Dueling DC Warren Report Conferences

Dueling DC Conferences

Two Warren Commission Conferences in DC this September – so far – more are expected.

By William E. Kelly, Jr. 

Sept.  24, 1964 - Earl Warren presents the Commission's Report to LBJ, who said,  "It's heavy." 

         Friday, September 26 - Saturday, September 27 - Sunday, September 28 2014

Just when we thought that the 50^th anniversary of the JFK Assassination would put an end to the public interest in the subject, along comes the September 2014 anniversary of the release of the Warren Commission Report, which will surely drum up more media attention and revive the debates once again.

With the apparent end to JFK Lancer November in Dallas [http://www.jfklancer.com/] and annual COPA Dallas regional conferences [http://politicalassassination.com], but here we go again with two conferences on the Warren Report – 50 years later. 

Only the location has changed from Dallas to D.C. and rather than the assassination itself, the new focus will be on the continuing cover-up, which should make things relevant today and not just stale history.

The two conferences announced so far, and there may be more, were organized separately by different people without apparent knowledge of each other – the JFK Historical Group (JFKHG) and the Assassination Archives and Research Center (AARC).

These two conferences will be held at the same time in the same city a few miles apart by different people, but are joined at the hip by the distinguished Pittsburgh forensic examiner Dr. Cyril Wecht, who will serve as a keynote speaker at the JFKHG conference and a primary speaker at the other.  

                                                     JFK Historical Group Conference 

The first conference announced is being organized by the JFK Historical Group,  led by David Denton and Ed Tatro and called: “The Warren Report 50 Years Later: A Critical Examination - What we know now, that we didn’t know then,” and will be held at the Crowne Plaza East Hotel, Alexandria, VA. Their web site is at: http://changehistjfk.blogspot.com/.

[Conference fee is $115 before August 1 - $125 thereafter and rooms are $119 single - $129 double per night plus Banquet and Keynote $53. David Denton, JFK Historical Group, 1305 Hall St., Olney, Il 62450]

David Denton is an Olney, Illinois history teacher who gave a 2013 JFK LANCER conference presentation [http://changehistjfk.blogspot.com] on the topic of the significance of the 50^th Anniversary of the assassination, and he organized an academic conference on the assassination at Olney Central (Illinois) College last fall.

Denton works closely with Ed F. Tatro, a long time Boston high school teacher and respected JFK researcher who testified before the ARRB  [ARRB Testimony of Edgar Tatro: http://jfkassassination.net/arrb/index9.htm] and served as a consultant to Nigel Turner’s TV documentaries “The Truth Shall Set You Free” and “The Men Who Killed Kennedy.”

Other than Dr. Wecht [http://www.cyrilwecht.com/about.php], there seems to be only a few overlapping speakers - Russ Baker and Bill Simpich, so each conference should be pretty unique and appeal to a different audience, and if presentations at both conferences are properly streamed live over the internet, recorded and archived on line, as they should be, people can pick and chose which conference to attend and catch the online taped video of anything they missed.

Among those confirmed for the JFK Historical Group conference are a number of people I have worked closely with - Doug Horne, the Chief Analyst for Military Records for the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) and author of the five volume “Inside the ARRB,”  [http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Assassination-Records-Review-Board/dp/0984314431 /  http://insidethearrb.livejournal.com/] and Russ Baker, a detail oriented researcher, journalist and Bush family biographer who is always digging and working on some significant newsworthy angle on history. [Russ Baker’s web site: http://whowhatwhy.com/author/russ-baker/]

Phil Nelson, author of “LBJ – Mastermind of JFK’s Assassination” [http://www.lbjmastermind.com/] is part of the continuing drumbeat of conspiracy theorists biased enough to believe LBJ was capable of “masterminding” the Dealey Plaza operation (See: Joe Green’s review at www.CTKA.com ). They nonetheless have a place at the JFKHG conference and I’m sure there will be others along shortly.

More important than those who espouse a conspiracy theory are the witness to history. A number of important witnesses are also on the JFKHG agenda including Gary Powers, Jr., the son of the U2 pilot [http://www.coldwar.org/education/powers_testimony.html], James Wagenvoord - former Life Mag editor and whistleblower [http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKwagenvoord.htm], and Peter Janney, the son of a CIA officer who wrote a recent book on the murder of JFK paramour Mary Pinchot Meyer.[http://www.marysmosaic.net/bio.htm]. 

The JFKHG conference will also include Brian Edwards, who will talk about the 26 Volumes of Warren Commission Testimony and Exhibits that were published with the report, Russ Baker, who will talk about evidence of cover-up, Richard Bartholomew on the conflicts in the official accounts, Patrick Nelson, who will give his presentation on James Jesus Angleton, David Scheim on the Mob connections, and I am particularly looking forward to Casey Quinlan's talk on the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time of the assassination. 

There’s also Rick Russo [http://johndelanewilliams.blogspot.com/2010/12/interview-with-dennis-david-regarding.html], who was also a key consultant on the Nigel Turner documentary, and not to be confused with Gus Russo, the CIA-Disinformation asset, who continues to promote the original cover-story that Castro was behind the assassination , which will certainly be propagated by Frank Wisner’s Wurlitzer over this upcoming 50^th anniversary Warren Commission media blitz. [Gus Russo’s Disinformation can be found at: http://www.amazon.com/Live-By-The-Sword-Against/dp/1890862010]

Although confirmed to give a presentation, it’s sad to learn that former FBI agent Don Adams recently passed away, so he definitely won’t be there, but we should pay renewed attention to his book “From An Office Building With A High-Powered Rife” – A Report to the Public from an FBI Agent Involved in the Official JFK Assassination Investigation.” (Trinday 2013 http://www.amazon.com/From-Office-Building-High-Powered-Rifle/dp/1936296861).

Professor Gerald McKnight, who helped save Harold Weisberg’s papers and wrote one of the best retrospective books on the Warren Commission  “Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation and Why” [http://www.amazon.com/Breach-Trust-Warren-Commission-Failed/dp/0700613900], is temporarily tentative, and we hope he can make both conferences, as any symposium on the Warren Report would be remiss without him.

                                  Assassination Archives and Research Center Conference 

While the JFKHG conference is underway at the Crown Plaza in Alexandra, Virginia, the AARC conference will be getting underway on the other side of the river at the Bethesda Hyatt Hotel in Northwest Washington, not far from the Bethesda Naval Hospital where President Kennedy’s controversial autopsy was conducted.

THE WARREN REPORT 50 YEARS LATER is a major conference being organized by Jerry Policoff, the Executive Director of the Assassination Archives and Research Center – AARC  [www.aarclibrary.org 962 Wayne Ave. Suite 910 Silver Spring, Md. 20910  (717) 295-0237 jpolicoff@comcast.net].

Among those confirmed for AARC Conference are the lead FOIA attorney on the JFK case - AARC Director Jim Lesar, Mary Ferrell Archivist Rex Bradford 

[http://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page], medical evidence specialist Dr. Gary Aguilar,  widow of reporter and congressional investigator Gaeton Fonzi - Marie Fonzi,[https://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Featured_Gaeton_Fonzi_1935-2012], HSCA attorney Dan Hardway, and the Unsinkable Molly Brown of the JFK Assassination Joan Mellen [http://joanmellen.com/wordpress/].

Highly anticipated are updates on the continuing work of DC journalist Jefferson Morley [“Our Man in Mexico” / http://jfkfacts.org/] and former Army intelligence analyst John Newman, author of “Oswald and the CIA” and “JFK and Vietnam” [http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKnewmanJ.htm], who has been working diligently on some more extremely reveling details of intelligence related aspects of the assassination that will knock our collective socks off.

South Carolina teacher Mel Hyman may give a talk on the media and the assassination, which is also a favorite topic of conference organizer Jerry Policoff.  

Andrew Kreig, author of “Presidential Puppety” will focus on Operation Northwoods and Dr. Randy Robertson, MD, a Tennessee radiologist looks at the medical evidence.  

Also confirmed is David Wrone, professor of history and author of  “The FOIA and Political Assassinations – Legal Proceedings of Harold Weisberg v. General Services Administration" (1978) and “The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy – A Comprehensive Historical and Legal Bibliography," 1963-1979 (1980); “The HSCA, The Zapruder Film, and the Single-Bullet Theory” (1993) and “The Zapruder Film: Reframing the JFK Assassination" (U. Kansas, 2003).

Dr. Ernest Titovets, M.D. [ http://www.etitovets.com/Titovets_dream.html], Ph.D. Professor (1953-1963 Minsk State Medical Institute, Minsk, Belarus, recorded Oswald reading literature when they were socializing together, which can be heard here: http://politicalassassinations.com/2013/08/recorded-voices-of-lee-oswald-and-ernst-titovets/.

Author of “Oswald: Russian Episode” Titovets  had trouble getting a visa to make a presentation at the last Dallas COPA, was probably Oswald’s oldest and closest friends behind the Iron Curtain, portrays Oswald as a human, rather than demonizing him as others try to.

One highlight of the AARC conference should be the message of Nancy Soderberg the chair of the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) who recently spoke out on the release of the still secret CIA assassination records. [Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) [http://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb/members.html]

John Newman has a lot of new information on Oswald and the CIA, Joan Mellen will talk about her recent research and trilogy of books and Dan Hardway will discuss his HSCA work, which received a lot of attention at the Wecht Conference in Pittsburgh last October.

My presentation will be an update on the latest developments in the on-going forensic analysis of the Air Force One tapes, and the release to the public a new high-fidelity FM broadcast quality recording in which dead air was removed so that the entire tape contains useful information and is edited down to just under 2 hours and sectioned into fifteen minute parts for broadcast purposes.

Jerry Policoff, who has monitored the media’s reporting on the assassination, is the primary point man in the coordination of the AARC conference and he promises to keep the presentations at a high level and provide some newsworthy revelations. His specialty is the mainstream media coverage of the assassination and will make a presentation on that subject, which is not history but ongoing today.

Among those who are said to have been invited but have yet to confirm are “Six Seconds in Dallas” author Josiah Thompson, Deep Political thinker Peter Dale Scott and Bill Simpich, whose recent and remarkable work “State Secret” is posted at the Mary Ferrell Archives site.[https://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Featured_State_Secret_Preface ]

Also invited are Larry Hancock, author of “Someone Would Have Talked” and more recently a book on the MLK assassination with Stu Wexler [http://larry-hancock.com/someone_would_have_talked.html]

Longtime assassination researcher and photo specialist Robert Groden, as well as Robert Kennedy, Jr., son of the Senator slain in 1968, wowed the world when he announced on a TV special that his father believed the President was slain by more than one gunman and the mob and CIA were somehow involved. [http://jfkfacts.org/assassination/rfk-jr-on-his-uncles-legacy/]

Philadelphia attorney Vince Salandria, whose landmark speech at the 2003 Dallas COPA conference [http://spot.acorn.net/jfkplace/09/fp.back_issues/27th_issue/vs_text.html'] still rings true today.

Former HSCA Chief Counsel Richard Sprague was also invited to the Wecht Conference in Pittsburgh but couldn’t make it, but it would certainly make big waves if he puts in an appearance here.

“Who Killed JFK and Why It Matters” author James Douglas, also gave a landmark Dallas COPA speech [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwECsq459d4] and his book, promoted by Oliver Stone and RFK, Jr., is the first conspiracy book to resonate with the common man and not just history buffs

Tony Summers, author of the definitive “Not In Your Lifetime,” [http://www.anthonysummers.com/portfolio.html], has moved on to other projects but keeps an eye on whatever new information comes out about the JFK case and may show up to promote his popular book. 

Original whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers, and inspired others to do the same is also invited, along with former Senators Gary Hart and Richard Schweiker, whose Church Committte Subcommitte investigated some aspects of the JFK assassination and sparked the House Select Committee on Assassinations. They have both spoken out publicly about the assassination, denouncing the official investigations as inadequate and compromised.

One of their most trusted investigators, Gaeton Fonzi, was also hired by the HSCA and his widow,  Marie Fonzi will undoubtedly speak about her husband’s work and she may be accompanied by two of Fonzi’s prized and trusted sources Sylvia Odio [http://www.jfk-online.com/odiohsca.html ] and Antonio Veciana [http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKveciana.htm / http://jfkfacts.org/tag/antonio-veciana/ ], who were persuaded to testify before Congress in 1977 but were prevented from doing so.

Former Cuban G2 chief Fabian Escalante [http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKescalante.htm], who had access to the Cuban files on the assassination, and wrote a number of books on the subject, participated in the two conferences between researchers and Cuban intelligence officials may also be there, if the State Department lets him in. 

Also invited is Wayne Smith [ http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKsmithW.htm], the former State Department attaché assigned to the Havana embassy at the time of the Cuban revolution, personally knew and worked with both David Atlee Phillips and David Moralles, and organized the two conferences with the Cubans.

Citizens for the Truth on JFK Assassination (CTKA http://www.ctka.net/) founder and publisher of Probe Jim DiEugenio and renowned researcher Lisa Peasae [ http://realhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/] should each make passionate and convincing presentations, as they did in Pittsburgh.

If they all accept the invitation to speak, Hollywood will be well represented with actor Ed Asner, Z – director Costa Gavras [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_(1969_film)], Oliver Stone of JFK fame, his researcher Jane Rusconi and former Minnisotta Governor, Navy SEAL and wrestler Jesse Ventura and his Mexican bar pal Dick Russell, author of The Man Who Knew Too Much and On the Trail of the JFK Asssassins. [ http://www.dickrussell.org/man.htm ].

Also invited are FOIA attorney Dan Alcorn, researcher Brenda Brody, Pamela Brown, who has done extensive research into the history of the limo, Walt Brown, author of a number of JFK books and the mammoth JFK Chronology, along with Barry Ernest, author of “The Girl On The Stairs”  [http://www.amazon.com/The-Girl-Stairs-Missing-Assassination/dp/1460979370 ], and Sherry Feister – professional forensic crime scene investigator whose blood splatter analysis precludes the fatal head shot from originating from the TSBD [http://www.sherryfiester.com/].

Longtime researcher Larry Happenen, who adds a clear head to the proceedings, Gail Nix Jackson, grand -daughter and author of “Orvil Nix: The Missing JFK Assassination Film,” David Kaiser, former Naval War College professor and author of  “The Road To Dallas,” HSCA attorney Ed Lopez, Dr. Grover Proctor, former University Dean who is best known for his investigation of the phone call Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly made from the Dallas jail to Raleigh, North Carolina, should all be there. 

Also invited are Nina Rhodes-Hughes, witness to RFK assassination and Ben Rogers, W.R. Poage Legislative Library Director at Baylor University Dallas Baylor University || Poage Library, where many of the assassination records of chief researchers are ending up.

To be fair and balanced, and to present the official side of the cover story will be Warren Commission defenders and apologists John McAdams [JFK / The Kennedy Assassination Home Page] and Max Holland and [Washington Decoded: RFK OK’d Sabotage Against Cuba in November 1963; Overruled by JFK  ]  possibly Warren Commission attorney Burt Griffith.

The AARC Conference in Bethesda is expected to have a pricing scheme similar to the JFKHG Conference, and will soon have a dedicated web site with much more information at: AARC - Assassination Archives and Research Center.

Hopefully both conferences will be different, and not just present the same old, stale information, and be live streamed over the internet, filmed, recorded and archived on line so people can view the presentations at their convenience, as I suspect these conferences and this anniversary will have a more important impact on the legal status of the case and significant ramifications on the disposition of the remaining sealed government records on the assassination.

BK