A number one JFK researcher {accused} the C.I.A. of not appearing in ‘good religion’ and attempting to guard its fame by holding a whole bunch of paperwork secret regardless of the discharge of hundreds of unredacted information on Thursday.
Jefferson Morley, vice chairman of the Mary Ferrell Basis which sued the Biden administration to launch all of the information, stated it left key questions unanswered concerning the C.I.A.’s dealings with Lee Harvey Oswald earlier than he assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
‘I really feel prefer it’s injury management,’ he stated.
‘You already know, it is throwing just a few bones and making the looks of compliance. But it surely’s not likely compliance with the letter and spirit of the regulation.
‘This charade of continuous non-disclosure within the face of a really clear regulation, the C.I.A. does not benefit from the doubt anymore.’
Critics of the most recent launch of beforehand labeled JFK paperwork say they miss key details about the CIA’s interactions with Lee Harvey Oswald earlier than the assassination
Jefferson Morley, vice chairman of the Mary Ferrell Basis, stated the most recent launch didn’t embrace all of the details about CIA officer George Joannides and his interactions with Oswald within the months earlier than the assassination – leaving key questions unanswered
He spoke to journalists after the Nationwide Archives launched 13,173 unredacted paperwork associated to the assassination.
Many had already been launched in redacted kind, leaving researchers and conspiracy theorists to check earlier than and after paperwork to determine the brand new passages.
‘This vital disclosure displays my administration’s dedication to transparency and can present the American public with higher perception and understanding of the federal government’s investigation into this tragic occasion in American historical past,’ stated President Joe Biden in an government order authorizing the discharge, whereas preserve hundreds extra paperwork below wraps.
Among the many paperwork that haven’t been absolutely launched are dozens regarding a C.I.A. agent George Joannides, who ran a covert operation associated to communist Cuba.
Morley believes Joannides and his group of anti-Castro Cuban exiles had been in contact with Oswald months earlier than the assassination.
‘What the C.I.A. has hidden because the day of the assassination is its operational curiosity in Oswald, its sources and strategies. And that is what they’re nonetheless hiding at the moment,’ he stated.
‘That is what withholding the Joannides materials, tells you: They are not prepared to speak about their operational curiosity in Oswald on the time of the assassination.’
President John F. Kennedy and the primary girl smile on the crowds lining their motorcade route in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Minutes later the President was assassinated
Oswald, a former Marine, was arrested for the assassination. He was then killed two days later whereas being transported by police. He was shot by a nightclub proprietor, Jack Ruby
Morley, a former Washington Publish reporter, stated it left questions hanging concerning the C.I.A.’s involvement with Oswald.
He requested: ‘Was that an effort to govern Oswald as a part of a conspiracy to kill the president?
‘Was {that a} manipulation of Oswald of people that had been unaware of the menace that Oswald posed to the president?
‘You already know, we do not have the information so we won’t say for positive.’
He additionally stated there was no purpose why a memo from Arthur Schlesinger Jr. to Kennedy titled ‘Memo to President C.I.A. Reorganization’ ought to stay redacted.
It provided piercing criticism of the C.I.A. within the wake of the disastrous Bay of Pigs operation in Cuba, and was written two years earlier than Kennedy was killed.
Morley stated it was launched on Thursday with a lot of the similar redactions as earlier than, merely to spare the C.I.A.’s blushes
‘I imply, that is C.Y.A. and there is not any nationwide safety info in there,’ he stated, utilizing an acronym for ‘cowl your ass’.
‘It’s info that’s embarrassing to the C.I.A. There is not any different conclusion that you could attain.’
On Thursday, the Nationwide Archives launched 13,173 beforehand labeled paperwork in an unredacted kind on its web site. A whole lot extra stay too delicate to launch
Vacationers stroll across the Grassy Knoll at Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas – the scene of Kennedy’s assassination
Flowers lie on a plaque with a quote from former President John F. Kennedy on the Grassy Knoll at Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, November 23, 2021
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Data Assortment Act of 1992 ordered that information needs to be launched inside 25 years – by 2017. But it surely additionally permits for presidents to make use of their discretion to maintain information sealed.
A CIA spokesperson stated with Thursday’s launch some 95 % of the information had been printed.
‘What little info stays redacted in CIA information within the assortment consists of intelligence sources and strategies — some from as late because the Nineteen Nineties, supplied initially to present the JFK Assessment Board general context on the CIA — the discharge of which might at present do identifiable hurt to intelligence operations,’ they stated.
And so they stated it was false to say {that a} set of paperwork associated to Joannides had been saved secret.
‘We imagine all CIA information substantively associated to Joannides had been beforehand launched, with solely minor redactions, corresponding to CIA staff’ names and areas,’ they stated.
However there stay considerations it’s nonetheless too little too late.
‘We’re 59 years after President John Kennedy was killed and there is simply no justification for this,’ Decide John H. Tunheim, who from 1994-98 chaired the Assassination Data Assessment Board, instructed NBC Information.
