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.…
[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.…
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.…
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).…
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.…
An interesting note posted yesterday on W. Tracy Parnell’s blog, The JFK Files. Parnell summarizes some of the response to President Biden’s memo on the release of ARC files (see here). The response, from some, was much stronger than I expected. Another notch against my reputation for prognostication.…
I have finally added an important page explaining postponements and redaction in the JFK Collection. Here is a link to it. There is also a link on the home page. Let me know if you have any corrections or suggestions!…
President Biden has finally spoken on the release of records under the JFK Act. In a memo released October 22, 2021, Biden ordered NARA to begin preparation for further releases, including putting the entire JFK Assassination Records Collection online. The memo is available here.
The memo is long, specifying lots more paperwork for agencies (primarily the CIA) who want to continue redacting their documents, plus short term, mid term, and long term plans for release of more info.…
I am still looking at NARA 21, the updated version of the JFK ARC database. I have had recent correspondence with NARA on the status of the database that corrects a couple of my earlier posts.
The first correction here is on the 13 records in the updated JFK database labeled “declassify”.…
I have finally added an introductory page on the history of the ARC. Here is a link to it. There is a link to it on the home page as well. Let me know if you have any corrections or suggestions! …