Ford Told FBI About Panel's Doubts on JFK Murder

Houston Chronicle ^ | Aug. 9, 2008 | MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN

[kellynla]

WASHINGTON — Former President Ford secretly advised the FBI that two of his fellow members on the Warren Commission doubted the FBI's conclusion that John F. Kennedy was shot from the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository in Dallas, according to newly released records from Ford's FBI files.

Ford, still a congressman at the time, also told a senior FBI official about internal panel disputes over hiring staff, Chief Justice Earl Warren's timetable for completing the final report on the assassination and what panel members said about the FBI.

In turn, Assistant FBI Director Cartha "Deke" DeLoach confidentially advised Ford of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's position on panel disputes; discussed where leaks were coming from; and, with Hoover's personal approval, loaned him a bureau briefcase with a lock so he could securely take the FBI report on the 1963 assassination with him on a ski trip.

The new details were included in 500 pages of the FBI's large file on Ford, released in part this past week in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act that The Associated Press and others made on the day Ford died in December 2006. The FBI intends to release additional documents about Ford in several batches, all with parts censored for law enforcement and privacy reasons.

That Ford served as the FBI's eyes and ears inside the commission has been known for years. Long ago, the government released a 1963 FBI memo that said Ford, then a Republican congressman from Michigan, had volunteered to keep the FBI informed about the panel's private deliberations, but only if that relationship remained confidential. The bureau agreed.

It was also well-known Ford was an outspoken proponent of the bureau's conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy acting alone.

[dfwgator]

And Oswald was the sharpshooter who did just that.

"This goes to show what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do.”

[mfish13]

First shot ever with a rifle.

Kennedy was not moving that fast and the angle was mostly on a tangent away from him, making it a fairly flat shot. Not that difficult

[Shooter 2.5]

Two inches forward on impact.
Exit wound toward the front and top of the skull.
Neurological reaction to the rear.
Two bullet fragments found near the drivers seat and near the driver's floorboard. One dent in the chrome near the rearview mirror. One large windshield crack.

[Lancey Howard]

Neurological reaction to the rear.

That's the theory that always makes me chuckle.

[Shooter 2.5]

What makes me laugh at you theorists is when I ask which direction the third bullet came from.

Do you want to play? Which direction did the third bullet come from? Make me laugh.

[Pistolshot]

I don't believe the sudden jerk to the rear is any evidence of a shot from the front. The brace he wore during trips was known to be restrictive and allowed little free movement of his upper torso.

The head shot destroyed a massive amount of brain function instantly, all motor skills cease and the tension of the brace snaps him to the rear. There is ample evidence of the brace and the fact it was being worn in Dallas.

As you watch the moment in Zapruders where the fatal headshot takes place, look at his hands and the reaction after being struck. the wound to the neck has already produced the 'Thornburn reaction' and Jackie is trying to push his arm down as he is struck by the fatal shot. All muscle function ceases, his arms drop and he slumps to the left.

He wore a back brace. For example, on the day he was shot, he wore a brace that consisted of a canvas brace with metal stays, together with an Ace bandage with extra padding. Dallek, Robert. The medical ordeals of JFK. Atlantic Monthly. 2002 (Dec);290(5):49-61. [a] p. 61 [b] p. 60
Back brace. Markings on the brace that President Kennedy wore indicate that it came from the Washington, D.C. firm of Nelson Kloman Surgical Supply Company. John F Kennedy Presidential Library.

[Lancey Howard]

What makes me laugh at you theorists is when I ask which direction the third bullet came from.

Bullet? I thought we were talking about spit. Jerry already proved that Keith Hernandez could not have been the lone spitter. The "magic lugey" theory is crazy. There HAD to be a second spitter.

[Tublecane]

“That’s the theory that always makes me chuckle.”

Do you chuckle at people who say the shot was from the front, considering the FRONT of his head explodes?

[Tublecane]

“the wound to the neck has already produced the ‘Thornburn reaction’”

As I understand the Zapruder film, Kennedy’s reaction to the shot is not evidence of the “Thornburn position.” The bullet passed near the cervical part of his spine, but caused mostly tissue damage. Moreover, the classic Thornburn pose, features upstretched arms, whereas Kennedy’s arms bent inward at the elbow. Lastly, you can see Kennedy’s arms relaxing from the position even before Jackie leans over to help him, whereas textbook patients have their arms locked for days.

[Shooter 2.5]

Frames 312 and 313. The bullet impact from the rear causing the two inches of head movement toward the front.

[Pistolshot]

What doesn’t surprise me is when you destroy the arguments of the conspiracy theorists with actual data, they make jokes and run.

[Shooter 2.5]

They heard what the facts are but they can’t get their brains to accept it. That’s why I called Virginia Ridgerunner a liar. I used his post and his graphic to tell him he was lying about the facts. He not only lies to us but he lies to himself.

There must be some sort of malady name for this but I’m not a shrink. They don’t even understand the principals defining “front”, “rear”, “side” or “left” and “right”. Strange creatures.

[Tublecane]

I feel the pain of the conspiracy buffs because I used to be one. Aside from the infamous head snap, conspiromania (that would be my term if I were a clinical psychologist, unless “paranoid psychosis” is more accurate) is largely inspired by the old “there’s no smoke without a fire” mindset. For years, out of thousands of books, only “Case Closed” and “Conspiracy of One” were famous for deciding against Oswald (and Oswald alone). Then there was Oliver Stone, whose film (though wackily absurd) permanently tipped the polls to circa %80 in favor of conspiracy.

How can %80 of the public be wrong? Whenever I ask myself this question, I am reminded of Vincent Bugliosi’s little story in the monumental “Reclaiming History.” In a debate against some conspiromaniac or other, Bugliosi faced an obviously hostile crowd. He avowed that he could change everyone’s mind about the certainty of conspiracy in less than one minute. The crowd scoffed. Their’s were serious intellects, hone on years of study. Who is this Bugliosi, to tell them their minds could be changed in an instant.

Well, Bugliosi’s gambit worked on them and me. He asked all those who had read and anti-conspiracy book or the movie “JFK” to raise their hands, and nearly the whole auditorium did so. Then he asked all those who had read the Warren Report to raise their hands. Thus, the audience was shamed into opening their minds.

Go forth, buffs. Read the Warren Report. Read “Reclaiming History.” I have read “Crossfire” and “Rush to Judgment” and they simply cannot compare.