August 20, 1999
Web posted at: 9:20 p.m. EDT

(CNN) -- The following is an edited transcript of a chat with Richard Mahoney, author of "Sons & Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy." Mr. Mahoney joined us on Wednesday, August 18, 1999, from the CNN Interactive newsroom in Atlanta.

Chat Moderator: Welcome, Richard Mahoney!

Richard Mahoney: Hi. Good to meet you and communicate with everyone.

Question from TDennis: So what is Sons & Brothers all about?

Richard Mahoney: Essentially, it tracks the relationship between Bobby and Jack Kennedy -- a relationship marked by loyalty, tension, and rivalry that resulted in the Kennedys' move to power as well as to their destruction.

Question from Shadow: Did Robert Kennedy think he contributed to his brother's death because of his (Robert's) stand on organized crime?

Richard Mahoney: Yes, but it's a little more involved than that. He realized that he had violated his father's alliance with the mob and that he himself had countenanced the use of the Mafia in the plot to kill Castro.

Question from Candyce: Welcome, Richard. What compelled you to write this book at this time?

Richard Mahoney: My family has a long history with the Kennedys, beginning with Jack and Bobby. My father was an ambassador in the JFK administration. And I myself have met most of the members of the family. The other reason why I wrote the book is that I think the family is basically misunderstood.

Question from Candyce: First of all, did you know the Kennedys personally or are you going by hearsay?

Richard Mahoney: I met both Jack and Bobby -- and my father had many exchanges with them over the years. In addition, I did about 270 interviews for the book.

Question from Shadow: Did Robert Kennedy ever express his feelings about exactly who killed his brother? Did he think there was only one gunman?

Richard Mahoney: Shadow, he did express his feelings on several occasions that it was not a lone gunman who killed his brother and that he suspected a conspiracy. Nearly everybody else at the time accepted the Warren Commission's report.

Question from twinkey: Has the family received this book well?

Richard Mahoney: Although I know quite a few of the members personally, the family prefers, understandably, not to comment on books about the Kennedys.

Question from Candice: Mr. Mahoney, do you believe the Warren Commission Report?

Richard Mahoney: No. It’s fundamentally wrong. As one commission member said at the time, ‘Hoover [J. Edgar Hoover] was lying through his teeth.’ It was a conspiracy.

Question from Haley: How did the Kennedy ‘compound’ and those in it become known as Camelot?

Richard Mahoney: Camelot was on Broadway in the fall of 1963. JFK got hold of the record and used to play it in his and Jackie's bedroom -- particularly the part, ‘Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot…’ Jackie Kennedy, in an interview after the assassination, referred to this and the legend was born...

Question from Candice: Mr. Mahoney, what is your theory?

Richard Mahoney: Mob hit with some anti-Castro Cuban decoys including the second gunman. As I explain in the book, the achievement was not to kill JFK but to get away with it -- to set up the CIA and the FBI after the fact as partners in crime.

Question from Danielle: Does this book focus on their days working together or their whole lives growing up together?

Richard Mahoney: The book has 44 chapters about their relationship from October 1951 to November 1963 and then covers the period after Jack’s death until Bobby's death in June 1968.

Question from CarltSwanson: Mr. Mahoney, most of the incriminating evidence that pointed to Oswald was provided by the Secret Service, not the FBI or the CIA, correct?

Richard Mahoney: Good question. Oswald, my research indicates, was a ‘cut-out’-- a person who was manipulated before the fact so as to shoulder the blame. He was very loosely a CIA asset, manipulated by the Mob. Remember that the Mafia and the CIA were then involved in a joint venture to kill Castro.

Question from Wopatang: I am interested to know if George Bush, Sr.'s name came up in any of your research? He had some unusual ties with both sides of the Cuba issue.

Richard Mahoney: No, his association with the anti-Castro Cubans -- Felix Rodriquez, etc. -- is a 1980’s phenomenon.

Chat Host: One of our lucky chatters in the auditorium today will receive a complimentary copy of Richard Mahoney's book.

Question from Haley: J. Edgar Hoover didn’t much care for JFK but he had close ties with Johnson. Do you think he or anyone in the FBI was involved directly or indirectly in the two assassinations?

Richard Mahoney: [Hoover] was not involved before the fact in any way that I could find but was very active after the fact to cover up the incompetence of his agency -- that certain agents had foreknowledge that something was going down. The FBI, for example, in May 1968, picked up raw reports of a planned hit on Bobby Kennedy. Hoover's partner, Clyde Tolson, said at a meeting, ‘I hope someone shoots that sonofabitch.’

Comment from Wopatang: I think it is time we considered removing Hoover's name from the front of the FBI Building where it is chiseled in stone. This is a national disgrace.

Question from Lucy: The man arrested at the Texas theater was not Mrs. Oswald's son...has your research uncovered evidence on two Oswalds?

Richard Mahoney: There were two Oswalds. The Mexico City trip indicates this. Oswald was supposed to meet his Cuban counterpart -- the other trigger -- in the movie theater at which point they both were going to be evacuated and eliminated. The Cuban was. But Oswald got caught because of the Tippit killing.

Question from Shadow: Mr. Mahoney, do you feel that the FBI or the Secret Service could have prevented JFK from being assassinated?

Richard Mahoney: Yes, and I do go into some detail in my book as to why. Bobby Kennedy did as well, but his own guilt kept him silent.

Question from Haley: Mr. Mahoney, while researching for your book, did you ever feel in danger?

Richard Mahoney: Yes, for reasons that are probably better left alone. One thing I will say is that my research in Havana indicates that Cuban intelligence at the time had a very extensive view of the conspiracy.

Comment from Lucy: And Castro was very worried that [he] would be blamed!

Richard Mahoney: Right. They didn't do it but if they indicated all they knew, they would get the blame.

Question from Clare: Mr. Mahoney, now that you have written two books on JFK (this one and Ordeal in Africa, have you done all the research you plan to do or is there a third book in the works?

Richard Mahoney: No third book. I'm working on a book about an orphanage now.

Question from Shadow: How do you feel the family is misunderstood?

Richard Mahoney: Misunderstood in several senses. First, they were neither saints nor scoundrels -- but some of both. Second, they’re basically a warrior clan and therefore accept death as part of the price of power and fame. Ted Kennedy's eulogy was almost joyous about the death of JFK, Jr. It was a celebration of life.

Question from Pace: What exactly is it about the Kennedys that Americans in general relate to?

Richard Mahoney: Americans, I think, respond to their drama and passion. They've got guts -- and they made mistakes in trying to be heroic. Not exactly the usual behavior for politicians.

Comment from Shadow: I find the Kennedys fascinating and I have opposing political views.

Comment from Wopatang: Well, it sounds like an interesting book but I came mainly for the Hoover bashing.

Question from twinkey: Is America losing its fascination with the Kennedys?

Richard Mahoney: No, I don't think so -- as the JFK, Jr. death and expression of grief seemed to indicate.

Question from TDennis: Did the death of JFK, Jr. heighten your mood to get the book out soon after his death for publicity reasons?

Richard Mahoney: No. It coincided with it.

Question from Pam: Mr. Mahoney, did any of the family members contribute to this book?

Richard Mahoney: Yes, in the sense that I was chosen as the first JFK Scholar at the Kennedy Library.

Question from Aurora: Mr. Mahoney, do you think it’s possible for one of this generation of Kennedy women to take up the family's leadership mantle...be a ‘warrior’?

Richard Mahoney: Definitely. It is the next step -- an interesting one. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend will probably run and win the governorship in Maryland.

Question from Lucy: Mr. Mahoney, does your book cover the brother's conversations during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Richard Mahoney: It does.

Question from twinkey: Were Jack and Bobby close brothers?

Richard Mahoney: Yes. But they were rivals as well.

Question from Candice: Do you think Bobby was killed by the same group?

Richard Mahoney: Bobby Kennedy's murder will never be solved but the ballistics indications, Sirhan Sirhan's associations, etc., indicate the Mafia once again.

Question from Clare: In your book you quote LBJ as saying that JFK's death was ‘divine retribution.’ Does this come from more than one source?

Richard Mahoney: Yes. I quote White House aide Ralph Dungan, but LBJ said the same thing to Pierre Salinger, as well.

Question from Lucy: Mr. Mahoney, how did you obtain the information of their conversations?

Richard Mahoney: Many, many interviews, first. The Oval Office also had recording devices in it.

Question from TDennis: There is a lot of conspiracy surrounding the entire Kennedy family. Do you really think that this most recent accident was really an accident or is there more to this than what we could ever imagine?

Richard Mahoney: It was an accident from all indications.

Question from Rachel: How many years did you spend writing this book?

Richard Mahoney: Ten.

Question from NickD99: In your book, do you discuss the theory that Bobby was killed by one of the security guards at point blank range?

Richard Mahoney: I do, although it is inconclusive beyond the fact that he drew the gun and discharged it. The fact that photographs reveal that RFK pulled the clip-on tie from the security guard's neck is intriguing.

Question from twinkey: Joe Kennedy was obviously a great influence on the boys. What role did Rose play in shaping them?

Richard Mahoney: Curiously, not a great deal.

Question from Wopatang: Mr. Mahoney, do you have any Hoover bashing that you would like to get out of your system while you have this golden opportunity?

Richard Mahoney: Yes. Too many to offload at this point. He was a most durable and dangerous rodent.

Comment from Wopatang: I love it!

Question from Wopatang: Not to change the subject for more than a minute...what current conspiracy theories have captured your fancy in the past 10 years?

Richard Mahoney: I'm not really much of a theorist, per se. The weaving of the alibi surrounding the assassination by Johnny Rosselli is captivating, I think.

Question from Rachel: Mr. Mahoney, what inspired you to write this book?

Richard Mahoney: Family and personal connections, first. They're dramatic and tragic characters, second. And, finally, the wound at some point should heal. And I hope to help.

Chat Moderator: Any final comments?

Richard Mahoney: Just this: We think of the Kennedys as rich, gutsy, and brilliant. And they were -- as well as flawed. But this book, by putting the reader into their days, reveals them to be far more human -- fearful, affectionate, arrogant, funny, etc.

Chat Host: The winner of our complimentary copy of Mr. Mahoney's books is...Wopatang!

Comment from Wopatang: Wow! I will donate it to the Dayton Public Library after I read it.

Comment from Shadow: Mr. Mahoney, the book sounds fascinating...thank you for answering our questions!

Chat Moderator: Thank you, Richard Mahoney, for joining us today to discuss your book, "Sons and Brothers: The Days of Jack and Bobby Kennedy."

Richard Mahoney: Thanks for a new and great experience!