The FBI investigated Clay Shaw in Nov & Dec 1963. Why?

[Gerry Down]

Check out 16 minutes in on this video (also check out the Kevin Bacon lookalike right after that clip at 16 minutes):

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Check out 16 minutes in on this video (also check out the Kevin Bacon lookalike right after that clip at 16 minutes):

I think Ramsey Clark was confused as to who the FBI interviewed after the assassination. To my knowledge, Shaw wasn't interviewed/questioned at that time. The FBI did receive a claim shortly after the assassination about a "Clay Bertrand" calling a New Orleans lawyer, Dean Andrews, on the even of the assassination asking if he, Andrews, would represent Oswald. And the FBI then searched for a Clay Bertrand in New Orleans and couldn't find one. But they did nothing at that time involving Shaw.

So my hunch is that Clark mixed up Bertrand with Shaw.

Max Holland mentions this error here:  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/06/the-assassination-tapes/302964/

He writes: "Although the FBI had examined an allegation involving Ferrie, it had never investigated Clay Shaw in connection with the assassination. Johnson was probably just repeating what Ramsey Clark had said earlier in the day. In response to questions from the media, Clark erroneously asserted that Shaw had been investigated by the FBI in 1963, and cleared. Clark's error would not be acknowledged for three months."

BTW, the Holland book on the tapes is really fascinating. It reveals that behind the scenes LBJ and his people, e.g., Clark, were confused and puzzled at what Garrison was doing and about matters related to the assassination. We think that the President and other top officials are always given accurate information and are on top of things; but they're not. But conspiracists will say - again - that this was all an act. LBJ was pretending not to know.

FYI, I edited out your link to the tape/video.

[Gerry Down]

I'm just wondering if when dean Andrews was talking about this gay guy clay Bertrand that was sending him clients, that the fbi considered was he talking about clay shaw who was very prominent in new Orleans and known to be gay. And so either the fbi, or people in the french quarter when asked if they know a gay guy called clay Bertrand some of them might have answered "the only gay person I know that's named clay is clay shaw" and so the fbi then went and talked to clay shaw. And that this is what is meant when it's said the fbi checked out clay shaw in Nov and Dec 1963 and found he had nothing to do with the assassination.

[Joe Elliott]

I'm just wondering if when dean Andrews was talking about this gay guy clay Bertrand that was sending him clients, that the fbi considered was he talking about clay shaw who was very prominent in new Orleans and known to be gay. And so either the fbi, or people in the french quarter when asked if they know a gay guy called clay Bertrand some of them might have answered "the only gay person I know that's named clay is clay shaw" and so the fbi then went and talked to clay shaw. And that this is what is meant when it's said the fbi checked out clay shaw in Nov and Dec 1963 and found he had nothing to do with the assassination.

Yes, but this is pure conjecture on your part and can be, honestly, described as ‘Fake News’. We have no statement by Clay Shaw about being interviewed. We have no statement from an FBI agent about interviewing Clay Shaw.

It would be strange to me if the FBI received a claim from Seattle that some millionaire named Bill Bertrand was arranging a lawyer for some accused assassin and decided to go question Bill Gates.

And wouldn’t it make more sense for the FBI to put out questions about Clay Bertrand and not mention this Clay Bertrand is gay? If the person says yes, the FBI can then ask what do they know about Clay Bertrand. If they answer that they know he is gay, that would be a clue that they may have a genuine lead and not someone who is just yanking their chain. You don’t want to provide the interviewee with unnecessary information because that will make it harder to tell how reliable they are. FBI interviewing 101.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

I'm just wondering if when dean Andrews was talking about this gay guy clay Bertrand that was sending him clients, that the fbi considered was he talking about clay shaw who was very prominent in new Orleans and known to be gay. And so either the fbi, or people in the french quarter when asked if they know a gay guy called clay Bertrand some of them might have answered "the only gay person I know that's named clay is clay shaw" and so the fbi then went and talked to clay shaw. And that this is what is meant when it's said the fbi checked out clay shaw in Nov and Dec 1963 and found he had nothing to do with the assassination.

Andrews' various physical descriptions of Bertrand were completely different than what Shaw looked like. He told the FBI that Bertrand was 6'1' and had brown hair. Shaw was 6'4' and had white/gray hair. He told the WC that Bertrand was 5'8'.

He also claimed that Bertrand would call his office and help gay Mexican kids get out of trouble, e.g., pay for their bond, et cetera. That doesn't sound at all what Shaw would do.

In any case, I don't think there's any evidence at all that the FBI interviewed/checked on Shaw at that time. And as Holland mentions, Clark's comment was later withdrawn/corrected.

[Gerry Down]

Andrews' various physical descriptions of Bertrand were completely different than what Shaw looked like. He told the FBI that Bertrand was 6'1' and had brown hair. Shaw was 6'4' and had white/gray hair. He told the WC that Bertrand was 5'8'.

He also claimed that Bertrand would call his office and help gay Mexican kids get out of trouble, e.g., pay for their bond, et cetera. That doesn't sound at all what Shaw would do.

In any case, I don't think there's any evidence at all that the FBI interviewed/checked on Shaw at that time. And as Holland mentions, Clark's comment was later withdrawn/corrected.

I know. But the whole thing has the ring of the Mexico city tapes to it. First they said they had the tapes and listened to them in Dallas. Then they said the tapes never exited in the first place.