Tomorrow is a big day for me. I’ve been thinking about and researching CIA operations related to JFK’s assassination since November 1994 when I interviewed James Angleton’s longtime aide Jane Roman about the pre-assassination Oswald file.
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Roman's comments raised a lot of questions. Twenty eight years later, I will answer some of them. Tomorrow I will share my latest findings on JFK and CIA at the National Press Club at 9:30 am. If you can't come in person, watch here.
People ask me, Is there a ‘smoking gun?’ I want to say “Was there a smoking gun in ‘Spotlight’?’ Was there a smoking gun in “She Said?” No. Investigative reporting is not about ‘smoking guns.' Instead I say "No, there is no smoking gun proof of a JFK conspiracy," but ...
There IS smoking gun proof that certain senior CIA officers were far, far more interested in hapless Lee Oswald while JFK was alive than they ever admitted. They used the man who would be arrested for killing JFK in a COINTELPRO-style psychological warfare operation.
It's a serious claim that requires the closest scrutiny. I welcome that along with a discussion of its implications. Is this operation evidence of CIA complicity in Kennedy's death? Or CIA incompetence?
My friend @geraldposner leans towards incompetence as he explained to Tucker Carlson last year. In general, I don't find the CIA to be incompetent. Only full #JFK disclosure can resolve the question.
The undisclosed Oswald operation tells us three things. First, it illuminates the corrosive effect of covert action on American democracy. It is a reminder why ex-president Harry Truman called for abolition of the clandestine service one month after JFK was killed.
Second, it illuminates the CIA’s recalcitrance when it comes to compliance with the JFK Records Act. That law, passed unanimously by Congress, set October 2017 as the deadline for full JFK disclosure. The CIA has blown the statutory deadline three times since then.
What will CIA do on December 15? Practice full disclosure? Or demand more secrecy? This story is a clear and simple test of Biden's order on JFK disclosures
Third, if the CIA does not practice full disclosure by December 15—if it does not produce the 44 records I’ve identified—it will be acknowledging that the story I tell is substantially true, with profound implications for the official story that a “lone gunman" killed JFK.
Tune in tomorrow at 9:30 EST
If you favor full JFK disclosure, subscribe to JFK Facts, Substack edition.
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