On Sat, 10 Mar 2001 05:39:06 GMT, John McAdams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >G. McNally wrote: >> >> Gus and David have co-written an article for The Nation, titled, "The Old >> Man And The CIA: A Kennedy Plot To Kill Castro". >> >> Find it online at: http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010326&s=corn >> > >Fascinating, Jerry. One paragraph jumped out at me: > ><Quote on> > >There may be a definitive answer to the question, Did the Kennedys dabble >in murder? Fifteen hundred linear feet and fifty boxes of Robert F. >Kennedy's classified and confidential papers are stored at the John F. >Kennedy Library in Boston, and most of the material is closed to the >public. No other Attorney General walked off the job with such a trove of >government paperwork. A partial guide to these records lists scores of >intriguing files, including documents pertaining to Operation Mongoose, >the CIA and Cuba, Edward Lansdale and Edward Murrow. (The guide also >refers to Frank Sinatra files that contain "references to various >gangsters, including [Sam] Giancana and others...including Judith >Campbell," a JFK mistress.) But the Kennedy family considers these >papers--many of which Robert Kennedy obtained from the CIA, the FBI or the >State Department--the private property of his heirs. It strictly limits >access to the records, which are being stored at government expense. >Several eminent historians who have requested permission to examine this >historical treasure--including Richard Reeves, Robert Dallek, Nigel >Hamilton, Laurence Leamer and Seymour Hersh--have been turned away by the >Kennedys. Evan Thomas was allowed to see only portions of the material. >And Max Kennedy, a son of Robert and the person who oversees these >records, did not respond to our request to look at the files for this >story. Official papers RFK generated in the course of public business >should be open to public inspection, and the release of classified >government records that he took when he left office ought to be controlled >not by the Kennedy family but by government declassifiers subject to the >Freedom of Information Act. > ><Quote off> > >It seems that here, as with the medical evidence, the Kennedy family is >above the law. > An e-mail correspondent sent the following material, which is quite relevant in this context. http://www.fas.org/sgp/advisory/arrb98/part08.htm Chapter 6 Part I: The Quest for Additional Information and Records in Federal Government Offices ... 3. Presidential Library Collections... a. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library records. Augmenting the JFK Library's initial search and identification of assassination records, a joint team of Review Board staff and representatives from other agencies, visited the JFK Library in June 1996 to conduct a comprehensive review of JFK Library closed collections. The Review Board staff reviewed all of the Library's National Security Files containing records on Cuba from the Kennedy Administration. As a result of this effort, the JFK Library released thirty boxes of Cuba files to the JFK Collection. The Library also opened its Presidential recordings on the Cuban Missile Crisis and sent copies of these to the JFK Collection. Subsequent to this visit, the Library identified additional assassination records on Cuba. Of particular value were those records which discussed the Kennedy Administration's policy toward Cuba, proposed anti-Castro activities, and Operation Mongoose planning. Most of these records were generated by the Standing Group Committee of the National Security Council with additional CIA and OSD memoranda discussing sensitive Cuban operations. The Review Board staff also identified Cuban records in the JFK Library's closed papers of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Richard Goodwin, and Ralph Dungan and in the Department of Justice Criminal Division microfilm collection. The Review Board discovered a wealth of Cuba material within the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) papers, though it did not declare all of the records as assassination records. To ensure that the JFK Library opened the RFK papers, however, the Review Board designated those records which it believed to be relevant. This group of records was subject to a Deposit Agreement requiring the express permission of the RFK donor committee, then headed by Michael Kennedy, to authorize their release.12 The Review Board has not yet secured the final release of all of the RFK papers, but the JFK Library foreign policy staff is working with the Review Board to attempt to obtain the release of the RFK papers.13 Upon approval by the committee, the JFK Library will send these important records to the JFK Collection at NARA. <next document> http://www.fas.org/sgp/advisory/arrb98/part11.htm Chapter 8 Compliance with the JFK Act by Government Offices ... 22. NARA and the Presidential Libraries ... d. The John F. Kennedy Library.... The Review Board attempted to ensure that the Library had reviewed and identified all relevant records in its custody, particularly records that were closed and unavailable to researchers. The Review Board submitted to the JFK Library, in July 1998, a detailed set of questions regarding the Library's record searches and its work under the JFK Act. The questions were to be answered by Library officials, under penalty of perjury, in the Library's Final Declaration of Compliance. The Library submitted its Final Declaration of Compliance shortly thereafter. The JFK Library certified that "[a]ll records of President Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Evelyn Lincoln, and Robert F. Kennedy in the custody of the Library have been reviewed under the JFK Act." The Library also stated that further review of Robert F. Kennedy's papers had resulted in the identification of additional assassination records that would be processed for release. In addition, approximately 150 RFK documents previously identified for release were still in the process of declassification or review by the RFK Donor Committee at the time of this Report.9 While recognizing the extensive work of the JFK Library and its significant contribution to the JFK Collection, the Review Board was disappointed in the delay in identification and release of RFK papers. The JFK Library, at its suggestion, briefed the members of the Review Board in August 1998 with respect to the work of the Library under the JFK Act. At that presentation, the Review Board was given assurances by the Library, in the strongest terms, that it was committed to completing release of all assassination-related records, including the RFK records.10 <Third document> URL: http://www.nara.gov/research/jfk/marr.html Last Modified on December 6, 1999 Assassination Records Review Board: Files of Irene Marr / Folder Title List / Volume: 3.2 feet ... Box 6: ... RFK Papers Oral Histories JFK Library Compliance Jackie Kennedy Box 7: ... John F. Kennedy Medical Records Robert Kennedy - Correspondence with Michael Kennedy Robert Kennedy Deposit Agreement for Papers Robert Kennedy -- Kennedy Assassination Home Page http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm
