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Abraham Bolden


John Simkin

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This post probably belongs on a thread on Richard Cain (John: is there one?).

As I recall, Cain's brother contributed to "Ultimate Sacrifice".

Cain's possible involvement in the assassination would support a "Mafia did it" scenario (particularly one involving Giancana). If it can be established that Cain had worked for the CIA (I believe there is evidence for that), his involvement could also support a scenario that the CIA or some of its agents were involved.

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This article appeared in Common Dreams:

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0217-20.htm

After 40 Years, the First National Security Whistleblower Still Seeks Justice

by Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann

After an outstanding career in law enforcement, Abraham Bolden was appointed by John F. Kennedy to be the first African American presidential Secret Service agent, where he served with distinction. But you haven't heard about Abraham Bolden during Black History month, because after helping to prevent JFK's assassination in the weeks before Dallas, Bolden was arrested on the very day he went to Washington to tell the Warren Commission about those attempts. Caught in a maze of National Security concerns that only became clear after four million pages of JFK files were released in the 1990s, Bolden was sentenced to six years in prison, becoming America's first National Security Whistleblower.

The files released after Congress passed the JFK Act unanimously in 1992 show the massive amount of information that had been withheld from at least five Congressional investigations. Even worse, the Final Report of the JFK Board created by Congress shows that crucial files about attempts against JFK--the cases Bolden worked on--were destroyed by the Secret Service in 1995. And, a report by the government oversight group OMB Watch says that "well over one million CIA records" related to JFK's era remain unreleased, perhaps until the mandatory release date of 2017.

Bolden, now 71, can't wait that long.

Plus, the long-secret files that have been released show how keeping millions of documents secret for decades have negatively impacted US actions in dealing with Iraq, Central America, and Cuba, as well as preventing crucial intelligence failures from coming to light prior to 9/11.

On February 14, 2006, Congress held hearings about National Security Whistleblowers, aimed at improving laws to protect them from retaliation for trying to tell the truth. The witnesses who testified revealed a litany of workers being attacked by their own agencies, of documents destroyed or withheld--even from Congress--and of years of struggle to get fair hearings. This pattern began in the case of Abraham Bolden in 1964, yet most in Congress are unaware of his case. Likewise, Congress doesn't realize that not only did the Secret Service admit destroying crucial JFK documents in 1995, but that the Secret Service then failed to confirm their compliance with the JFK Act under oath, as did other agencies.

The JFK Board's Final Report detailing that was released 1998, amidst the aftermath of the Monica Lewinsky affair, which may explain why it received little attention at the time. The OMB Watch report in which an official who worked with the JFK Board admitted that "well over one million CIA records" are still secret was released in the hotly contested election year of 2000, which may be why that escaped the notice of journalists and those in Congress. In addition, the major revelations in the four million JFK documents that were released in the 1990s--and continued to trickle out today--are only just now coming to light.

In today's world of instant e-mail and 24-hour news channels, many were recently amazed that Vice President Cheney was able to keep news of his shooting of another man secret for almost 24 hours.

Yet in November 1963, John and Robert Kennedy were able to keep two assassination plots against JFK that month out of the media at the time. The first was in Chicago, on November 2, 1963--when JFK had to cancel his trip and motorcade at the last minute--and the second was during JFK's long motorcade through Tampa, Florida on November 18, 1963, just four days before Dallas. Both the Chicago and Tampa plots had many similarities to Dallas, yet they were withheld from the news media and most investigators.

Bolden was involved in investigating the Chicago plot and was informed about the similar Tampa attempt. Bolden's own testimony to a Congressional Committee about the Chicago plot was kept secret for over fifteen years, but when finally released in the 1990s, it supported other information that had emerged about the plot over the years.

Unknown to Bolden until recently, the crux of all this secrecy about the attempts to assassinate JFK in Chicago, Tampa, and Dallas were John and Robert Kennedys' "Plan for a Coup in Cuba" to overthrow Fidel Castro on December 1, 1963. The most secret operation of the Kennedy years, the CIA side of the operation was code-named AMWORLD, a term withheld from five Congressional investigations (and the Warren Commission) and declassified only in the 1990s. It appeared in print for the first time just three months ago. Using declassified files from the National Archives, we found that in the days, weeks, and months before Dallas, Robert Kennedy had a secret government committee looking at how the US could deal with the "assassination of American officials" if Castro found out about the Kennedys' coup plan, and tried to retaliate.

The thinking behind such plans--and worries that the revelation of the Kennedy coup plan could trigger another nuclear confrontation with the Soviets just a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis--was behind most of the secrecy surrounding JFK's assassination. However, key officials in agencies like the FBI, the CIA, and the Secret Service also used the excuse of National Security to withheld information that could have been embarrassing to them.

We only uncovered the Kennedys' plan with the help of almost two dozen people who worked with John and Robert Kennedy on the coup plan, their war against the Mafia, and their tragic aftermath. One of them told us that Robert Kennedy was aware of Bolden's plight, but "couldn't" do anything about it at the time--and in the context of the coup plan and the plans to protect it we had just been discussing, it was clear why. Any intervention on Bobby's part could have unraveled a veil of National Security secrecy that could have led to World War III.

Our sources and all the new documents don't show any vast conspiracy to kill JFK--they confirm what Bobby Kennedy himself came to believe, after several secret investigations by his trusted associates: that the Mafia had been behind his brother's assassination. Those Mafioso had infiltrated the Kennedys' coup plan through AMWORLD, and used the secrecy surrounding it to prevent a thorough investigation into JFK's death by pointing the blame toward Castro.

Bolden went to Washington in the Spring of 1964 to tell Warren Commission staff about the Chicago and Tampa attempts, and other Secret Service laxity, such as late night drinking bouts by the agents. News reports of the late-night drinking of Secret Service agents the night before JFK's assassination were threatening to become a major scandal, but the Secret Service couldn't reveal that the agents were blowing off steam after the stress of the recent plots against JFK in Chicago and Tampa. While Warren Commission staff had heard vague rumors of the Chicago plot, they had been told nothing about the Tampa attempt (which would continued to be withheld from the later Congressional investigations into JFK's assassination).

Bolden was arrested the day he arrived in Washington to talk to Warren Commission staff.

Bolden himself had previously arrested both of his accusers, one of whom later admitted committing perjury against Bolden. But the Chicago judge told the jury he felt Bolden was guilty, and Bolden was convicted and sentenced to six years in jail. Former Senate investigator and top Freedom of Information attorney Bud Fensterwald looked into Bolden's case and concluded that Bolden had been framed. After reviewing Fensterwald's files, we tracked down additional information about the Chicago mobster that Bolden's accusers worked for, whose gangster associate had infiltrated AMWORLD. The Mafia knew the Secret Service wouldn't defend Bolden because of his accusations of laxity, and that others in the government couldn't come to Bolden's aide because of National Security concerns.

After over forty years, Abraham Bolden is still trying to clear his name, but National Security concerns that date from 1963 still stymie his efforts. Along with another researcher, we provided written testimony about the Tampa attempt against JFK to the JFK Board in November of 1994.

But about six weeks later, in January 1995, the Board's Final Report states that the Secret Service told them they had just destroyed records covering the time of the Tampa (and Chicago) attempts. This was despite the 1992 JFK Act which required those records be preserved and released. The Secret Service also told the Board it had earlier destroyed other crucial records. And as we noted earlier, "well over one million CIA records" related to JFK's assassination still remain secret today, despite passage of the 1992 JFK Act.

Abraham Bolden paid a heavy price for trying to tell the truth about events involving the man he was sworn to protect--JFK--that became mired in National Security concerns. Bolden still lives in Chicago, and has never given up trying to clear his name. Two days after Christmas, his wife passed away unexpectedly just three days before their 49th wedding anniversary. She had remained with Bolden through it all, always sure of his innocence.

Will Abraham Bolden live to finally see the justice so long denied to him?

As Congress looks into much-needed legislation to protect today's National Security Whistleblowers, we urge to them to consider those like Bolden who risked their careers and lives to tell the truth decades ago.

It's in the interest of Congress to do so, since the four million JFK files released in the 1990s show the massive amount of information that was withheld from Congress in the 1970s and 1980s. Will no one be held responsible--or even investigated--for that? Or for the Secret Service document destruction in 1995? And how can Congress expect agencies like the CIA to keep them fully informed today, when so much has been--and continues to be--withheld?

After languishing for several years, Congress finally funded the Public Interest Declassification Board, which is scheduled to be held on February 25, 2006, which is one opportunity for some of these matters to be explored. All this secrecy has harmed--and continues to impact--American foreign policy and actions in countries ranging from Iraq to Cuba.

Each of us has a member of Congress and two Senators who can be contacted to let them know we care about these matters. Even those outside of the US can make journalists and others aware of Bolden's plight and the ongoing secrecy of this government and the harm it brings to democracy.

It's the least we can do for ourselves, for history, and for a brave whistleblower like Abraham Bolden.

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Bolden's story would make a great movie. I guess there's just no filmmaker around with the stones to do it.

Oliver, speaking of Stones, has already done his JFK movie. But why can't he do another one, with such a naturally good story as Bolden's? I remember reading a few years ago that Stone bought the rights to Marita Lorenz's story. Thank God he did nothing with them.

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Bolden's story would make a great movie. I guess there's just no filmmaker around with the stones to do it.

Oliver, speaking of Stones, has already done his JFK movie. But why can't he do another one, with such a naturally good story as Bolden's? I remember reading a few years ago that Stone bought the rights to Marita Lorenz's story. Thank God he did nothing with them.

From what I hear about his latest movie on 9/11, Stone is no longer interested in conspiracies. Our best bet is George Clooney. His latest movie is about the corrupt Texas oil industry. He said on a BBC interview last night that he is aware that his ability to make controversial political movies will only last for a short period.

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John,

Get a hold of George!

Can you imagine a movie about Bolden, starring Denzel Washington? A megahit.

Ron

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John,

Get a hold of George!

Can you imagine a movie about Bolden, starring Denzel Washington? A megahit.

Ron

A megahit to say the least, and probably one of the only ways remaining to force the issue of Mr. Bolden's innocence.

I'm one of the people who believes that Mr. Bolden got railroaded, and deserves the opportunity once-and-for-all to clear his name. Unfortunately, I'm also of the opinion that he will not get this opportunity if "traditional channels" are utilized. There is still enough mis/disinformation machinery to make sure that these channels will be duly closed (or manipulated).

I suspect that if the general public learns the details, they will become appropriately agitated. America, in general, loves an 'underdog' and loves seeing wrongs righted. Our ability to handle the truth is much greater than our Government believes it to be...

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Members might be interested in this exchange that shows that Rowley lied when he testified before the Warren Commission. What is more, he lied about the Chicago assassination attempt, the incident that got Abraham Bolden sent to prison for six years.

James J. Rowley, interviewed by Leodis Matthews for the House Select Committee of Assassinations (19th September, 1978)

Leodis Matthews: At the time you made that assignment to Inspector Kelley, did you give him any specific instructions of what he should do when he reached Dallas?

James J. Rowley: I did not speak to him, but I am quite sure that Deputy Chief Paterni did. Paterni told him to take charge of the investigation, which was also my thought at the time we decided to send him there.

Leodis Matthews: Soon after Inspector Kelly arrived in Dallas and began his investigation, you received a communique through the mail, an office report, indicating that there had been a Chicago investigation of some Cubans?

James J. Rowley: I did not get that.

Leodis Matthews: Mr. Rowley, let me just call your attention to JFK F-419, a document I believe that I have supplied you earlier.

James J. Rowley: Yes.

Leodis Matthews: Have you had occasion to read through that report?

James J. Rowley: Yes, sir.

Leodis Matthews: That report indicates that you received it shortly after the assassination. It was entitled, "Possible Involvement by Quentin Pino Machado in a Conspiracy to Assassinate JFK." Did you review that report?

James J. Rowley: I do not think I reviewed that report. I did not see my initials on it, so therefore I have to assume I did not review it.

Leodis Matthews: I also call your attention to JFK F-422, a document which you also have in your possession, entitled, "Chicago Investigation of Cuban Groups Alleged To Be Involved in the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy." Do you have any recollection of having received and reviewed that report?

James J. Rowley: I think my initials are on that report which would indicate that I did read it, but I have no immediate recollection.

Leodis Matthews: Did you receive any report about the agents' performance in Dallas?

James J. Rowley: We did receive reports from time to time on Dallas, but which specific report are you referring to?

Leodis Matthews: Well, did you receive a report indicating how the agents had performed at the time that the shooting episode occurred in Dealey Plaza?

James J. Rowley: The report indicated that they performed adequately under the circumstances. The action of Agent Clint Hill, that he was attempting to take some action, is indicative of the agent's response.

Leodis Matthews: Did you play any role in supervising the investigation itself?

James J. Rowley: No, sir.

Leodis Matthews: I want to call your attention to what has been marked as JFK F-423, "Secret Service Organizational Chart," off to your right. In your opinion, would the Service have been organized in substantially the same manner in November of 1963?

James J. Rowley: Yes.

Leodis Matthews: Would Mr. Kelley's position on the chart have indicated that he had authority in the field office to direct that the agents conduct whatever investigation he felt was necessary?

James J. Rowley: Yes, sir, he had that authority...

Leodis Matthews: When the Warren Commission was established, you selected Mr. Kelley to be the liaison person?

James J. Rowley: Yes, sir.

Leodis Matthews: Why did you make that selection?

James J. Rowley: Why? Because it was a natural selection, inasmuch as he was in Dallas to conduct the investigation, and would be familiar with what might be required by the Warren Commission, and therefore would be of great assistance to them.

Leodis Matthews: As Chief of the Secret Service, did you ever make any attempts to meet with the person in charge of the FBI and formulate a strategy for investigation?

James J. Rowley: I did meet with Mr. Hoover and, we reaffirmed the longstanding cooperative relationship between our two agencies.

Leodis Matthews: Did you have any input on a strategy of investigation for the Warren Commission?

James J. Rowley: I think we did prepare something for the Warren Commission. Specifically I do not recall, but I have in the back of my mind such a report.

Leodis Matthews: Mr. Kelley has already testified to some exhibits I would like to identify for the record which you have a copy of: of JFK F-414, of JFK F-415, of JFK F-416, JFK F-417, and JFK F-418, a series of reports which his testimony has indicated involved the Secret Service investigation of the Cuban plot to assassinate the President. Were you aware of those reports during the course of the Warren Commission investigation?

James J. Rowley: No, I have no recollection of them.

Leodis Matthews: Do you have any recollection of having reviewed those documents?

James J. Rowley: No, sir. You mean at that time, or recently?

Leodis Matthews: At the time that the documents were generated.

James J. Rowley: No.

Leodis Matthews: Did you work out any agreement as to which files would be supplied to the Warren Commission?

James J. Rowley: That was left up to Inspector Kelley, since he was the one most familiar with what documents. In fact, he was directed to comply with all the requests that were made by the Commission to the Secret Service for reports...

Harold E. Ford: You mentioned a minute ago to the counsel that you met with the Director, Mr. Hoover, and in talking with him, did you ever discuss the line of investigation and the exchange of intelligence?

James J. Rowley: That was worked out right after the assassination, Mr. Congressman, but we already had their cooperation to the extent that they were able to provide us with intelligence information prior to that time.

Harold E. Ford: You mentioned earlier that you assigned Inspector Thomas Kelley.

James J. Rowley:Yes, sir.

Harold E. Ford: To Dallas for the investigation. Again for the record, why did you assign Mr. Kelley, dispatch him to the Dallas-Fort Worth area?

James J. Rowley: I assigned Mr. Kelley because he was the nearest inspector to Dallas at that time. As I explained previously since time was of the essence, I wanted to send an inspector as quickly as possible, and Mr. Kelly was the closest one. One of the responsibilities of an inspector is to do precisely what Mr. Kelly did in Dallas, direct the investigation and the activities.

Harold E. Ford: Was he there to investigate who may have been involved in the assassination or to review the performance of the Secret Service in connection with the assassination?

James J. Rowley: He was there to become involved in the investigation to determine the facts surrounding the assassination.

Harold E. Ford: Mr. Rowley, you testified before the Warren Commission June 18 of 1964. At that time in your testimony you were asked by Senator Cooper the following questions, and I quote: "Do you have any information based upon any facts that you know based upon any information given to you by persons who claim to have personal knowledge that there were persons engaged in a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy." And your response was, "I have no such facts, sir." He then asked you the following additional question, and I quote:

"I address the same question as to whether you have any information that the killing of President Kennedy had any connection with any foreign power." Your response was, and I quote: "I have no such information."

We have heard testimony from Mr. Kelley indicating that there were assassination plots investigated by the Secret Service in early 1963. Were you aware of those investigations at the time of your testimony before the Warren Commission?

James J. Rowley: I would have to look at the reports themselves, Mr. Congressman, to see whether my initials were on them. In the reports that you speak of, it was established that there was not any activity directed against--or of interest to us as it affected the President of the United States.

Harold E. Ford: Going back to the first question, you said, "I have no such facts, sir." " The second question you also said, I have no such information." I am asking now, were you aware of those investigations at the time you appeared before the Warren Commission?

James J. Rowley: Well, if I made that statement, then I was not aware of those facts.

Harold E. Ford: I would like counsel to give the witness JFK F-416, F417, F-418, and ask the witness whether his initials appear upon the face of these reports.

James J. Rowley: Yes, sir.

Harold E. Ford: Chief Rowley, why did you not call it to the Warren Commission's attention back in 1964 when you appeared before the Commission?

Chief Rowley. This information at the time was handled either by the PRS or through Mr. Kelley, and I can only assume, Mr. Congressman, that these reports were furnished to the Warren Commission.

Harold E. Ford: The reports in your hand were reported?

James J. Rowley: That is right. It was an ongoing investigation, as I see it, in which case there would be a relationship with the FBI and the CIA, and in the ultimate I would think that the report itself would establish whether or not it affected the safety of the President of the United States.

Harold E. Ford: But you had initialed these reports or documents prior to the June 18, 1964 appearance before the Warren Commission; is that correct?

James J. Rowley: That is correct, sir.

****************************************************

Great subject, John. Great information from Palomara, Bernie.

The kind of stuff you can really sink your teeth into. :ice

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According to Bernard Fensterwald's memo from his interview with Mr.Bolden, "Martineau called in all men in his charge in Chicago and told them of Rowley's call. He also informed them of the following as to this matter,

(1) There were to be no written reports: any information was to be given to Martineau orally..

(2) Nothing was to be sent by TWX (inter-office teletype):

He ( Martineau )was to report only by phone to Rowley , personally.

(3) No file number was to be given to this case .All Secret Service agents in Chicago ( including Bolden) were shown four photos of the men allegedly involved in the plot (of the four, Bolden remembers two names Bradley and Gonzalez." (Memo dated 3/29/68 via AARC: Bolden letter to Congressman Louis Stokes, 1/26/92 (obtained by the author from Bolden).

I have always felt that Bolden was another individual 'in the way' none of the information on this thread even remotely surprises me, I read of Abraham Bolden's being place in a cell next to Richard Case Nagell in the early 1990's, even though the identity of the shooters is not, nor should be the main focus, I would mention the first two names that came to mind when I read the above photgraph, Virgilio Gonzales and Edgar Eugene Bradley. While I am not stating or implying that the two names I have mentioned were/are the same individuals (and I am more than aware of the acrimonius debate concerning Edgar Eugene Bradley, and whether or not his 'connection' to the JFK Assassination was simply a diversionary tactic) I thought they should be mentioned.

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All Secret Service agents in Chicago ( including Bolden) were shown four photos of the men allegedly involved in the plot (of the four, Bolden remembers two names Bradley and Gonzalez." (Memo dated 3/29/68 via AARC: Bolden letter to Congressman Louis Stokes, 1/26/92 (obtained by the author from Bolden).

I assume, from Bernice's earlier post from which this derives, that this is quoting Palamara. According to Ultimate Sacrifice (p. 623), Fensterwald's 3/29/68 memo does not say that Bolden remembered "Bradley and Gonzalez," it says that he remembered "Gonzales and Rodriquez."

If the other cited source, Bolden's 1992 letter to Stokes, says "Bradley and Gonzalez," then two sources have been conflated in rather misleading fashion. From Ultimate Sacrifice (p. 861): "At a later time, Bolden recalled one of the names as perhaps being something like Bradley. However, this was at a time during the Garrison investigation when someone named Bradley was being focused on as a suspect, so it's possible his interviewers pressed him for a recall on that particular name."

Edited by Ron Ecker
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  • 4 months later...

Was looking at some chapters of Bolden's new book.

So far the most interesting is his claim (pp.50-54) that one of the Secret Service agents lost his official identification while getting very drunk the night of

Nov. 21-22 at a Dallas club. In early December, according to his account the FBI told the Secret Service to stop all investigations. (Previously, it was also hindered by sinister people inside the Secret Service)

The most interesting thing to me is Bolden's claim that the SS replaced ALL of its identity booklets in late December of 1963. The word "The" was added to the cover, making it read The Department of Treasury. Bolden states that this was to divert attention from the lost ID book; the one that was lost on the night of

November 21-22 in Dallas.

People may have already discussed this, but could this be the source of the ID that was flashed by the person on the overpass, who used this to make the Dallas police officer leave him alone?

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Was looking at some chapters of Bolden's new book.

So far the most interesting is his claim (pp.50-54) that one of the Secret Service agents lost his official identification while getting very drunk the night of

Nov. 21-22 at a Dallas club. In early December, according to his account the FBI told the Secret Service to stop all investigations. (Previously, it was also hindered by sinister people inside the Secret Service)

The most interesting thing to me is Bolden's claim that the SS replaced ALL of its identity booklets in late December of 1963. The word "The" was added to the cover, making it read The Department of Treasury. Bolden states that this was to divert attention from the lost ID book; the one that was lost on the night of

November 21-22 in Dallas.

People may have already discussed this, but could this be the source of the ID that was flashed by the person on the overpass, who used this to make the Dallas police officer leave him alone?

And could it be that the ID was taken from the drunk slob without his knowledge rather than lost by him?

However, at this point I rather suspect that the perps had all the counterfeit IDs they needed in DP so didn't have to use any real/lost/stolen ones.

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Good article on Abraham Bolden from June 12, 2009:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thom-hartman...i_b_213834.html

This article isn't about Abe Bolden.

It's about Thom Hartman and Walman, who continue to try to promote their bogus theory that the Mafia hijacked JFK's planned coup in Cuba involving a Cuban official who wasn't even in Cuba at the time. Why keep promoting a theory when you know the truth?

Certainly using Abe Bolden as a lead in to get a story out in mainstream media about Congressional Oversight of the JFK Act is a good thing, and half of this article is about that, but when he wants to lay it on, boy is it thick.

I even went over it to see what he's really trying to say.

Thom Hartman wrote:

A great miscarriage of justice has kept most Americas from learning about a Civil Rights pioneer who worked with President John F. Kennedy. But there is finally a way for citizens to not only right that wrong, but bring closure to the most tragic chapter of American presidential history.

After an outstanding career in law enforcement, Abraham Bolden was appointed by JFK to be the first African American presidential Secret Service agent, where he served with distinction. He was part of the Secret Service effort that prevented JFK's assassination in Chicago, three weeks before Dallas. But Bolden was framed by the Mafia and arrested on the very day he went to Washington to tell the Warren Commission staff about the Chicago attempt against JFK.

Bolden was sentenced to six years in prison, despite glaring problems with his prosecution. His arrest resulted from accusations by two criminals Bolden had sent to prison. In Bolden's first trial, an apparently biased judge told the jury that Bolden was guilty, even before they began their deliberations. Though granted a new trial because of that, the same problematic judge was assigned to oversee Bolden's second trial, which resulted in his conviction. Later, the main witness against Bolden admitted committing perjury against him. A key member of the prosecution even took the fifth when asked about the perjury. Yet Bolden's appeals were denied, and he had to serve hard time in prison, and today is considered a convicted felon.

After the release of four million pages of JFK assassination files in the 1990s, it became clear that Bolden -- and the official secrecy surrounding the Chicago attempt against JFK -- were due to National Security concerns about Cuba, that were unknown to Bolden, the press, Congress, and the public not just in 1963, but for the next four decades.

Four million pages of files were released after Congress passed the JFK Assassination Records Act unanimously in 1992. They document the massive amount of information that had been withheld from at least five Congressional investigations -- including in 1975 and 1976, when Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were top officials for then-President Gerald Ford. Even worse, the Final Report of the Review Board created by JFK Act shows that files covering the time period of the Chicago attempt to kill JFK were destroyed by the Secret Service in 1995. A report by the government oversight group OMB Watch says that "well over one million CIA records" related to JFK's assassination remain unreleased, perhaps until the mandatory release date of 2017 -- thought in a court filing last year, the CIA claimed the right to withhold file even after that date.

With a new administration promising less government secrecy, it's time to finally fully enforce the 1992 JFK Act, and release all the files. The Obama administration is considering new rules about more open government, but until federal agencies are compelled to comply with existing laws, how can we expect the agencies to follow new procedures?

Likewise, Congress should ask agency heads why they haven't complied with the 1992 law -- and why agencies like the CIA still fight in court to keep clearly relevant files away from the public, the press, and Congress.

There were legitimate national security concerns about some of these issues in 1963, and for decades thereafter.

William Kelly : All that's well and good. I have no problem whatsoever with anything said so far, all of which leads not to the possible Congressional Oversight Hearings on the JFK Act, A Federal Grand Jury to investigate the crime(s) or a new legal venue to obtain sworn testimony from living witnesses, but instead, begets the spin and the propaganda Waldman and Hartman have been spewing for years.

Beginning with this sentence:

In 2005, the National Archives confirmed the release of files showing that in 1963, John and Robert Kennedy were working with Juan Almeida, Commander of the Cuban Army, to overthrow Fidel Castro.

WK: First off, John and Robert Kennedy were working with a number of anti-Castro Cubans in the effort but for some reason these guys are stuck with Juan Almeida, though there is no evidence the Kennedys were any more partial to him than they were to any of the heirs apparent to Fidel, except they didn’t want Batista henchmen to return to power.

Thom Hartman: CIA files show the coup (code-named AMWORLD by the CIA) was set for December 1, 1963, ten days after JFK's trip to Dallas.

WK: Yes, but the CIA files also show that your man Juan Almeida was also on a plane to Africa before the end of November and wasn’t even in Cuba when this planned coup was to take place. In addition, it appears that the overall plans that this one was a part of – the “Contingency Plans for a Coup in Cuba” that also planned to utilize attributes of the Valkyrie plot to kill Hitler, as well as Northwinds black propaganda twists to blame pro-Castro Communists for the murder, - this was the specific plot to kill Castro that was redirected to kill JFK. Not the Mafia ones.

TH: Other declassified files show that Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy had been making plans for dealing with the possible "assassination of American officials" if Castro found out about the Kennedys' coup plan, and tried to retaliate. That's why the attempt to kill JFK in Chicago (and a later attempt in Tampa) were kept out of the press by the Kennedys.

WK: The Kennedys didn’t keep anything out of the press. If you believe these guys, RFK killed his own brother. These guys have a bug up their arse about RFK, and it stems from the fact that they blackmailed Bobby by utilizing anti-Castro Cuban operations that he was exposed to.

TH: The thinking behind such plans -- and worries that the revelation of the Kennedy coup plan could trigger another nuclear confrontation with the Soviets if exposed just a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis -- was behind most of the secrecy surrounding JFK's assassination.

WK: It wasn’t the Kennedy’s coup plans that never happened that had to be kept secret, it was the real killers of JFK – LBJ, the CIA and those within the small DOD office responsible for Covert Cuban operations – the very small rooms at the Pentagon where they adopted the Valkyrie plan to kill Castro and turned it on JFK. LBJ knew the Ruskies weren’t going to attack, and he knew JFK wasn’t killed by a Commie Rat Loner, but he used that as an excuse to get the Warren Commission to adopt the Lone Nut scenario, rather than uncover the true conspiracy.

TH: That's because Commander Almeida remained unexposed and in place -- as Cuba's #3 official -- for many years after JFK's murder.

WK: Almeida was in Africa and in no position to engineer a coup in Cuba on Dec. 1, 1963, or any other time, and was probably a loyal Castro subject all along, and the only people fooled are Waldron and Hartman.

TH: However, some US officials -- like the CIA's Richard Helms and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover -- used the legitimate concern of protecting Almeida and his family to hide their own intelligence failures.

WK: What they were hiding had nothing to do with Almeida, except in the minds of Waldman and Hartman, who just can’t seem to get Almeida out of their minds, and make him into a much larger character in the drama than he really is. I’d bet there isn’t even a document from Helms or Hover that even mentions Almeida, other than ccs and FYIs.

TH: Hence, all of that information had been withheld from the Warren Commission and at least five later government and Congressional investigating committees.

WK: Certainly there’s a lot of information still being with held, not only from WC and other government investigations and Congress, but from the public, and we now have the Almeida documents and know what he was doing on December 1, but we don’t have much more significant records, ie. DRE and Joannides. What is most bothersome to me about Waldron and Hartman is they continual harping on the Mafia hijacking of the plot to kill Castro, when the Mafia had been out of the CIA Castro assassination business for years, their continued fingering of Almeida, when his role is now more clearly understood, and their failure to pinpoint the key military aspects of the coup that took place in Dallas, and instead chase the bogus plans for a coup in Cuba that never took place.

TH: We only uncovered the JFK-Almeida coup plan with the help of almost two dozen people who worked with John and Robert Kennedy on the coup plan, their war against the Mafia, and their tragic aftermath.

WK: Yes, and every one of them were Kennedy baiters – Califano, McNamara, Bundy, Haig, et al., every one of them in on the contingency plans for a coup in Cuba, the plan that was redirected to kill JFK.

TH: One of them indicated that Robert Kennedy was aware of Bolden's plight and wanted to help, but "couldn't" do anything about it at the time -- and in the context of the coup plan and the plans to protect it we had just been discussing, it was clear why. Any intervention on Bobby's part could have unraveled a veil of National Security secrecy that could have led to World War III.

WK: Bobby and JFK were very aware of Bolden, and became personally friendly with him as the first black agent assigned to the White House detail, but they didn’t fail to help him to prevent WWIII, and weren’t aware of the details of the Chicago plot at all. Certainly Bolden is a hero in my book, but not because his history fits in with Waldron and Hartman’s wharped view of things.

TH: Our sources

WK: And what’s with all these secret sources who say things that support a story that has already been shown to be wrong?

TH:…….and all the new documents don't show any vast conspiracy to kill JFK –

WK: The documented records certainly does reflect that JFK was the victim of a political assassination and coup, though it was certainly not a “vast conspiracy,” but a very small and compact one.

TH: … they confirm what Bobby Kennedy himself came to believe, after several secret investigations by his trusted associates: that members of the Mafia had been behind his brother's assassination.

WK: Robert Kennedy most certainly did not come to believe that members of the mafia were behind his brother’s assassination. He suspected a conspiracy, and told the Ruskies it was a right wing military coup, and asked both the head of the CIA and LBJ why they had his brother killed, but there’s no evidence that he suspected the Mafia was behind the assassination, and there is no solid evidence that the Mafia did it or were even capable of it carrying it out and covering it up.

TH: (The three mob bosses -- Carlos Marcello, Santo Trafficante, and Johnny Rosselli -- all made credible confessions to JFK's murder before they died.)

WK: As have James Files, Chauncey Holt, the Corsican mobsters in jail in Europe, E. Howard Hunt, and dozens of others, none of whom can be tied to the evidence at the scene of the crime. All of the above mentioned organized crime figures were under heavy federal government surveillance and their private conversations were recorded. When Ralph Salerno, the top organized crime expert in the country was brought in by G. Robert Blakey to testify to the Mafia’s culpability in the assassination, he said if the Mafia was involved that would have been reflected in the surveillance. Nor could have the Mafia engineered the Northwoods style black propaganda operation to blame the assassination on Castro that was tied in with the Dealey Plaza operation, nor could the Mafia control communications, the autopsy or the coverup.

TH: Though the Mafia had been barred from the coup plan and from reopening their casinos in Cuba if it were successful, a dozen associates of the mob bosses managed to learn about the JFK-Almeida coup plan. Six mob associates -- including CIA agent Bernard Barker, and CIA Miami operations chief David Morales -- actually worked on the coup plan. The mob bosses used the intense secrecy surrounding the JFK-Almeida coup plan to prevent a thorough investigation into JFK's death by planting phony evidence implicating Fidel Castro.

WK: The Mafia had nothing to do with the Northwoods aspect of the plan to blame the assassination on Castro. Every instance of Castro being blamed for the assassination can be traced back to David Atlee Phillips and/or one of his propaganda shop operatives, or those mentioned below – Haig and his pals Califano and the DOD Cuban Ops boys who ran the very office at the Pentagon where the Valkyrie plan to kill Hitler was used as part of their Contingency Plans for a Coup in Cuba.

TH: Because of the resulting cover-ups, high officials who believed that Fidel was involved in JFK's murder -- from President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s to Reagan's Secretary of State Alexander Haig in the 1980s -- didn't realize the evidence was false and linked to the Mafia.

WK: Haig, Califano and Company know that Castro wasn’t behind the Dealey Plaza Operation because they were behind the very same plot to kill Castro that was used to kill JFK. These were the guys who organized the plot, and they certainly didn’t fool themselves.

TH: None of that was known to Abraham Bolden -- or the public -- when Bolden went to Washington in the Spring of 1964 to tell the Warren Commission staff about the Chicago plot against JFK. It's now clear that an associate of Rosselli and Trafficante -- Chicago mobster Richard Cain, who was a high official in the Cook Country/Chicago Sheriff's department -- was in the perfect position to frame Bolden.

WK: Cain was also an associate of cops, was a cop and was in on the very incidents that made the Chicago plot unravel, but wasn’t there at the behest of his mob friends to frame Bolden. It wasn’t Bolden who was being framed, it was Thomas Arthur Vallee, and Bolden just got wrapped up in it.

TH: Abraham Bolden paid a heavy price for trying to tell the truth about events involving the man he was sworn to protect -- JFK -- that became mired in National Security concerns. Bolden still lives in Chicago, and has never given up trying to clear his name. Will Abraham Bolden live to finally see the justice so long denied to him?

WK: Bolden won’t see justice until those responsible for killing JFK see justice.

TH: Will no one be held responsible -- or even investigated -- for the files withheld from Congressional investigations in the 1970s? Or for the Secret Service document destruction in 1995? And the CIA files withheld from the JFK Review Board in the 1990s? How can Congress expect agencies like the CIA to keep them fully informed today, when so much has been -- and continues to be -- withheld?

WK: Hey, that’s the idea. We really must get Congress to act and properly oversee the JFK Act with investigative hearings, but they’re not going to do it by confusing them will all this nonsense about a coup in Cuba that never happened, a Cuban official whose still in charge in Cuba, and blaming the Mafia and a cast of characters who are all dead, and using ammo supplied by Haig, Califano and others who were all part of the very contingency plans for a coup in Cuba that was redirected to FK in Dallas. Free the files and let the records speak for themselves and not put any spin or anti-Kennedy fake Mafia agenda on them before we even see them.

TH: There is no longer any legitimate reason for keeping so many files secret.

WK: There you go and say something right, and the reason there is no legitimate reason for keeping any assassination records secret is because it is now in the interests of our national security to release them all to the public. But you can’t say that without throwing more mud on it, and harping on about Almeida again. There’s hundreds of good reasons to give for releasing all the remaining records, and Almeida isn’t really one of them. But if you say his name enough he does seem to take on some significance, if only in the minds of those who want to continue to propagate this already discredited story of his leading a coup that never happened.

TH: By 1990, Fidel had finally learned of Commander Almeida's work for JFK

WK: Almeida never worked for JFK at any time or anyplace. He’s mentioned in CIA documents that consider the possibility of a military coup in Cuba, one that never took place.

TH: …and after a brief disappearance, Almeida was allowed to resume a largely ceremonial role high in the Cuba government. In fact, since the public disclosure of Almeida's secret work for JFK

WK: Maybe if you keep saying “Amdeida’s work for JFK” enough times it will actually become a fact in people's minds.

TH: …in 2006 (in America, but not in Cuba), Almeida has been featured prominently with Raul Castro on many key occasions, including when Raul has made an outreach to the US.

WK: Now after writing truthfully about Abe Bolden’s status, and the fact that the government records on the assassination have been destroyed and are still being wrongfully withheld, and then flabergassing us with loads of BS, this conclusion is true, and if anybody can get past the BS to get to the end, it would be nice if people cared enough to do something about it.

TH: Each of us has a member of Congress and two Senators who can be contacted to let them know we care about these matters. We can also let President Obama know that we wasn't him to take action to release the files and bring Abraham Bolden the justice he deserves.

It's the least we can do for ourselves, for history, and for a brave whistleblower like Abraham Bolden.

WK: Yes, and you can mention Abe Bolden, but please don’t mention Almeida, or you will just confuse things, as they were meant to be confused. Free the files and spin they later.

Edited by William Kelly
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