History from the documents. Every claim traced to a declassified file S1: Bay of Pigs https://xitter.cf/t.co/fKBEWTDl93 Also on Spotify & Apple Podcasts
Joined September 2026
- Tweets62
- Following13
- Followers2
- Likes31
From the File — a documentary history podcast.
Season 1: The Bay of Pigs
Episodes + citations: fromthefile.com/seasons/s1
Clips: YouTube From the File — fromthefile.com
“Plausible denial,” the Oct 1961 IG survey concluded, “was a pathetic illusion.”
McCone bound survey + DD/P rebuttal and refused to reconcile them. Official position: a disagreement in a binder.
fromthefile.com/episodes/s1e…
2
"If unfriendly aircraft is shot down every effort shall be made to hide the fact that such action has occurred."
Joint Staff rules of engagement for the U.S. Navy off the Bay of Pigs. Washington, 17 April 1961, 3:35 p.m.
Episode 5 is up, documents on screen 👇 xitter.cf/FromTheFile/status/210…
1
6
11 Apr 1961: NY denial line agreed in Washington (FRUS X Doc 91).
12 Apr: Agency paper scripts a B-26 into Miami seeking asylum (Doc 93).
Cover story is in the file. A “don’t tell the ambassador” memo is not.
fromthefile.com
5
Twenty copies of the IG survey printed. Nineteen destroyed. One sat in the Director’s safe ~37 years.
AP (1998) names no author. VOA attributes it to McCone. Both stand.
fromthefile.com/episodes/s1e…
4
Three questions the record leaves open. The documents don’t resolve them. xitter.cf/FromTheFile/status/210…
3
Paper trail: “our hand should not show” (Mar 1960) and “under no conditions will the United States intervene” (Apr 1961).
What officers told the brigade in Guatemala about U.S. backing isn’t in the contemporaneous record.
That silence is the document.
fromthefile.com
2
Three locked doors. No institutional verdict on why the Bay of Pigs failed. xitter.cf/FromTheFile/status/210…
5
"Refs received and reluctantly complied with. Complete plan amendment per refs received 170715Z with all pilots in cockpit ready for start engines."
CIA air base, Nicaragua, 17 April 1961, after the D-Day air strikes were cancelled.
Episode 4 is up, documents on screen 👇 xitter.cf/FromTheFile/status/210…
1
1
10
“There is gravest risk of another U-2 disaster in such uncoordinated action.”
— Adlai Stevenson, 16 Apr 1961. FRUS X Doc 105.
fromthefile.com/episodes/s1e…
3
"If this is not done, we will be courting disaster." Col. Jack Hawkins, the CIA's paramilitary chief for Cuba, 4 January 1961.
By March, a Joint Chiefs team put the odds against achieving surprise at "about 85 to 15."
Episode 2 is now up on YouTube, documents on screen 👇 xitter.cf/FromTheFile/status/210…
1
1
17
Twenty copies printed. Nineteen destroyed. The last sat in the Director’s safe nearly 37 years.
AP names no author; VOA says McCone. Both stand. xitter.cf/FromTheFile/status/210…
13
“The DCI called me in to ask my recommendation on what action should be taken to cope with the Cuban disaster.” — Kirkpatrick diary, 22 Apr 1961. xitter.cf/FromTheFile/status/210…
12
Taylor: “for an undetermined reason.” Kirkpatrick: “misunderstanding over timing.” Both stand in the record.
youtu.be/982bwJPbFo0
fromthefile.com
12
3 Nov 1960: Special Group rejects a 3,000-man amphibious lodgment.
4 Nov: HQ cables Guatemala — plan an assault force of ≥1,500.
Oversight said no. Build order went out next day.
FRUS X Doc 231. fromthefile.com
1
11
The original, on paper: the CIA "was matching the 1,500-man brigade, after an amphibious landing, against Castro's combined military forces," estimated at a 32,000-man army plus 200,000 militia.
That's the Agency's own Inspector General. IG Survey, Oct 1961, p. 55
2
History note on "it will fall": in 1961 the CIA hoped a landing would "produce a 'shock'" that set off defections. Its own Inspector General found no advance assurance of "identified, known, controlled, trained, and organized guerrillas."
CIA IG Survey, Oct 1961, p. 54
3
