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;;rerSECKI!"r Pigs activity from its inception until its conclu- sion.* 7/ Esterline himself declined to comment for the record on this particular speculation~ but indicated that he was not sure what J. C. King was up to at all times. It is clear, however, that Esterline was in very close contact with Col. King throughout the course of the Bay of Pigs Operation.** Additional insights c~ncerning J. C. King's role in Bay of Pigs Operation have been provided by Richard D. Drain, who was Chief of Operations for WH/4, and by Richard Bissell, the DDP. Drain has stated: J. C. King never was told, I think for understandable reasons, to what extent he * Elder suggested to the author that "they" wanted King out of the operation because of his strong Re- publican affiliations. "They" were never identified, but Ki~g was well acquainted with highly placed figures and contributors to the Republican Party. ** This will become most apparent in the subsequent discussion of the relationships between WH/4 and William D. Pawley. During the author's initial conver- sation with Esterline about the Bay of Pigs, Esterline did state, in a manner similar to Elder, that J. C. King was out of the mainstream of the anti-Castro effort, b~cause he had known Republican Party affiliations. 8/ There was no elaboration indicating the impact of-such affiliations on King's role, and there is nothing in the record to support this allega- tion. - 35 -.