W. Niederhut

Ron, I my have to defer firing up a golden reefer. Trump's attorneys will probably drag this case out for years, with endless motions and appeals. As for a gag order, Trump has, reportedly, posted a photo of the judge's daughter on Truth Social this afternoon. Like most sociopaths, he's testing limits to see what bs he can get away with...

Prouty described Lansdale as a "chameleon"-- a man who often disguised and dissembled about his work for Allen Dulles. He (Prouty) also panned the Currey biography of Lansdale as a work of CIA fiction. Prouty also pointed out that Lansdale was bitterly disappointed about JFK's decision to remove him from Vietnam (and reassign him to Mongoose.) As for Dallas, James DiEugenio mentioned (on a thread about the Paul Bleu conference) that Lansdale was in Dallas on 11/22/63. I think the source of that information was John Newman.

The judge, reportedly, warned Trump in court today to stop inciting violence or face a gag order. This is precisely the kind of intervention that sociopaths like Trump require-- the threat of external consequences for bad behavior.

Michael, You, obviously, need to re-read Prouty's book on JFK, the CIA, and Vietnam more carefully. As for your old McAdams-esque talking point about Prouty's unusual Antarctic trip being "routine," we already discussed it in exhaustive detail here. You are repeating exactly the same bogus buzzwords about Prouty that the McAdams goon squad has posted here in the past-- "crackpot," "routine Antarctic trip," etc. The strategy seems to be, "Repeat the bunk about Prouty until uninformed people believe it."

And a projection of Trump's hatred for his critics. But what a great day for America! Trump was just arrested in NYC. I feel like opening a bottle of champagne and listening to Sinatra sing "New York, New York!"

Yes, and I forgot to ask Michael Griffin the most important Lansdale question of all-- a subject Prouty described in considerable detail in his JFK Vietnam book. How did Lansdale become Allen Dulles's favorite CIA black ops/psy ops expert?

C'mon, man. What was the nature of Prouty's long-term relationship with Ed Lansdale? Did Lansdale tell Prouty before 11/22/63 that he would be, unexpectedly, flying to Antarctica? What was Prouty's official position in 1963? Was he working with the USAF and CIA as a briefing officer in the JFK administration? Was he merely a pilot, as Lansdale later claimed? Was Prouty involved in writing DOD material relating to NSAM 263 and JFK's Vietnam policy in the fall of 1963? Where was Ed Lansdale in November of 1963, and what was he doing?

No one expected the records to be released prior to October of 2017, did they? The JFK Records were supposed to be released in October of 2017, during Trump's White House tenure. Were you surprised and disappointed when Trump blocked their mandated release in October of 2017 and April of 2018?

How many times do we have to debunk this idiotic CIA/John McAdams trope about Col. Fletcher Prouty being a "crackpot" on the Education Forum? Michael Griffin is merely the latest McAdams-esque pontificator repeating this bogus CIA propaganda trope here. I'm guessing that Griffin, like Rob Clark, Mark Stephens, et.al., has never read Prouty's books on JFK, the CIA and Vietnam or The Secret Team. How many times do we have to re-direct these McAdams guys to the true facts about Prouty's career as the Joint Chiefs liaison to the CIA in 1963, his co-authorship of the McNamara-Taylor Report, his long-term collaboration with Lansdale in Southeast Asia, and his evidence-based commentaries about Lansdale? There is a good reason why CIA propagandists like McAdams have repeatedly attacked a whistle blower like Prouty who worked directly with the CIA for years before sharing his observations with Oliver Stone and the general public in the early 1990s. Perhaps Griffin can tell us where Lansdale was in November of 1963, and what he was up to.

My impression, from social media, is that the hardcore Trumpsters are completely freaking out right now about Great Leader's indictments. It's concerning. Quite a contrast with Nixon's resignation, when his supporters were shocked but subdued.

I think it was Voltaire who said, "If you want to know who rules over you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.

Ben, Everyone knows that Poppy Bush was always a CIA man, and Ford's Director of the CIA. As for your notion that Trump "might...open up the JFK Records," where were you in October of 2017-- the Congressionally-mandated release date for the records? Do you, perchance, imagine that a "Donk" was the POTUS in October of 2017? 🤥 As for my post, (above) it's about Barack Obama's curious history with the Company.

Ben, Obama retained/appointed a number of Bush/CIA people in his administration-- most notably Robert Gates. Douglas Caddy recently posted some references links about Obama and the CIA, but I can't find them, or remember which thread they were on. There's also an old EF thread on the subject of continuities between the Dubya Bush and Obama administrations by Stephen Gaal entitled, George W. Obama?

Jim, Can you say more about the subject of the "Mitrokhin archives baloney?" I've read some of the Mitrokhin archival material, (published at Cambridge as The Sword and the Shield) but I've never read a critique of the Mitrokhin archives. Is some of the published Mitrokhin material possibly a fabrication by MI6 and/or the CIA?

Chris, I read somewhere that it may have been intended as an assassination attempt on Dugin, himself. Certainly, an early example of blow back. I suspected, since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine 13 months ago, that there would also be attempts on Putin's life, by ethnic Ukrainians or Russians. There must be a significant number of people living in the RF who hate Putin.

Blow back... An act of terrorism on Russian soil. I wondered when, in the course of the Ukrainian invasion, these kind of terrorist acts in the RF would commence.

Yeah, Steve, and I'm still wondering which Americans (besides Stormy Daniels) Fox News fans are supposed to shoot with the guns Tucker Carlson recently advised them to "hang on to." Alvin Bragg? The police? Judges? Trans people? Blacks? Mexicans? Libs? All of the above?

I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised to see the Trump cult doubling down on the denial of Trump's crimes this weekend. That's what cults do. They don't tolerate any criticism of their Great Leader. Meanwhile, Cyrus Vance has gone public with the news that Bill Barr and the Trump DOJ had shut down the investigation and prosecution of Trump's illegal hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Shocker. 🤥 Exchange of the Day April 2, 2023 at 10:29 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 135 Comments Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. was interviewed by Chuck Todd on Meet the Press: TODD: Why didn’t you charge the hush money case? Why didn’t you ever charge it in 2018, 2019, 2020? VANCE: Well Chuck, I don’t want to get into the deliberations that might be covered by grand jury material, but it’s, but as I believe you know, I was asked by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District to stand down on our investigation, which had commenced involving the Trump Organization. And as, you know, as someone who respects that office a great deal, and believing that they may have perhaps the best laws to investigate, I did so. And I was somewhat surprised after Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty that the federal government did not proceed on the areas in which it asked me to stand down.

George, I appreciate your comment, and, yes, I am trying to make sense of the recent, surprising Fox/GOP efforts to secure the release of the JFK Records in the context of what happened in October of 2017 and April of 2018, when Trump was POTUS and Fox News was serving as the de facto Ministry of Propaganda for the Trump administration. What has motivated Tucker Carlson and arch-conservative Republicans like David Schweikert to pursue the release of the records now-- as opposed to 2017, when Republicans controlled Congress and Fox was the mouthpiece/echo chamber of the Trump administration? And my question (above) was not rhetorical. Has there been any progress toward identifying Tucker Carlson's mysterious "source?" Some on the forum have wondered whether the "source" is Donald Trump, himself, or his 2017 CIA Director Mike Pompeo. For that matter, is Tucker Carlson still talking about the JFK Records on his show? (I don't watch television "news.")

Interesting old Education Forum thread about the antecedents of the current GOP efforts to secure the release of the suppressed JFK Records. From what I have read on the forum, it sounds like Tucker Carlson's recent, surprising calls for the release of the JFK records were largely a result of Larry Schnapf's outreach to Fox News producers. Was there any outreach to Fox in 2017, when Trump blocked the release of the JFK Records? Meanwhile, an arch-conservative Republican Congressman from Scottsdale, Arizona, David Schweikert, has, apparently, introduced a bill calling for the release the JFK Records. Schweikert is, reportedly, a close associate of such GOP Sedition Caucus luminaries as Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar. It's worth pointing out that David Schweikert was a member of Congress in 2017 and 2018, when the JFK Records were due to be released and Trump famously said, "No." Was Schweikert concerned at the time? Why is an arch-conservative GOP apparatchik like Schweikert calling for the release of the records only now-- at a time when Tucker Carlson is urging his "patriotic" fans to "hold on to (their) AR-15s?" This recent, surprising Fox/GOP interest in the JFK Records seems to be part of a more general right wing propaganda effort to undermine public confidence in government and the rule of law, by Trumpsters who have little in common with the progressive, liberal ideals of John F. Kennedy. Of course, we JFK fans shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but I am skeptical of Republican motives. Meanwhile, is there any news about Tucker Carlson's alleged JFK Records source?

My question. Which Americans are Fox News fans supposed to murder? www.huffpost.com/entry/chris-hayes-tucker-carlson-trump-indictment_n_6427b3f7e4b0ba5d603a0ada

People at the Democratic Underground are asking, "Where were you when you first heard the historic news about Trump's indictment today?" I was right here at the EF water cooler, and I learned the news from Douglas Caddy and Matt Allison. I immediately hollered downstairs to my wife and she hollered back after a minute, "Are you sure? I don't see anything at the Washington Post." So I checked the NYT, and there was the glorious news in bold print--"TRUMP INDICTED."

It will be interesting to track the coverage of Trump's indictment by Fox, Breitbart, and the right wing media. My hunch is that they will focus on attacking and denigrating DA Alvin Bragg, in addition to what-about-ism (re Hunter Biden, Bill Clinton, etc.)

Good news, indeed. Perhaps now Trump supporters will finally focus on the men who planned and incited the J6 mob attack on Congress. (And women, if we include Sidney Powell and Ginni Thomas.)