Final_Judgment

314 They Dare Not Speak Out [253]
Clearly, Garrison was on the right track. When he launched his
investigation of Shaw, Garrison thought he was doing his patriotic duty. He
was trying to prosecute a man he believed was connected to the JFK
assassination conspiracy. Garrison was trying to bring our president's killers to
justice. However, the New Orleans district attorney was greeted with a
hurricane onslaught by the media—and, in particular, a media outlet with close
ties to elements in the pro-Israel lobby.
THE 'STERN GANG'
The evidence indicates, in fact, that the fine hand of pro-Israel
propagandists were at work, orchestrating the attack on Garrison. Leading the
assault on the district attorney was NBC's New Orleans television (and radio)
affiliate, WDSU.
The owner of WDSU was Edgar Stern, of the powerful New Orleans Stern
family, major contributors to not only the American Jewish Committee and
the American Jewish Appeal, but also the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of
B'nai B'rith. 693 Additionally, a close friend of Clay Shaw was Edgar Stern's
wife, Edith Stern, whose support for Shaw in the face of his prosecution was
prominently noted in James Kirkwood's account of the Shaw trial, American
Grotesque. 694
As we shall see in this chapter, the ADL not only functions as a foreign
intelligence operation for Israel, but it also works closely with American
intelligence. More importantly—the ADL uses its influence to play a major
role in shaping American media news coverage. This was critical to covering
up the truth about the JFK assassination.
WDSU's malicious attack on Garrison, however, was a much bigger project
than it might have appeared. In fact, NBC national news in New York was
the prime mover behind the propaganda campaign against the district attorney.
NBC's coordinator for the project was a former Justice Department
official, Walter Sheridan, who had also previously worked for the National
Security Agency. According to Sheridan, Edgar Stern was "a courageous,
liberal man who shared our views concerning Garrison and his probe.
WDSU was the only voice in the Louisiana wilderness speaking out against what
Garrison was doing" 695
However, how courageous and liberal the Stern family may have been is
subject to question, in light not only of their attack on Garrison, but also in
light of their widely known support of the ADL and its activities, particularly in
New Orleans.
In 1968, during the midst of the Garrison-Shaw controversy, it was the
ADL's New Orleans office that provided $36,500 of its own funds toward an
FBI operation designed to entrap Ku Klux Klansman Tommy Tarrants and a
young woman named Kathy Ainsworth. In a shoot-out which erupted, Miss
Ainsworth was slain. 696
Interestingly enough, the ADL official in New Orleans who was the prime
player in this bizarre conspiracy was A. L. (Bee) Botnick. It was in