John Moss Whitten (1920–2000) was an American Central Intelligence Agency officer, known under the pseudonym John Scelso. He was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal in 1970.

Life

Whitten was born in 1920 to a US Navy family, and grew up in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Jefferson Morley Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Jefferson (president), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de ...

, '' Washington Monthly''
The Good Spy
, December 2003 He graduated from the University of Maryland, served in the US Army's

Military Intelligence Corps The Military Intelligence Corps is the intelligence branch of the United States Army. The primary mission of military intelligence in the United States Army is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence and electronic ...

during World War II, and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1947. Whitten joined the Central Intelligence Agency shortly after its 1947 foundation. He served initially in Washington, D.C., and Vienna, before being assigned to the CIA's Western Hemisphere division in March 1962. In March 1963 he was promoted to chief of CIA covert operations in Mexico and Central America. In November 1963, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Whitten was assigned by Richard Helms to review the CIA's records on Lee Harvey Oswald. Whitten's preliminary finding (that Oswald acted alone) was being delivered by Helms to President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

as Oswald was being shot by

Jack Ruby Jack Leon Ruby (born Jacob Leon Rubenstein; April 25, 1911January 3, 1967) was an American nightclub owner and alleged associate of the Chicago Outfit who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was accused of th ...

. With a staff of 30, Whitten continued the investigation. On December 6, Whitten read an FBI report on Oswald showing that the FBI had information about Oswald's links with pro-Castro Cuban groups, which neither the FBI nor Helms had communicated to his investigation. He complained to Helms and James Angleton that this information rendered his initial conclusion "completely irrelevant". Helms took the investigation away from Whitten, and handed it to Angleton. Whitten was moved in 1965 to "an unimportant job reviewing operations", and retired after receiving the Distinguished Intelligence Medal in 1970. He later became the first American to sing in the Vienna Men's Choral Society. Whitten testified to the

Church Committee The Church Committee (formally the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) was a US Senate select committee in 1975 that investigated abuses by the Central Intelligence ...

in 1976, and to the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978, both times under his "John Scelso" pseudonym. Whitten told the HSCA that Helms' failure to tell the Warren Commission about the

Rolando Cubela Rolando Cubela Secades (19 January 1933 – 23 August 2022) was a Cuban revolutionary leader who played a vital part in the Cuban Revolution, having been a founding member of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil and later the military lea ...

plot to assassinate Castro "was a morally highly reprehensible act, which he cannot possibly justify under his oath of office or any other standard of professional service." "John Scelso"'s testimony was declassified by the Assassination Records Review Board in 1996; the Board had intended to declassify that the pseudonym belonged to Whitten, but was eventually persuaded to wait by the CIA.Newsday, ''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'', October 6, 1996
CIA official met often with Warren panel, witness says Angleton ignored orders in probe of JFK shooting
/ref>

References

External links

Testimony of John Scelso, May 16, 1978
for the

HSCA The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was established in 1976 to investigate the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963 and 1968, respectively. The HSCA completed its ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitten, John Moss 1920 births 2000 deaths American spies United States Army personnel of World War II People of the Central Intelligence Agency Recipients of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of Virginia alumni American expatriates in Mexico