Robert Morrow 10-27-2021 email to longtime LBJ-insider and family friend Neal Spelce - regarding pp. 261-263 of his book "With the Bark Off: A Journalist's Memories of LBJ and Life in the News Media"

 Topic: The Non-existent Clint Murchison party of 11-21-63 (pp. 261-263 your book)

Neal,

 

As the World's Foremost Authority on the JFK Assassination (LBJ did in fact do it) I can confirm that there was no party at Clint Murchison, Sr.'s old home in Dallas, TX.

 

Madeleine Brown - who has you probably know, really was a mistress of LBJ - just made it up. She probably read about it in one of Penn Jones' four Forgive My Grief books and inserted herself into a rumored party because she had been to so many other ones that she assumed she would have been there.

 

If you would like to see a debunking of Madeleine Brown, see Dave Perry's piece: http://dperry1943.com/browns.html 

 

The reason some JFK researchers believe there were so many people at that non-existent party is because just before she died, Madeleine Brown gave a taped interview (it was up on YouTube) in which she lists everybody she had ever met in the world of Lyndon Johnson and put them all (Cactus Pryor, Neal Spelce, Helen Thomas) at that non-existent party. I was told by one of her friends that Madeleine had taken a "relax me" pill before that interview with the man in the next sentence.

 

The JFK researcher you mentioned at "Carl" was Robert Gaylon Ross, Sr., the author of The Elite Serial Killers of Lincoln, JFK, RFK, and MLK. I have spoken to him before, maybe 10 years ago, and I assume he has passed away. You should have used his name in your book. Robert Gaylon Ross told me that Cactus Pryor had confirmed to him that of course Madeleine Brown was a mistress of LBJ. Cactus told him that one time he crawled under the tables at KTBC and grabbed Madeleine's ankles as a prank. WHICH IS EXACTLY SOMETHING CACTUS PRYOR WOULD DO, so I will take this as a positive identification.

 

Jesse Kellam, pimping for LBJ, was the one who introduced Madeleine Brown to LBJ in 1948. In return, Jesse Kellam, the KTBC station, was also the one having an affair with Lady Bird Johnson. After bearing the brutal brunt of LBJ for so many decades, Lady Bird had to have her romantic interest with Kellam to keep psychologically sane. I guess you can't put that into your book without hurting Luci and Lynda Bird.

 

It is really regrettable that Madeline had to lie about the non-existent Murchison party (to puff her up and make herself more important) because she really was one of LBJ's many mistresses. Many, many JFK researchers spoke with Madeleine from the time she went public in 1982 until her death in 2002. She, like you, had many "inside baseball" stories about Lyndon Johnson. 

 

Every JFK researcher I met who knew Madeleine said she was a very sweet woman and still in love with LBJ decades later.

 

I never met Madeleine Brown because I started JFK research in spring, 2008. But I have spoken at length to many people who knew her well, including family members and except for the non-existent Murchison party, she was spot on about LBJ. For years, Madeleine would only see LBJ in arranged trysts for 30-60 minutes at a time as LBJ satisfied his animalistic needs. In the 1950s, before LBJ had latched onto Mary Margaret Wiley as his top mistress, LBJ would take Madeleine on vacation to the Murchison-owned Del Charro Hotel in California (where Hoover, mafia and Texas Oil barons used to vacation).

 

Madeleine Brown is the most important witness to truth in the JFK assassination - not because of her lies about the non-existent Murchison party, but because 2 reasons: 1) LBJ called her in the morning of 11-22-63 from the Texas Hotel and told her "After today, those goddamn Irish mafia bastards will never embarrass me again! That is a promise and not a threat!" This quote by LBJ occurred over the phone from the Texas Hotel and not in person at the non-existent Murchison party.

 

I have read a lot about Lyndon Johnson and fear of embarrassment, humiliation and exposure of this criminal nature was a major theme of his life. Just read Caro; he talks about it often.

 

The reason Madeleine Brown is so important is that she was with LBJ on 12-31-63 at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX where LBJ told her the "fat cats of Dallas" or the "Rich oil men" and in his words "fucking renegade intelligence bastards" murdered JFK. Unlike the non-existent Murchison party, Lyndon Johnson is CONFIRMED at being at the Driskill Hotel on 12-31-63 by both contemporary journalist reporting and his presidential diary. Additionally, LBJ used to keep room #434 on permanent retainer as a place for his trysts and private political meetings. Therefore, I must accept Madeleine's account as being true and it is the most succinct and accurate explanation of the JFK assassination that I have ever come across. LBJ only let out the fact that he was up to his eyeballs in the JFK assassination.

 

Room #434 at the Driskill is one the 4th floor, middle of the south side of the Driskill, and it overlooks 6th street below. It has plenty of inside space and a prominent outside balcony. It is now called the Governor's Suite.That is where the world found out the truth about the JFK assassination and weirdly, it came out of the mouth of LBJ, a man not known for telling the truth.

 

But he trusted Madeleine. And she loved him even 25 years after his death. She even titled her book: Texas in the Morning: The Love Story of Madeleine Brown and President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

 

Like you, Neal Spelce, Madeleine was oh-so-proud of her association with Lyndon Johnson. Psychopaths like Lyndon Johnson and Donald Trump have a way of getting people to degrade themselves. The reason Bill Moyers was brought on by LBJ was so that he could be a beard for LBJ, to cover up his affair with Mary Margaret Wiley. And it is the same reason later Jack Valenti married Mary Margaret in June, 1962. During this same time period, as LBJ was worried his affairs would be used against him, he made Madeleine Duncan marry a man named Mr. Brown, to get her safely in a marriage as Madeline Duncan Brown, to cover his adulterous tracks.

 

See postscript to this email for more documentation. I hope I have been of some help.

 

Sincerely,

 

Robert Morrow

 

DOCUMENTATION:

 

Madeleine Duncan Brown was a mistress of Lyndon Johnson for 21 years and had a son with him named Steven Mark Brown in 1950. Madeleine mixed with the Texas elite and had many trysts with Lyndon Johnson over the years , including one at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX, on New Year's Eve 12/31/63.

    Late in the evening of 12/31/63, just 6 weeks after the JFK assassination, Madeleine asked Lyndon Johnson:

    "Lyndon, you know that a lot of people believe you had something to do with President Kennedy's assassination."    

    He shot up out of bed and began pacing and waving his arms screaming like a madman. I was scared!

    "That's bullshit, Madeleine Brown!" he yelled. "Don't tell me you believe that crap!"

    "Of course not." I answered meekly, trying to cool his temper.

    "It was Texas oil and those fucking renegade intelligence bastards in Washington." [said Lyndon Johnson, the new president.]  [Texas in the Morning, p. 189] [LBJ told this to Madeleine in the late night of 12/31/63 in the Driskill Hotel, Austin, TX in room #434 which is now known as the Governor’s Suite and rents for $500-600/night in 2018. LBJ kept this room on retainer for business and as a place to tryst with his mistresses. LBJ and Madeleine spent New Year’s Eve ‘63 together here. 

(Another separate Room is #254 -today it is known as the "Blue Room" or “LBJ Suite” or  the "Presidential room" and rents for $700-1,000/night as a Presidential suite at the Driskill; located on the Mezzanine Level.) 

Madeleine Brown died on June 22, 2002.

 

LBJ kept room #434 permanently reserved at the Driskill Hotel. It is now known as the “Governor’s Room” and it is located on the 4^th floor of the Driskill, middle room, facing 6^th street to the South https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/discovering-lbjs-austin/ 

“Discovering LBJ’s Austin” by Madelyn Herzog for Texas Monthly, May 6, 2013

 

QUOTE 

The Johnsons—whose marriage was enduring, if not as idyllic as their courtship—stayed in the Driskill Hotel many times. Room 434, a fourth-floor suite with a balcony overlooking Sixth Street, was permanently reserved for the president. In November 1948, 1960, and 1964, the Johnsons gathered with friends and supporters in the hotel’s Jim Hogg Parlor to watch the election returns come in.

 UNQUOTE

 

Madeleine Duncan Brown is confirmed in saying Lyndon Johnson was at the Driskill Hotel, Austin, TX New Year’s Eve 12/31/63

 

Sam Johnson's Boy by Alfred Steinberg, has LBJ at Driskell Hotel 12/31/63,  p.652:

 

"On New Year's Eve [12-31-63], with his first Presidential vacation almost over, Johnson paid a surprise visit to the drinking party Washington reporters away from home were holding at the Driskell Hotel in Austin. He had done handsomely for certain reporters during the vacation, and they were excited to see him now."

 

Here is another account of LBJ at the Driskell Hotel on 12/31/63: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-lucey/how-former-us-presidents_b_405850.html 

Bill Lucy writing in the Huffington Post, 12-9-09

 

"Lyndon Johnson usually liked to sneak away to his ranch in Texas for the Christmas holidays, including New Year's Eve and prepare his State of the Union address.

On New Year's Eve 1964, LBJ left Lady Bird at the ranch to watch a movie, while he engaged in some party hopping; first by attending a private reception at the University of Texas in Austin; later he headed to a private club, the "40 Acres" not far from the college campus. After about an hour there-he dashed off to the home of Frank Irwin, former Chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Texas and a close friend of the president, before heading to the Driskill Hotel for a New Year's Eve bash attended by the White House press corps."

And what do you think Lyndon Johnson do AFTER he partied with the White House press corps, probably in the bar of the Driskell Hotel ... he headed upstairs to the Mezzanine level to his reserved room #434 and into the arms of (one of) his beloved mistress Madeleine Duncan Brown, father of his son Steven. And it was THAT NIGHT that LBJ told Madeleine that "It was Texas oil and those fucking renegade intelligence bastards in Washington" that murdered John Kennedy. [LBJ at late night 12/31/63 or early morning 1/1/64]

Madeleine Duncan Brown may not be right on every detail in her book and story, but I think she is 100% correct on the big items such as LBJ saying:

"It was evident that the tone of fury in his voice from last night had not dissipated. I had barely eked out the words, “About last night…” when his rage virtually went ballistic. His snarling voice jolted me as never before—“That son-of-a-bitch crazy Yarborough and that goddamn fucking Irish mafia bastard, Kennedy, will never embarrass me again!” [quoted on the morning of 11/22/63]

President Lyndon Johnson’s schedule 12/31/63:

LBJ kept a daily diary which can be viewed on the LBJ library website. Looking up 12/31/63 the following is noted:

8:10 Depart LBJ Ranch via... chopper with Don Thomas, Sandy Shapiro, General
Clifton
Gerry Whittington, VM, MF To Austin
Forty Acres Club
Frank Erwin's residence
White House Press  [This was the party being held at the Driskill on 12/31/63]
Headliners Club
12:10 To LBJ via Chopper w/ A.W. Moursund, Gerry W., General Clifton, VM, MF

 

JFK Researcher Ed Tatro reunited Madeleine Brown with Allan Witwer, the manager of the Del Charro

Tatro says that when they met in Massachusetts, after decades of not seeing each other, Madeleine and Mr. Witwer smiled, rushed to each other and greeted each other like old friends. This is confirmation that Lyndon Johnson used to take Madeleine Brown to vacation with him at Clint Murchison's Del Charro Hotel in La Jolla, CA in the 1950's.

1987 Phil Donahue Video Interview with Madeleine Brown and LBJ’s son Steven Brown

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1482862/?q=madeleine%20brown

Video footage from the KXAS-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas

Jim Marrs on Madeleine Brown, email to Robert Morrow 4-17-15

Howdy Robert,

My number is correct but my email has changed. It is _________.

As for Madeleine Brown, I am convinced she was who she claimed to be. When I first learned of Madeleine, I checked with some of my old friends who were reporters at the newspaper who had covered LBJ back in the 1950s and 60s. They confirmed that it was a well-known secret that Madeleine and Johnson were carrying on. But, just like JFK and Marilyn/Judith Exner, no one wrote about it at the time. I met her son Steven prior to his mysterious disappearance and I had no problem in believing he was the son of LBJ, as he was gangly with big ears and hands. One sure proof of this was the fact that Steven suffered from a rare blood disease, the same one that afflicted LBJ's grandmother and is passed through heredity. I also saw the letters from LBJ's lawyers to Madeleine following Johnson's death in which they assure her that the financial support would continue after his death. Apparently, Lady Bird learned of this and put a stop to it because suddenly the financial support ended and this is when Madeleine went public with her claims. I also distinctly recall when Madeleine called me frantic about the disappearance of Steven from Parkland Hospital. This went on for a few months before he was located in Bethesda Naval Hospital in D.C. (??) He was transferred back to Parkland but died within just a few weeks. I have to say that toward the end of her life, Madeleine may have had a tendency to elaborate and even misrepresent some of the details of her story. But on the whole, I feel she was telling the truth.

Best regards,

Jim

 

Longtime JFK researcher Jack White (10-19-2005)  on Madeleine Brown: 

https://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/19763-madeleine-brown/

 QUOTE

 

Of all the cast of the JFK affair that I have met and talked with at length, Madeleine Brown and Jean Hill are the most credible. Neither had any reason to fabricate stories. Their stories fit facts and "ring true".

On the other hand Chauncey Holt phoned me once and wrote me three letters. I found him to be a charming con man. Holt admitedly worked for intel agencies and was "too eager" to sell me his story. Photo comparisons show Holt was not one of the tramps.

Jack

 UNQUOTE

  

Madeleine Duncan Brown was interviewed in the National Examiner of Feb. 6, 1990 about Lyndon Johnson’s incriminating comments regarding the JFK assassination

 

https://maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=48753&relPageId=9&search=Madeleine_Brown

 Madeleine Brown is quoted as saying “Those goddamn Kennedys won’t embarrass me again after today. That’s not a threat, that’s a promise!” Madeleine Brown is also quoted as saying after she mentioned to him that Americans were suspecting him on a role in the sordid affair of the murder of JFK and upon hearing this Lyndon Johnson slammed his fist into his hand and said “It was ordered by American oilmen and the CIA.” Then LBJ told her “You’ve SEEN nothing, HEARD nothing, and you DON’T REPEAT anything!”

 This was reported by G.J. Rowell in “The JFK Assassination File: Did You Know,” (The Third Decade, Volume 6, Issue 3, p. 7)

 

Some Very Nice comments on the Passing of Madeleine Brown in the Dealey Plaza Echo, Volume 6, #2, July 2002 by Ian Griggs

 

https://maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=16248&relPageId=15&search=Madeleine

 

Ian Griggs has a picture of Madeleine Brown from June, 1994 at the exclusive Top o’ The Cliff Club on West Jefferson Blvd. LBJ purchased a life membership for her there in the late 1960’s. 

Greg Jaynes tribute to Madeleine Brown, “Madeleine Brown was a sweet lady. I’m sad she passed away. More important than her book and her LBJ stories was Madeleine as a person. She was a classic old days Oak Cliff girl. She was always gracious. She had a beautiful personality.” 

Madeleine Brown died in the morning of June 22, 2002 at St. Paul’s Hospital in Dallas. She was 76 years old. 

 

Kennedy Assassination Chronicles, Volume 8, Issue 2 (2002)  has very nice tributes to Madeleine Brown from both Mark Taylor, a teacher at Olathe High School, and Jim Fetzer

 Madeleine Brown (July 5, 1925 – June 22, 2002)

https://maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=4275&search=Madeleine#relPageId=6&tab=page