Lawrence Schnapf

@Tom Gram there is a difference between having toolmarks that match a "class" of rifle and a specific rifle. The FBI lab said the bullet could only be matched a class but not the specific rifle.

Just to summarize for late comers to this thread, i have no doubt that Roger Stone is accurately reporting what Trump told him. But it is clear Trump was lying to him. The memo postponing the records was already drafted when he tweeted that he was going to release the records. He had no idea the postponement order was drafted. So he had to lie to Stone et al to cover for his flip-flop. see above thread for more detail.

@Matt Allison I need to educate you again on how the process works. The Archivist "recommendation" was written by the White House (specifically the NSC). There is some minimal review but the role of the Archivist is to put his name on the memo. The decision is made for him. I dont have the documents for the latest Biden order/archivist memo but in our Biden lawsuit, the defendants have represented that they follow the process set forth i 1 CFR 19. we have asked for such proof but they have yet to provide it. From my lawsuit involving the Trump orders, the chronology is that on August 21, 2017, the Archivist objected to the grounds for postponement asserted by FBI and CIA. He was then forced to fall on his sword and "recommend" postponement. The memo was drafted by the NSC counsel with minor edits. In March 2018, the same process was repeated. The Archivist was able to reduce the period of postponement to 2 1/2 years but the content of the memo was determined by the NSC.

@James DiEugenio all good points. what they call a finding guide is abysmal. NARA said in the 2000 issues of the federal register where it proposed and then finalized the transfer of the ARRB regs to NARA's section of the federal code of regulations that it was the "successor in function" to the ARRVB. yet it did nothing to follow-up on the outstanding 1998 ARRB search requests nor conducted additional searches when the existence of assassination records that were not in the collection were brought to its attention. the transparency plans contain non-statutory grounds for postponement. In other words, they allow for postponements or redactions that the statute does not allow. Biden's December 2022 order said NARA approved these plans. Moreover, the statute says the president has the sole and non-delegable duty to make postponement decisons so we are arguing that authorizing the NDC to administer future postponement decisions violates the JFK Act. . we are seeking an order from the court to stop their implementation. Biden's June 30th rrder basically exclaims "no mas". By transferring responsibilty for future disclosurses to the NDC, he is essentially returning to the situation that existed before the JFK Act was enacted and that caused Congress to pass the law. Transferring decision-making to the same national security bureaucrats who were in charge before the JFK Act was enacted and expecting a different outcome is the very definition of insanity. The law remains in effect until ALL the assassination records are released in full- including those outside the collection that need to be transferred to the Collection.

ah- but of course

do you address the "bay of pigs" thing in your book? When I mentioned this to John Dean at a legal ethics seminar he gave (can you believe that!), he said that Haldeman subsequently disavowed the statement in his book that was Nixon's code for the JFK assassination. I have not been able to find any evidence of such disavowal but of course it might have been done at a time when it would be hard to search for this.

just wanted to know the back story. Thanks!

who is "big fella"?

@W. Niederhut I think what @Pat Speer may have been suggesting is that the individuals who names would be disclosed could be killed, not necessarily that those individuals were associated with the assassination. The FBI as been trying to protect names of informants and CIA has been trying to protect individuals who cooperated with the CIA during the 1960s. They claim these people would be at risk if their names are exposed, sensitive government operations could be disclosed or governments might decline to cooperate with us if it becomes known that have been colloborating with us. In the June 27th record dump, we learned that Ambassador Mondale opposed releasing certain assassination records b/c it would reveal CIA operations in Japan that could cause trouble for the existing government. Likewise, there are cables between CIA and retired employees living abroad who dont want their names released for fear of retribution. I dont know if these claims are realistic. Just explaining what the agencies are saying to justify their postpone requests. In any event, Trump was blustering to Stone, Napalitino, etc. when he said he couldnt release the documents because of what he saw. The decision to postpone was a done deal before he tweeted... as I explained above from what I have learned in the document production in my lawsuit.

@Kirk Gallaway what does "dubs" mean?

i think you know his position on the Trump environmental deregulatory agenda actually, when it came to the area where I focus my practice-redeveloping contaminated properties (a/k/a brownfields), his administration did a good job in eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic roadblocks/disincentives. -FWIW

@Greg Doudna check out my prior post about what i learned from the document production in my NARA lawsuit. Trump made up the story to explain why he didnt release the documents as he had promised. The order postponing the records had already been drafted for his signature when he wrote his tweet. His white house did not follow the usual protocols for issuing orders so he apparently didnt know it was in the works.

ok. what is the back story to your Von Pein tag line?

Nicol's testimony would not be acceptable in a court of law today. "quite a few points"? how many? were they consecutive marks? A " fair probability" is a qualified opinion that is about as wealsely as it gets. "Probable" means more likely than not. "fair" means "sufficient but not ample, or adequate". This does not mean the test for concluding that the bullet could be linked to CE 139 to the exclusion of all other rifles. And this was with a friendly attorney trying to help him. The testimony would have significantly changed after cross-examination. All the WC Report amount to is a prosecutor's case- that is- half the story.

@W. Niederhut I'm going to be attending an "intimate" RFK Jr fundraiser on the 24th where he will be sitting at my table for about a half-hour. what would you like me to ask him about Trump so perhaps we can put a bow on this thread?

@Greg Doudna I posted to fred in a different thread how he mischaraterized what the surgeon said about the Connolly wound. I pointed out to Fred that his account was wrong and misleading. i cant find what thread this occurred. it was not the first time found he had not accurately reported information or had overstated some evidence. In each instance, he declines to make a correction. I told him he was doing a misservice to his readers when not correcting his error. he ignored my comment and continued to keep the misleading or inaccurate statement. Do you call that the action of an honest person who is seeking the truth or simply someone trying to advance a narrative? I call people out on either side that share disinformation.

the memo from the Archivist to the president recommending postponement underwent a dozen rounds of revisions in Sepember-October 2017 while Trump tweeted that the records would be released. He had no clue what he was talking about. So he fabricated a story that he had to change his mind at the last minute because of information that Pompano shared with him. The paper trail unequivocably shows this narrative was false.

@Matt Allison NARA does not have declassification authority. The agencies control when their records are declassified. There is a national security executive order that serves as guidance but the agencies have the final call The NDC has a mandatory declassification program but it moves at a glacial pace. Again, it works with the agencies who have the final call. Jeff Morley filed a mandatory declassification request o er 10 years ago and has yet to receive any documents. Transferring future declassification decisions of JFK Records is a violation of the JFK Act which provides the president has sole and non-delegable duty to make such decisions. We will be in court on the 13th to argue this and other issues.1

I believe Stone is being truthful about what Trump told him but that Trump was lying/exaggerating as usual. I filed a lawsuit seeking the underlying memos and correspondence relating to the Trump memos. The government has turned over several thousand documents to me. From this production, I have concluded that when trump tweeted that the records were going to be released in full in October 2017, there was a draft executive order and memo circulating within the executive branch postponing the records. So my take is that Trump did not know what was going on and what he told Stone was to cover up that he got played.

Litwin is dishonest. I have alerted him to misstatements or misleading statements and instead of clarifying the issue he simply rationalizes his error. Dont fall for his shtick.I

@Sandy Larsen the messenger piece was about the JFK Act. Is Ben right that it was moved? American Conservative also had a piece by Chad Nagle who is a contributor to Jeff Morley's JFK Facts. it looks like only the conservative media is writing thought pieces on the JFK Act as opposed to simply regurgitating NARA press release.

@Tom Gram Thanks!!

@Gerry Down the ARRB ran out of time. NARA became the "successor in function". we are pressing this issue in the MFF lawsuit. @Tom Gram does Malcom have an ARRB section on his drive? I'd like to see what he has against what is in the online public record

@Tom Gram do we know if the Church Committee testimony of Peña, Roache, fellow INS officer Ron Smith, and New Orleans INS investigative division chief Art Bero are missing from the congressional collection or exist and are simply are not in JFK Collection?

i also posted a new topic Friday nite about the Biden memo. was that removed as well?