"What we face is the general problem of trying to make sense of an event whose explanation eludes us by turning to evidence that has been kept from us."---Dr. Kermit Hall

I have never been to a conference held by the American Historical Association (AHA) before. Indeed, I am not even a member and was surprised that I could attend the conference. I am currently a substitute teacher in Albany, New York, and was able to use that to my advantage in getting in at a cheaper rate. Now if only I could do that with airlines and hotels.

Atlanta looks like an interesting place to explore. Unfortunately, the weather inhibited that greatly. The conference was held at the Atlanta Hilton Towers and the Marriott Marquis. They are directly across the street from each other. The are connected via walkways on the 4th floor or so. This also leads to other walkways which connect to at least one other hotel, the Hyatt. There are several shops and restaurants to be found here. So don't feel trapped and that you have to eat in the hotel or order room service like I did.

There were an awful lot of folks attending this conference. Downtown Atlanta seemed inundated with historians. Well, at least the bars and restaurants were.

I think the AHA is something the research community should reach out to and befriend. This is a very large untapped resource. For example, there was a very large room in the hotel where book publishers and various university presses displayed their books, many at considerable savings. There were convention discounts as much as 50% off the retail price. There were several books on President Kennedy, his administration, cold war foreign policy, Vietnam, a few on his assassination and other related topics. You had to look around for some but they were there. The new book many in the research community are talking about, Thy Will Be Done, was available for $18. I also feel that the people who write these books and who showed up at the conference do have an active interest in this subject.

According to a Conference schedule there were about 23 things going on at the same time as the Board's presentation. Yet, there was a good crowd in attendance for the Review Board's presentation.

I was quite curious to see how these professional people in academia viewed the assassination, the research community and this Review Board. I still do not know how they really feel. I tried to observe rather than actively engage any of them in conversation.

Dr. William Joyce very nicely said hello. I told him I was just here to pay attention to the Review Board. He told me, "Oh, that flattery is more than we're worth." He warned me of a storm that was coming. I did not think much of it at the time. I figured a little snow in Atlanta, big deal. It might be amusing seeing these so called southerners panic at the sight of a snowflake. Little did I know.

Chairman Tunheim started the presentation promptly at 2:30. Dr. Graff was not present, nor was Mr. Marwell. Frank DeBenedictus, a fellow researcher, was here. We sat together.

Chairman Tunheim gave his somewhat standard opening statement, introducing the Board members, giving a background on how the Board came to be and what the job and responsibilities of the Board are. "It is a unique and unprecedented new federal agency in Washington," Mr. Tunheim said in describing the Board. Mr. Tunheim mentioned that there had been a growing trend to release these records for years in the Congress and that the final straw was the Oliver Stone movie. The Board began its substantial review of records in June of 1995. He described the process as this, "Agencies collect the records using the definition that the Board has provided, a lot of interaction between the agencies and our staff as agencies struggle to determine what is really meant by the term assassination record. And then the records are presented to the Review Board for its review. The Board reviews the records, makes its decision, the decision is communicated back to the agency. The agency does have an appeal right but that appeal right is to President Clinton. And it is his duty to overrule us if he believes that we are going too far in the release of records. There is not a process for going into the courts, unlike the FOIA process which many of you are probably familiar with. The Records Collection Act was really designed to replace the FOIA."

Mr. Tunheim explained that there are some instances where the Board has voted to postpone information. He explained that they are operating under a statute. Some of the information postponed are the true names of intelligence agents, their code names, true names of informants, intelligence sources and methods, methods of protecting the President and other issues of an individual's right to privacy.

Elaborating further on the uniqueness of the Board Mr. Tunheim stated, "This is the first time in the history of this country that an independent review board has had an opportunity to decide whether a federal agency should be forced to release records." The review board operates under a new and separate statute and one that heavily favors public release.

In describing the Board's work Mr. Tunheim said, "I liken the process to looking at a huge jigsaw puzzle that has a lot of pieces missing. The Kennedy assassination story has a lot of pieces missing. Through our work we are starting to fill in some of those pieces of that puzzle. I doubt whether every piece is ever going to be filled in because 32 years have passed since this event. And too much has happened. Too many people with first hand knowledge are no longer living. But we are getting the story to the point that when we are done, hopefully, the American public will know that no longer are records being hidden from them relative to this event within federal agencies in Washington. And there will be as complete a collection as we possibly can put together that is freely available for the American public to see."

Well, I am overjoyed to hear the Chairman of the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board publicly state that the assassination story has a lot of pieces missing. Think on that for a second. I am a bit concerned, however, that he thinks that when the Review Board's work is done the American people are supposed to believe that no longer are records being kept from them. Notice his clarifier "records" and "within federal agencies". Information will almost assuredly be withheld by records kept at the state and local level, in private hands, and in the hands of corporations. The Review Board does have the subpoena power to go after these records and I would like the Board to use that power soon.

Also, by definition some information will be withheld when the Board votes to postpone the release of that information. So some of the black ink is going to stay.

Dr. Nelson spoke next. She decried the fact that the history of the assassination has been left to non-historians. "It has been interesting to me, as well as a lot of historians, to realize that the history of the assassination has been left largely to journalists. The memory of the assassination is still in the minds of many Americans and the journalists have pretty much written the history of the assassination. Because historians have been concentrating on the life, the times, the Presidency of John F. Kennedy but not so much his death, not so much the assassination. And so there has not been a great deal of history written or a great deal of interest in it."

Again, I am amazed and delighted to hear what I am hearing. I do not believe that Dr. Nelson is happy that the assassination seems to be the sole turf of journalists. I believe, though she did not specifically say so, that she finds this to be unsatisfactory. I believe she is urging historians to study this subject. Great! We need more people like John Newman, author of Oswald and the CIA and Irving Bernstein, author of Promises Kept to study this subject and write books.

Now naturally there is a great deal of interest in the assassination of President Kennedy but not necessarily from professional historians. Dr. Nelson believes that one of the reasons for this is that more documentation is now coming out, which always starts this inevitable revision. "Somebody ought to tell a President, one of these days, that the release of documents only enhances their reputation." This brought forth a a small laugh from the crowd.

According to Dr. Nelson, another reason why historians have been reluctant to delve into the details of the assassination, is because there are so many conspiracy theories. Dr. Nelson believes, "People who use historical methodology do not look kindly on such theories." Dr. Nelson also believes that there is this sense that all the investigations we have had have not produced a lot of documentation, which has stymied historians.

Huh? Sure they have. But far too much has been withheld, which is why the Board exists.

Dr. Nelson continued,"Investigative groups were interested in who killed John F. Kennedy and not necessarily in releasing papers surrounding it. So I think this probably explains the, quite frankly, glazed looks of my fellow historians when I tell them what I am doing instead of doing what I am supposed to be doing, like writing scholarly articles. Everyone in this audience and in our profession should not confuse the previous groups with ours. As Jack said we really are opening records. We are not investigating the death of the President."

Dr. Nelson does take some pleasure in her work and the work of the Board. "It is very gratifying to see how many of the blacked out pages are now open in the Archives."

Dr. Nelson explained some of the powers of the Board, namely that when the Board votes to withhold a name or a word that substitute language must be used, to let people have some idea what is under the blacked out bits.

The Board is also locating new sources of records through their public hearings. They have also put out a call for films and photographs. There has been little or no response yet. Dr. Nelson comments, "So we are adding to the collection records that are not in federal archives which I think will be very useful."

Dr. Nelson then posed the question, "How will this Review Board serve history?

"First, I assure you we will learn a great deal more about the intelligence and domestic security agencies in the early 1960's. That is we will learn more about the period, the era, the ambiance of the world that Kennedy and others operated in. The statute gave us the power to overcome some of the traditional generic claims for secrecy that the agencies have had over the years. We have chosen to be selective about 'sources and methods' but we have not gone on record for removing those things because they were so called.

"What is gratifying to me since I have often argued for access, is that all of us come from so many different areas... we have had virtually no disagreements in our votes to release. Indeed, the only disagreements we have ever had have been where occasionally one of us would decide that more needed to be released. I think this tells us that sensible people with knowledge and a time devoted to it can be responsible folks."

Dr. Nelson also commented upon the precedent the Board is setting; appeals go only to the President. "One hesitates before one goes to the President. And when we release some of these things it will illustrate the supreme fact that the world has not come to an end and the President can still conduct foreign policy."

Dr. Nelson offered her second thought and that is, "You never know where documents will lead, of course."

Dr. Nelson believes that when the Board finishes its work that the divisions between Kennedy the man, his times, the President, and the assassinated hero is in fact not a division. It is a falsehood, that it is all part and parcel of an interesting story.

On the assassination itself Dr. Nelson commented, "We know that Kennedy was warned before he went to Dallas not to go to Dallas. We don't know very much about that. We might very well in the next year come across documents that would in fact bear upon that. That would be a very interesting part of the story."

Of the assassination anniversary Dr. Nelson pointed out, "It was interesting to me that journalists did not feel that it was necessary to commemorate the day the President was shot with very long articles in the paper as was noticed in the past. So it may be time for the historians."

God bless you Dr. Nelson!

On researching the assassination Dr. Nelson quoted from Don Delillo, "Among the various fictional works on the assassination is a book by Don Delillo called Libra . Libra is...Delillo to his credit says it is fiction. A lot of people do fiction but do not say so (laughter) but Delillo says at the very beginning this is a fictional account based upon the events of the time...but he has an investigator in there who took refuge in his record keeping strategies. This is a quote from Delillo: `The notes are becoming an end to themselves. It is premature to make a serious effort to turn these notes into coherent history, because the data keeps coming in. New lives enter the record all the time. The past is changing as the investigator writes.'"

Dr. Nelson then said something that Chairman Tunheim mentioned at previous open meetings and public hearings that I for one find annoying. "Well, we are looking for closure on the data." She did not think it will happen as more documents will surely come out. She does believe that it is time to turn the notes into coherent history.

Dr. Kermit Hall spoke next. Dr. Hall had a very well prepared statement. He opened with the comment Oscar Wilde gave about Niagara Falls, "That it would be much more impressive if it flowed in the other direction." I wonder what he meant by that?

Somewhat explaining Dr. Hall commented, "What we have had for the past thirty years is a flow of historical explanation that has largely flowed in the vein of setting the assassination as a conspiratorial act. It may well be that that is the case in the end." Dr. Hall thought it sobering to think on current explanations. He then mentioned that because he is on the Board he has had the opportunity to have several talks with high school students from around the country and he usually begins such presentations by asking them what they thought. He said they almost always give him a quizzical look as if to say `Don't you get it? Surely you must know of all."

When Dr. Hall presses them for an explanation they say "The CIA and Lyndon Johnson killed the President." Then Dr. Hall asks if student x is right. He mentioned that he has had about 30 of these talks in the past 18 months and he rarely finds a case where 90% or more of the students do not completely agree. When asked where or what they base that on they say `I saw it at the movies'.

I believe that Dr. Hall and many of those in the audience are upset with that. We in the research community have managed to reach the young, long before Oliver Stone's movie came along. We have not been as successful as that movie, we have not reached as many people with one blow. It took years of hard work. The more adult members of the population, especially in academia do not believe there was a conspiracy, certainly not anything so wild as what Oliver Stone suggested. They do not like the fact that every year more and more young people do believe in a conspiracy that involved some level of the federal government whereas there seem to be less and less who believe the Oswald did it all alone like the government said originally.

They do not like the theories of the research community because we have made conclusions and guesses without adequate evidence. We do not or have not used the historical methodology.

Well that was a little hard when there was no index to the 26 Warren Commission volumes, when millions of documents were kept from us, when LIFE magazine kept the Zapruder film locked away from everyone for 13 years, when government officials betray the public trust and lie.

Dr. Hall is correct when he points out, `There are literally millions of documents that have not been either partially or wholly revealed to researchers of all stripes."

The point that Dr. Hall was trying to make, I believe, was that without access to those documents a full understanding of the assassination will not take place.

I couldn't agree more.

Dr. Hall pointed out the issues that are before the Board, like what is an assassination record. "If you take the view that Lee Harvey Oswald was not the assassin then that means that the world of what are potentially assassination records are a good deal broader than the 201 file held by the Central Intelligence Agency. What we face is the general problem of trying to make sense of an event whose explanation eludes us by turning to evidence that has been kept from us."

Dr. Hall continued, "In the end we have to strike, according to the statute some balance, we have to strike a balance between fidelity to the historical record, although the statute doesn't express it that way, that is Dr. Hall's rendition and the need to protect national security, personal privacy and a host of other concerns involving sources and methods of intelligence gathering."

Fidelity to the historical record? Why? The historical record has been one colossal lie.

Another issue before the Board is, what is an informant? If you find one what do you owe to that informant? Do you owe that informant confidentiality forever? Or do you owe something to the historical record that an informant may be able to embellish as a result of what that informant provided to an intelligence agency?

"Among the most important lessons that these documents will teach us," Dr. Hall explained, "are lessons about the way in which the so-called `second government of America' operated during the period of the cold war." A lot of this material is on the public record---but what explains and helps one to understand what is currently available, is not.

Dr. Hall stated what he thinks we may learn in the files. "We may learn some things about the Kennedy assassination but most likely, we will learn not if Lee Harvey Oswald killed the President or not, but if he did, what motives and connections underlie why he did it."

In summing up Dr. Hall said he did not see himself as assembling a jigsaw puzzle but rather being entrusted with the box that contains all the pieces. And he wants to be sure that he got all the pieces in that box onto the floor of the scholar so that the scholar could at least have the sense that what he or she is working on was as complete as could be. He said,"Were it true that there is truth in history we could all be free by the actions that we, the five of us, are taking. Alas, such is not the case. What we will find is that there are always contrary explanations. What we can do for one another, it seems to me, is to balance the field, the competitive field, so that those who want to propose whatever theory that may be at least have to stand the test of the evidence that will now be available.

Dr. Joyce then spoke about the problems of getting started in creating an independent federal agency. He also spoke of the creation of the JFK Records Collection at the archives. Dr. Joyce pointed out that the collection violates the first archival principal that of provenance. Dr. Joyce said, "Provenance is not always easy to explain. Let me just say very simply that it is an attempt to group records according to how they were created so that the office that creates the records provides the context, the focus, the organizing principle of where the records are to be found."

The records collection is taking records out of the context in which they were created. I feel this is good and needed, because it frees the records for the American people. But itcan be an enormous pain when trying to index these records as is especially true of the CIA records. The Archives II has sort of solved this problem with the database they have which is not directly available to researchers yet. It is supposed to be soon. You can have them do a computer search for you. They then come back with RIF's (reader identification forms) and you can use those RIF's to find the documents you seek.

Dr. Joyce is talking about the ARRB's database. Many thousands of classified records are stored in it. Because of the nature of the declassification process the ARRB has to accommodate each and every redaction or restricted piece of information into the record. The ARRB's database is therefore not only organized by document but by redaction. The ARRB's database will, hopefully, help the Archives to have a better database and make up for a loss of context from these agencies.

Dr. Joyce then mentioned how the Review Board staff breaks down into teams. There is a CIA team, a FBI team, a Military team, and a State Department team. Dr. Joyce also mentioned the issues before the Board that are detailed in rules the Board has published in the Federal Register.

Dr. Joyce sees the ARRB as part of a bigger picture of declassifying government documents. There is a new Executive Order for that as well as the Moynihan Commission on secrecy in government. Dr. Joyce also reiterated the uniqueness of the Board: "We are tilling virgin tract here."

By the way, the Moynihan Commission is something the research community should be paying a lot of attention to!

Chairman Tunheim then displayed a copy of a document that used to be heavily redacted but, thanks to the Board's work, researchers can now read. The particular document displayed to the audience is one of the FBI documents recently released. It is from the American Embassy in Paris, dated September 27, 1960, a memo to the director of the FBI from the legat (legat is short for 'legal attache') in Paris. The subject is "Lee Harvey Oswald, Internal Security," and then it says, "Re: Paris letter of July 27, 1960" and the rest is blacked out. Those who have copies of the Board's most recent release have this document.

Mr. Tunheim went on to mention that the Board works with the National Archives and Records Administration rather extensively---not with the creation of the JFK records collection but rather in regard to Presidential libraries. He seemed to imply that there hasn't been a lot of cooperation by the JFK Presidential library. He did mention how cooperative the LBJ library has been.

The Department of Justice has records and the FBI obviously has records. Mr. Tunheim believes that there will be " 18,000 to 20,000 documents that will have redactions in them as they come over to us." The Review Board has to review these redactions the FBI has put in place and make a determination on them. Mr. Tunheim continued, "It is difficult to fully understand the scope of the FBI records. They have about 300,000 records left to review that they have not reviewed internally yet. And we do work day to day with FBI personnel." Mr. Tunheim also commented upon the Board's victory over the FBI's appeal to the President. This is the material, 5 documents, just released that go back to a Board vote taken in July.

Commenting on where assassination records are in various federal agencies in Washington, Mr. Tunheim mentioned, "The Immigration and Naturalization Service has about 5 cubic feet of records that we are now tracking and working with them on. We have not seen them yet." The DEA also has a number of files. Mr. Tunheim did not comment on how many. The Treasury Department and the U.S. Customs Service have files. Customs is just beginning their review, as Mr. Tunheim put it, "after a good deal of prodding from the Review Board staff. We don't know the scope of the records that the Customs Service has yet." The Secret Service has been somewhat difficult to deal with thus far but Mr. Tunheim believes that they now understand the scope of their responsibilities under the act. Though it may not seem it to some, that is surprisingly strong language from Chairman Tunheim. The Department of Defense has a significant number of records that the Board has just started to deal with. "The CIA which likely will be the largest repository of records that the Board will deal with especially since virtually all of their records are security classified. And have not been, up until two years ago even possible to release." In terms of numbers of records at the CIA that is a little hard to tell but Mr. Tunheim thinks it will be well into the hundreds of thousands of records, perhaps a million or more. Basically the Board is dealing with two files, the Oswald 201 file and the Kennedy assassination file.

Perhaps even more interesting than all of that is that the Board has started to work with foreign governments in its quest for assassination records. Mr. Tunheim stated, "Cables have gone out to our Ambassadors in Moscow, to Minsk and the Federal Republic of Germany. Cables are drawn up for five or six other foreign governments as well. And we hope to obtain their cooperation in making this collection as large as it can be."

The House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) has a huge amount of records most of which have been kept by the FBI. There are over 50,000 records, representing some 600,000 pages of documents.

The Board has focused on the CIA's and the FBI's knowledge of Oswald prior to his being named a suspect in the assassination. In the case of the CIA, it is the Mexico City story where many researchers say Oswald was impersonated. In the case of the FBI, it is surveillance of Oswald, including surveillance inside the Soviet Union.

In conclusion Mr. Tunheim offered, " I hope that through our work we can try to help to redefine the need for secrecy in government, that we can prove to the government that a little disclosure does not hurt. And that in fact government can perhaps be conducted much more effectively and openly in the future if we simply trust the American public with information, with knowledge. Hopefully through this effort we can at least take some steps in that direction."

Dr. Anna Nelson added that it is tough to judge the information in these records unless you know the source, but of course "sources and methods" are what the agencies want to keep secret. She also pointed out that the document that Mr. Tunheim held up which dealt with a European country was in the Mexico file.

During the question and answer period there was one woman in the back who commented that Oliver Stone has made her life miserable. Hooray! Academia needed a good swift kick. It seems to me that the teachers were not going to talk to the kids about this so the students forced the teachers to talk about the assassination of President Kennedy. A delightful turnaround. I never got beyond post Civil War Reconstruction in my grade school history classes. I always wanted to learn about World War II, President Kennedy, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Space race to the moon, the civil rights movement, the assassinations of the sixties, but 'twas not to be. Some nameless faceless person decided what the curriculum was to be and that was that.

Frank DeBenedictus mentioned that the New Orleans Police Department sent potentially important letters to the Tampa Police Department on the Fair Play for Cuba Committee 6 months before Lee Harvey Oswald did his leafletting. I did not understand whether the letters between these police departments on Fair Play for Cuba activities included information on Lee Harvey Oswald.

A questioner asked about the National Security Agency. Mr. Tunheim responded that they are difficult to deal with but that they too are subject to the statute just like any other agency. The staff is working with them to locate and identify assassination records.

In response to another question Dr. Nelson offered a rationale for the various agencies continuing resistance to releasing information. They do not want to be the ones to confirm information, even when everyone knows the subject. For example, the fact that intelligence agencies of the federal government engaged in wiretapping; opening people's mail, known as the HT/LINGUAL program; taping people's bank records, etc. These things have been known for years---at least since the Church committee days. Additional documents proving it are what the intelligence agencies want to keep for themselves.

Another question asked was is it possible there will be records held back that you will never know about? Dr. Nelson thinks this is a possibility and one that the Board members and staff have asked themselves. The CIA turned out to be very sloppy record keepers. This is due to their compartmentalization. The whole idea of a need to know meant that they did not have a central file system. Some directors kept good records and some didn't. And they often do not know what they do have.

Dr. Nelson did thank (without mentioning her by name, so I will) Anne Buttimer, who helped the Board to find records within the CIA. Unfortunately, she has since left the employ of the Board.

Dr. William Joyce mentioned that the Post Office lost the files on the mail order trace of the rifle. It turned out they were stored out at Suitland, Maryland, where the Post Office has an enormous backlog of records. Dr. Joyce seemed more concerned with misplaced files and the sheer bulk of the records they are dealing with rather than deliberate withholding although he concedes the possibility.

Dr. Nelson referred to the fact that the Board increased what the FBI wanted to consider as assassination records. These relate largely to organized crime records. Dr. Joyce pointed out that the FBI were cooperative in getting the security clearances for the Board and staff done somewhat quickly so that the Board could start its work. The FBI wanted to know where it stood. Dr. Joyce also mentioned that the FBI has 90 employees working on reviewing JFK assassination records.

Well, all in all some new information was offered by the Board. Again I want to emphasize The American Historical Association is something the research community should reach out to and learn more about.

No new information was offered on the next public hearing or open meeting. As always I will try to keep you informed.

ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW BOARD RELEASES
ADDITIONAL CIA, FBI AND HSCA RECORDS

The Assassination Records Review Board released 146 additional CIA, FBI and House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) documents relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The Review Board released 34 CIA documents, 25 in full and 9 in part. These documents relate to Lee Harvey Oswald's trip to Mexico City in the fall of 1963, only weeks before the assassination of President Kennedy.

The Board also released 50 FBI documents, 13 in full and 37 in part. These documents relate to various aspects of the Bureau's investigation of the assassination, including contact that Oswald had made on several occasions with Communist Party USA officials, prior to the assassination. Some of the FBI documents relate to New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's investigation into the assassination.

In addition, the Board released 62 HSCA documents, 30 in full and 32 in part. Many of these documents are HSCA payroll records. The number of postponements are due to the Board's decision not to release the social security numbers of HSCA staff members.

The Review Board voted to release this group of documents on November 13 and 14, 1995, except for one of the 34 CIA documents, record number 104-10017-10015, which the Board voted to release at its October 24, 1995 meeting.

The original documents being released have been transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration for inclusion in The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection, which is housed at the National Archives facility in College Park, Maryland. Requests for copies of these documents should be made to the National Archives.

-end-

ASSASSINATION RECORDS RELEASE ADVISORY

January 25, 1995
CONTACT: TOM SAMOLUK
(202) 724-0088, EXT. 227

ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW BOARD VOTES TO RELEASE
ADDITIONAL CIA, FBI, HSCA, AND WARREN COMMISSION RECORDS

The Assassination Records Review Board voted on January 5, 1996 to release 52 additional CIA, FBI, House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), and Warren Commission documents relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The Review Board voted to release 34 CIA documents, 7 in full and 27 in part. These documents relate to the CIA's broad post-assassination investigation of Lee Harvey Oswald, particularly Oswald's trip through Europe on his return to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1962.

The Board also voted to release 6 FBI documents in full. These documents relate in part to the Bureau's interest in New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison's investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy.

In addition, the Board voted to release 23 HSCA and 5 Warren Commission documents (identified on attached Federal Register Notice as "NARA Documents") in full. These documents were previously available but contained redactions based on privacy grounds. Notification of the Review Board's action on these documents was sent to the President of the United States and the agencies on January 25, 1996. The President has 30 days to agree or disagree with the Review Board's determinations.

-end-

ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW BOARD

AGENCY: Assassination Records Review Board
ACTION: Notice of Formal Determinations and Corrections

SUMMARY: The Assassination Records Review Board (Review Board) met in a closed meeting on January 5, 1996, and made formal determinations on the release of records under the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act). By issuing this notice, the Review Board complies with the section of the JFK Act that requires the Review Board to publish the results of its decisions on a document-by-document basis in the Federal Register within 14 days of the date of the decision. (The date has been extended by six days due to weather related shutdowns of the Federal government.) This notice document also contains two minor corrections from previous notices.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: T. Jeremy Gunn, General Counsel and Associate Director for Research and Analysis, Assassination Records Review Board, Second Floor, 600 E Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20530, (202) 724-0088, fax (202) 724-0457.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice complies with the requirements of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, 44 U.S.C. 1 2107.9(c)(4)(A) (1992). On January 5, 1996, the Review Board made formal determinations on records it reviewed under the JFK Act. These determinations are listed below. The assassination records are identified by the record identification number assigned in the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection database maintained by the National Archives. For each document, the number of releases of previously redacted information is noted as well as the number of sustained postponements.

FBI Documents
   ARRB Sustained
Record Number  Releases Postponements Status of Document Action Date

124-10017-10252    3       0  Open in Full  n/a

124-10035-10119    4       0  Open in Full  n/a

124-10050-10395    5       0  Open in Full  n/a

124-10170-10115    4       0  Open in Full  n/a

124-10241-10111    6       0  Open in Full  n/a

124-10255-10334    4       0  Open in Full  n/a


CIA Documents
   ARRB Sustained
Record Number  Releases Postponements Status of Document Action Date

104-10015-10033    11       6  Postponed in Part 01/1996

104-10015-10159    9       0  Open in Full  n/a

104-10015-10215    4       0  Open in Full  n/a

104-10015-10225    7       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10015-10230    4       4  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10015-10243    12       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10015-10255    7       3  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10015-10346    29       5  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10015-10372    6       2  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10015-10386    8       1  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10015-10400    3       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10015-10420    9       1  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10015-10425    5       0  Open in Full  n/a

104-10015-10444    2       2  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10016-10011    23       15  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10016-10012    5       2  Postponed in Part 01/1996

104-10016-10025    7       2  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10016-10026    16       1  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10017-10022    4       0  Open in Full  n/a

104-10017-10033    8       0  Open in Full  n/a

104-10017-10036    4       3  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10017-10040    5       4  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10017-10049    7       3  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10017-10057    7       0  Open in Full  n/a

104-10017-10058    17       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10017-10073    6       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10018-10001    1       2  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10018-10007    9       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10018-10042    9       4  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10018-10076    7       4  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10018-10080    9       5  Postponed in Part 01/2006

104-10018-10088    8       0  Open in Full  n/a

104-10018-10089    8       2  Postponed in Part 03/1996

104-10018-10091    6       2  Postponed in Part 03/1996


HSCA Documents
   ARRB Sustained
Record Number  Releases Postponements Status of Document Action Date

180-10070-10273    0       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

180-10070-10276    0       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

180-10071-10164    2       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10075-10118    0       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

180-10076-10049    76       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10080-10131    1       2  Postponed in Part 2017

180-10080-10276    4       1  Postponed in Part 01/2006

180-10082-10451    0       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

180-10085-10498    0       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

180-10086-10342    6       5  Postponed in Part 01/2006

180-10087-10190    0       2  Postponed in Part 01/2006

180-10090-10122    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10090-10128    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10090-10134    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10093-10026    2       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10094-10459    0       1  Postponed in Part 2017

180-10096-10460    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10104-10324    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10106-10100    1       3  Postponed in Part 01/2006

180-10108-10349    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10108-10350    2       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10118-10129    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

180-10140-10022    0       186  Postponed in Part 2017


NARA Documents
   ARRB Sustained
Record Number  Releases Postponements Status of Document Action Date

179-40001-10073    2       0  Open in Full  n/a

179-40001-10432    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

179-40002-10050    2       0  Open in Full  n/a

179-40002-10171    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

179-40002-10314    1       0  Open in Full  n/a

Corrections: On December 12 and 13, 1996, the Review Board made formal determinations that were published in the Tuesday, January 2, 1996, Federal Register (FR Doc. 95-31560, 61 FR 48), reflecting those determinations. For that notice make the following corrections:

On page 51, in the second, third, and forth columns of the HSCA documents table, make the following corrections:

Record No. Previously Published Corrected Information
180-10087-10362 3,0, Open in Full, n/a 2,1 Postponed in Part, 2017
In its implementation of the JFK Act, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) inadvertently assigned two record identification numbers -- 124-10087-10334 and 124-10027-10011 -- to the same assassination record. The Review Board's final determinations regarding this assassination record were published in the Monday, December 4, 1995, Federal Register (see FR Doc. 95-29839, 60 FR 62066) under record identification number 124-10087-10334. The FBI subsequently notified the Review Board of the prior inadvertent assignment of two record identification numbers to that assassination record, and of the FBI's decision to use 124-10027-10011 as the sole record identification number for that assassination record for further processing under the JFK Act. Accordingly, the assassination record in question is being processed and released to the public, pursuant to the Review Board's determinations, as record identification number 124-10027-10011.

Dated: January 25, 1996

David G. Marwell
Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: TOM SAMOLUK
DECEMBER 28, 1995
(202) 724-0088, EXT. 227

ARRB RELEASES FIVE DISPUTED FBI DOCUMENTS ON INVESTIGATION OF LHO IN SOVIET UNION

The Assassination Records Review Board today released five FBI documents relating to the FBI's investigation of Lee Harvey Oswald while he was in the Soviet Union in 1960 and 1961. The FBI had previously sought to keep these documents closed principally because they contained some information provided by the Swiss Government.

The Review Board originally voted to open these documents in full on July 17, 1995. The FBI appealed the Board's decision to the President. The Board then agreed to approach the Swiss Government through diplomatic channels to seek a waiver of any remaining Swiss interest in the records. The Swiss Government advised the Review Board that it had no objection to the release of the documents, if the names of Swiss citizens were redacted. On December 13, 1995, the Board again voted to release the documents, except for the name of a Swiss citizen, which appeared twice in the documents. The FBI did not oppose the release of the documents after approval had come from Swiss officials.

"These pre-assassination FBI documents on Lee Harvey Oswald are an important part of the historical record which were worthy of the Review Board's aggressive pursuit. The documents reveal the steps that the United States government took to determine what Lee Harvey Oswald was doing after he left the United States in 1959 and whether or not someone was posing as Oswald," said John R. Tunheim, Chair of the Review Board. "We owe a debt of gratitude to the Swiss government for recognizing the historical importance of these documents and for not objecting to their public release."

Ten other FBI documents (including duplicates) which the Review Board had also originally voted to release in full in July 1995 and on which the FBI appealed to the President, were eventually released by the Board in October 1995. After receiving additional information from the FBI, the Board voted to open the documents, except for the numerical portion of informant symbol numbers.

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