The National Archives is getting serious about a big JFK records data dump in October 2017, according to officials who spoke at a public meeting in Washington today.
At the 25:00 mark in this video Martha Murphy of the National Archives outlines plans for declassification of still-classified JFK files in 2017.
A JFK Facts reader was there and filed this report.
“The program consisted of two presentations and a panel. The second presenter was Martha Murphy whose topic was an update on how the Archives are handling JFK Assassination records. She said the JFK collection consists of approximately 5 million pages. During fiscal 2014 they analyzed the scope of the project to release withheld records in 2017. As of Oct. 2014 they have assigned four archivists to work on the project along with three technicians for scanning.
“The date Murphy posted for the effective date of the JFK Act was October 26, 1992, so presumably the release date is October 26, 2017, twenty-five years later. She used a slide that said 88 percent of the records in the collection were released in full; .01% were withheld in full; and 11% were partially withheld (I am assuming that 1% withheld in full is the correct number, otherwise it does not add to 100%).
“Murphy made it clear that in 2017 all withheld information will be released unless the President orders otherwise, whether withheld in full or partially withheld. She said they are currently perfecting the index because there are errors or missing information in the index as to the status of records. Also they are notifying agencies that information will be released in 2017 unless the President orders otherwise, i.e. that release is the default position.
“Murphy said their intention is to post the released information on the web and then integrate the newly released records into existing files.”
Yeah, like their really going to release self incriminating evidence against themselves. This may be a colossal waste of time and resources. Most of the illegal things done by them were “side jobs” ‘in other words CIA men moonlighting for extra cash. Do you think that those deeds will be included in their daily reports?
Side jobs? With the entire U.S. government involved from before, during, and after the assassination. LBJ, Helms, Dulles, Hoove, et al ad nauseum were up to their ears in this. Since they’re all dead, it’d be nothing now but an embarrassment. Of course, if the cabal still thrives with different actors…
“Most of the illegal things done by them were “side jobs” ~edgeydave1
I have always found this idea of “rogue elements” being blamed to be jejune, when one considers the whole picture. Even Peter Dale Scott falls back on the meme of ‘rogue elements’, but this does not account for the totality of the ongoing cover-up for more than half a century.
The coup was systemic, and sanctioned by the highest levels of power, this is the only answer to the perpetuity of the cover-up.
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So will they break the law and reveal names of Agents, informants, methods and sources or will they expect the president, most likely Hillary or Jeb to break the law. Has Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton ever wanted secrets released? Is anyone here expecting the government in essence, to confess?
Sources and methods from 50 years ago are immaterial, and how many agents and informents are still above ground? I mean besides George H. W. Bush, that is.
Don’t miss the “CIA Historian” (what an odd job that must be) from 32:20 to 42:00. Around the 41:50 mark he wraps up by talking about how most people think CIA covert ops are just a “boom and bang” thing (unfortunate but revealing word choice – especially for JFKfacts.org) and they’re finished, but really there’s a lot more to them. Yeah, we get that, given George Joannides’ CIA retirement project of babysitting the HSCA investigators 15 years after JFK’s death, not to mention that huge pile of still-unreleased CIA JFK records.
Wow, the first 7 minutes of this video are so riveting … like watching paint dry, or listening to John McAdams defend the Warren Commission.
Make sure you only start watching at 7:00, folks!
Can you put up the emails from Ms. Murphy so we can have some documentation of this correction? Thanks for all of this btw.
you are all missing the Bush point: Jeb Bush (if elected, which he will not be) will certainly suppress records, not because the Bush family killed JFK, but because of Bush sr.’s foreknowledge of the Letelier murder (which has personnel connections to the JFK killing) and because of Jeb and Sr’s ties to Orland Bosch and Luis Posada.
Quite unlikely that Bush Sr was involved in the assassination.
Avinash,
Thank you for clearing that question up! Now kindly answer this question…. does Bush owe the American people any explanation?
At Gerald Ford’s funeral, Bush announced.:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/washington/02cnd-ford-ghwb.html?_r=0 “…And the conspiracy theorists can say what they will, but the Warren Commission report will always have the final definitive say on this tragic matter. Why? Because Jerry Ford put his name on it and Jerry Ford’s word was always good….”
http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=12758&relPageId=2 “…I learned that Mr. George HW Bush, DCI designate has prior knowledge of the now terminated Project…” http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?docId=64083&relPageId=2 “…WUbriny/1 … why M. Charles was accompanied by George DeMohrenschildt.”
https://jfkfacts.org/assassination/on-this-date/april-10-1963-oswald-tries-to-shoot-gen-walker/#comment-428729 April 11, 2014 at 1:51 pm Mr. McAdams particularly, as well as others who practice such vigorous political partisanship cannot have it both ways. They cannot assert as if it was proven fact Oswald shot at Edwin Walker and the DeMohrenschildts soon met with Oswald and left him and Dallas with awareness of his crime and not demand a frank public accounting today from living persons of their knowledge of what happened just days later. DeMohrenschiltd arrived in New York City and on April 25 met along with Clemard Charles, a CIA associate, Thomas J. Devine. CIA documents inform that after the firts meeting DeMohrenschildt was clearly the priority of interest of Devine and his CIA superior, C. Frank Stone III. Three subsequent meetings or encounters between DeMohrenschildt and Devine were described in CIA documents by May 19,1963. Last fall I discovered Devine had attended Rochester, NY area Allendale-Columbia school from grades K-12 and that his father Adrian was that school board’s chairman. There were 20 in Devine’s class and newspapers of the time reported that Peter Dryer was one of them. When I questioned Joan Mellen about this, she shared that Dryer’s brother Joseph told her that Devine had been his best friend in Rochester. I documented it here.:
http://www.jfkassassinationforum.com/index.php/topic,10424.msg304081.html#msg304081 …….
Yes,he does owe the people an explanation.
Thanks for those links, Tom!
It would be interesting to see Jeb in the campaign trail, facing inquiring voters:
“Governor Bush: Your father said:
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“The Warren Commission report will always have the final definitive say on this tragic matter. Why? Because Jerry Ford put his name on it and Jerry Ford’s word was always good.”
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“Therefore, there is no need to declassify any documents since we have Jerry Ford’s word instead.
Comments?”
The WC report failed to carry out a proper and full investigation, and proved (increasingly with the passage of time) to be far from definitive. Jerry Ford’s legacy was one of obfuscation, and govenor Bush reveres Ford as personifying credibility. Follow the trail of evidence provided by these traitors, for it will lead us to the truth of actual events.
“Quite unlikely that Bush Sr was involved in the assassination.”
~Avinash
I suggest you read ‘The Unauthorized Biography of George Bush” by Webster Tarpley. You might be persuaded to change you opinion on that.
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If Jeb Bush is president in 2017 (I don’t want to get political or anything, but three relations of the Bush family as every other president since 1988 is about as symbolic of the decline of America as anything I can think of) and he blocks the release of JFK files, wouldn’t that make it obvious that they (including the Bush family) have something to hide?
That’s the only “positive” spin I can put on this.
Jeb Bush will NOT be his own man as you put it. Under his watch do you think he’ll bring the house down on his party, family and everything they stand for. JFK’s murder was just a part of the whole thing IMO. Since Jack you’ve had conformists, no more so than the Bush family. Sorry folks but America is so messed up with such a dark history for a ‘young’ country. If America ‘votes’, in ANOTHER Bush…. Jesus Christ. As far as I’m concerned the cover up on ‘normal’ Americans is alive and well. Why should the Bush family keep producing leaders for the USA? Particularly when they’re as useful as a handbrake on a canoe. Like I say, for me it just reaffirms my belief that the whole country is rigged up and to a large extent has a huge say in Europe and clearly the Middle East and other regions of the world too. The American people are not free, it’s mass manipulation and you’re sleep walking but at the same time completely powerless to do anything about it. Rant over.
The answer of Ms. Martha Murphy to the question “Why 2017?” was:
“Well, it’s 2017 because that’s what the law says”.
and goes on, displaying the text of the law where she highlighted: “25 years after the date of the enactment of this Act” (1992 + 25).
The officers who made that decision were surely aware that the date would fall exactly 5 months after the centennial of JFK’s birth (May 29, 2017). There will be celebrations, events, plenty of media coverage, etc.
Such national focus of attention should make very hard for the intelligence agencies to succeed in further attempts at blocking the truth.
Didn’t John Kerry say: “It has been long enough, it is time to disclose everything”??
I was interested to note that some documents have been incorrectly categorised and part of the release process is to correct that error. Anything worthwhile in the ‘mistakenly withheld category’ and how quick do these documents get released?
I enjoyed the rather prosaic description of the CIA given by their chief archivist. He made the CIA sound like a large friendly library.
Thanks for busting my bubble Pablo. Jeff presents some encouraging news about the Archives planning ahead, getting ready, and you have to bring up a possible reality. Actually, being my somewhat pessimistic self, your echoing my fears. Hillary loses to yet another Bush as pre determined by the CFR.
And there is nothing we the people can do about it?
Won’t it be interesting if Jeb Bush wins the presidency, (and he will) and further delays the release of the records?
It is stipulated in the law, that the records will be released in 2017, UNLESS the president decides that it should be delayed.
I know which result I’m betting on.
Wow!!! Jeb Bush would protect his father.
That’s assuming John E. Bush becomes our next President. If so, Poppy will most assuredly order him not to release anything while he(Poppy) is still alive. Then we’ll see if Jeb is “his own man”as he says he is.
Pablo, Melodie and Paul: In JFK matters, I tend to agree with Jeff’s assessments, and the issue of Bush’s culpability is not an exception:
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[Morley:]
“First, let us stipulate that 99.99 percent of JFK conspiracy theories are BS. Let me repeat that: 99.99 percent of JFK conspiracy theories are BS. That is to say: they are objectively and factually wrong. Let me name a few: the Federal Reserve did not do it. The Secret Service Man did not do it. The KGB did not do it, George H.W. Bush did not do it (and no, he was not lurking in Dealey Plaza).”
https://jfkfacts.org/assassination/who-was-responsible-for-the-wrongful-death-of-jfk/
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Bush was only peripherally involved: He was the useful fool in charge of the CIA, making sure that stuff be kept locked up.
I don’t think the man can kill a fly: he and Bill Clinton have become close friends -a parent/son duo of sorts- for crying out loud!!
All presidents from LBJ to Obama (with the sole exception of Carter who chose to remain in bliss ignorance) know exactly what happened on 11/22/63. Clinton would not be hanging with George The Elder if he were George The Murderer.
The best evidence is the message that the Bushes sent to America and the world, on July 15, 2003: None other than the son of the person who wrote a book incriminating LBJ (his lawyer), was appointed as the spokesperson of the White House.
That was no coincidence.
Father:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barr_McClellan
Son:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_McClellan
You mention Carter’s “bliss ignorance” of 11-22-63. I think Carter never forgot Ted Kennedy for running against his re-nomination bid in 1980. As for the Scott/Barr McClellan issue, didn’t Scott later come out against many of the policies of his boss?
I would reserve my judgement about GHW Bush till more information is released. Bush has been tight-lipped about his whereabouts in Dallas on that fateful day and a great many other circumstances that relate.
I look forward to one day learning about why the Bush family are so secretive about GHW Bush’s role/s leading up to, surrounding, and post assassination.
President Jeb has left the building.
Thanks Jeff. This allows us to quantify the number of secrets the Archives is holding related to the JFK assassination. “Less than 1%” withheld in full that would be say 40,000 pages withheld in full. 11% with partial redactions- that would be 550,000 pages. So what we are looking at is a total of 590,000 pages of records related to the JFK assassination that contain secrets still withheld from the public. Not a small number.
Correction- NARA says the number of withheld-in-full records is .01%, which if my math is correct, is approximately 500 pages rather than 40,000.
Second correction: NARA now says that 3,603 documents are withheld in full out of a total of 318,866 in the database, or 1.1%. 11% of the documents are partially withheld. We do not have a page count for these categories.
We do not have to be entirely at the mercy of the lack of accountability of our elected federal representatives and administrators of federal agencies and archives. Earlier today, prompted by assassination researcher Robert Howard’s recent request for a so far unavailable obituary of Harry D. Holmes, (1905 – 1989) Dallas US Postal Inspector and FBI informer, I took another look at Holmes’s background. In about an hour, this time, after many fruitless past searches, I uncovered Holmes’s genealogy, using nothing more sophisticated than the resources of ancestry dot com and findagrave ….. I will be assembling the details of Holmes and his family, here.
http://jfk.education . My point is that there is much for independent researcher to still uncover, aside from the authentic and misinformation still to be disclosed by federal archivists and through FOIA litigation.