Bobby moved closer. “Your daughter Claire informed on you. She told me that you’ve been a CIA contract agent for over three years. She said the Agency specifically instructed you to disseminate anti-Castro propaganda to my brother. She said that Lenny Sands told her you were instrumental in suborning organized crime figures into participating in covert CIA activities. I’ve taken all this into consideration and concluded that some initial suspicions of mine were correct. I think Mr. Hoover sent you over to spy on my family, and I’m going to confront him on it the day my brother forces him to resign.”
Kemper made fists. Dislocated bones splintered. Bobby got up inside spitting distance.
“I’m going to sever every Mafia-CIA tie. I’m going to prohibit organized crime participation in the Cuban project I’m going to expel you from the Justice Department and the CIA, I’m going to have you disbarred as a lawyer, and I’m going to prosecute you and your Franco-Cuban friends on weapons possession and narcotics possession charges.”
Kemper wet his lips and spoke with a mouthful of spittle.
“If you fuck with my men or try to prosecute me, I’ll go public. I’ll spill everything I know about your filthy family. I’ll smear the Kennedy name with enough verifiable filth to put a taint on it forever.”
Bobby slapped him.
Kemper spat in his face.
DOCUMENT INSERT: 6/14/62. Verbatim FBI telephone call transcript: “TAPED AT THE DIRECTOR’S REQUEST”/”DIRECTOR’S EYES ONLY.” Speaking: Director J. Edgar Hoover, Ward J. Littell.
WJL: Good morning, Sir.
JEH: Good morning. And you needn’t ask me if I’ve heard, because I daresay I know more of the story than you do.
WJL: Yes, Sir.
JEH: I hope Kemper has money saved. Disbarment can prove cost]y, and I doubt that a man of his tastes could live comfortably on an FBI pension.
WJL: I’m certain that Little Brother won’t file criminal charges on him.
JEH: Of course he won’t.
WJL: Kemper took the fall.
JEH: I will not comment on the attendant irony.
WJL: Yes, Sir.
JEH: Have you spoken to him?
WJL: No, Sir.
JEH: I’d be curious to know what he’s doing. The notion of Kemper C. Boyd without police agency sanction is quite startling.
WJL: I think Mr. Marcello will find him work.
JEH: Oh? As a Mafia back scratcher?
WJL: As a Cuban provocateur, Sir. Mr. Marcello has remained committed to the Cause.
JEH: Then he’s a fool. Fidel Castro is here to stay. My sources tell me that the Dark King will most likely seek to normalize relations with him.
WJL: The Dark King is an appeaser, Sir.
JEH: Don’t try to butter me, up. You may have undergone an apostasy regarding the brothers, but your political beliefs are still suspect.
WJL: Be that as it may, Sir, I’m still not giving up. I’m going to think of something else. I haven’t given up on the King.
JEH: Bully for you. But please be advised that I do not wish to be informed of your plans.
WJL: Yes, Sir.
JEH: Has Miss Jahelka resumed her normal life?
WJL: She’s going to, Sir. At the moment she’s on a Mexican vacation with a French-Canadian friend of ours.
JEH: I hope they don’t procreate. They would produce morally deficient offspring.
WJL: Yes, Sir.
JEH: Good day, Mr. Littell.
WJL: Good day, Sir.
DOCUMENT INSERTS: Consecutively dated FBI wiretap outtakes. Marked: “TOP SECRET! CONFIDENTIAL/DIRECTOR’S EYES ONLY” and “NO DISCLOSURE TO OUTSIDE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL.”
Chicago, 6/10/62. BL4-8869 (Celano’s Tailor Shop) to AX8-9600 (home of John Rosselli) (THP File #902.6, Chicago Office). Speaking: John Rosse]ii, Sam “Mo,” “Momo,” “Mooney” Giancana (File #480.2). Conversation nine minutes in progress.
SG: So fucking Bobby found out on his own.
JR: Which frankly, did not surprise me.
SG: We were helping him out, Johnny. Sure, it was mostly cosmetic. But the basic fucking truth of the whole thing was that we were helping him and his brother out.
JR: We were good to them, Mo. We were nice. And they kept fucking us and fucking us and fucking us.
SG: Some sort of fucking shakedown pre-pre-pre–what’s that word that means set up?
JR: Precipitated, Mo. That’s the word you want.