Summary of Events thus Far

Summary of Events thus Far

On October 26, 1992 President George H. W. Bush signed into law the JFK Act of 1992 that was unanimously passed by Congress requiring all of the government’s records on the assassination of President Kennedy be released to the public at the JFK Collection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).  At the same time the President released a signing statement that maintained the President’s authority to nominate members of the Review Board, receive reports and to continually withhold records after 25 years.

That law is supposed to be enforced by Congressional Oversight Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, who did nothing.

New bill introduced into Congress:

October 4, 2017 - In the 115^th Congress 1^st Session: Rep. Walter Jones and Sen. Charles Grassley introduced H. Res 556 and S. Res. 281 that calls on President Trump to insist on “full public release” of hundreds of thousands of pages of JFK assassination documents and to “reject any claims for the continued postponement of…those records.”

On October 21, 2017 - President Bush tweeted:  “Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified  JFK FILES to be opened,” which received 213,262 likes and 71,146 retweets.

On October 25, 2017 - while visiting Dallas, Trump tweeted: “The long anticipated release of the JFKFiles will be released tomorrow. So interesting!

On October 26, 2017 - Trump wrote in a memo: “I have no choice – today – but to accept those redactions rather than allow potentially irreversible harm to our nation’s security.”

On October 26, 2017 - President Trump issued a Memorandum:

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Temporary Certification for Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

The American public expects -- and deserves -- its Government to provide as much access as possible to the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records (records) so that the people may finally be fully informed about all aspects of this pivotal event. Therefore, I am ordering today that the veil finally be lifted. At the same time, executive departments and agencies (agencies) have proposed to me that certain information should continue to be redacted because of national security, law enforcement, and foreign affairs concerns. I have no choice --today -- but to accept those redactions rather than allow potentially irreversible harm to our Nation's security.

To further address these concerns, I am also ordering agencies to re-review each and every one of those redactions over the next 180 days. At the end of that period, I will order the public disclosure of any information that the agencies cannot demonstrate meets the statutory standard for continued postponement of disclosure under section 5(g)(2)(D) of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (44 U.S.C. 2107 note) (the "Act").

Accordingly, by the authority vested in me as President and Commander in Chief by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby certify that all information within records that agencies have proposed for continued postponement under section 5(g)(2)(D) of the Act must be temporarily withheld from full public disclosure until no later than April 26, 2018, to allow sufficient time to determine whether such information warrants continued postponement under the Act. This temporary withholding from full public disclosure is necessary to protect against harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations that is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure.

I hereby direct all agencies that have proposed postponement of full disclosure to review the information subject to this certification and identify as much as possible that may be publicly disclosed without harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or conduct of foreign relations.

Any agency that seeks to request further postponement beyond this temporary certification shall adhere to the findings of the Act, which state, among other things, that "only in the rarest cases is there any legitimate need for continued protection of such records." The need for continued protection can only have grown weaker with the passage of time since the Congress made this finding. Accordingly, each agency head should be extremely circumspect in recommending any further postponement of full disclosure of records. Any agency that seeks further postponement shall, no later than March 12, 2018, report to the Archivist of the United States (Archivist) on the specific information within particular records that meets the standard for continued postponement under section 5(g)(2)(D) of the Act. Thereafter, the Archivist shall recommend to me, no later than March 26, 2018, whether the specific information within particular records identified by agencies warrants continued withholding from public disclosure after April 26, 2018.

The Archivist is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

DONALD J. TRUMP

On October 26, 2017 - at the very last moment and after extreme pressure from intelligence officials, the NARA issued a Press Release.

Press Release ·Thursday, October 26, 2017 Washington, DC

https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/nr18-05

President Orders Release of All Remaining Section 5 Records and More Precise Review for Remaining Redactions within Six Months.

The National Archives today released 2,891 records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that are subject to the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act). These records are available for download online.

The President has also ordered that all remaining records governed by section 5 of the JFK Act be released, and thus additional records will be released subject to redactions recommended by the executive offices and agencies.  NARA will process these records for release as soon as possible on a rolling basis.

Based on requests from executive offices and agencies the President has allowed the temporary withholding of certain information that would harm national security, law enforcement, or foreign affairs.  The President also ordered agencies to re-review their proposed redactions and  only redact information in the rarest of circumstances where its withholding “is made necessary by an identifiable harm to military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or conduct of foreign relations; and the identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure.”  These instructions will allow the National Archives to release as much information as possible by the end of the temporary certification period on April 26, 2018.

The National Archives previously released 3,810 related records on July 24, 2017, including 441 records previously withheld in their entirety and 3,369 records previously withheld in part. More information about this release is available online. In addition, the National Archives is also releasing to the public the unclassified electronic records of the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB), including 52,387 emails and 16,627 files from the ARRB drives.

On October 27, 2017 Trump tweeted: “JFK Files are being carefully released. In the end there will be great transparency. It’s my hope to get just about everything to the public!”

Later on October 27, 2017, Trump tweeted: “After strict consultation with General Kelly, the CIA and other Agencies, I will be releasing ALL JFK files other than the names and addresses of any mentioned person who is still living. I am doing this for reasons of full disclosure, transparency and in order to put any and all conspiracy theories to rest.”

On Saturday October 28,, 2017, 7pm, Trump tweeted: "JFK Files are released, long ahead of schedule!" (Sic) 

New JFK Assassination Calendar Dates

Thursday and Friday, November 16-17, 2017 – Texas v. Lee Harvey Oswald – a review of the evidence today. CAPA and Texas College of Law, Houston, Texas.

Friday and Saturday, November 17-18 , 2017 – November in Dallas Conference (JFK Lancer) and Fifth Annual JFK Conference at Crown Plaza Hotel.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017 - Dealey Plaza ceremony, Dallas, Texas.

Sunday March 11 - Saturday March 17, 2018 – Sunshine Week 

Monday, March 12, 2018 – Agencies must tell Archivist what record they want withheld or redacted and why.

Monday, March 26 - 2018 – Archivist of the United States (AOTUS) recommends to the president what records should remain withheld or released redacted.

Thursday, April 26, 2018 – President of the United States decides if any records will be withheld or released with redactions.

By The Numbers

54 – Years since the Assassination

25 – Years since the passage of the JFK Act of 1992

100 - Year since John F. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917

6 months – 180 Days – Until Trump decides to release or not

4 million – The number of docs said to be released in full

31,354 – The number of docs said to be withheld in part (according to NARA via WWW) 

2,745 – Reported to be the number of docs withheld in full (according to NARA via WWW)

3,147 – Records withheld in full as reported by the JFK Act

3,603 – The number of docs listed withheld in full (per FOIA request of Michael Ravnitzky)

2,839 – Number of docs released in part on Oct. 26

1,295 - Number of docs to be withheld in part forever (considered exempt as tax and Grand Jury records)

547 - Number of docs to be withheld in full (considered exempt as tax and Grand Jury records) 

425 – The number of docs released in full on July 24, 2017

300 – The number of docs the Mainstream Media falsely reports as still withheld in full

90% - The percentage of documents still withheld in part (redacted)

52 – The number of docs released in full on October 10, 2017

2% - The percentage of the 2839 documents withheld in full that have been released

(Many thanks for Rex Bradford, Ramon Herrera and Russ Baker for assembling these number)

TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED

1-      Review what records have been released, summarize them and prioritize them.

2-      Compare the list of record withheld to records released thus far to isolate and identify what’s still being withheld and their subject matter.

3-      Identify destroyed, missing and JFK Assassination record that should be in the JFK Collection at the NARA but aren’t, as requested by Judge Tunheim.

4-      Prepare and hold a Congressional Briefing in Congress to educate interested Congressmen and their staff about the JFK Act and the issues we present, a Briefing that WE control, so the primary expert witnesses are Jim Lesar, Dan Alcorn, John Newman, Judge Tunheim, and Oliver Stone and not Posner, Holland, Shenon and Sabato. And get it on CSPAN live.

5-      Prepare and hold a mini-conference and press conference at National Press Club in DC during Sunshine Week March 11-17 to educate and promote the media and public.

6-      Prepare a civil suit against Gerald Ferraro (AOTU) and NARA for failure to adhere to the law – the JFK Act in getting the record released by Oct. 26, 2017, for failure to publish an index and guide to the JFK Collection as prescribed by the law, for permitting key records and evidence to be stolen and destroyed (or sold on ebay) and for not seeking out those records that should be included in the JFK Collection that are not (ie. Richard Sprague’s HSCA files).

7-      Edit and Publish the most significant record that have been released, articles and conference presentations by CAPA Advisory Board member and list those records not yet released, their subject matter and significance.

8-      Prepare a book to be assembled of the best of the last of the record to be released in April 2018, and an anthology of articles and conference presentations explaining their significance.