Kerry can't recall being at '71 parley (Boston Globe tackles assassin plot - new info)

Boston Globe ^ | April 1st, 2004 | Michael Kranish

[Sabertooth]

Senator John F. Kerry said through a spokesman this week that he has no recollection of attending a November 1971 meeting of Vietnam Veterans Against the War at which some activists discussed a plot to kill some US senators who backed the war.

[muawiyah]

An open debate about specific assassination possibilities is always a serious issue for any organization.

Who other than Kerry's staff people are saying Kerry voted "no"?

[jellybean]

Senator John F. Kerry said through a spokesman this week that he has no recollection of attending a November 1971 meeting of Vietnam Veterans Against the War at which some activists discussed a plot to kill some US senators who backed the war.

"Senator Kerry does not remember attending the Kansas City meeting," Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan said in a statement to the Globe in response to written questions about the matter. "Kerry does not remember any discussions that you referred to," the statement added, referring to the assassination plot.

snip...

But last week, the Kerry campaign seemed to leave open the possibility that he had attended the November session, after historian Gerald Nicosia said he had found an FBI document that he said indicated that Kerry was there. As a result of Nicosia's assertion, Kerry's campaign said in a statement that while Kerry did not remember being at the meeting, "If there are valid FBI surveillance reports from credible sources that place some of those disagreements in Kansas City, we accept that historical footnote in the account of his work to end the difficult and divisive war."

Interesting how the story changed once those valid FBI surveillnace reports came up missing.

[Happy2BMe]

Thank you for the ping on Kerry.

You are doing a great job keeping us informed and it is much appreciated.

[kabar]

The FBI has not authorized a separate release of the files, although it is studying pending requests.

I hope one of those pending requests is from the RNC.

[mware]

It is not a lame issue if he knew about the vote to assassinate senators and did not report it.

[OrioleFan]

Maybe Kerry dank too much iced tea and had to "step out" when the assasination plot was discussed...

[OrioleFan]

Maybe Kerry drank too much iced tea and had to "step out" when the assasination plot was discussed...

[StriperSniper]

Ping!

[mo]

Great...so now we're down to playing the Washington Amnesia game...there must REALLY be some liability concerning his civic reponsibility over this issue.

[Dante3]

Exactly. Makes one also wonder how many meetings he has attended where assassiantion of government officials is discussed. As you stated, this is not something one is likely to forget unless he has serious memory problems or onset of Alzheimers.

[doug from upland]

I had an extensive conversation with Kranish last week. To his credit, he took the info seriously and did the story. It seems to be a balanced piece, but I would have liked him to talk about Barnes appearance on the John Gibson show. Does anyone have the transcript of Barnes on that show???

[MeekOneGOP]

But last week, the Kerry campaign seemed to leave open the possibility that he had attended the November session, after historian Gerald Nicosia said he had found an FBI document that he said indicated that Kerry was there. As a result of Nicosia's assertion, Kerry's campaign said in a statement that while Kerry did not remember being at the meeting, "If there are valid FBI surveillance reports from credible sources that place some of those disagreements in Kansas City, we accept that historical footnote in the account of his work to end the difficult and divisive war."

I've seen idiots refer to President Bush as '*', implying the hotly contested Florida election results in 2000. I.E. Dubya's win is an historical footnote ('illegitimate') in history too ...

I would bet that Jean Keri is lying. How do you 'forget' being in a meeting in which the discussion is about assassination plans for U.S. Senators ?? Anyway, I'm glad to see the WSJ and now the Boston Globe printing about it.

[twigs]

That's why I think this issue is a non-starter.

I think you're correct that JK was apparently not in favor of the assassination. But he is culpable on several charges which I believe are legitimate. He actually may not have left the organization after this meeting as he said he did. There's some evidence he worked with VVAW on into 1972; therefore, he is lying today about his involvement then. But even more serious to Kerry is the fact that he did not report the threat of assassination to anyone. It seems that the FBI had infiltrated the group and knew about the plan, but Kerry wouldn't have known that. He had already planned at that point to run for Congress, so he should have been public-service minded enough to pass this info along. And there WAS an attempt on Sen. Stennis's life several years later and two of the other reputed targeted legistators later died in plane crashes.

[twigs]

We are assuming that these FBI files are copies. Can't someone else get access to them under FOI like Nicosia did some years ago? Of course, assuming that they're still there...

[twigs]

Interesting about that political assasination; I didn't know about it. Yes, it is alarming. In the John O'Neill-JK debate on the Dick Cavett show, I noticed that JK said that if we pulled out of S Vietnam without Vietnamization, there would not be a bloodbath, just a few political assasinations. Actually, I was stunned. I find that a huge issue; he didn't even blink as he said it. He could have been talking about swatting a fly on the wall. It's those sorts of remarks, coupled with the Kansas meeting, that make this an issue. It speaks strongly to character, or more correctly, the lack thereof.

[Interesting Times]

It is so pathetic to attempt to claim Kerry was involved in a criminal conspiracy after he opposed a plan which was then voted down by the group and never carried out.

It isn't necessary to claim that Kerry was "involved in a criminal conspiracy." For more than a year, he was a key leader in a group sufficiently extreme to bring the matter of political assassinations to a vote. He worked closely with these nutballs on multiple major events, and represented them before Congress.

Wouldn't you say that casts some doubt on his judgment?

[TommyDale]

This is completely unbelievable. Sorry, Mr. Kerry, but you are just not credible on this one. First of all, your FBI files show clearly that you were in attendance. While you claim that you resigned, there is no record of it. You continued to be a spokesman for these turds after you claim you resigned.

Think about it -- You can't remember attending a conference where assassinations were not only discussed, but actually voted upon? You don't remember the talk of assassinating 7 U.S. Senators, even though you are now a U.S. Senator yourself? Sorry, but even in the drunkest, stoned state of mind ANYONE would remember such a thing. To top all of this off, you committed a felony for NOT REPORTING the suggested plot.

Unless, of course, you were the FBI mole?

[doug from upland]

BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS...er, Kansas City

[muawiyah]

Now if Kerry had been the FBI informant, everything would be different.

Actually, the Democrats would drop him like a hot rock if they ever found that out!

[TommyDale]

"And there WAS an attempt on Sen. Stennis's life several years later and two of the other reputed targeted legistators later died in plane crashes."

One of those Senators that died in a plane crash was John Tower, one of the original 7 that some wanted to assassinate. The other Senator that died just the day before in ANOTHER plane crash was Senator Heinz, which gave Teresa Heinz the freedom to marry John F'n Kerry.