The news keeps mentioning this 25 year deadline to release the JFK files buried in the National Archives. Supposedly, we are approaching some 25 year deadline. But… 25 years from what event? The JFK assassination was 54 years ago! So, what’s up with this 25 year stuff? Google kept giving me the same old song and dance as the news.
From Wiki:
OK, so…like…what happened from 1963 to 1992? No Congressman thought to pass such a law? Maybe Oliver Stone’s movie made it necessary to pass such a law in '92? (Not sure if “JFK” was released in '92 or not.)
Between 1963 and 1992 there were a multitude of federal and state agencies with all sorts of varying records and investigations related to the assassination. The idea to organize it all in one spot was and create a single resource for all the records was probably inspired, in part, by Oliver Stone’s shitty 1991 film. The Assassination Records Collection Act established an independent board which was charged with collecting and curating all the material. They worked from 1992 until 1998. The stuff they collected is what will be released a few days hence.
A large majority of the material is already public record. For example, something like 99% of the records from the Warren Commission report has already been released. (Things like income tax records of still-living people remain confidential.)
Yes the film is being credited for directly contributing to the passage of the Assassination Records Collection Act.
What I can’t figure out is why there’s so much opposition to the release of these records among various officials. Most of them were generated 45+ years ago; there can’t be that much stuff that’s still sensitive from a national security point of view. Are they trying to preserve someone’s reputation?
I imagine it’s to protect those who were questioned during the investigation as I’m sure a lot of people were asked a lot of questions. I hope they redact their names as they’ll be pestered to shit about something from 45 years ago. Then again, maybe they’ll be able to cash out?
I also imagine there were some decisions made in the moment that could have been better and will be overtly criticized. Because, you know, ratings.
There was an immense amount of CYA going on after the assassination. Lots of people had dropped the ball in keeping tabs on Oswald as well as the astonishing chaos afterwards which lead to all sorts of botched evidence and a murdered assassin.
While most involved are now dead, their families as well as they agencies involved are still hoping it will all go away. And releasing more documents doesn’t fit their intentions.
E.g., there’s some really odd stuff about Bush I in relation to this. He says he doesn’t remember where he was that day. (Really?) His family was close to the guy that was nearly the only friend the Oswald’s had. And his name appears on memos despite “officially” not being a CIA employee at the time.
There’s dozens of important families with similar odd sort-of connections that they just want forgotten.
How could “national security” possibly be involved in an assassination by a lone assassin who dies shortly afterwards? Cut and dried and over. Or not? I don’t think anything really shocking is going to be revealed in these new documents. They’ll probably be redacted. If they were dynamite, they would never be released.
There may have been information from US agents in deep cover within the USSR, relied upon to rule out the possibility that Oswald was acting with Soviet support.
One of the supposed current national security issues is that the US had extensive intelligence on Oswald’s trip to Mexico shortly before the assassination.
Some people are worried that the methods used by the US to do this tracking would anger the Mexican government. Something that seems pretty minor to recent things affecting US-Mexican relations.
A lot of knowledge about Oswald in the USSR was released shortly after the end of said state. The info from this is far larger and far more important than anything the US had on him way back when. It’s also been public for a long while. (The Russians have since stopped being so open.)
The book Reclaiming History contains a lot of useful info on the USSR era Oswald and also debunks nearly everything you’ve ever heard about the assassination.
I doubt there’s anything Cuban related of significance in the files that would upset Cuba unless you count the anti-Castro Cuban-American stuff. And despite the Church Committee, a lot of that is still very secret.
In short, the people/agencies who are worried about this release are American. “National Security” is hardly the appropriate term here.
Well, the release was blocked again.
It certainly makes people wonder what the government is hiding. It’s getting harder and harder to claim National Security. Fifty-five years after the event and there’s something that effects national security?
The Guardian has looked at some of the files that were released. They have a link to the National Archives. The public can read the documents if interested.
More are supposed to be released in six months. But they’ll be redacted.
Will some of the info possibility embarrass the living Kennedys’, yet? Or maybe endanger them?
JFK’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy is still alive.
Otherwise I think all the close relatives are dead.
I’ve pretty much given up hope that all the documents will be released in my lifetime.
Perhaps historians will have the full truth in another seventy-five years.
For information about JFK, I would look at this video
No,no, there are lots of Kennedy cousins, Robert alone had 10 kids I think. But you’re right Caroline is the only child of JFK, alive. Maybe? He was a serial adulterer. Maybe there are kids we dont know about, maybe that is the big secret!?!
A more prosaic explanation is possible – these officials fear the expense to their agency of free access to these records.
It gets quite expensive to an agency to have a person open the letters containing a Freedom of Information Act request asking for copies of some documents, determining which documents are wanted (it’s common for such requests to be rather vague or unclear, or vast “any documents referring to J. F. Kennedy from 1917 to 1963”), digging out those documents, making copies of them, and shipping them to the requester. The most expensive part of this, by far, is the employee time used to satisfy these requests. Even if they aren’t satisfied, somebody has to take time to write & send a letter saying either “We have no such documents” or “These documents are confidential info about private citizens that is not covered by FOIA requests”.
A lot of the action of Government agencies can be explained by looking at the effect on their budget.
I’ve been thinking about it.
The assassination of a President shook our nation’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies to the core. It was perceived as an extreme failure. Especially since the prime suspect had international ties. It’s unforgivable that this guy had a job in a building overlooking the President’s procession. The mistake is compounded by not having agents in that building to prevent a sniper attack.
Law enforcement and intelligence agencies probably pulled in every resource available. Perhaps even deeply placed moles in various governments to find out if other nations were directly involved.
I can see that files from the investigation could be highly sensitive.