Latest news with #MaryFerrellFoundation
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'JFK' director Oliver Stone calls for investigation into presidential assassination
Oliver Stone, the Oscar-winning director whose film JFK portrayed the President John F. Kennedy's assassination as the work of government conspiracy yesterday called for a new congressional investigation into his killing. Stone, 78, testified at a hearing of the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets following last month's release of thousands of pages of government documents related to the assassination. Related Neil Young says he may be barred from returning to US over Donald Trump criticism Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone is to testify on latest JFK assassination files JFK was nominated for eight Oscars, winning two, and grossed over $200 million (€185 million) at the box office. Stone described his film as a 'counter-myth' to the 'fictional myth' of the Warren Commission, established to investigate Kennedy's assassination. At the time of its release in 1991, JFK was criticised for its historical accuracy. Stone told the committee that he believes decades of delays in releasing unredacted records had prevented 'clarity' about who killed Kennedy. Stone also said a new investigation 'outside all political considerations' should begin 'at the scene of the crime' and re-examine all of the evidence from the day of the assassination. Experts have concluded that there's strong evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24-year-old former Marine, acted alone in killing Kennedy. 'Can we return to a world where we can trust our government to level with us, the people for which this government exists?' Stone said. 'This is our democracy. This is our presidency. It belongs to us.' Whether Oswald acted alone in fatally shooting Kennedy on a motorcade route in Dallas on 22 November 1963 was the task force's first line of questioning. Scholars say the files that President Donald Trump ordered to be released showed nothing undercutting the conclusion that a lone gunman killed Kennedy. Many documents were previously released but contained newly removed redactions, including Social Security numbers, angering people whose personal information was disclosed. The task force's chair, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, said she thinks the federal government under previous administrations had engaged in 'stonewalling.' The task force also invited Jefferson Morley and James DiEugenio, who have written books arguing for conspiracies behind the assassination. Morley is editor of the JFK Facts blog and vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a repository for files related to the assassination. The last formal congressional investigation of Kennedy's assassination ended in 1978, when a House committee issued a report concluding that the Soviet Union, Cuba, organized crime, the CIA and the FBI weren't involved, but Kennedy 'probably was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy.' In 1976, a Senate committee said it had not uncovered enough evidence 'to justify a conclusion that there was a conspiracy.' The Warren Commission, appointed by Kennedy's successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, concluded that Oswald fired on Kennedy's motorcade from a sniper's perch on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Police arrested Oswald within 90 minutes, and two days later, Jack Ruby, a nightclub owner, shot Oswald during a jail transfer broadcast on live television.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's JFK file release left out two-thirds of promised documents, expert says
President Donald Trump's administration released thousands of classified documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, but researchers say the trove excluded two-thirds of the promised files. On his third day in office, Trump ordered a 'full and complete release of all John F. Kennedy assassination records,' with researchers anticipating some 3,500 documents that had never been shared with the public. The highly anticipated document dump happened Tuesday — but some experts say that only a third of the redacted files were released. One of those experts is Jefferson Morley, the vice president at the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a database on the JFK assassination files. Tuesday's release is 'an encouraging start,' Morley posted on X late Tuesday. But he also noted that only approximately 1,124 of the withheld documents had been released. The tranche didn't include two-thirds of the promised files, any of the 500 IRS records or the recently discovered FBI files, he noted. Last month, the FBI said it had found about 2,400 records relating to the assassination. 'Nonetheless, this is the most positive news on the declassification of JFK files since the 1990s,' Morley continued. 'These long-secret records shed new light on JFK's mistrust of the CIA, the Castro assassination plots, the surveillance of Oswald in Mexico City, and CIA propaganda operations involving Oswald,' he said. The release of the records regarding Kennedy, who was assassinated during a visit to Dallas, could potentially put an end to the many conspiracy theories that have surrounded his death for decades. "People have been waiting for decades for this," Trump said Monday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. "We have a tremendous amount of paper. You've got a lot of reading. I don't believe we're going to redact anything.' The files described 24-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald — who was arrested for the assassination but killed before he was tried — as a 'poor shot.' Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of 'The Kennedy Half-Century,' told the Associated Press that reviewing the released records will take some time. 'We have a lot of work to do for a long time to come, and people just have to accept that,' Sabato said.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mystery solved? FBI admits it found 2,400 new pages of documents to release about JFK assassination
The FBI says it has found 2,400 new pages of documents about the assassination of John F. Kennedy following President Donald Trump's decision to release the highly classified files. In a statement on Tuesday, the FBI said due to 'technologic advances' of the bureau's record keeping processes, a new search carried out in January this year following Trump's executive order unearthed new records relating to Kennedy's assassination. 'The FBI conducted a new records search pursuant to President Trump's Executive Order issued on January 23, 2025, regarding the declassification of the assassination files of JFK, RFK, and MLK,' the bureau said. 'The search resulted in approximately 2400 newly inventoried and digitized records that were previously unrecognized as related to the JFK assassination case file.' The bureau did not specify what the records contain but said it is working to transfer the documents to the National Archives and Records Administration to be included in the declassification process. Jefferson Morley, vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a repository for files related to the assassination, called the FBI's disclosure of the files 'refreshingly candid.' 'It shows that the FBI is serious about being transparent,' Morley, who is also editor of the JFK Facts blog, said. He said it sets a precedent for other agencies to come forward with documents that haven't yet been turned over to the National Archives. But some of Kennedy's family members have hit out at the decision. In January, Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy's grandson, said that Trump was 'no hero' for ordering the release of the files. 'The truth is a lot sadder than the myth — a tragedy that didn't need to happen. Not part of an inevitable grand scheme,' Schlossberg, who often shared political and satirical commentary online before disabling his social media accounts this week, wrote on X. 'Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he's not here to punch back. There's nothing heroic about it,' the 32-year-old said. Trump's order last month directed the national intelligence director and attorney general to develop a plan to release classified records related to Kennedy's assassination. 'A lot of people are waiting for this for a long time, for years, for decades,' Trump said at the time, before adding that 'everything will be revealed' about the assassination. A George H.W. Bush-era law had required the release of all JFK assassination records in October 2017, and during Trump's first term, numerous records were indeed declassified and made public, but many remained hidden for years after. The assassination has fueled conspiracy theories for decades. Kennedy was fatally shot in downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963, as his motorcade passed in front of the Texas School Book Depository building, where 24-year-old assassin Lee Harvey Oswald positioned himself from a sniper's perch on the sixth floor. Two days after Kennedy was killed, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer. The Warren Commission, established by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination, found that Oswald acted alone and that there was no evidence of a conspiracy. But that conclusion never quelled a web of alternative theories over the decades. Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed, which concludes that Oswald acted alone, said it's possible that the newly discovered files are repeats of documents that are already in the National Archives' collection or they could be documents the review board for the collection had previously said it didn't want. 'If they are really new assassination documents, then it raises a whole bunch of questions about how they were missed for all of these years,' Posner said. He said the 'wow' would be if they are related to Oswald or the investigation. The documents released over the past several years from the collection have offered details on the way intelligence services operated at the time, and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination. The former Marine had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to Texas. Morley said the CIA's surveillance of Oswald has been the 'emerging story over the last five to 10 years.' He said there could be information on that in the new files. The AP contributed
The Independent
11-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Mystery solved? FBI admits it found 2,400 new pages of documents to release about JFK assassination
The FBI says it has found 2,400 new pages of documents about the assassination of John F. Kennedy following President Donald Trump's decision to release the highly classified files. In a statement on Tuesday, the FBI said due to 'technologic advances' of the bureau's record keeping processes, a new search carried out in January this year following Trump's executive order unearthed new records relating to Kennedy's assassination. 'The FBI conducted a new records search pursuant to President Trump's Executive Order issued on January 23, 2025, regarding the declassification of the assassination files of JFK, RFK, and MLK,' the bureau said. 'The search resulted in approximately 2400 newly inventoried and digitized records that were previously unrecognized as related to the JFK assassination case file.' The bureau did not specify what the records contain but said it is working to transfer the documents to the National Archives and Records Administration to be included in the declassification process. Jefferson Morley, vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a repository for files related to the assassination, called the FBI's disclosure of the files 'refreshingly candid.' 'It shows that the FBI is serious about being transparent,' Morley, who is also editor of the JFK Facts blog, said. He said it sets a precedent for other agencies to come forward with documents that haven't yet been turned over to the National Archives. But some of Kennedy's family members have hit out at the decision. In January, Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy's grandson, said that Trump was 'no hero' for ordering the release of the files. 'The truth is a lot sadder than the myth — a tragedy that didn't need to happen. Not part of an inevitable grand scheme,' Schlossberg, who often shared political and satirical commentary online before disabling his social media accounts this week, wrote on X. 'Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he's not here to punch back. There's nothing heroic about it,' the 32-year-old said. Trump's order last month directed the national intelligence director and attorney general to develop a plan to release classified records related to Kennedy's assassination. 'A lot of people are waiting for this for a long time, for years, for decades,' Trump said at the time, before adding that 'everything will be revealed' about the assassination. A George H.W. Bush-era law had required the release of all JFK assassination records in October 2017, and during Trump's first term, numerous records were indeed declassified and made public, but many remained hidden for years after. The assassination has fueled conspiracy theories for decades. Kennedy was fatally shot in downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963, as his motorcade passed in front of the Texas School Book Depository building, where 24-year-old assassin Lee Harvey Oswald positioned himself from a sniper's perch on the sixth floor. Two days after Kennedy was killed, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer. The Warren Commission, established by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination, found that Oswald acted alone and that there was no evidence of a conspiracy. But that conclusion never quelled a web of alternative theories over the decades. Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed, which concludes that Oswald acted alone, said it's possible that the newly discovered files are repeats of documents that are already in the National Archives' collection or they could be documents the review board for the collection had previously said it didn't want. 'If they are really new assassination documents, then it raises a whole bunch of questions about how they were missed for all of these years,' Posner said. He said the 'wow' would be if they are related to Oswald or the investigation. The documents released over the past several years from the collection have offered details on the way intelligence services operated at the time, and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination. The former Marine had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to Texas. Morley said the CIA's surveillance of Oswald has been the 'emerging story over the last five to 10 years.' He said there could be information on that in the new files.
Boston Globe
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
FBI says it found 2,400 new JFK assassination records
The FBI said did not say in its statement what kind of information the newly discovered files contain. The FBI said that in 2020 it opened a Central Records Complex and began a years-long effort to ship, electronically inventory and store closed case files from field offices across the country. The agency said that a more comprehensive records inventory along with technological advances allowed them to quickly search and locate records. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Jefferson Morley, vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, a repository for files related to the assassination, called the FBI's disclosure of the files 'refreshingly candid.' Advertisement 'It shows that the FBI is serious about being transparent,' said Morley, who is also editor of the JFK Facts blog. Morley said it also sets a precedent for other agencies to come forward with documents that haven't yet been turned over to the National Archives. Trump's order last month directed the national intelligence director and attorney general to develop a plan to release classified records related to Kennedy's assassination. A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said that as required by the order, a release plan has been submitted but offered no details about the plan or a timeline for when records may be made available to the public. The collection was required to be opened by 2017, barring any exemptions designated by the president. In his first term, Trump said that he would allow the release of all of the remaining records but ended up holding some back due to potential harm to national security. And while files continued to be released during under former President Joe Biden, some remain unseen. Advertisement The assassination has fueled conspiracy theories for decades. Kennedy was fatally shot in downtown Dallas as his motorcade passed in front of the Texas School Book Depository building, where 24-year-old assassin Lee Harvey Oswald positioned himself from a sniper's perch on the sixth floor. Two days after Kennedy was killed, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer. The Warren Commission, established by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination, found that Oswald acted alone and that there was no evidence of a conspiracy. But that conclusion never quelled a web of alternative theories over the decades. Gerald Posner, author of 'Case Closed,' which concludes that Oswald acted alone, said it's possible that the newly discovered files are repeats of documents that are already in the National Archives' collection or they could be documents the review board for the collection had previously said it didn't want. 'If they are really new assassination documents, then it raises a whole bunch of questions about how they were missed for all of these years,' Posner said. He said the 'wow' would be if they are related to Oswald directory or the investigation. The documents released over the last several years from the collection have offered details on the way intelligence services operated at the time, and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination. The former Marine had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to Texas. Advertisement Morley said that the CIA's surveillance of Oswald has been the 'emerging story over the last five to 10 years.' He said there could be information on that in the new files. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and David Klepper contributed reporting from Washington.
