Benjamin Cole Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 Cohen Introduces Bill to Force the President to Comply With JFK Records Collection Act November 3, 2017 Press Release Says “the current president failed to comply” WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) introduced a bill today requiring the president to release all documents that can and should be released pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. "Despite the 1992 passage of a Congressionally mandated October 26, 2017, deadline requiring the President of the United States to make a determination about what documents can and should be released to the public regarding President John F. Kennedy's assassination, the current president failed to comply," Cohen said. https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/cohen-introduces-bill-force-president-comply-jfk-records-collection-act ---30--- Cohen has not intro'ed legislation this year but has called on NARA to release remaining records. Congressman Cohen Disappointed at Partial Release of JFK Assassination Records December 16, 2022 Press Release Says “the American people have waited too long” WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen, who has advocated for the release of records and files associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy throughout his career in public office, expressed disappointment with the National Archives and Records Administration’s limited release of the remaining records, and made the following statement today: “The American people have waited too long for full transparency regarding the assassination of President Kennedy. Kicking this can down the road again, this time until next June, is unacceptable. While it is important to protect national security, it seems unlikely that so many of the records from an investigation of a crime that occurred 59 years ago would have any bearing in 2022.” President Biden said additional review of the remaining records should be completed next May and the records released in June 2023. In October, Congressman Cohen (TN-09) and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (CA-18) led a letter to the Public Interest Declassification Board seeking release of the remaining 14,000 documents associated with the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy. They noted that the public is skeptical about the official version of events and that the documents’ release would help restore confidence through transparency. The most recent deadline for compliance with the document-release requirements of the 1992 JFK Assassination Records Collection Act was 2021. In March, Congressman Cohen wrote to President Biden seeking release of the documents. https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cohen-disappointed-partial-release-jfk-assassination ---30--- Better than nothing...but I guess Cohen has lost the interest he had in 2017 in "forcing the President" to open up the JFK Records. Now, Cohen "expresses disappointment" with NARA and writes letters to the Oval Office. So it goes.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Griffith Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 I was surprised and disappointed when Obama and his fellow Democrats didn't release all the JFKA files after they won a sweeping victory in the 2008 election. They won huge majorities in Congress, and Obama won the White House. They won a 257-178 majority in the House and a 59-41 majority in the Senate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 2 hours ago, Michael Griffith said: I was surprised and disappointed when Obama and his fellow Democrats didn't release all the JFKA files after they won a sweeping victory in the 2008 election. They won huge majorities in Congress, and Obama won the White House. They won a 257-178 majority in the House and a 59-41 majority in the Senate. 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Allison Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 4 hours ago, Michael Griffith said: I was surprised and disappointed when Obama and his fellow Democrats didn't release all the JFKA files after they won a sweeping victory in the 2008 election. Why did you expect that to happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Cole Posted April 5, 2023 Author Share Posted April 5, 2023 There is little to no impetus, in a succession of administrations and legislatures, across party lines, to open the JFK Records. I have been presenting snippets of history regarding the JFK Act, caring little about partisan sentiments. The Bush administrations were awful, the Clinton and Obama administrations were awful. Trump talked big and then chickened out. The best one can say about Trump is his administration argued for and implemented an illegal extension, while Biden has implemented permanent black-out on the records, unless the MFF can overturn in court the Biden Justice Department. I defer to Larry Schnapf on details, but it pretty much boils down to that. Obviously, both major political parties, at various times, controlled enough seats in the Congress and simultaneously controlled the executive branch (as pointed out by Griffith) and could have released all the records. The major platform media has never made release of the JFK Records a cause celebre. We do not know how state-approved algorithms are operating in social media in regards to the JFK Records. There may be some citizen interest, but threads get snuffed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 (edited) Ben, I'm relieved to hear that you care so little about partisan sentiments! And all this time, I had the mistaken impression that you especially disliked Joe Biden and the Donks! In recent weeks, you have started multiple threads and posted numerous comments about the deplorable failure of Biden and other Donks to release the records-- a source of disappointment for us all. But, in your non-partisan study of the JFK Records Act history, has it come to your attention that the records were supposed to be fully released in October of 2017, when Donald Trump, alone, had the authority to block their release? Glenn Greenwald blamed Mike Pompeo for Trump's historic decision to block the release of the records in 2017. That particular buck, apparently, didn't stop at Trump's desk. It is, understandably, difficult to reconcile Trump's decision to withhold the JFK records with the more general Fox narratives since 2017 about Trump being an adversary and victim of the Deep State, so blaming Pompeo is one solution to the cognitive dissonance. In any case, thanks for the ongoing, non-partisan historiography and additional reminders about deferring to Larry Schnapf. We little people need to know our proper place. 🤥 Edited April 5, 2023 by W. Niederhut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Cole Posted April 5, 2023 Author Share Posted April 5, 2023 16 minutes ago, W. Niederhut said: Ben, I'm relieved to hear that you care so little about partisan sentiments! And all this time, I had the mistaken impression that you especially disliked Joe Biden and the Donks! In recent weeks, you have started multiple threads and posted numerous comments about the deplorable failure of Biden and other Donks to release the records-- a source of disappointment for us all. But, in your non-partisan study of the JFK Records Act history, has it come to your attention that the records were supposed to be fully released in October of 2017, when Donald Trump, alone, had the authority to block their release? Glenn Greenwald blamed Mike Pompeo for Trump's historic decision to block the release of the records in 2017. That particular buck, apparently, didn't stop at Trump's desk. It is, understandably, difficult to reconcile Trump's decision to withhold the JFK records with the more general Fox narratives since 2017 about Trump being an adversary and victim of the Deep State, so blaming Pompeo is one solution to the cognitive dissonance. In any case, thanks for the ongoing, non-partisan historiography and additional reminders about deferring to Larry Schnapf. We little people need to know our proper place. 🤥 Trump was an intriguing figure in national politics, having arrived in DC free of partisan baggage and obviously not selected by the DC establishment (aka the Deep State, shadow government, intel state, state/party controlled media, whatever short-hand terms you want to use). In fact, former CIA officials authored multiple op-eds in the NYT against Trump and for HRC, pre-election. Trump was a bona fide outsider. That alone might have triggered a Trump vote from me (I did not vote for Trump, and the last President I voted for was Obama, his first election). For me, Trump wore out his welcome quickly. Trump had some good policies regarding trade and illegal immigration, but IMHO lacks the character or personality necessary to be president. Then he chickened out on the JFK Records. But not all conversations lead back to Trump. There has been a lengthy record in both parties and all administrations suppressing the JFK Records. This thread in which you are posting was about a D-Party Congressman's strong bills in 2017, and then his more recent recent efforts, which appear to have devolved into letter-writing to the Oval Office, and chastising archivists. As for topicality, Biden is president now, and has deep-sixed the JFK Records in perpetuity, unless Schnapf and the MFF can prevail in court. I think the MFF case will ultimately go to the DC Court of Appeals (a kangaroo court of sorts on intel issues) and the Supreme Court, if the SC deigns to hear the case. In other words, the outlook is grim and dark. And the NYT and WaPo are not going to lighten the mood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 (edited) 48 minutes ago, Benjamin Cole said: Trump was an intriguing figure in national politics, having arrived in DC free of partisan baggage and obviously not selected by the DC establishment (aka the Deep State, shadow government, intel state, state/party controlled media, whatever short-hand terms you want to use). In fact, former CIA officials authored multiple op-eds in the NYT against Trump and for HRC, pre-election. Trump was a bona fide outsider. Newsflash, Ben. Dean Baquet and the NYT played a major role in getting Trump elected in 2016. Study the references Cliff Varnell and I have posted for the forum on that subject (from Harvard's Berman Institute and the CJR.) Baquet explicitly blocked any pre-election NYT stories about Trump's Russian contacts. There's no excuse for your persistent, willful ignorance on the subject. Study the stats on NYT and M$M news coverage prior to the 2016 election. As an NYT reader, I noted at the time that NYT was running weekly headline stories about Hillary's Emails in the weeks prior to the election. Most were based on anonymous FBI "leaks." Rudy Giuliani was also in that loop. Fox always functioned as Trump's Ministry of Propaganda. The Deep State-- e.g., the FBI (including Russian agent Charles McGonigal) and James Comey-- also played a major role in orchestrating Trump's improbable Electoral College victory in 2016, with their bogus Anthony Weiner laptop "October Surprise." The Trump/Fox narrative claiming that Trump was an adversary and victim of the Deep State only surfaced in 2017, in response to the belated revelations about Michael Flynn and the 2016 Trump campaign's multiple contacts with Kremlin officials. Trump and Fox tried to blame the Deep State for Trump's illegal 2016 campaign collaboration with the Kremlin. Then, after January 6th, Fox tried to blame the Deep State for Trump's J6 coup attempt. Edited April 5, 2023 by W. Niederhut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Cole Posted April 5, 2023 Author Share Posted April 5, 2023 These 4 hours ago, W. Niederhut said: Newsflash, Ben. Dean Baquet and the NYT played a major role in getting Trump elected in 2016. Study the references Cliff Varnell and I have posted for the forum on that subject (from Harvard's Berman Institute and the CJR.) Baquet explicitly blocked any pre-election NYT stories about Trump's Russian contacts. There's no excuse for your persistent, willful ignorance on the subject. Study the stats on NYT and M$M news coverage prior to the 2016 election. As an NYT reader, I noted at the time that NYT was running weekly headline stories about Hillary's Emails in the weeks prior to the election. Most were based on anonymous FBI "leaks." Rudy Giuliani was also in that loop. Fox always functioned as Trump's Ministry of Propaganda. The Deep State-- e.g., the FBI (including Russian agent Charles McGonigal) and James Comey-- also played a major role in orchestrating Trump's improbable Electoral College victory in 2016, with their bogus Anthony Weiner laptop "October Surprise." The Trump/Fox narrative claiming that Trump was an adversary and victim of the Deep State only surfaced in 2017, in response to the belated revelations about Michael Flynn and the 2016 Trump campaign's multiple contacts with Kremlin officials. Trump and Fox tried to blame the Deep State for Trump's illegal 2016 campaign collaboration with the Kremlin. Then, after January 6th, Fox tried to blame the Deep State for Trump's J6 coup attempt. You are making great arguments...for some other part of the EF-JFK. This thread is about the JFK Records Act, and the actions taken by one Congressman, through two different administrations, to open up the JFK Records. On Trump, I had some hopes that an DC outsider might open up the JFK Records. My hopes were dashed. I have commented that the NYT and WaPo are entirely apathetic regarding the JFK Records Act. If you wish to discuss current politics and your views on Trump, there are sections of the EF-JFK devoted to that. I welcome your views on the JFK Records Act. Your views on current politics are received with open arms in those sections of the EF-JFK devoted to current politics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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