Howard Willens, former staff attorney on the Warren Commission, remains one of its most vigorous public defenders 50-plus years later.
…‘I was naive to say the least:’ Q&A with Howard Willens of the Warren CommissionRead More »
As for those 14,000+ JFK files that still contain redactions, some friends tell me, “There’s nothing in there of significance.” This is reassuring. But is it true?
We may find out later this year. President Biden has ordered all JFK files to released by December 15, 2022. I’m looking forward to seeing the unredacted files of those CIA officers most knowledgable about Lee Harvey Oswald before JFK was killed.
For example, Birch Dilworth O’Neal. O’Neal’s 224 page CIA personnel file, released in April 2018, still has scores of redactions.
Why is Birch O’Neal significant?
…Nothing in the JFK files? Take a look at Birch O’Neal.Read More »
After I read Robert Reynold’s piece in Washington Decoded, I wrote him a note in our JFK researchers list serve.
…JFK Most Wanted: Three Key CIA Files That Need to Be DeclassifiedRead More »
I recently spoke with Justin Black, host of the the SpyCraft101 podcast, about The Ghost, my 2017 biography of the legendary counterintelligence chief.
I got a nice from The Alarmist after we had this conversation last week:
…Putting the JFK Story in Context for The AlarmistRead More »
The secret JFK assassinations files now under review at the White House include the records of senior CIA officers who knew about the supposed assassin Lee Harvey Oswald before President Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963.
The Public Interest Declassification Board, which advises the president on historical issues, has urged President Biden to insure “maximum disclosure” in JFK files, set for release on October 26. Sabato’s Crystal Ball has examined the uneven enforcement of the JFK Records Act. WhoWhatWhy asks, “Will Biden Follow the Law?”
I want to share with readers, reporters, and Twitter, what is on the public record about these officers, individually and collectively. These files may shed light on the breakdown of presidential security in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
…
From the Secret JFK Files, Praise for a CIA Officer Who Monitored OswaldRead More »
I’d never heard of Tommy Carrigan, an enthusiastic podcaster with a taste for military and intelligence books, before he invited me on his show to talk about THE GHOST, my biography of James Angleton, chief of CIA counterintelligence.
We spoke on the day after the 57th anniversary of the assassination of the President John F. Kennedy, and naturally the JFK story came up.
Read on here.
[ICYMI: Part I : A veteran officer analyzes the death of a president / Part II: ‘The very top people.’ / Part III: The making of a patsy ]
The killing of Lee Harvey Oswald is another key to Rolf Mowatt-Larssen’s JFK analysis. He argues that one of the conspirators had to have had access to the Mafia bosses who could induce Jack Ruby to eliminate the accused assassin as a witness.
…CIA tradecraft & JFK’s assassination: ‘I’m not privy to who struck John’Read More »
I’m re-upping this post from two years ago, because the point needs emphasizing and praise is due.
The Canadian Broadcasting Company–more than any U.S. media organization–recognized the single most important finding to come out in the very incomplete JFK document release in 2017-18.
The Fifth Estate show on CBC News understood a fact that leading historians resist: Accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was not a “lone nut.” He was the target of CIA surveillance for four years before Kennedy was killed.
Documents released recently by the U.S. National Archives on President John F. Kennedy’s assassination suggest the CIA was watching Lee Harvey Oswald much more closely than previously thought before the fatal shot was fired in Dallas, an author tells The Fifth Estate.Former Washington Post reporter and author Jefferson Morley told The Fifth Estate the official story was that Oswald came out of nowhere and shot the president on Nov. 22, 1963. “What the files show is that’s a cover story. It’s not true. High level CIA officials were paying attention to Oswald from 1959 to November 1963,” said Morley, author of several books on the assassination, the CIA and a JFK website.
The highest of those officials was counterintelligence chief James Angleton.
For the full story on the legendary Angleton, go here.
I
A recent Daily Mail article on JFK’s assassination highlighted James Johnson’s new book, Murder Inc.: The CIA Under President John F. Kennedy which argues Cuba government may have been involved.
There are many reasons to doubt this conspiracy theory, which I detailed in this 2012 article for Salon. Those reasons still apply. But Johnson is right about one thing: The central role of James Angleton, CIA counterintelligence chief in obstructing the JFK investigation is highly suspicious. Those suspicions, in fact, reached the highest levels of the CIA itself.
…Inside the CIA, JFK suspicions turned to James AngletonRead More »
The reason James Angleton’s still-secret testimony to the Church Committee matters in 2017 is found in this Warren Commission document.
It states:
…19) Origins of the cover-up: ‘Jim [Angleton] would prefer to wait out the Commission’Read More »
John Whitten is a rare hero of the JFK story.
…18) Dec 24, 1963: CIA official investigating Oswald is ‘sandbagged’ by his bossesRead More »
I make a strong claim about the CIA and Lee Harvey Oswald in this video. I think the new JFK files corroborate my observation. But I’d like to get independent verification, preferably from a reputable fact-checking service like Snopes.
…2) WATCH: ‘Oswald was known to a dozen senior CIA officials’Read More »
One of the most significant new JFK assassination files concerns a CIA officer you almost certainly never never heard of.
Birch O’Neal is virtually unknown in the vast literature of JFK’s assassination. He is not mentioned in the reports of the Warren Commission or the House Select Committee on Assassinations. He figures in no conspiracy theories.
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