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Letter to the US Archivist, March 11 2018
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Rex
Bradford, President
Mary Ferrell Foundation
March 11, 2018
Mary Ferrell Foundation
March 11, 2018
Mr.
David Ferriero
Archivist of the United States
Archivist of the United States
Dear Mr.
Ferriero,
The Mary
Ferrell Foundation (MFF) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization engaged in an
ongoing effort to bring accessible and interactive history to a new generation
of critical thinkers. As host to the Internet's largest collection of JFK
assassination records, accessed by thousands of persons daily, MFF seeks
fulfillment of the letter and the spirit of the JFK Assassination Records of
1992 mandating disclosure of all government records on the events of November
1963.
The
Foundation wants to express concern about the ongoing declassification process,
offer our expertise in support of improving it, and recommend four actions for
you and your staff.
We have
conducted an analysis of the state of the JFK records releases based on these
four sources:
2016
Listing - A 2016 Archives-produced listing of 3,571 documents that at that time
were withheld in full (FOIA
NARA-NGC-2016-000132).
Releases
- Six sets of document releases in 2017 on 7/24, 10/26, 11/03, 11/09, 11/17,
and 12/15 (see https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/2017-release).
2018
Listing - A 2018 Archives-produced listing of 798 withheld and 21092 redacted
documents still to be released (FOIA
NARA-NGC-2018-000072).
JFK
Database - The official Archives database of metadata for JFK records
(available online at https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/search).
While
over 35,000 documents have been released in 2017 before and since the statutory
deadline of October 26, 2017, a great deal of material remains withheld or
redacted. The 2018 listing indicates that 21,890 documents, comprising over
368,000 pages, are still withheld in full or in part. Based on our analysis, we
believe the true number is even higher, as will be discussed in this letter.
The JFK
Records Act mandates disclosure of virtually all of this material. The view of
Judge John Tunheim is that this material can and should be released in full; we
concur and share his disappointment that it did not happen by the statutory
deadline. President Trump has expressed the view that only the names of living
informants should be withheld from released JFK files after April 28, 2018. Our
view is that the names of living informants should be disclosed as well, and in
any case current withholding is far beyond that limited scope.
Recommended
Action #1: Release all JFK files in their entirety.
To that
end, we are concerned that the release of partially redacted JFK material has
not been accompanied by explanations for continued withholding, as required by
Section 4 (3)(e) of the JFK Records Act.
This law
requires the ARRB to "publish in the Federal Register a notice that
summarizes the postponements approved by the Review Board or initiated by the
President, the House of Representatives, or the Senate, including a description
of the subject, originating agency, length or other physical description, and
each ground for postponement that is relied upon."
Section
5 (g) (2) (D) (i) and (ii) requires any postponement to be justified by "identifiable
harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or
conduct of foreign relations"; and (ii) "the identifiable harm
is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure."
While the
ARRB no longer exists, this provision is still in force. The failure to provide
explanation for the current postponements constitutes non-compliance with the
Act.
Recommended
Action #2: We believe it is your duty, under the law, to require all agencies
to provide and publish in the Federal Register explanations for each and every
postponed document (or portion of a document) before you certify that all JFK
records have been released.
The JFK
Records Act also states "no portion of any assassination record shall
be withheld from public disclosure solely on grounds of non-relevance," unless
the ARRB decides otherwise. Since the ARRB no longer exists, non-relevance
cannot be grounds for continued postponement.
The MFF
is concerned about anomalies found in our analysis of the 2016 and 2018
listings, as compared with the 2017 listings and the JFK Database. Of several
issues and anomalies discovered, two data points in particular require your
attention:
MFF has
identified 375 JFK records that seem to have fallen through the cracks. These
are records that were listed in the 2016 listing but not released, and yet not
present in the 2018 listing. Was this an error in the 2018 listing, or are
these documents no longer scheduled for release?
Recommended
Action #3: MFF recommends full disclosure of any and all JFK documents
identified as JFK records by the ARRB, in particular those 375 which appeared
in the 2016 listing but are no longer referenced.
We have
identified 795 documents that have been released but do not appear at all in
the official online NARA database of JFK records. For example, the National
Security Agency released 244 JFK records in 2017 that are not listed in the
database. Our question: are there other non-disclosed JFK documents from NSA or
other agencies that are not in the 2018 listing or scheduled for release? The
JFK Records Act (section 4) requires that "The Archivist shall
prepare and publish a subject guidebook and index to the collection"; no
complete index currently exists.
Recommended
Action #4: MFF recommends that the database be updated with the latest
information from all government agencies to ensure accountability and public
confidence in the disclosure process.
We would
be happy to supply further details, including listings of which record numbers
are being referenced in the counts above.
In
closing, we thank your and the Archives staff, led by Martha Murphy Wagner, for
your diligence in making the JFK Records Collection available to the public. As
the most popular and studied body of records in the Archives, the JFK
collection deserves your closest attention.
Respectfully,
Rex
Bradford
President, Mary Ferrell Foundation
President, Mary Ferrell Foundation
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