Page 3 of Kurt's 1970 Senate Transcript
(At this point Senator Percy entered the hearing room.)
The CHAIRMAN. Do you have anything further ?
Mr. ADLERMAN. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. I will let counsel interrogate you briefly.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Mr. Sisco, this book, the Militant's Formulary is a book on bombing; is that right ?
Mr. Sisco. Well, all sorts of terrorist tactics.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Among the things you have is a list of additional books on bombmaking.
Mr. Sisco. Definitely; yes. I have most of them here.
Mr. ADLERMAN. You also list sources of chemical supplies. You tell where to buy them.
Mr. Sisco. Yes; I have a whole bunch of catalogs for that.
Mr. ADLERMAN. At the same time, you also give detailed information on how to order from the chemical companies.
Mr. Sisco. Yes.
Mr. ADLERMAN. And how to avoid detection in doing so?
Mr. Sisco. Yes; definitely.
MT. ADLERMAN. Why is that necessary ?
Mr. Sisco. Well, a lot of people like to know how these people get the stuff and this is the way a lot of people do make their orders.
Mr. ADLERMAN. You tell them how to avoid detection when they buy the materials to make explosives?
Mr. Sisco. Well. you can say it that way. I just wrote the book as objective as I could make it.
Mr. ADLERMAN. You also give diagrams and detailed instructions on the laboratory equipment and home chemistry and so forth?
Mr. Sisco. Yes. Well, any college person could put up just as nice a thing, and they do on the left.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Among the things you describe how to make are bombs of various types, explosives of various types.
Mr. Sisco. Definitely; yes.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Including igniters, matchhead bombs, pipe bombs, gas tanks, incendiary bombs, use of dynamite, and so forth?
Mr. Sisco. Yes, sir.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Did you experiment yourself in the use of these explosives?
Mr. Sisco. Well, not too much because most of them, the way they are written down are so obvious that they don't need experimentation.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Did any of these booklets get in the hands of teenagers ?
Mr. Sisco. Not that I know of.
Mr. ADLERMAN. You, yourself, did experiment a little with explosives?
Mr. Sisco. I certainly did, and I blew the fingers off my left hand. It had nothing to do with the book or anything that would have gone in the book.
The CHAIRMAN. Was that before you started publishing the book ?
Mr. Sisco. Yes; it was before I started publishing the book.
The CHAIRMAN. After you had your hand blown off, then you started publishing the books ?
Mr. Sisco. Well, I was sitting around; I had nothing to do.
The CHAIRMAN. It was just a good idea ? It has not been profitable?
Mr. Sisco. Not yet.
The CHAIRMAN. You anticipate it will be ?
Mr. Sisco. Yes. Well, you see, I have been selling it to the wrong sources. They don't buy. From now on, I am going to send my fliers to, like, district attorneys, sheriff's departments, marshals, people like that.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you think they will buy it?
Mr. Sisco. I think they will because the idea of the book is to show what an individual can do if he decides to take the law into his own hands.
The CHAIRMAN. Does the book also show him how to take the law into his own hands ?
Mr. Sisco. Well, it does definitely, but, really, he does not need my book. That is one of the points I would like to make.
The CHAIRMAN. Maybe your book is not needed; maybe that is why it is not selling so well. They already have the information.
Mr. Sisco. No; I think they are atraid of it.
The CHAIRMAN. Afraid of it ?
Mr. Sisco. Yes. For instance, this Adobe Hacienda—
The CHAIRMAN. Do they know that in the experimentation you could blow off your hand?
Mr. Sisco. Well, if they read the book, they would know that. Well, it did not blow off my hand. It just blew-off the fingers.
The CHAIRMAN. I wondered why they would be aifaid of your book. I don't understand that terminology.
Mr. Sisco. Well, a certain type, a militant, seems to think that his name is going to be distributed to every FBI office if he orders anything througn the mail. The book publishers. For instance, the Adobe Hacienda won't handle it because if they have my book, then no one would buy their other bomb books.
The CHAIRMAN. You have competition, do you ?
Mr. Sisco. Definitely; yes.
The CHAIRMAN. Very strong competition ?
Mr. Sisco. Yes.
Senator PERCY. Mr. Sisco, do you anticipate that the book will sell better as a result of these hearings ?
Mr. Sisco. I don't know.
Senator PERCY. Would you mind reporting back to us in the next few months so we can see if there is any perceptible change ?
Mr. Sisco. Certainly. That will be my revised and enlarged version. I will send you a copy. It has not come off the press.
Senator PERCY. Have any publishers refused to publish any of your work for reasons of public policy ?
Mr. Sisco. No, sir. Many advertisers have refused to advertise it.
Senator PERCY. Is your business, Altan Formularies, incorported ?
Mr. Sisco. Altan Formularies.
Senator PERCY. Where is it incorporated ?
Mr. Sisco. Not incorporated. I don't know what that means.
Senator PERCY. Have you filed papers with the secretary of state of any particular State.
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(At this point Senator Percy entered the hearing room.)
The CHAIRMAN. Do you have anything further ?
Mr. ADLERMAN. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. I will let counsel interrogate you briefly.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Mr. Sisco, this book, the Militant's Formulary is a book on bombing; is that right ?
Mr. Sisco. Well, all sorts of terrorist tactics.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Among the things you have is a list of additional books on bombmaking.
Mr. Sisco. Definitely; yes. I have most of them here.
Mr. ADLERMAN. You also list sources of chemical supplies. You tell where to buy them.
Mr. Sisco. Yes; I have a whole bunch of catalogs for that.
Mr. ADLERMAN. At the same time, you also give detailed information on how to order from the chemical companies.
Mr. Sisco. Yes.
Mr. ADLERMAN. And how to avoid detection in doing so?
Mr. Sisco. Yes; definitely.
MT. ADLERMAN. Why is that necessary ?
Mr. Sisco. Well, a lot of people like to know how these people get the stuff and this is the way a lot of people do make their orders.
Mr. ADLERMAN. You tell them how to avoid detection when they buy the materials to make explosives?
Mr. Sisco. Well. you can say it that way. I just wrote the book as objective as I could make it.
Mr. ADLERMAN. You also give diagrams and detailed instructions on the laboratory equipment and home chemistry and so forth?
Mr. Sisco. Yes. Well, any college person could put up just as nice a thing, and they do on the left.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Among the things you describe how to make are bombs of various types, explosives of various types.
Mr. Sisco. Definitely; yes.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Including igniters, matchhead bombs, pipe bombs, gas tanks, incendiary bombs, use of dynamite, and so forth?
Mr. Sisco. Yes, sir.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Did you experiment yourself in the use of these explosives?
Mr. Sisco. Well, not too much because most of them, the way they are written down are so obvious that they don't need experimentation.
Mr. ADLERMAN. Did any of these booklets get in the hands of teenagers ?
Mr. Sisco. Not that I know of.
Mr. ADLERMAN. You, yourself, did experiment a little with explosives?
Mr. Sisco. I certainly did, and I blew the fingers off my left hand. It had nothing to do with the book or anything that would have gone in the book.
The CHAIRMAN. Was that before you started publishing the book ?
Mr. Sisco. Yes; it was before I started publishing the book.
The CHAIRMAN. After you had your hand blown off, then you started publishing the books ?
Mr. Sisco. Well, I was sitting around; I had nothing to do.
The CHAIRMAN. It was just a good idea ? It has not been profitable?
Mr. Sisco. Not yet.
The CHAIRMAN. You anticipate it will be ?
Mr. Sisco. Yes. Well, you see, I have been selling it to the wrong sources. They don't buy. From now on, I am going to send my fliers to, like, district attorneys, sheriff's departments, marshals, people like that.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you think they will buy it?
Mr. Sisco. I think they will because the idea of the book is to show what an individual can do if he decides to take the law into his own hands.
The CHAIRMAN. Does the book also show him how to take the law into his own hands ?
Mr. Sisco. Well, it does definitely, but, really, he does not need my book. That is one of the points I would like to make.
The CHAIRMAN. Maybe your book is not needed; maybe that is why it is not selling so well. They already have the information.
Mr. Sisco. No; I think they are atraid of it.
The CHAIRMAN. Afraid of it ?
Mr. Sisco. Yes. For instance, this Adobe Hacienda—
The CHAIRMAN. Do they know that in the experimentation you could blow off your hand?
Mr. Sisco. Well, if they read the book, they would know that. Well, it did not blow off my hand. It just blew-off the fingers.
The CHAIRMAN. I wondered why they would be aifaid of your book. I don't understand that terminology.
Mr. Sisco. Well, a certain type, a militant, seems to think that his name is going to be distributed to every FBI office if he orders anything througn the mail. The book publishers. For instance, the Adobe Hacienda won't handle it because if they have my book, then no one would buy their other bomb books.
The CHAIRMAN. You have competition, do you ?
Mr. Sisco. Definitely; yes.
The CHAIRMAN. Very strong competition ?
Mr. Sisco. Yes.
Senator PERCY. Mr. Sisco, do you anticipate that the book will sell better as a result of these hearings ?
Mr. Sisco. I don't know.
Senator PERCY. Would you mind reporting back to us in the next few months so we can see if there is any perceptible change ?
Mr. Sisco. Certainly. That will be my revised and enlarged version. I will send you a copy. It has not come off the press.
Senator PERCY. Have any publishers refused to publish any of your work for reasons of public policy ?
Mr. Sisco. No, sir. Many advertisers have refused to advertise it.
Senator PERCY. Is your business, Altan Formularies, incorported ?
Mr. Sisco. Altan Formularies.
Senator PERCY. Where is it incorporated ?
Mr. Sisco. Not incorporated. I don't know what that means.
Senator PERCY. Have you filed papers with the secretary of state of any particular State.
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