that year the great Joel van der Reijden of the Institute for the Study of Globalization and Covert Politics (ISGP) published what was likely the first scholarly examination of the group (van der Reijden, The Pilgrims Society: A Study of the Anglo-American Establishment; Rockefeller, Mellon, Luce, Rothschild, Cecil, Windsor, the Federal Reserve, WWII, the CIA, and So Much More 2019). He greatly expanded this foray in 2008, and again in 2017. While this author is generally wary of using non-mainstream websites as source material, can der Reij­ den has managed a highly scholarly account that includes the first-ever published membership rolls of the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims Society held its first meeting in 1902 at the Carlton Hotel of London. The next year, the first American meeting of the Society occurred. Naturally, it took place in New York City. London and NYC remain the heartlands of the Society till this very day. In the early years, meetings were typically held at exclusive

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community under the dominion of the Atlantic powers94 (i.e., the Anglo-American establish­ ment). Based in New York City, the group met monthly at an apartment off of East 62nd Street. The apartment was said to possess "an WASP hotels such as the Victoria, the Carlton Ritz, the Savoy, and Waldorf Astoria (van der Reijden, The Pilgrims Society: A Study of the Anglo-American Establishment; Rockefeller, Mellon, Luce, Rothschild, Cecil, Windsor, the Federal Reserve, WWII, the CIA, and So Much More 2019). The Society's stated purpose was to serve "as one of the princi­ pal custodians of what has come to be known as the Special Rela­ tionship" (Raso, 182). To this end, it has cultivated many of the leading Anglo-American families for decades. Some of the most noteworthy include the Anglo-American Astor dynasty; du Pont; the Mellons of Pittsburgh; the House of Morgan, the Rockefellers, the Sassoons of Canada; the Warburgs, and the Windsors, the British Royal family. 90Very little information is available concerning this outfit. As far as this researcher can determine, it was first referenced in The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill (1987), Anthony Cave Brown's biography of the former MI6 chief. Subsequent references in works such as Burton Hersh's The Old Boys (1992), Scott Newton's Profits of Peace (1996), and Tim Carroll's The Dodger (2013) appear to have been based almost exclusively on Brown's initial account. 91(S. Newton, 181) 92ibid 93(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymas­ ter to Winston Churchill, 123)

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unlisted telephone number and no apparent occupant."95 Its members included many of the scions of the American Eastern Establishment: Nelson Rockefeller of the storied Rockefeller family; one of TR's sons, Kermit Roosevelt, who served in the British Army during WWI; David Bruce, an in-law of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh and future US ambassador to the UK; Winthrop Aldrich, the president of the Chase Manhattan Bank, future US ambassador to the UK, and whose sister married into the Rockefeller family; Nelson Doubleday, the New York publisher; and Vincent Astor, a member of the fabulously wealthy Anglo-American Astor family.96 Many of these men were also members of the Pilgrims Society97 and would have extensive ties to the US intelligence community during WWII. Rockefeller became the "Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs" in which he oversaw all US propaganda opera­ 94(S. Newton, 181). Newton notes that this was per the Round Table movement's policies, and its offshoots, such as the Royal Institute for International Affairs and the Council for Foreign Relations. 95(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymas­ ter to Winston Churchill, 123) 96(S. Newton, 181); (A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 123; 264); (Carroll, 57).

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tions in Latin America.98 Bruce became a lead­ ing figure in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the CIA's predecessor. Roosevelt's son, Kermit Jr., would become a leading figure in the OSS, and later CIA. And Astor was FDR's first intelligence chief.99 It's likely that William "Wild Bill" Donovan, the founder and director of the OSS, was also a member.100 Beyond the American members' intelligence connections, we can also discern the first connections to the names appearing in Epstein's black book. Take, for instance, Nelson 97(van der Reijden, The Pilgrims Society: A Study of the AngloAmerican Establishment; Rockefeller, Mellon, Luce, Rothschild, Cecil, Windsor, the Federal Reserve, WWII, the CIA, and So Much More 2019). According to ISGP, Pilgrims present in The Room included Nelson Rockefeller, Winthrop Aldrich, David Bruce, and Vincent Astor. Except for Astor, all of these men were members of the Council on Foreign Relations as well (van der Reijden, Pilgrims Society: U.S.-British Historical Membership List; Includes Biographies and Sources Per Name). 98(Waller, 75-76). This led to a row between Rockefeller and Donovan, who felt that he should be responsible for propaganda in all regions of the world. Rockefeller later became President Eisen­ hower's principal adviser on psychological warfare during 195455 (Simpson, Science of Coercion: Communication Research & Psychological Warfare 1945-1960, 61). 99(S. Newton, 181); (A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan 1982, 160) 100(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill 1987, 124)

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Rockefeller. It just so happens that the name of his brother, the former Chase Manhattan CEO David Rockefeller101 (who shed his mortal coil at the age of 101 in 2017) appears in Epstein's black book. Also present is the name of Henry Kissinger, the legendary former National Secu­ rity Advisor (under Nixon) and Secretary of State (under Nixon and Ford). Nelson Rocke­ feller and Kissinger were close political allies for years prior to Kissinger joining the Nixon White House.102 And then there's Vincent Astor, scion of one of the wealthiest and most powerful AngloAmerican dynasties in history. Family patriarch John Jacob Astor arrived in the US in 1784 and became the nation's first multi-millionaire by the time of his death in 1848. Reportedly, a portion of his fortune was procured by smug­ gling opium.103 John Jacob Astor IV --John Jacob I's great-grandson and Vincent Astor's father —

101(Bryant, Here Is Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book 2015); (Cohan, “He Was Like Boo Radley”: The Myster­ ies Of Jeffrey Epstein's Financial Black Book 2019) 102(Ferguson 2018); (Shoup and Minter, 89; 248) 103(Maranzani 2018)

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was believed to be the richest man in the world when he died aboard the Titanic in 1912.104 The Astor family --who were well repre­ sented in the Pilgrims Society105 --will repeat­ edly appear throughout this long, strange tale. A particular member of the family's British wing --William Waldorf Astor III, 4th Viscount Astor --appears in Epstein's black book. On that note, let us shift gears and briefly consider a particular British partner of The Room. This would be Sir William Wiseman, who was the MI6 chief in NYC during WWI.106 In this capacity, Wiseman oversaw all intelligence 104(P. O'Donnell 2013) 105(van der Reijden, The Pilgrims Society: A Study of the AngloAmerican Establishment; Rockefeller, Mellon, Luce, Rothschild, Cecil, Windsor, the Federal Reserve, WWII, the CIA, and So Much More 2019). Van der Reijden has confirmed over a dozen Astor family members as having belonged to the Pilgrims Society. Current members include William Waldorf Astor IV, 4th Viscount Astor (he of Epstein's black book), and John Jacob Astor VIII, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever. The latter is part of the Pilgrim Society's Executive Committee. His father, the 2nd Baron Astor, had been a Pilgrims chairman and president. Clearly, the Astors are major players within the Pilgrims. 106(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 123). For more information on Wiseman's activities in the US during the First World War, see Richard B. Spence, Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly (2002).

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activities in the US, just as his successor and friend Sir William Stephenson would during WW II.107 He officially retired from the intelli­ gence service circa 1918, but remained in the US, where he went to work for the merchant bank, Kuhn Loeb. In actuality, Wiseman never left the intelligence racket and would be involved in intrigues until 1940. He embarked upon his last major effort during that year: a covert peace initiative with monarchist elements within Nazi Germany. On November 27, 1940, Wiseman met with two Nazi agents in San Francisco to discuss a potential peace treaty contingent on Hitler's removal. 108 There is much dispute as to who instructed Wiseman to engage in this initiative. Stephen­ son claimed that the old man was working as an agent provocateur on his orders. Others have alleged that Wiseman was following the instructions of either Lord Halifax or Lord Lothian,109 two British Tories known for their 107(Hyde, Room 3603: The Story of the British Intelligence Center in New York during World War II, 62-63; 243) 108(S. Newton, 179-183); A more sympathetic account of Wise­ man's intrigues can be found in Hyde's Room 3603 (76-79). Hyde was, however, a BSC veteran and friend/admirer of Stephenson, making him not an unbiased source. 109(S. Newton, 180-181)

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staunch support for appeasement of Nazi Germany throughout the 1930s. Curiously, Lothian was a leading figure in the Cliveden Set, a faction within the Round Table move­ ment that supported a strong Germany and opposed Bolshevism in equal measures throughout the interwar years. 110 Halifax was, at a minimum, also closely associated with this group.111 Another leading figure in the Cliveden Set was William Waldorf Astor II, 2nd Viscount, the grandfather of the 4th Viscount Astor, who appears in Epstein's black book. It was the 110The relationship between the "Cliveden Set" and the Round Table movement is ambiguous. In Tragedy and Hope, Quigley indi­ cates that the two names were times used interchangeably for the same network, though this was "somewhat inaccurate" (581). In The Anglo-American Establishment, he elaborates somewhat by depicting it as a faction within the Round Table group centered around Lord Astor (4). In addition to Lothian and Astor, Quigley also describes Leopold Amery (for decades a powerhouse within the Tory Party), Geoffrey Dawson (editor of The Times), and Field Marshall Jan Smuts (a powerful South African politician and military leader) as members (581). 111Quigley does not list Halifax as a member of Cliveden, but describes him as frequently collaborating with the set in appease­ ment initiatives (621;627). However Julian Amery, the son of lead­ ing Cliveden figure Leopold Amery, describes Halifax as belonging to the set in his autobiography (75).

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Astor country estate of Cliveden that provided the set with its name.112 Do keep Cliveden in mind, dear reader, as it shall play a crucial role in this saga. But, for the time being, let us return to Wiseman. For years prior to his German outreach, Wiseman acted as a back channel between The Room and MI6.113 It is unknown if Stephenson had direct involvement with either The Room or the Walrus Club (which either superseded The Room or served as its public front in intel­ ligence matters as WWII became inevitable).114 Nonetheless, he made good use of this network upon arriving in the US during 1940. Nelson Rockefeller installed Stephenson's operation in Rockefeller Center for a song while Vincent Astor put him in contact with FDR.115

112(Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Times, 133) 113(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 123) 114ibid. Many of the leading figures in The Room, such as Astor, Rockefeller, and David Bruce, were also involved in the Walrus Club. While it's unknown if William Donovan was a member of The Room, he certainly belonged to the Walrus Club per Brown. 115(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 264)

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For nearly two decades, not only did Wise­ man function as a liaison between The Room and the Walrus Club, on the one hand, and British intelligence on the other, he also put these American private networks in contact with similar British organizations. Two of the most noteworthy clubs that Wiseman belonged to were the Ends of the Earth Club and the 1b Club. The Ends of the Earth Club was established in 1903 and held its first official dinner in 1904. It's been described as an "international dining fellowship" for artists and explorers. Members held an annual white-tie dinner in either New York City or London, where they would exchanged experiences of exploring the world. Two of the most well-known members were the legendary writers Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain.116 Other members, however, paint a more ominous portrait of the club. In addition to Wiseman, British members included Stewart Menzies and Rex Benson. Both men served as intelligence officers during WW I and would achieve senior postings in this capacity during WWII: Menzies became the head of MI6 while 116(Carroll, 55-56)

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Benson became a military attaché in Washing­ ton, responsible for liaison with US military intelligence.117 Benson, in particular, is quite a curious figure. He was involved in gathering political intelligence during his time in Washington and worked closely with Stephenson.118 Benson was also a successful merchant banker whose family founded Robert Benson & Co. He became chairman of the bank in 1936 and eventually merged it with another storied City bank, Kleinworts, in 1961. Kleinwort Benson was reputed to maintain intelligence ties for decades.119 The presence of men like Wiseman, Menzies, and Benson on the membership rolls of the Ends of the Earth Club indicates that it may have been used for intelligence gathering purposes. Indeed, many members, self-pro­ fessed explorers, were well placed to keep tabs on goings-on in certain isolated regions of the world. 117(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 324-325) 118ibid, pp. 328-329 119(James, In the Public Interest, 126)

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As for the 1b Club, there is little question of its links to intelligence. Beyond Wiseman, Menzies, and Benson --who were members --virtually all other British members served in the intelligence section of the British General Headquarters (GHQ) during WW I.120 American members were drawn from the same pedigree. One of the most notable was General Ralph Van Deman.121 Van Deman is generally regarded as the "father of American military intelligence."122 During the Philippine-American War (18981902), he organized and headed the US Army's first field intelligence unit. During this time, Van Deman developed a knack for counterintel­ ligence, for which he is acclaimed. In 1908, the Army abolished the Military Information Divi­ 120(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 124) 121ibid 122(Albarelli Jr., A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Secret Cold War Experiments, 405). Van Deman is a curious figure who has been largely overlooked by intelligence chroniclers. Easily the most extensive account of Van Deman's career can be found in Alfred McCoy's Policing America's Empire (293-346). Another compelling account can be found in Brown's The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill (108; 119-120; 125-125). A brief account of Van Deman can also be found in H.P. Albarelli's A Terrible Mistake (405).

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sion (MID), then its only intelligence service, much to Van Deman's chagrin. However, after the outbreak of WWI, Van Deman was in charge of the newly founded Military Intelli­ gence Section in 1917. The MID had already been re-activated. Under Van Deman's leader­ ship, the MID went from possessing one officer (Van Deman) to 1,700 employees and 350,000 badge-carrying civilian agents.123 Van Deman was assisted in these efforts by MI5/MI6 officer Colonel Claude Dansey, who served as an assistant military attaché in Washington from 1915-1917. Dansey worked closely with Van Deman and would again collaborate with the future general when he was transferred to Europe in 1918.124 As far as I can tell, Dansey was not a member of any of the above-mentioned gentleman's clubs, but was clearly on good terms with many members. During WW II, Dansey established the "Z-net" on behalf of MI6. Largely bankrolled by wealthy Jews, Z-net was used to run agents within Nazi Germany. Stephenson

123(A. McCoy, 296-297) 124(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 125)

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was involved in these efforts before being tapped by Menzies to head the BSC.125 But, back to Van Deman. For our purposes, one of the most noteworthy aspects of Van Deman's intelligence apparatus was its publicprivate nature. To craft an intelligence network to guard against sabotage at home, Van Deman relied on a host of "super patriot" organiza­ tions to do much of the MID's field work.126 The most well-funded and infamous was the Ameri­ can Protective League (APL), which was later used to carry out a host of vigilante actions against suspected insurgents during the war.127 Van Deman's apparatus was subsequently employed to brutal effect during the First Red Scare.128 The ensuing controversy led to Van Deman's network being partially disbanded by 1921. The APL had been shuttering even before then, but only on paper. It appears that by 1919 it had been incorporated into the Ameri­ can Legion,129 which still exists to this day. 125(B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 78-79) 126(A. McCoy, 295) 127(ibid, pp. 300-308) 128(ibid, pp. 312-318) 129(ibid, pp. 314-315)

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Curiously, Walrus Club member and future OSS chief Bill Donovan was one of the co-founders of the Legion,130 which was later used by BSC chief Stephenson in his campaign against the America First Committee.131 Another co-founder of the Legion was none other than Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., TR's oldest son and allegedly one of the candidates to lead the so-called Business Plot. Nor was the American Legion the only aspect of Van Deman's network to survive WWI. Upon his retirement in 1929, both Van Deman and his wife revived this network from their resi­ dence in San Diego. With funds from the FBI and US Army, Van Deman compiled a database that featured over a quarter million suspected communists by the time of his death in 1952. Van Deman's efforts in this regard are gener­ ally credited with creating what became known as "blacklisting," a screening process of suspected communists and other "subversives" in industry. 132 Once such suspects were located, they could be discreetly blocked from employment. 130(Waller, 29) 131(Hyde, 73) 132(A. McCoy, 318-326)

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This is but one instance of the morals that underpinned his network. During WWII, Van Deman was officially brought back into the fold as a consultant for the War Department. While personally opposed to internment, his intelli­ gence network influenced the decision to round up Japanese-Americans during the war.133 The heyday of Van Deman's private intelli­ gence network, which was especially strong along the West Coast, appears to coincide with the peak years of The Room/Walrus Club network on the East Coast. Of course, Van Deman was plugged into this broader network via his membership in the 1b Club with Wise­ man, the British liaison with The Room/Walrus Club. Also, in the 1b Club, General Dennis E. Nolan,134 a friend of Van Deman's and fellow Philippines veteran who had helped organize the intelligence arm of the American Exploratory Forces in France for WW I.135 In other words, Van Deman oversaw domestic intelligence during that war. At the same time, Nolan was the spymaster for American forces 133(ibid, p. 332) 134(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 124) 135(A. McCoy, 298)

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in Europe, effectively making them the two most powerful American intelligence officers during that conflict. As such, it is hardly surprising that the British cultivated either man through the 1b Club. Both men were no doubt valuable assets for this network's broader aspirations. *** As has been indicated, this network effec­ tively took over Anglo-American intelligence during WW II. In the UK, Menzies became the head of MI6 while Stephenson oversaw the BSC. In the US, Nelson Rockefeller headed the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, which led propaganda efforts in Latin America. Vincent Astor was initially tapped by FDR to head intelligence, with Donovan later taking over and setting up a proper intelligence agency, the legendary OSS. What's more, Stephenson and his aides played a crucial role

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in helping Donovan set up the OSS.136 Else­ where, other veterans of the old interwar Anglo-American intelligence network, such as David Bruce and Rex Benson, held senior post­ ings in the OSS and MI6, respectively. While not formally brought back into the intelligence community, Van Deman worked as a consultant to the War Department on domestic security matters. The Army's legendary Counterintelli­ gence Corp (CIC), arguably its leading intelli­ gence apparatus during WWII, derived from the WWI-era Corps of Intelligence Police founded by Van Deman.137 Relations with Hoover's FBI were more complicated. The Bureau bugged Wiseman's 1940 San Francisco meeting with Nazi agents

136The role Stephenson played in helping Donovan set up the OSS and its predecessor, the Office of the Coordinator of Informa­ tion (COI), has been chronicled in numerous works. For a general overview, see, for instance, Hersh's Old Boys (77-88). More exten­ sive accounts can be found in biographies of Donovan cited here such as Waller's Wild Bill Donovan (2012) and Brown's The Last Hero (1982). There's also William Stevenson's classic biography of Stephenson, A Man Called Intrepid, and the insider account provided by BSC veteran and Stephenson friend H. Montgomery Hyde in Room 3603. Compelling information is also presented in Brown's The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Church (1987). 137(A. McCoy, 298)

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and kept him under surveillance afterward.138 However, when Hoover set up a foreign intelli­ gence service for the FBI in the lead up to WWII, he looked to The Room members Vincent Astor and Nelson Rockefeller to provide support.139 As noted, the FBI had been an backer of Van Deman's private intelligence initiatives since the 1930s. Later, during WWII, Van Deman became a crucial asset of the FBI.140 When Stephenson was first dispatched to the US to begin his operation, he sought close cooperation with the FBI and assisted it in setting up the Bureau's foreign intelligence service.141 Conversely, in 1941, Hoover and the State Department began to question the legality of Stephenson's operation142 while later fiercely 138(S. Newton, 182). In Room 3603, Hyde insists that the FBI was in on the operation (76-79). 139(Weiner, 96-97). Ironically, Hoover would name this outfit the Special Intelligence Service (SIS), the official name of MI6. Rockefeller supported the FBI's efforts in Latin America and provided the SIS with offices in Rockefeller Plaza, which is also where Stephenson's operation was housed. Astor provided Hoover's agents with cover by allowing them to pose as reporters for his Newsweek publication. 140(A. McCoy, 328) 141(Hyde, 24-28; 52-59) 142(Waller, 69). Brown notes that Hoover and State even attempted to have Stephenson expelled (A. C. Brown, The Secret

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opposing the creation of Donovan's OSS.143 As Stephenson was one of Donovan's chief back­ ers, this put him at odds with Hoover.144 Stephenson didn't win any supporters at State either when the BSC tried to force out one of its fiercest critics, Assistant Secretary of State Adolf Berle, Jr. The FBI uncovered this plot and expelled one of Stephenson's agents from the country.145 In other words, despite the early romanticism, Hoover's FBI and Stephenson's BSC do not appear to have had the warmest relationship after the US entered the war. However, the Bureau remained dependent Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 264) 143(Waller, 71); (Weiner, 105). Despite still underwriting the FBI's spy service, Vincent Astor had become critical of Hoover's efforts in Latin America. Astor also backed Donovan, which led to a break between the two men. Curiously, Hoover still seems to have been aligned with Nelson Rockefeller, both of whom opposed Donovan's budding intelligence service (B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 88). While the OSS attracted scions for any number of wealthy Eastern Establishment families, no member of the Rockefeller family is known to have served in the OSS. 144(Hyde, 63-67). BSC veteran Hyde tries to downplay the antagonism between Stephenson and Hoover, but even he acknowledges this was an especially tense period during their working relationship. 145(Brewer, To Win the Peace: British Propaganda Efforts in the United States During World War II, 43)

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upon the BSC for assistance in Latin America throughout the conflict. Thus, influence also remained. Curiously, the only major Anglo-American intelligence service that this gentleman's club network does not appear to have had pre-war ties to is the British Special Operations Execu­ tive (SOE). Founded in 1940, the SOE was prin­ cipally a sabotage and resistance outfit that specialized in covert operations. While MI6 was chiefly concerned with intelligence gather­ ing, it was the SOE --as the name implies --that was responsible for "special operations." This included psychological warfare, assassina­ tions, and paramilitary activity.146 As such, when Churchill commanded that Europe be set ablaze, the SOE was tasked with this endeavor.147 One of the SOE's most enduring (and contro­ versial) aspects was its work with various resistance movements in occupied nations across Europe. Probably the most famous instance of this was the joint SOE and OSS 146(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 19) 147(Ganser, NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, 40)

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efforts in occupied France where detachments from those outfits worked to build up the French resistance. This climaxed with the famed Operation Jedburgh, launched shortly before the Allied invasion. So-called "Jed" teams were used to wage a guerrilla war against the German military behind enemy lines as Allied forces invaded from Normandy. This effort tied down the German military through both direct attacks and acts of sabo­ tage.148 While the OSS played a critical role in these efforts, it was the SOE that pioneered this use of resistance movements, which they also put to good effect throughout the Balkans.149 As such, the SOE served as the model for the vari­ ous "stay-behind" armies that the US and UK intelligence communities established in the immediate aftermath of WW II.150 Beyond this, the SOE remnants established the earliest clan­

148For more on Jedburgh, see O'Donnell (174-179) 149See, for instance, former SOE officer Julian Amery's rather self-serving autobiography (Approach March: A Venture in Autobi­ ography 1973), which details his various exploits in the former Yugoslavia. 150(Ganser, 2)

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destine armies even as the organization itself was shuttered.151 In theory, these postwar stay-behind armies would be used in a similar fashion to the WWII resistance movements: to wage a guerrilla war against an occupying force. But this time their opponents would be the Soviet Union rather than Nazi Germany. Or, so the theory went. Since 1990, compelling evidence has emerged linking these stay-behind networks to acts of terrorism and subversion to maintain US (and UK) hegemony in Europe.152 Curiously, much the same resulted from Ralph Van Deman's "super patriot" network deployed during Amer­ ica's First Red Scare. Or maybe not so curious, considering their similar pedigree. The SOE ruffled more than a few feathers in its day. Its freewheeling style led to a percep­ tion of the organization as a din of "hoodlums and radicals."153 A lot of the criticism, no doubt, derived from the early support the outfit gave to "progressive" resistance movements, even if they were also supported by the communists.154 Gradually, however, the SOE was transformed 151(Ganser, 41-42); (Dorril, 31-32); (Cormac, Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces, and the Secret Pursuit of British Foreign Policy, 12)

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into an anti-communist outfit, and quite a hard-liner one at that, as their legacy of farright stay-behind armies indicate. This process was no doubt aided by several blue-blood Pilgrims Society members who joined the SOE. Two of the most noteworthy were Sir Charles Hambro and Sir William "Tony" Keswick. 152The only scholarly English language account to address the various stay-behinds across Europe and Turkey is Daniele Ganser's classic NATO's Secret Armies (2005). Some compelling research is present in Richard Cottrell's Gladio: NATO's Dagger at the Heart of Europe (2012), but this work is also riddled with errors. Additional details can also be found concerning several Western Europe stay-behind networks in David Teacher's longsuppressed Rogue Agents: The Cercle and the 61 in the Private Cold War (2011, 2017). Ralph P. Ganis' The Skorzeny Papers (2018) deals at times with the involvement of legendary Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny in these networks. Martin A. Lee's classic examina­ tion of postwar fascism, The Beast Reawakens (55-56; 206n) also briefly addresses this topic. The Italian component of the stay-be­ hind network, often erroneously referred to as "Gladio," and its ties to terrorism have generated much more interest. Accounts of it can be found in Philip Willan's Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy (146-159), the first volume of Jeffrey Bale's The Darkest Sides of Politics (285-292), Kevin Coogan's Dreamer of the Day (330-341), and Franco Ferraresi's Threats to Democracy (77-79). As the reader may have gathered from the various works cited, these networks tended to heavily recruit from the ranks of numerous "former" Nazis and fascists, who were deemed to be reliable enough anti-Communist for this highly sensitive project. This was an erroneous assumption, as many of these far-right elements despised the US and USSR in equal measures, and collab­ orated with either when it was opportune. Skorzeny was espe­ cially notorious for his Communist links. See, for instance, Lee (133-134; 153).

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Hambro and Keswick hailed from two of the wealthiest and most powerful families in all of England. Hambro was the scion of a family of powerful merchant bankers. For decades, Hambro's Bank was one of the leading financial institutions in the UK. Indeed, Carroll Quigley alleges that the bank was one of seventeen merchant banks that largely dominated the UK's financial life during the twentieth century and maintained close ties with the Bank of England (BoE).155 Sir Charles was a director at the BoE by the age of 30. Hambro and his agents remained on the board for years after the BoE was officially nationalized in 1946 by the Labour government.

153(B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 82) 154(Dorril, 303). Many SOE men were at the forefront of the European Movement (EM) in the postwar years. They had begun to embrace a vision of a "United Europe" during the world, with some of the resistance movements they supported even calling for European federalism (i.e., a loss of national sovereignty). Josef Retinger, the founder of the European movement, had joined the SOE in 1943. For more on these ties, see Dorril's MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service (456457). 155(Quigley, The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to Cliveden, 499-500)

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The Keswick family is even more storied. For well over a century, they controlled Jardine Matheson & Co, one of the leading companies in East Asia since the nineteenth century. The early fortunes of both the Keswick's and Jardine Matheson are shrouded in controversy as much of it was initially made off of flooding China with opium.156 This enabled the family to become one of the leading business dynasties in the world. At various times the Keswick's wielded tremendous influence over other legendary companies such as the Hudson's Bay Company (one of the oldest corporations in North Amer­ ica, having been established in 1670) and the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC). Sir Tony alone was a director of the BoE, the chairman of Hudson's Bay Company, and a director of British Petroleum (BP), in addition to his work for Jardine, at different points. In addition to these Pilgrims Society members, there was one curious affiliate of Quigley's Round Table group in a senior post concerning the SOE: Lord Selborne, who headed the Ministry of Economic Warfare. It 156(View from City Road: Opium catches up with Jardine 1994)

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was this war-time ministry that housed the SOE. As such, Lord Selborne was effectively in control of the SOE from 1942 until 1945. In addition to rubbing elbows with the Round Table and overseeing the SOE, Selborne was a member of the Cecil family (via his mother), one of the most powerful and influential fami­ lies in the UK. The patriarch, William Cecil (later Baron Burghley), was the first Queen Elizabeth's longtime Secretary of State, and later "Lord High Treasurer." He is also reck­ oned to be Elizabeth I's first spymaster. 157 The Cecil family's influence would continue well into the modern era, principally through the descendants of Robert Cecil, William's hunchbacked eldest son. This family line housed the title of the Marquess of Salisbury. Many of this title's holders have become promi­ nent British politicians over the past two centuries, as have many of Robert Cecil's other descendants. The controversial Georgetown professor Carroll Quigley would describe their influence as being "all-pervasive in British life since 1886."158 Indeed, Quigley alleges that the Round Table group was essentially a "fief" of

157(Briscoe 2011)

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the Cecil family's broader network, initially. 159 Nor is the Round Table group the only curious political network that the Cecil's would bestow their patronage upon, as we shall see. But for now, let us return to the SOE and the other war-time intelligence services. Despite its association with such power­ houses, the SOE did not survive long after the 158(Quigley, The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to Cliveden, 15). Quigley has an entire chapter in The Anglo-Amer­ ican Establishment (15-32) dedicated to this topic. He outlines the extensive influence of what he dubs the "Cecil Bloc" throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth. He outlines three methods used by the Cecil family to achieve their power: 1) a triple-front penetration in politics, education, and journalism; 2) the recruitment of "men of ability" (generally from Oxford University, which was closely associated with members of the Bloc for at least three generations) and the linking of these men to the Bloc by marriage and/or the promise of prestige/power; and 3) the influence of public policy by placing members of the Bloc in positions of power that are shielded as much as possible from the public eye. Quigley describes the Round Table group as adopting these methods wholesale in their bid for power. 159Quigley alleges that the Round Table group eventually came to control the Cecil Bloc sometime around 1916 (29), forming an inner circle within the Bloc. However, he later acknowledges that the split between the British Tories after 1923 was likely driven by ideological differences between the Cecil Bloc and the Round Table group (30). On the whole, the Cecil Bloc, was much more tradi­ tional conservatives who sought to preserve the "Old England" they all revered. At the same time, the Round Table network was more progressive-leaning, though hardly the pseudo-Communists the conspiratorial right has long depicted them as being.

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conclusion of WWII. It was disbanded in early 1946. A similar fate awaited many of the lead­ ing WWII-era Anglo-American intelligence services. The OSS was shuttered in the fall of 1945, while the BSC wrapped up its operations by 1946. Some attempts were made to fold the assets of these agencies into other intelligence services. Menzie's MI6 incorporated many SOE veterans into its Special Operations branch.160 Elsewhere, OSS remnants were transferred to the newly created Strategic Services Unit (SSU), housed in the US War Department, in 1945.161 Eventually, the SSU would be rechris­ tened the Office of Special Operations and transferred to the newly founded Central Intel­ ligence Group in 1946. A year later, the modern CIA would be established. Contrary to popular perception, the OSS "Old Boys" did not take over the CIA immediately. The process was not completed until OSS Old Boy Allen Dulles 160(Ganser, NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, 41); (Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service 2000, 31-33); (Cormac, Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces, and the Secret Pursuit of British Foreign Policy, 12) 161(B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 172; 176)

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became the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI, the head of the CIA) in 1953.162 What it amounted to was numerous "price­ less" intelligence assets on both sides of the Atlantic finding themselves demobilized and 162For an in depth account of the OSS takeover, see Hersh's The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA. Detailed accounts are also presented in David Talbot's The Devil's Chess­ board (2015) and Douglas Waller's biography of William Donovan (Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage 2012), among many others. In brief, Donovan proposed enshrining the OSS as a permanent agency in late 1944. He faced stiff opposition, however, from a host of entrenched bureaucracies: the State Department, elements of mili­ tary intelligence, and Hoover's FBI all resisted Donovan's plan. Curiously, some of the opposition from State and the military derived from concerns that a permanent, peace-time OSS would be a vassal of the British. Eventually, Donovan's plans were leaked to the press, causing an uproar of a potential "American Gestapo." This paved the way for the shuttering of the OSS in 1945 (Waller, 306-312). Undeterred, the OSS Old Boys began plotting their return to power practically as the war was ending. The Central Intelligence Group (CIG), the immediate predecessor of the CIA, was established in 1946 to coordinate intelligence. Still, the CIG was under the supervision of the State and the military (B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 185). Then, in 1947, Allen Dulles was brought in to help craft legislation that would lead to the creation of the CIA we all know and love. Still, many of the Old Boys were confined to the Office of Special Operations and the Office of Policy Coordination (established in 1948), specializing in covert operations. Dulles himself did not return to the fold until 1949 (Talbot, The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government, 144145). Still, every DCI until Dulles was a military man: Admiral Sidney Souers (1946), General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (1946-1947),

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unemployed as WW II came to an end. This state of affairs was most concerning to various senior intelligence officials in both the US and UK who were convinced that the postwar peace would be short lived and that a confrontation with the Soviet Union was inevitable.163 Some­ thing had to be done to preserve these assets. Growing evidence has emerged in recent years that senior figures on both sides of the Atlantic Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter (1947-1950), and General Walter Beedle Smith. As such, relations with the OSS Old Boys were antagonistic at times, especially during General Smith's tenure (B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 282-311). Smith despised Frank Wisner (one of the leading OSS Old Boys during the early Cold War), and the group of OSS men that flocked to his Office of Policy Coordination, in particular (B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 301). After Dulles became the DCI in 1953, the Old Boys would dominate the CIA until William Casey's resignation in early 1987. In this roughly 44 year period, the CIA had an OSS DCI for 24 of those years. But beyond this, OSS Old Boys like Wisner, James Jesus Angleton, Ray S. Cline, Desmond Fitzgerald, and Thomas Karamessines would hold numerous key posts within the Agency for decades, ensuring the continual influence of the OSS Old Boys. What's more, even after OSS Old Boys officially left the US govern­ ment, they would continue to pop up in private intelligence capers, as we shall see. 163For a concise description of the American perspective held by various senior former OSS men, see Talbot (144-145). Further details can be found in Christopher Simpson's classic Blowback (311; 83-85). For perspective from British intelligence officers, see Dorril's history of MI6 (35-48). Needless to say, plans were afoot to confront the Soviet Union practically before the war in the Pacific Theater had concluded.

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established private intelligence operations to confront the Soviet Union and fill the gap. At the same time, official government policy caught up with their militant anti-commu­ nism.164 But even after the Cold War was in full swing and the OSS Old Boys had taken over the CIA, these private networks persisted, often knee-deep in some of the darkest aspects of that conflict. Naturally, many of the same players behind the interwar private Anglo-America intelli­ gence networks detailed in this chapter once again crop up in their postwar counterparts. But, whereas these interwar networks were incredibly informal, growing out of several well-connected Anglo-American "fellowship" organizations and centered around very exclu­ sive gentleman's clubs, the postwar networks were a little different. So to were the gentle­ men (and ladies) who participated in these networks. These would-be spooks were mostly bored playboys attempting to pick up gossip tossed about at cocktail parties in various capi­ tal cities across the world in the interwar years. But in the aftermath of the Second 164The great Peter Dale Scott has chronicled these efforts in numerous works, but his most all-encompassing account can be found in American War Machine (2010; 2014).

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World War, after serving in the various Ameri­ can and British intelligence agencies, many had been transformed from rank amateurs into professional spies. This new professionalism was evident in the vehicles used for their espionage. Many of the postwar networks were centered around banks and corporations, and well-funded ones at that. This gave these networks far greater scope than the interwar gentleman's clubs, which had no real budget beyond what wealthy members were willing to contribute. The postwar companies also relied upon wealthy donors, but supplemented these not always reliable funds with others generated by frequently illicit (and highly lucrative) activities. Of these companies, one particular entity stands head and shoulders above the rest in the immediate postwar years. It was known as the World Commerce Corporation (WCC), and its shadowy story shall be revealed in the next chapter. But suffice to say, it was the true successor of the interwar gentleman's clubs, but now with almost unlimited funding.

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Chapter Two

The Honourable Company

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T

he World Commerce Corporation (WCC) has remained shrouded in mystery for decades.165 One WCC affiliate described it as "a secret

165 As far as this researcher can tell, the earliest references to this enigmatic company appear in Hyde's Room 3603 (238-239; 241). Hyde was himself a veteran of the British Security Coordina­ tion (BSC), and as such, knew several of the individuals linked to the WCC. The most in-depth account of the WCC is found in Brown's biography of Donovan, The Last Hero (795-800). There it receives a whopping five pages worth of attention. Nonetheless, Brown's research is often used as source material for later accounts of the company. A year after the publication of The Last Hero, the WCC received a brief mention in William Stevenson's Intrepid's Last Case (1983179). In recent years, the WCC has received much more attention, though few researchers have built upon Brown's research. For instance, it is given a shout out in Hersh's Old Boy (229), which is based almost entirely upon Brown's account. One exception is The Secrets War: The Office of Strategic Services in World War II (126-128), in which a former OSS officer provides a brief, firsthand account of her time with the WCC. Douglas Valentine's The Strength of the Wolf (76; 79) provides some compelling details concerning the WCC's ties to the Pawley-Cooke Advisory Mission. The great Peter Dale Scott has also dealt with the WCC in several of his works, most notably The War Conspiracy (42; 51; 279) and American War Machine (Scott 2010; 2014). Probably the most compelling recent account has appeared in Ralph P. Ganis' The Skorzeny Papers (2018). He links the outfit to Operation SAFEHAVEN, the stay-behind networks, and Nazi commando Skorzeny. I would be remiss if I did not mention the excellent account of the WCC published on The McClaughry's Blog (The World Commerce Corporation – A History 2018). On the whole, the research on this blog is not as credible as ISGP, but still first-rate. While I would take issue with some of the

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society of people who stride the world."166 This is as apt a description as any. The WCC's network included both those directly tied to the company and a broader web of business asso­ ciates. Several individuals hailed from the world's wealthiest families, while others were famed actors, athletes, and writers. Some figures associated with the WCC were far less savory, most notably the gangsters, dictators, and ex- Nazis that fell into its orbit. One thing that virtually everyone in the inner circle had in common was status as a "former" intelligence officer. Typically, they were veter­ ans of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the British Security Coordination (BSC), or the Special Operations Executive (SOE), all intelli­ gence agencies that had nominally been shut­ tered in the immediate aftermath of WWII. As this chapter will detail, rather than leaving the intelligence racket, these "former" spooks simply transferred their assets and operations to the WCC. As can be expected, the origins of the WCC are as murky as anything concerning the researchers' conclusions, much of the raw data presented there is compelling. 166(Ganis, 300)

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company. It was closely associated with another company, the British American Cana­ dian Corporation (BACC), founded within a month of the WCC. In 1947, the BACC was rolled, wholesale, into the WCC. But, even before, there was an overlap between the two entities. The BACC was established in May 1945, shortly after the German surrender. It was headquartered in New York, but formed with a Panamanian registry.167 One of the founders was none other than Sir William Stephenson, the former head of the BSC. Joining Stephenson in this endeavor were other "former" British spies, including colleagues from the BSC, as well as SOE head Sir Charles Hambro, and MI6 man Rex L. Benson.168 We encountered Sir Charles and Mr. Benson in the previous chapter. You will recall that Benson was a part of the intelligence-con­ nected gentleman's club circuit, being a member of both the Ends of the Earth Club and the 1b Club, on the British end. Active in both of those clubs with Benson was Sir Stewart Menzies, who still headed MI6 when the BACC 167(Ganis, 21); (A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 795)

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was launched; and, Sir William Wiseman, the former MI6 man who oversaw operations in North America during WW I and later served as the British liaison with The Room and the Walrus Club. Wiseman did not become directly involved with the BACC or the WCC, but he was close to Stephenson, and later procured an estate in Jamaica near Stephenson's resi­ dence.169 Other Brits linked to the BACC/WCC network (but not directly involved with those corporations) later turn up in Jamaica with Stephenson and Wiseman, as we shall see. Sir Charles Hambro was not involved in the gentleman's clubs circuit before the war, but was active in the broader Anglo-American fellowship network, being a member of the 168(Ganis, 21); (A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796); (Hyde, 238). The McClaughry's Blog (McClaughry, The World Commerce Corporation – A History 2018) disputes Benson's presence because he did not turn up in their search of the WCC's records. However, I am not aware if they had the records from the BACC in addition to the WCC. What's more, Benson is mentioned by both Brown and Hyde, who provided two of the earliest accounts of the BACC/WCC. Brown's account is easily the most scholarly and thorough available while Hyde was a former BSC man who personally knew Stephenson and several of the other individuals involved with the BACC/WCC. He would have known as well as anyone who had ties to the BACC/WCC nexus, and there is no logical reason that this researcher can think of for him to lie about Benson's involvement. 169(Hyde, 238)

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highly influential Pilgrim's Society. As was noted in the previous chapters, Sir Charles hailed from one of the most powerful merchant banking families in the UK during that era and had overseen the Special Operations Executive for a time after working his way up from the SOE's Scandinavian section. Sir Charles' depar­ ture from the SOE did not mark the end of his involvement with intelligence. Not by a long shot. Indeed, Sir Charles continued to engage in intelligence capers practically up to his death in 1963, sometimes in an official government capacity, but often via the private sector. Upon leaving the SOE in 1944, he was dispatched to Washington, where he headed the Combined Raw Materials Board. This innocuous-sounding body was tasked with allocating uranium ore, a key component in developing nuclear weapons. During this time, he also sat on the Combined Development Trust, which was tasked with controlling world supplies of weapons-grade uranium ore, with a particular emphasis on preventing the Soviet Union from procuring ore for its projects. Naturally, Sir Charles also headed the MI6 team attached to the famed

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ALSOS mission.170 ALSOS was an Allied initia­ tive launched by General Leslie Groves, the head of the Manhattan Project (America's topsecret atomic bomb program), in 1943 to inves­ tigate Germany's nuclear, chemical, and biolog­ ical warfare capabilities. Emphasis was on locating Nazi nuclear scientists.171 Hambro and his team saw this as an excellent opportunity for "Britain to get back into the atomic intelli­ gence game."172 Sir Charles' extensive links to nuclear intelligence will be significant in a future chapter, so keep it in mind. Elsewhere, Hambro served on the Psycholog­ ical Warfare Consultations Committee (often referred to as the Dodds-Parker Committee) during the mid-1950s. As the name implies, this group was tasked with planning psycholog­ ical warfare operations, primarily against Sovi­ et-backed peace fronts and conferences, includ­ ing the domestic ones.173 Later, they would be active in operations against Egypt, leading up 170(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service 2000, 138-139) 171(Albarelli Jr., A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Cold War Experiments 2009, 331-332) 172(Dorril, 139) 173(Dorril, 510)

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to the Suez Crisis.174 This committee was headed by Tory MP Douglas Dodd-Parker, a former SOE man linked to the broader BACCWCC network.175 And then there were Hambro's private initia­ tives. From the late 1940s on, the "progressive banker" has been described as acting as "bene­ factor to MI6 good causes."176 One such instance of this involved Norway, where Hambro and his bank held a significant stake in the Norwegian shipping industry. At the time, Norway had one of the largest merchant ship­ ping fleets in the world, and regularly traveled to crucial seaports in the USSR and Communist China. Hambros Bank reportedly put up much of the funding for MI6 to establish a shipping company in Norway to undertake operations against the Communists.177 It's likely Hambro's work with the BACC and the WCC fell under the umbrella of "MI6 good causes" that he spon­ sored.

174(Dorril, 624) 175(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 797) 176(Dorril, 142) 177(Dorril, 524-525)

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Other noteworthy spooks linked to the BACC include: George Muhle Merten, a German immigrant who worked for both the BSC and OSS on matters of economic warfare;178 David Mackenzie Ogilvy, a BSC veteran, and public relations guru;179 and John Pepper, another BSC 178(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796); (McClaughry, The World Commerce Corporation – A History 2018). Merten was a fierce anti-Nazi who had become concerned about the espionage being carried out by the American-based, German company Schering Corporation for which he worked during the late 1930s. He initially contacted American officials in 1940 about Schering, but they did not express much interest. He then turned to the British, who directed him to Sir William Stephenson. Stephenson set Merten up with the Western Conti­ nents company in 1941, which was used as a front to expose German intelligence efforts in Latin America during the war. This operation was later turned over to the OSS in 1942 (A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 207-210). As such, Merten was already well versed in private intelligence work by the time he went to work for the BACC 179(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796); (McClaughry, The World Commerce Corporation – A History 2018). Ogilvy was a curious figure. Hailing from a reasonably well-to-do family with an aristocratic lineage, upon graduating from Oxford, Ogilvy did a series of odd jobs that included working as a chef and door-to-door salesman. In 1937, he relocated to the United States, where he went to work for George Gallup until 1942 (Brewer, To Win the Peace: British Prpaganda in the United States During World War II, 78). In this capacity, he became a very skilled pollster. By the time he went to work for the BSC in 1942, he had become one of Gallup's associate directors. He would put his experience with polls to work with the BSC, among other things (Hyde, Room 3603: The Story of the British Intelligence Center in New York during World War II, 195). Later, he became a

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man who was an early president of the BACC, and later of the WCC proper.180 We encountered Mr. Pepper from chapter one, where it was noted that one of his duties for the BSC was running honey-traps. Contrary to many reports, OSS chief, William Donovan, does not appear to have been directly involved with the BACC at the onset, though it did make use of his law firm.181 Specifically, the figure representing Donovan Leisure Newton & Irving in its dealings with the BACC was Otto C. Doering.182 Doering worked for Donovan's law firm before the war, eventually working his way to a full partner­ ship.183 Doering then followed Donovan into the OSS, where he effectively became Wild Bill's phenomenally successful public relations man in these United States. He established Ogilvy & Mather in 1964, which remains one of the largest PR firms in the world to this day. These efforts earned him the title" father of advertising." 180(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796); (McClaughry 2018) 181(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan 1982, 796); (Ganis, 21-22) 182(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796); (McClaughry 2018) 183(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 172-173); (McClaughry 2018)

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chief of staff. While he never formally held such a title, he worked as general- council, an executive officer, and assistant director.184 Doering is generally credited with ensuring the OSS's survival during WWII amidst its turf battles with the State Department and FBI.185 He was one of Donovan's closest confidants, and the man tapped to write Donovan's formal proposal for the establishment of a permanent central intelligence outfit.186 He was also tasked with uncovering the leaks that began to ravage the OSS.187 After the war, Doering returned to Donovan Leisure Newton & Irving, where he remained until at least 1977.188 But back to the BACC and the men who established it. This was quite a cast of characters to start up a business with. Besides their respective intel­ ligence backgrounds, all of these individuals had been businessmen before joining British 184(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 172) 185(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 172); (Waller, Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage, 97) 186(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 624) 187(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 630-631; 778-780); (Waller, 309-311; 330) 188(Cia.gov 2004)

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intelligence, and many of them (i.e., Stephen­ son, Benson, and Hambro) had been quite successful. As such, they were ideally suited to a private intelligence venture. But the BACC was subtle about this purpose. Officially, it was founded to "fill the void left by the break-up of the big German cartels."189 Specifically, the BACC specialized in exports in a bid to relaunch international trade in the aftermath of WWII. It attempted to sell a host of products to the world, including adding machines, textiles, excavators, automobile equipment of all kinds, heavy machinery, tractors, chemicals, waxes, gums, seeds, fixed oils, most significantly, botanical drugs.190 *** As was noted, the WCC was founded in 1945 and not '46 or '47, as is often claimed. Earlier researchers are forgiven this confusion, as the WCC does not appear to have taken off until 1947. It had quite an impressive roster of direc­ tors, officials, and investors by this point in time. This was, of course, the year that Dono­ 189(Hyde, 238). Hyde notes that Stephenson himself had personally done much to bring down the German cartels, which we shall return to later in this chapter. 190(Ganis, 22)

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van became a director. Simultaneously, former Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, a major investor in the WCC, took on a formal role.191 1947 was also the year that BACC was officially rolled into the WCC.192 By this time, a host of other prestigious indi­ viduals and companies had joined the party. They included James Russell Forgan, a promi­ nent Chicago banker who succeeded David Bruce as the OSS chief in Europe;193 Lester Armour, former deputy chief of the OSS in

191(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796); (McClaughry 2018). Before joining the Secretary of State's office in 1943, Stettinius had overseen the Lend-Lease program since 1941. Given how preoccupied the British, and especially the BSC, were with Lend-Lease, it is likely Stephenson first encountered Stettinius during this time. As far as I can determine, Stettinius did not help set up the BACC, as is often claimed. Naturally, Stet­ tinius was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (Shoup and Minter, Imperial Brain Trust: The Council on Foreign Rela­ tions & United States Foreign Policy, 170-171). 192(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 795); (Ganis, 65-66); (McClaughry 2018) 193(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796); (McClaughry 2018). The McClaughry's Blog alleges that Forgan had also helped set up the BACC, but I have not been able to confirm this elsewhere. Still, the author (Virginia McClaughry) is a distant relative of Forgan. In addition to Donovan, Forgan was also close to David Bruce and William J. Casey, two figures we shall encounter repeatedly throughout this book.

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London;194 and Sidney Weinberg, a long-time director of Goldman Sachs who headed the OSS mission to Moscow.195 There were also long­ standing allegations that Nelson Rockefeller (he of the pre-war gentleman's club network), John J. McCloy (another long-time Rockefeller associate), Sir Victor Sassoon, and Richard Mellon were early investors, but this has never been definitively proven.196 Other noteworthy institutions and individu­ als who signed on by 1947 include: gentleman's club stooge and leading OSS figure David K.E. Bruce (also a Mellon family-in-law); Louise Este Bruce, David's mother; Ellen McHenry Keyser, the wife of David Bruce's brother; the Transamerica Corporation, which was set up by the founder of Bank of America; Admiral Lewis Strauss, a banker from Kuhn, Loeb, & 194(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796). According to The McClaughry's Blog, Armour was also a distant relative of Forgan's (McClaughry 2018). As was noted above, the author of this blog post is a distant relative of both. 195(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796). There is some dispute as to whether Weinberg was directly involved with the WCC or not. Weinberg was reportedly close to Edward Stettinius, who left him a considerable amount of shares in the WCC upon his death in 1949. Weinberg allegedly turned down the shares, but he may have been the man who advised Stettinius to invest in the company in the first place (McClaughry 2018).

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Co. (the same bank that employed Sir William Wiseman after WWI) who became a member of the Atomic Energy Commission after a distin­ guished Naval career; and former OSS man, Alan Scaife, and his wife, Sarah Mellon Scaife.197 The latter couple were the parents of far-right publishing magnate and CIA asset Richard Mellon Scaife, whom we encounter in the trilogy's next installment. The British branch of the WCC also entered a profitable relationship with Jardine Matheson by this time.198 As was noted in the previous chapter, Jardine was then headed by former SOE man 196(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796). The McCarthy's Blog was not able to confirm these last names through the WCC's official documentation. The possibility that all four men were silent investors cannot be discounted, however, and Ralph Sassoon, a relative of Sir Victor, was involved (McClaughry 2018). There are other connections to the Mellon family as well. As for Nelson Rockefeller, a figure linked to the WCC was James F. Cavagnaro of the Transamerica Corporation. In 1950, Transamer­ ica was the largest shareholder in Chase Bank (Scott, The War Conspiracy: JFK, 9/11, and the Deep Politics of War, 279). Winthrop Aldrich, a member of the interwar gentleman's clubs network and the uncle-in-law of Nelson, was the president and chairman of Chase from 1930 till 1953. Nelson's brother David went to work at Chase in 1946 and continued until 1981, eventu­ ally becoming the chairman. As such, Chase was very much a Rockefeller bank, and with one of its largest shareholders repre­ sented in the WCC by Cavagnaro, there is a good chance the Rock­ efeller family had some type of involvement with the WCC. 197(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 798)

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and Pilgrims Society member Sir William "Tony" Keswick. A key figure throughout much of the WCC's run was the enigmatic Frank Ryan. Unsurpris­ ingly, Ryan served with the OSS during the war, with a focus on the Iberian Peninsula. He eventually became the Chief of Secret Intelli­ gence (SI) for Spain and Portugal, a post based out of Washington. D.C.199 At one point, Dono­ van had personally dispatched Ryan to Spain to investigate the station's messy finances. Ryan ran afoul of the American ambassador after revealing his plan to gift Dictator Francisco Franco's wife with silk stockings, then a highly coveted luxury item in Spain.200 Despite coming from a wealthy family, very little information is available on Ryan. He was born in 1907 in Troy, New York. His father was John J. Ryan, Sr., who founded a prosperous textile (cotton waste) business called John J. Ryan and Sons. He appears to have worked for 198(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 798). The McClaughry's Blog also notes that a Keswick Marine Panama SA was another leading institution behind the WCC (McClaughry 2018). 199(Countess of Romanones, 127) 200(Waller, 161)

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the family business, both before and after the war. In the postwar years, it was being run by Frank's older brother, John J. Ryan Jr. At one point Ryan also worked for a prestigious investment company, J.S. Bache & Company. Ryan reportedly had quite a reputation as a playboy, having dated model Anita Colby and actresses Ann Miller and Joan Fontaine. 201 Another long-time leading WCC figure who worked closely with Ryan for a decade in the corporation was Ricardo Sicre. Sicre, in turn, cut his teeth in the OSS working under the bizarre figure of Donald Downes. A reputed homosexual with a host of unusual phobias that included snakes, stray dogs, and yellow paint, Downes had initially offered his services to Army and Naval intelligence. After being rebuffed, Downes went to work for Stephen­ son's BSC in 1941.202 Downes' immediate supe­ rior at the BSC was none other than future BACC president John Pepper. Downes was almost surely involved in Pepper's "sexpionage" capers as he took over as Elizabeth "Betty" Pack's handler from Pepper after she was turned over to the OSS in 201(Ganis, 22) 202(Waller, 123)

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1942.203 Downes was reportedly involved in honey-trapping as late as 1948, when he ran Eveline Paterson, a British agent. She contin­ ued to service the isolationist senator, Arthur Vandenberg, into the postwar years.204 That Vandenberg was manipulated towards pro-Bri­ tish objectives by a British agent should raise real questions about where exactly Downes' loyalties lay. Sicre was a part of the embassy capers during 1942 involving honey-traps and black bag jobs against various D.C. targets. Sicre, whom Downes described as "the handsomest man I've ever seen," was used to seduce several secretaries in the Spanish embassy. Using the knowledge he gained from these exploits, he later carried out a series of breakins at that embassy.205 Things went south after Sicre's team ran afoul of the FBI, who had been conducting their own black bag operations

203(Waller, 121). Downes reportedly oversaw most of the teams targeting the embassies, which frequently employed honey-traps and black bag operations to penetrate them (P. K. O'Donnell, 2731); (Waller 2011, 120-128). 204(Dorril, 45) 205(P. K. O'Donnell, 27)

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along embassy row. This spurred a turf war that the FBI ultimately won.206 Sicre turned up in North Africa with Downes again in 1943. Sicre served as Downes' opera­ tions chief in Algiers, where the two men worked to recruit and train former Spanish Republicans for insertion into Franco's Spain. Dubbed "Banana" teams, these units were dispatched, beginning in June 1943, with disas­ trous results. All the units were eventually rolled up by Spanish police, leaving 13 agents "disappeared," and a minor political crisis with Spain.207 I have been unable to determine if either Downes or Sicre encountered Ryan by this point, but it is certainly possible. Ryan oversaw Secret Intelligence in the Iberian Peninsula by mid-1943, and was dispatched to Spain by Donovan during that year. By 1944, Sicre found himself in Nice, France, where he worked with a counterintelligence unit ferreting out German stay-behind networks. In some cases, he worked to double these assets. These operations ultimately fell under the purview of the OSS's famed X-2 206(P. K. O'Donnell, 30); (Waller, 127-128) 207(P. K. O'Donnell, 40-48)

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counterintelligence department. During this time, Sicre met his future wife, Betty Lussier, who served under Sicre in the X-2 unit. Natu­ rally, Lussier's family was close to Sir William Stephenson, who she described as being "like a member of the family." It was none other than Stephenson who had recommended her to the OSS, beginning her espionage career.208 Given how close Sicre's mentor, Donald Downes, was to Stephenson and the BSC, it raises the possi­ bility that these connections also underpinned the Sicres' relationship. Like Frank Ryan, the Sicre's also cultivated the rich and famous. They grew incredibly close to the legendary actress Ava Gardener, who became godmother to their son, Ricardo Sicre Jr.209 Gardner was but one curious figure surrounding Ryan and the Sicre's in Madrid by the late 1950s. They included infamous Nazi commando Otto "Scarface" Skorzeny, a leading figure in postwar SS underground210 and a busi­ 208(P. K. O'Donnell, 200-205) 209(Brady, 173) 210Probably the best and most sufficient account of Skorzeny's postwar SS network can be found in Bale's The Darkest Sides of Politics, I (74-78). While less scholarly, Ganis' The Skorzeny Papers (2018) and Martin A. Lee's The Beast Reawakens (1997) are also compelling.

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ness partner of Sicre and Ryan's (bizarrely, Ava Gardner lived in a luxury apartment in Madrid on the floor directly above from Skorzeny's residence); jazz musician Artie Shaw; actor William Holden; and, legendary author Ernest Hemingway.211 The Madrid crew were hardly the only fellow travelers that fell within the WCC's orbit. When Ryan replaced John Pepper as president, he was escorted to London by Stephenson, where he was introduced to a host of contacts. Few of these individuals were directly linked to the WCC, but appear to have assisted in some form or other. These contacts included Sir Charles Hambro and his cousin, Olaf Hambro; Tony Keswick; media mogul Lord Beaverbrook; Lord Selbourne, a Cecil in-law who oversaw the Ministry of Economic Warfare (which housed the SOE); Richard Fleming, head of the Robert Fleming Bank (for years one of the UK's lead­ ing financial intuitions); Richard's brother Ian Fleming, a high ranking British Naval intelli­ gence officer who helped Donovan set up the OSS, and a successful novelist who created James Bond; Colonel Douglas Dodd-Parker, a former SOE member who worked closely with 211(Ganis, 300)

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Sir Charles Hambro in the postwar years; and General Sir Collin Gubbins, another SOE chief who helped set up the infamous Special Forces Club (a long-time recruiting ground for various black ops, as we shall see) in the postwar years.212 *** In other words, the WCC connections were impeccable, reaching into the highest echelons of Anglo-American society. Now that that has been firmly established, let us turn our atten­ tion to a pressing question, namely: What exactly did this mysterious company do? There are two answers to this question: One official, and the other speculative, but based on the more unsavory activities of several members. Before getting to the good stuff, let us first turn our attention to the public role the WCC claimed for itself. This can best be summed up by using the words of long-time WCC president, Frank Ryan. In November 1947, Wild Bill forwarded a 212(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796-797). Hyde also links Beaverbrook and Ian Fleming to the WCC's activi­ ties, noting that both men, along with Sir William Wiseman, purchased estates in Jamaica's Montego Bay region near Stephen­ son's residence in the postwar years while Intrepid was highly active in the WCC (Hyde, 238).

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letter composed by Ryan on behalf of the WCC to General Lucius Clay (then US High Commis­ sioner in Germany), long-time ambassador Robert Murphy (at the time a political adviser in Germany), and General Charles F. Saltzman (an assistant secretary for occupied areas at the State Department). A portion of the letter stated: "In our view the restoration of economic balance in Europe is fundamentally a problem of industrial and agricultural production. The purposes to be served by such production are the maintenance of populations and the creation of internationally exchangeable values which are essential in supporting the continu­ ance of the productive operations. The restora­ tion of production and the continuing processes which involve the international exchange of goods are the fields of primary interest to World Commerce Corporation. In these direc­ tions we are prepared to cooperate with private industry and with official bodies."213 In other words, the WCC, like the BACC, was principally concerned with import-export, but with grandiose designs: Namely, to restore international capitalism in the aftermath of 213(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 798)

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WW II. Even before the war, global trade had been on the wane due to rising protectionism, and this state of affairs was utterly exasper­ ated after war broke out. Further, many coun­ tries lacked sufficient funds to facilitate trade even if they had marketable goods and services. The WCC officially sought to right this state of affairs. As such, it has repeatedly been likened to a private Marshall Plan.214 In the US, the WCC worked through various subsidies buying and selling assorted merchandise. In the UK, it engaged in similar procurement activities, frequently collaborating with Jardine Matheson. By 1947, it boasted of having repre­ sentation in 47 countries via various branch offices, subsidiaries, and "agency relation­ ships." It possessed trading outlets directly in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Colom­ 214(Hyde, 238); (Valentine, The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs, 76). According to former BSC man Stephenson cheerleader Hyde, the WCC was first compared to the Marshall Plan by an unnamed America newspa­ per, who raved that "if there were several more World Commerce Corporations, there would be no need for a Marshall Plan." The Marshall Plan, actually the European Recovery Program (ERP), was named after General George C. Marshall. Approved by the US Congress in 1948, the Marshall Plan sought to transfer $12 billion ($129 billion in 2020) to Europe in the form of an economic recov­ ery package to help the war-torn continent rebuild.

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bia, and Mexico. Through subsidiaries, it also had them in North Africa, India, China, and Ceylon. It's British partners provided it with outlets in France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Italy.215 With the cash crunch that gripped much of the world outside of the US in the post-war years, the WCC frequently facilitated barter trade to re-launch the global economy. H. Montgomery Hyde, a former BSC officer and Stephenson's confidant, provided a typical example of the WCC's methods in Room 3603. There he describes how, in 1951, the WCC provided the communist countries of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria with a year's supply of penicillin and sulfa in exchange for $300,000 worth of paprika from each country. At the time, neither nation possessed the dollars to purchase the medical supplies, and as such, barter was the only means available to them to procure these badly needed items.216 Curiously, this is hardly the only instance of the WCC being linked to the shipping of medi­ cal supplies to communist countries during the height of the Cold War. The WCC acquired a 215(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 798-799) 216(Hyde, 238)

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majority share holding in the Biddle Sawyer Corporation (Biddle Sawyer) of New York, a drug company. Biddle Sawyer allegedly special­ ized in "fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, botanical drugs, waxes, gums, and essential oils."217 In 1955, Biddle Sawyer procured 10,000 bottles of Aureomycin, which was then exported to Communist China by way of Belgium and England. Then, in 1957, it shipped a host of pharmaceuticals to both Communist China and the Soviet Union. These actions led Biddle Sawyer to be hit with a violation of the Export Control Act by the US Department of Commerce. Naturally, the result was a letter sent by the Department of Commerce to a deputy director at the CIA, asking, "What do you want us to do with this?"218 That the WCC would be aiding the commu­ nist bloc in procuring medical supplies, espe­ cially during one of the hottest phases of the Cold War, may nominally seem quite bizarre. 217(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 799) 218(Shaeffer 2001). These shenanigans were first revealed via a CIA document that was declassified in 2001. The deputy director in question whom the letter was sent too was Robert Amory, and was dispatched on December 27, 1960. What Mr. Amory or the CIA's response to this letter might have been remains unknown.

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After all, the anti-communist pedigree of many leading WCC members and affiliates is not in question. The most likely explanation is that, by trading with the communists, the WCC played a long game that would not come to fruition until the 1980s. One particular WCC affiliate, whom we encounter in Chapter 3, played an especially significant role in these endeavors during the "greed is good" era. Despite the best efforts of those involved to depict the WCC as a socially responsible capi­ talist venture concerned with re-launching international trade, the hints of an intelligence agenda are difficult to ignore. Indeed, it is impossible to get a clear picture of the WCC without understanding these connections. *** Unlike the British American Canadian Corporation, there are clear indications that the WCC was intended to be a full-blown intel­ ligence service from the onset. A particularly illuminating account of its early history is found in an anthology entitled The Secret Wars: The Office of Strategic Services in World War II, edited by George C. Chalou. Specifi­ cally, the account comes from Aline, Countess

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of Romanones, in her "The OSS in Spain During World War II" contribution.219 The Countess was born plain old Mary Aline Griffith in 1923. The whole Countess bit came after she married Luis Figueroa y Perez de Guzman el Bueno, Conde de Quintanilla, y Conde de Romanones, Grandee of Spain, scion of one of the wealthiest and most influential families there.220 Allegedly, they first met in 1943, when Aline was on assignment in Spain for the OSS. I write "allegedly" as practically everything Aline has written or said about her intelligence work should be taken with a heaping grain of salt. Beginning in 1987, the Countess wrote a series of popular works depicting her life as a spy. She claimed that "My stories are all based on truth."221 Others beg to differ. Rupert Allason, a former Tory MP and celebrated spy historian who often writes under the name "Nigel West," has described Aline's supposedly factual accounts

219(Countess of Romanones, 122-128) 220(M. Turner 2017) 221ibid

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as "completely fictional."222 West alleges that she was little more than a cipher clerk for the OSS in Madrid and did not embark upon the various escapades she describes in her books. Her account in The Secret Wars is different, however. It largely forgoes the embellishments of her books, providing a relatively "no-thrills" account of her time in Spain. While this account should also be held in suspicion, her links to the WCC have never been disputed, and certainly never debunked. As to the account, Aline spins the following yarn: In August of 1945, a cabal arrived from Washington DC ordering the return of all OSS personnel and the termination of all networks then active in Spain. That same week, Aline was offered work with a "super secret organi­ zation inside Spain." Not long afterward, another cabal arrived, showing that Aline had a serious job reopening offices for John J. Ryan and Sons in Madrid. 223 As was noted above, John J. Ryan and Sons was the family firm established by WCC president Frank Ryan's father, and later headed by his brother. 222(West, The A to Z of Sexpionage, 326) 223(Countess of Romanones, 126)

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After managing to convince the skeptical American ambassador that she would not be engaged in espionage, Aline opened an office in Madrid and obtained bona fide sales to Catalan manufacturers. This went on for several months while Aline received her pay from John J. Ryan and Sons. Then, one day, she was abruptly ordered to Paris, where she began work for a company known as "World Commerce Inc." There, she did much the same thing she had done in Spain: open offices, initiate business with French firms and arrange for barter between the West and the Communists. In this case, she helped set up trade between Sweden and Czechoslovakia. Six months later, she was dispatched to Zurich, where she again set up offices and bank accounts for the WCC. She was about to move to Prague for the same purpose when she married and resigned from the WCC. During her two years with the company, her boss had been Frank Ryan, and virtually everyone she had worked with had been an OSS agent. Naturally, she alleges that it took her forty years to realize that her work with the WCC had no direct link with the US government, being a private initiative. She 123

likened it to the Iran-Contra scandal, describ­ ing the WCC as a "precursor."224 Her linkage of the WCC to Iran-Contra is most noteworthy. It is generally agreed that one of the driving figures behind Iran-Contra was then-CIA director William J. Casey.225 224(Countess of Romanones, 126-127) 225See, for instance, (Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America, 104-110), (Trento, 285-289), or (Valen­ tine, The Strength of the Pack: The Personalities, Politics and Espi­ onage Intrigues that Shaped the DEA, 376). It is generally agreed that Iran-Contra grew out of the so-called "October Surprise" in which members of Reagan's campaign team reached an agreement with Iran to not release the American embassy hostages they were holding until after the 1980 election. In exchange, the United States arranged for Israel to provide Iran with arms. Casey, then Reagan's campaign manager, was at the forefront of these efforts. These shipments began sometime after July 1980 and continued for roughly seventeen months, with the flow arms being halted in early 1982 after the Iranians leaked the story to a Lebanese publi­ cation to embarrass the administration. Shipments would continue on and off throughout the mid-1980s, but really picked up again during 1985 to gain the release of additional American hostages the Iranians had taken across the Middle East. At this point, proceeds from the arms sales to Iran were "diverted" to the Nicaraguan Contras, which the administration was then prohib­ ited by Congress from funding. While there can be no question Casey played a crucial role in setting up the initial arm sales to Iran, there is much debate as to how active he was in Iran-Contra. Vice-president George H.W. Bush has long been accused of playing a crucial role in Iran-Contra. In contrast, some have alleged that it has Casey himself who put Bush in charge (Valentine, The Strength of the Pack: The Personalities, Politics and Espionage Intrigues that Shaped the DEA, 376). The relationship between Bush and Casey was complicated, however, with both men

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Casey was an OSS Old Boy with links to the WCC. Otto Doering, Donovan's law partner, and de facto OSS chief of staff, initially inter­ viewed Casey for a job with the OSS.226 After the war was over, Casey went to work for Donovan's law firm, where he was reunited with Doering. Hence, Casey was employed by Donovan's law firm when the WCC was launched.227 As such, it is not surprising that Iran-Contra bears some similarities to the WCC, as the CIA director that oversaw the former was an attorney with the law firm that helped set up the latter. But back to the matter at hand. If the WCC was some type of intelligence operation, what then was it engaged in? An answer to this ques­ tion may be found in the company's bulging balance sheet. Frank Ryan boasted of this in his letter to General Lucius Clay and company, proclaiming the "financial resources available attempting to spy on one another during Reagan's administration (Trento, 233-234). As such, while Casey was almost undoubtedly aware of Iran-Contra, the extent of his direct involvement is much harder to gauge. 226(Kross 2014) 227(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 55)

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to W.C.C. are substantial."228 This state of affairs would continue until 1962 when the corporation was allegedly sold off for taxation reasons. At the time, it claimed total assets of a little over $16 million, liabilities of a little under $6.5 million, and total capital of over $9.5 million.229 In 2019 dollars, this translates to over $134 million in assets and $84 million in total capital. While the WCC wouldn't exactly rival Amazon, this isn't too shabby for a company that reported a $50,000 loss during its first full year of operation (1947). Where then did all of this money come from? No doubt wealthy families like the Rocke­ fellers and Mellons may have been responsible for its capitalization. But the linkage of these families to the WCC is somewhat tenuous, and it is unlikely their largess alone could turn the WCC into a clear alternative to the Marshall Plan. So, what other explanations are avail­ able?

228(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 798) 229(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 799). These figures were taken from the WCC's final financial statement. The exact figures given by Brown were $16,096,443.62 in total assets, $6,468,898.89 in total liabilities, and $9, 627,544. 73 in total capi­ tal.

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A clue can be discerned in Operation Safe­ haven. Begun in 1944, Safehaven was a joint Anglo-American project designed to seize Axis assets in neutral countries. As the defeat of the Third Reich became inevitable, the race was on among high ranking Nazis to transfer as much loot seized during WWII out of Germany as quickly possible. This made Safehaven's impor­ tance even more significant. It was responsible for tracking and seizing the equivalent of billions of dollars that the Nazi regime was attempting to stash across the globe. The OSS took the lead in these efforts for the US230 while the Ministry of Economic Warfare handled things on the British end.231 You will recall that the Special Operations Executive was housed in the Ministry of Economic Warfare. On the American end, there is now little question that money and other assets recovered by Safehaven were siphoned off during the postwar years to sponsor CIA covert operations.232 There are longstanding allega­ 230(D. P. Steury 2007) 231(Lorenz-Meyer, 199); (Dorril, MI6: Inside the Secret World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 804n29); (Ganis, The Skorzeny Papers: Evidence for the Plot to Kill JFK, 25) 232(Simpson, Blowback: America's Recruitment of Nazis and Its Effects on the Cold War 1988, 91-92). Many of the assets seized by

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tions that MI6 also used funds derived from Safehaven to fund covert operations.233 There's no question that MI6 was heavily dependent upon a secret slush fund --dubbed "HAM" --to support covert activities throughout the 1950s, while the UK was still destitute. This fund's origins have never been revealed other than linking it to an "unnamed American" and other MI6 "well-wishers."234 It is quite possible that both explanations --Nazi gold and mysterious benefactors --are true concerning the UK's secret slush fund. As should come as little surprise, the WCC has been linked to looted Nazi assets for

the US were turned over to U.S. Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund. This entity was intended to serve as a hedge against infla­ tion and a banker's tool to combat currency speculation in Europe and Latin America's fragile economies. That was the theory, at least. The reality frequently consisted of the CIA using this institu­ tion as a slush fund for covert operations. One of the most welldocumented instances involved the hotly contested Italian elec­ tions of 1948. With the Communists threatening to take over the country democratically, some $10 million was withdrawn from the Exchange Stabilization Fund in late 1947 and laundered through the Vatican and a myriad of bank accounts. Eventually, it ended up in the hands of the CIA-backed Christian Democratic Party, which ultimately prevailed in the 1948 election. 233(Dorril, 27) 234(Cormac, 112)

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years.235 However, it is only recently that compelling evidence has emerged concerning these allegations. In 2018 Major Ralph P. Ganis, a veteran of three services (US Marine Corps, US Army, and US Air Force) and a grad­ uate of the National Defense University, DIA, published a landmark account of Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny's postwar efforts entitled The Skorzeny Papers. As the title implies, much of Ganis' original research was driven by data he found in Skorzeny's personal papers. Among other things, Ganis was able to turn up some compelling revelations concerning the WCC. At the forefront was its relationship to a Spanish conglomerate known as Sociedad Financiera Industrial (SOFINDUS). The 235The earliest linkage of the WCC to Nazi assets appears to have come from The Secret War Against the Jews (110) by John Loftus and Mark Aaron. While Aaron is simply an Australian investigative reporter, Loftus is a former prosecutor for the US Department of Justine. What's more, Loftus was detailed to the department's Nazi hunting unit for a time. Despite this, many of the claims by Loftus and Aaron in this work are problematic. While they no doubt had/have legitimate sources, neither researcher appears to have shown much skepticism in regard to what they were being told. As far as the WCC is concerned, they allege that Allen Dulles had encouraged William Donovan and Stephenson in their efforts to set up the WCC, and that he worked as the company's attorney. This researcher has never found any linkage between Dulles and the WCC in other sources, however.

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company was founded in 1938 by a German national named Johannes Bernhardt, who also moonlighted for the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the Schutzstaffel (SS)'s principal foreign intelli­ gence service. While SOFINDUS engaged in legitimate business, most notably procuring vital materials for the Third Reich, such as wolframite, it was also used as a vast private intelligence network by the SD.236 As the war began to turn against the Third Reich, it also became the recipient of enormous amounts of gold smuggled out of the besieged Nazi regime.237 Once the war concluded, SOFINDUS was taken over by the Allied Control Commission. An American president was placed in control of the corporation with a British vice-president. Eventually, many of the companies housed within the conglomerate were revamped and incorporated into the WCC. Reportedly, Bern­ hardt, who had personally supervised the 236(Ganis, 148-150); (Goni, 69) 237(Slany and Eizenstat, 75-78) SOFINDUS reportedly received 83.2 tons of gold bars, smuggled from Switzerland, in 1943 alone. In 2019, a ton of gold was worth roughly $46.5 million US dollars. In other words, SOFINDUS would have received the equivalent of over $83 billion in 2019 dollars in a single year. At least some of this gold was never pursued by the Allies because it had "probably been minted into coins and would be too difficult to identify."

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transfer of SOFINDUS' gold, was kept on in an advisory role by the WCC. Skorzeny later became a business partner of Bernhardt's while also having dealings with long-time WCC presi­ dent Frank Ryan and WCC official Ricardo Sicre in Spain.238 Even if much of SOFINDUS' gold was seized by the Allies, a small percentage might have provided the WCC with billions of dollars to work with at the start.239 While Ganis' allega­ tions should be taken with some skepticism, the WCC has long been linked to Nazi gold, and an early official of the BACC (its sister company), George Muhle Merten, oversaw Project George in Latin America for the OSS. This operation was explicitly tasked with moni­ toring Nazi assets in South America,240 where SOFINDUS was well represented. You will recall that Stephenson had also established the BACC with the express purpose of "filling the void" left by the prominent German conglomer­ ates like IG Farben. Besides "filling the void," the BACC/WCC may have also been tasked with 238(Ganis, 147-148) 239see footnote 238 for more details on the amount of gold SOFINDUS possessed. 240(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 209-210)

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taking on their ill-gotten assets. Certainly this would go a long way towards explaining how the WCC was able to emerge as a private Marshall Plan just years after WWII came to a close. *** Even more controversial are the longstand­ ing allegations that the WCC was involved in drug trafficking. This linkage stemmed from its early support for Taiwan, which had witnessed the initiation of martial law and one-party rule in 1949 by the fleeing Kuomintang (KMT). This was the Nationalist Party of China, which was soundly defeated by the Chinese Communist Party on mainland China during that same year. The KMT clung to a few pockets on the mainland until 1951, but this effectively ended the Chinese Civil War, which began at the conclusion of WWII. The communists were victorious and established the People's Repub­ lic of China (PRC) on the mainland. Elements of the KMT were already relocating to Taiwan in 1945, then known as Formosa. Formosa's indigenous peoples launched a revolt against the KMT in 1947. It was brutally suppressed, resulting in the deaths of some 20,000 natives. Two years later, Formosa 132

became the Republic of China (ROC), more commonly known as "Taiwan," with the Nationalist Chinese now controlling all major institutions despite the indigenous peoples outnumbering them nearly fifteen to one. The KMT would continue to rule Taiwan as a oneparty-state until 1987, effectively making it an Apartheid country for much of the Cold War.241 Besides being an authoritarian political party, the KMT had been deeply implicated in drug trafficking going back to their time ruling mainland China beginning in the late 1920s and continuing throughout much of the Cold War.242 241(Anderson and Anderson, 47-49). An argument could be made that Taiwan is still largely an Apartheid country. It was not until 2016 that a Formosan was elected to the presidency, and even then Tsai Ing-wen was only a quarter indigenous. 242See, for instance, Valentine (11-14; 36-38; 76-79), the Seagraves (34-37), and Kruger (130-136). The great Peter Dale Scott has also dealt with this topic extensively in works such as The War Conspiracy (1972, 2008), Drugs, Oil, and War (59-66), and American War Machine (2010, 2014). For years the head of the KMT and the longstanding dictator of Taiwan was Generalissimo Chiang Kei-Shek. Chiang's rise to power in mainland China during the 1920s was greatly aided by Du Yuesheng, capo of the infamous Green Gang, then the leading opium smugglers in the nation. The powerbase of Du and the Green Gang was Shanghai. At one point, Du sat on Shanghai's Municipal Board with William "Tony" Keswick of Jardine Matheson. As was noted in this chapter, Jardine worked closely with the WCC while Tony was part of the WCC's broader network. As was noted in the previous chapter, much of the Keswick family fortune was initially made from

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As such, there wasn't much enthusiasm for the regime within the US when they set up shop in Taiwan in 1949. President Truman refused to provide military aide to the regime while Secretary of State Dean Acheson dismissed it as "not within the U.S. defense perimeter."243 Fortunately for the KMT, they had powerful allies in the WCC. Even before the WCC became directly involved with the KMT, Donovan and his law firm led a successful legal fight to prevent China's civil air fleet, then grounded in Hong Kong, from falling into the hands of the PRC.244 The WCC employed a host of methods to support Taiwan during the crucial early stages of the KMT dictatorship. On the one hand, the WCC was involved in a dubious scheme to corner the world soybean market on behalf of the KMT. This greatly lined the pockets of the party's hierarchy.245

smuggling opium. 243(Hsiao-ting 2012) 244(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 56) 245(Scott, The War Conspiracy: JFK, 9/11, and the Deep Politics of War, 279); (McClaughry 2018)

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Through a subsidiary, Commerce Interna­ tional China (CIC),246 the WCC offered its most controversial support. In late 1949, privateer William S. Pawley received the green light to lead a military advisory committee to Taiwan to access the situation. The military men were headed by Admiral Charles E. Cooke, leading to the mission being dubbed the Pawley-Cooke 246Peter Dale Scott, who has long described the CIC as a subsidiary of the WCC, began to question this assessment in the twenty-first century (Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 291n104). The CIC was established in Shanghai in 1930, which was then the powerbase for the Green Gang, a crucial backer of the KMT during the early years (see footnote 243). As such, it could not have been established by the WCC, though this does not preclude some type of relationship with the WCC by the 1950s. What's more, the CIC was then headed by Satiris Fassoulis, a former pilot for Civil Air Transport (CAT). CAT had previously been the Flying Tigers, WWII American mercenary pilots that fought for the Nationalist Chinese against the Japanese. CAT later became the property of the CIA and was rechristened Air America. Air America was of course later famously implicated in smuggling heroin during the Vietnam conflict (Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 109), even inspiring a 1990 Mel Gibson film named after the airline. CAT had been founded by former Flying Tigers head Claire Chennault, who worked closely with Donovan to deny the PRC China's civilian fleet in the immediate aftermath of the revolution (Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 80). Thus, it seems to stretch coincidence that one of his former pilots would just happen to take over a corporation engaged in arming Taiwan while Donovan's WCC was trying to support the KMT by trying to corner the world market on soybeans.

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Expedition. The CIC supplied the mission with everything from gas masks to airplanes. 247 Admiral Cooke was impressed with what he saw, and opted to set up a full-blown military assistance program with the aid of the CIC. By 1950, the CIC provided both military advisors and purchased vast amounts of munitions and other military hardware for Taiwan.248 This included aircraft spare parts, radar equipment, tracked landing vehicles, scout cars, and armored cars. Cooke and the CIC even attempted to procure tanks for the CIC, but the State Department later scuttled this transac­ tion due to fears the tanks would eventually end up in the communists' hands.249 Regard­ less, the arms the CIC were able to procure were instrumental in ensuring the survival of the KMT's dictatorship in Taiwan. Still, the closest link we have to the WCC's ties to drug trafficking at this point is CIC head Satiris Fassoulis, who had previously worked 247(Valentine, The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs, 78-79) 248(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 55); (Hsiao-ting 2012) 249(Hsiao-ting 2012)

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as a pilot for an airline later deeply implicated in CIA-sanctioned drug trafficking.250 For more direct connections, we turn our attention to Thailand. The junction of Thailand, Burma, and Laos comprised the Golden Triangle, for years the largest opium-producing region in the world.251 In the aftermath of the KMT's defeat in mainland China, several thousand troops were evacuated to Burma, near the border with Thailand, where they maintained a presence for years to come. While occasionally mounting a cross border raid into China, much of their time was preoccupied with smuggling opium, in collaboration with the Thai security forces.252 For nearly three decades --between 1947 and 1975 --the region between the Thai and Burmese border was the black heart of the KMT's opium smuggling operations.253 The WCC had forged close links with this nation by the mid-1950s. The WCC was active 250see footnote 247 251(Kruger, 133) 252(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 63-86); (Waller, 367); (Valentine, The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs, 76; 133); (Kruger, 132-133) 253(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 70)

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in Bangkok in the postwar years where Sir William Stephenson had established a strong personal relationship with its ruler, King Rama IX. Beyond this, Stephenson had recruited James Thompson, the last OSS commander in Bangkok, to stay on as the WCC's representa­ tive.254 Thompson, who was dubbed the "Thai silk king" by the press, is quite a curious figure. With financing from the WCC, Thompson set up the Thai Silk Company, which would achieve a near monopoly over the highly lucra­ tive Thai silk industry by the end of the 1950s. The company also enabled Thompson to make frequent trips to the northeastern Thai border with Laos, where communist insurrection was a lingering threat and where future CIA opera­ tions would be concentrated.255 Thompson is long reputed to have had CIA links and to have been involved as a go-between for Thai police and the KMT's drug traffickers active along the border. Thompson disappeared mysteriously in Malaysia in 1967. His sister, who was investi­ gating his disappearance at the time, was 254(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 71) 255ibid

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brutally murdered in the US a few months later.256 There is no question that Donovan had direct dealings with the KMT drug traffickers in Thai­ land. In 1953, Wild Bill was made the US Ambassador there. True to form, he wasted no time turning the ambassadorship into a launch­ ing pad for espionage activities. Shortly after accepting the post, Donovan made a coun­ ter-pitch to the Eisenhower administration: make him a roving regional envoy across South East Asia. In this capacity, he could dabble in the Malayan guerrilla conflict the British were then engaged in; Taiwanese covert operations into China; the defense of Hong Kong and the Philippines; even counter-insurgency in the French-Indochina War. From a base of opera­ tions in Thailand, Donovan would wage uncon­ ventional warfare against the communists to save Asia from the Iron Curtain.257 Neither the State Department, the Defense Departments, nor the CIA wanted any part of Donovan's scheme. Undeterred, Donovan 256(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 285n32) 257(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 822-823); (Waller, 363)

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would attempt to exercise authority across Southeast Asia anyway, mainly on his own dime. He made frequent trips across the region, dropping by Korea to hold talks with the Supreme Allied Commander there; to Malaysia to study new British counterinsur­ gency methods; and, of course, Indochina.258 Officially, he was in command of not just the Thai embassy, but also the propaganda, mili­ tary aid, and even CIA operations there, much to the chagrin of Director Allen Dulles.259 To accomplish these tasks, Donovan enlisted Green Berets from Fort Bragg and many old OSS hands, including Thai WCC representative Jim Thompson.260 One particular OSS man Donovan brought with him was famed anthro­ pologist Carleton Coon,261 who had worked with leading WCC figure Ricardo Sicre on the "Banana" teams intended to infiltrate Franco's Spain during 1943.262 Recall that Bill Stephen­ son was also active in Thailand during this 258(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 827) 259(Waller, 364) 260(Waller, 364-365) 261(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 825) 262(P. K. O'Donnell, 43)

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time. As such, the WCC's network was likely being used to support Donovan's operations in Thailand. Indeed, there is a sense that Donovan effec­ tively co-opted CIA operations there. Allen Dulles had not wanted Donovan in Thailand and had originally ordered his officers to spy on Wild Bill.263 Nonetheless, Donovan prevailed and assumed control of CIA operations. One of Donovan's operatives in Thailand would describe his operation as "a miniature OSS." 264 Reportedly, one of Donovan's CIA-related duties in Thailand was to clean up the KMT drug trafficking at the border with Burma.265 Donovan supposedly arranged for the depar­ ture of the KMT soldiers/drug traffickers after several months of protracted negations. Some 5000 human beings were ultimately shipped back to Taiwan.266 Naturally, they were airlifted back to Taiwan via Civil Air Transport (CAT)267, an airline that would later be sold to the CIA and renamed Air America. This particu­ 263(Waller, 367) 264(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 825) 265(Waller, 367); (S. Hersh, 411) 266(Waller, 367-368)

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lar airline was later implicated in CIA-sanc­ tioned drug trafficking during the Vietnam conflict.268 As for CAT, recall that future Commerce International China head Satiris Fassoulis flew for the airline before taking over the CIC, a likely subsidiary of the WCC. As for the removal of the KMT drug traffick­ ers overseen by Donovan, evidence indicates that this was little more than a farce. The bulk of the KMT forces who departed were old men, boys, and hill tribesmen. What's more, they were soon replaced by fresh troops, new arms, and a new commander.269 As was noted above, the KMT remained significant players in the Golden Triangle's drug trade for two additional decades. As such, it would seem that Donovan's role in this fiasco was not to crack down on KMT drug trafficking (especially after both he and the WCC had done so much to support the KMT regime in Taiwan) but to cover it up and rein­ force it. Burma had recently protested to the 267(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 85) 268see footnote 247 269(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 85)

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UN that KMT forces were setting up their own narco-state along the border with Thailand, fixing international attention upon that partic­ ular corner of Southeast Asia.270 By appearing to expel the KMT, Donovan presented the illu­ sion that the US was cracking down on the abuses there. And yet, all the while, he was actually strengthening the KMT presence by allowing them to bring in fresh troops. Very clever, that. Given the presence of Donovan in Thailand during this crucial time for the drug trade in addition to other WCC figures such as Sir William Stephenson and Jim Thompson, one is left with the sense of the company protecting its investment. That investment may well have been the KMT/Taiwan rather than the heroin trade, but given how closely intertwined all three were, support for the latter was inevitable. The KMT and Taiwan simply could not persist at this point without drug money. *** The close ties the WCC forged with the drugriddled regimes in Taiwan and Thailand make the corporation's links to various drug compa­ nies in the West especially ominous. While 270(Waller, 367)

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little remarked upon now, much of the illicit heroin and morphine that entered the US during the 1930s and 1940s originated from legally operated pharmaceutical companies. During that time, many of these companies were located in Germany, France, and Switzer­ land, including Merck, Hoffman, La Roche, AG, Sandoz (the first company to synthesize LSD), and IG Farben. These institutions produced much of the world's morphine, heroin, cocaine, and dilaudide during the interwar years. Effec­ tively, legal shipments went out the front door while the same drugs marked for illicit purposes went out the back. It was a highly lucrative practice, to put it mildly.271 Recall that one of the principal purposes of the WCC was to "fill the void" left by the German cartels such as IG Farben and that the WCC controlled a considerable amount of phar­ maceutical concerns. One of the most signifi­ cant, Biddle Sawyer, was well-positioned to refine opium into heroin or morphine. And with their strong ties to Taiwan and Thailand, the WCC certainly had access to ample amounts of raw opium. 271(Albarelli Jr., A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Cold War Experiments, 404-405)

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Was the WCC then, in part, an attempt to reestablish the interwar narcotics trade, but under the control of the US rather than conti­ nental European corporations? This is highly speculative on my part. Still, a precedent exists from the 1930s and 1940s, and the WCC had access to all the necessary components to relaunch the international narcotics racket. It probably goes without saying, but these activi­ ties would have provided sound cover for laun­ dering plundered Nazi gold as well. And indeed, there have been allegations that said plundered Nazi gold did, in fact, end up in Thailand during this period.272 Again, this is all highly speculative, but this combination of revenue --from Nazi gold and drug money --would have provided the WCC with ample untraceable funds for their stated purpose of functioning as a private Marshall Plan. In this capacity, the WCC would provide funds covertly to regimes (i.e. Taiwan) that the United States government was reluctant to have official dealings with while not having to 272(Loftus and Aarons, 110-111). As was noted in footnote 234, Loftus and Aaron are problematic. However, one of their sources was a former Office of Naval Intelligence man tasked with track­ ing Nazi gold since the end of the war. This same source later uncovered similar shady practices in Thailand.

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dip into the revenue generated by its legitimate business concerns. Thus, the WCC could remain highly profitable while promoting barter trade between developing countries that undoubtedly generated little revenue in terms of commis­ sion. While speculative, this may well consti­ tute a more satisfactory explanation for the WCC's largess than official history can muster. Despite being shuttered in 1962, the legacy of the WCC lives on. Biddle Sawyer is still with us, as is Commerce International China, now known as CIC International. As of 2005, former CAT pilot Satiris Fassoulis, still chairman and CEO of CIC then, was worth $150 million. Rather than supplying KMT forces, now the CIC appears to focus more on US ones. Circa 2008, it was poised to do some $870 million worth of business with the US Military. What's more, it appears to have a relationship with the CIA still, being one of the agency's principal brokers for arms, technology components, and logistics.273 Satiris finally shed his mortal coil in 2018 at the age of 96274, but the CIC contin­ ues. 273(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 291-292n104) 274(Sonny Fassoulis Remembered 2018)

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For our purposes here, the most persistent legacy of the WCC may well be honey-traps that have a lineage leading up to Jeffrey Epstein. Bill Stephenson's British Security Coordination was deeply involved in such things, with Stephenson's close aide, John Pepper, serving as overseer. These operations were later taken over by the OSS, with Ricardo Sicre participating on the American end. All three of these men would later end up at the WCC in senior positions. There is no direct evidence of the WCC being engaged in sexual blackmail, but the few researchers looking at this mysterious company do not seem to have considered such things. However, when one examines several of the acolytes raised by the WCC, the prospects that elements of the company were engaged in such things becomes all the more plausible. Their activities ultimately brought down the UK government during the mid-1960s and may well have done the same for the American one save for a timely assassination. But to get to that point, we must first consider three of the most notorious acolytes of the WCC and their respective capers during the 1950s and early 1960s. Their activities also provide a prism through which we can discern the changing 147

nature of the Special Relationship between the UK and the US. And finally, we shall be able to tangibly link things to Epstein and his network. But first, the acolytes, who shall be explored in the next two chapters. Before wrapping up, I would like to stress the lineage of private Anglo-American intelli­ gence networks that began in the interwar years with various trans-Atlantic "gentleman's clubs" and continued into the postwar years through the British-American-Canadian-Corpo­ ration and the World Commerce Corporation. Leading figures in the interwar gentleman's clubs, such was William "Wild Bill" Donovan, Rex Benson, and likely Nelson Rockefeller, bridged the gap between the interwar and postwar groups. Sir William Stephenson was likely a part of the interwar gentleman's clubs as well, while another leading figure, Sir William Wiseman, appears to have been a part of the WCC's broader network. These private Anglo-American intelligence networks would continue to the present, frequently with devastating consequences. Epstein is but one, as the following acolytes shall demonstrate.

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Part Two

Acolytes

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Chapter Three

The Robber Barons

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T

he 1950s proved to be extraordi­ nary for the Special Relationship between the US and the UK. Inevitably, a lot of friction emerged over the latter's declining empire in relation to the former's rising one. On the whole, he British empire was an anarchism by the 1950s, a relic of the bygone era. At times the US found it useful, but more often than not, it was an embarrassment. As the self-described champion of "democracy," it became increas­ ingly difficult for the US to justify its support of colonialism. And, support of decolonization was also seen as a means of opening up regions of the world previously closed to the US by the European powers, and especially the Cousins.275 Tensions emerged early in the 1950s. However, the nature of the Special Relation­ ship was changing amongst the security services shortly after the end of the Second 275 Various branches of the US and UK governments, but espe­ cially the intelligence services, often referred to their trans-At­ lantic counterparts as "Cousins" due to their shared heritage.

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World War. The Americans were tired of rely­ ing upon the "superior intelligence system of the British," but especially their covert opera­ tions capability.276 Plush with cash, the Yanks were soon able to close the gap in special oper­ ations expertise, making the British security services increasingly redundant as the 1940s came to a close. Despite this, there was a close collaboration between the US and the UK in the immediate aftermath of WWII to set up anti-communist "stay-behind" networks across Western Europe.277 As the decade drew to a close, the secret services for both nations worked closely with various Eastern European émigré groups to stir up rebellion across the Soviet Bloc. This was especially true in Albania, were the UK and the US both gave it the old college try to detach the long-suffering nation from the communists.278 That particular effort was a complete and utter failure, resulting in numer­ ous deaths and the squandering of considerable financial resources. The chief culprit was pene­ 276(Cormac, Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces, and the Secret Pursuit of British Foreign Policy, 29) 277(Ganser, NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, 41-42)

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tration: the Soviets had thoroughly penetrated both the émigré groups and British intelli­ gence.279 Soviet penetration made the Americans increasingly less likely to collaborate with the British on many projects. Chief among them was the development of nuclear weapons. Throughout WW II the British and American programs closely collaborated. In the fall of 1945, a Soviet cipher clerk named Igor Gouzenko at the Soviet embassy in Canada defected with transcripts of the USSR's espi­ onage activities against its Allies. The degree of penetration, especially within the wartime atomic program, was shocking. This resulted in 278Compelling accounts of the UK's collaboration with the US in Albania operations can be found in Dorril's MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service (355-403), Corera's The Art of Betrayal: The Secret History of MI6 (55-65), and Cormac's Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces, and the Secret Pursuit of British Foreign Policy (42-51). For the American perspective see, for instance, Hersh's The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA (261-274; 319-323 ) or Simpson's Blowback (123-124; 145-146). 279(Corera, 66); (Cormac, 50); (B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 270-272; 274); (Simp­ son, 124). Notorious Soviet double agent Kim Philby tends to be the one blamed for the disastrous Albanian undertaking. But Alba­ nian émigrés, many of them former Nazi collaborators, had already been thoroughly penetrated well before Philby began play­ ing a leading role in the Albanian operations.

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the US Congress passing the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, commonly referred to as the McMahon Act, which severely restricted sharing nuclear technologies with Canada and the UK. The result was devastating for the UK's nuclear ambitions.280 This appears to have only strengthened the British resolve to achieve their own "indepen­ dent nuclear deterrent." In 1946, under Labour Prime Minister Clement Atlee, the UK launched a highly secretive and costly nuclear program of its own.281 The British finally exploded an Abomb in Australia during 1951. It resulted in some loosening of the McMahon Act by the US. However, it was not until 1958 that the US finally conceded to significant revisions to atomic agreements with the UK.282 The tension experienced by the British for nearly a dozen years of being in the atomic wilderness was further exacerbated by addi­ tional geopolitical strains on the Special Rela­ tionship. Those shall be explored later in this 280(Dorril, 152); (Leigh, The Wilson Plot: How the Spycatchers and Their American Allies Tried to Overthrow the British Govern­ ment, 4) 281(Dorril, 158-159); (Leigh, 4) 282(Dorril, 155); (Leigh, 4-5)

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chapter. For now, let us consider one possible British response to being frozen out of the US' nuclear activities. It appears to have deeply involved the British figures behind the World Commerce Corporation (WCC). When we last considered Sir Charles Hambro, the powerful merchant banker, former Special Operations Executive (SOE) head, and early investor in the WCC, he was led the British branch of the Allied ALOS mission to capture German nuclear secrets while sitting on various committees managing the flow of uranium.283 In other words, Hambro was very actively involved in nuclear intelligence, a endeavor he would continue into the postwar years. In 1946, the British established the Scientific Advisory Board within the mysterious Cabinet Office to acquire additional scientific intelli­ gence, emphasizing enemy scientific journals. Many eminent scientists were involved with the board, including Sir John Anderson (then also the head of the UK's Atomic Energy Committee), Sir Charles Darwin, and Sir Alexander Fleming. Also present was 283(Dorril, 138)

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Hambro.284 It was decided that the UK needed its own first-rate scientific publication and thus, a relationship with the old publishing house Butterworth Scientific Publications was forged.285 The emissary between the Scientific Advisory Board and Butterworth was Count Frederick Vanden Heuvel, Hambro's long-time "fixer," and an MI6 veteran who worked with Claude Dansey's "Z-net" (noted in Chapter 1) during WWII. At the time, Butterworth featured two former SOE hands in prominent roles. One was its joint managing director, John Whitlock, while the other was Hugh Quennell, a fellow director.286 Butterworth struggled, and in 1948 it was merged with the prestigious German scientific publishing house, Springer Verlag. The new entity, Butterworth Springer, also featured Whitlock and Quennell as directors, with Vanden Heuvel as their go-between for Hambro and the rest of the Scientific Advisory Board. However, the new venture proved no more successful than earlier Butterworth Scientific 284ibid, 140. 285ibid. 286ibid.

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Publications, leaving the company at a cross­ roads.287 Fortunately, it had a managing direc­ tor who would become one of the most success­ ful British media barons of the Cold War era. His name, by the late 1940s, was Robert Maxwell.288 He is the infamous publishing mogul and long-suspected spy who fathered Jeffrey Epstein's reputed future madam, Ghis­ laine. The exploits of the senior Maxwell, or "Cap'n Bob" as he was later referred to in certain quarters of the British media, will be 287(Dorril, 141) 288Maxwell has been the subject of numerous biographies, none of them satisfactory. Probably the most balanced are the ones written by Tom Bower, Maxwell: The Outsider (1992) and Maxwell: The Final Verdict (1995). More biased accounts appear in A Mind of My Own: My Life with Robert Maxwell (Maxwell 1994) by Maxwell's long-suffering wife Elisabeth and Death of a Tycoon: An Insider's Account of the Fall of Robert Maxwell (1992) by former underling Nick Davies. One of the more popular and specu­ lative accounts is Robert Maxwell, Israel's Super Spy: The Life and Death of a Media Mogul (2002) by Gordon Thomas and Martin Dillon. While the authors make a very compelling case for Maxwell's "accidental" death being a murder, the account is highly biased regarding Maxwell's Israeli links. The same is also true of the extended account of Maxwell found in The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People (197-218) by John Loftus and Mark Aarons. Maxwell's rela­ tionship with Israel will be explored in much greater depth in the second volume of this trilogy. One of the best accounts of Maxwell's activities during the 1980s can be found in various parts of Geoffrey Gilson's Maggie's Hammer (2015).

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dealt with in much greater depth during the second installment in this trilogy. For now, I merely want to focus on one of the most crucial and little remarked upon episodes in his highly colorful life. Maxwell was famously a Czechoslovakian émigré who fled to France to avoid the Nazis. There, he signed on with the Czechoslovak Army in Exile and saw combat during the inva­ sion of France. After the fall, he fled to the UK where he ended up in the British Army. Maxwell saw combat in Europe and was heav­ ily decorated for his bravery. By the end of the war, he had achieved the rank of Captain. There has been much dispute as to whether Maxwell had any intelligence ties during WWII. Regardless, he drew interest from both sides of the emerging Iron Curtain in the conflict's immediate aftermath. In Germany, Maxwell, who spoke eight different languages, was used as an interpreter by the British Army's Intelli­ gence Corps Headquarters (HQ). During this time, Maxwell forged ties with the KGB as well.289

289(Dorril, 141); (Davies, 247); (Bower, Maxwell: The Final Verdict, 157-158)

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Later, Maxwell would end up in Vienna, one of the major hot spots during the early Cold War. This was the Vienna depicted in Graham Greene's The Third Man and the subsequent Orson Wells' adaptation. Maxwell thus earned his stripes in some difficult environments. Reportedly, his handler in Vienna for the British was legendary MI6 man George Kennedy "GK" Young, of whom we will hear much more about in the second half of this chapter.290 It was during this time that Maxwell began displaying a real talent for business. By the early 1950s, he already owned a distribution house for scientific publications.291 Thus, a decision was made to help Maxwell take over the faltering Butterworth Springer. In 1951, Butterworth sold Maxwell their shares in the venture, and he promptly changed the name of the company to Pergamon Press. It would remain the flagship for Maxwell's business empire for decades to come.292 The Butterworth shares cost £13,000, a not inconsiderable 290(Dorril, 142) 291(Maxwell, 236) 292For more on the importance of Pergamon to Maxwell, see Maxwell, A Mind of My Own; and Bower, Maxwell: The Outsider.

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amount of coin at the time and more than Maxwell could afford. Fortunately, Sir Charles was more than happy to lend him the money.293 How he came to the attention of Sir Charles Hambro is much disputed. Maxwell claimed the introduction was made by ex-SOE man John Whitlock.294 Elisabeth Maxwell, Cap'n Bob's widow, alleges that Vanden Heuvel made the introduction.295 Celebrated investigative jour­ nalists Tom Bower and Nick Davies, that latter of whom also being Cap'n Bob's former busi­ ness partner, claim that it was Anne Dove, Maxwell's old secretary and mistress.296 Of note, Dove also worked for the SOE. She was a secretary during the war and is credited with introducing Maxwell to many veterans of that outfit.297 And make no mistake --Maxwell was surrounded by old SOE hands. With Whitlock, he became involved with another publisher, Simpkin Marshall, not long after Pergamon 293(Dorril, 141); (Maxwell, 237). 294(Dorril, 141) 295(Maxwell, 237) 296(Bower, Maxwell: The Outsider, 49-50); (Davies, 90) 297(Bower, Maxwell: The Outsider, 49-50)

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launched in 1951.298 Elsewhere, the Maxwell's regularly threw parties featuring the Vanden Heuvel's and SOE hands like Hambro, Whit­ lock, and Quennell.299 Despite his longstanding claims of socialism, Maxwell spent much of the 1950s existing comfortably alongside leading Tories such as Hambro. Indeed, Sir Charles had even attempted to enlist Maxwell to run as a Conservative at one point. When he entered politics towards the end of the decade, Cap'n Bob did so on the Labour ticket, though many within the party feared he was a closet Tory.300 Maxwell's inroads to Labour were managed through the same SOE network that recruited him during the 1950s. It was Anne Dove, Maxwell's ever-faithful secretary and mistress, who brought Maxwell into the orbit of Hugh Gaitskell.301 Gaitskell worked with the SOE in the Ministry of Economic Warfare during WWII and later became the Labour Party leader in 1955. He held the post until he died in 1963.

298(Maxwell, 248-251) 299(Maxwell, 256) 300ibid, 298. 301(Bower, Maxwell: The Outsider, 65); (Maxwell, 260-261)

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Maxwell was elected to Parliament on the Labour ticket during the following year. Thus, Cap'n Bob very much appears to have been a creation of this SOE network in the postwar UK, which enabled him to lay the foundation for his later media empire. Was Maxwell then another asset of the World Commerce Corporation (WCC) network? This is certainly a possibility as Hambro was as responsible for Maxwell's rise as anyone. His patronage coincided with the years in which he appears to have been extraordinarily active in the WCC network. But Hambro's sponsorship of Maxwell may have had an ulterior purpose, and one of which the Cousins would have been kept firmly in the dark regarding. In 1954, a remarkable meeting occurred in Moscow. Maxwell and the ever-present Anne Dove ventured behind the Iron Curtain to procure the rights to translate and publish Soviet scientific journals and books in the West. After weeks of vetting by the KGB, they agreed to Maxwell's request, paving the way for Pergamon to become one of the world's leading scientific publications. With a near

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monopoly on Soviet scientific papers, Maxwell soon became very rich.302 At the time, the Soviet Union was desperate for scientific information coming out of the West. America was just coming out of McCarthyism's grips, which had resulted in the flow of scientific knowledge into the Soviet Union drying up. This was especially true of all things related to nuclear power.303 A year later, Maxwell turned up at the First United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. He hobnobbed with leading Western scientists, including the Americans, in the atomic energy racket. By all accounts, Maxwell's efforts were widely successful, and he soon found himself in contact with many of the world's leading scientists.304 What was going on? Had the Soviets turned Maxwell? MI5, the UK's counterespionage service, certainly thought so. They were aware of his KGB contacts not long after he returned from Moscow in 1954. Anne Dove was brought in by MI5 to personally vouch for Maxwell's loyalty. Given Dove's close ties to Hambro's 302(Bower, Maxwell: The Final Verdict, 159-160) 303(Davies, 249) 304(Maxwell, 265)

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SOE network, it seems probable they also found Maxwell to be suitably loyal. And their contacts in MI6 began meeting with Maxwell to gauge his impressions of the USSR.305 This presents a curious state of affairs. By the mid-1950s, Maxwell appears to be trusted by senior intelligence figures within the UK and the Soviet Union despite both being aware that Maxwell was collaborating with the other. The most likely explanation for this contradic­ tory situation is that Maxwell was used as an unofficial back channel between both enti­ ties.306 This is a role Maxwell likely played for decades. As recently as 1990, Gorbachov and Thatcher were using Maxwell to pass personal messages.307 But there may have been a more nefarious purpose at play as well, at least in regards to the US. During the mid-1950s, both the Soviet Union and the UK were desperate for informa­ tion on the US's nuclear developments. In particular, the UK would have done anything that would have enabled them to develop their own "independent deterrent." Is it possible 305(Bower, Maxwell: The Final Verdict, 160) 306(Bloom, 192) 307(Davies, 266-267)

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that they agreed to discreetly share technology with the Soviet Union for this purpose? For the Soviet Union, such a play would make a lot of sense. While the UK's nuclear science was no doubt grossly inferior to what the Soviet Union possessed, the Brits would have had access to other things of interest, such as US's emerging surveillance technology. Of all the various intelligence collaborations between the US and the UK, there was none closer than on signals intelligence (SIGINT). The relationship between the National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain's equivalent, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), was closer than any other intelligence service.308 The UK would never pose a serious nuclear threat to the Soviet Union, while enabling them to develop an "independent deterrent" would potentially weaken their ties to the Americans. What's more, the Soviets could have gained access to highly coveted SIGNIT tech through such an arrangement. But would the UK risk the Special Relation­ ship with the US over what many within their establishment realized was a pipe dream? 308(Leigh, 6); (Wright, 98-99)

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During much of the Cold War, such a prospect would have been unthinkable. But the mid1950s was, in many ways, the nadir of the US/UK relationship during the Cold War. Based on events then unfolding, it's entirely possible the British establishment felt it was best to keep all their cards on the table. *** After nearly a decade of close collaboration between the US and the UK, cracks emerged over the Middle East in the early 1950s. This divide was rooted in the different concerns over that particular region of the world. For the US, the overriding concern was commu­ nism. While the Soviet threat was also of inter­ est to the Brits, it was dwarfed by the emerging tide of nationalism gripping the region.309 All across the Middle East, the last vestiges of European colonialism were cast aside, and nationalism spread like a plague. While the US possessed some weariness over the emerging Arab nationalism, it also saw an excellent opportunity to push out the old European powers and establish its own client regimes. The first significant flash point occurred in Iran. While nowadays it's fashionable to credit 309(Dorril, 670)

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the 1953 coup that restored the Shah to the CIA, this plot was thoroughly British and initially resisted by the Americans.310 Intrigues in Albania also began as a British plot that the CIA later took over,311 but this time around the results were much different. It all started with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), which later became British Petroleum (BP). Upon the election of national­ ist Dr. Mohammed Mossadeq as prime minister in 1951, Iran moved to nationalize AOIC. Imme­ diately, the British began plotting a change in government. Initially, this was to occur via a direct intervention involving British troops being deployed to Iran to "guard" the AIOC facilities. The plan received vigorous opposi­ tion from the Americans, with President Truman directly intervening to put the kibosh on any potential invasion.312 This was part of Truman's broader policy across the developing world. Truman saw some degree of social 310Two excellent accounts of the British side of the Iranian coup can be found Dorril's MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service (558-599) and Cormac's Disrupt and Deny (91-108). 311(B. Hersh, The Old Boys: The American Elite and the Origins of the CIA, 261-262) 312(Dorril, 561-562)

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change, especially concerning colonialism, as inevitable, and thus tried to align the US with anti-communist nationalist governments. In this regard, Mossadeq showed great poten­ tial.313 Unwilling to let the matter rest, the British turned to covert means to undermine Mossadeq. It began with a massive propaganda campaign to blame any hardships the nation endured on the prime minister's decision to nationalize the oil. The British also began dispensing money in the form of bribes to vari­ ous factions within Iran to build up opposition to Mossadeq. These actions were a success. By 1952, the Iranian press, the powerful bazaar merchants, and numerous politicians turned against the prime minister. The climate seemed favorable with the nation poised to hold an election. But then Mossadeq, suspecting a British plot, suspended elections. He promptly requested emergency war powers from the Shah, and then dramatically resigned. This triggered

313(Dorril, 580)

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massive protests from Mossadeq's followers, forcing the Shah to reappoint him prime minis­ ter within a week. Fortunately for the British, the election of Dwight Eisenhower as the US president in 1952 ushered in a somewhat more favorable climate. Ike was willing to back British efforts to over­ throw Mossadeq, but at a price: the old general wanted a share of the Iranian oil.314 The Ameri­ can oil majors had already been working in conjunction with AIOC since 1951 to facilitate regime change. They were able to procure 40 percent of the oil produced in Iran in exchange for American involvement.315 Beyond this, the CIA had grown concerned that Mossadeq was out to destroy the monar­ chy. This was a development MI6 welcomed. The British spooks had grown concerned that the Foreign Minister (and future prime minis­

314(Cormac, 98) 315(Scott, The American Deep State: Wall Street, Big Oil, and the Attack on U.S. Democracy , 19-20)

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ter) Anthony Eden was getting cold feet. Fortu­ nately for all involved, Eden became ill and was replaced briefly by the 5th Marquess of Salis­ bury, part of the powerful Cecil family discussed in Chapter 1. From this series of events and compromises came the joint Anglo-American cooperation to overthrow Mossadeq. The Americans dubbed it Operation Ajax and took credit for the opera­ tion, though it bore similarities to prior British schemes.316 British personnel on the ground were withdrawn to Cyprus and replaced by their American counterparts in the months leading up to the coup. Officially, famed CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt Jr, the son of gentle­ man's club317 fixture Kermit Sr and TR's grand­ son, took the lead while continuing to lean on the British networks.318 Once again, massive propaganda and bribery were put into effect to galvanize various factions. The Americans added provocative "false flag" operations, including attacks on 316(Dorril, 586) 317I, of course, refer to the trans-Atlantic gentleman's club network that was used informally by British intelligence during the interwar years. This network was outlined in the first chapter. 318(Cormac, 101)

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religious leaders, forged documents linking Mossadeq to the communists, and sham bomb­ ings. These efforts excited the anti-Mossadeq groups, who joined in on the fun with a wave of kidnappings and murders. One of the victims was General Mahmoud Afshartus, the chief of police. He was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered, with his mangled body dumped outside Tehran for good effect. The British later acknowledged that the kidnapping was their idea, but "third parties" had gotten a little carried away.319 The coup began around August 15, but unfor­ tunately for MI6 and the CIA, an Iranian officer in the Imperial Guard betrayed this plot to Mossadeq. The prime minister avoided capture, and quickly the Shah, London, and Washington all began to lose their collective nerve. MI6 and the CIA were undeterred, however. MI6 arranged a "communications failure" from a wireless relay in Cyprus so that their CIA coun­ terparts on the ground in Iran could not be ordered to stand down. Then, on August 19, MI6 and CIA used bribes to facilitate a massive street protest in Tehran that plunged the nation into chaos. The stage was now set for 319(Cormac, 102)

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the type of military coup MI6 had been angling for from the get-go. Mossadeq was finally arrested, and by the next day pro-Shah forces were firmly in control of the government.320 In many ways, the Iranian coup represented a kind of last hurrah for the Anglo-American intelligence services. After working hand-inglove with one another for over a decade, the divide leading up to the coup became more blatant as the decade progressed. While Eisen­ hower was less concerned with colonialism than his predecessor, his administration brought the Dulles brothers to power --John Foster as Secretary of State and Allen as direc­ tor of the CIA. Both men were fairly Anglopho­ bic,321 and believed that independent British imperial policy was "impossible where this conflicted with American political and commer­ cial interests."322 320(Cormac, 105-106) 321While the Dulles brothers are often depicted as Anglophiles, the reality is that both men, and especially Allen, enjoyed far closer relations with Nazi Germany both leading up to the war, and after the US had entered the conflict. Indeed, the closeness Allen Dulles had with the Nazi regime has been the source of much speculation. See, for instance, Talbot's The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government (15-116). 322(Dorril, 598)

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This perspective became apparent with the next British Middle Eastern coup attempt. The Cousins dubbed it Operation Straggle. Yet again, MI6 was able to procure tentative support from the CIA for a coup, this time in Syria. The British also sought to enlist the proUK government in Iraq in the plot. From the start, senior CIA officials dubbed Straggle "lunacy."323 After some tentative collaboration, MI6 and the CIA embarked upon separate plots to unseat the Syrian regime, frequently conflicted with one another in the process. Ultimately, the Syrians uncovered the British plot and rolled up the Anglo-Iraqi network. The CIA and their assets were already enraged by the British, believing they had been set up in regards to the unfolding Suez Crisis. 324 Nothing better illustrates the Special Rela­ tionship's strain by the mid-1950s than the Suez Crisis and the events leading up to it. General Gamal Abdel Nasser first came to 323(Leigh, 15); (Dorril, 615-616). Reportedly, not all elements of the CIA were hostile to Straggle, however. Once again, Kermit Roosevelt Jr. would work closely with the British on Straggle, though the possibility remains his interest was simply a feign on behalf of the CIA to keep tabs on what the British were up too. However, like both his father and grandfather, Kermit's appears to have been quite the Anglophile as well. 324(Cormac, 115-117)

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prominence in Egypt in 1952, when he led a coup against the British-backed monarchy. In 1954, following an attempt on his life by the Muslim Brotherhood, he became Egypt's second president. He held that position until he died on September 28, 1970. American and the British attitudes concern­ ing Nasser were immediately opposed to one another. The CIA tentatively backed Nasser's coup against the monarchy, believing that he could become a staunch anti-communist ally in that region of the world.325 Indeed, it is alleged that none other than Kim Roosevelt helped organize the coup that brought Nasser to power.326 Kim Roosevelt and another famed CIA officer, Miles Copeland, would forge close ties with Nasser's regime. By 1954, the Egyptian colonel asked the CIA men to put pressure on the British to withdraw their troops.327 It was likely during this same year that Nasser approached famed Nazi commando, Otto Skorzeny, about procuring German advis­ 325(Lee, The Beast Reawakens, 124) 326(Copeland, 153). These allegations were made by famed CIA officer Miles Copeland, a frequent cohort of Roosevelt's in the Middle East and a veteran of the Iranian coup. 327(Dorril, 602)

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ers to train his army and intelligence services.328 This approach was understandable as various former Nazis had already been working with the Egyptian military since the early 1950s and may even have played a role in the coup that brought Nasser to power.329 Skorzeny reported this approach to the CIA station in Madrid. He was promptly given the green light and began recruiting a host of exNazis for Nasser, with the assistance of the Gehlen Org (later the BND, West Germany's principal foreign intelligence service, and a haven for former Nazis).330 Even before Skorzeny entered the picture, a great deal of resentment towards the Cousins emerged among leading Tories.331 But, more venom was reserved for Nasser. In 1954, in an 328(Copeland, 181) 329(Lee, 124) 330(Copeland, 181); (Lee, 125-126); (Ganis, 152-155); (Coogan, Dreamer of the Day: Francis Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International, 384); (J. M. Bale, The Darkest Sides of Poli­ tics, I: Postwar Fascism, Covert Operations, and Terrorism, 77). Most accounts insist that Skorzeny did not become involved with Egypt until after the CIA had reached out to the Gehlen Org to train Nasser's forces as a third party. However, Miles Copeland insists that it was Nasser's approach to Skorzeny that spurred the CIA to enlist the Gehlen Org/BND 331(Dorril, 603)

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informal capacity, plans to depose Nasser had begun, but were briefly dropped after the British announced their intentions to withdraw their forces.332 By 1955, the game was once again afoot. The most extreme option considered was assassination.333 This option enjoyed support from no less a figure than Prime Minister Anthony Eden, who once brazenly declared to a Cabinet minister: "I want him destroyed, can't you understand? I want him murdered...".334 Unsurprisingly, the CIA was shocked by these developments, particularly how blatant elements of the British Establishment were in their desire to liquidate Nasser.335 However, while numerous plots were discussed, it does­ n't seem like things ever got out of the plan­ ning stage. Dick White, the newly appointed chief of MI6, was especially opposed to this extreme option.336 332(Cormac, 121) 333(Dorril, 610); (Cormac, 123-124) 334(Cormac, Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces, and the Secret Pursuit of British Foreign Policy, 123) 335(Dorril, 610) 336(Cormac, 123-124)

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As with Iran, bribery and propaganda formed integral parts of the British strategy. A leading figure in the last efforts was Douglas DoddsParker, the former SOE man turned Conserva­ tive MP. As you will recall, Dodds-Parker was also a figure in the broader World Commerce Corporation (WCC) network outlined in Chap­ ter 2. Beginning in September 1956, he chaired the "Dodds-Parker Advisory Committee," geared towards exploring non-military measures to depose Nasser. This included black propaganda and economic and political opera­ tions.337 Joining Dodds-Parker on his committee was Sir Charles Hambro,338 a leading figure in the British-American-Canadian-Corporation and the WCC network. As was noted Chapter 2, Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny had become a business partner of Ricardo Sicre and Frank Ryan. Sicre was a leading figure in the WCC while Frank Ryan was its long-time president. What's more, both men were based out of Madrid when Skorzeny

337(Cormac, 124-125); (Dorril, 624-625) 338(Dorril, 624)

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was allegedly approached by Nasser for men and reported the request to the Madrid CIA station. It's hardly beyond the realm of possi­ bility that Sicre and/or Ryan were also privy to this approach. Two years later, we Dodds-Parker and Hambro involved in efforts to destabilize Nasser's regime. The BACC/WCC network was instrumental in preserving the Anglo-American Special Relationship in the immediate postwar years. And yet the situation in Egypt had even divided this influential network into opposing camps. But moving along. After British efforts to destabilize Nasser's regime failed to yield the expected results, Eden escalated things to the next stage: direct military intervention. This ploy was driven by Nasser's decision to nationalize the AngloFrench Suez Canal Company in July 1956. 339 Much of the oil then reaching the UK made its way through the canal, making it a significant lifeline. Nasser, in control of this crucial oil choke point, was not seen as desirable, to put it mildly. The seizure of the canal led to secret discus­ sions between Britain, France (who, in addition 339(Dorril, 623); (Cormac, 127)

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to having the canal they partly owned national­ ized, also believed Nasser was supporting rebels in French colonial territories in North Africa), and Israel (who saw Nasser as a threat to their national interests). A plan was agreed upon: Israel would invade Egypt, thereby necessitating a joint military intervention by the UK and France to 'stabilize' (read: seize the canal zone) the region.340 Israel began its inva­ sion on October 29, and a week later, British and French paratroopers were deployed, as planned. Initially, the Israeli/French/British forces were successful and victory seemed imminent. But then, the US chose to intervene. In response to the invasion, Nasser blocked the canal. This immediately and dramatically impacted the British economy. The nation was rapidly running out of oil from the Middle East and would be forced to buy it from alternative sources --sources that the UK could not afford at the time. Naturally, the British asked the US for a loan to tide them over while the invasion was ongoing. US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles blatantly refused.341 340(Dorril, 640-645); 341(Dorril, 646); (Leigh, The Wilson Plot, 15)

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While the British empire had effectively ended with the Second World War, the pretense continued up until the Suez Crisis. But with America's decision to withhold funding, and thus forcing the British to withdraw its troops, it became evident that the UK was no longer a global power. Indeed, it was mostly dependent upon the Special Relationship to continue projecting power in the aftermath of Suez. This left many British elites to wonder just how special the Special Relationship was. Whether the US refused to back the British because of the student revolts in Hungary, or to break the British stranglehold in the Middle East, is a matter of debate.342 It is not debatable that the British intelligence community and the broader Tory establishment were left deeply divided about their American Cousins. *** Among the most hostile was infamous MI6 officer George Kennedy "GK" Young. Young first rose to prominence during WWII by dismantling Italian and German intelligence networks in Italy on behalf of MI6, and work­ ing closely with the OSS's famed X-2 counterin­ telligence staff. In this capacity, he encoun­ 342(Leigh, 15); (Corera, 81-82)

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tered the CIA's future counterintelligence chief, the legendary James Jesus Angleton.343 In the postwar years, Young would serve as chief of station in the crucial Cold War outposts of Berlin and Vienna.344 By the early 1950s, Young was a rising star within MI6. He was part of a far-right, hard line imperialistic clique dubbed the "Robber Barons."345 Another noteworthy member was fellow MI6 hand Nicholas Elliot, who appears a time or two in this saga. Young and Elliot, along with the rest of the Robber Barons, because infamous for their advocacy of covert operations, at times bypassing MI6's upper hierarchy altogether to implement their schemes in the field. As such, it is little surprise that Young played a leading role in efforts to destabilize Iran, Syria, and Egypt throughout the 1950s.346 By 1959, Young was an MI6 deputy-director. However, the Robber Barons were out of favor 343(Teacher, Rogue Agents: The Cercle and the 6I in the Private Cold War 1951-1991, 43); (Leigh, 13) 344(Leigh, 13); (Corera, 29-30) 345(Corera, 76). For more information on the Robber Barons, see Dorril's MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service (26-27; 494; 516) and Corera's The Art of Betrayal: The Secret History of MI6 (76; 78; 177).

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and gingerly being drummed out of the service. Young left MI6 in 1961. Whether GK ever truly left the game is debatable. Upon his retire­ ment, he joined the merchant bank Kleinwort Benson, a firm with longstanding British intel­ ligence ties.347 What's more, the Benson in Kleinwort Benson derived from the Benson family of merchant bankers that spawned longtime British spy Rex Benson. As was noted in Chapter 1, Benson was a leading figure in the interwar gentleman's clubs, while Chapter 2 outlined his likely involvement in the BACC/WCC network. Rex became the chairman of Robert Benson & Co in 1936 and held the chairmanship until 1959. He was still active with the bank's board until 1961, the year it merged with Kleinwort and that Young joined the bank. In addition to his work with Kleinwort Benson, Young was also active in far-right poli­ tics in the UK, most notably with the Monday

346(Leigh, 14-15); (Corera, 78-81); (Cormac, 115-123). For a more in-depth account of Young's activities in the Middle East during the mid-1950s, see Dorril's MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service (558-651). 347(James, In the Public Interest, 126)

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Club.348 This outfit was a ginger group349 set up within the Tory Party in 1961, so named because members met on Mondays.350 It featured many Members of Parliament (MP) for the Conservatives, more than a few with intel­ ligence ties.351 Also present were the heads of the Salisbury branch of the Cecil family. Both the 5th and 6th Marquess of Salisbury were long-time members. As was detailed in the Chapter 1, the Cecil family was powerful in the UK for centuries while the Chapter 2 noted their links to the BACC/WCC network. But, moving along. The Monday Club was formed in response to the decolonization policies of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, Eden's successor, especially 348(James, 44); (Teacher, 43) 349A "ginger group" is typically defined as an informal group within an organization seeking to influence its direction, in case all you Americans were wondering. 350(James, 43) 351(Teacher, 41). In addition to Young, other "former" intelli­ gence officers linked to the Monday Club included MI6 and Special Operations Executive (SOE) hand Julian Amery, of whom much more will be said in the next chapter. There was also Stephen Hastings, an early Special Air Services (SAS) member who later joined the SOE and MI6. Hastings may have been another Robber Baron, having departed MI6 in 1960 over his disgust concerning Suez. He promptly became a Conservative MP.

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in Africa. Throughout the Cold War, the Monday Club would remain staunch supporters of white rule in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Apartheid South Africa.352 As the 1960s progressed, they lurched even further to the right. Under Young's guidance, the Monday Club became fixated on communist subversion of the British left and anti-immigration poli­ cies. GK oversaw the Halt Immigration Now Campaign within the Monday Club while, in 1969, the organization published his Who Goes Home. This pamphlet called for the mandatory reparation of peoples of African descent, among other things.353 In many ways, the Monday Club was the British alt-right of its day. No doubt the British National Party, the UK Independent Party, and Brexit all trace their lineage back to the Monday Club, which is still active in a more watered-down form than what existed during the Cold War. There was one striking differ­ ence among several of the most noteworthy

352(Teacher, 41) 353(Teacher, 43)

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Monday Clubbers, including Young, and their alt-right successors: the European Union (EU). British attitudes, especially among the Tories, have always been rather complex regarding the EU and the earlier European Movement(EM) from which it derived. Support for the EM emerged among two powerful groups in the UK during WWII. One was the Round Table movement, briefly outlined in the Chapter 1. Leading Round Table figures such as Philip Kerr (Lord Lothian), David Astor, and Leopold Amery became leading backers of a United Europe during and after the war.354 Elsewhere, considerable support emerged within the Special Operations Executive (SOE), which worked directly with various resistance groups across Europe. Numerous figures from these groups found their way into the ranks of the SOE. One of them was the Pole, Joseph Retinger, the founder of the EM. Another was the Italian, Edgardo Sogno, who became involved with the European Federalist Move­ ment (EFM) in Milan in 1943. Both Sogno and the EFM would play leading roles in coordinat­ ing European federalists in the postwar years. 354(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 456-457)

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SOE chief and future BACC/WCC affiliate Colin Gubbins also became a leading backer of a United Europe during the war and beyond.355 In the postwar years, another prominent SOE veteran and BACC/WCC affiliate linked to the movement was Douglas Dodds-Parker.356 Despite considerable support from exclusive bodies such as the Round Table movement and the SOE, it's likely the European project would have never gotten off the ground without the enthusiastic support of one particular man: Winston Churchill. After the Tories were voted out in 1945 in favor of Labour, Churchill tried rallying support among the party while they were in opposition. He was joined in these efforts by his son-in-law, Duncan Sandys, who will appear a time or two in this saga.357 Churchill called for "a kind of United States of Europe" that stretched from the "Atlantic to the Black Sea."358 This led to the creation of the United Europe Movement (UEM) in 1947, which later became the broader EM of 355ibid 356(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 458) 357(Dorril, 458-459) 358(Dorril, 459)

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Retinger. Almost immediately, the UEM looked to the US for funding. Support was given by Sir William Wiseman, the principal MI6 contact among the various gentleman's clubs in the interwar years and later an affiliate of the BACC/WCC network.359 These efforts bore fruit in 1949 with the creation of the American Committee for a United Europe (ACUE), a thinly veiled intelli­ gence front. The bulk of the funding for the ACUE, which was clandestinely transferred to the EM, came from the Office of Policy Coordi­ nation (OPC). The OPC specialized in covert operations and was eventually rolled into the CIA during the early 1950s, establishing the Directorate of Operations. Leading figures in the ACUE included future CIA directors Walter Bedell Smith and Allen Dulles, as well as William Donovan.360 It was Wild Bill, having recently assumed the chairmanship of the WCC, whom Churchill initially appealed to for EM funding.361 The Anglo-American BACC/WCC network played a crucial role behind the scenes within the EM. 359(Dorril, 460-461) 360(Dorril, 464-465); (Teacher, 18) 361(Dorril, 465)

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However, even at this point, the US and the UK had differing views concerning the EM and what would become the EU. From the begin­ ning, the Americans showed a willingness to back a more federalist vision of a United Europe that would have led to a loss of national sovereignty.362 By contrast, Churchill envi­ sioned an emerging world order divided into four blocs: the American empire, the Soviet Union, Europe, and the British empire.363 In other words, despite being a staunchbacker of European Unity, Churchill viewed Britain as separate from mainland Europe. This was a view shared by many leading Tories throughout the 1950s and 1960s, with Britain remaining staunchly opposed to ceding any of its national sovereignty for the sake of joining the emerging EU. This resistance was rooted in fear of sacrificing its Special Relationship with the US and the Commonwealth. The French, under President Charles de Gaulle, ensured that this would be the price of EU membership, and for years the UK was unwilling to make this sacrifice.364 362(Dorril, 460) 363(Dorril, 462)

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The Suez Crisis had shaken faith in the Special Relationship across the British Estab­ lishment, however. Prime Minister Anthony Eden concluded that the only Special Relation­ ship that existed was the one between the US and UK intelligence services,365 and even that one was on the rocks in the aftermath of Suez. Reportedly, MI6 was even forbidden from having any dealings with the CIA for a time.366 Within MI6, European-leaning officers lamented that the UK had not made more effort to integrate itself with the emerging European community. At the forefront was George Kennedy Young. Despite his far-right and imperialistic leanings, Young was a supporter of European federalism and believed that the UK should have pursued a closer relationship with their European coun­ terparts over the US. While this may seem to be a contradiction in the twenty-first century, in the aftermath of Brexit, far-right British Tories of the early Cold War era saw the Euro­ pean community as an alternative power base 364(Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World In Our Time, 1282-1283) 365(Dorril, 646) 366(Dorril, 648)

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for the UK. Throughout the 1950s, the UK had enough prestige to establish itself as a major power within the European community. Instead, it opted to cling to the Special Rela­ tionship with the US, opening the door for France and Germany to set themselves as the power base of the European community. To men like Young, this was a gross miscalcula­ tion on the part of the UK. GK felt that the British could have retained far more indepen­ dence by embracing the European community. Anthony Eden also appears to have shared these views in the final days of his premier­ ship. It became a moot point, however, when the more pro-US Macmillan replaced him as prime minister.367 Thus, as the 1950s drew to a close, what was left of the British empire was in disarray. The imperialists were fiercely divided into pro- and anti- US factions. But regardless of where their 367(Dorril, 649-650). Dorril alleges that Macmillan conspired with US Ambassador to the UK Winthrop Aldrich to ensure that Eden was forced out as Prime Minister and succeeded by Macmil­ lan. This is quite plausible as Aldrich was a leading figure in the whole gentlemen's clubs circuit, outlined in the first chapter, that crafted the special relationship. Despite the strain Middle Eastern policies had put on the special relationship throughout this decade, much of the "British and the American branch of the British Establishment" were still committed to it during this era, as Quigley makes clear in Tragedy and Hope (1282).

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opinions lay, it was blatantly apparent to all that the UK's ability to project power abroad independent of the US was nonexistent. All across the fading empire, demands for inde­ pendence were spreading like wild-fire, and the election of JFK in 1960 put further decolo­ nization pressures on the British at the onset of the new decade. Confusion reigned, both among the Tories and the security services. Fortunately for the imperialists, there was one particular man among them who had a vision --a vision capa­ ble of sustaining British influence upon the world. It was a bloody vision to be sure, one that would leave a trail of bodies on multiple continents, but a vision none the less.

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Chapter Four

The Lords of War

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J

ulian Amery's father, Leopold, is a conspiracy theorist's wet dream given form. The Round Table movement, briefly addressed in Chapter 1, is a longtime bugaboo in such circles. Much has been written on Lord Milner, the architect of the movement, but comparatively less on Leopold Amery, whom Carroll Quigley described as Milner's "political heir."368 He was also long time member of the board of trustees for the Rhodes Trust, a major source of funding for the

368(Quigley, The Anglo-American Establishment, 67-68)

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group.369 He even served as the chairman of the Trust at one point.370 Amery was one of the leading British states­ men of the first half of the twentieth century. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty, Secre­ tary of State for the Colonies, and Secretary of State for India and Burma. In the lead up to WWII, Amery was a part of an influential clique of Tories close to Churchill who wished to abandon German appeasement. During a parliamentary debate in September 1939 over­ seen by Tory Prime Minister Neville Chamber­ lain, a top Labour official rose and asked to speak for Labour, to which Amery famously blurted out "Speak for England!" Amery's intervention was met with enthusiastic cheers across the House of Commons and much embarrassed Chamberlain, formerly a close political ally.371 Amery would further humiliate Chamberlain during the famous Norway debate, held during early May 1940. The British military had suffered several devastating defeats, spurring 369(Quigley, The Anglo-American Establishment, 86-87) 370(Faber, Speaking for England: Leo, Julian and John Amery --The Tragedy of a Political Family, 526) 371(Faber, 354)

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Leopold to eviscerate Chamberlain before parliament in a rousing speech. He capped it off by quoting Oliver Cromwell's famous condemnation of the Long Parliament regard­ ing Chamberlain: "You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go."372 The debate led to the downfall of Chamberlain's government, for which Amery received much credit. Chamberlain and Churchill were hardly the only British prime ministers Amery had been close to. He wielded tremendous power in the Conservative party and beyond throughout his lifetime. Given the extent of his political power and ties to the Round Table group, one would think Amery would have inspired considerably more baseless speculations from conspiracy theorists over the years, especially since the Round Table group was hardly the extent of his curious associations. Leopold, who was half Jewish, also contrib­ uted in some fashion to the infamous Balfour Document that led to the creation of Israel. Some accounts have Leo merely amending a few words, while others insist that he practi­ 372(Faber, 362)

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cally wrote the entire document.373 While the truth is probably somewhere in between, there is no question he was a contributor. Naturally, Leopold also supported Zionism, though to what extent is much debated.374 All of this is incredible in light of the fate of his oldest son, Jack. This is addressed below. If Leopold's ties to the Round Table move­ ment and Zionism weren't enough, there are also his connections to Freemasonry and the Fabian Society. As to the former, he had been active in Freemasonry for over thirty years, at one point serving as the Grand Master of the Canadian Lodge.375 While the Fabians haven't generated as much outrage from the conspira­ torial right as the Masons, they are a curious 373(Faber, 107-109) 374(Faber, 104-106). Leopold would allege that he was completely unaware of Zionism and other Jewish issues until 1917. This seems completely disingenuous, however. Amery was very close to both his Jewish mother and her family throughout his childhood. Said family was also instrumental in Leopold's later political rise. Beyond this, Amery appears to have maintained impeccable contacts with various Zionist leaders throughout his political career, including future Israeli prime minister Chaim Weizmann. Many of these contacts he would later pass along to his son, Julian. 375(Faber, Speaking for England: Leo, Julian and John Amery --The Tragedy of a Political Family, 527)

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bunch to be sure. Founded in 1884, the Fabians are a socialist society that took their name from the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus. Fabius famously defended the Roman Republic from Hannibal by employing a strategy of attrition that gradu­ ally wore down the superior army of the Carthaginian general. The Fabian Society sought to bring about socialism similarly, specifically gradualism. Over the years, they've proven to be quite influential on Labour. Just how sinister the group truly is is a matter of debate, though there are compelling accounts of Fabianism's dark side.376 As for Leopold, I've been unable to determine when he joined the Fabians, but he was certainly active in the society by 1896. During that year that he founded the Oxford branch of the Fabians, despite being a staunch Tory even then.377 Though a socialist society, the Fabians appear to have been remarkably comfortable with Tory imperialists. 376The most notable is Jasun Horsely's Vice of Kings. Mr. Horse­ ly's family had longstanding ties to the Fabians, which provides additional insight to the society. 377(Faber, Speaking for England: Leo, Julian and John Amery --The Tragedy of a Political Family, 21)

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As for Leopold, the Fabians were impressed enough to invite him to join the Coefficients, a monthly dining club that served as a kind of vanguard for the group, in 1902. There he was joined by such luminaries as philosopher Bertrand Russell and novelist HG Wells. Leopold recruited Round Table leader Alfred Milner into the group as well.378 Leopold became disillusioned with the group by 1904, however, and would go on to found the Compa­ triots during that year.379 This group was equally conspiratorial, but imperialistic to the hilt. The Round Table movement, Zionism, Freemasonry, the Fabians --Leopold Amery seemingly had every major box of the conspira­ torial right checked. And yet the likes of Alex Jones have gone to great lengths to avoid addressing Leopold, his conspiring, and the profound influence he had on British society during the first half of the twentieth century. This is likely due to his son Julian,380 and the 378(Faber, 47-48) 379(Faber, 50) 380Julian Amery has generated remarkably little interest in relation to the tremendous influence he wielded over British foreign policy for much of the Cold War. Indeed, very little is available on his Cold War activities on the whole. Amery himself

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equally curious associations he developed throughout his adventurous life. The future Lord Julian Amery may well have forged ties with British intelligence before he even turned 20. In 1938, while still a student at Oxford, Amery traveled to Spain. At the time, the brutal civil war which would result in Franco coming to power was still raging on. Amery was technically working as a war corre­ spondent, but was in contact with Sir Robert wrote a rather self-serving autobiography entitled Approach March: A Venture in Autobiography (1973) that deals mainly with his childhood and World War Two service. This 447 page book dedicates a whopping 17 pages to Amery's Cold War-era dealings, and then only considers his parliamentary career. David Faber's Speaking for England (2005) attempts to provide a biography and Leopold and both his sons, John and Julian. While he covers the lives of Leopold and John in depth, Speaking for England largely only considers Amery's childhood and World War Two era exploits as well. For his Cold War era exploits, compelling information can be found throughout David Teacher's long-suppressed Rogue Agents (2017), Stephen Dorril's MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service (2000), and Rory Corma­ c's Disrupt and Deny (2018). A compelling account of Amery's relations with Apartheid South Africa can be found in Hennie van Vuuren's Apartheid Guns and Money: A Tale of Profit (334-344). Brief but compelling accounts of Amery's covert dealings can also be found in David Leigh's The Wilson Plot (11-13), Gordon Corea's The Art of Betrayal: The Secret History of MI6 (60), and Adrian Hanni's contribution to Transnational Anti-Communism and the Cold War (163, 167). Finally, some information is provided by Amery's long time intelligence associate Brian Crozier in his equally self-serving autobiography Free Agent (15, 193).

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Hodgson.381 Hodgson was a long-time British diplomat who at the time was serving as Fran­ co's "British agent." In 1927, during a previous assignment in the Soviet Union, Hodgson and the entire British mission had been recalled. Among other things, Hodgson was accused of spying during this particular assignment.382 A little over a year later, Amery was in Belgrade as a press attaché for the British diplomatic mission. Much of his work consisted of disseminating British propaganda, however.383 Amery officially joined British intelligence in early 1940, when he was recruited into "D Section."384 This unit eventu­ ally grew into the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Amery would remain in the SOE throughout the war. Much of his service was in the Balkans, especially Albania, which led to a last­ ing obsession with this region of the world. It was also during this time frame that he forged ties with a curious cast of commandos whom 381(Amery, 103; 108) 382(Hodgson Denies Spy Charges 1927) 383(Faber, 398-400) 384(Amery, 159-160); (Faber, 400-401)

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he continued to collaborate with on covert operations for years to come. The two most notable were David Smiley and Neil "Billy" McLean, the latter an old school friend of Amery's from Eton.385 The three men would first collaborate in Albania during 1943386 and again during the postwar operations there, at which point they were dubbed "the Three Musketeers," or simply "the Musketeers."387 Curiously, Amery and McLean, and to a much lesser extent Smiley, all had connections to one of the most mysterious and storied Scottish Highland clans: Clan Fraser of Lovat.388 In recent years this particular clan has gained some pop culture exposure thanks to the timetraveling fantasy series Outlander. Initially set in Scotland during the Jacobite era,389 one of the main characters is a member of Clan Fraser of Lovat, a bastard of Simon "The Fox" Fraser, Lord Lovat.

385(Amery, 53) 386(Amery, 311); (Faber, 423) 387(Corera, 60). For an in-depth account of the Musketeers' in Albania, see Dorril's MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service (355-403) and Cormac's Deny and Disrupt (42; 44-47; 50; 55 ).

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The Fox was undoubtedly one of the more colorful of the Lords of Lovat. He had a wellearned reputation for his double-dealings. During the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, he sided with the British against his countrymen. This proved to be a prudent move, as his title and 388The Lovat branch hails from the broader Clan Fraser. They are believed to hail from the Anjou region of France. The first mention of them in Scotland appears in 1160. The first significant Fraser was Sir Simon "the Patriot" Fraser, a contemporary of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace. He was one of Robert's most renowned generals during the Wars of Independence against the British. Simon the Patriot was executed by the British in 1306, a good eight years before the Scots achieved a decisive victory at the Battle of Bannockburn. However, at least two of Simon's cousins were present at this conflict. One, Sir Alexander Fraser, would go on to marry a sister of Robert the Bruce and would be made Chamberlain of Scotland by the famous king. At the time, this was the third most senior position in the entire court. Sir Alexander's line would produce Clan Fraser of Philorth, another celebrated line. Sir Alexander's younger brother, another Simon Fraser, would provide the seed for what became Clan Fraser of Lovat in the fifteenth century. 389The Jacobites were largely a seventeenth and eighteenth century movement based in Scotland that sought the restoration of the Scottish Stuart dynasty over what is now the UK. The Jaco­ bites took their name from the Latin version of "James." King James I of the Stuart dynasty was the first to rule over the united kingdoms of England and Scotland following the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. James' descendants would rule the United Kingdom until 1649, when they were deposed. A restoration followed in 1660 and lasted until 1688, when the Stuart dynasty was deposed once gain. They never regained the throne, though their followers would make several efforts to restore them up until the middle of the eighteenth century, when the Jacobite

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lands were restored. When a second and far more extensive rebellion broke out in 1745, The Fox opted to side with the Scottish Jacobites this time around. The decision was not so prudent. The Fox was captured after the Jacobites were deci­ sively defeated at the Battle of Culloden. He was subsequently beheaded in 1747 for his role in the revolt. What's more, his family was stripped of their title until the early nineteenth century. As such, the Lords of Lovat became simply the Masters of Lovat for a time. The family fortunes had improved dramati­ cally by the early 20th century when they found a niche that would have profound geopo­ litical implications: namely, the development of modern special operations forces. It all started with the creation of the Lovat Scouts at the turn of the century. Founded by the 14th Lord Lovat in 1900 for the genocidal Second Boer War in South Africa, from the start the unit was used as much for recon as conven­ tional fighting. By the time of WWI, the Scouts had become specialists in the emerging field of "irregular warfare."390 movement was decisively put down.

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In addition to his contributions to the emerg­ ing field of special operations, Lord Lovat became involved with the Round Table move­ ment. In 1917, he became a trustee of the Rhodes Trust, a post he held until his death in 1933.391 As such, Lovat and Julian's father, Leopold, would have been involved in the Trust together for several years. Before Lovat joined the Trust, Leopold and Lord Lovat worked together on a plan of conscription at the onset of WWI.392 These ties may have factored in Julian's close collaboration with various members of Clan Fraser of Lovat during the Cold War. Another was surely the special training McLead and Smiley had received from a partic­ ular school established by Simon "Shimi" Fraser, Lord Lovat's son. Upon the old man's death in 1933, Shimi became the 15th Lord Lovat. He also followed his father into the Lovat Scouts. When war broke out in 1939, 390(Dorril, 24). A recent United States Department of Defense publication concerning special operations defined irregular warfare as a core activity of special operations forces (SOF), and that all SOFs "are selected, trained, and equipped to conduct all forms of" irregular warfare (Defense, I-3). 391(Bosco, 165) 392(Faber, 86-87)

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Shimi was mobilized as a captain in that unit. A year later, he volunteered to join the new commando units the British Army was then considering. To make these units a reality, they first had to be trained. And this task also fell to Shimi. To this end, he helped establish the Irregular Training Center at Inverailort House in the Scottish Highlands, where he also served as an instructor.393 Shimi later set-up additional special operations training centers across the Highlands.394 In these efforts he was assisted by his cousins, Bill and David Stirling. Their mother was the sister of the 14th Lord of Lovat, Shimi's father. Bill and David would also have close ties to special operations, with the latter often being cited as a co-founder of the famed Special Air Services (SAS).395 Shimi would never get around to the SAS. He did find time to serve in the No. 4 Commando unit and the 1st Special Services Brigade, the latter of which he was the commander of. At the end of the war Shimi, while serving as the 393(Dorril, 24) 394(Konstam, 19-20) 395(Teacher, Rogue Agents: The Cercle and the 6I in the Private Cold War 1951-1991, 42)

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Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, oversaw remnants of the SOE.396 He was thus for a brief time Julian Amery's boss. Elsewhere, Amery's frequent comrade-at-arms Neil "Billy" McLean was trained at Inverailort under Shim­ i's watchful eye.397 David Smiley and Peter Kemp, another close associate of Amery's, were trained at another of the schools established by Shimi. Thus, the ties between Amery and Clan Fraser of Lovat were pretty firm by the conclu­ sion of WWII and would only grow more inti­ mate in the Cold War. But more on that in a moment. Before moving along, I would like to briefly touch on the Scottish clan's curious relation­ ship with high weirdness. This particular special relationship traces back to at least the final Master of Lovat before the family titles were restored and the last of The Fox's sons: Archibald Campbell Fraser. This Master of Lovat's one major claim to fame is being the builder of Boleskine House upon the stately Loch Ness.398 Clan Fraser of Lovat owned much of the lands surrounding this legendary loch 396(Dorril, 24) 397(Dorril, 804 n20) 398(Hon. Archibald C. Fraser, Lovat n.d.)

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that has produced so much high weirdness over the years. In addition to the famed Loch Ness monster, there have also been reports of UFO sightings, big cats, hairy monsters, Little People, and even time travelers from the surrounding area.399 Local legend claims that Boleskine was built upon a site formerly inhab­ ited by a chapel that burned down with the entire congregation inside.400 Boleskine gained a most curious owner in 1899 when the Fraser family sold the residency to the infamous magician and long suspected British intelligence asset Aleister Crowley.401 Crowley, who also went by the "magickal name" of "the Great Beast 666," would report strange happenings at Boleskine even before he began his rituals. Most notably, there was what he deemed to be the sound of The Fox's decapitated head rolling up and down the manor's corridors, and later a billiard table the mage had installed.402 Crowley reported that this was the stuff of local legend and that headrolling was the specter's favorite past time. Boleskine is highly significant within Thelema, Crowley's spiritual system. The Great 399(Weston, 222) 400(House of the unholy 2007)

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Beast acquired the former hunting lodge for the sole purpose of performing a ritual taken from The Book of Abramelin, a grimoire believed to have originated in the Renaissance. This ritual involved evoking Crowley's Holy 401(Chuton, 52); (House of the unholy 2007). For more infor­ mation on Crowley's ties to British intelligence, see Richard B. Spence's Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence, and the Occult (2008). Compelling evidence is also provided throughout Tobias Churton's Aleister Crowley: The Biography (2011). Churton argues that Crowley's association with British intelligence may have begun as early as his time at Cambridge. While there, Crowley became involved with the Society of Psychi­ cal Research (SPR). One of the individuals he encountered in that outfit was Francis Henry Everard Joseph Feilding, who had just recently served in special intelligence unit of the Royal Navy shortly before the Great Beast was admitted to Cambridge in 1895 (Chuton, 33). In chapter one, it was noted that the SPR was largely a creation of the Cecil family, for centuries one of the most power­ ful in the UK. At the time of Crowley's admission to Cambridge, the Cecils were arguably at the pinnacle of their power and influ­ ence. Lord Salisbury, the family head and leader of the Tory party, had just been restored as prime minister. As such, it is quite curi­ ous that it was Lord Salisbury himself, arguably the most powerful figure in the entire British Empire at the time, who personally recommended Crowley to Cambridge [ (Chuton, 27; 31-32); (Spence, Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence, and the Occult, 18); (Crowley, The Confessions of Aleister Crow­ ley, 46-47)]. While Crowley's family was fairly well-to-do, it would seem that his access to the Cecil family was due to his aunt's involvement in the Primrose League. Modeled upon the Masonic-esque Orange Order (of which much more will be said in the second book of this trilogy), the Primrose League was a kind of secret society within the Tory Party. It constituted a kind of early political action committee that was notorious for spying on its

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Guardian Angel, a complex task that would take several months to complete and feature a daunting regiment of daily prayers. The book also called for specific prerequisites of the location, including a main entrance that faced members. Lord Salisbury was the League's grand master at the time (Spence, Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelli­ gence, and the Occult, 18). Regardless, Salisbury was instrumental in getting Crowley admitted to Cambridge, and from there the Great Beast appears to have been recruited into intelligence in an organization that Salis­ bury's family had been instrumental in establishing. Prior to Cambridge, Crowley had attended the exclusive "public school" Eastbourne College, which had been set up by another storied British family, the Cavendishs. By this point in time, the House of Cavendish had intermarried with the Cecils. Thus, the Cecils may have had their eye on Crowley for some time. This is interesting in light of the family's involvement with the British American Cana­ dian Corporation/World Commerce Corporation in the postwar years. Another figure active in the BACC/WCC network was novel­ ist Ian Fleming. A Naval intelligence man during the war, Fleming had likely known Crowley since at least the early 1930s (Spence, Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence, and the Occult, 230). Reportedly, he found the Great Beast to be "fascinat­ ing" (Chuton, 178). There has been speculation for years that Fleming used Crowley in a successful ploy to lure high ranking Nazi official Rudolph Hess to the UK via astrology during the war [ (Chuton, 384-385); (Spence, Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence, and the Occult, 246-247)]. While this particu­ lar claim is highly speculative with little evidence to support it, documentation has emerged that Fleming at least toyed with the idea of having Crowley interrogate the mystically-inclined Hess after he was arrested on British soil [ (Chuton, 389-390); (Spence, Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence, and the Occult, 249-250)]. Regardless, there can be no question of Crow­

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north, a terrace of fine sand in the front, and windows facing in all directions. Boleskine met all of these requirements, and its natural isola­ tion on Loch Ness made the site ideal.403 Crowley began the ritual in earnest during Easter 1900, but he was not able to complete it. Pressing matters in Paris required his attention and forced him to depart Boleskine before being able to banish forces invoked at the conclusion of the ritual. There has been much speculation that this further contributed to the numerous instances of high weirdness around Loch Ness and the general tragedies endured at Boleskine.404 Regardless, Boleskine is some­ what akin to the Mecca of Thelema, with many rituals required to be oriented towards the Great Beast's former residency along Loch Ness. For Thelemites, it's the "magical east." 405 ley's links to figures in the emerging BACC/WCC network. 402(Crowley, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, 374-375) 403(Weston, 223-224) 404(Weston, 224-225). Among the tragedy's reported at Bolesk­ ine is Crowley's gate keeper, a confirmed teetotaller, getting drunk and trying to murder his family one night; a workman employed by Crowley tried to kill him; much later, a future owner committed suicide in Crowley's old bedroom; finally the house burned down in 2019. 405(Weston, 225-226)

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And this magical east just happened to be centered knee-deep in Lovat territory. Crowley reported that his closet neighbors at the time were none other than Lord Lovat himself, and the Fraser Tyler family.406 The latter were also members of Clan Fraser of Lovat via descent from Hugh Fraser, First Lord of Lovat. The Lord Lovat of the time would have been the 14th, Shimi's father and a future colleague of Leopold Amery in parliament and the Rhodes Trust. Shimi was born in 1911, shortly before Crowley departed Boleskine in 1913. Whether Shimi ever encountered Crowley as a child is unknown, but his father certainly would have. The family's strange ties to Crowley and the general high weirdness surrounding Loch Ness are curious in light of some of the allegations concerning the Profumo Affair, which we will explore in the next chapter.407 *** Julian Amery's postwar intrigues began in earnest in 1947. At the time Amery was attempting, unsuccessfully, to enter Parlia­ ment. Then one fateful day, the future-Lord Julian was approached by his old boss, Sir Colin Gubbins, formerly head of the SOE. Gubbins 406(Crowley, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, 374)

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and other "friends" enlisted Amery to mount operations in Albania, which was then the crown jewel of Eastern European "rollback" operations for US and UK intelligence. Gubbins and his associates, including then-MI6 head Stewart Menzies (a fixture in the interwar "gentleman's clubs" network detailed in Chap­ ter 1), tapped Amery "not because of his wartime record or connections," but simply because he was "available and he was commit­ ted."408 407 An incredible account, given by notorious Soviet double agent Kim Philby to his handlers in Moscow, alleges that Crowley was involved in some type of German-led vice-ring during the early years of WWII. It was said to be using narcotics, orgies, and black masses to compromise Royal Air Force (RAF) officers in various London nightclubs and other fashionable residences in the Mayfair district (West and Tsarec, The Crown Jewels: The British Secrets at the Heart of the KGB Archives, 316-319). This account is generally dismissed, but it's interesting to note that gentlemen's club fixture and MI6 chief Sir Stewart Menzies was a regular guest at one of the locations where this operation was allegedly unfold­ ing at. As was noted in the first chapter, other figures linked to the old gentlemen's club circuit were also engaged in sexual black­ mail across the Atlantic during this time. University of Idaho history professor and Crowley researcher Richard B. Spence has suggested that, rather than a German operation, what Philby was described was, in fact, part of MI5's famed "Double Cross" system that ravaged German networks during WWII (Spence, Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence, and the Occult, 241). 408(Dorril, 364)

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It's highly probable that the group who approached Amery was a part of the broader World Commerce Corporation (WCC) network. As was noted in Chapter 2, Gubbins was very much a central player in this network. Amery was also very close to two other men linked to the WCC network from his SOE days: Hugh Dalton and Lord Selborne. Both men had headed the Ministry of Economic Warfare (MoEW), the war time department where the SOE was housed, at different times. Dalton had been the first head of the MoEW, and was then succeeded by Selborne in 1942. Shimi Lovat briefly took the reins in 1945 while things were winding down. Dalton and Selborne were Amery's consum­ mate protectors, who frequently clashed with his superiors during his SOE days. Selborne was also a member of the Cecil family, who had frequent dealings with Amery's father Leopold for years. Thus, Amery would have surely been on the radar of the WCC network. Since 1950, Amery had worked closely with another WCC affiliate and fellow former SOE man, Douglas Dodds-Parker. During that year, the newly-elected Amery would partner up with Dodds-Parker in forming a group of about 213

a half dozen Tories committed to studying the "Cold War in its widest terms."409 One is left with the distinct impression that coups and other such intrigues were popular topics of discussion with this group. Amery and Dodds-Parker would later work closely together during the Suez Crisis. At the time the latter headed the Dodds-Parker Committee. As was noted in the previous chap­ ter, Sir Charles Hambro was also involved in this committee. A former head of the SOE, Hambro helped establish the British-AmericanCanadian Corporation (BACC) and would remain a crucial figure in the WCC for years afterward. During Suez, Amery was in regular contact with Dodds-Parker and as his frequent MI6 collaborator, George Kennedy "GK" Young. Amery, along with Neil "Billy" McLean, were managing their own private initiatives to destabilize Nasser at the time. 410 Elsewhere, Dodds-Parker attempted to make the propa­ ganda being administered by the committee that bore his name complementary to what Amery and his network were doing in Egypt.411 409(Cormac, 76) 410(Cormac, 122) 411(Cormac, 124-125)

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Lord Julian served under Hambro in the SOE, but the extent of their relationship is difficult to determine. However, Suez is not the last time Amery collaborates with someone linked to Hambro. Several decades later, Amery would be in regular contact with another former SOE hand, Harry Sporborg. Sporborg was the deputy-head of the SOE while Hambro was the boss and later joined Hambros Bank as a direc­ tor in the postwar years.412 Hambros Bank was used for espionage purposes in the Cold War years, and Sporborg appears to have been a part of these intrigues.413 By the 1970s, both Amery and Sporborg were deeply involved in a vast private intelligence network linked to terrorism, arms trafficking and pedophilia that shall be addressed in the second book. Thus, it seems highly probable that Amery was a part of the WCC network by the mid1950s, if not much sooner. His ties to various members plus his father's VIP connections in the British Establishment made him an ideal candidate for private intelligence initiatives linked to the WCC. If a man like Hambro was willing to turn the likes of Robert Maxwell into 412(Teacher, 146) 413(Dorril, 524-525)

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a media baron for the good of the empire, he surely could have spared a few pounds for Amery. This would go a long way towards explaining Amery's presence in virtually every major British covert operation from the end of WWII until the early 1960s, and always in a private capacity. Amery stalked Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa like some ragged, shadowy figure, ever plush with cash while MI6 struggled to make ends meet. After Albania fizzled out, Lord Julian turned up in Iran before the coup, dispensing bribes to various officials and scouting for strongmen to prop up the Shah's government.414 As for Egypt, Amery was one of Nasser's most vocal oppo­ nents and appears to have been running his own network in the nation separate from MI6's assets. Amery's contacts included the infamous Muslim Brotherhood. After MI6's Egyptian network was rolled up by Nasser in 1956, the intelligence service was forced to rely on Amery for contacts.415 Amery makes one final deep appearance at decade's end, this time in Cyprus. By the late 1950s, the tiny island nation was fighting a guerrilla war against the British for indepen­ 414(Cormac, 94-95)

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dence. Cyprus was then a crucial staging ground for operations in the Middle East, and the UK was only willing to give it up on favor­ able terms. Enter Julian Amery, who was then serving as Colonial Secretary in the govern­ ment of his father-in-law, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Amery implored his frequent MI6 collaborator GK Young416 and various fellow travelers in the agency to become involved in Cyprus.417 MI6 agreed and may have saved the day. By late 1958, Amery was negotiating with Archbishop Makarios over the terms of British withdrawal. The arch­ bishop was driving a hard bargain, but became 415(Cormac, 120-122). It has been reported that Amery had far superior contacts in Egypt than either MI6 or the Foreign Office. His efforts to destabilize Nasser appear to have begun indepen­ dently of either of those two institutions and was theoretically paid for by Amery out pocket (Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 628-629). This researcher of course suspects that at least part of Amery's tab was being picked up by the BACC/WCC network. 416Young came to despise Harold Macmillan, a prime minister and father-in-law of Amery's. This was a view held by many members of the Monday Club, as shall be revealed in the next chapter. Young had a good deal of respect for Amery (Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 662) and the two men would become close collaborators in the Monday Club during the 1960s. 417(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 554)

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more complacent after MI6 turned up homo­ sexual blackmail material on him. When Makarios became the nation's first president in 1959, he allowed the British to maintain a mili­ tary base on Cyprus. Amery was, of course, given much credit for this victory.418 This episode is interesting in light of later develop­ ments involving Amery and the British Estab­ lishment that will be explored in future chap­ ters. *** There was no question that the British were in retreat by the early 1960s. Indeed, "retreat" is possibly too mild a word. It would be more accurate to say that the Empire was being dismantled at a breakneck pace, much to the chagrin of die hard imperialists such as Julian Amery. But then, just as it seemed that the sun was finally setting on British global influence, the future lord found a way to turn the tide. His actions during the early 1960s would provide a blueprint for how the UK would maintain an international presence up to the present day. It all started in Yemen. After the Suez deba­ cle, Macmillan began building up Aden as a 418(Dorril, 556-557)

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major staging ground for British forces during the late 1950s. Of course, it wasn't long before Nasser started stirring up trouble. At the time, Yemen was two separate nations --North and South Yemen, respectively. In the fall of 1962, a coup was staged in North Yemen by Nasserite forces, deposing the royalists and creating the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR). Soon, Egyptian troops began pouring into the YAR. This made the British especially nervous for their inter­ ests in Aden. Aden was then an independent city-state, but closely linked to South Yemen. Before year's end, Amery was already contem­ plating intervention in the YAR, allegedly at the urging of the King of Jordan. 419 Nor were the British the only ones getting nervous. Relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia had broken down, and the presence of Egyptian forces deployed in the neighboring YAR did not sit well with the House of Saud. Via the Mossad, the Saudis asked GK Young (who was now with Kleinworth Benson, which had recently been headed by BACC/WCC part­ ner Rex Benson) for an Englishman who could wage a guerrilla war against Nasser's forces. GK instead suggested a Scotsman, Amery's 419(Dorril, 677-679)

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former SOE comrade-at-arms and frequent Cold War collaborator Neil "Billy" McLean. McLean dutifully reported to the Middle East on a fact-finding tour paid for out of the House of Saud's pocket.420 Elsewhere, the Kennedy administration was inclined to support the YAR. JFK, in keeping with his general anti-colonial policies,421 began applying pressure against Macmillan and the British to recognize the YAR. The force used by the US led Foreign Secretary Alex DouglasHome to tentatively agree to recognize the new regime, but Amery urged him to delay the deci­ sion. His father-in-law, Prime Minister Macmil­ lan, dutifully urged caution on JFK's part as 420(Dorril, 680) 421See, for instance, DiEugenio's Destiny Betrayed (21-28) or Douglas' JFK and the Unspeakable (7-8). In many respects, Kennedy was a rather conventional Cold warrior for much of his political career and his peace initiatives have greatly exaggerated by the mythos surrounding Kennedy. Still, he had displayed clear anti-Colonial sentiments from early in his political career. Kennedy was quite critical of French efforts in Indochina (in 1954) and later, in Algeria (1957). Kennedy would also tentatively embrace African nationalism during the late 1950s as well (Douglas, 7-8). Whether this was driven by a true anti-Colonial sentiment, or whether Kennedy was simply wishing to diminish European influence in regions of the world traditionally consid­ ered the Old World's sphere of influence (as was happening in the Middle East discussed throughout this chapter), or some combina­ tion of both remains open for debate.

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well. The US was undeterred, and recognized the regime on December 19. Meanwhile, the CIA applied pressure to the House of Saud to effectively offer Nasser a bribe (in the form of "aid," which would, in theory, replace what he was getting from the Soviets) in exchange for withdrawing his forces.422 In some quarters, this was viewed as yet another attempt to embarrass the British in the Middle East. Amery, armed with Saudi intelli­ gence, argued to his father-in-law that the Americans were exaggerating the Egyptian threat in Yemen. Amery succeeded, making Macmillan increasingly skeptical of MI6, which he came to view as being too dependent upon the CIA. In early January 1963, the Cabinet Overseas and Defense Committee decided to reject recognition of the YAR, a major victory for Amery. He was present at the committee meeting, along with Macmillan, Douglas-Home, Minister of Defense Peter Thorneycroft, Duncan Sandys (a long-time Amery ally in Parliament whom we shall hear much more on in the next chapter), and Sir Hugh Fraser.423 422(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 681-682) 423(Dorril, 682-683)

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The latter was the brother of Shimi Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, and Amery's old schoolmate. He was another frequent collaborator of Amery's in the Cold War era, potentially involving some quite unsavory activities, as we shall see. During the same month, fighting broke out between the Egyptians and the Saudis. This pushed the House of Saud, traditional foes of the British in the Middle East, closer to the UK. This had long term consequences for both nations. At the time, a growing consensus began to emerge among leading Tory imperial­ ists that something needed to be done. A meeting took place at the White's Club, a long-time bastion of the British Establishment, that would have profound implications for both the UK and the rest of the world. Present were Amery, McLean, Duncan Sandys, Alec DouglasHome, and Sir David Stirling. Stirling was a cofounder of the SAS and a cousin to Shemi Lovat. Also present was a Col. Brian Franks, a driving force behind the postwar reformation of the SAS.424 There it was decided that Stirling 424(Cormac, 166); (Dorril, 684). Cormac lists fellow Musketeer David Smiley being present at the meeting as well, though Dorril does not. Regardless, Smiley would soon take on a leading role in the operation.

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and McLean would raise a force of mercenaries from veterans of the SAS, and similarly elite French and Belgian veterans. This force would then deploy in Yemen as "advisers" on the House of Saud's dime. Weapons would also be supplied to friendly Yemen tribes by this network.425 What Amery and company were proposing was revolutionary. Essentially, foreign govern­ ments provided the funding for a British opera­ tion mostly outside the purview of the British government,426 utilizing multinational forces and arms suppliers. While these types of arrangements became increasingly common during the 1980s and 1990s, and a standard part of foreign policy in the post 9/11 years, this approach was entirely novel in 1963. It would also lay the framework for how the UK would maintain influence internationally after the demise of its empire. The British would 425(Cormac, 166-167); (Dorril, 684-685). Dorril notes that several Yemen royals also put up funding for the operation. 426(Cormac, 167). MI6 is sometimes described as overseeing this operation, but in reality had little to know control over the mercs. The British government itself also went to great lengths to distance itself from these activities for the sake of plausible denia­ bility. As such, the motley crew assembled by Amery. Smiley, McLean, and Stirling faced little to no oversight from an actual government.

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effectively provide arms and troops to protect their interests while crony regimes would pick up the tab. It was both highly cost-effective and highly deniable. Stirling and his merry band of SAS men oper­ ated out of the Scotsman's Television Interna­ tional Enterprises company. A cover organiza­ tion, Rally Films, was set up expressly for their activities. One of the secretaries involved in these intrigues was Fiona Fraser, Shemi Lovat's daughter. She worked out of an office overflowing with gold bullion provided by the Saudis.427 For those of you keeping track: Lord Lovat's brother (Sir Hugh), daughter (Fiona), cousin (Stirling), and a former charge (McLean, and possibly Smiley) were all involved in this caper at some level or another, making it very much a family affair. And, of course, his family had a longstanding relationship with Amery's. Most accounts agree that the plan was brutally effective. By 1964, a mere two years after the coup, Nasser had lost some 15,000 men.428 By then, the conflict was increasingly looking like Nasser's Vietnam. Amery's had thus avenged the British humiliation at Suez, 427(Dorril, 685) 428(Dorril, 691)

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and all on the down low. By the fall of 1963, the CIA had become more receptive to British efforts in Yemen as well, but President Kennedy was unchanged. He protested the use of mercenaries to the British government on November 21 of that year. The next day, he was assassinated. The incoming president, Lyndon B. Johnson, proved to be more understanding in that regard.429 By the fall of 1964, a Labour government was elected into power. For a time, it continued to support Stirling's efforts. No doubt it was encouraged by the £186 million arms deal Stir­ ling had brokered with the Saudis that year.430 However, things soon soured. After five years of costly warfare with no real gains, and under pressure from the Israelis in the aftermath of the disastrous Seven Days War, Nasser opted to withdrawal from Yemen. It was a Pyrrhic victory, however, as Labour had already decided to abandon Aden and South Yemen during 1966, with a withdrawal date of 1968.431 These developments outraged Amery, Stir­ ling, and many of the far-right elements 429(Dorril, 689) 430(Dorril, 694) 431(Dorril, 695-696)

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surrounding them. On the other hand, they also emerged from Yemen with a sense of vindica­ tion: their private initiatives were capable of maintaining British power and even some degree of independent action. To this end, Stir­ ling took things further into the deep private when he founded WatchGuard International in 1965. This firm was generally considered the first modern private military company (PMC).432 It would participate in the final years of the Yemen operation433 and would pick up additional work across the Gulf states until the early 1970s.434 WatchGuard was the first in a long line of British PMCs that maintained the former empire's influence while only being under the nominal control of the British government. It's a model that persists to present day and is as much Amery and Stir­ ling's legacy as anyone's. If I am correct and Amery was an agent of the old British American Canadian Corpora­ tion-World Commerce Corporation (BACCWCC) network, then his activities with Clan Fraser of Lovat must also be seen as a part of 432(McFate, 36) 433(Dorril, 697) 434(McFate, 36)

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this legacy. By this point in time, many of the old BACC-WCC hands were dying off (Wild Bill Donovan had shed his mortal coil in 1959, while Sir Charles Hambro followed him in 1963; elsewhere, Sir William Stephenson had a stroke in the early 1960s, leading to a decline in his mental facilities). This opened the door­ way for Amery and a younger generation to take over this private intelligence network on the British side. Certainly, Amery appears to have been part of an impressive private initiative by the 1950s. His exploits in Egypt alone indicate that he had resources on par with MI6, if not supe­ rior to it in some areas of the world (but espe­ cially in the vitally important Middle East). While Amery no doubt benefited tremendously from his father's contacts, agents (which he certainly appears to have been running) require money and lots of it (bribery has always been a favorite of the British). While reasonably prosperous, Amery's family never possessed the kind of money necessary for such endeavors. Thus, Colin Gubbins' tapping of Amery to manage the Albanian intrigues becomes all the more significant. He was clearly a part of the BACC-WCC's extended network. Hambro and his associates would had 227

the kind of money that Amery required to carry out his private initiatives, and Gubbins provided him with access to it. *** Before wrapping things up, a few words need to be said about disturbing aspects of both Julian Amery's time at Oxford and his infamous brother. Let us begin with John "Jack" Amery, the older brother. His short life was both tragic and bizarre. Despite being a quarter Jewish and having a moderate Zionist for a father, Jack became a fanatical Nazi during WWII. Like his brother, Jack was active in the Spanish Civil War. Unlike his brother, Jack became a committed fascist and anti-Semite during this time. Leopold, Jack's father, believed that he had been engaged in arms trafficking for the Nationalist side. That he was working with some type of intelligence service for these activities is strongly indicated by the degree

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that his passport has been tampered with during the 1936-37 period.435 Jack's conversion to fascism was rooted in contacts that he made in France during this time. Specifically, he became quite friendly with Jacques Doriot, the fascist major of SaintDenis. Doriot was a WWI hero and was elected major as a communist. However, Doriot broke with Moscow after his proposed communist-so­ cialist pack was rejected in 1934. Impressed by the gains made by the Nazi Party in Germany, he moved from one extreme to the next.436 In 1936, Doriot took things to the next level when he founded the Parti Populaire Francais (PPF), a Brownshirt-like paramilitary outfit used to carry out acts of terror and sabotage.437 It was around this time that Jack befriended Doriot, likely setting him upon his path to arms 435(Faber, 296-299). Faber compared Jack's official passport with accounts taken from Leopold's diaries and found multiple inconsistencies. While Jack, who was prone to embellishments, claimed that he fought in the Spanish Civil War, it was Leo who came to believe he was an arms trafficker. Leo had his own, highly placed intelligence sources, and thus would have certainly been in a position to know. 436(Faber, 299) 437(Faber, 300). For more on the activities of the PPF, see Langer's Our Vichy Gamble (227).

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trafficking. During the same year, an even more militant fascist militia was founded, commonly known as La Cagoule (actually the Comite Secret d'Action Revolutionnaire).438 This outfit gained infamy in 1937 when it was implicated in several terror bombings and assassinations. The Cagoulards enjoyed support from within the French military439 as 438It is extremely difficult to find reliable English language accounts of the Cagoule. By far the most scholarly and longest account can be found in the second half Brunnelle & FinleyCroswhite's brilliant Murder in the Metro: Laetitia Toureaux and the Cagoule in 1930s France (79-209). Compelling information on the postwar activities of various former Cagoulards can be found throughout Bar-Zohar's Bitter Scent: The Case of L'Oreal, Nazis, and the Arab Boycott (1996). Far more problematic are accounts of the Cagoule found in Langer's Our Vichy Gamble (1947, 1966) and Tompkins' The Murder of Admiral Darlan (1965). Despite both Langer and Tompkins having served in the OSS during the war, the provide rather sensation accounts of the Cagoule that play up alleged "synarchist" plots driving the group, a highly controversial premise. Even more sensation is the account of the secret society found in Picknett and Prince's The Sion Revelation: The Truth About the Guardians of Christ's Sacred Bloodline (2006), which is naturally the most widely read English language account. For a counterbalance to the synarchy allegations, consider the essay "The Legend of Vichy Synarchy" (Kuisel 1970). 439(Brunnelle and Finley-Croswhite, 103). The Cagoule received support from Marshall Louis Franchet d'Esperey, who even dispatched one of his staff, Colonel Georges Groussard, to liaison with them. It is likely that even Marshal Philippe Petain supported them. At a minimum, the future head of Vichy France was at least aware of the existence of this secret organization and tolerated them for a time.

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well as Fascist Italy and the Spanish National­ ists.440 What's more, the primary activity of La Cagoule was arms smuggling. Their extensive involvement in this endeavor was both to stockpile firearms domestically for an eventual fascist putsch, and to traffic them to National­ ist forces in Spain. In this capacity, they received support from Fascist Italy's security services, and likely the French military.441 The PPF was likely engaged in similar activi­ ties with similar backers. Indeed, there was a later collaboration between Doriot's network and the "former" Cagoulards during the early 1940s. One of the successor organizations to La Cagoule was the fascist militia known as the Service d'Orde Legionnaire (SOL), created and directed by ex-Cagoulard Joseph Darnand.442 Before establishing the SOL, and around the same time he signed on with La Cagoule, 440(Brunnelle and Finley-Croswhite, 126). Italy's Organiz­ zazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo (OVRA: Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascists), its principal intelligence service during the Fascist era, maintained a liaison with the Cagoule (Brunnelle and Finley-Croswhite, 128) 441(Brunnelle and Finley-Croswhite, 125-128) 442(VICHY 'ELITE GUARD' IS DECREED BY PETAIN; French Veterans Trained to Follow Their Leaders Blindly 1943). Darnand would later go on to head the dreaded Milice, a kind of French Gestapo (Brunnelle and Finley-Croswhite, 166)

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Darnand became a member of the Parti Popu­ laire Francais.443 Later, Darnand's SOL and Doriot's PPF worked closely together in North Africa in the years leading up to the Allied invasion.444 Elsewhere, former La Cagoule head, Eugene Deloncle, would collaborate with Doriot and the infamous Marcel Deat (who would later befriend Jack Amery445) in establishing the Legion des Volontaires Francais contre le Bolchevisme (LVF), yet another fascist mili­ tia.446 Its purpose was to provide troops for the Nazis in the war on the Eastern Front against the communists. Jack was quite impressed with this scheme and would begin lobbying the

443(Brunnelle and Finley-Croswhite, 113) 444(Langer, 227) 445(Faber, 461) 446(Brunnelle and Finley-Croswhite, 163). Deloncle and Deat soon had a falling out. This stemmed from an assassination attempt on Deat at an LVF rally during August of 1941. A resis­ tance fighter had infiltrated the ranks of the LVF and used the rally to stage an assassination attempt against Deat. Despite the would-be assassin's insistence that he was working for the Resis­ tance, Deat blamed Deloncle. This was the first in a series of events that led to the former Cagoule chief's murder by the Gestapo in early 1943.

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Germans to allow him to set up his own AntiBolshevik Legion, one comprised of Britons.447 Yes, dear readers, Jack Amery, the quarter Jew, went to work for the Nazis in 1941. This was a major coup for the Germans, as Leopold was once again a Cabinet official by this time. The Nazis put Jack to work making propaganda broadcasts a la the infamous "Lord Hew Haw." Jack's anti-Semitic and anti-communist diatribes, transmitted into the UK, did little to sway the British. Nonetheless, Jack was well kept by the Germans for these efforts, making him one of the few Jews to actually benefit from the Nazi regime.448 Jack spent much of the rest of the war on his scheme to raise a British legion and touring Occupied Europe. Despite being well kept, the Germans grew increasingly disillusioned with Jack due to his heavy drinking.449 He was even­ tually shipped off to Italy, where Italian parti­ sans captured him in April 1945. Soon, he was turned over to British authorities.450 In July of 447(Faber, 461-462) 448(Faber, 449-461) 449(Faber, 466-474) 450(Faber, 475-478)

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that year, he was officially charged with trea­ son.451 After being released from the SOE, Julian flew to Spain. He hoped to aide his brother by proving that he had renounced his British citi­ zenship for a Spanish one during the Civil War there (and hence, couldn't be charged with treason to the British crown). For a time, Amery appeared to be making some headway. Then MI5 officials discovered that he had been forging documents to make it look like his brother had acquired Spanish citizenship.452 It likely would not have mattered anyway as Jack Amery had resolved to plead guilty to the charges of treason. He did so on November 28 and was promptly sentenced to death.453 One final effort was made to spare Jack's life by arguing that he was mentally unstable. This effort also failed, and he was hanged on the morning of December 19.454 While there is a certain air of desperation to the Amery's arguing Jack's insanity to save his 451(Faber, 490-491) 452(Faber, 493-497) 453(Faber, 499-501) 454(Faber, 503-512)

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life, the wayward son had certainly displayed instabilities since early childhood.455 However, his problems seem to have been exasperated by his time in public school. Of course, "public school" is an oxymoron in the UK. The institu­ tions known as such are, in fact, private schools, designed to groom the scions of the British ruling class into empire builders. One of the most noteworthy was Harrow School, located in London. Leopold was an old Harrovian, and when the time came, he insisted on sending his oldest son there. This was despite the fact that the school was, at the time, in the midst of much controversy. Shortly before Jack attended Harrow, seven senior boys had been stopped by police on their way to visit London's legendary club scene. The school had a well-deserved reputation for vicious bullying and "ferocious buggery" On the whole, sexual abuse was rampant.456 Of course, this is a reoccurring criticism of the British public school system up to the present day.457 455(Faber, 504-505) 456(Faber, 185-186) 457(Alvarez 2005). Famed British DJ John Peel (who later became a serial abuser of teenage girls) confessed to having been raped at Shrewsbury School during the 1950s by his fellow students. Other survivors of the British public school system have

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Leopold stayed close to the school after grad­ uation and even became a governor shortly before Jack began attending. As such, he was undoubtedly aware of the more unsavory things unfolding at the school. Jack already had something of a disturbed childhood, which makes Leo's insistence on sending him to Harrow even more inexplicable.458 While Jack initially took to the school, he soon came to despise it. Worse, he succumbed to its rampant vice. In spring 1926, he rented out a private room at Harrow (which Leopold almost surely paid for) where he and other boys went to drink and smoke. At the time, Jack was no older than 14.459 Not long afterward, he began to make jour­ neys to London's nightclub scene. He regularly frequented a club run by the legendary Kate Meyrick, "Queen of the Nightclubs." The Irish­ woman owned a series of nightclubs in London during the 1920s. While her clubs often catered to the aristocracy and famous, they gained a reputation for decadence as well. Prostitution come forward to acknowledge that this type of behavior was hardly unprecedented. 458(Faber, 185) 459(Faber, 190)

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was common at many of the clubs she managed, in addition to numerous other vices. Curiously, all three of her sons attended Harrow.460 Reportedly, Jack went to work for one of Meyrick's clubs. He earned a commission for working as a "tout," a kind of salesman. In this case, Jack was trying to sell "older, rich friends" at Harrow on the benefits of frequent­ ing Meyrick's club.461 Again, Jack was no older than 14 at this time, and while some of his "older friends" may have been 18, likely most were still minors. Whether prostitution was a part of Jack's sales pitch, or engaged in these types of activities, remains unknown. It's known that Jack later prostituted himself to earn money. At the age of seventeen, Jack contracted syphilis. He claimed that this occurred while he was engaged in "playing the passive role in a homosexual relationship," which "was a good way to make money."462 At the time, Jack lived in Switzerland, where there was no shortage of affluent men willing to pay for his charms. He continued to engage in 460(Oram 2013) 461(Faber, 190) 462(Faber, 200)

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homosexual prostitution for large sums of money until he was at least twenty-one.463 Just how much of this debauchery contrib­ uted to his later behavior is debatable. Leopold never blamed Harrow for leading Jack astray, and continued to play an active role as a gover­ nor there until his death.464 Still, it seems evident that Jack's time at Harrow laid the foundation for the libertine existence he would later lead. And his experiences with London's club scene, which he actively tried to initiate his fellow students into, may have contributed to his later activities as a prostitute. The sex rings at Meyrick's clubs catered to VIPs, and it seems that this is who Jack targeted later on for his tricks. Indeed, most instances of Jack's homosexuality that David Faber recounts in his bio of the Amery family involved large sums of money in exchange for Jack's body. Did Jack become involved in some type of VIP sex ring? And did it involve minors? He appears to have engaged in such activities by at least the age of 17. And his ties to the club scene at one of Meyrick's establishments raises the possibility that he may have been turning 463(Faber, 293) 464(Faber, 526)

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tricks at an even younger age. This raises some alarming possibilities. It also raises the question of how all of this affected the future Lord Julian Amery. As far as I am aware, Amery left no record of his thoughts on his brother's prostitution. Nor was he linked to the type of debauchery his brother engaged in during his school years. The same cannot be said of some of the individuals Amery consorted with during his time at Oxford, however. *** Amery made contacts at Oxford that served him well for years to come. However, his involvement with the Oxford University Conservative Association is especially relevant for our purposes. One of the individuals that Amery worked with in this outfit was future Prime Minister Edward Heath,465 who was two years his senior. In 1939, the Oxford University Conservative Association was fiercely divided between supporters and detractors of Neville Chamberlain and his policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany. In this instance, Amery and Heath found themselves in the anti-Cham­ berlain camp. Seemingly, this is one of the few 465(Amery, 77; 113-114); (Faber, 310; 323)

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times Amery and Heath were on the same side. Despite collaborating during their student years, the two men would become increasingly divided politically once they became involved in government after the war. No doubt their later differences were princi­ pally driven by Amery's arch imperialism in contrast to Heath's more moderate approach. But another possibility exists: a certain resent­ ment Amery may have felt over Heath's "life­ style choices." Heath, a lifelong bachelor, was dogged by persistent rumors that he was a homosexual.466 Indeed, at least one fellow Tory has alleged that police warned Heath against soliciting gay sex during the 1950s because it would ruin his political career.467 In recent years, more sinister allegations have emerged concerning Heath: namely, that he was also a pedophile.468 Given how things unfolded for Amery's brother, this may not have sat well with the future lord. Allegations 466(Myers 2015) 467(Ted Heath 'stopped cottaging for gay sex to protect his career', says Tory MP 2007) 468(Hines 2017); (Bloom, 268). The issue of Heath's alleged pedophilia is extremely controversial and will be dealt with in greater depth in the second installment of this trilogy.

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of Heath's pedophilia had been making the rounds for many years. Given Amery's status inside the Conservative Party, it seems improb­ able that he was not aware of these claims. Indeed, as we shall see in future chapters, Amery likely kept careful watch over these kinds of things. While Amery's relationship with Heath never seemed especially close, he was much more receptive to Maurice Macmillan, another Oxford University Conservative Association colleague. In his autobiography, Amery described him as a "close friend,"469 and I have no reason to doubt Amery in this regard. He became Maurice's brother-in-law, after all. It probably goes without saying, but Maurice was the son of future Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Curiously Maurice's grandson, Daniel Macmillan, is one of the names listed in Epstein's "black book."470 But then again, the Macmillans encountered their share of deca­ dence over the years, as we shall see. However, by far the most interesting figure Amery befriended at Oxford was another 469(Amery, 76) 470(Bryant, Here Is Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book 2015)

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member of Clan Fraser of Lovat, Sir Hugh Fraser,471 Shimi Lovat's brother. You have already encountered Sir Hugh in this chapter. As noted, Sir Hugh loomed in the background of Amery's intrigues in both Egypt and Yemen. But there is so much more to Hugh Fraser than this. As we shall see in the final chapter, he is the potential key to finally unlocking the motives behind one of the most profound events of the twentieth century: the Profumo Affair. But beyond this, Sir Hugh's family also has bizarre links to the later Epstein network. Indeed, Sir Hugh may provide a key not just to Profumo, but also to the lineage of these black­ mail networks up to the present day.

471(Amery, 76-77; 114-16); (Faber, 310; 323; 325)

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Part Three

Honey Pots

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Chapter Five

Profumo

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T

he Profumo Affair472 is one of the pivotal deep events of the twenti­ eth century, on par with the JFK assassination, which it bleeds into. Naturally, it all but unknown to most Americans. This is hardly surprising as it was principally a British scandal, at least publicly. In the UK, it still resonates in the collective consciousness. In 2009, The Spectator listed it as number one among the UK's all-time top political scandals.473 The year 2013 witnessed the release of a musical based upon the scandal 472For such a pivotal scandal, there has been a surprisingly limited amount of works on Profumo. Knightley and Kennedy's An Affair of State: The Profumo Case and the Framing of Stephen Ward (1987) and Thompson's Stephen Ward: Scapegoat (2014) are two of the most balanced accounts. Summers and Dorril's The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward (1987, 2013), while somewhat more sensational, is ultimately more compelling. Summers' also provided some brief but informative account on the FBI's role in Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover (305309). Another brief account that nonetheless provides crucial information can be found in Dorril and Ramsay's Smear! Wilson and the Secret State (62-64). Naturally, the Profumo Affair is mentioned throughout West's The A to Z of Sexpionage (2009). The significance of the scandal to the Kennedy White House was also touched upon briefly by Scott in Deep Politics and the Death of JFK (228-231). For a more sensation account of the scandal's possible role in the JFK assassination, consider Ganis' brief account in The Skorzeny Papers (294-296; 315).

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entitled, Stephen Ward, which was scored by the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber. And, in 2019, a lavish BBC production called The Trial of Christine Keeler aired in six parts. While it certainly fits that interest in Profumo has reemerged in the UK in the aftermath of Epstein and Jimmy Savile, recent accounts do no better a job making sense of the scandal than their predecessors. That being side, one of the earliest fictional­ ized accounts of the Profumo Affair is a curios­ ity. Of course, I'm referring to the 1989 film Scandal, starring Joanne Whalley, John Hurt, and Ian McKellen.474 This picture was an early art-house release for Miramax Films, the film company founded by Bob and Harvey Wein­ stein. Harvey is the disgraced former film producer and convicted sex offender laid low by the #MeToo movement.475 Elsewhere, his brother Bob is one of the names appearing in Epstein's black book.476 Capping things off, Robert Maxwell, father of Epstein's reputed 473(Spectator 2009) 474(Scandal (1989) n.d.) 475(Sisak and Hays 2020) 476(Bryant, Here Is Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book 2015)

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madam Ghislaine, was briefly involved with the film before the Weinstein brothers picked it up.477 Did Maxwell and the Weinstein's recognize the significance of their subject? If so, it mattered not for Scandal does no better a job of shedding light on the affair than any other attempt, fictional or otherwise. This, of course, is part of the continuing fascination with Profumo: No one has ever really been able to adequately explain just what exactly was going on behind the scenes. Conspiratorial accounts often reduce it to a plot by the Soviets and/or Labour to bring an end to the long, prosperous reign of the Tories.478 Suffice to say, this is not an espe­ cially compelling explanation, though no doubt the Soviets and Labour are lurking in there somewhere. Before digging into Profumo in earnest, a broad overview is needed for American readers with little concept of this particular scandal. 477(Luck 2019) 478(Christine Keeler. Scandal from A Small World… 2018). I'm generally reluctant to use websites, but this post from 2018 does a fantastic job of encompassing the various "Labour conspiracy" tropes that have gained traction over the past decade or so.

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For those of you who do, please bear with me for a few more sentences. The scandal revolved around a love triangle involving its namesake, John Profumo; a showgirl called Christine Keeler; and Eugene Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché. At the time, Profumo was the Secre­ tary of State for War in Macmillan's govern­ ment. Simultaneously, Ivanov was an agent of the GRU, the Soviet Union's principal military intelligence outfit. What's more, Ivanov had very senior connections in the USSR. He once boasted that he could have "anything impor­ tant... on Khrushchev's desk in 20 minutes." 479 Needless to say, the status of both men hugely complicated things. Things got started in July 1961, at a weekend party held at the famed Cliveden Estate. Clive­ den was in possession of the legendary AngloAmerican Astor family, detailed in Chapter 1. During the 1930s, Vincent Astor, scion of the family's American wing, was involved in a private Anglo-American intelligence network centered around gentleman's clubs such as 479(Knightley and Kennedy, 90). Ivanov's wife was the daugh­ ter of Alexander Gorkin, chairman of the Soviet Supreme Court. His brother-in-law, a "Colonel Konstantinov," was the head of the GRU residentura at the London embassy (Knightley and Kennedy, 67).

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"The Room" and the Ends of the Earth Club. Elsewhere, the British branch oversaw an intel­ lectual circle known as the Cliveden Set. This group is most remembered for its policy of appeasement towards Hitler.480 The Cliveden Set was part of the broader Round Table move­ ment, where Leopold Amery was a leading figure. Leopold was also a part of the Cliveden Set, though he later broke with the more extreme appeasement faction.481 Despite this, Leopold remained a friend and close political ally to Lord Waldorf Astor for much of his life.482 By the time of Profumo, a new kind of Clive­ den Set had emerged at the Astor family estate. Under the gaze of Lord William "Bill' Astor, Waldorf's son, decadence had become the intel­ lectual currency of the day. Lord Astor was known to have a particular penchant for sado­ masochism, specifically the caning of girls on 480(Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World In Our Time, 581-582); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 83) 481(Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World In Our Time, 581-582); (Amery, Approach March: A Venture in Autobiog­ raphy, 75). Julian Amery notes that his father was in "violent disagreement" with the other Cliveden types by 1937 over Hitler. 482(Faber, Speaking for England: Leo, Julian, and John -The Tragedy of a Political Family, 97)

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their backsides. These sessions could be quite intense, leading him to boast once that it was "like hunting, mustn't mind a little blood."483 Caning was but one of the festivities on tap at Cliveden during this era. Many aging aristo­ crats made their way there for weekend retreats, where they found a harem of scantily clad women just out of their teens awaiting them.484 Orgies, wife swapping, and all the other swinger tropes soon followed. As such, Lord Astor's parties were quite celebrated in certain circles. It wasn't all fun and games, however. Lord Astor was regarded as an intellectual light­ weight, 485 but he was still a part of the aristoc­ racy and a celebrated family. No doubt, this opened doors to him that would otherwise have remained tightly sealed. One such opening was into the murky netherworld of intelligence. Lord Astor served in British naval intelligence during WWII.486 At one point, he was the naval 483(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 119) 484(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 85-86) 485(Summers and Dorril, 64); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 73-74) 486(Knightley and Kennedy, 31); (Summers and Dorril, 64); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 73)

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intelligence representative to the Beirut-based 31 Committee.487 This was a powerful inter-a­ gency task force that ran agents across the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Here, Lord Astor acquired contacts in the other military intelligence bodies in addition to MI5 and MI6. Astor would continue these contacts well after he had returned to civilian life.488 This puts Lord Astor's weekend parties in a more ominous light. One such weekend retreat, which began on July 8, 1961, was framed as a house party for several London VIPs. For our purposes, two of the most noteworthy guests were Lord Louis Mountbatten and Sir Gilbert Laithwaite.489 Mountbatten is undoubtedly one of the most colorful and notorious of the Royal Family. A great-grandson of Queen Victoria, cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and uncle to her husband, Prince Phillip, he was at the center of intrigues for decades. This climaxed with "Dickie" (as he was known to the Royal family) being assassi­ nated by the IRA in 1979. It was one long, 487(Summers and Dorril, 76-77) 488(Knightley and Kennedy, 75); (Summers and Dorril, 76-77) 489(Knightley and Kennedy, 84)

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strange trip arriving at that peculiar death to be sure. A lifelong Navy man, Mountbatten held a series of increasingly prestigious postings beginning in WWII: Chief of Combined Opera­ tions Headquarters in Europe (1941-1943), Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command (1943-1946), the last British Viceroy of India (1947) and the first governor-general of independent India (1947-1948). Julian Amery briefly encountered Mountbatten while deployed in the Far East for the Special Opera­ tion Executive during the war's final months. He was favorably disposed towards the impe­ rial court Mountbatten maintained in Ceylon.490 A rear admiral by war's end, Mountbatten would only continue to add to his Navy resume during the postwar years. In 1953, he finally achieved the rank of full admiral besides being appointed Personal Aide-de-Camp to his cousin, Queen Elizabeth. In 1955, Mountbatten was made First Sea Lord, a position he held until 1959. And, in 1956, he achieved the post of Admiral of the Fleet, the highest rank in the Royal Navy. His military career reached its apex in 1959, when he was appointed Chief of 490(Amery, 412)

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the Defense Staff, the most senior uniformed military officer in the entire British Armed Forces. Mountbatten held this post for six years, a feat no one else has yet managed. For our purposes, it's important to emphasize that Mountbatten was in control of the British Armed Forces throughout the Profumo scandal. Following his storied military career, Mount­ batten would be implicated in a several scan­ dals throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. One of the most significant was an alleged plot to overthrow Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1968.491 Unsurprisingly, he has been implicated in pedophilia for decades as well. A friend of Jimmy Savile, Mountbatten has long been linked to the Kincora Boys Home scandal that ravaged the UK during the 1970s.492 Natu­ rally, Mountbatten has family members who appear in Epstein's black book. They will be addressed later in this chapter. 491Accounts of Mountbatten being approached for a proposed coup against Wilson can be found in Wright's Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer (369), Leigh's The Wilson Plot (157-158), and Dorril & Ramsay's Smear! Wilson & the Secret State (172-182). It was also briefly addressed in the BBC documentary The Plot Against Harold Wilson (Dwyer 2006). Just how dangerous this plot, hatched by press magnet Cecil King, indeed was is highly debatable. The possibility that it was princi­ pally designed to entrap Mountbatten will be explored in greater depth in Book II.

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For now, a word about Sir Gilbert Laithwaite shall suffice. Laithwaite had been a very senior diplomat, serving as Ambassador to Ireland and British High Commissioner to Pakistan during the early 1950s. By the middle of that decade, he'd achieved the station of Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, which he held until 1959.493 He was also a member of the Travellers' Club, another exclusive gentleman's club mainly comprised of diplomats and intelligence officers.494 The Travellers' Club was yet another cog in the interwar intelligence network maintained by the British that was outlined in Chapter 1. Men like Sir Stewart Menzies, the future MI6 chief who was also a fixture in the 1b Club and the Ends of the Earth Club, were also members of the Travellers' Club.495 492(N. Anderson 2019); (Tucker 2019); (Johnston 2019). The abuse at the Kincora orphanage had unfolded over some twenty years with the knowledge of British intelligence (Foot, 115-146). Book II will explore whether certain circles were using it as a honey-trap for British VIPs deemed to be unreliable. 493(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 111) 494(Summers and Dorril, 63); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 112) 495(A. C. Brown, The Secret Life of Sir Stewart Menzies, Spymaster to Winston Churchill, 124)

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But beyond this, Laithwaite was also a lead­ ing figure in the UK's "Gay Establishment." Other fellow travelers included Bobbie Shaw, Lord Astor's homosexual step-brother; Laith­ waite's sometime lover Reverend Monsignor Hugh Montgomery; and the good reverend's brother, Peter. This social circle included multiple members of the infamous Cambridge Five, the Soviet spy ring that penetrated deeply into British intelligence. 496 Laithwaite was friendly with Anthony Blunt while Peter Mont­ gomery was his lover.497 Elsewhere Robert Harbinson, a popular author of travel and auto­ biographical works and part of this circle, slept with Guy Burgess.498 Harbinson, who hailed from an Irish working class family, had a curious rise within this circle. His entry point appears to have been Evan Morgan, 2nd Viscount Tredegar. It's likely Lord Tredegar seduced the teenage Harbinson during the 1940s when he was well into his

496(Summers and Dorril, 63); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 111-114) 497(Summers and Dorril, 63); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 114) 498(Summers and Dorril, 63)

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50s.499 The Harbinson seduction would have been but one episode in Tredegar's bizarre and infamous life. Unsurprisingly, he was both an intelligence officer and occultist. At one point, he had been especially close to Aleister Crow­ ley, who hailed Tredegar's "magick room" as the best equipped he had ever encountered. Naturally, Tredegar later became a devoted Roman Catholic and intimate of various senior Nazi Party officials.500 While Harbinson may have remained a devo­ tee of Tredegar, the world he brought him into appears to have left a bad taste in Harbinson's 499(Cross 2013) 500(Carradice, 212-214). It is also interesting to note that both Laithwaite and Tredegar were members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), the Catholic chivalric order that traces its origins back the Medieval Knights Hospitaller. SMOM has long been accused of cultivating senior members of the US military and intelligence community (Phelan 2011). Both Wild Bill Donovan and William Casey, two members of the WCC network and directors of the OSS and CIA respectively, were both Knights of Malta. McCarthyite attorney and Trump mentor, Roy Cohn, was close to Maltese Knight Cardinal Francis Spellman. Cohn, who was also a homosexual, will play a crucial role in this saga during the coming chapters. Elsewhere, Hugh Montgomery, Laithwaite's sometime lover, has long been accused of having a similar understanding with Albino Luciana (Summers and Dorril, 63). Luciana's name would eventually change to Pope John Paul I. Clearly, an element of Vatican intrigue was in play with Profumo as well, though such a topic is beyond the scope of this work.

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mouth. In the 1980s, he made allegations that Mountbatten, Blunt, and other members of the British Establishment were involved in a pedophile ring in Ireland that included the Kincora Boys Home. Under the name Robin Bryans, Harbinson published a book on this network called The Dust Never Settles. Long out of print, it's now virtually impossible to get a copy. 501 As such, a party attended by Lord Mountbat­ ten and Sir Gilbert Laithwaite, and hosted by a veteran British intelligence officer and aristo­ crat, has some clear implications. Thus, it's hardly surprising that it became a catalyst for a scandal that brought down the British govern­ ment. The genesis of this lay in another guest at Lord Astor's party: John Profumo. Profumo first met Christine Keeler there. Keeler had been spending that weekend at a friend's cottage located on the Cliveden prop­ erty. The day was hot, so they retired to the main house to make use of Lord Astor's pool. Christine swam nude, and that's how Profumo and Lord Astor found her when they ventured out to the pool to greet these recently arrived guests. Profumo was immediately smitten with 501(de Burca 2020)

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Keeler, though nothing significant unfolded on that Saturday. Sunday was a different story. The festivities at Cliveden continued, but with an expanded crowd that included Eugene Ivanov. Ivanov and Keeler left the party together and allegedly became lovers that night.502 Profumo began an affair with Keeler within days of that tryst.503 There is no sure 502(Knightley and Kennedy, 84-86); (Summers and Dorril, 144148); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 181). Summers and Dorril report that Profumo alleged to have met Keeler very briefly at a London nightclub before that weekend at Cliveden, but had not remembered her at the time. Thompson does not indicate Profumo and Keeler had been introduced, but that he had at least seen her at a London club prior to that weekend at Cliveden (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 121). There has been much dispute as to whether Keeler and Ivanov did elope, and whether it was an affair or one nightstand. Many of Keeler's friends at the time did not believe she had slept with the Russian while Lord Denning, the man tasked with investigating the scandal, remained uncertain. Some felt she'd been pressured into claiming that she had slept with Ivanov. The Russian spy acknowledged sleeping with Keeler, though he insisted they had had sex twice while Keeler later claimed it was only once. That seems to be the consensus now --that they slept together, but only once. 503(Knightley and Kennedy, 87-88); (Summers and Dorril, 149). All accounts agree Profumo met Keeler the Tuesday after she slept with Ivanov. Both events occurred at her friend Stephen Ward's flat. Knightley &Kennedy allege that Profumo and Keeler became sexually active during their second meeting, which was later in the week. Summers and Dorril quote Keeler as claiming the first time they had sex was after the third meeting. Regardless, it was likely within a week of when she slept with Ivanov.

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accounts of how long the relationship lasted. Some say that Profumo stopped seeing Keeler shortly after receiving an indirect warning from Cabinet Secretary Norman Brook.504 However, it's now generally agreed that the affair continued for up to six months after the August encounter with Brook.505 The appearance of the cabinet secretary at this early juncture is most interesting. The cabinet secretary is the most senior civil servant in the UK government. Effectively, the 504(West, The A to Z of Sexpionage, 141; 229) 505(Knightley and Kennedy, 88-89); (Summers and Dorril, 167172); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 193-194). Accounts generally agree that Brook never mentioned Christine Keeler during their meeting on August 9th. Brook asked him to assist MI5 in turning Ivanov, which he declined to become involved with, and to be cautious about his dealings with Stephen Ward, the osteopath whom Keeler lived with. In theory, Profumo interpreted this as Brook warning him off from the affair with Keeler. Later that day, Profumo wrote a letter to Keeler breaking off the affair. However, this is not especially clear in the letter in question: "In great haste & because I can get no reply from your phone - Alas something's blown up tomorrow night & I can't therefore make it. I'm terribly sorry especially as I leave the next day for various trips & then a holiday so won't be able to see you again until sometime in Septem­ ber. Blast it. Please take great care of yourself & don't run away." This is certainly doesn't sound like the end of an affair and ample witness testimony has emerged over the years to discredit the notion that Profumo broke off the affair after he met with Brook.

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post is responsible for the efficient running of the prime minister's cabinet while also serving as one of the most senior policy advisers to said cabinet and prime minister. As such, the cabinet secretary was seen as the public personification of the "permanent government" in some quarters, partly due to the control it exercised over the security services, for many years. In particular, the cabinet secretary was well placed to control the flow of intelligence to the prime minister.506 The cabinet secretary of the time, Norman Brook, was considered an insider's insider. The confidant of four prime ministers, Brook was referred to as "the central cog in the British government" during his four decades in public service.507 Belying his insider status, Brook may well have been aware of Profumo's affair with Keeler as early as July 31, 1961, a mere three weeks after the weekend at Cliveden.508 506(Dorril and Ramsay, Smear! Wilson and the Secret State, 6364); (James, In the Public Trust, 128; 131-132). In theory, intelli­ gence is supposed to be overseen by the Joint Intelligence Commit­ tee (JIC) in the UK. But James reports that a 1989 report of "Central Intelligence Machinery" revealed that the Cabinet Secre­ tary was responsible for "intelligence and security matters over­ all." 507(Summers and Dorril, 166-167)

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As we see later on, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan would not learn of the affair until early 1963. By this time events were already in motion that would lead to it being exposed in the House of Commons during March 1963. What's more, many accounts allege that it was not Macmillan's intelligence services that confirmed the affair to the prime minister, but the American ambassador. If Brook did control the British security services, he was able to keep Macmillan in the dark for nearly a year and a half. *** Another significant aspect of Brook's meeting with Profumo was the cabinet secretary's warning concerning a society osteopath named Stephen Ward. While Profumo, Keeler, and Ivanov are all integral to what became known as the Profumo Affair, it is really Ward who was the central figure. He was the man Keeler was living with at the time of her fling with Ivanov. Hence, the tryst occurred at the osteopath's apartment. Further, Ward was already on friendly terms with Ivanov at this point and was the one who'd invited Ivanov to 508(Summers and Dorril, 166-167)

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Cliveden for that particular weekend.509 Ward rented a cottage on the estate from Lord Astor and was a regular fixture there on the week­ ends.510 All of this is undoubtedly not a coinci­ dence, as Ward's background will make clear. I refer to Ward as a "society osteopath" for a reason: He was well acquainted with virtually every prominent figure in the British Establish­ ment, and even a few American VIPs, for good measure. Indeed, it was an American who greased the skids for Ward's rise in British society. Ward, a British citizen, had earned his degree in osteopathy in America. Upon return­ ing to the UK in the aftermath of the war, he initially found little demand for his services as the field of osteopathy was not highly regarded there. Fortunately, then-American Ambassador W. Averell Harriman was a devotee of osteopa­ thy and in search of a good doctor when he arrived in London. Ward was enlisted and the famed financier and diplomat was duly impressed.511 509(Knightley and Kennedy, 68-77; 85-87) (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 141-142) 510(Knightley and Kennedy, 46-49); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 83-85) 511(Knightley and Kennedy, 19); (Summers and Dorril, 29-30); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 21)

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A close confidant of FDR and the former American ambassador to Moscow, Harriman was one of his era's most influential statesmen. In the 1986 work Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made, Harriman was identified as one of the six Wise Men who shaped US foreign policy from FDR to Lyndon B Johnson. He was also a longtime member of the Council on Foreign Relations,512 making him a part of the same exclusive Anglo-American circles chronicled in this work. Naturally, Harriman was also a favorite whipping boy of the conspiratorial right.513 While Harriman has long been depicted as a closet communist in such circles, he was in fact part of the hardline, Pax Americana clique that came to domi­ nate American foreign policy in the postwar years. The role he and the other "Wise Men" had in the rise of containment militarism, in contrast to liberal internationalism (or global­ 512(Shoup and Minter, Imperial Brain Trust: The Council of Foreign Relations & United States Foreign Policy, 32-33) 513In addition to CFR membership, Harriman was also a member of the infamous Yale fraternity Skull and Bones (Sutton, 20-21). British economist and historian Anthony Sutton, who was at one point a Fellow at Stanford University's famed Hoover Insti­ tute, singled out Harriman as being instrumental in transferring US technology to the Soviets during WWII (Sutton, 130-132).

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ism, as it's now known), was detailed in the Introduction. Harriman opened doors for Ward in British society. His big breakthrough came when he was tapped to treat Winston Churchill.514 Ward had been recommended to the once and future prime minster by his wife, Clementine. Mrs. Churchill had heard of Ward via her daughter, Diana. Both Diana and her husband, Tory politician Duncan Sandys, were Ward's patients.515 You will recall that, during the early 1960s, Sandys' was a backer of Julian Amery's controversial policies in Yemen. Amery had known Diana Sandys since at least 1941. They met while he recuperated from oral surgery at a house where she was living.516 Nor were the Sandys' the only Amery asso­ ciates in Ward's circle by the mid-1940s. Another early patient of Ward's was King Peter of Yugoslavia.517 King Peter had worked with the SOE during the war and was close to Amery 514(Knightley and Kennedy, 20); (Summers and Dorril, 30); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 15-16) 515(Knightley and Kennedy 1987, 20); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 15) 516(Amery, 223) 517(Knightley and Kennedy, 21); (Summers and Dorril, 30)

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during this time.518 Immediately after the war, Amery made his first bid to be elected to Parliament in 1945. He campaigned with Randolph Churchill, son to Winston and brother to Diana. They often stumped together in a large, open car borrowed from King Peter.519 Randolph's presence campaigning with Amery was an outgrowth of the close political alliance between Leopold Amery and Churchill, leading up to the war and beyond. Thus, the circles Ward was traveling in closely over­ lapped with Amery's. Other interesting clients Ward picked up included the famed American actress Ava Gard­ ner.520 You will recall from Chapter 2 that by the end of the 1950s, Gardner had become godmother to the son of Ricardo Sicre, a former OSS officer and later a leading figure in the World Commerce Corporation. Sicre was also a close business partner to famed Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny, a neighbor to Gard­ ner in Madrid during the 1950s. It's unlikely that Gardner had forged these ties when Ward 518(Amery, 266-267); (Faber, 418; 420) 519(Amery, 434) 520(Knightley and Kennedy, 21); (Summers and Dorril, 30); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 39)

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was treating her during the mid-1940s, but it's suggestive of the incestuous nature of these various networks. For the aristocratically-obsessed Ward, there was surely no more significant a coup than establishing inroads with the Royal Family. Ward managed this via his friendship with photographer Sterling Henry Nahum, known as "Baron" to his friends. Ward went out of his way to cultivate a relationship with Baron, whom he singled out as a rising star.521 Baron became the Royal photographer thanks to the patronage of Lord "Dickie" Mountbatten. The image-obsessed Dickie was highly selective about which of Baron's photographs he used, but the final results were always celebrated. Having satisfied Mountbatten's vanity, access to the rest of the Royal Family was secured.522 Mountbatten proved to be a most fortuitous patron. In the immediate aftermath of the war, Prince Philip had taken up residency at Uncle Dickie's Belgravia home. While staying there, he decided to renew his childhood friendship with David Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford 521(Summers and Dorril, 36-37) 522(Summers and Dorril, 36); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 34)

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Haven.523 Milford Haven was his cousin and another of Uncle Dickie's nephews. The two became fast friends again, and soon Baron joined the mix. The three became active in the infamous Thursday Club, depicted in the second season of the celebrated BBC/Netflix series The Crown.524 The festivities at the Thursday Club were described as "rip-roaring stag parties" by Prince Philip's biographer.525 That seems about right. The Thursday Club met weekly on the day they were named after at Wheeler's in Soho beginning around 1947. These luncheons were by invitation only. They often featured lobster and oysters, and copious amounts of cham­ pagne and Guinness. Humor was a priority, usually in the form of lewd stories concerning buggery and the like. Members were provided distinction based on who made the biggest fool 523(Summers and Dorril, 37) 524(Summers and Dorril, 37); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 35); (Pocklington 2020). Summers and Dorril describe him as a co-founder, along with Tatler editor Sam Fielding. Thompson merely states "Baron and others started the Thursday Club." Regardless, Baron seems to have been the principal "vision­ ary" behind the Thursday Club. 525(Pocklington 2020)

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of himself (as this was a male-only club) in recent weeks with the "Cunt of the Month" award. In addition to Philip, Milford Haven, and Baron, other known members included future Conservative MP Iain Macleod (Leader of the House of Commons during Profumo); actors Peter Ustinov, James Robertson Justice, and David Niven; newspaper editors Arthur Christiansen (Daily Express), Frank Owen (Daily Mail), and Sam Boal (New York Post) and far-right City attorney, Michael Eddowes.526 Some of the more notorious guests included Ward, who had gained access to this world via his friendship with Baron; and, infa­ mous Soviet spy Harold "Kim" Philby.527 While the Thursday Club doesn't seem to be more raunchy than most weekends at American frats, the extracurricular activities were a tad more risqué. Fittingly, the most notorious members were Baron and Milford Haven, close friends to Prince Philip and Ward. Baron was known to regularly throw sex parties at his Piccadilly flat. Bizarrely, some featured "girls 526(Summers and Dorril, 37-38); (Thompson, 34-36); (Pock­ lington 2020) 527(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 36); (Pocklington 2020)

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dressed only in Masonic aprons." Ward was in regular attendance. No conclusive evidence has emerged that Prince Philip ever attended, though he was a frequent dinner guest at Baron's flat during this time.528 The festivities at Baron's were tame compared to Milford Haven's sex parties at his Mayfair residence. These spectacles, which Baron helped organize, often began conven­ tionally enough with high stakes card games and ample booze. But once the alcohol started to work its magic, the girls were brought in. Then, games like "Chase the Bitch" and "Find the Lady" were played. Naturally, the betting was for the women themselves. Often the girls started by wearing little more than leather skirts, which could be easily flipped for "whenthe-music-stops" type games. Typically, partic­ ipants, both male and female, were tied up. One guest described the scene as not very "romantic... but it was always fascinating," which is undoubtedly an understatement.529

528(Summers and Dorril, 39) 529Details of Milford Haven's parties can be found in Summers and Dorril's The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward (42) and Thomp­ son's Stephen Ward: Scapegoat (46).

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Reputed guests included Prince Philip and Conservative MP William Rees-Davies, who became Ward's attorney during the height of the Profumo scandal. Of course Ward was a regular at these parties and said to procure girls for them from time to time.530 Reportedly, Ward and Milford Haven also bonded over their shared love of pornography. Milford Haven had inherited one of the largest private collections in the world, including a multitude of books and seven albums of erotica --some embossed with the Milford Haven family crest. Once the Profumo scandal broke, Milford Haven was ordered to destroy this treasured collection. He gave the task to his chauffeur, who instead sold some of it to a bookseller. Eventually, much of it ended up in the Private Case of the British Museum, while the Univer­ sity of Texas acquired two albums.531 No doubt the revelation that the Mountbatten family possessed one of the largest private collections of pornography in the world was a crowning achievement for the Royal Family. Further, it should come as little surprise that David's oldest son, George Mountbatten, 4th 530(Summers and Dorril, 42) 531(Summers and Dorril, 42-43)

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Marquess of Milford Haven, is one of the names that appears in Epstein's black book.532 Ward was known as a talented sketch artist. He eventually parlayed these contacts into portraits sessions with famous personages. When he was offered an exhibition in 1960, he called in favors which resulted in portraits of Harold Macmillan, as well as his Home and Foreign Secretaries. He also produced portraits of: opposition leader Hugh Gaitskell, the former SOE man; actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; and, Archbishop Makarios, Amery's old foe in Cyprus who was allegedly turned by homosex­ ual blackmail. And, of course, the inevitable Royals: Prince Philip, the Duchess of Kent, Princess Marina, and Princess Margaret.533 As such, his ties to the Royals and other aristoc­ racy were well established by the time Profumo was unfolding. *** On the whole, Ward was fascinated by the sex parties hosted and attended by his social betters. It was an extraordinary time for such 532(Bryant, Here Is Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book 2015) 533(Knightley and Kennedy, 63-66); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 129-131)

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things, to be sure. Katherine East, better known as "Red Kate," was a high-end domina­ trix who may well have been one of the ten richest women in London at the time if police evidence is to be believed.534 Many of Ward's friends possessed extensive collections of para­ phernalia: whips, Malacca, canes, straps, and other assorted restraining and penetrating devices.535 Nor were Baron and Milford Haven the only Ward associates throwing sex parties. Dennis Hamilton and actress Diana Dors, who were married during the 1950s, routinely held orgies out of their home in Maidenhead dubbed "The Penthouse." They had installed a two-way mirror in their master bedroom, which enabled them to observe their guests' activities. The festivities included the inevitable sado­ masochist games, the occasional teenage sex partner, and even a little "black magic hokum" for good measure. Hamilton made money on the side by recording these activities and sell­ ing them as films (complete with soundtracks no less) to fellow connoisseurs.536 534(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 45) 535(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 45) 536(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 126)

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The above reference to "black magic hokum" being present at Hamilton and Dors' sex parties is interesting. They were not the only ones employing such trappings. As was noted, Ward's friend Baron used Masonic aprons in at least one instance at his parties. Another sex party enthusiast friend of Ward's went much further. Like Aleister Crowley, Horace Dibben was raised in the fundamentalist Christian Plymouth Brethren sect.537 Dibben's sex parties were said to contain "black magic and men in masks and peacocks wandering around...". 538 Dibben was not the only of Ward's friends to throw "black magic" themed parties.539 Still, Dibben appears to have taken these things more seriously than others. Sadism and masochism was also a major feature of Dibben's parties, which Ward described as 537(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 101). Crowley addresses his experiences growing up in the Plymouth Brethren throughout the early chapters of his autobiography (7-29). A compelling account can also be found in Churton's Aleister Crow­ ley: The Biography (Churton 2011, 21-26). Whether the two men ever met is unknown. Dibben would not have been born until around 1906, long after Crowley had abandoned the Plymouth Brethren. Given their similar backgrounds and interests in kinky sex and the occult, it would hardly be surprising if the two gentle­ men had encountered one another at some point before the Great Beast's death in 1947. 538(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 101)

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"ritual sadomasochism." "Ceremonies" featured a "master" in regalia seated upon a "throne," presumably as other masked individ­ uals looked on.540 The whole thing comes off as being rather Eyes Wide Shut to the point that you have to wonder whether film director Stanley Kubrick (who had relocated to the UK in 1961) had Profumo in mind when choreographing the infamous orgy scenes in his final film. There is a real possibility these types of sex parties were also held in New York, with veterans of the British scene in tow, as we shall see. Fittingly, Eyes Wide Shut's masked orgy occurs in an isolated mansion outside of New York City. As incredible as it seems, multiple sources agree that Ward was knowledgeable regarding what is always referred to as "black magic." 541 539(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 203). Thompson describes Ward semi-regularly attending black magic themed parties later in Scapegoat, but does not indicate if he is referring to Dibben's parties at this point or others. As was noted, Dibben was not the only one as Baron and Hamilton/Dors also used occult trappings in some of their sex parties. 540(Summers and Dorril, 47-48) 541(Knightley and Kennedy, 48); (Summers and Dorril, 48); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 38)

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Whether it was a serious interest or merely a compelling conversation piece among his upper-crust social circles is debatable. It's interesting to note, however, that Lord Astor's wife eventually felt the need to have an exor­ cism performed at Ward's former Cliveden cottage in 1966. The exorcist, Dom Robert Petitpierre, declared that "the evil powers emanating from the cottage were some of the strongest I've ever experienced."542 Thus, there is a distinct possibility Ward had an earnest interest in such things. This would hardly be surprising with the circles he ran in. Some may be uncomfortable with my deci­ sion to dwell on these aspects of Profumo in a Qanon world. Post Epstein, the notion of VIP sex rings using minors may no longer be taboo, but black magic hokum still is. The notion of occultism being used in blackmail operations of this nature is highly controversial, to put it mildly. But, as the above illustrates, it does have a basis in reality. What's more, there are logical explanations for it without resorting to Satanic conspiracies. For one, bizarre ritualism in and of itself is highly compromising to politicians and other public figures, especially 542(Knightley and Kennedy, 257);

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those of a conservative disposition. While normal infidelity is not necessarily a career killer, especially in this day and age, an orgy beginning with a black mass surely is. 543 But an even more insidious purpose for this ritualism is to discredit the victims of these rings. Individuals who have been sexually abused as part of these networks have an uphill battle convincing the public of their abuse at the hands of public figures. When they start talking about black robes and strange rites, they are immediately dismissed as kooks. Thus, while we should be extremely cautious when considering the prospect of occultism in these things, there is both a documented basis for it as and compelling explanations that do not rely upon the supernatural. There may have been a variety of reasons for Ward's interest in "black magic." But he certainly performed more practical functions as well. While his friends provided the loca­ tions and equipment, Ward brought the girls. He had implanted himself among high society through his ability to groom women to service 543See, for instance, Richard B. Spence's discussion of occultism used by British security services for blackmail in Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult (241). For Crowley's possible role in such things, see footnote 408.

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such a crowd. Ward prowled the strip clubs and the street walkers for a particular type of girl. Typically, they were ample-bosomed, longlegged, and from a lower-middle or workingclass background. He coached them on social graces such as how to speak and eat properly in addition to helping them improve their sexual technique. His efforts made the girls all the more appealing to the aristocracy.544 This led to later allegations (and charges) that Ward effectively functioned as a pimp. But many of Ward's old friends insist that he never lived off the wages that his girls earned.545 Instead, it seems that Ward used his girls as a means of accessing a world that utterly fascinated him. Beyond the sex party crowd, Ward was also part of the high-stakes gambling circle. Gambling was illegal in the UK until the intro­ duction of the 1960 Gaming Act.546 Thus, games of chance were often run out of private resi­ dences, such as the card games Milford Haven hosted at his flat before the orgy started. The undisputed king of this scene was legendary John Aspinall, who specialized in a French card 544(Summers and Dorril, 50-57) 545(Summers and Dorril, 54) 546(Fallon, 184)

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game called chemin-de-fer. Aspinall operated out of the Belgravia and Mayfair districts of London, in residencies often provided by Horace Dibben. Milford Haven was a regular.547 Another was the bisexual Robert Boothby (later, Lord), who carried on a decades-span­ ning affair with Prime Minister Harold Macmil­ lan's wife, Dorothy.548 Naturally, Boothby was also an Amery supporter.549 As for Aspinall, he was quite the character. In later years, he was known for three things: his gaming clubs, his zoos, and his unconven­ tional beliefs. As to the latter, he was an unabashed supporter of eugenics and depopu­ lation, all for the sake of endangered species and the planet. He was more than willing to cull some two billion of the world's population, including his children --all for the environmen­ t's sake. His zoos had an impressive track record of breeding endangered species in captivity. They also had an impressive track record of human deaths. This was partly due to 547(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 104-105) 548(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 116-117). At one point, Dorothy told Harold Bootby was the father of her youngest daughter. 549(Amery, Approach March: A Venture in Autobiography, 434)

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the practice of "bonding" used by Aspinall's zookeepers to establish a rapport with the animals under their charge. This practice could be dangerous when elephants and tigers were involved, and multiple deaths occurred over the years. Elsewhere, a boy of ten had his arm ripped off by a chimpanzee at Aspinall's zoos. His own daughter was even mauled by a tiger.550 However, Aspinall's most enduring legacy was the first of several gaming establishments he owned in the wake of the 1960 Gaming Act. It was called the Clermont Club. The eccentric cast of characters that flocked to this joint became the stuff of legend. They're variously known as the Clermont or the Mayfair Set.551 Among them was Julian Amery's long-time collaborator Colonel Sir David Stirling, who 550(Barker 2000) 551Sadly, there's never been a full-length account of this fasci­ nating cast of characters that frequented the Clermont Club, though it's featured at length in several individual biographies. Filmmaker Adam Curtis did make an excellent documentary series on this topic entitled The Mayfair Set (1999). All four parts are highly recommended. The Mayfair set is also featured prominently in Douglas Thompson's The Hustlers: Gambling, Greed, and the Perfect Con (2008). There is also some compelling information provided in Ivan Fallon's Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith (184-187; 231-232; 278-281).

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was involved in Yemen operations around the time Clermont opened in 1962. The storied Soames dynasty also had a longstanding rela­ tionship with Clermont. Tory MP Christopher Soames, the son-in-law to Winston Churchill and then a member of Macmillan's cabinet, was present at Clermont's grand opening in Novem­ ber 1962.552 His son Nicolas Soames, a longtime Tory MP and powerhouse in his own right, was a Clermont regular by the 1970s.553 Rupert Soames, Christopher's son and Nicolas' brother, is named in Epstein's black book.554 Nor is Rupert Soames the only of Christopher's descendants to show up there. Three other regulars are discussed in greater depth in Books II and III of this series, but they warrant a mention here: John Bingham, 7th Lord Lucan, who disappeared in 1974 after allegedly bludgeoning his children's nanny to death; and, the tycoons Roland "Tiny" Rowland and Sir James Goldsmith. The latter has two family members listed in Epstein's black book: 552(Knightley and Kennedy, 126); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 227) 553(Fallon, 281) 554(Bryant, Here Is Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book 2015)

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his daughter Isabel and his son-in-law Robin Birley.555 As a child, Birley was nearly killed by one of Aspinall's tigers during a private visit to his Howletts zoo circa 1970.556 Goldsmith and Aspinall were close. Thus, Sir Jimmy was in attendance at the Clermont's grand opening. He shared a table that night with Christopher Soames, a curious American named Alfred Wells, and the ever-present Stephen Ward, among others.557 That Ward would be in attendance is hardly surprising as he had rubbed elbows with Aspinall for years. Also present were Robert Boothby, the future Lord Lucan, and banker Jocelyn Hambro.558 Jocelyn was Olaf Hambro's son and Sir Charles' nephew. You will recall from Chapter 2 that Sir Charles Hambro, a former head of the SOE, was a leading figure in the WCC while Olaf was a part of the WCC's broader network. He eventu­ ally became the chairman of the intelligence-

555(Bryant 2015) 556(Fallon, 232-233) 557(Knightley and Kennedy, 126); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 228) 558(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 227-228)

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connected family bank in 1965 and held the post until 1972.559 Bizarrely, Jocelyn Hambro spent part of his childhood at Glendoe Estate, off of Loch Ness. His mother drowned in the loch in 1932. Her body was never recovered.560 Naturally, the lands Glendoe resided upon may have been owned by Clan Fraser of Lovat at one point.561 Jocelyn's son Richard would go on to marry Charlotte Soames, Christopher's daughter. Christopher Soames, of course, was making the scene with Jocelyn that faithful night at the Clermont Club. Richard Hambro and Charlotte Soames would have one daughter, Clementine, before their marriage ended in 1983. Clemen­ tine Hambro is another name appearing in Epstein's black book.562 She would also marry a 559(St. George 1994) 560(St. George 1994) 561Both The Scottish Jurist: Containing Reports of Cases Decided in the House of Lords, Courts of Session, Teinds, and Exchequer, and the Jury and Justiciary Courts, Volume 3 (1831561) and maga­ zine Celtic Monthly (Mackay 1896) refer to a "Hugh Fraser of Little Glendoe." Clan Fraser of Lovat long owned much of the land surrounding Loch Ness, including the nearby Fort Augustus (Fraser Connections). 562(Bryant, Here Is Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book 2015)

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member of Clan Fraser of Lovat, as we shall see. To briefly recap: the Soames family and Sir Jimmy contributed four names in Epstein's black book. And both Nicolas Soames and Sir Jimmy were regulars at Clermont. Stephen Ward also appears to have been a part of this circle in the early years (he shared a table with Christopher Soames and Sir Jimmy at the open­ ing after all). Ward also treated (and sketched) Winston Churchill and other family members, to which Christopher Soames had married into. This was quite the circle, and one whose descendants appear to be linked to Epstein. *** Ward also appears to have been popular with the "Gay Establishment." An early patient of Ward's had been Lord Astor's homosexual stepbrother Bobbie Shaw, who initially referred Astor to Ward.563 The osteopath was friendly with Toby Roe, whose Rockingham Club was one of the most popular destinations for gay men in London. His circle also included the homosexual Scots painters Robert Colquhoun and Robert Macbryde,564 while he regularly 563(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 74)

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lunched with gay columnist Godfrey Winn.565 Monsignor Hugh Montgomery and Sir Gilbert Laithwaite counted Ward as a friend.566 Indeed, he'd helped set Laithwaite and Shaw up with homosexual partners.567 All of this led to persistent allegations that Ward himself was a homosexual, or at least bisexual. However, many of his friends rejected these claims. There is little evidence to suggest he was anything other than heterosexual (albeit, one with quite eccentric tastes). 568 Far more suggestive are the activities he got up to with Laithwaite outside of the bedroom. Ward was a regular guest of Laithwaite's at the oh-so-spooky watering hole known as the Trav­ ellers Club.569 Also in attendance were fellow homosexuals Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess of the Cambridge Five. While not gay, fellow 564(Summers and Dorril, 62); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 110) 565(Summers and Dorril, 62-63) 566(Summers and Dorril, 63) 567(Summers and Dorril, 143) 568(Knightley and Kennedy, 27); (Summers and Dorril, 61-63); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 110) 569(Summers and Dorril, 63); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 112)

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Soviet spy Donald Maclean was also known to attend at times.570 No doubt, these made for some exciting lunches for Ward. Nor was Sir Gilbert Ward's only spooky contact. Ward was reportedly on friendly terms with Gwen Le Gallienne and Princess Dil de Rohan, both of whom were bisexual and involved with intelligence during the war (the latter may have continued her spycraft into the 1950s).571 And of course, there was also the nominally heterosexual Lord Astor, who served in naval intelligence during the war and main­ tained contacts with MI5 for years afterward. Another friend of Ward's who served in naval intelligence during the war was actor Jon Pertwee, most famous for portraying the Third Doctor in the long-running Dr. Who series. Pertwee was a long-time friend of Ward's who remained loyal till the end.572 The actor also spent a fair amount of time with Ward at Clive­ den.573 During his time with naval intelligence, Pertwee became a senior officer, reporting to Winston Churchill at one point. He also had 570(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 114) 571(Summers and Dorril, 77-79) 572(Keeler and Thompson, 34); (Summers and Dorril, 32)

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dealings with James Bond creator Ian Flem­ ing.574 In Chapter 2, it was noted that Fleming was a close friend of former British Security Coordination head and British-American-Cana­ dian Corporation (BACC) founder Sir William Stephenson, and later a part of the old BACCWCC network. However, it was MI6 who first recognized Ward's "talents." It allegedly had an interest in the osteopath since the early 1950s. MI6 has a reputation for targeting visiting dignitaries in the UK with sexual blackmail operations and recognized Ward's potential in this regard.575 Harold "Lee" Tracey, a wartime Royal Air Force (RAF) intelligence officer who joined MI6 in the postwar years, first approached Ward in 1952. He was working under journalistic cover at the Daily Mirror (which would later be purchased by fellow British intelligence asset Robert Maxwell during the 1980s) and never made Ward aware of MI6's interest. Tracey 573(Keeler and Thompson, 34); (Summers and Dorril, 234). Keeler alleges that Pertwee also rented a cottage near Ward's, though she doesn't indicate whether it was on Cliveden or not. Other sources make no mention of this, but indicate Pertwee was a regular guest of Ward's there. 574(Horne 2013) 575(Summers and Dorril, 79; 225)

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often worked through Ward's close confidant, journalist Warwick Charlton (another former military officer who served under Lord Mount­ batten during the war576). Tracey arranged for Ward to be provided with funds via Charlton regularly over the years. The perpetually cashstrapped Ward was always grateful despite these funds never amounting to much. They did ensure that Ward passed on numerous juicy stories to Charlton.577 However, MI6 allegedly never made operational use of Ward.578 While MI5 may have been using Ward indi­ rectly for years, the formal approach didn't come until 1961, shortly after the osteopath had befriended GRU man Ivanov. Indeed, it's entirely possible that MI5 or some branch of British intelligence had subtly nudged Ward towards Ivanov in the first place. The two men first encountered one another via Daily Tele­ graph editor Sir Colin Coote, Ward's patient. He brought the two men together in January 1961 for lunch at The Garrick. Coote was fasci­ nated by Ivanov during a visit to the Telegraph by a Soviet delegation and thought that Ward 576(Summers and Dorril, 34) 577(Summers and Dorril, 225-227) 578(Summers and Dorril, 228)

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and the Russian would hit it off. His assess­ ment proved correct.579 The only other man present at the lunch was Telegraph journalist David Floyd, who'd worked briefly for MI6 in Eastern Europe.580 Floyd was invited to serve as a translator, although Ivanov spoke flawless English.581 Coote had extensive intelligence ties. During the 1920s, potentially into the 1930s, Coote collaborated with MI6 in Rome while working as a correspondent.582 During WWII, Coote worked in the Public Relations department of the War Office, where he likely dabbled in propaganda. By the time he introduced Ward to Ivanov, Coote was a close friend and regular golfing partner of Roger Hollis, the DirectorGeneral of MI5.583 Thus, everyone present at this faithful lunch was either a spy or intelli­ 579(Knightley and Kennedy, 68-70); (Summers and Dorril, 114116); (Thompson, 139-140). Keeler, who depicts Ward as a Soviet spy throughout Secrets and Lies, alleges that Ivanov and Ward had met prior. The Coote lunch was a cover to explain how they knew one another (Keeler and Thompson, 76-77; 82-83). 580(Summers and Dorril, 114-115) 581(Summers and Dorril, 116) 582(Knightley and Kennedy, 75); (Summers and Dorril, 117) 583(Summers and Dorril, 117)

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gence asset. As such, there does not seem to be anything chance about Ward's introduction to Ivanov. A month before the weekend at Cliveden that started everything, Ward was finally approached officially by MI5. It came in the form of Keith Wagstaffe, who used the alias "Mr. Woods." Wagstaffe contacted Ward on June 8, 1961, and set up a meeting for later in the day. Unsurprisingly, the topic of conversa­ tion was Ivanov. Beyond that, accounts vary as to what was discussed. In the report handed over to Lord Tom Denning (who was tasked with investigating the scandal in 1963), it's alleged that Ward offered to assist MI5 but that Wagstaffe came to a conclusion that "he is obviously not a person we can make use of." In Ward's version, MI5 urged him to continue his relationship with Ivanov and report to them on the Russian.584 Further muddying the waters was Wagstaffe's decision to return to Ward's flat after lunch for a spot of tea. There they found Christine Keeler awaiting them. Wagstaffe found her to be "heavily painted and consider­ 584(Knightley and Kennedy, 75-76); (Summers and Dorril, 132134) (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 177-178)

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ably overdressed," but still described her as quite lovely.585 Was he potentially inspecting the honey for the trap he had discussed over lunch with Ward? Before departing, Wagstaffe gave Ward a "cover" contact point at Curzon Street where the osteopath could reach the MI5 man,586 further creating an impression he'd been recruited. It seems curious that Wagstaffe returned to Ward's flat, met Keeler, and gave him a contact point if Ward was "not a person" MI5 could "make use of." To be sure, this was not the last contact Ward had with Wagstaffe. Ward reached out to the MI5 man on July 10, the Monday after the infamous weekend at Cliveden. They met within forty-eight hours. During the encounter, Ward outlined how he had pushed Keeler onto Ivanov, Russia's interest in Germany poten­ tially acquiring nukes from the US, and Profu­ mo's interest in Keeler. Wagstaffe was suffi­ ciently concerned by the latter to report the matter to Roger Hollis, the MI5 Director-Gen­ eral.587 The affair between Keeler and Profumo 585(Summers and Dorril, 141) 586(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 177) 587(Knightley and Kennedy, 87); (Summers and Dorril, 154); (Thompson, 181-182)

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had not yet begun, but Ward may have contacted Wagstaffe later in the month to report on this development.588 Regardless, MI5 was well aware of the Keel­ er-Profumo-Ivanov triangle from very early in the game. Roger Hollis decided to act, but indi­ rectly. This is what spurred Profumo's meeting with Cabinet Secretary Norman Brook on August 9, 1961. Brook initially warned Profumo away from Ward. This allegedly led Profumo to believe it was Keeler who he was being warned to avoid. However, Brook would later try to convince Profumo to work for MI5 to turn Ivanov. Official history recounts that Profumo turned down Brook's request.589 It's highly debatable as to how credible this is, however. Profumo continued to see Keeler well after this meeting with Brook, although he was now aware of her involvement with Ivanov and that the Russian was an MI5 target. Was Profumo so infatuated with Keeler that he threw all good sense to the winds? Or had he agreed to help MI5, as some have speculated?590 With the 588(Summers and Dorril, 165-166) 589(Knightley and Kennedy, 88); (Summers and Dorril, 167169) 590(Summers and Dorril, 168)

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knowledge MI5 then possessed concerning his extracurricular activities, it seems unlikely Profumo was in a position to turn them down. Where there seems little doubt is that Ward's relationship with Ivanov became even more important to British intelligence around the time Brook had his meeting with Profumo. The so-called Berlin Crisis began in June of that year when the Soviets demanded the with­ drawal of all armed forces from the German capital city. Tension flared throughout the summer, leading into the fall. Eventually, the Berlin Wall resolved the situation, but the month of August threatened to be a hot one, and not just the weather. Lord Astor suggested to the Foreign Office that his friend Stephen Ward may make for a useful back channel during this time.591 Officially, the Foreign Office turned down Ward's offer. Undeterred, the osteopath arranged for Ivanov to meet with one of Ward's patients, MP Sir Godfrey Nicholson (the man who had introduced Ward to Colin Coote, who had put Ward in contact with Ivanov...). 591(Knightley and Kennedy, 90); (Summers and Dorril, 174). Knightley and Kennedy suggest this approach was initially Ward's idea.

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Nicholson liked what he heard, and dutifully made inquiries at the Foreign Office on behalf of the Russian. This result was three handwrit­ ten letters by Nicholson to Ivanov that commu­ nicated official Foreign Office policy. The middleman between Ivanov and Nicholson was Ward, who'd delivered the letters to the Russian. Thus, the British government had offi­ cially established Ward as a back channel between the UK and USSR.592 As improbable as it may seem that a man like Ward would have been entrusted with such a sensitive mission, consider the example of Robert Maxwell from an earlier chapter. Ward and Maxwell were every bit as controversial, both in terms of their lifestyles and reputed far-left sensibilities. But if the messages entrusted to either man were so sensitive that the British government did not wish them to go through official channels (where the American Cousins would have had access to them), the use of a Maxwell or Ward makes more sense. Both were seen at the time as ambitious social climbers, but only with a tenuous reach into the Establishment. As such, their claims could be easily dismissed (which later happened to 592(Knightley and Kennedy, 91); (Summers and Dorril, 175)

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Ward during his trial when he started to bring up the whole back channel thing), thus provid­ ing the UK with plausible deniability. This arrangement had a certain appeal. By April 1962 Ward had scored a meeting with Sir Harold Caccia, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State (then the second most senior post in the entire Foreign Office). There Ward expressed his despair over the growing tension in US-Soviet relations and suggested that Britain should mediate. Officially, Ward was rebuffed.593 Nonetheless, MI5's Wagstaffe continued to meet regularly with Ward during that month.594 Things came to a head later that year when the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolded. After failed US efforts to overthrow Castro, the Soviets began establishing the capabilities to launch nuclear missiles from Cuba. Once JFK became aware of this, he issued a blockade of Cuba on October 22. The Soviets opted to continue send­ ing supplies, and as the Russian ships 593(Knightley and Kennedy, 91); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 206) 594(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 206). Per Summers and Dorril, MI5 had become concerned by the Foreign Office using the "naive and indiscreet" Ward to pass on "tailored material" to Ivanov (194).

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approached the US Navy blockade, the world waited to see if life on earth would be extin­ guished by a nuclear war spurred by these actions. During this time, both the Soviets and the British appear to have turned to the WardIvanov duo. The blockade seemed inevitable, and Ivanov reached out to Ward on the nineteenth, days before it went into effect. Ivanov urged Ward to take an offer of ending the dispute to the British government. Nikita Khrushchev, Prim­ ier of the Soviet Union, desired a peace summit in London, where he would entertain the missiles' removal under certain conditions. Ward approached the Foreign Office on Octo­ ber 24 after consulting with the Soviet embassy earlier in the day. His offer was rebuffed the next day by then-Foreign Secretary Lord Alec Douglas-Home. The foreign secretary feared the Soviets were attacking the Special Relation­ ship in this instance. 595 At Ivanov's urging, Ward sought to bypass the foreign secretary altogether and appeal directly to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Ward attempted to make inroads via Lord 595(Knightley and Kennedy, 108-109); (Summers and Dorril, 198-200); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 219-221)

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Astor's aristocratic connections. A lengthy meeting was held on Saturday, October 27, but it became a moot point the next day: JFK and Khrushchev agreed to the USSR dismantling the Cuban missile sites in exchange for a prom­ ise not to invade the island nation and to remove US nukes from Turkey. While the Ward-Ivanov initiative had no ultimate barring on the Cuban Missile Crisis, there is no ques­ tion the Soviets saw Ward as a viable back channel to London. The British Establishment in turn was willing to listen to Ward.596 Macmillan was briefed by Ward's friend Sir Godfrey Nicholson on October 25th, the day before Ward met with the Lords and Ladies, after all.597 Ward was no doubt riding high during November of that year after playing a role in international affairs at a pivotal time in history. But, at the same time, the seeds of his downfall were being laid. And as with his rise, the fingerprints of the British security services are all over it. On the one hand, MI5 was concerned that Ward had potentially fallen 596(Knightley and Kennedy, 110-112); (Summers and Dorril, 205-208); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 222-224) 597(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 223)

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under Ivanov's spell.598 On the other, Christine Keeler was openly discussing her relations with Ivanov and Profumo with two curious individuals. The first one was the above-men­ tioned Conservative barrister Michael Eddowes, a Thursday Club veteran. Eddowes had known Ward socially for years. Once he was assured that Ward had been keeping MI5 appraised of his dealings with Ivanov, he let the matter rest. It was not until later that Eddowes became a crucial player in this saga. The second man Keeler spoke to, former Labour MP John Lewis, would prove far more damaging. Lewis had a longstanding grudge against Ward that went back to 1953, when Lewis thought Ward had slept with his wife.599 Since then, Lewis had been obsessed with "getting" Ward, and when he heard Keeler's story, he believed a golden opportunity had finally presented itself. It's widely believed that Lewis made an anonymous call to Labour MP George Wigg on November 11, cryptically instructing the former Army colonel to "... look at Profumo."600 Wigg proved an apt choice. And, "incidentally," just a 598(Knightley and Kennedy, 112; 126-127) 599(Knightley and Kennedy, 43-45)

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few weeks after receiving this mysterious phone call, Wigg became an avowed enemy of Profumo. Wigg was in the Army for eighteen years before joining Parliament and had established a reputation there as the military's watchdog. Not long after Profumo began his affair in July 1961, the British launched an intervention in Kuwait. Reports soon drifted back that the Army had been ill-prepared for this venture. Wigg had a cordial relationship with Profumo up to this point and saw him as a possible alley in Macmillan's Conservative government for furthering military affairs. Roughly two weeks after receiving the anonymous call, Wigg made his case before Parliament for the Defense Minister's mishan­ dling of Kuwait. He meticulously made his speech and was expecting Profumo to then rise and back him. Instead, another Tory spoke and dismissed Wigg's claims out of hand. Profumo then rose, supported the his fellow Conserva­ tive's claims, and produced two letters from commanding officers haling Kuwait as a right good show. Wigg was enraged, believing 600(Knightley and Kennedy, 96); (Summers and Dorril, 230231)

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Profumo had conspired to humiliate him before Parliament.601 He swore revenge, which made the tip he had just received all the more compelling. Profumo researchers often downplay this incident, but I believe it was one of the pivotal events that brought down Macmillan's govern­ ment. As we shall see, it was likely not just Wigg who was being played in Parliament, but Profumo himself. The Secretary of State for War was probably manipulated into crossing the vindictive Wigg, who already had Profumo on his radar. Unsurprisingly, Wigg had extensive ties to the UK's security services. Wigg was close to the maverick Tory MP Henry Kerby, who'd served in MI6 during the war. Kerby was disil­ lusioned with MI6 in the postwar years, believ­ ing it had become deeply penetrated by the KGB. This belief pushed him into the arms of MI5, who enlisted Kerby as an "agent" within the House of Commons. In this capacity, Kerby made Wigg quite favorably disposed towards MI5.602 After the Torys were defeated in 1964 (in no small part due to Profumo), Wigg landed 601(Knightley and Kennedy, 93-95); (Summers and Dorril, 215) 602(Dorril and Ramsay, Smear! Wilson and the Secret State, 62)

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a choice spot in Prime Minister Harold Wilson's new Labour government: "special assistant" to the PM. In this capacity, he was Wilson's "secu­ rity overlord" and "spymaster." Unsurpris­ ingly, he was also the linkman between Wilson and MI5.603 Wigg was likely an unknowing MI5 asset for years, just like Ward. And after a chance tip-off concerning Profumo, he was maneuvered into a break with his former colleague. With elements of the Profumo Affair already starting to come out due to Keeler's loose lips, MI5 was now well positioned to control the exposure of an asset, Ward, whom they had just distanced themselves from, via another asset. All of this certainly seems to stretch coinci­ dence, and strongly indicates an agenda behind the covert exposure of the Profumo Affair by the British security services. But was MI5 merely trying to cover up their blown opera­ tion, or was a more sinister objective afoot? Before answering that question, we must first consider the American players active in Profumo. They are quite the rogue's gallery, to be sure. 603(Dorril and Ramsay, 66)

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Chapter Six

The Cousins

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T

he cast of Americans who appear in the Profumo Affair is curious. Among the most notable was J. Paul Getty, the oilman then reputed to be the world's wealthiest man.604 Getty was a notorious womanizer, who often boasted of having had sex with five women in one day. He had five sons via four wives. His first three wives had all been seventeen when he married them (he was 31, 34, and 36, respectively). He first encountered his fourth wife when she was fourteen, but allegedly they did not become romantically involved until she was 21 (Getty was 37). After divorcing his fifth wife in 1959, the still sexually active Getty (he was 67 at the time in a pre-Viagra world) would continue to keep multiple mistresses at his English manor.

604(Fontevecchia 2015)

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Unsurprisingly, Getty took a liking to Stephen Ward. Ward was also close to a reputed Danish aristocrat named Claus von Bulow. The Dane was Getty's personal assis­ tant. His duties included organizing parties for Getty and procuring "rejuvenation" drugs for the old man.605 Von Bulow was later one of the individuals who put up the money for Ward's bail.606 How close Ward and Getty were is difficult to say, though the tycoon did sit for one of Ward's sketches,607 and they dined together on several occasions.608 Likely, Getty also sought treat­ ment from Ward for his back since the early 1950s.609 In June 1962, Ward took Eugene Ivanov with him to Sutton Place, Getty's manor house. The tycoon was not in attendance, but reportedly one of his sons was there along with 605(Summers and Dorril, The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward: Sex, Scandal, and Deadly Secrets in the Profumo Affair, 192-193) 606(Knightley and Kennedy, 210); (Summers and Dorril, 331) 607(Knightley and Kennedy, 63); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 129-130) 608(Summers and Dorril, 192-193); (Keeler and Thompson, 89). Keeler reports that Ward personally despised Getty, viewing him as cheap and privileged. Everything Keeler says should be taken with a grain of salt, however. 609(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 58)

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a fellow Russian. Vodka flowed, and eventually, the heavily inebriated duo left with several of Getty's guests. They became hopelessly lost in the countryside. Finally, one of them was dispatched back to Sutton Place in a cab. The notoriously frugal Getty, who had now returned home, refused to pay the fare. He then blamed everything on a "Russian naval captain."610 Getty had ties to the good old British-Ameri­ can-Canadian-Corporation/World Commerce Corporation (BACC/WCC) network. He was a great friend of the press magnate Lord Beaver­ brook.611 Beaverbrook, in turn, was close to Sir William Stephenson, a co-founder of the BACC, as was detailed in Chapter 2. It's likely through this relationship that The Beaver was brought into the broader BACC/WCC network. Beyond this, Beaverbrook was also very close to the Amery family. He was a long-time political ally of Leopold's on tariff reform.612 His newspapers had attempted to cover up and downplay John 610(Knightley and Kennedy, 72-73); (Summers and Dorril, 192193) 611(Getty, 80) 612(Faber, Speaking for England: Leo, Julian and John Amery --The Tragedy of a Political Family, 66; 246-250)

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Amery's treasonous broadcasts while The Beaver personally took the time to consul Leo.613 It was also The Beaver who recom­ mended that Julian Amery run for Parliament with Randolph Churchill.614 Lord Beaverbrook makes a critical appearance in Profumo, so do keep him in mind going forward. Like many of the families depicted in this tale, the Getty name appears in Epstein's black book. There is one listing for a Mark Getty,615 J. Paul Getty's grandson and the co-founder of the photographic agency, Getty Images. The company is one of the world's largest suppliers of imagery to the media, corporations, and advertising agencies, making him one of the only real successes in the family line following his grandfather.616 Getty was hardly the only American tycoon Stephen Ward befriended. Another was A & P 613(Faber, 454-455) 614(Faber, 419) 615(Bryant, Here Is Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book 2015) 616The Getty family largely renounced the old man's oil empire. They would be ravaged by personal tragedy over the years, includ­ ing rampant substance abuse, suicide, and one legendary kidnap­ ping (Fontevecchia 2015).

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heir, Huntington Hartford. (A & P was the largest grocer in the US at the time.) Like most wealthy men who found themselves in the company of Ward, the playboy had an insa­ tiable sex drive. He reportedly had sex with thousands of women. In London, he kept a resi­ dence on Curzon Street solely to have women delivered there by various pimps. At Hartford's whims, two or three women were brought there at one time, with regularity.617 Perhaps, to rationalize his appetites, Hartford consid­ ered bankrolling the research of highly contro­ versial "sexologist" Alfred Kinsey at one point.618 Hartford had some very interesting in-laws. One was American actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Hartford's stepfather619 and another VIP asso­ ciate of Ward's. Even more interesting was Hartford's brother-in-law, John Felix Charles "Ivar" Bryce. A British national, Bryce was a long-time friend of Ian Fleming and other members of the family. He first encountered them when as a child and would renew his friendship with Ian at Eton College. While 617(Summers and Dorril, 191) 618(Jones, 763) 619(Summers and Dorril, 101)

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there, they published The Wyvern magazine together. Along with his wife Josephine Hart­ ford, Bryce played a crucial role in getting Fleming's James Bond franchise adapted to film in the postwar years. By this time, they were neighbors in Jamaica.620 During the war, Ivar Bryce served under Sir William Stephenson in the British Security Coordination (BSC) as one of their business­ men-turned-spies.621 Most of his wartime efforts were centered in Latin America and he remained close to Stephenson in the aftermath. As was noted in Chapter 2, Stephenson also relocated to Jamaica at war's end, along with Fleming and another close friend, Lord Beaver­ brook. Bryce also had dealings with Beaver­ brook during this time.622 As such, it is highly probable he had some involvement with the BACC/WCC network. While I've found no indi­ cation that Bryce was directly linked to Ward, his cousin Janet Bryce married David Mount­ batten, Marquess of Milford Haven, in 1960. As was noted in the previous chapter, Ward and 620(Simkin, Ivar Bryce 2020) 621(Hyde, 181) 622(Simkin, Ivar Bryce 2020)

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Milford Haven had been quite close at one point. Through Bryce, Hartford no doubt had excel­ lent contacts throughout the British Establish­ ment. And yet, this did not prevent him from running afoul of the influential British commu­ nity in the Caribbean. The dispute revolved around a business project he began shortly before the Profumo Affair unfolded. This busi­ ness project would eventually feature future President Donald J. Trump as a CEO during the 1980s. From 1959 till 1965, Hartford poured $28,000,000 into a dilapidated isle in the Bahamas known as Hog Island. The A & P heir envisioned it as the "Monaco of the Caribbean." By 1965, the island was worthy of the name Paradise that Hartford bestowed upon it, but otherwise, it was an unmitigated disaster. The island was separated from the Nassau main­ land by four hundred yards of water and diffi­ cult to reach. Worse still, there was nothing to do there. What the investment badly needed was some type of tourist attraction. Gambling was emerging as a garden industry in the Caribbean, and Hartford was looking to cash

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in. Unfortunately, he had run afoul of the "Bay Street Boys."623 The Bay Street Boys were a group of wealthy Brits who ruled the Bahamas with an iron grip. The most influential member of this clique was Sir Stafford Sands, then the Bahamas' Minister of Tourism and Finance. At the urging of a Mob-connected American known as Wallace Groves, Sands began turning the Bahamas into an offshore haven in the mid-1950s. Later, Sands and Groves opened the island entirely to the Mob when gambling was quasi-legalized in 1964. Meyer Lansky (the Syndicate's financier and principal visionary behind its Caribbean gambling retreats), and his fellow travelers, were quick to move in.624 Young Hartford was desperate for a piece of the action to recoup some of his $28 million, but he had angered Sands due to his support of the Progressive Liberal Party.625 His only recourse was to bring in a partner to deal with Sir Stafford. He found one in the form of a 623(Hougan, 380-381) 624(Hougan 1978, 378-380). For more on Lansky's as the Syndi­ cate's banker, see Naylor's Hot Money and the Politics of Debt (2022) and Denton & Morris' The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America (23-24). For more on Lansky's role in the Caribbean, see Naylor (39-40).

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mysterious New Yorker named James Crosby. He headed the equally mysterious Mary Carter Paint Company. Mary Carter (she never existed) was primarily a family affair. In addi­ tion to James Crosby, the directorate included his brothers John (a plastic surgeon in Mobile, Alabama) and William (a Tampa realtor), and Murphy family members Tom and his cousin Henry. The Murphy's married James Crosby's sisters, thus keeping things in house. While Henry was simply a funeral home director, Tom was the chairman of Capital Cities Communications. In 1985, this company acquired ABC-TV, creating Capital Cities/ABC. Some twenty years later, the company's owner­ ship was practically unchanged, though Mary Carter had gone through a drastic remodel­ ing.626 Before getting to that, a word must be said about another Crosby brother whose involve­ ment with company caused no shortage of 625(Hougan, 381). At the time the PLP was headed by black Bahamian Lynden Pindling who supported majority rule. The Bahamas would achieve this in 1967 and "independence" from the UK in 1973 (it still remains a Commonwealth Nation to this day). Naturally, these were not positions favored by the Bay Street Boys. 626(Hougan, 381); (Barrett, 396)

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controversy over the years. Peter Francis Crosby is often described as one of the great stock swindlers of the twentieth century. A darkly handsome figure who was married to a popular French actress during the 1950s, Crosby was first convicted of securities fraud (along with mail fraud and the sale of unregis­ tered securities) in 1960 at the age of 35. He was again convicted of fraud and selling unreg­ istered securities in 1969, in Baltimore, and of conspiracy to violate the Small Business Corporation Act in New York during 1971. By this time Crosby was involved in one of his most astonishing schemes, namely selling oil rights in the Arctic. He claimed to have acquired this bounty in millions of acres of frozen salt-water, much of it in the Bering Sea. Peter Crosby created a shell corporation called Picture Island Computers, which he used to sell these worthless claims.627 Now a wanted man, Crosby relocated to Kentucky around 1972 under several false names. It was a fitting destination as the Blue­ grass State enjoyed a long-standing relation­ ship with gambling and organized crime. It went back to the 1930s when the Syndicate 627(Kwitny, 96-109); (Webb and Scheffey, 74-75)

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took over the various casinos in the Newport/Covington area at Ohio's border. While legendary Vegas Mafioso Moe Dalitz dominated these activities for decades, Lansky got a cut of the action.628 It wasn't until 1960, when a reform sheriff was elected, that the illegal gambling that prevailed in the Covington/Newport area since Prohibition was finally brought to a standstill. Many local gambling figures relocated to Vegas for a time,629 but Lansky later found work for some of this "talent" in the Bahamas.630 Kentucky's reprieve proved to be short-lived, however. The Arab Oil embargo of 1973 brought more lax laws concerning the coal industry, and the Syndicate soon realized coal companies could be used as efficient tax havens.631 The gangsters returned in droves to take advantage, most notably from the Phila­ delphia crime family.632 They were aided by a 628(Denton, 158-159); (M. Newton, 82-87) 629(Denton and Morris, 159) 630(Hougan, 380) 631(Webb and Scheffey, 91). Webb and Scheffey's "The Coal Connection" collection in "The Killing Game" is the only extended account of this racket this researcher is aware of. 632(Webb and Scheffey 2011, 101-103)

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fresh wave of locals, many with a background in law enforcement and/or the military, who looked to cash-in on the lucrative drug trade. Both the Philly mob and a particular local crime syndicate would establish ties with Trump by at least the early 1980s, as we shall see in Book III. For now, it's worth noting that Peter Crosby was finally arrested in Kentucky during 1973, at a time when his brother's gaming interests were in the midst of controversy. Unsurpris­ ingly, Peter had already been linked to Lansky associates.633 What is far more interesting for our purposes here was the man he was arrested with in 1973: a disbarred New York attorney and private detective named John G. "Steve" Broady. The two men were arrested at a Kentucky motel in December of that year. Crosby ended up in federal prison at Lexington for two years. Broady was charged with harboring a federal fugitive, a charge that was later dropped. At least one of Crosby's asso­ ciates alleged that Broady had immunity as a former CIA agent.634 633(Hougan, 389) 634(Webb and Scheffey, 76)

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Broady denied these charges. But, his career and associates suggest otherwise. Broady was known as a wiretap specialist and was convicted during the late 1940s of maintaining a "wiretapping nest" with access to over 125,000 phone lines in New York's East Side. He specifically targeted two large drug compa­ nies, Bristol-Myers and E.R. Squibb, and other firms whose profits often depend on trade secrets.635 On the whole, Broady seems to have specialized in using the wiretap for blackmail purposes. Besides corporations, he used his wiretaps against celebrities and politicians, selling the tapes to divorce lawyers and his preferred rivals. Broady also worked for Stephen Ward's sometimes client and sketch subject Winston Churchill and John Jacob Astor, Baron Astor of Hever, Lord Astor's uncle.636 Even if Broady was not a CIA asset, he employed at least two at various points in his decades spanning-career. One was a natural­ ized German named Horace Schmahl, who worked for the US intelligence community during WWII. He later went to work for the 635(Hougan, 289) 636(Javers 2017)

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Central Intelligence Group, the predecessor to the CIA, while also working for Broady's firm in the postwar years.637 The other CIA asset was an even more mysterious private detective who turns up in the Profumo Affair in several crucial spots. He is another one of Ward's American associates and shall be addressed later in this chapter. On this spooky note, let us now return to the Crosby family and their busi­ ness. By 1973 it was evident that the Crosby family had ties to the US intelligence community. An early stockholder in Mary Carter was Republi­ can New York Governor and two-time presi­ dential candidate Thomas Dewey.638 Despite Dewey having a reputation as anti-Mob from his time as New York's attorney general, Lansky still contributed funds to his 1944 pres­ idential campaign.639 Other Dewey associates included the Dulles brothers—future Secretary of State John Foster and future CIA Director Allen—who were deeply involved with his 1948 presidential bid.640 Dewey and the Dulles broth­ ers would remain close allies in the influential 637(Hougan, 289) 638(Hougan, 381) 639(Denton and Morris, 25)

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New York wing of the Republican Party for years to come. The close ties between Dewey and CIA Direc­ tor Dulles no doubt contributed to the long-s­ tanding allegations that Mary Carter was used as a CIA front to support anti-Castro Cuban operations during the early 1960s.641 The history of Mary Carter is quite murky, but it existed before the Crosby family and operated a chain of nationwide retail stores at one point.642 After the Crosby family acquired control, James and Peter's mother served as the owner.643 When her children took over is unknown, but by the early 1960s, James Crosby appears to have been in the driver's seat and bored with the paint business. As such, it's possible he used his New York society connec­ tions to offer Mary Carter's services to the CIA. What's more, Mary Carter was based in Tampa, Florida, by this time.644 Tampa was 640(Talbot, The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government, 145-147) 641(Denton and Morris, 284) 642(Kwitny, 98) 643(Webb and Scheffey, 75) 644(Hougan, 381)

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then the base of operations for a close Lansky associate, Florida don Santos Trafficante Jr. Trafficante employed numerous Cuban exiles in his illicit activities, some of whom later worked with the CIA on their anti-Castro Cuban operations.645 These were the types of connections James Crosby brought to the table when he began negotiations with Huntington Hartford in 1965. A deal was struck in which Crosby acquired 75 percent of Paradise Island for a mere $3.5 million. It may have been more prudent for Hartford to give up that last quarter for an additional $1.5 million based on the troubles he would later have with Crosby's company. Instead, he procured stock in the company in addition to the quarter of Paradise Island he still owned. James Crosby then retained Sir Stafford Sands as his barrister. Sir Stafford graciously secured a gambling certificate for the island and arranged for a bridge to be built connecting it to Nassau. Sir Stafford also recommended that James Crosby hire Lansky associate Wallace Groves to manage the 645(Kruger, 141-149); (Valentine, The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs, 224-225). The CIA even enlisted Trafficante in a plot to assassinate Castro at one point.

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proposed casino, advice Crosby abided by.646 This proved to be a disastrous decision by Sir Stafford as Lansky would soon begin backing Lynden Pindling's Progressive Liberal Party, which would break the hold the Bay Street Boys had over the Bahamas, just a few years later.647 It was through these dealings that the unholy entity of Resorts International (Resorts) was born.648 This is what Mary Carter was renamed after James Crosby reoriented the business toward the gaming industry. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, Resorts would be at the forefront of the emerging legalized 646(Hougan, 381) 647(Naylor, 40) 648Sadly, this fascinating topic has never generated a fulllength work. Arguably the best accounts of Resorts is one of the earliest, the chapter length account in Jim Hougan's classic Spooks: The Haunting of America -The Private Use of Secret Agents (377-417). An excellent account of the latter years of Resorts can be found in Wayne Barrett's Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth (392-416).Other compelling information can be found in Kwitny's The Fountain Pen Conspiracy (98-100), Kruger's The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs, Intelligence, & International Fascism (155), Lee & Shlain's Acid Dreams The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond (245, 246n), Denton & Morris' The Money and the Power (284-285), and Scott's American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan (157-159; 162).

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gambling racket. It played a crucial role in getting legalized gambling approved in Atlantic City, throwing its full weight (and pocketbook) behind these efforts.649 As a result, it was able to open the first casino in Atlantic City after the gaming laws had been changed circa 1978.650 By this time, its ties to the Syndicate and the US intelligence community were entrenched. Inevitably, Lansky's associates were there for the grand opening and beyond. Crosby had gone through with letting Wallace Groves run the casino. Groves, in turn, brought in Eddie Cellini to be the casino's manager. Eddie was Dino Cellini's brother, another infamous Mafioso with long-standing ties to Lansky.651 Controversy emerged over Eddie's role during the late 1960s, and the Cellini brothers were canned. However, Dino remained a regular and Lansky still appears to have received a piece of the skim by the early 1970s, though he was

649(Hougan, 410-413) 650(Barrett, 202) 651(Hougan, 394); (Scott, American War Machine: Deep Poli­ tics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 157)

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now splitting it with a most interesting part­ ner.652 More on that in a moment. Other mobbed-up associates of Resorts included the infamous Investors' Overseas Services (IOS), which poured nearly $4 million into Resorts' stock.653 This investment house was another offshoring pioneer, with an elabo­ rate international network of banks and trust companies to launder money. Naturally, it was close to Lansky.654 IOS potentially had links to the CIA as well, via infamous fugitive financier Robert Vesco, who arranged for the CIA to invest in the company. Vesco also had exten­ sive ties to Lansky and had even attempted to buy Resorts at one point in the early 1970s.655 It was the intelligence ties that crystallized when Mary Carter became Resorts, however. 652(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 157) 653(Hougan, 391) 654(Naylor, 26-30; 40) 655(Hougan, 209-211; 395-400). For more on the enigmatic Vesco, one of the most notorious stock swindlers of the 20th century and a man who appears to have worked with both US and Communist intelligence services as well as the fascist under­ ground during the Cold War, see Hougan's Spooks (153-241), Kruger's The Great Heroin Coup (155-156; 182-185; 190-191; 194), Naylor's Hot Money (40-44; etc), and Douglas Valentine's The Strength of the Pack (202-204).

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By 1970, the gaming company controlled its own private intelligence firm, dubbed Interna­ tional Intelligence, Inc. (Intertel). Intertel was headed by Robert Peloquin and William Hund­ ley, two senior Justice Department veterans who had spent years investigating organized crime.656 As such, they were ideally suited to stonewall any potential investigation's into Resorts' organized crime links. Peloquin, Intertel's longtime director, also served in the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) from 1951 till 1955 and remained in the reserves until 1981.657 No doubt, these connections aided Pelo­ quin in recruiting an impressive roster of CIA, NSA, FBI, IRS, Secret Service, and even Scot­ land Yard veterans into Intertel's ranks.658 With a subsidiary likened to a "corporate CIA,"659 it's hardly surprising Resorts would find itself on the radar of the actual CIA. Reportedly, the Agency had "interest" in using the firm in both 1972 and 1973.660 What became 656(Hougan, 382-383); (Denton and Morris, 284) 657(Wiseman 2011) 658(Hougan, 401-402); (Denton and Morris, 284) 659(Denton and Morris, 284) 660(Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 157)

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of this "interest" is unknown, though the CIA would have found a few old friends among Intertel's ranks. Among its alleged backers was none other than President Richard M. Nixon. James Crosby was a massive supporter of Nixon's in 1967, leading up to the 1968 primary season. The soon-to-be president was in attendance for the Paradise Island casino's grand opening on New Year's Eve. Allegations persist that Nixon's patronage of Resorts derived from the percent­ age of the skim he received from the revenue generated by the toll bridge leading to Paradise Island. Amusingly, in 1973 Huntington Hartford sued Resorts over this lost income.661 Nixon was not the only future Republican president to have dealings with Resorts. Donald J. Trump became the gaming interest's CEO in 1987, following James Crosby's death. Trump achieved this post after buying up the stock held by the remaining Crosby family members. By the time of his death in 1986, James Crosby had reportedly not spoken to his brother Peter in years, yet left him some 661(Hougan, 398-400); (Scott, American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, 157-158)

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40,000 shares in Resorts. Ironically, the shares held by one of the great stock swindlers of the twentieth century enabled Trump to procure Resorts after he bought out Peter Crosby.662 Trump may have known Peter Crosby before this transaction, as we shall see. Trump had dealings with individuals linked to Resorts since at least the late 1970s. When Trump broke into Atlantic City during the early 1980s, he was greatly aided in these efforts by Resorts' long-time attorney, ex-Marine Patrick "Paddy" McGahn.663 McGahn and his state sena­ tor brother were instrumental in opening up Atlantic City to Resorts.664 Trump later employed McGahn's nephew, Don McGahn, as the White House Council from January 2017 till October 2018. Reportedly, Don McGahn played an enormous role in reshaping the nation's judiciary and was especially crucial in the appointment of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court during Trump's first term.665 662(Barrett, 396) 663(Barrett, 225-227) 664(Hougan, 411) 665(Horsley and Keith 2018)

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*** I've chosen to dwell on Resorts International here as Huntington Hartford is hardly the only connection the Profumo scandal has to the gaming conglomerate. When Richard Nixon made the scene at Resorts' grand opening on Paradise Island during that fateful New Year's Eve, there were individuals connected to Stephen Ward in attendance. One was the recently-widowed Lady Astor, the former wife of Ward's MI5-connected patron.666 In fairness, Lady Astor despised Ward. The same could not be said of New York stockbroker William "Billy" Mellon Hitchcock, who cultivated a friendship with Ward during the early 1960s. Hitchcock is one of the true international men of mystery of the twentieth century. He was a scion of Pittsburgh's famed Mellon family, one of the wealthiest and most influen­ tial in the nation's history. The Mellon family fortune originated with the Mellon Bank, which became the nation's largest financial institu­ tion outside New York by the end of the nine­ teenth century. From there, the family expanded into a host of other industries and companies, including Gulf Oil, Alcola, Westing­ 666(Hougan, 394)

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house Electric Corporation, and Koppers.667 The family was also well represented in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), having numerous family members and in-laws among the ranks of the nation's first central intelligence service.668 The family's intelligence ties contin­ ued through the Cold War and beyond, casting all of Hitchcock's actions in the 1960s in a curi­ ous light. And they were significant, to be sure. Hitch­ cock was a pivotal figure in the spread of LSD across the US during the 1960s. His peculiar relationship with the hallucinogen began with his sister, Peggy Hitchcock, who first turned him on to the drug.669 Peggy had been an early patron of psychedelic evangelist Timothy Leary going back to his days at Harvard.670 She later directed the New York branch of his Interna­ tional Federation for Internal Freedom (IFIF).671 After breaking with Harvard in 1963, Peggy suggested to Leary that he continue his 667(Snider and Zero, 9-10) 668(Smith, 13-14); (Snider and Zero, 11) 669(Lee and Shlain, Acid Dreams The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond, 97) 670(Stevens, 156) 671(Lee and Shlain, 97)

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mission to turn on the world at Milbrook, an estate in upstate New York that her brothers Tommy and Billy owned.672 Billy Hitchcock agreed to set up Leary and his entourage at the main house while the stockbroker lived out of a bungalow on the property. He frequently participated in the happenings there, though his metaphysical interests never advanced beyond how he could make more money off the stock market.673 He eventually booted Leary and company out during 1967, but they remained on good terms.674 "Mr. Billy," as the help knew him, was quick to recognize the financial potential of LSD. Hitchcock had relocated to California, in a tourist town called Sausalito, just north of San Francisco, then the world's acid capital. Mr. Billy set up two would-be chemists, Tim Scully and Nick Sand, with a lab to produce LSD. Due in no small part to the support of Mr. Billy the legendary "orange sunshine" LSD was produced. To distribute the psychedelic, the 672(Stevens, 202) 673(Lee and Shlain, Acid Dreams The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond, 99-100) 674(Lee and Shlain, 238). Hitchcock reportedly gave Leary a $14,000 check on the way out of Millbrook.

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Brotherhood of Eternal Love675 was enlisted. Timothy Leary brokered the alliance between Mr. Billy and the so-called "Hippie Mafia." Mr. Billy was impressed enough to become the group's banker.676 By the end of the decade, the Brotherhood was the largest distributor of LSD in the US.677 It was also around the time Hitchcock relo­ cated to California that he began pouring money into Resorts International. Hitchcock invested some $5 million into Resorts' stock, the single largest chunk of cash the gaming interest raised.678 Shortly thereafter, he began using the infamous Castle Bank and Trust to launder the proceeds from his LSD rackets.679 This Florida-based bank had long-standing ties to the US intelligence community, which further strengthened said community's connec­ tions to Resorts. Operation Tradewinds, an IRS investigation into money laundering, threat­ ened to expose this tangled web that included a 675For more on the famed acid cult-turned LSD syndicate, see Schou's Orange Sunshine (2010) or the extended account provided by Lee and Shlain in Acid Dreams (1985; 1992) 676(Lee and Shlain, 241-244); (Black, 17-18); (Schou, 154). 677(Hougan, 390) 678(Hougan, 390); (Lee and Shlain, 245)

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Mellon heir, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and Resorts. Ultimately, most of the Brother­ hood went down while Mr. Billy got off with a slap on the wrist in 1973.680 This was even though his role in the illicit LSD trade during the late 1960s was instrumental in the spread of the psychedelic. Not only did he bankroll the leading chemists and launder the money for the largest distribution network, but he also used his European connections to procure ergo­ tamine tartrate, a crucial component in manu­ facturing LSD. Ergotamine tartrate was allegedly imported from Czechoslovakia, then part of the Soviet bloc.681 Thus, even without the Profumo episode, it seems clear that William Mellon Hitchcock was 679(Hougan, 391); (Naylor, 315); (Lee and Shlain, 245); (Black, 18). Castle Bank and Trust, founded by OSS veteran Paul Helliwell, has longstanding ties to both drug trafficking and the CIA. For more on these ties, see Scott's American War Machine (143-149). Nor was Hitchcock the only link Castle had to Resorts. The General Development Company, which Wallace Groves was a cofounder of, also had dealings with Resorts as well (Valentine, The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs, 261). 680(Lee and Shlain, 278). Mr. Billy was fined $20, 000 and received a five year suspended sentence. Many Brothers were sentenced to years in prison. 681(Black, 17)

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involved with some branch of the US intelli­ gence community. This assumption becomes all but undeniable when considering his UK activi­ ties during the early 1960s, and most espe­ cially, his roommate. That individual is the final American crucial to this story. His name was Thomas Corbally. While often described as an American businessman, he was principally a private detective who frequently moonlighted as a gangster and/or an intelli­ gence asset. Corbally came from a long line of private eyes. His paternal grandfather (also named Thomas Corbally) founded the Corbally Detective Agency in New Jersey during the early 1920s. Corbally's father and uncles all worked at the family agency during his child­ hood, and the budding international man of mystery cut his teeth there as a teenager. Being based out of Newark, the family had ample dealings with organized crime. As a child, Corbally was kidnapped, and the family went through Meyer Lansky's associates to secure his release. It later came out that the Corbally family had been instrumental in setting up some of the largest illegal liquor stills in the New Jersey area during Prohibition, seemingly at the behest Lansky associates. What's more, the family detective agency was often used to 329

monitor federal agents for the Syndicate during that era. 682 This racket was remarkably similar to Intertel's later activities in which they appear to have been used to monitor the Justice Department on behalf of Resorts. Corbally is not known to have had ties to Resorts, but he did have business dealings in the Bahamas during the mid-1960s when Resorts was being set up. Further, these deals may have involved laundering money for the Syndicate at a time when old family associate Meyer Lansky was beginning to take over the island nation.683 And then there are his intelligence ties. Thomas Corbally is often described as an OSS veteran.684 However, this appears to have been a classic Corbally embellishment. Corbally joined the Royal Canadian Air Force roughly three months before Pearl Harbor and served there until 1943. It was then that the rebellious Corbally was drummed out and transferred to the US Army, where he remained until 1949. Officially, he was attached to the Combined Travel Board as a civilian. It was sometime 682(Javers 2017) 683(Javers 2017) 684(Summers and Dorril, 249); (Los Angeles Times staff 2004)

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around 1945 that Corbally's relationship with the US intelligence community formally began. He alleged to have served in the Army's famed Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) and later an enigmatic outfit known as the "War Depart­ ment Detachment."685 This entity was likely a cover name for the Strategic Services Unit (SSU), one of the spooky outfits that "bridged the gap" between the disbandment of the OSS in 1945 and the creation of the CIA in 1947.686 In this capacity, Corbally appears to have been involved in establishing the so-called "Ratlines," escape routes for fugitive Nazis and fellow travelers that the US national security state deemed to be useful.687 Thus, while Corbally was likely not an OSS man, he did work for one of the successor outfits, and prob­ ably continued with the CIA until he departed the military in 1949. From there, he appears to have gone back to the private detective racket, but on an interna­ tional scale. He became a jet-setter, splitting his time between New York, London, and a host of other exotic locations during the 1950s. He 685(Javers 2017); (Gillard 2004) 686(Ganis, 29); (D. P. Steury 2014) 687(Javers 2017)

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hobnobbed with tycoons and celebrities of vari­ ous stripes, briefly marrying an heiress and a tennis star during that decade. It was also during this time he befriends two men who shaped the remainder of his life. One was John G. "Steve" Broady, the private eye and wiretap man arrested in Kentucky in 1973 with Resorts CEO James Crosby's brother, Peter. As was noted above, Broady was reputed to have CIA ties as were other detectives who worked with him, including Corbally. Broady is undoubtedly the lesser of Corbally's two mentors, however, as the other (as well as being a frequent employer of the detective) is Donald Trump's infamous former attorney and political mentor, Roy Cohn.688 *** Cohn rose to national prominence during the early 1950s while still in his 20s. He completed his legal studies at the age of 19, but couldn't graduate from Columbia Law School until 1947, when he turned 20. Shortly after passing the bar in 1948 (he had to wait until he turned 21 this time), he used family connections to secure a spot as an Assistant US Attorney. Cohn soon gained a reputation as an anti-communist 688(Javers 2017)

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crusader. He helped bring down the "Commu­ nist Eleven" and would go on to assist in the prosecution of the infamous Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Cohn famously advocated the electric chair for Ethel to the presiding judge.689 These actions brought Roy Cohn to the atten­ tion of both America's Jewish Establishment, and its far-right, which became surprisingly intertwined as the years went on. As to the former, Cohn was taken under the wing of journalist and reformed Trotskyite, George Sokolsky, a friend of Cohn's father. In 1948, he'd invited Cohn to join the American Jewish League Against Communism.690 Other members included fellow anti-Communist Jewish jour­ nalist Isaac Don Levine, who was tapped by OSS veteran and CIA chief Frank Wisner to establish the CIA-funded, German-based Ameri­ can Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (Amcomlib) around this time. Levine became affiliated with former Nazi and 689(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 116-117) 690(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 118)

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future World Commerce Corporation hand Otto Skorzeny through his involvement with Amcomlib.691 By the time Sokolsky hooked up with Cohn, he was already a veteran anti-communist oper­ ator. He cut his teeth in China before WWII, on behalf of the narco-riddled Kuomintang (KMT) political party.692 Sokolsky personally worked for financier T.V. Soong in the KMT govern­ ment,693 a key figure in protecting the party's illicit drug trade.694 Of course, the KMT was the force behind the old China Lobby, for decades leading financial patrons of the far-right in these United States.695 691(Ganis, 138). For more on the CIA riddled Amcomlib, see Johnson's A Mosque in Munich: Nazis, the CIA, and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood (2010). A brief but compelling account of Amcomlib's CIA origins can be found in Simpson's Blowback (132134). 692The KMT's longstanding ties to drug trafficking were first addressed at length in McCoy's classic The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia and were later explored in works such as Scott's The War Conspiracy (1972, 2008), Drugs, Oil, and War (2003), and American War Machine (2014); Kruger's The Great Heroin Coup (1980); and Valentine's The Strength of the Wolf (2004) and The Strength of the Pack (2009). 693(Seagrave, The Soong Dynasty, 213) 694(Valentine, The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs, 37)

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With such connections, it's hardly surprising Cohn was soon a rising star among the farright. With Sokolsky's help, Cohn secured the coveted position of chief consul for Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusade by 1952. What's more, he managed this at the expense of Robert F. Kennedy (RFK), who had the full weight of his powerful father behind him.696 Despite being a blessing for RFK in the long run, he never forgave Cohn for stealing his spot on McCarthy's legal team. This had wide-reach­ ing implications by the time Profumo broke in the US during 1963. 695The old China lobby was in actuality the Taiwan lobby, at least after the revolution in China. This drove the Nationalist Chinese (i.e., the KMT) from the mainland and to the island of Formosa, which they renamed Taiwan. During much of the Cold War, this lobby wielded a degree of influence in the United States akin to what the Israeli lobby currently wields amidst the Global War on Terror. In this day and age, the Republican Party (and many Democrats) allow the Israeli lobby to vet virtually any Congressional proposal involving the Middle East (Lofgren, 6870). A similar state of affairs existed in regard to Taiwan and Eastern Asia during the Cold War. For more on the extensive influence of the heroin-riddled China Lobby in US politics, see Kruger's The Great Heroin Coup (1980) Seagrave's The Soong Dynasty (1985), the Anderson brothers' Inside the League (1986), and Scott's Drugs, Oil, and War (2003). 696(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 118-119)

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An even more powerful patron Cohn procured during this time was FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. They first encountered one another in 1952. Hoover was impressed by young Cohn's zeal in pursuing communists. This marked the beginning of a relationship that continued until the time of Hoover's death in 1972. There is a dispute as to the extent of this relationship. Still it's known that Hoover encouraged Cohn to contact him directly if there was anything significant he wished to divulge to the Director. The two men also traded "favors," praise, gifts, and dinner parties for years to come. 697 This strongly implies that Cohn was used as an informant by the FBI, and that his handler was none of other than the Director himself. But what would the FBI director need Cohn to inform on? To answer that question, we need to consider the associates Cohn picked up after leaving Washington after of McCarthy's collapse.698 With Tail-gunner Joe's career in ruins, Cohn returned to New York practically unscathed. There, he established what would become lifelong connections with organized 697(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 133-134)

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crime. His passage into this underworld appears to have been aided by the Jewish distillery magnate Lewis Rosenstiel. Inevitably, Rosenstiel was close to the Syndicate during Prohibition. One of his contacts was Meyer Lansky, whom he introduced to Cohn. How close the two men were is unknown, but by the end of the 1950s, Cohn was working closely with one of Lansky's most trusted lieutenants, former Cleveland mob boss Moe Dalitz. As was noted, Dalitz was an old hand in the Kentucky casinos as well, but he had moved on to bigger and better things: Las Vegas. Cohn, as his attorney, was deeply involved in establishing Vegas as a power-house for the Syndicate.699 The two men had a falling out towards the end of the 1950s, however. In most accounts, the falling out revolved around an enigmatic 698Cohn was instrumental in McCarthy's downfall. Cohn's draft dodging and homosexuality were nearly exposed during the McCarthy Hearings, discrediting Tail-gunner Joe (Weiner, 186187). Bizarrely, there were also reports McCarthy was a homosex­ ual, which threatened to come out along with Cohn's own discre­ tions (B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 136-141) 699(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 392-394)

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White Russian named Alexander Guterma. Guterma cut his teeth in Shanghai and the Philippines. He used capital from the latter to launch himself into Florida land development. Reportedly, he had dealings with Satiris "Sonny" Fassoulis, the long-time head of the one-time WCC subsidiary Commerce Interna­ tional China (CIC).700 The CIC and its ties to the WCC were addressed in Chapter 2. What can be said for sure is that Guterma was another of the great stock swindlers of the Cold War era. He continued to ply his trade literally up to his death in a plane accident during 1977. Guterma had also moved in on the Kentucky coal racket at the time, buying up mines near Somerset. He had associates in common with Peter Crosby, while both men maintained offices in the same building in Kentucky.701 This is, of course, the same Peter Crosby whose brother controlled Resorts Inter­ national and was arrested in Kentucky in 1973 with Steve Broady, Thomas Corbally's other mentor.

700(Scott, The War Conspiracy: JFK, 9/11, and the Deep Politics of War, 279; 279n87) 701(Webb and Scheffey, 95-96)

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As for Guterma and Cohn, Moe Dalitz became a business partner of the "Mad Russian" during the mid-1950s. Guterma began working his securities fraud magic, but this time the SEC caught on. Indictments were handed down by the end of the decade, and Dalitz turned to Cohn. The attorney requested $50,000 from the Mafioso to make the proper arrangements. Cohn succeeded in stopping these indictments, but was then indicted himself for perjury. 702 Cohn threatened to take Dalitz down with him if his crew couldn't circle the wagons, enraging the gangster. Cohn was ultimately acquitted in 1965, but the two men remained sworn enemies.703 Despite falling out with one of Meyer Lansky's most trusted lieutenants, Roy Cohn remained close to the Syndicate for the rest of his life. Some of his clients included John Gotti, head of the Gambino family, and Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, under-boss of the Genovese family. Reportedly, he was so trusted by the Syndicate that he at times hosted meetings of 702(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 394); (M. Newton, 186-187) 703(M. Newton, 210-211)

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"the Commission,"704 parlays held by the heads of the Five Families and their representatives to set policy and settle disputes. In other words, Cohn's mob ties went straight to the top. He appears to have enjoyed this access since at least the mid-1950s, if not sooner. This was all unfolding while Cohn was cultivating a close relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, the nation's leading crime fighter. But beyond this, Hoover also appears to have been using Cohn as an "informant," one he was personally handling. I believe that Cohn was serving as one of several "back channels" Hoover maintained with the Mob.705 With his direct access to several Mafia dons and the FBI director, this would have been a natural role for Cohn, any budding corrupt attorney, to take on. 704(Barrett, 244) 705Hoover had done everything in his power to prevent the FBI from investigating the Syndicate. The common explanation for this reluctance is that Hoover feared Mafia infiltration of the FBI, which would embarrass the Bureau (Weiner, 211-212). Others have suggested that the Syndicate, or more precisely Meyer Lansky, were aware of Hoover's long suspected homosexuality and had found blackmail material in this regard (Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, 146). Whatever the case, Hoover's relation­ ship was complex, but often seems to have been based upon quid pro quo.

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Nor is serving as a go-between with the Syndicate the only shadowy activity Cohn was likely carrying out on behalf of Hoover. If Corbally is any indication, Cohn was also involved in Hoover's efforts to compile black­ mail material, often of a sexual nature. By now, Hoover's secret files are the stuff of legend. There were two different classes, "Official and Confidential" and the more secretive "Personal and Confidential." He began compiling them by at least 1925. Technically, all files accumu­ lated by the FBI belonged to the Justice Depart­ ment, but Hoover kept these files secured away in his FBI suite for his own purposes. Apolo­ gists justify Hoover's personal collection by arguing that the Bureau's ability to infiltrate subversives may have been compromised if these files ended up in court dockets. Presum­ ably, it was better to let Hoover protect his sources and use these files to discreetly lean on subversives. In reality, many of these files contained highly damaging material, often of a sexual nature, on various politicians and government officials. Hoover frequently used these files to protect his own personal fiefdom in the FBI. Upon his death, nearly two hundred of the Official and Confidential files were released to the public, but in a highly censored 341

form. The Personal and Confidential files were allegedly destroyed.706 Regardless, there can be no question that Hoover was always on the lookout for dirt on various American VIPs throughout his long tenure as FBI director. Roy Cohn and his dog's boy, Thomas Corbally, appear to have been at the forefront of these efforts by the time of Profumo. As to the former, declassified New York government files and an independent investigation revealed that Cohn maintained a "blue suite" at the famed Plaza hotel used by pedophiles. Cohn's objective was reportedly blackmail.707 Cohn was also a "good friend" of Crag J. Spence, the powerful Republican lobby­ ist implicated in heading a Washington, D.C.based call boy ring catering to Beltway VIPs.708 That ring will be dealt with in much greater length in Book III of this series. As for Corbally, he was a regular fixture in VIP sex rings for well over three decades. His last hurrah appears to have occurred in the early 1990s. He turned up as a close confidant of Heidi Fleiss, the so-called "Hollywood 706(Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, 224-225; 235); (B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 88-90); (Weiner, 61-62)

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madam." She catered to various celebrities such as Jack Nicholson, Charlie Sheen, and legendary producer Robert Evans. Amid her legal woes during the early 1990s, Corbally provided her with tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for her silence concerning her famous clients.709 Over a decade earlier Corbally was linked to another sex ring, this one active across Long Island's the Hamptons in New York state. Corbally was described as "the godfather" of this scene.710 It was heavy on bondage and S & M, a la the rings surrounding 707(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 88). Cohn and Hoover were accused of bizarre homosex­ ual acts together at the Plaza as well. Susan Rosenstiel, the former wife of the mobbed-up brewery magnet Lewis (who, as noted above, was a major patron of Cohn's), alleged that she witnessed an orgy at the Plaza in a "blue suite" involving Hoover, Cohn, her husband, and two boys in their late teens. To add insult to injury, the former Mrs. Rosenstiel accused Hoover of participating in endeavor in full drag. What's more, Hoover was referred to as "Mary" throughout. Susan Rosenstiel also accused her husband of dressing her in clothing that made her look like "a little girl" (Summers, 253-255). Mainstream historians have of course almost universally rejected these charges. Still, the "blue suite" at the Plaza appears to have been real enough. 708(Bryant, The Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers, Child Abuse & Betrayal, 296; 316) 709(Javers 2017) 710(Haden-Guest, The Wildest Hamptons Bondage Party 2019)

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Profumo. Predictably, Corbally claimed to be the originator and alleged that he brought it over from the UK. And, of course, he possessed pictures of various individuals engaged in some rather strange sexual practices that were staples of these parties.711 This scene would briefly draw public ire in the summer of 1980 when Melonie Haller, an actress and Playmate, had an incident at one of the Hamptons parties that made the press. Haller alleged that she was beaten and raped by several partygoers after she'd destroyed video equipment intended to capture her in various sexual acts. The purported incident occurred at a mansion belonging to a show business promoter named Roy Radin.712 Radin made headlines again in 1983 when he was murdered while producing the Francis Ford Coppola film The Cotton Club. Another producer on the film was Robert Evans, later a part of Heidi Fleiss' ring and who was 711(Haden-Guest, Melonie Haller's Lost Weekend 1980). In this article, journalist Anthony Haden-Guest only referred to Corbally as the "Roman Senator." He would revisit this story for an article entitled "The Wildest Hamptons Bondage Party" that originally appeared in The Daily Beast during the summer of 2015. In the second article, Haden-Guest outed Corbally as the "Roman Sena­ tor" a good decade after the private detective had died. 712(Haden-Guest, Melonie Haller's Lost Weekend 1980)

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described as a "lifelong friend" of Corbally's at the time of the private detective's death in 2004.713 These events are known as "The Cotton Club Murder," and are linked exten­ sively to drug trafficking and potentially even cult activity.714 Corbally's time in London's seedy under­ ground deeply affected him. At the flat he shared with William Mellon Hitchcock, he was described as throwing either "wild parties"715 or "orgies"716 for various VIPs, depending upon the source. Corbally was also a regular on the gaming circuit and became an associate of Cler­ mont Club founder John Aspinall. It's possible Corbally used the Clermont Club as a recruiting ground for future clients. Sir James Goldsmith, one of the principal visionaries behind Brexit,

713(Los Angeles Times staff 2004) 714Despite the presence of several Hollywood big wigs, interna­ tional drug cartels, and even potential links to the reputed "Son of Sam cult," the "Cotton Club Murder" has at present only generated one full length account, Steve Wick's Bad Company (1990). This is scandalous in light of how many curious individuals crop up in the murder. This topic shall be explored in much greater depth in Book III. 715(Knightley and Kennedy, 200) 716(Gillard 2004)

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later employed Corbally in some capacity.717 This early connection may prove to be quite significant as Goldsmith later became a major figure among a group of New York financiers and assorted tycoons. They were instrumental in Trump's rise to power and wielded tremen­ dous influence in his administration through at least the first term. Naturally, Corbally was also employed by Donald Trump. These assorted connections shall also be explored further in Book III. As for the Clermont Club back then, it appears Corbally was trying to run some type of racket on it. Not long after the club opened, Aspinall made a £3,000 contribution to Corbally. Aspinall claimed that it was due to gambling debts he owed the private detective. However, another Clermont associate believed it was a payoff to the organized crime forces behind Corbally.718 During this time, Corbally became "great friends" with Irish gangster Samuel Francis, who would soon move to America. There, he was "adopted" Angelo Bruno, the head of the Philadelphia mob. By 717(Gillard 2004) 718(Thompson, The Hustlers: Gambling, Greed, and the Perfect Con, 120-121)

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1963, Bruno was making inroads in London, presumably with the Francis' aid (and Corbal­ ly's).719 Previously, Francis worked for the Kray Twins, who controlled London's West End by the early 1960s. The twins were known to have supplied "rent boys" (teenage boys) to Lord Boothby during this time.720 You will recall that Boothby was a supporter of Julian Amery and had carried on a decades-spanning affair with Lady Dorothy Macmillan, the prime minister's wife. If Corbally's future activities are any indi­ cation, this is precisely the type of information he would have sought from his "good friend" Samuel Francis. And, with the Corbally family's decades-spanning association with the Syndi­ cate, Corbally indeed had the juice to get some­ one like Bruno to "adopt" talent like Francis. But this is all speculative. What is not speculative is Corbally's associa­ tion with Stephen Ward. They first met 719(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 262). Bruno and the Philly mob would later turn up as major players in the Kentucky coal rackets (Webb and Scheffey, 101-102). The reader is again reminded of the presence of Corbally's mentor, Steve Broady, in Kentucky with Peter Crosby, brother of longtime Resorts head James Crosby. 720(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 150)

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towards the end of 1962, just as rumblings of the Profumo Affair were making their way to the press. They quickly became close friends. In most accounts, their introduction is depicted as a chance encounter at a party. Corbally was having problems with a knee, which was severely swollen, and Ward offered to treat him.721 Thus began their friendship. This meet­ ing may not have been as chance as it is often depicted, however. Corbally would later tell the FBI he'd heard rumors about Profumo since early 1961 that piqued his interest.722 Regardless, the talkative Ward became an invaluable source of intelligence for Corbally. It was from Ward that he allegedly learned about the osteopath's role as a back-channel between the UK and the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also picked up on rumblings that Prince Phillip was involved in Ward's ring.723 As the last chapter showed, the former was most certainly true, and the latter was a strong possibility.

721(Knightley and Kennedy, 197); (Summers and Dorril, 250) 722(Summers and Dorril, The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward: Sex, Scandal, and Deadly Secrets in the Profumo Affair, 249) 723(Javers 2017)

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While all of this information was no doubt useful to Corbally, it was likely not the princi­ pal reason the private detective cultivated a relationship with Ward. Corbally's true agenda was almost surely to determine whether certain rumors were true, rumors alleging that President John F. Kennedy had also slept with women in Ward's ring.

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Part Four

The Game of Thrones

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Chapter Seven

JFK

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T

he brief reign of John F. Kennedy, lasting less than three years, as America's thirty-fifth president, is one of the most pivotal and enigmatic of the twentieth century. Few events in modern US history have spurred the degree of debate, as does the JFK assassination. It's a garden industry unto itself with hundreds if not thousands of books being published in the fifty plus years since his death. Some are main­ stream, some scholarly, some conspiratorial, most purporting to offer a definitive explana­ tion for his death.724 This is not such a work. Such a topic is vastly beyond this work's scope 724Some of the best accounts of the Kennedy assassination, and ones most relevant to the premise of this book, include Hinkle & Turner's Deadly Secrets: The CIA-Mafia War Against Castro and the Assassination of JFK (1981, 1992), Russell's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1992), Scott's Deep Politics and the Death of JFK (1993),Douglass' JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters (2008), Albarelli Jr.'s A Secret Order: Investigating the High Strangeness and Synchronicity in the JFK Assassination (2013),Talbot's The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government (2015), and Ganis' The Skorzeny Papers: Evidence for the Plot to Kill JFK (2018). Obvi­ ously, this is in no way, shape, or form meant to be a conclusive list of relevant books dealing with the assassination concerning this present work.

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and would require multiple volumes to do it justice. Despite the close ties JFK and his assassina­ tion have to Profumo, I have opted to focus on the Americans most closely associated with the British scandal. As such, the following account is in no way meant to be a conclusive assess­ ment of the forces aligned against JFK. Rather, it primarily focuses on the Kennedy brothers' feud with J. Edgar Hoover. But suffice to say, the JFK assassination was very much a part of the geopolitical struggle outlined in the intro­ duction of this book that explained the origins of the Cold War-era factions within the Ameri­ can ruling class. Hoover was a creature of the loose confeder­ ation of interests centered around the rising military-industrial complex, Texas oil, and far right anti-communists that challenged the primacy of the traditional liberal international­ ists who dominated US policy since the WWI. The rise of the military-industrial complex and its allies had been driven by a clique of foreign policy bureaucrats forged by the values of Theodore Roosevelt, the nation's first neo-con. It's a lineage that traces from WWI-era conser­ vative internationalists, to Cold War-era 353

containment militarists, and finally re-branded neo-conservatives in the 1970s, after they defected to the military-industrial complex. In Profumo's era they were still loosely aligned with the liberal wing of internationalism, or globalism as it is now popularly called. The Pentagon was just beginning to emerge as a true Frankenstein's monster. With this in mind, let us now turn our attention to JFK's ties to Profumo. Two women linked to Stephen Ward poten­ tially had sexual relations with JFK. The most well-known of these two was a figure often referred to as Mariella Novotny, though she used many names throughout her life. She was born as Stella Marie Capes and went by Mariella Capes, Maria Novotny, Harrietta Chapman, and many others. She was born in Sheffield near Yorkshire to a partly Spanish mother. Her father has remained a great mystery. His name was Anton Novotny, a Czech national who served at the Lincolnshire airbase during the war. Mariella was born during the war, and in the aftermath, they all traveled to Czechoslovakia. After the communist takeover in 1948, Mariella's mother would return. Mariella did not return until sometime around 1950, when she was nine, and her father may 354

have followed not long afterward. While he was allegedly in the Czech anti-communist underground, Mariella would claim to be the first cousin of future Czechoslovakian presi­ dent and Khrushchev protégé Antonin Novotny.725 Her murky family history would later become a point of contention for various competing narratives concerning Profumo. Mariella began working as a stripper in London during the late 1950s before she'd turned 18. In 1959, she applied for a job at an exclusive Mayfair nightclub called the Black Sheep. She met the owner, Stephen Ward's good friend Horace "Hod" Dibben. You will recall Dibben from Chapter 5 for the peculiar types of orgies he sponsored. They were reportedly heavy on occult trappings, often described as "black magic." In this case, Hod became smitten with Mariella and asked her to marry him almost immediately. She agreed, and they were married in January 1960. She was 18, he 54.726 Mariella soon became something of a legend in the orgy scene. She and Dibben threw 725(Summers and Dorril, The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward: Sex, Scandal, and Deadly Secrets in the Profumo Affair, 97-98) 726(Knightley and Kennedy, 97); (Summers and Dorril, 99)

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parties that have tantalized for years due to both the acts committed during them and the VIP guest lists. Mariella was renowned for her ability to service multiple men at once (report­ edly up to six) and her skills with a whip (she once boasted that she'd acquired the nickname "Government Chief Whip" due to the services she provided to Macmillan's government).Of course, Ward was a regular fixture at these parties.727 Dibben and Mariella began throwing their infamous parties after they'd returned from the US. Mariella's American sojourn has been the source of much speculation for decades. Less than a year after marrying Dibben, Mariella departed for the States with a television producer friend named Harry Alan Towers. They met at the same party where she initially met Ward. It was thrown by future Resorts shareholder Huntington Hartford.728 Not long after this introduction, Towers invited Novotny to accompany him to America. The always-obliging Dibben, who'd renounced monogamy long ago, gave his wife his blessing. 727(Summers and Dorril, 179-180) 728(Summers and Dorril, 101); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat 2014, 155)

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Allegedly, Towers introduced Mariella to his American showbiz contacts so as to start work­ ing in commercials, or something to that effect.729 What actually happened during Mariella's time in the US, which stretched from December 1960 till March of the next year, has been hotly debated. In Towers' account, he foolishly embarked upon what would become a disastrous affair with Novotny. Per Towers, he was unaware that Novotny was moonlighting as an upscale prostitute in New York until police raided their apartment. An anonymous caller had informed the district attorney (DA) that Novotny worked as a prostitute at that address. The DA soon became troubled by the case due to Mariella's claims of servicing prominent men around the United Nations and her family relations to the Czechoslovakian president.730 Fuel was added to the fire when Towers, sensing the political ramifications, jumped bail and turned up in the communist bloc several months later.731 Towers 729(Knightley and Kennedy, 98); (Summers and Dorril, 101102) 730(Summers and Dorril, 103-104); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 156-157) 731(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 157)

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alleged that he simply did this to evade US authorities without realizing the long term consequences of how this action would be viewed.732 As for Mariella's account, she alleged that Towers set her up working as a call girl for various VIPs almost immediately upon their arrival in the US.733 The operation that emerged in just a few months appears to have been quite elaborate. She used four separate apart­ ments in NYC to service her clients, including Towers', one in her name, one in the name of an "EA Adams," and one in her husband's name of her, Hod having joined her at some point during the sojourn.734 Dibben had been the one to post her $500 bail after the March arrest. Mariella's bail was set low reportedly because of her willingness to cooperate with the DA. Elsewhere, Towers was held for a time at the Manhattan House of Detention after being charged with a violation of the White Slave Traffic Act.735 His brief imprisonment was espe­ 732(Summers and Dorril, 109) 733(Summers and Dorril, 102) 734(Knightley and Kennedy, 98) 735(Knightley and Kennedy, 98)

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cially traumatic for Towers' and combined with the seriousness of the charges, spurred his flight to Moscow.736 While Towers is often depicted as Mariella's pimp, Towers has long denied these allegations while Novotny herself acknowledged that Towers spent much of this time away from her.737 While Towers likely had some role in this ring, it seems clear that Hod Dibben was much more involved in Mariella's business ventures. This appears to be what Towers came to believe. It's also possible Stephen Ward was involved via supplying them with clients and contacts.738 One of these potential clients was reportedly JFK. Mariella claimed that it was Towers who set her up with the then-president-elect, as well as his brother, future Attorney General Robert Kennedy.739 It was her husband who was present at the site of the first eloping, however. It occurred at a party at Hampshire 736(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 157) 737(Summers and Dorril, 109) 738(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 156). Knightley and Kennedy report that Towers blamed Dibben for Novotny's New York escapades (Knightley and Kennedy, 99). 739(Summers and Dorril, 105)

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House.740 Novotny recounted one more sexual encounter, this one involving group sex while she was dressed as a nurse.741 Was Mariella Novotny's story true? It certainly seems to have fixated the American security services. During her contacts with the FBI before fleeing the country in March 1961, Mariella produced an address book said to be loaded with the names of men from the worlds of politics, law, and business. The Bureau later destroyed this address book and the FBI's New York files on Towers and Novotny.742 After Novotny returned to the UK, the FBI attempted to have her extradited. British authorities refused, however.743 Elsewhere, it has long been alleged that the CIA arranged for Novotny to take a ship, the Queen Mary, to evade the FBI.744 Upon returning to the UK, Mariella told 740(Summers and Dorril, 110) 741(Summers and Dorril, 108); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 157) 742(Summers and Dorril, 108-109) 743(Knightley and Kennedy, 99) 744(Summers and Dorril, 105); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 157-159). Thompson alleges that Frank Wisner, the powerful CIA official close to former OSS director (and World Commerce Corporation head William Donovan), arranged for Novotny's escape after being concerned about JFK being impli­

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her story, including her affair with JFK, to News of the World reporter Peter Earle.745 The News of the World opted not to publish any names due to either Britain's strict libel laws746 or pressure from the security services,747 depending upon the source. It's interesting to note that, at the time, Julian Amery's good friend and former campaign mate Randolph Churchill (Winston's) was a political commen­ tator for that publication.748 The News of the World will appear again in this story, so do keep it in mind. One is left with the distinct impression that the CIA was doing all in its power to keep Hoover's FBI away from Novotny. Mariella wrote that "one faction... sighed with relief when I left" and that she'd "become a political

cated in a sex ring tied to the Soviets. Thompson further alleges that, upon returning to the UK, Novotny became an informant for the CIA via Scotland Yard (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 170). This later claim is much more debatable. 745(Knightley and Kennedy, 99); (Summers and Dorril, 105); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 159) 746(Knightley and Kennedy, 99) 747(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 159) 748(Summers and Dorril, 323)

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pawn."749 What did she mean by this? Before answering this question, we must first consider another girl linked to Ward and alleged to have slept with JFK. *** She was born as Su-Yang Chang but, like Mariella Novotny, used many names through­ out her life: Suzy Diamond, Jackie Chang, and Suzy Chang being the most common. For our purposes here, she shall be known as Suzy Chang. She was born in Tientsin, China, in 1935. In the aftermath of the communist revo­ lution, her parents—both doctors—immigrated to Hong Kong, and later Delaware, USA. Suzy took a different route to the US, however. At the age of nineteen, she moved to the UK. Initially, she worked as a nurse in Birmingham but soon settled in London. By 1960, she was working as a model and actress, having appeared in Nudes of the World.750 When precisely she encountered Stephen Ward remains unknown, though it occurred between her arrival and the onset of the 1960s. Chang described Ward as "a good, good, good friend" and alleged to have known "him a long 749(Summers and Dorril, 105) 750(Summers and Dorril, 304-305)

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time."751 It's likely that they first encountered one another during the early 1950s. Chang was close to the photographer Anthony ArmstrongJones, a protégé of Ward's good friend and Thursday Club founder "Baron" Nahum.752 By the time the Profumo Affair was unfolding in 1963, Chang was living at the Nell Gwyne House in London. At least one woman known to have worked with Ward was also stationed there.753 What's more, Thomas Corbally's room­ mate, acid baron William Mellon Hitchcock, described Chang as "one of Stephen's girls." Chang herself acknowledged knowing Corbally.754 Curiously, by the late 1990s Chang was living in Long Island,755 which had once been the scene of Corbally's British-inspired S&-M parties. As such, the connection between Chang and Ward appears to be much firmer than with Mariella Novotny. While Ward was very close to Hod Dibben and routinely socialized with 751(Summers and Dorril, 309) 752(Summers and Dorril, 307) 753(Summers and Dorril, 305-306) 754(Summers and Dorril, 308-309) 755(West, The A to Z of Sexspionage, 202); (Keeler and Thomp­ son, 198)

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Novotny at their orgies, her husband seems to have been her principal pimp. The not-al­ ways-reliable Christine Keeler alleged that Ward and Dibben were partners in espionage, and presumably in related endeavors.756 Reportedly, Mariella told the FBI that JFK had had an affair with Chang in addition to herself.757 Indeed, there has been much specu­ lation that Mariella was brought over from the UK to replace Chang.758 How probable are these allegations? Certainly, the FBI believed that there was merit, as we shall see. Chang acknowledged knowing JFK but has steadfastly denied the affair (though with less vigor as the years have gone on).759 It's known that she was in New York during both 1960 and 1961 via censored FBI and US Immigration Service documents, though the time-frame is unknown.760

756(Keeler and Thompson, 79-80) 757(Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 158); (Keeler and Thompson, 196) 758(Summers and Dorril, 302-303) 759(Summers and Dorril, 309-310) 760(Summers and Dorril, 308)

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It's a later visit, during 1962, that may be most indicative of shadowy purposes, however. The visit occurred during Christmas of 1962, but it appears the process was put in motion earlier during that year. Chang applied to get on the Chinese visa quota in the US. Her mother, who was already living in the US, filed on her behalf with the US Immigration Service. She used a most curious law firm: Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine.761 You will recall that this is the law firm in which Office of Strategic Services (OSS) founder and director William Donovan was a partner (hence the Donovan). Donovan's law firm acted as legal advisors to the World Commerce Corporation (WCC) during its early years, before Wild Bill became a director. Among the firm's legal advisers to the WCC was Otto C. Doering,762 a close Wild Bill asso­ ciate in the OSS as well. While Wild Bill had shed his mortal coil several years earlier, Doer­ ing still appears to have been working for Donovan's law firm when the Chang family employed them. 761(Summers and Dorril, 308) 762(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 796)

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Wild Bill's law firm appears to have enjoyed ties to the US intelligence community and other VIPs. That the Chang family would use this firm to admit their daughter to the US at a time when the Profumo Affair was beginning to unravel indicates that they had some clout. Sadly, how the family came to have ties to Donovan's law firm has never been explained. You will recall from Chapter 2 that the WCC enjoyed extensive business dealings with Taiwan's Nationalist Chinese. The expat Nationalist Chinese community had a strong presence in Hong Kong (as did the drug traf­ fickers closely tied to the Nationalist Chinese), which may have included Chang's parents. Is it possible that Chang's family were a part of the WCC network that I have been outlining throughout this work? Granted, this is highly speculative on my part. But as we shall see, another close Donovan associate and purported WCC stockholder will also play a crucial role in this saga in addition to several other British affiliates. But before getting to that, let's explore the relationship between J. Edgar Hoover and the Kennedy brothers as it stood when Profumo began unfolding. *** 366

The relationship was complex,763 and at the heart of the FBI's interest in these two women. J. Edgar Hoover and RFK intensely disliked each other. There are persistent allegations that Hoover used sexual material he'd compiled to blackmail the brothers (most notably the mistress JFK shared with at least one infamous mobster) shortly after JFK secured the Demo­ cratic nomination to both ensure his reappoint­ ment as FBI director and to influence the selec­ tion of Texan LBJ as the vice-president.764 Hoover got what he wanted, but the honey­ moon was short-lived. The long-time FBI direc­ tor and RFK never liked one another, but the relationship rapidly deteriorated after the brash, 35-year old was appointed attorney general. For decades, the FBI operated outside the Justice Department's purview, but now RFK 763Probably the best account can be found in Hersh's Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedy Brothers and J. Edgar Hoover that Transformed America (207). Other compelling accounts can be found in Summers' Official and Confidential (260333), Weiner's Enemies: A History of the FBI (223-227), Scott's Deep Politics and the Death of JFK (226-232), and Denton & Morris' The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America (238-251). 764(Summers, 271-275); (B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 15-16)

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attempted to assert his authority over Hoover. He also began pushing the Bureau to investi­ gate the Syndicate, a crusade Hoover was resis­ tant to embark upon for reasons discussed in the prior chapter. By 1963, there were rumblings that RFK would attempt to force Hoover out.765 While Hoover's seat may have been feeling a bit warm, that was nothing compared to Roy Cohn's situation. As noted in the last chapter, RFK and Cohn had bad blood between them since McCarthy passed RFK over for Cohn during the early 1950s. This loathing continued throughout the decade. When RFK became attorney general in his brother's administra­ tion, he reportedly had two targets. The first was Jimmy Hoffa. The second, Cohn. Before long, a ten-man team from the IRS dubbed the "Get-Cohn Squad" was sifting through the attorney's finances. Extraordinary measures (for the time); mail cover, wiretaps, undis­ guised physical surveillance—were brought against Cohn.766 The fallout from Alexander 765(Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, 227-228); (Weiner, 223-224; 225-226) 766(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 390)

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Guterma, noted in the previous chapter, provided the pretext for the war the Justice Department waged against Cohn until the middle of the 1960s.767 Despite all of the damning evidence Hoover (and surely Cohn) had on JFK's rampant womanizing and the family ties to organized crime, both J. Edgar and his protégé appear to have been fighting for their political and legal lives, respectively, by 1963. Clearly, something else was needed. As such, the emerging Profumo scandal must have seemed like manna from heaven. JFK's philandering and family mob ties were one thing, but Profumo was something else altogether. It's one thing to be compromised by the Syndicate, and another by Soviet intelligence services. But this was precisely the position JFK found himself in if he could be linked to Stephen Ward's ring. While said ring was firmly under British control, Ivanov's mere presence invoked the Soviet specter.768 And it just so happened that Cohn's good friend, Thomas Corbally, was tracking down the names of men associated with Chris­ tine Keeler and other women linked to Ward 767(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 394-397)

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for the purposes of blackmail at the time in London.769 Nor was Profumo potentially the only red honey pot JFK dipped his hand into. Texan Bobby Baker, a close associate of vice-president LBJ, also provided JFK with girls. One of these women, named Ellen Rometsch, hailed from East Germany (then part of the Soviet bloc). Much like the Profumo situation, she'd slept with both JFK and a member of the Soviet embassy.770 Like Cohn, Bobby Baker was connected in Las Vegas. What's more, his Vegas contacts overlapped with Cohn's. Ultimately, both sets of contacts received their marching orders from Meyer Lansky.771 Further, many of Corbally's mob contacts also took their orders 768Throughout her final autobiography, Secrets and Lies (2002, 2012, 2014, 2019), Keeler repeatedly asserts that Ward was a Soviet asset, even depicting him as boasting of such to her. While Keeler's account is often dismissed, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Ward and other members of British intelligence (i.e. MI5 chief Roger Hollis) attempted to convince Keeler that they were in fact deep cover Soviet agents for some type of endgame. Certainly, some of the pro-Soviet acts Keeler attributes to Ward and company have an air of theater about them. At a minimum, this act would have contributed to discrediting Keeler. But when JFK became implicated, it took on a whole new dimen­ sion in certain circles. 769(Summers and Dorril, 291) 770(Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, 230-232)

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from Lansky. What it amounts to is that Cohn was likely aware of this unfolding fiasco. Hoover certainly was.772 At the onset of JFK's administration, he had tentative CIA support to counter Hoover's FBI. As was noted, the CIA is believed to have spir­ ited Mariella Novotny out of the US in 1961 before the FBI could question her. The Kennedys entered the White House as outliers of the liberal internationalists of the Eastern Establishment. The CIA was largely a creation of this faction and could be expected to duti­ fully support one of its candidates in 1961. But by 1963, JFK had alienated much of his support base among the Eastern Establishment and especially within the CIA. There are a variety of reasons for this, all mainly beyond the scope of this work. For our purposes here, what matters is JFK's out-of-control libido and the strange bedfellows it made. In 1963, the different wings of internationalists were still largely united within their flagship, the Council of 771(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 400) 772(Summers, 310); (B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Trans­ formed America, 404-407)

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Foreign Relations (CFR). JFK had never been especially close to the Wall Street interests and attempted to cultivate them by appointing one of the highest percentages of CFR members among his foreign policy officials of any admin­ istration during the postwar years.773 In other words, the CFR made their bed with JFK, and by 1963, they'd realized that intelli­ gence services in both the US and UK coaxed a few token Soviets into that bed. At the time, the American far-right was still firmly in the grips of McCarthy-ism. If JFK's links to Profumo and Rometsch got out, guilt-by-associ­ ation would link him to the Soviets, and that would be the end of not only JFK, but also the careers of many of those CFR fellows who'd hitched their cart to JFK. It goes without saying that many factions within the US power struc­ ture probably breathed a sigh of relief on November 22, 1963. The way was now cleared for the Conservative Establishment to get a Texan in the White House and their war in Vietnam, while the CFR gained even more 773(Shoup and Minter, Imperial Brain Trust: The Council of Foreign Relations & United States Foreign Policy, 62-64). 51 percent of JFK's foreign policy officials were CFR members. At the time, this was the most of any postwar administration and likely still the second highest altogether.

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power over foreign policy in LBJ's administra­ tion.774 The dispute over whether America's destiny resided in Europe or Asia was put on hold for another day. However, this was no longer just an Ameri­ can dispute. (Had it ever been?). Hoover, Cohn, and Corbally appear to have been receiving help from elements within the British Conser­ vative Party. While largely overlooked for decades, the alliance that grew out of Profumo between elements of the British and American far-right had profound political implications for both nations during the remainder of the Cold War and up till the present day. In many ways, it's the catalyst for the decline in global­ ism that accelerated after the end of the Cold War. To understand how this alliance came about, and why the British acted against their longstanding allies in the American Eastern Establishment in favor of a faction that had historically been hostile to them, we must now turn our attention to Julian Amery and his allies in the Monday Club.

774(Shoup and Minter, 64). 57 percent of LBJ's foreign policy officials were CFR members, making his the most CFR-dominated postwar administration.

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Chapter Eight

Coups

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T

he World Commerce Corporation (WCC) was sold for "taxation reasons" at the end of August 1962.775 This was just a few months before Thomas Corbally befriended Stephen Ward and the Profumo Affair came rumbling to the surface. The following year, 1963, was a turbulent one for both the UK and the US. The Profumo Affair was exposed in the House of Commons in the spring, setting in motion a chain of events that would result in Macmillan's resignation in October of that year. A little over a month later, his close polit­ ical ally, US President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The sudden removal of both men from their respective offices would had profound implications for the intertwined destinies of both countries. Throughout this work, we've largely explored the so-called Special Relationship between the UK and the US through the prism of what this author has dubbed the WCC network. This network predated the WCC , and had its origins in the interwar gentlemen's 775(A. C. Brown, The Last Hero: Wild Bill Donovan, 799)

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clubs the UK used as an informal intelligence network. During WWII, this network came above ground and largely dominated the intelli­ gence services of both nations. However, this relationship changed in the postwar years. Initially, the close collaboration continued through the British American Canadian Corporation (BACC) and the WCC. Both of these companies, later merged, were set up to stash assets from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the British Security Coordination (BSC), the Special Operations Executive (SOE), and other decommissioned intelligence services at the end of the war (including, potentially, parts of those controlled by the Nazis). But from there, the paths of the British and American partners gradually diverged. The Americans continued to need off-thebook assets like the WCC network for plausible deniability in covert operations. But once the OSS Old Boys took over the CIA after Eisenhow­ er's election,776 there was less need for private concerns to employ these assets. Former OSS and onetime WCC director William "Wild Bill" 776For more on this topic, see Hersh's The Old Boys: The Ameri­ can Elite and the Origins of the CIA (1992) and Talbot's The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government (2015).

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Donovan returned to government work under Eisenhower, and many of the WCC's other American assets likely followed suit. Things were much different in the UK. Unlike in the States, the UK already possessed an entrenched foreign intelligence service in MI6. As such, there was no chance for the SOE and BSC Old Boys to take over that service the way their American counterparts could with the CIA. This proved to be of little concern initially as the private WCC network of SOE and BSC Old Boys appears to have taken the lead in pursuing British covert operations in the immediate postwar years. Unlike the US, the UK was not a nuclear super-power and thus required plausible deniability for virtually any covert operations it embarked upon. And then there was the matter of money. MI6 was largely destitute in the immediate postwar years, making it dependent upon funds from the Americans, slush funds comprised of looted Nazi assets, and the generosity of wealthy patrons, such as BACC partner and former SOE head Sir Charles Hambro. It was frequently both safer and more secure to oper­ ate through individuals like Robert Maxwell and Julian Amery and the private intelligence 377

networks they represented. This gave the WCC network, and its successors, a tremendous degree of power in the UK during the Cold War. It appears to entirely supersede, and become almost wholly independent of, MI6, regarding covert operations as time went on. When the Yemen conflict came, Amery had secured fund­ ing via the Saudis that was even outside the UK financial classes and laid the infrastructure for what became the powerful British private secu­ rity industry. By the time of Thatcher, the UK's covert operations capability was almost entirely in private hands. Beyond this, a divide emerged between the British and American Cousins and was reflected in the WCC network. By the Suez Crisis, the British and American wings were in open conflict, with Julian Amery managing covert operations while onetime WCC employee Otto Skorzeny supported Nasser's forces. This left many of the British cousins deeply disillusioned with their American coun­ terparts. What's more, the debacle at Suez and earlier incidents drove out the closet allies of the WCC network in MI6, the so-called "Robber Barons," altogether. Whatever cooperation between the nation's official foreign intelli­ 378

gence service and its murky private one largely ceased henceforth for a time. By the early 1960s, many of the most diehard Tory imperialists had pulled their resources together in the Monday Club. This crowd gazed upon party head and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan with utter contempt. Former arms merchant and whistle-blower Gerald James, who joined the Monday Club during the early 1960s, perfectly captured the mood concerning the sitting prime minister: "Macmillan was a totally amoral man—one of those people who looked the part but whose whole life was all betrayal. When he was saying one thing, he was actually doing the opposite—no substance, he just looked the part. 'You've never had it so good' was a pretty meaningless phrase for a British public that had nothing to compare it with, that had been through a war and suffered rationing right through into the 1950s."777 Fellow Monday Club member and former MI6 man George Kennedy "GK" Young had a similar view of Macmillan, whom he once described as "little more than a posturing clown, selling out what had remained of British freedom of action 777(James, In the Public Trust, 44)

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to the Americans." Young had much more respect for Macmillan's son-in-law and fellow Monday Club member, Julian Amery.778 By the late 1950s, they had a long history of black ops together. Amery's adventures in Yemen began just as the Profumo scandal broke towards the end of 1962. By late October, the Kennedy administra­ tion put tremendous pressure on the UK to recognize the Nasser-backed republican forces. Then, on December 19, the Americans formally recognized the republicans. Amery persuaded his father-in-law to officially refuse UK recog­ nize in the early days of January 1963. This angered the Americans, and paved the way for British mercenaries to deploy later in the year.779 It was a victory for Amery, but potentially only a brief one. Powerful forces were aligned against him, including the influential Foreign Secretary and future Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Hume and MI6 Chief Dick White.780 What's more, his father-in-law had a well-de­ 778(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 662) 779(Dorril, 681-684) 780(Dorril, 682-683)

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served reputation for caving to the American cousins. And indeed, the Americans seemed adamant about backing yet another regime that would further weaken British influence in the crucial Gulf. Could Amery afford to stand aside for the sake of his father-in-law while another tentative Conservative government squandered the last vestiges of his precious empire? And what of the decadence within his fatherin-law's cabinet? With Soviet spies lurking everywhere, it was a significant national secu­ rity risk by the early 1960s. Ward's ring (which Amery was surely aware of), with its barely legal girls, hinted at even darker secrets. Namely, rampant pedophilia among the UK's elite that would finally be exposed with Jimmy Savile decades later. Figures like Lord Mount­ batten and Lord Boothby (an associate of Amery's) that have been implicated in these rings involving minors knew Ward. But was there something deeper than that? After all, it certainly seems like Julian's brother Jack Amery was exposed to this underworld as a teenager. It surely did not contribute to his mental stability, which eventually led him to become a fanatical Nazi and anti-Semite (despite being a quarter Jewish) and ultimately 381

hanged for treason. Their father, Leopold, duti­ fully served the British Establishment for decades, and it had destroyed his brother in turn. Deep in his heart of hearts, did Julian Amery hate them? We will probably never know. But it seems all but sure that he would not stand aside while a cesspool of degenerates sold out his beloved empire, especially when he had found a way to preserve some semblance of it. *** We now turn out attention to the chain of events that led to the exposure of the Profumo Affair and the end of Macmillan's government. One of the pivotal moments in this chain, as detailed in Chapter 5, was Profumo's doublecross of Labour MP George Wigg during a November parliamentary debate concerning the state of British troops in Kuwait. Wigg and Profumo reached an agreement before, which Profumo violated by dismissing Wigg's claims before the House of Commons. Another Tory backed Profumo in this maneuver and rose to speak before him. That Tory MP was Julian Amery's old Oxford mate and longtime political alley Sir Hugh Fraser.781 Several months later, 781(Knightley and Kennedy, 95)

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in January 1963, he threw his support behind Amery's effort to get Macmillan to reject the Yemen republicans.782 As was noted in Chapter 4, his cousin Sir David Stirling took the lead in organizing Amery's mercenary forces while his niece worked as a secretary for Stirling. Reportedly, Fraser was also a close friend of Profumo's.783 But, if so, why did he back Profu­ mo's play to humiliate Wigg before the Commons? The Labour MP already had a welldeserved reputation for his vindictiveness and his penchant for compiling dossiers on his fellow MPs. Wigg had, of course, already been encouraged to look at Profumo days earlier by an anonymous caller. Even if Fraser was unaware of this, he surely knew Profumo had much to hide. Why then antagonize a man known for tracking down dirt on his colleagues? As such, this does not seem like the course of action a close friend of Profumo's would support him in. And yet, Fraser did just that. Or did Fraser have another agenda? This is seemingly the logical conclusion. So, what then was Fraser up to? I propose that Fraser set up 782(Dorril, 683) 783(Summers and Dorril, 257)

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Profumo and that bringing down Wigg's wraith was his objective. Nor was this the only role Fraser played in Profumo's (and Macmillan's) downfall. The next domino to fall occurred in January 1963, shortly after Fraser and company opted not to recognize Yemen's republican forces. Towards the end of the month, Christine Keeler began shopping her story to the papers and found a taker in the Sunday Pictorial.784 It's at this point that Thomas Corbally and William Mellon Hitchcock became major players in our story. There is some dispute as to how these two American gentlemen became leading figures. According to Knightley and Kennedy in An Affair of State, Macmillan became deeply concerned about the rumors making the rounds involving Profumo. Fearing that his advisers were not telling him the truth, he asked his good friend, American Ambassador David Bruce, to get to the bottom of things. Bruce was aware of Corbally's friendship via his former

784(Knightley and Kennedy, 130-131); (Keeler and Thompson, 176-177); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 236)

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in-law Hitchcock and asked the private detec­ tive to do his thing.785 In The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward, Summers and Dorril tell a slightly different story. According to these researchers, Ward decided to drop in on his two American friends on either January 28 or 29. At the time, he was trying to keep the Sunday Pictorial from publishing Keeler's story. Exasperated, he confessed everything to the Americans. Ward's story alarmed Corbally and Hitchcock, spurring the Mellon heir to put in a call to Bruce, a former in-law. The next day, they met with the ambassador and his assistant, Alfred Wells. 786 In either case, arrangements were made for Ward to tell his story to Wells, after Bruce had conveniently left the country. The meeting occurred roughly two weeks later, on February 13, and involved Corbally, Hitchcock, Wells, and Ward.787 However, Corbally and Hitchcock already knew about Profumo from Ward. By the time of their January meeting, they'd likely informed 785(Knightley and Kennedy, 157) 786(Summers and Dorril, 251-252) 787(Knightley and Kennedy 1987, 157); (Summers and Dorril, 252-253)

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the ambassador that the worst was confirmed. Bruce's actions since then have been much disputed by historians. It's generally agreed that either he or his office informed Macmillan that the substance of the allegations against Profumo were true on either January 29, or shortly thereafter. Even more bizarre was Bruce's decision to not inform the State Department of these events—namely, that a cabinet minister in a crucial allied government may be involved in a love triangle involving a Soviet spy—or any other element of his own government. Indeed, he simply seems to have decided to sit on this information.788 Bruce was not only an OSS veteran, but Wild Bill's close aide in this capacity and later an investor in his World Commerce Corporation. In other words, Bruce was an insider's insider when it came to the US intelligence commu­ nity. Surely then he recognized the significance of what Corbally and Hitchcock had told him. That he may have opted not to notify the State Department of such a significant development is understandable. But he did not inform the CIA or any other branch of the US intelligence 788(Knightley and Kennedy, 158); (Summers and Dorril, 254255)

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community as far as known. Nominally, his actions are utterly baffling, especially because Donovan's WCC-employed law firm procured a visa for one of Ward's girls, Suzy Chang, during 1962. This is the same woman believed to have been involved with JFK. Bruce knew what was at stake, and yet he chose to do nothing. Before explaining these puzzling actions, a few other events must be noted. The next one of note occurred on February 5. On this date, Wells once again met with Corbally. This meeting has been much disputed, with Corbally denying that it ever took place. Wells simply claimed to remember nothing of the meeting.789 Both men had good reason for forgetting it as its implications are staggering. At this meeting, Corbally either recounted a discussion he had with Clive Bossom, a parlia­ mentary private secretary to the air minister in Macmillan's cabinet, to Wells; or, Wells and Corbally both addressed Bossom in the flesh.790 In either case, the substance of what occurred 789(Knightley and Kennedy, 205); (Summers and Dorril, 256) 790(Knightley and Kennedy, 205); (Summers and Dorril, 256). In the account given by Knightly & Kennedy, only Corbally and Wells are present at this meeting. Summers and Dorril describe Bossom as also being present.

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is the same: Corbally described how he had informed Bossom that the allegations surrounding Profumo were true. Wells then either called Bossom from the meeting or asked him directly what he had done. Bossom stated that he had informed the air minister and Profumo of what Corbally had said, and it was shrugged off.791 If this was the extent of the meeting, then why did Corbally deny that it happened? Why did Wells forget it? And why did Bossom deny that he got the information from Corbally?792 Surely, there was nothing earth-shattering about Corbally simply telling a private secre­ tary the same thing he had told the US ambas­ sador days before? Clearly, all three men are lying about several things, most notably the topic of discussion. First, let us consider the players. We already know Corbally and Wells. As for Clive Bossom, 791(Knightley and Kennedy, 205); (Summers and Dorril, 256257). In the account given by Summers and Dorril, Bossom did not tell Profumo of Corbally's account directly, but told the Air Minis­ ter, who then brought up the matter with Profumo. 792(Summers and Dorril, 256). In the account given by Summers and Dorril, Bossom alleges that he was told of the alle­ gations surrounding Profumo by a forgotten figure attached to the American embassy staff.

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he was an member of parliament (MP), just as his father Alfred had been. Alfred Bossom was also a close colleague of Leopold Amery in parliament and reportedly was close to the Amery family.793 As such, Clive Bossom certainly knew Julian Amery, especially in light of the air minister for whom he served as secretary. The air minister's name was Sir Hugh Fraser.794 This is the same Sir Hugh Fraser, an Oxford mate of Julian Amery's, whose family helped Amery set up the mercenary operation in Yemen. Fraser's father, the 14th Lord Lovat, was a close colleague of Leopold Amery, as was noted in Chapter 4. As such, both families detailed in this episode had long-standing ties to the Amery family. But, beyond this, there is another aspect of Hugh Fraser that researchers often gloss over: the fact that he not only kept a cottage at Clive­ den, but that he also personally knew Stephen

793(Faber, Speaking for England: Leo, Julian and John Amery --The Tragedy of a Political Family, 461) 794(Knightley and Kennedy, 205); (Summers and Dorril, 256); (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 230)

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Ward!795 Given that he was a "close friend" of Profumo, he almost surely was aware of the Profumo-Keeler-Ivanov triangle well before the story broke. This makes his decision to back Profumo's double-cross of Wigg in November even more bizarre. He surely knew what went on at Cliveden and that Profumo was there, and that Wigg utterly despised the Tories and went out of his way to compile dossiers on them. This makes his actions in November even more inexplicable unless his purpose was to set-up Profumo and put Wigg on the trail. Even more curious is why Corbally would feel the need to inform Fraser's personal secre­ tary that the substance of the allegations concerning Profumo were true. Was Corbally oblivious to the fact that Fraser also knew Ward and kept a cottage at Cliveden himself? Remember, Ward was very talkative with Corbally, who was pumping him for blackmail material. He wanted to know how many of Macmillan's ministers were active at Cliveden, among other things. Beyond this, Corbally was also involved with Joe Aspinall and the early Clermont Club, as was noted in Chapter 6. The Stirling branch of 795(Summers and Dorril, 256)

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Clan Fraser of Lovat (of which David was directing the mercenary operations in Yemen) had been gambling with Aspinall since at least the late 1950s and later became fixtures at the Clermont Club.796 Corbally certainly knew them socially, further increasing the likelihood he knew about Fraser's involvement (as well as the mercenary activities in Yemen). It's simply not believable that all Corbally talked about with Bossom was the truth of the Profumo allegations. Not only is the veil of silence surrounding this meeting unwarranted, if that was the extent of the conversation, but it would have also been utterly superfluous to both parties. What then was discussed? We will never know, but I'm prepared to offer some informed speculation. To start, we need to consider another little-remarked upon point: who Thomas Corbally happened to visit directly after returning to the US in June. That was John Malone, head of the FBI's powerful New York office.797 796(Thompson, The Hustlers: Gambling, Greed, and the Perfect Con, 137-138) 797(Summers and Dorril, 254). Nearly six decades later, the same New York FBI office would play a crucial role in the email scandal that plagued Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid.

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That's an interesting person for Corbally to visit. You will recall that Corbally worked for the CIA during the late 1940s and potentially moonlighted for the agency afterward. What's more, he briefed Ambassador David Bruce and William Mellon Hitchcock on the affair. Bruce was an OSS veteran while numerous members of the Mellon family had also served in it, as was noted in Chapter 6. These are a lot of potential CIA connections, yet none appears to have reached out to the Agency. Instead, upon returning to the US, Corbally made a beeline for Hoover's FBI. Hoover famously fought the creation of the CIA tooth and nail and contin­ ued to work against the CIA throughout the 1950s.798 This is even more baffling because Hoover despised the British and their intelligence services and had since the time of WCC honcho William Stephenson's BSC.799 By the late 1950s, he firmly believed that they were hopelessly ineffectual if not thoroughly compromised. The FBI's top official in London was especially disil­ lusioned with Roger Hollis, director-general of 798(Wright, 145) 799(Wright, 99). For more on the strained relationship between Hoover and the British, see the first chapter.

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MI5.800 In addition to providing the FBI director with additional compromising material on JFK, Profumo also had the potential to further pres­ sure on the British to reform their security services. MI5 was closely linked to Ward and had much to lose from the scandal. MI6 kept their distance but played footsy with Ward for several years, as detailed in Chapter 5. Indeed, the withdrawal of MI6 protection from Ward around the time the Profumo Affair began may have contributed to former Labour MP John Lewis' assault on Ward in the '62-'63 period. It was Lewis who is widely believed to have made the call to George Wigg that alerted him to Profumo's indiscretions, after all. In this light, the Corbally-Wells-Bossom meeting takes on the air of a scorpion's dance. Was Corbally simply threatening or attempting to blackmail the British with the specter of Hoover's FBI? But, Hugh Fraser appears to have deliberately set this chain of events in motion, indicating the British also wanted the scandal out. Hoover's views concerning the UK were well known, not just in terms of the secu­ rity services, but also the decadence of the

800(Summers and Dorril, 315)

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Tory government. Surely they knew this would be nectar from the gods for him. But what if this was precisely what the Tories surrounding Julian Amery wanted? On the one hand, MI5 was increasingly in their line of sight. Suspicions were raised within MI5 that its director-general, Roger Hollis, was under the Soviet control.801 The fallout from Profumo and the Philby defection (his status as a Soviet double agent was finally acknowledged by the British in 1963) spurred a US intelli­ gence review of the British services by Gordon Gray, Eisenhower's former National Security Adviser, and Patrick Coyne, a former senior FBI official. While denounced by MI5 figures as "espionage" targeted against their service, it led to reforms Conservative forces had already been demanding in addition to a hardliner replacing Hollis in 1965.802 You will recall that MI5 was also the agency that foiled Julian 801(Leigh, The Wilson Plot: How the Spycatchers and Their American Allies Tried to Overthrow the British Government, 101102). A more in depth account of these allegations can be found in former senior MI5 officer Peter Wright's classic Spy Catcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer (1987). Chris­ tine Keeler alleged that she personally witnessed Hollis and Ward engaged in espionage on behalf of the Soviets on multiple occa­ sions (Keeler and Thompson, 79) 802(Leigh, 103-104)

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Amery's efforts to provide evidence his brother had renounced his British citizenship in Spain during the war. An element of revenge cannot be discounted. As for MI6, there was a lot of resentment against the director, Dick White. It was White who drove the so-called "Robber Baron" faction from MI6. Several such figures were close to Julian Amery, including fellow Monday Club man George Kennedy Young and his old Oxford mate Nicholas Elliot. What's more, White was an early opponent of Amery's mercenary activi­ ties in Yemen.803 Profumo may well have been instrumental in ensuring that the Yemen operation went through. Duncan Sandys, a close Amery asso­ ciate implicated in Ward's ring,804 attempted to have Sir David Stirling call off the mercenaries for fear that exposure would further damage Macmillan's government in the wake of 803(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 683-684) 804The reader will recall from chapter six that it was Sandys who put Churchill in contact with Ward. Later, Sandys was impli­ cated in the fall out from Ward's sex parties. He was accused of being the "Headless Man" (Summers and Dorril, 323). This myste­ rious figure appeared from the neck down in a photographer in which he was receiving oral sex from the Duchess of Argyll.

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Profumo.805 Sandys' request was ignored, possi­ bly because it was a public relations stunt to hide government support.806 Another possibil­ ity is that it was to discourage investigators from looking too closely at Amery associates in Macmillan's government while investigating Profumo. It seems to have worked: Despite the longstanding ties Sandys had to Ward or Fraser's closeness to the Cliveden intrigues, neither faced any real fallout from the scandal. Nor did any other Tories associated with the Monday Club. Rather, it was the more moder­ ate Tories like Lord Astor, the ones less inclined to support Yemen, who were ruined. Another major benefit of Profumo concerning Yemen is that scandal kept parliament, both Tories and Labour, focused on domestic issues, while the mercenary infrastructure was being set-up. This was also true of the intelligence services, who wanted desperately to keep a low profile in the aftermath of Philby and Profumo. MI6, in particular, was content to turn a blind eye to Amery's Yemen adventures, not wanting to weigh in one way or another. And given how 805(Dorril, 686); (Cormac, Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces, and the Secret Pursuit of British Foreign Policy, 156) 806(Dorril, 686)

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suspect the Monday Club types found MI6 to be by this point, this was likely the best possible outcome. What's more, the scandal provided a golden opportunity to clean up Macmillan's decadent Conservative government. This appealed to Hoover (as well as the forces behind him) and Amery in equal measures. Nominally, it seems contrary for Amery and other Monday Club types to air the Tories' dirty laundry to the extent that they did. After all, it brought an end to the long period of Tory rule in the postwar years and restored Labour to power. Further, it made the dreaded Harold Wilson prime minis­ ter. By the end of the decade, Amery and his associates appear obsessed with removing Wilson from office, as we shall see in Book II. But in 1963, there was a lot to like about Labour from their perspective. Until January 1963, Labour was headed by Hugh Gaitskell, who worked with the SOE during the war and maintained close ties with the intelligence community for years afterward.807 Gaitskell had done much to push the party in a more conservative, anti-communist direction while 807(Leigh, 23-24)

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heading Labour.808 As was noted in Chapter 3, Gaitskell brought Robert Maxwell, largely a creation of SOE veterans, into Labour's fold. Maxwell was elected as an MP in 1964 follow­ ing Profumo. There was also George Wigg, Wilson's socalled Rasputin. In Chapter 5, it was noted that Wigg maintained longstanding ties to a farright MI5 asset. Another rising star was Denis Healey, an Oxford mate of Amery's who became the Minister of Defense under Wilson.809 Finally, there was Lord Chalfont, a minister in the foreign & commonwealth office during Wilson's 1960s reign. Chalfont later supported the Monday Club and became Amery's close associate during the 1970s in a shadowy network detailed in Book II. In other words, Labour may have had a whiff of the lesser of two evils to Amery and his fellow imperialists in the Monday Club circa 1963. Thanks to Gaitskell, a reliable network of staunch imperialists and anti-communists were in place. When Wilson came to power, he 808(Leigh, 62-63) 809(Amery, Approach March: A Venture in Autobiography, 77); (Faber, Speaking for England: Leo, Julian and John Amery --The Tragedy of a Political Family, 310)

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expressed some opposition to Amery's merce­ nary activities. This initially came in the form of denying the use of RAF transports to the forces Amery had raised by late 1964.810 At the time, this may have been another exercise in public relations. It wasn't until 1966 that Labour took steps against Yemen operations by announcing a withdrawal of British forces from Aden by the end of the decade. Hardliners, led by Duncan Sandys, were outraged, but Stir­ ling's private military company was still active there until 1969. By this time, Nasser had been driven out, and heavy causalities inflicted on his forces.811 Plans were well underway for Amery's asso­ ciates to remove Wilson as well. But in 1963, there may have been a belief that they could work together. At a minimum, it gave the Monday Club types of a chance to clean up the Conservative Party, which had become an embarrassment. But if creating a "clandestine empire" via mercenary firms and other instruments outside government was the end game, then JFK and other anti-colonialists among the cousins were 810(Cormac, 167) 811(Dorril, 696-699)

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the greatest hindrance to this plan. Macmillan and other wets within the Conservative Party were willing to play ball up to a certain point. JFK was not. Thus, the downfall of Macmillan's government and an end to Tory rule may have been deemed a necessary sacrifice if it enabled their allies among the American cousins to remove JFK. If this is what Amery's lackey (family friend Bossom, Sir Hugh's secretary) was discussing with Corbally (effectively a stand-in for Cohn, and by default, Hoover) at the February 5 meeting, then we should hardly be surprised no one wants to talk about it. *** I suggest, then, that the February 5 meeting between Corbally and Bossom represented an agreement between the old British wing of the WCC network and the emerging Monday Club faction of the Conservative Party, on the one hand; and, the American Conservative Estab­ lishment, on the other. Wells may have been a representative of the liberal internationalists/Eastern Establishment aligned wing of the American WCC network. Certainly his boss was part of that faction. While the liberal internationalists were in their own power struggle with the American conser­ 400

vative faction, both sides concluded that JFK was a liability by this point. This is likely why Bruce decided to report nothing to the State Department on what he'd learned concerning Profumo. Otherwise, the Kennedys would have been tipped off as to what was coming. The CIA appears to have been previously protecting JFK from these British intrigues, but had withdrawn its protec­ tion by this point. It would soon reverse course dramatically in regard to Yemen once the Texan LBJ became president. Fittingly, Archibald Roosevelt Jr, a cousin of fellow CIA man Kermit Roosevelt Jr, and TR's grandson, was the CIA station chief in London. For the British, this must have been a strange arrangement. During the Second World War, they desperately battled with the Ameri­ can conservative faction for their very survival. Recall Sir William Stephenson's activities against the America First Committee detailed in Chapter 1. After becoming disillusioned by the American liberal internationalists during the 1950s, the far-right cousins had an increasing appeal. If nothing else, they were far less opposed to imperialism and colonialism than their Eastern 401

Establishment counterparts. This pushed this faction of the British Tories into the American far-right's arms during the next decade. But more on that in the next book. The immediate ramifications of this alliance were that there was no quarter for Profumo. By mid-March, he was openly linked to Keeler in the British press. The Daily Express took the lead, being the first publication to note their ties.812 At the time Keeler was in Spain, purportedly in an attempt to avoid the British press. In retrospect, there is much speculation that the Spanish adventure was designed to draw the media's attention.813 She was tracked down there by a reporter from the Daily Express. The paper soon negotiated the rights to Keeler's story for £2,000.814 It's interesting to note that the Daily Express was owned by Lord Beaverbrook, Bill Stephen­ son's dear friend, and a part of the broader WCC network. Reportedly, Beaverbrook led the assault because he had long despised the Astor 812(Knightley and Kennedy, 148); (Summers and Dorril, 262263); (Keeler and Thompson, 185) 813(Summers and Dorril, 262) 814(Knightley and Kennedy, 158-159); (Keeler and Thompson, 189-191)

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family.815 However, rumblings made the rounds in the press concerning Profumo for months. Its more noteworthy that the Daily Express linked Profumo to Keeler nearly a month after Corbally and Wells met with Ward and a little over five weeks from the meeting between Corbally, Wells, and Bossom. Wells was the personal assistant of a onetime WCC share­ holder, which raises the distinct possibility Beaverbrook was given the green light after the Corbally-Wells meetings. Not long after the Daily Express attacked Profumo, the News of the World got involved by publishing an interview with Keeler on her relationship with Profumo (she denied every­ thing).816 You will recall that the News of the World was tipped off about Mariella Novotny in 1961 but was coaxed into sitting on the story. Now, in the spring of 1963, it joined the feed­ ing frenzy. Naturally, Julian Amery's old campaign mate Randolph Churchill, Winston's son, was working for the News of the World at the time. He directly engaged in June 1963, when he dispatched a reporter to see if Keeler 815(Summers and Dorril, 262-263) 816(Knightley and Kennedy, 159)

403

had slept with any of Macmillan's other minis­ ters.817 Things came to a head on March 21, when George Wigg used parliamentary privilege to link Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies to an unnamed minister in Macmillan's Cabinet. The next day, Profumo denied these allegations in Parliament. Macmillan appeared with him to lend his support. The fate of both men was now officially sealed. In the US, it was not until June that the fall­ out from Profumo began in earnest. As Profumo was unfolding in the UK throughout the spring, JFK kept pressure on Macmillan concerning Yemen. In early March, as Amery's people gauged the situation on the ground, JFK personally warned Macmillan to cease his support for the royalists. In late April, as the British decided to deploy mercenaries, the US president dismissed the royalist capabilities to the cousins.818 By June, it was nearly time for the Yemen operations to commence in earnest. Shortly before JFK gave his famous "peace speech" at the American University on June 10 ("Let us 817(Summers and Dorril, 323) 818(Cormac, 157; 329n120; 329n122)

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reexamine our attitude towards the Cold War"), the first in a series of articles linking the president to Profumo appeared in the American press. On June 7, the New York Post ran an article indicating that Christine Keeler was involved in compromising "American diplomats or politicians." The next day, Stephen Ward was arrested in the UK and J Edgar Hoover opened his infamous "Bowtie Dossier" to chronicle his findings on Profumo.819 This set off a series of meetings in the US Executive branch involving Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Defense Intelli­ gence Agency Director General Joseph Carroll, CIA Director John McCone, and typically a senior Hoover aide. Meanwhile, the media storm continued. On the same day as Kennedy's American University speech, the New York Daily News ran another story, this one impli­ cating Thomas Corbally in "an American-based organization" engaged in vice rings to black­ mail "influential people." The London corre­ spondent was also feeding George Wigg infor­ mation on Corbally.820 This appears to have hit 819(Summers and Dorril, 283-284) 820(Summers and Dorril, 291)

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a little too close to home as Corbally soon threatened the publication with a $6 million lawsuit. His attorney was Roy Cohn.821 Also in June, a series of articles appeared in the Journal-American about a security inquiry involving Profumo by the FBI ("Bowtie"). The paper's editor, Guy Richards, had extensive ties in the US intelligence community.822 The farright Hearst family owned the publication. Hoover had long used their papers to leak sensitive materials. 823 As was noted in Chapter 6, Roy Cohn's close ally, journalist George Sokolsky, had long worked for the Heart publishing empire. Another Cohn friend, Richard Berlin, ran the entire Hearst media empire.824 Unsurprisingly, Corbally's name stayed out of the Journal-American. By the middle of the month, Michael Eddowes, the Tory barrister who had known Ward since the Thursday Club days (noted in Chapter 5) and who later learned of Profumo from Keeler in 821(Summers and Dorril, 292-293); (Javers 2017) 822(Summers and Dorril, 287) 823(Summers and Dorril, 313-314) 824(B. Hersh, Bobby and J. Edgar: The Historic Face-Off Between the Kennedys and J. Edgar Hoover That Transformed America, 119)

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late 1962, went on record with the publica­ tion.825 The next bombshell occurred on June 19. Thomas Corbally, who'd fled the UK to avoid "procurement" charges, waltzed into the FBI's New York office, and started talking. What Corbally told the FBI both directly and through his attorney, Roy Cohn, during this meeting and later ones, has remained shrouded in mystery. His statements to Cohn are still clas­ sified as of this writing.826 A handwritten note on the FBI's Profumo documents states that "Roy Cohn has this info."827 What kind of dirt did Cohn and Corbally possess that still warranted classification nearly six decades later? The next day, an emergency meeting was called between the Secretary of Defense, the CIA and DIA directors, and a high-ranking FBI official. This amounted to a desperate request for information from the FBI regarding every­ thing they had on Profumo. There was also a discussion of Bruce's bizarre behavior, but 825(Summers and Dorril, 287-288) 826(Summers and Dorril, 288) 827(Summers, 309)

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much of the account of this meeting is still censored.828 On that same day, the Journal-American issued another article, this one linking an unnamed Hungarian woman with Soviet contacts to the Ward ring. This was an appar­ ent reference to Mariella Novotny's holiday adventures over the 1960-61 winter break.829 A little over a week later, on June 29, the next shoe dropped. This time, the Journal-American linked "one of the biggest names in American politics" to Ward's ring and even dropped references to Suzy Chang.830 It was too much for RFK, who leaned on the newspaper to with­ draw the story. Allegedly, he threatened the Hearst empire with an anti-trust suit if they did not comply.831 Stephen Ward's trial began just a little less than a month later, on July 22. By August 3, the osteopath was dead, having allegedly commit­ ted suicide.832 The damage had been done by this point, however. Amery's Yemen adven­ 828(Summers and Dorril, 254); (Javers 2017) 829(Summers and Dorril, 292-293) 830(Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, 229); (Summers and Dorril, 299; 303); (Javers 2017) 831(Summers and Dorril, 300-301)

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tures continued apace, even after his father-inlaw's resignation as prime minister in October of that year. Around that time, the CIA suddenly offered MI6 closer working relations on Yemen, even suggesting that they bypass the Foreign Office and the State Department to achieve this. Dick White was baffled, but pres­ sured into accepting by the departing Macmil­ lan.833 Mercenary activities were still a no-go for the president. On November 21, JFK contacted new Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home (who had been lukewarm at best concerning Amery's schemes) and asked for his personal assurance that British mercenaries would be withdrawn from Yemen. The next day, Kennedy was assas­ sinated.834 Yemen was undoubtedly a very small or nonexistent factor in the assassination from the American cousins' perspective. The ramifica­ 832In recent years, compelling evidence has come to light that Ward was murdered by the British security services (Thompson, Stephen Ward: Scapegoat, 306). For more on this topic, see Summers and Dorril's The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward: Sex, Scandal, and Deadly Secrets in the Profumo Affair (389-399). 833(Dorril, MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, 689) 834(Dorril, 689)

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tions from Profumo are not as easy to dismiss. A recent work on the JFK assassination, Ganis' The Skorzeny Papers, alleged that Profumo and the emerging scandal involving Bobby Baker were the catalysts. JFK had hopelessly compro­ mised himself to Soviet intelligence, and rather than face a national scandal, a mercy killing was initiated.835 This premise is highly contro­ versial among JFK assassination researchers, but not without merit. With all of the dirt Hoover, Cohn, and Corbally had compiled on JFK, the hope may have been for a Macmillanlike resignation on the president's part, paving the way for LBJ. Hoover and LBJ were close political allies, and Cohn would have done practically anything to get RFK out of the Justice Department (as would have Hoover and the mobbed up Corbally).Once the bid for JFK's resignation failed, alternative methods were employed. That being said, Hoover's FBI and the Syndi­ cate were hardly the only forces aligned against the Brothers Kennedy by 1963. Still, these forces appear to have railed around the Bureau in one final bid to force JFK out without 835(Ganis, The Skorzeny Papers: Evidence for the Plot to Kill JFK, 293-298)

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resorting to dramatic measures. As for the British, this began a period of purification within the Conservative Party that led to Thatcher's rise during the late 1970s. This was made possible by the new partnership forged with Profumo between the Monday Club Tories and the American far-right. This alliance later crystallized during the 1970s in a shadowy organization instrumental in Thatcher and Reagan's rise, and deeply implicated in arms and drug trafficking and pedophile rings span­ ning the globe. This network shall be explored in Book II of this series. As has been documented in this work, on the British end, we can conclude that a far-right faction within the Tories used sexual blackmail to bring down an administration for the purpose of re-orienting government policy. These honey-pots existed within British intelli­ gence services since at least WWII, and surely sooner. The Americans became involved in this game around that time as well. Many of these figures later ended up in the World Commerce Corporation, where these activities likely continued. Amery was aware of them, either from his brother or his later activities on behalf of the WCC network. And he may well have put them to use in Cyprus when he used 411

MI6 to blackmail Archbishop Makarios with evidence of the priest's homosexuality. Indeed, Cyprus can be seen as a kind of dress rehearsal for what Amery later did to his father-in-law's government. By 1963, many of the senior British figures within the WCC network were leaving the game, either due to death or the ravages of old age. This left younger, more ambitious men, such as Amery and George Kennedy Young with the equivalent of the launch codes for a nuclear device. Is this why David Bruce opted to sit on the information Corbally gave him? Was he being blackmailed due to the penetration of this ring by an Anglo-American far-right cabal? To say that these questions are ominous in light of current events is a dramatic under­ statement. Epstein's network appears to have been a direct offshoot of this group. It all goes back to Profumo, and the new Special Relation­ ship forged between far-right forces in the UK and the US. This alliance eventually resulted in Trump's rise and Brexit during the second decade of the twenty-first century. As such, we should hardly be surprised by the incredible overlap between the families linked to Profumo and those found in Epstein's black book. The 412

Churchills, Astors, Goldsmiths, Soames, Gettys, Hambros, Mountbattens, Birleys, Macmillans, and Kennedys all appear in both scandals. And while the Maxwells were not directly linked to Profumo, Cap 'n Bob was a creation of the same network. Before wrapping up, I have a final family to make this a even dozen: Clan Fraser of Lovat. It should now be clear that Sir Hugh Fraser was a crucial part of Profumo. It's interesting to note that two of his children are married to individuals in Epstein's black book. Orlando Fraser is married to the enigmatic Clementine Hambro (related to the Hambro, Soames, and Churchill families). The other is his daughter, Flora Fraser. Flora is the wife to Peter Soros, brother of billionaire George Soros, and one of several names circled by Epstein's former house manager, Alfredo Rodriquez.836 Rodriquez died before he could explain the significance of the circled names, leaving one more mystery surrounding Clan Fraser of Lovat.

836(Bryant, Here Is Pedophile Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's Little Black Book 2015)

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Even more mysterious is what it means for the new Special Relationship between the UK and the US. But that is a mystery that will wait until Book II in this series.

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—. Jeffrey Epstein’s Sick Story Played Out for Years in Plain Sight. July 9, 2019. https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-ep­ steins-sick-story-played-out-for-years-in-plainsight?ref=scroll (accessed August 17, 2019). Webb, Gary, and Thomas Scheffey. "The Coal Connection." In "The Killing Game": Selected Writings By the Author of Dark Alliance, by Gary Webb, 1-117. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2011. Weiner, Tim. Enemies: A History of the FBI. Random House, 2012. Weiser, Benjamin, and William K. Rashbaum. "Anthony Weiner to Plead Guilty to Resolve ‘Sexting’ Inquiry." New York Times, May 19, 2017. West, Nigel. The A to Z of Sexpionage. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2009. —. The Guy Liddell Diaries Vol. I: 1939-1942. Routledge, 2005. Weston, Paul. Aleister Crowley and the Aeon of Horus. Avalonian Aeon Publications, 2014. Wick, Steve. Bad Company. New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1990. Willan, Philip. Puppetmasters: The Political Use of Terrorism in Italy. iUniverse, Inc., 1991, 2002. 443

Wiseman, Lauren. "Robert D. Peoloquin, lawyer." The Washington Post. April 6, 2011. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obitu­ aries/robert_d_peoloquin_lawyer/2011/03/28/ AFUVlGrC_story.html (accessed April 18, 2020). Wright, Peter. Spycatcher: The Candid Auto­ biography of a Senior Intelligence Officer. Viking Penguin Inc, 1987. Yeadon, Glen, and John Hawkins. The Nazi Hydra in America: Suppressed History of a Century. Joshua Tree, CA: Progressive Press, 2008.

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Glossary “BLUE SUITE” – Room 233 at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, New York. ACUE - American Committee for a United Europe AIOC - Anglo-Iranian Oil Company ALSOS - an Allied initiative launched by General Leslie Groves in 1943 to investigate Germany's nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities Amcomlib - American Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia APL - American Protective League ASC - American Security Council BACC - British American Canadian Corporation BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation BoE - Bank of England BP - British Petroleum BSC - British Security Co-ordination Bureau – US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 445

Bush II – former US President George W Bush CAT - Civil Air Transport, purchased by the CIA and renamed Air America. CFR – Council on Foreign Relations CHQ - Government Communications Head­ quarters CIA - US Central Intelligence Agency, or “The Company” CIC - Counterintelligence Corp COI - Office of the Coordinator of Informa­ tion CPD – US Committee on the Present Danger DA – District Attorney DCI – US Director of Central Intelligence (the head of the CIA) DIA - Defense Intelligence Agency EFM - European Federalist Movement EM - European Movement ERP - European Recovery Program EU – European Union FBI – US Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Bureau FDR – former US President Franklin D Roosevelt 446

GCHQ – the UK’s Government Communica­ tions Headquarters Gehlen Org - later the BND, West Germany's principal foreign intelligence service, and a haven for former Nazis. GHQ - British General Headquarters GRU – Russia’s main intelligence directorate GWOT - Global War on Terror HQ - British Army's Intelligence Corps Head Quarters HSBC - Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation IFIF - International Federation for Internal Freedom IMF – International Monetary Fund Intertel - International Intelligence, Inc. IOS - Investors' Overseas Services IRS – Internal Revenue Service ISGP - Study of Globalization and Covert Politics JFK – John F Kennedy JSOC - Joint Special Operations Command KGB KMT – Kuomintang, referred to in English as the Nationalist Party of China 447

La Cagoule - actually the Comite Secret d'Ac­ tion Revolutionnaire. Their primary activity was arms smuggling on behalf of French and Italian Fascists and Spanish Nationalists. LBJ - Lyndon B Johnson LSD - Lysergic acid diethylamide, also known colloquially as acid, is a hallucinogenic drug. Effects typically include altered thoughts, feel­ ings, and awareness of one's surroundings. LVF – French Fascist militia, Legion des Volontaires Francais Contre le Bolchevisme. Its purpose was to provide troops for the Nazis in the war on the Eastern Front against the Communists. MI5 - the UK's counterespionage service MI6 – UK Secret Intelligence Service tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence in support of the UK's national security MID - Military Information Division MoEW - Ministry of Economic Warfare MOI - British Ministry of Information MP – Member of Parliament NSA - National Security Agency NWO - New World Order or One World Government. A conspiracy theory purporting 448

that US elites are under the control of the United Nations (UN) and a host of other transnational institutions, such as the Interna­ tional Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Health Organization (WHO), etc. NYC – New York City ONI - Office of Naval Intelligence OPC – US Office of Policy Coordination which eventually rolled into the CIA in the 1950’s, establishing the Directorate of Operations. OSS – UK Office of Strategic Services PBPD - Palm Beach Police Department PLP PMC - private military company PPF - Parti Populaire Francais, a French Brownshirt-like paramilitary outfit used to carry out acts of terror and sabotage PRC - People's Republic of China Qbots –faithful followers of the Qanon collective RAF - Royal Air Force RFK - Robert F Kennedy RIIA - British Royal Institute of International Affairs ROC - Republic of China 449

SAS - Special Air Services SD –Sicherheitsdienst, a security department in charge of foreign and domestic intelligence and espionage on behalf of the Nazi party. SI - Chief of Secret Intelligence SIGINT - signals intelligence, the US's emerging surveillance technology ion the 1950’s SIS - Special Intelligence Service SOE - British Special Operations Executive SOF - special operations forces SOFINDUS - Sociedad Financiera Industrial SOL - Service d'Orde Legionnaire SPR - Society of Psychical Research SS – Schutzstaffel, was originally established as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit. It would later become both the elite guard of the Nazi Reich and Hitler’s executive force prepared to carry out all security-related duties, without regard for legal restraint. SSU - Strategic Services Unit TR - Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt Trust – Rhodes Trust UEM - United Europe Movement UN – United Nations 450

USSR - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics WASP - a term for upper-class, white, Ameri­ can Protestants, usually of British descent. WASP elites dominated American society, culture, and politics for most of the history of the United States, maintaining a monopoly through intermarriage, inheritance, and nepo­ tism. WCC - World Commerce Corporation WHO – World Health Organization WTO – World Trade Organization WWI – World War I or The First World War WWII – World War II YAR - Yemen Arab Republic

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Names “Mr. Billy” – name used by domestic staff for William "Billy" Mellon Hitchcock at his Milbrook Estate. “Mr. Republican” – Robert A Taft. “the Establishment” - finance, entertain­ ment, politics, and the national security appa­ ratus. Alex Jones - an American far-right radio show host, political extremist and conspiracy theorist. Alexander Fleming – eminent scientist and member of the British established, Scientific Advisory Board. Alfred Bossom – father to Clive Bossom. Amery - Julian Amery, the UK's premier Cold War-era coup master Anton Novotny – His daughter to Stella Marie Capes, often referred to at Mariella Novotny. Archibald Campbell Fraser – also referred to as the Master of Lovat. He is the last of the 14th Lord Lovat, Fraser’s son. He built Boleskine House upon the Loch Ness. 452

Archibald Roosevelt Jr - a cousin of fellow CIA man Kermit Roosevelt Jr, and TR’s grand­ son was the CIA station chief in London. Astor - Vincent Astor Bill Astor - Lord William "Bill' Astor - Lord Waldorf Astor’s son. Bill Stirling – brother to David Stirling, cofounder of SAS and first cousin to Shimi Fraser, the 15th Lord Lovat. Blackwater – private military company (PMC) owned by Erik Prince. Bob Weinstein – brother to Harvey Wein­ stein. Cap'n Bob – Robert Maxwell, father to future Epstein madam, Ghislaine Maxwell. Owner and CEO of Pergamon Press. Charlotte Soames – Christopher Soames daughter, married to Richard Hambro. Churchill - Winston Churchill, former UK Prime Minister CIC International – formerly known as Commerce International China. Clementine Hambro – daughter to Richard and Charlotte Hambro.

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Clive Bossom - a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Air Minister in Macmillan's cabinet. Cold War - a period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and the United States and their respective allies, the Eastern Bloc and the Western Bloc, after World War II. Crowley - Aleister Crowley, also known as the Great Beast, is an infamous magician and long suspected British intelligence asset. Daniel Macmillan – grandson to Maurice Macmillan. David Astor – leading Round Table figure and (what is his relation to the Astor family please?) David Mountbatten - David Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford Haven David Stirling, co-founder of SAS. Diana Churchill – daughter to Winston Churchill. Dino Cellini - infamous Mafioso. Brother to Eddie Cellini, casino manager for James Crosby on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Don McGahn - White House Counsel from January 2017 till October 2018. Nephew to

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Patrick "Paddy" McGahn, Resorts' long-time attorney, ex-Marine. Dulles - Allen Dulles, former US CIA Direc­ tor. Eastern Establishment - those educated at Ivy League universities, employed by the great Wall Street banking houses, Anglophiles, and those typically based out of New York or the Eddie Cellini – casino manager for James Crosby on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Brother to Dino Cellini, infamous Mafioso. Fiona Fraser – daughter to Fraser, the 14th Lord Lovat. Sister to Shimi Fraser, the 15th Lord Lovat. Fleming - Ian Fleming. Flora Fraser – daughter to Hugh Fraser. She is married to Peter Soros, brother of billionaire George Soros, and one of several names circled by Epstein's former house manager, Alfredo Rodriquez Franklin scandal –refers to a Nebraskabased sex scandal involving minors and with reputed ties to the Bush I White House. Fraser – also known as Simon "The Fox" Fraser. He is the 14th Lord Lovat and father to Shimi Fraser. 455

George Mountbatten - David Mountbatten’s oldest son. He’s the 4th Marquess of Milford Haven. Getty - J Paul Getty, American oilman once reputed to be the world’s wealthiest man. He had a grandson, Mark Getty. Great Beast - Aleister Crowley, is an infa­ mous magician and long suspected British intelligence asset. Great Debate – occurred at the onset of the Cold War and revolved around the American national security state and whether they should become permanent. Great War – a contemporary term for World War I (WWI), a global war that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Hambro - Sir Charles Hambro. Haven - Milford Haven, cousin to David Mountbatten. Hitchcock - William "Billy" Mellon Hitch­ cock, New York stockbroker. His sister is Peggy Hitchcock. Hitchcock was a pivotal figure in the spread of LSD across the US during the 1960s. Hoover - J Edgar Hoover, former FBI head. Hugh Fraser – Shimi Fraser’s brother. 456

Jack - John "Jack" Amery. Quarter Jewish fanatical Nazi. His father is Leopold Amery; brother Julian Amery. First cousin, David Stir­ ling. James Crosby - James Crosby, mysterious New Yorker and Hartford’s partner in gambling activities on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. He headed the Mary Carter Paint Company. Jocelyn Hambro – Olaf Hambro’s son and Hambro’s nephew. John Amery – also referred to as Jack Amery. John Foster Dulles – former US Secretary of State and brother to Allen Dulles, former CIA director. John Jacob Astor - arrived in the US in 1784 and became the nation's first multi-millionaire by his death in 1848. John Jacob Astor IV - John Jacob Astor I's great-grandson and Vincent Astor's father. John Podesta - Hillary Clinton's campaign manager and the center of controversy during the 2016 elections due to his linkage to Pizza­ gate. Jones, Alex - American far-right radio show host, political extremist and conspiracy theo­ rist. 457

Julian Amery – son to Leopold Amery (Amery). Son-in-law to former Prime Minister Macmillan. Kermit Roosevelt Jr – famed CIA agent and the son of gentleman's club fixture Kermit Roosevelt Sr and TR’s grandson (also known as Kim Roosevelt). Kim Roosevelt – named Kermit Roosevelt Jr. Lady Astor – widow to Lord William "Bill' Astor - Lord Waldorf Astor’s son. Lend-Lease – US program to provide war materials to the British prior to the United States entering World War II. Leopold Amery –Julian and John Amery's father; leading British statesman and figure in Round Table movement Lord Lothian – Phillip Kerr. Marc Dutroux – Belgian serial killer impli­ cated in providing minors to VIP sex rings. Mark Getty - J Paul Getty's grandson and the co-founder of the photographic agency, Getty Images. Maurice Macmillan - former member of the Oxford University Conservative Association. Former UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s

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son, and Julian Amery’s brother-in-law. Grand­ father to Daniel Macmillan. McGahn - Patrick "Paddy" McGahn, Resorts' long-time attorney, ex-Marine. Uncle to Don McGahn, White House Counsel from January 2017 till October 2018. McKinley - Buckeye William McKinley, former US president and TR predecessor who launched America’s second wave of imperial­ ism. McMahon Act – commonly referred to as the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. McMartin Preschool allegations – In the 1980’s, McMartin family day care owners were charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of children in their care. Michelle Remembers - the first book written on the subject of Satanic ritual abuse and is an important part of the controversies beginning during the 1980s. Mountbatten - Lord Louis Mountbatten, a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and uncle to her husband, Prince Phillip. Nicolas Soames - son to Christopher Soames. 459

Novotny - born as Stella Marie Capes and went by Mariella Capes, Maria Novotny, Harri­ etta Chapman, and many others. October Surprise - a news event deliber­ ately created or timed or sometimes occurring spontaneously to influence the outcome of an election, particularly one for the US presi­ dency. Olaf Hambro – Sir Charles Hambro’s brother; Jocelyn Hambro’s father. Orlando Fraser – son to Hugh Fraser. He is married to the enigmatic Clementine Hambro (related to the Hambro, Soames, and Churchill families). Pack - "Cynthia" (Elizabeth "Betty" Pack) – legendary British intelligence agent. Peggy Hitchcock – sister to William "Billy" Mellon Hitchcock. Pentagon - headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. Peter Crosby - Peter Francis Crosby, brother to James Crosby. He is described as one of the great stock swindlers of the twentieth century. Philip Kerr – Lord Lothian. Prison Planet – website run by Alex Jones.

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Psychological Warfare Consultations Committee – commonly referred to as the Dodds-Parker Committee. This group was tasked with planning psychological warfare operations, primarily against Soviet-backed peace fronts and conferences, including the domestic ones. Randolph Churchill - son to Winston Church and brother to Diana Churchill. Resorts - Resorts International. Ricardo Sicre – WCC figure and father to Richard Sicre Jr. Ricardo Sicre Jr – Ava Gardner’s grandson Robert Taft – Robert A Taft, former US Sena­ tor also known as “Mr Republican". He is Taft’s son. Rockefeller - Nelson Rockefeller. Rupert Allason – former Tory MP and cele­ brated spy historian who often writes under the name "Nigel West.” Rupert Soames – son to Christopher Soames and Nicolas Soame's brother. Scaife - Alan Scaife former member of the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

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Shimi - Simon "Shimi" Fraser, the 15th Lord Lovat, 14th Lord Lovat’s son. Former UK Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Simon "The Fox" Fraser – referred to as Fraser in Book I, the 14th Lord Lovat. Member of the Round Table movement and trustee of the Rhodes Trust. Soames - Christopher Soames, the son-inlaw to Winston Churchill and then a member of Macmillan's cabinet. Stephenson - Sir William "Bill" Stephenson, a wealthy Canadian industrialist and founded member of the UK’s MI6. Straggle – or Operation Straggle, was a United Kingdom initialive to destabilize Syria during the 1950s. Taft - William Howard Taft, TR’s second US Secretary of War and his chosen successor as president. The Society – The Pilgrims Society The Three Musketeers – or Musketeers, Julian Amery, David Smiley and Neil "Billy" McLean. This name was given to them when they collaborated together in Albania during 1943. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr - former Lt. Colonel in the US Army and co-founder of the American 462

Legion. He is also Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt’s (TR) son. Tommy Hitchcock – brother to Peggy and William "Billy" Mellon Hitchcock. Versailles Peace Treaty - was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Ward - Stephen Ward. Watergate - a political scandal in the United States involving the administration of US Presi­ dent Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. Weinstein - Harvey Weinstein. Wild Bill - William "Wild Bill" Donovan, founder and director of the US Office of Strate­ gic Services (OSS). William Waldorf Astor III - 4th Viscount Astor — appears in Epstein's black book. Wise Men - a foreign policy clique that domi­ nated Democratic and Republican administra­ tions alike through the 1960s.

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