After JFK Facts asked all 2016 presidential candidates to answer the JFK challenge, one reader pointed out that Hillary Clinton already has.At a January 29, 2008, appearance at Tennessee State University in Nashville, candidate Clinton was asked about whether she favored the release of all CIA records related to the assassination. She responded positively.
“You all deserve to know what your government has done and is doing,” she said adding, she would “do whatever I can to release information consistent with legitimate concerns about national security.”
Actually, “national security,” which is not a factor because it is extremely unlikely that there is any national security information in the remaining classified JFK files.
Background:
Will Jeb Bush follow his father on JFK records?
About the National Archives’ plans to declassify 3,600 JFK documents in October 2017.
Politico’s Bryan Bender on Why the last of the JFK records could embarrass the CIA.
What is the JFK Assassination Records Act?
I agree that the release of JFK documents now held by the CIA and other federal agencies will come to light via Wikileaks or another internet source. The government loves it secrets and no presidential candidate, certainly not Hellery Clinton, truly intends to spend their political capital to go up against entrenched bureaucracy.
I see a JFK Wikileaks in my crystal ball…….. no, wait. It was just a false alarm, Amelia.
As often as Hillary changes positions…I wouldn’t hold my breath.
ofcourse she said yes. You expected her to say no? Shes a polititian. Once she wins she wouldnt do a thing. Thats how she rolls.
It is naive to petition the perpetrator to admit guilt of their own crimes.
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If she handles it the way TWA800 was handled, don’t hold your breath.
I don’t see how one can see anything positive in Clinton’s statement. She expressly conditions her position with the phrase “consistent with legitimate concerns about national security.” “National security” is precisely the excuse that the national-security establishment would use to justify another 5-10 years of concealment.
“I don’t see how one can see anything positive in Clinton’s statement.”
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Jacob:
Let’s say that you are a presidential candidate. What would you have replied?
Or, more realistically: if you were an adviser to Mrs. Clinton, what would you have advised her to say?
Ramon, How about this:
Any suggestion that releasing the CIA’s half-century-old files on the Kennedy assassination would threaten “national security” (whatever that flexible and nebulous term might mean) is patently ridiculous. Enough is enough. As President Kennedy himself stated, “The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society.” I hereby unequivocally and unconditionally promise that if I am elected president, I will reject any request any request by the CIA or anyone else to delay the National Archives scheduled release of all its JFK files and records in October 2017.
All running for office would probably say the same thing Hillary Clinton said, all adding the “national security” issue. The popular thing to do before the actual election. I’m sure they are “advised” on what to say concerning the JFK files if asked or pressured on the matter. This came as no surprise especially since it has already been announced that they will be released in October, 2017. Highly likely they will be released with no problems and without Hillary Clinton’s orders to release them…..if she is elected.
A complete release may disclose “methods” that are still in use today, namely cypher analysis and wire/less intercepts. In internal discussions, government officials will use “methods” as a “legitimate and necessary” reason to withhold information – not the deeds of the deceased bad-players of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s.
Does anyone doubt that we broke all the Soviet (and BTW Cuban)codes long before 1963? Do we want Putin to know that we’ve probably done the same today? Think about 100’s of our Cray’s battling the old IBM-iron the Russians use, and then decide if the real JFK story will ever come from our government’s records.
“A complete release may disclose “methods” that are still in use today, namely cypher analysis and wireless intercepts.”
Edward Snowden told us all about it (as if we didn’t know!). Additionally, Marco Rubio hit the proverbial nail on the head:
“Let’s face it. We [countries] all spy on each other.”.
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“Do we want Putin to know that we’ve probably done the same today?”
Putin’s mathematicians are better than ours.
her history of secrecy with out own files going back to the Rose Law Firm billing records suggests that she will not aggressively push for the release of remaining JFK records–
I have to wonder, in light of the relationship Bill has developed with GHWB, might she not waffle on this if elected? She was quick to mention national Security. Her quick answer to “a question she’d never been asked” was encouraging.
“might she not waffle on this if elected?”
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We need a little perspective here. I am referring not only to Ronnie but to most posters in this thread.
Months ago, a time capsule was found under the Massachusetts Capitol. It was front page news for several days with many in the nation expectantly awaiting for it to be opened, its contents divulged. There were all kinds of public speculation.
http://www.history.com/news/contents-of-boston-time-capsule-buried-by-samuel-adams-and-paul-revere-unveiled
Decades before that, it was Geraldo Rivera (changed the world, with another revelation) who announced that a bank vault which *perhaps* held Al Capone’s trove would be opened in Chicago.
Again, the nation awaited with breathless anticipation.
Can you imagine the level of frustration -even rage- if the Bostonians or Geraldo had waffled?
Next, multiply the level of suspense hundredfold or more.
The friendship between Bill Clinton and Poppy Bush has the strength of children digging in a beach’s sand, compared with the continent-forming tectonic plate forces related to the JFK mystery. No less than the viability of democracy, the mutual trust is at stake.
For those documents to remain sealed, two things are required.
(a) The Agencies must manifest their disagreement to disclosure, write to the president, on a document by document basis.
(b) The president would be willing to waste a shipload of political capital, by infuriating not only the American voter but the world at large. All for a little caprice.
I have serious trouble visualizing Hillary:
“Gee, I don’t know… Bill and George (who may well be dead at the time!) are such buddies… I’d hate to break them apart!”.
How could she possibly explain her illogical refusal to her close people and expect them to stay loyal -and around?
Additionally, I don’t see one reason for either the agencies or the Bushes to attempt to stop the Tsunami.
Stop the Tsunami? There’s not one yet. We post here but most see FOX, CNN, MSNBC where they hear nothing of Facts. The Mockingbird still sings, quite loud.
Operation 40. Iran-Contra. Bill, George, something about Barry Seal and cocaine. No reasons.
If I’m wrong I hope he or someone else will correct me, but… In response to a post I made a few months back the respected Dan Hardway responded. I thought he said GHWB retained the right, even as a former President to extend the deadline if he should so wish. I.E., if he’s still breathing and can sign his name in the fall of 2017 he can delay the release of the files. Once again please correct me if untrue.
[Ronnie:]
“I thought he [Hardway] said GHWB retained the right, even as a former President to extend the deadline if he should so wish. I.E., if he’s still breathing and can sign his name in the fall of 2017 he can delay the release of the files. Once again please correct me if untrue.”
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It will be my distinct privilege to correct you.
Anybody who knows anything about Constitutional Law will tell you that George the Elder reserved the right to extend the release dates during:
(1) The 86 days that he had left as president.
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/durationresult.html?m1=10&d1=26&y1=1992&m2=01&d2=20&y2=1993
(2) The 4 additional years for which he was hoping.
Alas, the latter never materialized and as a result now you have as much power as he does to delay anything…
(Then again, you don’t happen to have a child running for president, do you?).
This is not Cuba where Fidel quits and as soon as Raul begins making enthusiastic overtures to capitalism, is promptly shut down by an article penned by his brother in Granma.
For completeness, this is exactly what Poppy Bush said:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=21673.
Thank you very much. I’m no legal expert or pretend to be. I just further assumed Presidential powers might carry forward until death, especially with oversight by the CIA he oversaw at three points.
“You all deserve to know what your government has done and is doing,” she said adding, she would “do whatever I can to release information consistent with legitimate concerns about national security.”
And we should trust and believe her because…? Tell you what. Ask her what funny business the CIA and Barry Seal was up to in Mena, Arkansas in the 1980’s with the compliance of her husband who was governor of the state. And why Bill and Poppy Bush are such close friends. I guarantee she won’t answer nor will she EVER release any files on JFK that the CIA hasn’t already destroyed. Rodham is rottenly corrupt.
[Rick G.:]
“I guarantee she won’t […] EVER release any files on JFK”
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Rick,
to be frank, at first I was puzzled by the bold self-assuredness of your statement. “How can he be so certain?”, I wondered.
Then it hit me! Of course president Hillary Clinton (or any other) will not release any documents!
That happens to be the responsibility of Ms. Martha Murphy.
“National Archives details plans for JFK disclosures in 2017”
https://jfkfacts.org/assassination/news/national-archives-details-plans-for-jfk-disclosures-in-2017/
I agree, Ramon. “Whatever I can….consistent with legitimate concerns” Not “I will definitely push for release of all relevant documents.”
Ramon, I am as self assured as Rick G., and not because of the technical caveat you bring up. but because as Rick notes, Hillary is as rotten and corrupt an apple as anyone in the federal government.
And when you think about the Left & Right, or the Democrats & Republicans and thing there is some fundamental difference, you are looking at it the wrong way. Think of one party as the Giovanni family and the other as the Gambino’s. they may have disputes and shoot each other once in awhile over profits from the game – but if the game itself is endangered, they come together as one united force.
The federal government is a racket.
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Calling for the release of all JFK records is impressive rhetoric to garner votes but is an entirely different reality when locking horns with the agencies withholding those records in defiance of the JFK Records Act.
If Mrs. Clinton wins the next election & handles locking horns with agencies over the unreleased JFK records (& handles it like she did the 2012 Benghazi attack on the Libyan Consulate), the Agencies will win. If they were still alive, J. Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith & 2 CIA contractors would attest to how effective a fighter Mrs. Clinton was on their behalf.
No one knows better than Jeff Morley what tangling with the Agency over JFK records is like.
At this point, the “national security” excuse is genuinely puzzling. The Soviet Union doesn’t even exist anymore, so it’s unlikely that any agents will be put in danger by having their identities exposed. Is it even possible that anyone is still working for the CIA who was working there in 1963? What “national security” concerns could possibly be legitimate half a century later?
At one time it may have been in the nation’s security to keep some records secret but now it’s in the interests of our national security to release everything. The problem is that there is still so many records being with held they can’t tell us how many.
I agree with your view, but I don’t think the CIA would. If it is the case that the CIA were involved ,then the effect of revealing this would reduce confidence in the control over it and in the belief that it is acting in the best interests of the Nation. I think that is a massive and ongoing National Security issue, and leads me to beleive the truth can only come out with a lot of political will.
Thanks for posting that Jeff. Obviously release of withheld JFK assassination records is a serious issue for candidates to address for 2016. The President in office in 2017 will decide on any requests by agencies to continue to withhold records. People who care about this should attend political events and ask this question to candidates and let Jeff know what answer is forthcoming.
This is good. Very good. I think the only thing that has changed since her run in 2008 to now is more people are saying there was a conspiracy to kill JFK. I’d like to think that anyway.
Hello
I am very interested in who assassinated JFK and JFK, Jr.
I am very interested in who caused the dustification of the WTC buildings.
I do not “believe” in related theories.
Still, I am very interested in related theories.
For JFK we have a photo of a guy holding a rifle on a sunny day in his yard.
For the WTC dustification event we have head shot photos of 19 Egyptian guys from a list
found in a duffle bag in Seattle.
And we also have a new legal two word combination that has become a legal explanation like “unlawful detainer,” or “domestic terrorist” and this word is used to explain everything we will ever need to know: “Conspiracy Theory.” So, keep quiet. Get back in line. Nothing to see here. Move along. Go home, work hard and play by the rules. God bless America.