Assassination Secrets: Triumphs of the JFK Records Review Board A Paper Trail Special Edition In 1992 Congress created the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB), setting the stage for massive declassifications of government documents pertaining to the November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The ARRB has zealously searched out record groups that might shed light on the case, facilitating the release of secret materials on such matters as JFK's anti-Castro operations, FBI domestic spying, CIA shenanigans from Miami to Mexico City, and the sensitive audio surveillance work of the National Security Agency. (Several Dossier features highlight the work of the ARRB. See Searching for JFK's Killer(s), Castro and the Kennedy Assassination, and Operation Mongoose: The PSYOP Papers.) The millions of once classified pages released due to ARRB action have not answered the question of who killed Kennedy, but the documents have provided important insights into government operations that many federal agencies would prefer to keep out of the public record. Various officials have at times resisted ARRB release requests for that very reason. But in several contested cases, the ARRB triumphed, winning the disclosure of materials that were destined to remain under lock and key if these agencies had their way. In recent congressional testimony Jeremy Gunn, ARRB executive director and general counsel, provided numerous examples of how the board uses its Congressionally-delegated authority to pry secret documents from the Cold War clutches of military and intelligence agencies. Selected documents presented by Gunn offer abundant lessons about the covert methods and clandestine mentality of the early 1960s. They also provide compelling support for those who argue that the public is entitled to know all the facts about JFK's administration and assassination -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. The Paper Trail is pleased to present Gunn's full testimony, as well as the fascinating document exhibits he submitted for the record. Witness some of the triumphs of the Assassination Records Review Board: Statement of T. Jeremy Gunn Senate Governmental Affairs Committee March 25, 1998 View List of Exhibits with Commentary by Jeremy Gunn Exhibit A: Cable to the Mexico City Station from CIA Headquarters, November 27, 1963. The second line of typed text includes the crypts (or cryptonyms) "RYBAT" and "GPFLOOR." "GPFLOOR" is the crypt that refers to Lee Harvey Oswald. Exhibit B: Letter to the Legal Attaché in Paris from the Director of the FBI, October 12, 1960. Subject: Lee Harvey Oswald - Internal Security. One of several records exempted by the FBI because it contained foreign government information. Exhibit C: Memorandum to the Secretary of Defense from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, January 31, 1964. Subject: A Contingency Plan for a Coup in Cuba. This document was excluded from automatic declassification and was previously unavailable to the public in any form. Exhibit D: (a) Vietnam January-August 1963, Foreign Relations of the United States, Vol. 3. pp. 265-270. (b) Memorandum for the Record of the Eighth Secretary of Defense Conference on Vietnam, May 6, 1963, Honolulu, Hawaii. Exhibit E: Monthly Operational Report 1-30 September from the CIA Chief of Station, Mexico City to Chief KURIOT, October 18, 1963. A CIA monthly operational report for Mexico City for September 1963, a period that includes Lee Harvey Oswald's arrival in the Mexican capital. Exhibit F: NSA SIGINT product report, November 26, 1963. This document discloses NSA's intercepts of communications related to Cuban military alerts after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Exhibit G: Memorandum to McGeorge Bundy from Gordon Chase, June 15, 1964. Subject: Assassination of Castro. This document from the files of the National Security Council was originally classified "Secret" and was exempted from declassification in 1976. © Copyright 1998 ParaScope, Inc. Dossier: Covert Ops & Secret Documents Documents Library: Declassified Secrets Dossier message board: Share your views