An earlier post on this blog counted redactions in a set of ARC docs which I dubbed CIA short docs. CIA short docs are one page CIA docs where NARA 21, the May 2021 update of the JFK database, lists a current status of “Redact” and a doc restriction of 5(g)(2)(D).…
Author Archives: Robert Reynolds
More commentary on the December 2021 releases
My article on the December ARC releases for Max Holland’s website Washington Decoded has recently received some commentary that might interest those who are interested in the JFK ARC.
Part of my article criticized author Jeff Morley’s views on the remaining redactions in the ARC. Morley recently responded at his blog, JFK Facts.…
A note on “missing records” in the December releases
One of the more confusing parts of the December 2021 ARC releases at NARA is the status of the “missing records.” This note looks at which records belong to this set, how they got labeled “missing” and how they were “found”. This is an extremely boring note, feel free to skip it.…
Summary of December 2021 releases (updated)
I have not yet posted any notes on the December 15 releases. I may have an article on these elsewhere in the next few weeks, so I will hold off on extended discussion for now. Following is just a quick summary of the records posted on NARA’s website.
Agency totals
Totals of records released per agency (the number in parentheses is the agency prefix):
| # | agency | record count | percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIA (104) | 958 | 64% |
| 2 | FBI (124) | 355 | 24% |
| 3 | HSCA (180) | 106 | 7% |
| 4 | SSCIA (157) | 24 | 2% |
| 5 | Ford Lib (178) | 15 | 1% |
| 6 | ACSI/IRR (194) | 11 | < 1% |
| 7 | OSA (198) | 5 | < 1% |
| 8 | JFK Lib (176) | 5 | < 1% |
| 9 | JCS (202) | 3 | < 1% |
| 10 | DOS (119) | 3 | < 1% |
| 11 | LBJ Lib (177) | 2 | < 1% |
| 12 | NARA/WC (179) | 2 | < 1% |
| 13 | NSC (145) | 1 | < 1% |
| 14 | NARA (181) | 1 | < 1% |
Newly released records
One surprise in the December releases was to see 70 78 records which were not previously released in 2017-2018.…
December 2021 releases are up at NARA
Just a quick note to say that the December 2021 releases went up today as announced. There are 1,491 files now online, or a little less than a tenth of the remaining redacted records. Unfortunately there is no accompanying spread sheet, so it may take a while to download them all.…
New article on the forthcoming JFKARC releases
For those interested in the releases scheduled for December 15, 2021, but don’t have time to plow through my sleep-inducing notes, there is an article I wrote on the subject now up at Max Holland’s website Washington Decoded.
Comments and corrections are welcome here or at WD.…
Redacted CIA docs, 1943-1949
[Revised 11/20/2021 to explain ‘dated’ and ‘undated’ status more clearly]
This note is a continuation of my previous post on the dates of redacted CIA docs in the ARC. As I noted there, according to the May 2021 update of the JFK database, CIA docs make up 86 percent of the redacted docs in the ARC.…
How old are the redacted docs in the ARC?
A frequent claim about documents still redacted in the ARC is that these are all “60 years old.” This is not so. The oldest redacted documents go back to the 1940s, and the most recent redacted document is from December, 1999.
Looking at document age is, of course, another way of judging redactions.…
NARA 21, part 9: Update on CIA short docs
In an earlier note in this series, I looked at the redactions in a set of ARC docs which I dubbed CIA short docs. CIA short docs are one page CIA docs where NARA 21, the May 2021 update of the JFK database, lists a current status of “Redact” and a doc restriction of 5(g)(2)(D).…
Bradford on the ARC, 2021
This note looks at a critique of the current state of the ARC, written by Rex Bradford, president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation (MFF). The critique was posted online here in March 2021. Unfortunately, this was too early for Bradford to consult the updated version of the JFK database, which went on line in June 2021.…