Morrow, Robert D. First Hand Knowledge: How I Participated in the CIA-Mafia Murder of President Kennedy. New York: S.P.I. Books (Shapolsky Publishers), 1992. 384 pages. Introduction by John H. Davis.

In 1976 Robert Morrow wrote "Betrayal," a semi-fictionalized account of the JFK assassination based on his own experiences as a CIA contract agent in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Morrow then met with Thomas Downing (D-VA) and substantiated some of the nonfiction portions of the book. Downing held a press conference on August 2, 1976 that led the House Rules Committee to send the bill authorizing the Select Committee on Assassinations to the full House for a vote.

This book is nonfiction, but it is not a breakthrough for those looking for answers. Morrow's weighty contacts included Cubans such as Mario Garcia Kohly and CIA officials such as Tracy Barnes, both of whom were involved with the Bay of Pigs. While there is no question that Morrow is who he claims to be, these and other contacts were apparently only peripheral to the JFK assassination, which is why this new book relies heavily on the work of other researchers. The most interesting portions of "First Hand Knowledge" are Morrow's reconstructed conversations with his contacts. If it were possible to corroborate these conversations, they might offer some new directions for serious researchers. But until then, a better title for this book might be "Second Hand Knowledge."
ISBN 1-56171-179-9

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