MFF Sues Over JFK Assassination Records

[Gerry Simone]

Thank you for posting this.

I wish the Plaintiffs and legal team well.  We need some positive results on this important matter. 

[George Govus]

Hear, hear.

[Roger Odisio]

On 10/22/2022 at 6:46 AM, Bill Simpich said:

Bart Kamp - among many others - makes the case that the Darnell and Weigman films portray Oswald on the book depository steps at the time of the shooting of JFK.

http://www.prayer-man.com/misc/prayer-man-in-a-nutshell/

NARA stands in the shoes of the ARRB since its dissolution.  NARA has the power to demand the originals of these films from NBC and the Sixth Floor.

 

 

Bill and Larry,

On Sept. 23 I emailed NARA to ask what they had been doing the last 24 years since the ARRB closed to update their collection of JFK records.  The  ARRB had taken pains to include in their 1995 definition of "record" as information in the possession of not only the federal government but state and local governments (the ARRB had successfully collected what remained of the Garrison files after a court battle), private institutions, private individuals (the original of the Zapruder film), and foreign governments as well.  I referenced the Darnell film as an example of newly emerging information not in their collection. 

I received the following answer from an archivist at NARA (emphasis mine):  "For most of this year the entire Collection has been undergoing review by the Special Access/FOIA staff. Unfortunately the reference unit [where the archivist works] is not normally looped into their activities unless it directly affects our ability to provide reference services. Mostly, we've been seeing the interfiling of paper records that have been released since 2018. We understand that Collection is being considered for digitization, but no decision has been reached on that. **I reached out to Special Access/FOIA and inquired about the possibility of our reintrepreting the meaning of the term "assassination record" and a mechanism to determine whether or not newly available records would be declared "assassination records". I was told that both issues are under consideration by the team in Special Access/FOIA reviewing the Collection and that our Chief Operations Officer and Research Services Executive are also both involved in the process.** At this time, they have no answers for either question, because no policy has yet been approved. It is expected that all the work will be done by the end of the calendar year. "

While no "reinterpretation" of the meaning of assassination record is necessary--the ARRB's definition will do--this seems to open the door to actual consideration of the full scope of your suit.  As your suit says, 106.d., "The JFK [Act] provides for periodic review for 'additional assassination records'".  Congress surely didn't expect the collection of JFK records to stop when the ARRB closed in 1998.

On the other hand, several years ago Greg Parker suggested to NARA that they include the Darnell film as a JFK record and was told by someone there that they didn't have the authority to do that.  Maybe there has been progress at NARA in recognizing their responsibility to update the records.

I hope you will pursue, as part of your suit, questions about NARA's current Special Access/FOIA review of its mechanism to add assassination records. Researchers getting access to newly emerging information from many sources may dwarf the benefit gotten of squeezing the CIA and FBI to release more of what they have been holding for the last 59 years. Just getting NAA to acknowledge its responsibility to upgrade JFK records would be a distinct benefit.  It would open the door to the pursuit of specifics.

 

[Joseph Backes]

Would you please scan that letter and share it? I'd like to see a copy of it.  

Knowing the true size of the JFK Record Collection I highly doubt anyone, even a team or 10 or more, is going through the entire collection unless it has already been digitized, or they're merely going through a recently created and highly inaccurate Excel database.  

It's been an ongoing nightmare how they "interfile" documents into files and boxes. They don't seem to have a list detailing what s getting interfiled and when, or if they do they don't share this with the public.  You may think you've copied the entire contents of a box, and maybe you return to that box later in your research and now its bulging with documents that weren't in it before.  Malcolm had a fit about this and tried to get them to tell the world what they're doing. They seem to think this is all an internal policy and none of your business, etc. 

"Considered for digitization?" Didn't President Biden tell them to digitize the collection? 

Reinterpreting what the term "assassination records," scares me. They could just as easily reinterpret it to mean that nothing is an "assassination record," and there's no need to have this collection at all.  

We need to know the names of these people - Chief Operations Officer and Research Services Executive

 

 

[Roger Odisio]

50 minutes ago, Joseph Backes said:

Would you please scan that letter and share it? I'd like to see a copy of it.  

Knowing the true size of the JFK Record Collection I highly doubt anyone, even a team or 10 or more, is going through the entire collection unless it has already been digitized, or they're merely going through a recently created and highly inaccurate Excel database.  

It's been an ongoing nightmare how they "interfile" documents into files and boxes. They don't seem to have a list detailing what s getting interfiled and when, or if they do they don't share this with the public.  You may think you've copied the entire contents of a box, and maybe you return to that box later in your research and now its bulging with documents that weren't in it before.  Malcolm had a fit about this and tried to get them to tell the world what they're doing. They seem to think this is all an internal policy and none of your business, etc. 

"Considered for digitization?" Didn't President Biden tell them to digitize the collection? 

Reinterpreting what the term "assassination records," scares me. They could just as easily reinterpret it to mean that nothing is an "assassination record," and there's no need to have this collection at all.  

We need to know the names of these people - Chief Operations Officer and Research Services Executive

 

 

I'm not sure what letter you're referring to.  I got an email answer from an archivist explaining what NARA Special Access staff was doing in its year long review of the JFK Collection.  I quoted the relevant parts his answer above. 

You can probably relax about the archivist's reference to reinterpreting the term assassination record.  The ARRB defined the meaning of that term under the JFK Act thru a detailed rulemaking that included public input.  It took them more then 2 years.  NARA is obligated to use the Board's definition in its work.

The interesting part of the archivist's answer was his asking Special Access staff whether looking for "a mechanism to determine whether or not newly available records would be declared assassination records'" is part of the review. They said yes.

There is no question that newly available information that meets the definition of an assassination record must be included in the Collection.  What is missing from NARA is a way to do that, a mechanism.

[Joseph Backes]

1 hour ago, Roger Odisio said:

I'm not sure what letter you're referring to.  I got an email answer from an archivist explaining what NARA Special Access staff was doing in its year long review of the JFK Collection.  I quoted the relevant parts his answer above. 

You can probably relax about the archivist's reference to reinterpreting the term assassination record.  The ARRB defined the meaning of that term under the JFK Act thru a detailed rulemaking that included public input.  It took them more then 2 years.  NARA is obligated to use the Board's definition in its work.

The interesting part of the archivist's answer was his asking Special Access staff whether looking for "a mechanism to determine whether or not newly available records would be declared assassination records'" is part of the review. They said yes.

There is no question that newly available information that meets the definition of an assassination record must be included in the Collection.  What is missing from NARA is a way to do that, a mechanism.

Excuse me, I misread it. I thought it was a letter and not an email.  

[Lawrence Schnapf]

Technically, NARA does not have the authority of ARRB to determine that documents are "assassination records." However,  it did incorporate ARRB's regulations into the NARA portion of the federal code so there might be an argument that NARA succeeded to those powers. 

As the complaint points out, the JFK Collection is a mess. It is hard to determine what is there and there remain outstanding records searches from 1998 that have been not completed. one outcome we hope will come from this complaint will be to provide NARA with more resources to complete the work on the JFK Collection. 

I continue to be in touch with the House Oversight Committee. After Biden issues is December memo, there may be an opportunity to hold an oversight hearing-especially if the GOP takes over the House.

[Joseph Backes]

There will be no oversight hearing if the GOP take over the House. None. Carve that in stone. It will be 24/7 go after Trump's enemies.  Free the insurrectionists!  "Officially" declare Trump won in 2020. Try and nullify the two impeachments. MTG trying to impeach Biden. And garbage like that. Kari Lake trying to investigate Hunter Biden.  Dr. Oz gets to the oranges of COVID, etc, etc.  

We have only made progress in this case when the Dems had the House and the White House.  

[Ron Bulman]

5 hours ago, Joseph Backes said:

There will be no oversight hearing if the GOP take over the House. None. Carve that in stone. It will be 24/7 go after Trump's enemies.  Free the insurrectionists!  "Officially" declare Trump won in 2020. Try and nullify the two impeachments. MTG trying to impeach Biden. And garbage like that. Kari Lake trying to investigate Hunter Biden.  Dr. Oz gets to the oranges of COVID, etc, etc.  

We have only made progress in this case when the Dems had the House and the White House.  

Interesting points.  All true imho.  I've never thought about the historical aspect.  Any God-fearing good Republican would never want the full Truth to come out.

[Roger Odisio]

15 hours ago, Lawrence Schnapf said:

Technically, NARA does not have the authority of ARRB to determine that documents are "assassination records." However,  it did incorporate ARRB's regulations into the NARA portion of the federal code so there might be an argument that NARA succeeded to those powers. 

 

The 1992 JFK Records Act, among other things, required NARA to establish the JFK Records Collection as the official depository of information available to the public for research into the JFKA.  It required "the expeditious public transmission to the Archivist and public disclosure of such records." Sec. (b) (2)  The Act also created the ARRB and left it to them to determine what a record is.  Which the ARRB did by rule in 1995. 

That definition includes much more than information possessed by the federal government,  but also things possessed by state and local governments, private institutions, and private individuals (see Chap 7 of the ARRB's final report listing nongovernmental sources contacted by the ARRB for inclusion in the Collection.  I note NARA contacted Gerald Posner to ask for his notes, which he refused to give, but not a long list of important writers like James Douglass, David Talbott, Jim DiEugenio, John Newman, Malcom Blunt, Bart Kamp, Greg Parker, and Barry Ernest to name but a few of many.  Had they done so, these writers could point them to a lot of information not currently inluded in the JFK Collection)

The Act set out a period of 25 years in which all records were to be publicly released.  But it limited the Board's life.  The Board closed in 1998. 

New information about that day has emerged over the years.  Who then is to determine what qualifies as a JFK record to be added to the Collection, if not NARA?  It's clear Congress did not expect such information to be ignored if it was serious about "providing the public the opportunity to judge for themselves the surrounding history of the event" and placing the information in a central location, open to the public. 

What does the the MFF suit mean when it says "Defendant NARA, as the successor *in function* to the Assassination Records Review Board has also failed to...request new searches for Assassination Records since 1998" (emphasis mine)?  What did Bill Simpich mean when he said in this thread:  "NARA stands in the shoes of the ARRB since its dissolution.  NARA has the power to demand the originals of these films from NBC and the Sixth Floor"?

In short, it seems impossible to argue that NARA does not have the authority to determine whether information is a JFK record and, if so, add it to the Collection.

[Lawrence Schnapf]

Joe Backes- Your statement that GOP will not do any oversight seems to be made through a partisan lens. i've been working with the Oversight Committee this year. it has been the democrats who are resistant to oversight because it could make Biden look bad. In contrast, the GOP has every incentive to do oversight.  I'll be happy to make a friendly wager with you....   

[Lawrence Schnapf]

Roger Odisio- 

When NARA published a final rule in the federal register on June 27, 2000, NARA moved the ARRB regulations to its part of the code of federal regulations because "NARA has determined that these regulations are still required to provide guidance to agencies." 

NARA went on to state that: "NARA continues to maintain and supplement the collection under the provisions of the Act. NARA is, therefore, the successor in function to this defunct independent agency."

As an administrative agency, NARA cannot assume powers that were not conferred upon it by Congress . The Act did not confer express authority to NARA to assume the powers of the ARRB. Presumably, Congress thought the work of the ARRB would have been finished. 

NARA has certainly has the inherent power to process Assassination Records. However, it does not have the ARRB power to overrule agency objections and NARA has not exercised such power in the three instances of postponement requests .  Thus, I believe it remains an open question if NARA was able to assume the power to identify records as "Assassination Records."

Since MFF has requested the court to order NARA to complete the outstanding records searches, we may have the opportunity to clarify the scope of NARA's authority under the JFK Act as the "successor in function" to the ARRB.   

[George Govus]

Gee whiz, to this lay person, if NARA stated in the Federal Register that it continues to supplement the records, and is successor in function to the ARRB, then, as a practical matter, it can't be functional without having the power. And Congress surely didn't intend that!

[Pete Mellor]

While waiting for the better half to complete her hospital visit I drifted into the shop to find something to read. On the shelf was the National Enquirer with it's headline 'JFK Assassination Cover-Up Unravels After 60 Years'. The text on the article is very much as per Greg's first post in this thread.  Nice to see this headline with front page pics of JFK & Biden, even in an otherwise turgid rag as the National Enquirer.

[David Boylan]

Judge Richard Seeborg, the chief United States district judge for the Northern District of California, will hear the lawsuit Mary Ferrell Foundation vs. Biden, filed in San Francisco last month. The lawsuit alleges that President Biden and the National Archives have failed to enforce the JFK Records Act, resulting in mislabelling and withholding of thousands of assassination-related records.

 

Judge Seeborg to Hear JFK Files Case - by Jefferson Morley (substack.com)