President Trump makes major announcement on the declassification of the JFK files. Read more.
Tag: ARRB
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The Anna Paulina Luna Task Force
The Anna Paulina Luna Task Force
Mark E. Adamczyk Esq.
If you are interested in the history of the JFK assassination and want to know what actually happened to President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, you have probably heard or read about the recently-appointed “Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets”. This is a congressional panel established by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, chaired by Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.).
The stated primary mission of the task force is to investigate and recommend the declassification of long-held government records related to significant historical events and topics of public interest. The task force was formed in response to President Trump’s executive order signed on January 23, 2025, titled “Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” which mandates federal agencies to prepare plans for releasing these records. According to journalist Jeff Morley, both CIA Director John Ratcliffe and DNI Chair Tulsi Gabbard are in favor of the order.
As of today, the task force has made notable headlines. On February 25, 2025, Representative Luna announced via X that she met with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), securing a commitment to make declassified JFK files publicly accessible through a dedicated NARA website. She indicated that documents would be uploaded in real time once declassified, and she addressed efforts by some within the NARA agency to delay access, claiming those “obstructionists” were being removed. Additionally, Luna has scheduled the task force’s first hearing for March 26, 2025, which will focus specifically on the JFK assassination. This hearing aims to examine evidence and interview firsthand witnesses, including doctors who treated Kennedy at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, where the task force plans to travel as part of its investigation.
A visit to Dallas to interview the Parkland doctors and a tour of Dealey Plaza would be educational for the task force. Representative Luna has publicly questioned the official Warren Commission findings, asserting her belief in a “two-shooter” theory based on conflicting evidence and abnormalities she claims were overlooked.
But here’s the problem: Why spend the task force’s time and money investigating things we have known for years? As written by JFK Assassination Chokeholds co-author Paul Bleau, we already know that over forty witnesses, including almost all of the medical personnel at both Parkland and Bethesda Medical Center—where the autopsy was held—clearly saw the massive injury to the back of JFK’s head, describing what could only be an exit would. The evidence we already know makes it all but impossible to conclude that there was not at least one shot fired at JFK from the front of his limousine, which vitiates the Warren Commission’s conclusion that only three (3) shots were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald from the rear.
The task force is on the correct path by investigating NARA and the Archivist’s inaction and failures under the JFK Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act). Pursuant to the JFK Act, the Assassination Records and Review Board (ARRB) in the 1990s already made final declassification decisions on the thousands of assassination records still withheld in full or in part. Under the exhaustive rights afforded to agencies still seeking postponement of assassination records to this day, they already had their complete legal opportunity to appeal those final declassification decisions to the ARRB and the President for continued postponement.
Which brings us back to the focus that should be front and center for Representative Luna’s task force – the Archivist. As discovered by JFK Assassination Chokeholds co-author Andrew Iler, the ARRB’s final declassification decisions from the 1990s have been buried at NARA. Why? The Archivist should immediately be called into an oversight hearing with the task force to explain why NARA did not follow the ARRB’s final agency orders on postponed assassination records and release them as ordered by the ARRB. The Archivist should be compelled to explain why it is nearly impossible to find the ARRB’s final declassification orders at NARA. The path to the proper declassification of the JFK assassination records lies in the ARRB’s final orders.
The final point, and this is critical, is revealed in comments recently made by Representative Luna in an interview with Clayton Morris on Lear Redacted. Luna stated that she is confident, based on discussions with the White House and Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence), that there will be a full release of assassination records through the efforts of the task force. I have no doubt in Representative Luna’s confidence, and her energy and passion on this effort should be commended.
However, here is the troubling comment Luna gave in the interview. The Archivist has apparently told Representative Luna that even if President Trump orders the declassification of assassination records, the President’s decision then needs to go back to the originating agency for a “re-review” by the agency head. Representative Luna disagrees with NARA’s assessment, and she is correct. The Archivist’s position is directly contrary to the JFK Act. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) standards, an agency head does have the authority to make declassification decisions in their discretion. The JFK Act is not FOIA, and it is not close. Under the JFK Act, the final declassification decision, short of the President, was with the ARRB and only the ARRB. If the ARRB ordered the full release of a record by a specified date, the agencies (many years ago) had a final 30-day right of appeal. And the following is important: Short of an appeal based on clear and convincing evidence justifying continued postponement, the Archivist had a legal duty to release the assassination record and publish it for public disclosure.
Luna said that if a record is ordered declassified, then “do it, and call it a day…declassification does not need to go through bureaucratic nonsense.” Again, she is correct. Under the standards of the JFK Act, only the President in 2017 had the final call on declassification. And any further Presidential decisions for continued postponement must be stated in a public Presidential certification stating a current identifiable harm to the United States or a living person.
The correct legal path on the declassification process under the JFK Act is simple. After the Archivist is compelled to make the ARRB’s final release decisions available and easily searchable, President Trump and his legal advisors need to review the ARRB’s final decisions in the Archivist’s possession. If there is no longer a current identifiable harm in the withheld record to a living person or current intelligence source or method, the record must be released in full today pursuant to the JFK Act. Further, President Trump needs to immediately order all originating agencies to turn over (to the Archivist) any assassination records that were not provided to the ARRB in the 1990s as required by the JFK Act. The same Presidential review process would apply to those records as well. The task force, with Congressional oversight powers in the JFK Act itself, has the authority to make sure all of this happens without further delay. No further “plans” are necessary, especially not from the intelligence agencies who are determined to maintain secrecy.
In 2025, it is fiction to believe that a record from 1963 could still pose an identifiable harm. Maybe a handful of records by a stretch of the imagination, but not thousands. In short, President Trump should not tolerate more obstruction from the intelligence community. As explained in JFK Assassination Chokeholds, the American people have already tolerated more than 60 years of obstruction of justice in the JFK case. Unless President Trump can explain how and on what basis a withheld record still poses a current and identifiable harm to the United States or a living person, the record can and must be released today pursuant to the clear Congressional mandates in the JFK Act.
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Sky News Australia Interview of Jim DiEugenio
Please watch the interview here.
The SkyNews.com.au show notes are available here.
Interview Transcript
Well, it won’t be long until the world finally knows the truth about former US President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Last month, President Trump signed an executive order to declassify the secret files on JFK’s 1963 death.
Since then, the head of the task force that’s aimed at exposing federal secrets, Anna Paulina Luna, has declared that from what she’s seen so far, she believes the single bullet theory is faulty.
She believes there were two shooters involved.
Our first investigation will be announced, but it’s going to be covering on a thorough investigation into the John F. Kennedy assassination.
And I can tell you, based on what I’ve been seeing so far, the initial hearing that was actually held here in Congress was actually faulty in the single bullet theory.
I believe that there were two shooters.
And we should be finding more information as we are able to gain access into the SCIF, hopefully before the files are actually released to the public.
Now, most Americans do not believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
So what has been hidden away for decades that we’re all about to find out when the JFK files are released?
James DiEugenio is considered one of the best writers and researchers in America on JFK’s assassination.
He’s written multiple books on the subject, including co-author of the JFK assassination chokeholds that prove there was a conspiracy.
And he joins us on Power Hour now.
James, thank you for joining us.
We heard Anna Paulina Luna claim that she believes there were two shooters.
That’s a conclusion, I believe, that you’ve come to as well.
Can you talk to us about the evidence that support this?
Yeah, well, I think it’s really good that she’s going to reopen this.
And I think Trump signing that executive order was another really good thing.
As per the belief that there was more than one shooter, there’s a Pruder film which shows Kennedy rocketing backwards when Oswald was supposed to actually be shooting from behind him.
There’s the 42 witnesses at Parkland Hospital and at Bethesda at the morgue who did the autopsy that night who say that there was a big baseball-sized hole in the back of Kennedy’s head, which is strongly indicative of a shot from the front.
All right?
There’s also the fact that there was no sectioning of either wound.
There was no dissecting of either wound, either the back wound or the head wound, to see if it was a through-and-through shot, if it did actually penetrate the body.
There’s all this kind of evidence out there today that was not public back in 1963, which indicates that there was more than one assassin.
And she’s correct.
The Warren Commission report was, to put it mildly, you know, rather faulty.
The Warren Commission determined in 1964 that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
How did it get it so wrong?
Well, there’s a lot of reasons why the Warren Commission report was faulty.
You know, one of them was that they relied almost – about 80 percent of their work was based upon the work of the FBI.
And the FBI, of course, did not do a very thorough investigation.
To put it mildly, you know, J. Edgar Hoover was head of the FBI, was not in really friendly terms with Bobby Kennedy, who was at that time was about to resign.
But he was the attorney general, all right?
And if you recall, you know, this is very interesting.
That weekend, Kennedy was killed on a Friday.
That weekend, J. Edgar Hoover went to the racetrack.
In other words, he didn’t even come into work on Saturday.
He actually went to the racetrack with his second-in-command, Clyde Tolson.
So it was not, you know – again, I’m being mild – it was not a very thorough investigation by the FBI for a lot of different reasons.
Why has some of these files been kept secret for so long?
The FBI says it’s discovered now 2,400 new documents related to JFK’s assassination.
What are you expecting from them?
You know, I’m really glad you brought this up because those 2,400 documents that the FBI has just found, those were not even previously reported.
You know, everything was supposed to be declassified by 94 to 98 by the review board.
Apparently, they didn’t even know about these documents.
I think we’re going to find out a lot more about Oswald in New Orleans, and I think we’re going to learn something about Oswald’s reported visit to Mexico City, which was about in late September, early October of 1963, all right?
And he was, of course, in New Orleans that summer before going to Mexico City.
Oswald was, to put it mildly, a very, very interesting character, which the Warren Commission never even scraped the surface of, all right?
Most people today who have studied this case don’t believe the Warren Commission verdict about him being a communist, all right?
They think he was some kind of low-level intelligence agent.
What do you make of the assessments that are out there?
There are a few that it was a foreign adversary, the mafia, or the CIA.
You know, seeing a lot of the theories that are exposed and all the research and investigating that you’ve done, what’s your assessment of them?
I think that the most logical conclusion today, and that which most people who have researched this case believe, that it was kind of like a triangular kind of a plot involving the Central Intelligence Agency at one point, the Cuban exiles at another point.
And then when Oswald was not killed the day of the assassination, the CIA brought in his ally that has organized crime, you know, who they have been trying to knock off Castro before.
And they brought in the mafia to go ahead and send Jack Ruby in to silence Oswald.
Donald Trump promised that he would declassify the files during his first term, but he was visited by the CIA, the FBI, I should say, the FBI, and was told by Mark Pompeo not to open them.
Why do you think he delayed opening up the files?
You know, that’s a very interesting question, because a week or so before, Trump had tweeted that I’m looking forward, you know, to declassifying the last of the JFK documents.
Then the very day he was supposed to do this, he’s visited by the CIA and the FBI, and he backs out of it.
Now, according to his talk with Andrew Napolitano, he said words of the effect that if they would have shown you what they showed me, you wouldn’t have done it either.
And Andrew said, who is they, and what was it they showed you?
Okay, you know, and then Trump said, well, next time I talk to you, and there’s not 15 people around, I’ll tell you what that meant.
You know, so he’s never explained exactly what it was, all right, that gave him pause.
The implication is that it didn’t look very good for the Warren Commission, you know, but we don’t really know that.
But the fact that they both went in there on the last day, and they warned him not to do it, I think that’s a very, very revealing kind of situation.
Yeah, it’s interesting, isn’t it?
It just makes you wonder why the truth was covered up for so long.
And do you think that trust will be restored in the government when these files are made public?
Well, I’m sure you’re aware of this. 65% of the public does not believe the official story on the JFK assassination.
And a lot of social scientists believe that the lack of the belief in government today, which is very low, and the lack of the belief in the media, which is almost as low.
A lot of them attribute this to the 1963-1964 events.
You know, they trace the fall of the belief in government and the media because it began in 1964 when the Warren Commission report was first issued.
And it was so vigorously defended by the mainstream media in the United States.
And this includes CBS, NBC, and the New York Times.
So hopefully we’ll get some restoration of this when all these files are finally out there in the open.
And perhaps when Representative Luna’s investigation takes place in an open environment.
One of the worst things about the Warren Commission is that it was a closed, all closed hearings.
You know, so this contributed to the cynicism about their verdict.
It’s interesting you bring up the media.
I wanted to get your assessment on what role the mainstream media really played in covering up the truth, I suppose.
You know, has it been frustrating for you hearing a narrative on repeat that’s possibly not the truth?
It’s always been my belief that the main obstruction between the American public and the truth about the JFK case is what is termed today the mainstream media.
Because from the very beginning, you know, from the very beginning, 1963 and 1964, the mainstream media was out there, okay, defending the Warren Commission verdict.
To give you one very good example, in the fall of 1964, on the day the Warren Commission report was issued, both NBC and CBS broadcast shows endorsing its verdict.
Now, Gabriella, the Warren Commission report is 888 pages long.
How could you possibly read that many pages in one day and then report its contents without even referring to the evidence behind it?
Because that wasn’t released until a month later.
And this is what I think, I believe, that has contributed to this air of cynicism about the media.
They’re reporting on something they couldn’t fact check.
It would be impossible to fact check it.
It’s interesting, you know, you’re expecting quite a bit from these files.
Do you think there’s, as you say, 65% of Americans don’t believe that the Warren Commission got it right?
Is there going to be much in here that’s going to shock us?
You know, I really, I wish I could say one way or the other, but since I’m supposed to be a responsible kind of a person, without reading this stuff, you know, I can’t really say that.
Now, I do know people have gone down to Washington, like Andrew Iler, okay, and a lawyer from Canada.
And he told me that a lot of these closed files deal with Oswald and Mexico City.
And let me add one last thing about this subject.
The review board, which expired in 1998, made what is called a final determination on all the documents that they saw, which means that they all should have been declassified in October of 2017.
If the agency made a final determination, that’s what that means.
So the question is, why are we here in 2025 still debating about these documents that should have been declassified almost eight years ago?
This is what gives people an air of cynicism and skepticism about this case.
Absolutely.
Look, when we do finally get the truth, what does this mean for RFK Jr., for the whole Kennedy family?
Well, that’s a very good question also.
Bobby Kennedy Sr., okay, never believed the official story.
And as his son, Robert Kennedy Jr., he has never believed the official story about what happened to his uncle.
And I think that when all this stuff comes out, finally, you know, they’re going to both be vindicated on this subject.
Also, I should say one other thing, and this isn’t commonly known.
John F. Kennedy Jr., JFK’s only son, never believed the official story either.
And according to an old girlfriend of his that doesn’t like to talk about it, but she does write letters, you know, one of his goals was to enter the political arena and try to find justice for what really happened to his father.
Now, that’s a very interesting story, which I believe is largely true, that very few people know about.
Yeah, well, absolutely.
It’ll be really interesting to see what happens, and importantly for that family.
The task force aimed at exposing federal secrets is also going to investigate the assassinations of RFK and MLK.
It’s also going to look at the Epstein client list, the origins of COVID-19, UFOs, the 9-11 files.
There’s so much that we’re going to learn about.
What are you expecting from these other cases?
You know, I thought that was really interesting.
You know, there’s such a thing as picking up too much that you can carry.
You know, that’s a lot of very serious cases for one committee to go into.
You know, can you possibly do justice?
I think it’s seven or eight cases to all those things.
You know, but if they do, you know, and if they do find that something is faulty every place, well, then this really gives questions about, A, the mainstream media, and also our American historians, who seem to have been afraid to go into all the details about all of these cases, which the MLK, RFK, and JFK cases were really instrumental in what happened to America in the 60s.
There would have been no Vietnam War if those three men had lived, which means about 58,000 Americans would be alive today and about 3 million Vietnamese.
So there’s a whole change, a shift in the historical focus if those three people were killed by conspiracies.
Where we are today in 2025, we are finally getting some truth, more transparency.
Do you have faith going forward about the government in the U.S.?
Do you expect there could be other instances being covered up in the future?
Well, you know, it depends a lot on this congressional committee.
You know, if these things are done in the open, and if they’re done with the best information that we have, and the committee members are really honest about their job, I think it might have a significant impact, you know, going forward.
And I think it’ll be interesting to watch this.
And, Gabrielle, I think one thing to look for is how much pressure from the outside is put on this committee.
Because the MSM has a lot to lose if she comes out of the gate really swinging strong.
Okay.
Their credibility is going to be on the line.
So that will be a very interesting tell about how that committee is going to deal with the pressures from the outside.
They really don’t want this to happen.
James DiEugenio, thank you so much for your time.
How can we stay up to date with your work?
Okay.
I’m at kennedysandking.com.
That’s my website.
And I have a sub-stack under my name also.
So that’s how you can read the most current information in this case.
Thank you very much for having me on.
Really appreciate you coming on the program.
We’ll speak to you again soon.
Okay.
Bye-bye.
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Congress Attempts Forced Declassification
Congress will now try and force declassifications of documents in several cases, including the assassination of JFK. Read more.
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FBI Discover New JFK Files
The FBI says they have now located 2400 documents on the JFK case now known about before. Is Trump’s order working? Read more.
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A Step to Released Docs?
Is this step one in getting the last of the JFK field released according to Trump’s order? Read more.
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Trump and the JFK Files
Please read the article directly on Jim DiEugenio’s substack, which is currently free. Read here.
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Congressman moves to release the remaining JFK files
Arizona congressman moves to release the last of the Kennedy assassination classified files. Read more.
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The Protected JFK Files
The Protected JFK Files
With Donald Trump re-assuming the Presidency in January, it is time to ask the question: What will or what can President Trump do about the 3,600 protected JFK assassination records?
I use the word “protected” for a reason. The ARRB had the authority under the JFK Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act) to postpone the release of certain assassination records under very specific standards in the JFK Act. The ARRB made specific postponement and release decisions on each record that agencies sought to protect after 1998 when the ARRB’s work was done. Agencies do not have the right to protect those records in perpetuity, which is what we are facing today. This article will dissect the problem and what Trump and Congress can do about it. We will also discuss what information is likely found in the remaining protected records, which sheds significant light on WHY agencies are fighting so hard to maintain secrecy.
What will President Trump do? We do not know for sure. He has recently pledged to resist pressure from agencies and authorize the release of the remaining withheld records. Trump has Robert Kennedy, Jr. in his cabinet, who is no doubt committed to this effort. RFK, Jr. believes that the CIA is responsible for the assassination of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy. I agree, which is discussed in detail below. RFK, Jr.’s commitment is so serious that he is seeking to have Trump appoint his daughter-in-law as the new CIA Deputy Director. That might rattle some cages in Langley.
But in reality, all the CIA has to do is abide by the final decisions that the ARRB already made when it had the chance to negotiate with the ARRB on the final release date. In no event was any record to be withheld past October 26, 2017 under the clear language in the JFK Act. More than 7 years later, and 61 years after the JFK assassination, the agencies are still fighting harder than ever on this issue. The bottom line is that agencies, chiefly the CIA, cling to a fierce belief that it has the unrestricted power to break the law. The belief it has the authority to continue dictating to the President and to Congress the information that can be shared with the American public. That has to change, and the release of the protected JFK records would be a major step toward change in this power struggle on secrecy and transparency.
Understanding the Problem
Before we talk about the solutions that are available to President Trump and Congress, it is important to look at the reason for this problem. To examine the answer to the questions: Why is the CIA still willing to break the JFK Act and ignore the ARRB’s final decisions? Why did the CIA pressure both Presidents Trump and Biden to do the same between 2017 and today? I believe the answers lie with Lee Harvey Oswald and the 61-year cover up of his known assignments and activities and how they probably explain what happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963. At the very least, the protected records show that the CIA created a false identity for Oswald, used that to its advantage before and after the assassination, and has covered that up for 61 years.
Today, we have a very good idea of what information is likely in the CIA’s protected records, and only full public disclosure of those records can prove otherwise. Here is what we know today, and there is no legitimate dispute about it.
We know that the CIA sponsored an operation known as AMSPELL, which was designed to infiltrate leftist organizations in the U.S. that supported Castro’s regime in Cuba. The AMSPELL network included the DRE–Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil–an anti-Castro organization that operated in New Orleans in the summer of 1963. Its titular head was Carlos Bringuier, and according to Howard Hunt’s HSCA testimony, it was originated by David Phillips.
We know that the AMSPELL/DRE network had direct contact and involvement with Lee Harvey Oswald in New Orleans in August of 1963. Those activities resulted in a public and, in all likelihood, a staged altercation with Oswald, leading to his arrest. The result being that Oswald was detained in jail and paid a fine for receiving a punch from Bringuier.
We know also about operation AMSANTA, a joint FBI/CIA program designed to place willing Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) members into Cuba to collect intelligence. We also know that Oswald met at length with the FBI after his arrest—the visit lasted for well over an hour–while in police custody in New Orleans.
After Oswald’s arrest in New Orleans, the DRE leaders arranged for Oswald to appear on local TV and radio stations, where he flashed his fake Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) credentials and talked about his beliefs as a “pro-Castro Marxist”. The FPCC was the exact organization that these intelligence operations—FBI, CIA, DRE– were targeting. And Oswald was in the middle of it all.
The evidence strongly indicates that a CIA operation was used weeks later in Mexico City. Done to further advance the legend that Oswald was a “Castro patriot” desperately seeking entry into Cuba. A bit over six weeks later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas by the alleged “lone assassin” Oswald.
In Chapter Two of The JFK Assassination Chokeholds, Oswald’s intelligence connections are discussed at length. To put it mildly, he was no “lone nut” assassin.
We know that within hours of the assassination on November 22nd, CBS broadcasted to the world Oswald’s radio and TV interviews from New Orleans, where he discussed his “work” with the FPCC and claimed to be a “Marxist”. Where did CBS get all of this information on Oswald so suddenly? Was it through the CIA’s AMSPELL/DRE network?
We know of a project known as “Operation Northwoods”, a Pentagon scheme designed to provoke war with Cuba by using a “spectacular” act of violence in the United States, utilizing covert CIA personnel to arrange for the blame to fall on Casto. Creating pretext and public support for the President to finally invade Cuba. Is this not similar to what happened in Dallas on November 22? With Oswald, the Castro sympathizer, in perfect position to take the immediate blame? Thus provoking an invasion of Cuba.
A complete release of the withheld JFK assassination files would likely disprove the above. Yes, the JFK Act authorized agencies to request continued withholding of sensitive assassination records that could or would disclose an intelligence “source or method.” Those requests (thousands of them) were made to the ARRB in the 1990’s, and the ARRB was the arbiter. Only the President had authority to continue postponement if there was still clear and convincing evidence that a record, if disclosed publicly, could still harm a current intelligence source and method.
But back to the ultimate problem today. It is already known that agencies were using operations like AMSPELL and AMSANTA to infiltrate the FPCC. It is already known that the AMSPELL/DRE network had direct and public involvement with Oswald in New Orleans. It is already known that CIA officer George Joannides managed the AMSPELL operation in New Orleans that utilized Oswald’s fake FPCC credentials. We already know about the CIA operation in Mexico City involving Oswald (or more likely an imposter). Is then the AMSPELL/DRE operation involving Oswald and the FPCC still a current source and method? No.
There is an undeniable conclusion here. The only plausible reason for the intelligence agencies to fight tooth and nail on the remaining withheld records is that all information on Oswald, AMSPELL, AMSANTA and Mexico City would finally be public. And those intelligence operations played a part in what happened on November 22, 1963 in Dallas.
Solutions for Trump and Congress
In November, I had the chance to speak at the CAPA conference in Dallas on the legal status of this case. I had the pleasure of presenting with Larry Schnapf and Jacob Hornberger. The Mary Ferrell Foundation is still working through its lawsuit seeking compliance with the JFK Act. Of course, the Department of Justice lawyers are still fighting very hard to confuse the Ninth Circuit in California regarding the scope and purpose of the JFK Act. The Appellate Court will ultimately decide whether that case will change the momentum on this historic issue.
However, regardless of what happens with that lawsuit, I believe that President Trump and Congress can independently solve the problem without the need for more lengthy lawsuits.
New ARRB
Representatives in Congress are working on new legislation that would create an extension of the JFK Act. If successful, this legislation would create a new independent panel that would finish the historical work of the ARRB from the 1990’s. The new legislation should reiterate that the ARRB was the final arbiter on postponements and that only the President has the authority to make record-specific determinations on which assassination records, if any, still pose an identifiable harm to a current person or a current source or method of the agencies. That is what the JFK Act of 1992 already says!
An “ARRB 2.0” would start by locating and reviewing all of the final decisions made by the ARRB in the 1990’s and ensure that agencies have complied with those postponement and release decisions. A new ARRB should also be empowered to locate any assassination records that are still withheld entirely by agencies or not even archived at NARA as they are required to be. The new ARRB should then have authority to make record-specific final decisions on those records, similar to what the ARRB did 30 years ago.
In concert with this, Congress this time can actually use its oversight authority to ensure that the agencies are fully cooperating with the new ARRB. To ensure that the President exercises proper authority over executive branch records that agencies still wish to protect. And in the rarest of cases where an agency could still seek protection on a record or group of records, the President must make a record-specific determination on postponement under the standards of the JFK Act, as extended by Congress now. Again, congressional oversight committees had that authority in the original JFK Act of 1992. They did not utilize it.
President Donald Trump
The problem with new legislation is that we do not know if it will succeed in Washington, or if it does, how long it will take to enact. Trump, however, can take immediate action and has pledged to do so when he resumes office. He can rescind President Biden’s executive orders that made the issue worse (if that was even possible). Biden’s “Transparency Plans” practically encouraged continued secrecy from the agencies and did not actually require transparency.
Trump also needs to address what happened in 2017 when he authorized delays on the assassination records, which eventually led to Biden’s orders. What happened there? Trump himself has hinted at it in a recent interview with Joe Rogan. He privately told trusted advisor Andrew Napolitano that he wanted to release the records when he was President but was under severe pressure from agencies (namely the CIA and director Mike Pompeo) not to do so. Trump was misled on what the JFK Act required, and he was convinced that the remaining protected records were still “too sensitive” to release. Too sensitive in terms of who Oswald actually was and what he was doing? Or too sensitive for the CIA to explain in terms of the 60-year cover up of the operations involving Oswald and how they resulted in Dallas?
Trump can also address the faulty legal advice he received from the DOJ at the eleventh hour in 2017, which essentially re-wrote the JFK Act without legal authority and set the stage for more secrecy and postponements. The DOJ is using that same legal strategy in the aforementioned lawsuit. A new attorney general can ensure that the JFK Act is properly interpreted and that its purpose and intent is finally carried out.
Finally, there is talk about Trump authorizing a new Presidential Commission to investigate assassinations. I support this as well. No doubt this Presidential Commission would not be another Warren Commission that was set up by President Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover to cover up both Oswald and his known domestic intelligence connections. It could lead to a new investigation of the JFK case, the RFK case and the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on Trump himself.
Regardless, there is little doubt that Trump can have success on this issue if he orders compliance with the JFK Act of 1992, as currently written, and works with Congress on solutions it can provide. If he strikes the appropriate balance of following the JFK Act, while still protecting actual living persons and current sources and methods.
Conclusion
The agencies will not give up the fight. That is clear. We have discussed solutions. Perhaps the final withheld JFK records will not show much at all and that we are simply dealing with stubbornness and belief from agencies that they are above the law. Logic certainly dictates otherwise. All signs point to the withheld records containing a lot more information on Oswald and his assignments and activities in New Orleans, Mexico City and Dallas. And that various components of the CIA were sponsoring or guiding Oswald’s activities. Those records probably will not show a direct connection to the actual assassination operation in Dallas–but do they even need to at this point? We already know that the Joint Chiefs and the CIA-Mafia apparatus were itching to use a “Northwoods” type event to spark an invasion of Cuba. The intelligence operations connected to Oswald in New Orleans and Mexico City were probably the final piece to that plan. Regardless, it is time to let the records, already reviewed with scrutiny by the ARRB in the 1990’s, speak for themselves.
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JFK Records Release: Trump at it Again, Is he For Real This Time?
The delayed final release of the JFK Assassination records has been well documented on this website. It has been covered by the media when Presidents Trump and Biden have made historical and controversial decisions to continue delay of the release of the final Protected Collection. To best of our knowledge, over 4,600 assassination records are still withheld from the American public or redacted in part.
Why? The U.S. Government (through the notorious Warren Commission Report) continues to officially maintain that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President Kennedy as a “lone nut”. The Warren Report concluded that Jack Ruby assassinated Oswald on his own in a sudden “act of passion”. The Warren Report concluded that there was no evidence that Oswald and Ruby even knew each other.
In 1979, the House Select Committee on Associations (HSCA) dug further and concluded that Kennedy was “probably” killed in a conspiracy. The HSCA also cleared various services (that the conspiracy did not involve any group like the USSR, or Fidel Castro, Organized Crime, the FBI, the CIA or Secret Service. See Final Report, pp. 1,2). However, the HSCA also found that it could not exclude the possibility that individual members of the national syndicate of organized crime or anti-Castro Cubans were involved in a probable conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy.
That is the context for the obvious question: Based on the conclusions of the Warren Commission and the HSCA, why the need for continued secrecy in 2024? In 2024, 60 years have passed since the assassination, and more than 30 years have passed after Congress unanimously passed the JFK Records Collection Act of 1992 (the JFK Records Act). That is another article, and that question more than deserves an answer from the President, Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). This article explains what those offices and agencies are in fact doing (and more importantly not doing), why it is wrong, and why it is a direct violation of the JFK Records Act. We will conclude by explaining what can be done going forward to fix the ultimate problem. That problem is continued secrecy regarding the JFK Assassination records.
I
It is important to briefly explain the timeline of events since October 26, 2017. Why that date? That was the date established by Congress in 1992 for the mandatory final release of all government records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Why did Congress approve a 25-year release period in 1992, when the assassination occurred almost thirty (30) years prior in 1963? Congress found that specific reasons could warrant delay of release after 1992. And those reasons are very specific. They are listed in the JFK Records Act. Under the JFK Records Act, the President in 2017 was permitted to authorize further delay if (and only if) a specific record met the legal standard for continued withholding. In summary, the reason for delayed release must connect to a threat to current military or intelligence operations, identities of living persons or agents who could likely be harmed by release of a record, current security or protective procedures (i.e. Secret Service procedures), or the conduct of current foreign relations, the disclosure of which would demonstrably impair national security and outweigh the public interest in immediate disclosure.
As you can see, the prevailing theme and standard used by Congress was “current”. Meaning in 1992, the reason for delaying the release of an assassination record must then have been a current and specified concern. And that reason must still have been current and a substantial threat to the “national security” of the United States as of October 2017. Otherwise, the President, by October 26, 2017, was required to either release the assassination record(s) in full and without redactions, or certify in writing the specific reason for delay (under the standards of the JFK Act) for each and every record withheld. That presidential certification was to be in an unclassified record and available to the American public. This is what Congress required. There is no reasonable debate on this, regardless of if one still believes the Warren Report or an alternative.
It is undisputed that President Trump failed to provide a record-by-record certification for delay past October 26, 2017. In reality, Presidents Clinton, Bush (George W.) and Obama also failed to meet that duty under the JFK Records Act. Why? In all likelihood, those presidents did not receive adequate and objective advice from legal counsel on their actual duties under the JFK Act. As explained below, President Trump clearly did not receive objective or timely legal advice on this historical issue. Or the issue was perhaps too controversial for the office of the President when other matters of transparency and “national security” were more pressing in their view. The reason does not matter. The law was clear and the mandate from Congress was clear. The JFK Act was unanimously approved by Congress in 1992. In the JFK Records Act, Congress declared in 1992: “most of the records related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy are almost 30 years old, and only in the rarest of cases is there any legitimate need for continued protection of such records.”
So what happened on October 26, 2017? We know that Trump intended to authorize the full release of all assassination records that were still withheld at that time. He said so publicly. Instead, at the eleventh hour Trump, by Executive Memorandum, authorized a 6-month delay for agencies to review any remaining withheld records and complete the declassification job. Trump then authorized another 3-year delay, which ultimately transferred responsibility to the Biden administration. Notably, Trump did not attempt to rewrite the law. By all accounts, Trump simply authorized further delay under pressure from government agencies who were determined to keep certain assassination records secret no matter the cost.
II
Trump’s Executive Memorandum prompted troubling reactions by Thomas Samoluk and Judge John Tunheim of the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB). The ARRB was an independent agency established by Congress in the 1992 JFK Records Act, whose sole mission was to ensure declassification under the standards of the JFK Records Act through an accountable and enforceable process.
Samoluk: “It is really frustrating what has happened. Because the law said that anything that was not released … needed to be released under the law by October 26, 2017. Now there is a clause that says if the president certifies, under certain conditions, that the records would not be released. I don’t think the process under the law was followed. The records have not been released in total, and I don’t think any good reasons have been given.” (James DiEugenio, JFK Revisited, p. 389)
Judge John Tunheim: “The information (non-declassified documents) was intended to be released in 2017. Only under extreme circumstances was a president in 2017 supposed to continue to protect records. And they didn’t, as near as I can tell, they didn’t provide that certification.” (ibid, pp. 347-48)
Then, matters got worse. Far worse. In October of 2021, Biden issued an “Executive Memorandum” authorizing another delay until December 15, 2022 for agencies and government offices to make “final decisions” on the release of withheld records. In this Memorandum, Biden empowered agencies to make their own decisions on releasing assassination records generated by their agency. Let that sink in. President Biden told agencies, the very agencies who have maintained secrecy regarding the assassination since 1963, to run the show. To release their records when they felt “comfortable” doing so.
In June of 2023, President Biden then issued his “Maximum Transparency” Executive Memorandum. Despite the clear mandates imposed by the JFK Records Act to establish an “accountable” and “enforceable” process for full disclosure, and despite the explicit requirement that each withheld assassination record be accounted for with an unclassified identification aid, the President’s June 30, 2023 Memorandum does not identify or account for a single withheld assassination record. Biden’s “Transparency Plans” – originated by the CIA – are the opposite of transparency. It is government secrecy in its most egregious form.
The illegality of Biden’s orders (not approved by Congress or NARA, that we know of) cannot be understated. It was a presidential attempt (unwittingly or not) to destroy the purposes of the JFK Act – a law that Biden voted in favor of when he was a senator in 1992. Trump’s orders were also in violation of the JFK Act. Biden’s were even worse – telling agencies that they could make their own declassification decisions. If this does not ensure continued secrecy, it is difficult to imagine what could.
III
So, here we are in the summer of 2024. To our knowledge, the agencies with this unsubstantiated “power” have done nothing. Congressional oversight committees are undoubtedly aware of this historical declassification issue, or at least they should be. To date, oversight committees have done nothing about the fact that the Office of the President has unilaterally and illegally rewrote the law with a presidential pen. They have done nothing about the fact that the President has seized control over their own Congressional records. It is critical to note that Congressional oversight committees (both House and Senate) have express legal authority under the JFK Records Act to ensure complete declassification under the standards and timeline of the JFK Records Act. In other words, when the ARRB finished its original mandate in 1998, Congressional oversight committees had the authority and duty to take whatever action necessary to ensure that agencies and government offices complied with the JFK Records Act. A historical law that was intended to restore faith in government transparency.
This author personally attended a meeting of the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) in June 2021. According to NARA’s website, the purpose of the PIDB is to advise the President regarding issues pertaining to national classification and declassification policy. The PIDB’s mandate is to promote “the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record of significant U.S. national security decisions and activities.” Further, the PIDB was established by Congress to advise the President and other executive branch officials on the “identification, collection, review for declassification, and release of declassified records and materials of archival value.”
On the June 2021 meeting agenda (of the PIDB) with respect to JFK assassination records was a) Potential John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection records review; b) Increase public awareness; and c) Congressional engagement. Despite an apparent attempt by the PIDB to recognize this problem, Congressional oversight committees have done nothing. President Biden (assuming he was properly advised by the PIDB) made this historical secrecy issue even worse. Rather than recognizing the critical issue, increasing public awareness and imploring Congress to engage on the issue, the Biden administration issued “Transparency Plans” that put the declassification decisions squarely in the hands of the agencies that have held assassination records close to the vest since the Warren Commission was established immediately after JFK’s assassination.
Donald Trump Returns
Those who seek the right to see the remaining “Protected Collection” of JFK assassination records recently learned of some seemingly positive news. Former President Trump (running for election again in November 2024) recently made a pledge on the Fox & Friends Weekend program. Trump was asked what he would do to restore the American people’s trust in government institutions. Trump was asked if he would declassify the withheld JFK assassination records. Trump said he would declassify them and that he already “did a lot of it”.
Trump’s feelings on the matter when leaving office are also clear. Former Fox commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano was a frequent advisor to Trump during his presidency. When discussing “unfinished business” in his presidency, Judge Napolitano reminded Trump about his unfulfilled pledge in 2017 to release the remaining JFK records. Trump said to his friend and advisor Judge Napolitano: “Judge, if they showed you what they showed me, you wouldn’t have released it either.”
It now appears that Trump was pressured and intimidated in 2017 when he had to make a historical decision on declassification and transparency. If Trump can be intimidated, then what was to stop a lifelong politician and establishment loyalist like Joe Biden? All signs appear to point to Trump’s CIA “advisors” in 2017. Tucker Carlson reported on this, before he was fired by Fox News soon thereafter.
Is there a Path to Success in Declassification of the JFK Records?
We have summarized the developments in this matter since 2017, starting with Trump’s first postponement decision. A lawsuit was filed in 2022 by the Mary Ferrell Foundation to enforce the JFK Records Act, but predictably the DOJ’s lawyers have strenuously defended that legal effort.
So what is a different path to achieving full transparency and declassification on the JFK records? The path is clear and actually quite simple. It does not matter which President takes this path. It could be Trump, Biden or another candidate running in 2024. It would be more difficult for Biden because he would literally have to do a full pivot, reverse his recent Executive orders, come up with plausible reasons for doing so, and then instruct agencies (and his own Executive team) to follow the JFK Act and be accountable for that task. Trump’s path is difficult but less difficult, and I will explain why. Any President, however, can successfully overcome the continued disturbing trend of secrecy regarding the JFK assassination records, and look like a strong and decisive U.S. President while doing so.
If Trump is elected again, he can explain what he experienced in October 2017. He can explain what he told Judge Andrew Napolitano and why. He can explain why felt that he had no choice under last minute pressure from agencies in October 2017 (and again in 2018), including pressure from the CIA.
During this upcoming campaign Trump can explain how he received faulty legal advice from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel at the eleventh hour in making his decisions on the JFK Records, which he did. Trump can obtain an objective and clinical legal analysis demonstrating how the JFK Records Act was intended (by Congress) to operate. Trump can declare with confidence, after receiving competent and objective legal counsel, that the JFK Act was NOT intended for the President–30 years after the passage of the JFK Act–to rewrite the law with a presidential pen. Trump would surely attempt to embarrass Biden regarding his more recent orders, but the issue does not change.
Trump can acknowledge and endorse the recent Tucker Carlson reporting. Trump can pledge to rescind and reverse ALL of Biden’s executive orders on this historical issue. Trump can pledge to issue a new executive order requiring all agencies and NARA to immediately comply with provisions of the JFK Records Act that require an unclassified identification of each assassination record still withheld and why each record should still be withheld today under the standards of the JFK Act. Trump can establish a reasonable deadline for agencies and NARA to complete this ministerial work for the remaining Protected Collection. It could be 6 months, it could be 9 months. But no more arbitrary extensions or delays. Trump could then make a final and independent Presidential decision after receiving this required information from the agencies. And that decision must relate to an identifiable harm as currently posed by a specific record(s).
What else could Trump do? He could acknowledge Jefferson Morley’s efforts and the serious problem with George Joannides. It is now undisputed that Joannides ran a CIA anti-Castro operation that was connected to Lee Harvey Oswald. It is now clear that Joannides stonewalled the HSCA in a clandestine CIA operation determined to maintain secrecy on the CIA anti-Castro operations, no matter the cost. Trump may not go there, but the history on Joannides is clearly one of the reasons why the CIA is determined to maintain secrecy in the remaining Protected Collection.
IV
What about Congress? They also cannot keep hiding on this issue. Imagine the breath of fresh air in the House if instead of pursuing an impeachment that will not happen, Rep. James Comer actually called the National Archives and John Tunheim and Jeff Morley to testify about why the JFK Records are still classified? That committee is controlled by the Democrats in the senate, chairman Gary Peters of Michigan. Peters could call both Trump and independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. They could suggest—particularly the latter—that Congress immediately establish a new ARRB to enforce the standing requirements of the JFK Act. As events have unfolded, NARA and the intelligence agencies have proved inadequate or unwilling to do the job. At this date, there needs to be a plan to guarantee accountability and enforcement. The new ARRB would locate all the crucial Final Determination Forms (originated by the first ARRB) for remaining withheld records, make INDEPENDENT final determinations (as of 2024), and provide a report to Trump or Kennedy so they can make reliable and independent decisions on his presidential certifications for complete declassification. Both men can use this during the remaining days of the campaign. What is to stop them What is to stop both men from taking these steps supported by the actual law? Would that not resonate with the public a heck of a lot more than Hunter Biden’s drug addiction? Trump and Kennedy could contrast this plan with Biden’s rewrite of the JFK Act. For once a presidential candidate could promise to do something right about the JFK records.
If Biden is Re-Elected
Once placed on the defensive, President Biden can take the same steps that Trump could take. However, that would require him to acknowledge that Trump made rushed decisions with pressure from agencies. It would require Biden to recognize that Trump received faulty DOJ legal advice that was aimed at delay and delay only. That his (Biden’s) team has done more legal research and now recognizes how the JFK Records Act is actually supposed to work. Biden would have to rescind and reverse his executive orders and his “Transparency Plans” and somehow explain that they were issued in good faith but they now need a substantial overhaul. That is a tall task, especially with an opponent like Trump. However, the public should eventually appreciate the transparency and a serious effort to do the job correctly.
To be clear, this article is not an endorsement of any candidate for the Office of the President. We have done our best to report the actual record and the issues currently at hand. The Independent, Republican or the Democratic nominee can pledge to follow the JFK Records Act and get this done. Lay out an actual plan, and a clear path as suggested above.
V
If Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was elected and took a similar path, he would also be following the law and erasing the history of secrecy regarding the JFK Records. He is on record that he plans to do so. On the 60th anniversary of JFK’s assassination (November 2023), RFK Jr. petitioned President Biden to release all government records concerning the assassination of his uncle. RFK Jr.’s position is squarely in line with the language and intent of the JFK Records Act of 1992. In his petition, RFK Jr. states: “The 1992 Kennedy Records Assassination Act mandated the release of all records related to the JFK assassination by 2017. Trump refused to do it. Biden refused to do it. What is so embarrassing that they’re afraid to show the American public 60 years later?” RFK Jr. simply called upon Biden to obey the JFK Act and release all assassination records to the public. The petition received more than 20,000 signatures.
President Seizing Control Over Congressional Records
What Trump and Biden may not know is that they have repeatedly and illegally assumed control over “non-executive branch” assassination records. These records include House and Senate records, largely originating from the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) and the Senate’s Church Committee. Congress was very careful in drafting the JFK Records Act to not yield any authority (to the President) over non-executive branch records. Section 9(d)(1) of the JFK Records Act explicitly limits presidential authority to classification decisions on executive branch records only.
What impact does this have on the current state of the JFK assassination records still held secret in the Protected Collection? It means that any Presidential postponement of a non-executive branch record is unlawful and that by law, every single record that originated from the HSCA and the Church Committee in the 1970’s should have been fully publicly disclosed on October 26, 2017. No questions asked. No Presidential discretion.
When Trump and Biden made their postponement decisions, Congress should have stepped in to protect their authority over their own records and processes. To date, Congress has failed to schedule any oversight hearing or call on any official to account for non-compliance under the JFK Records Act. These officials would include NARA, intelligence agencies and of course the Executive Office of the President. As mentioned before, both ARRB Chair Tunheim and Tom Samoluk, his deputy, are on record as strongly disagreeing with the stonewalling.
The next President can simply implore Congress to unite on this historical transparency issue and take control of its own records. To follow the language and intent of the law that it passed unanimously in 1992 to ensure proper declassification and transparency. To reconvene and appoint a new independent ARRB to do the exact job it was empowered to do under the JFK Act. A job that it did well during its life span from 1994 to 1998. The ARRB simply did not have enough time, partly because of limited funding, partly due to resistance from agencies determined to maintain secrecy no matter the cost. If there is an issue for the next President on the question of immediately declassifying the JFK Records, after 61 years it is difficult to imagine what it could be.
Conclusion
Over4,600 assassination records are still withheld or redacted in the “Protected” JFK Collection. The President can achieve full declassification without harming any current military defense or intelligence operations. The President can do this without posing a current harm or risk to any living person who was involved in or had confidential information regarding JFK’s assassination. The President can do this job without posing a threat to current foreign relations or policies. And if there are somehow identifiable and legitimate legal reasons for postponement that still exist in 2024, the President can simply follow the law and issue record-specific certifications for each record that could still warrant continued postponement under the standards of the JFK Records Act. It’s that simple. Otherwise, the President (whoever that may be) will have to go to Congress and request that it rescind the JFK Records Act of 1992 and pass a new law that supports the recent trend of secrecy and supports Biden’s “Transparency Plans”. In this authors’ view that would be a direct reversal of the historical JFK Records Act that was intended to ensure declassification through an accountable and enforceable process. It would be fascinating to see how that would be received by the American public and the rest of the world.
Decisive action and leadership from the President as discussed above would be based purely on the law and the result that the JFK Act was supposed to achieve – to “fully inform the American people about the history surrounding the assassination of President F. Kennedy.” That is a direct quote from Congress in the 1992 JFK Records Act.
Regardless of how the next President acts on this issue, remember that Congressional oversight committees are not off the hook either. Congress can re-establish control of non-executive branch records related to the JFK assassination and appoint a new ARRB if the President fails to do so. That is a point that should not be ignored. The original act was one passed by congress, with Senator Joe Biden voting for it.
There is a path for the next President to follow the existing law that governs the declassification of JFK Assassination Records. Otherwise, the President and Congress would need to work together to re-write that law and follow the existing pattern of secrecy. The choice should be easy.