This is yet another note on the Jan 92 CIA doc checklist I discussed here and here. Be sure to read those earlier notes first, or this one will make no sense. The ultra-short summary of this final note: I’ve changed my mind about the value of the Jan 92 checklist.…
Author Archives: Robert Reynolds
Joe Backes on the Jan 92 checklist
This note is a continuation of my comments on the January 1992 checklist for the HSCA-CIA segregated collection (see here). Be sure to read that note before you read this note.
I recently learned that longtime JFK researcher Joe Backes also did a post mentioning the checklist. His post appeared on his substack blog “Justice for Kennedy”, and is available here.…
A checklist for the HSCA-CIA segregated collection
My interest in the ARC is often “academic”, and as a result, many of my notes on this blog are not particularly interesting for people who don’t care about the ARC as an archive. This is another such note, so caveat lector.
Reviewing the HSCA-CIA docs: the McDonald Survey
When the HSCA shut down in 1979, they made sure that all the CIA records they reviewed during their investigation were boxed, sealed, and stored for at least 30 years.…
Billings, TILT, and Watergate
Jeff Morley’s Substack blog JFK Facts has posted an interesting coda to the story of Operation TILT. (I discussed TILT in a note available here). The post features an interview with Dick Billings, the LIFE editor who accompanied William Pawley and the Cuban team to their drop off near the coast of Cuba.…
Operation TILT: a note on CIA files
This note responds to a recent post on Jefferson Morley’s JFK Facts blog from JFK researcher Malcolm Blunt. In his post, Blunt suggests that Representative Luna should go after documents in the “operational file” for CIA officer George Joannides, as opposed to documents in Joannides’ “personnel file”, such as the ones recently released.…
The 2025 RFK releases at NARA
NARA has posted three sets of documents in 2025 related to the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. With one exception, none of these sets are part of the JFK Assassination Records Collection, so I haven’t posted any research notes on them.
Since I have now posted a note on the new MLK releases at NARA, however, I have decided for the sake of completeness to post this brief write up on the new RFK releases as well.…
The new MLK releases from NARA
On 21 July 2025, NARA released over 243,000 pages of records relating to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The records are available here
The release was in compliance with President Trump’s 23 January 2025 Executive Order. We have now seen doc releases for all three figures mentioned in the order: JFK, RFK, and MLK.…
A new CIA doc release
The CIA has finally released some of the documents on CIA officer George Joannides that writer Jefferson Morley has been demanding for over a decade. The ARRB did not include these documents in the ARC, so they are not a formal part of the JFK Collection, but they are, of course, worth a look.…
The Latest FBI releases from NARA
NARA posted the “new” FBI releases related to the JFK assassination today (6/28/25). The announcement was posted on the 2025 releases page here, and the links for downloading are here. Twelve pages of links, get them while they’re hot!
Format issues
Happily, the releases are available as pdfs, just click on the link to the download page and look for the phrase “Files Available for Download — Other Files.”…
A new article from Tracy Parnell
Tracy Parnell has one of the best researched, best written JFK related blogs around. His latest post is on the complicated issue of CIA officer George Joannides. The article is available here.
Tracy has previously done a couple of illuminating posts on Joannides. I helped him with background research on this latest article, which focuses on what former HSCA General Counsel G.…