The 2025 files reveal something quietly stunning - a Cold War-era military intelligence program codenamed “PHOENIX CABLE,” which placed unauthorized wiretaps inside Walter Reed Medical Center in late 1963.
The justification?
National security.
The target?
Senior military surgeons who had access to JFK’s original autopsy photos.
🎙️ The Memo That Shouldn’t Exist
Among the new releases is a Department of the Army intelligence document dated December 5, 1963, marked TOP SECRET – LIMITED EYES.
The subject line?
PHOENIX CABLE OPERATIONS – COMMS SWEEP / WRAMC
WRAMC = Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
The memo states that a surveillance team from Army Counterintelligence “conducted an internal comms sweep of designated personnel” - and that temporary listening devices were placed inside offices associated with the pathology department.
There’s no court order.
No congressional briefing.
No post-op report.
Just a handwritten margin note:
“Files not to be flagged externally. Temp clearance OK’d via DCI.”
DCI = Director of Central Intelligence.
🩻 Who Were They Listening To?
The same memo lists three names - one of which is Dr. Pierre Finck, a military pathologist who assisted in JFK’s autopsy at Bethesda.
Another is Dr. Richard Humes, later known for being unusually vague about the condition of JFK’s brain during HSCA questioning.
The third name is redacted, but appears again on a separate routing slip: Col. Julian E. McNeil - a logistics officer responsible for photographic documentation at Bethesda and Walter Reed.
🔇 Why Tap A Hospital?
📌 Because these doctors weren’t just witnesses.
📌 They were in possession of photographs and notes that contradicted the final autopsy summary submitted to the Warren Commission.
The declassified file includes an internal report from Army Counterintelligence noting that:
“Dr. H. was overheard discussing discrepancy in wound diameter and bullet trajectory with external physician (non-cleared).”
And another entry:
“Potential release of photographs showing occipital defect inconsistent with Commission findings.”
🗃️ Where The Tapes Went
The audio logs were supposed to be destroyed. But a 2025 archival slip labeled “NON-TRANSCRIBED AUDIO – PHX CABLE” lists six reel-to-reel tapes.
They were reviewed by Naval Intelligence Liaison, Internal Affairs.
One line on the slip stands out:
“Transcript draft suppressed. Not suitable for HSCA. Hold in reserve.”
Meaning: these conversations were recorded.
Transcribed.
Reviewed.
Then never spoken of again.
🧠 The Photos They Didn’t Want Matched
The context here matters. These wiretaps happened:
- 2 weeks after the autopsy
- 1 week before the body was moved again
- During the peak of confusion over JFK’s cranial injuries
The doctors were reportedly trying to reconcile the damage with the official narrative.
And someone didn’t want those conversations shared.
🧩 They Tapped The Wrong Place Because They Knew The Truth Was There
This wasn’t political spying. This was information control.
Not just of documents - but of memory.
“I did not recall the size of the wound being that large until I saw the photo again. But that photo isn’t in the set we provided.”
- Quote from redacted audio transcript, attributed to “Dr. H”
🧨 This Was The First Domestic Hospital Wiretap In U.S. Intelligence History
And it targeted doctors.
Military officers.
Firsthand witnesses to JFK’s body.
All because they might have remembered too much.
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