Mr. Weissman.

he wanted to avoid this. But if it was a question of printing an ad or not printing it, he would have signed it.

Representative Ford.

But as far as any organization of any kind being responsible for this ad, it was not true. There was no organization that backed this ad? There were four or five of you that really promoted it and finally raised the money for it and put it in the newspaper?

Mr. Weissman.

That is not quite accurate. You might say when you get right down to it, in the final tale, the John Birch Society printed that ad, not CUSA.

Mr. Jenner.

Tell us why, now. Please expand on that.

Mr. Weissman.

Well, in order to get anywhere in Dallas, at least in the area of conservative politics that we were in, you had to, you might say, cotton to the John Birch Society, because they were a pretty strong group, and still are, down there. And----

Mr. Jenner.

Who is the head of that now?

Mr. Weissman.

The Birch Society?

Mr. Jenner.

Yes.

Mr. Weissman.

I never met the fellow. They had a paid coordinator. I don't recall his name offhand. But, anyway----

Mr. Jenner.

Were you in his offices?

Mr. Weissman.

No; Joe Grinnan, as a matter of fact, is the only man in the 'hierarchy of the Birch Society in Dallas that I met.
Larrie was a member of the JBS, and Bill and I didn't like it, but we saw that he was out for himself as much as anything, and this Was a way to help himself along anyway, both politically and financially. And he convinced us of the method to his madness. But as I said we wanted to move Larrie out when we found he was more JBS than he was CUSA, and he was willing to go along with them completely, and forget about the CUSA goals.

Representative Ford.

Your allegiance was to CUSA?

Mr. Weissman.

Right. In other words, I would have used the John Birch Society as a vehicle, as planned. But I would never have gone up on a soapbox to support them.

Mr. Dulles.

Who were the members of the American Fact-Finding Committee, if any?

Mr. Weissman.

Well, the members would be myself, Bill Burley, Larrie Schmidt, Joe Grinnan--just the people immediately involved.

Mr. Jenner.

That was a name and solely a name?

Mr. Weissman.

Solely a name.

Mr. Jenner.

There was no such organization?

Mr. Weissman.

None whatsoever.

Mr. Jenner.

And you used it for convenience on this advertisement?

Mr. Weissman.

That is right. As a matter of fact, when I went to place the ad, I could not remember, but the name. I had it written down on a piece of paper. I had to refer to a piece of paper for the name.

Mr. Jenner.

Had you ever used that name before?

Mr. Weissman.

Never.

Mr. Jenner.

Did your group ever use it thereafter?

Mr. Weissman.

Not as far as I know.

Mr. Jenner.

Have you now named all of the people who played any part in, to the best of your recollection--in the idea for the publication of, the actual drafting of the ad, and its ultimate running in that edition of the Dallas Morning News?

Mr. Weissman.

There is only one other individual that I could name. He was there at the reading of the final proof, before the ad was printed. That was Joe Grinnan's brother, Robert P. Grinnan.

Mr. Jenner.

Is he an older or younger brother?

Mr. Weissman.

I believe he is an older brother.

Mr. Jenner.

What business is he engaged in?

Mr. Weissman.

Oil and real estate.

Mr. Dulles.

Who took out the post office box 1792, Dallas 21, Tex., that appears under your name here on this advertisement?