In Defense of the Warren Commission
- Fred Litwin
- Sep 6
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 8
Money Quotes:
Most doubts are caused by two classes of men -- those who have not really read what the Warren Commission said and those whose doubts would not be resolved by the Second Coming (which they would treat as a CIA plot).
Wills also has some good advice:
Here is a simple rule of thumb for dealing with conspiratorialists: If they question the integrity of the Warren Commission yet quote Mark Lane with approval, they are intellectually very ill-equipped or intellectually dishonest.
The evidentiary focus of Wills' opinion piece is Nancy Perrin Rich.
A fair example is Mark Lane's use of testimony by Nancy Perrin Rich. He devoted a whole chapter of his book to this woman's bizarre tale. He neglected to tell the readers that the same woman appeared two other times, in two different places, to volunteer evidence to the commission. The investigators listened politely, though she told three totally different stories. At one of these appearances, deliberately omitted from Lane's chapter, she took (and flunked) a polygraph test.
You can read Nancy Perrin Rich's testimony here. It's well worth reading for the comedic value. She can hardly answer any questions.
Previous Relevant Blog Post
Garrison talks about Nancy Perrin Rich at a conference of investigators.
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane
Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting.
A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown.
An apt profile.
An opinion piece by Anthony Lewis in the New York Times on Mark Lane and Jonestown.
An opinion piece from the Washington Post
A good opinion piece from the Philadelphia Bulletin.
Meagher tells Labro a story about Mark Lane.
Even a left-wing magazine like The Progressive found Mark Lane hard to take.
Mark Lane's addition to the 1992 edition of Rush to Judgment is eye opening.
Lane tells Dolan about Garrison's amazing evidence.
Lane makes a startling allegation.
A profile from Mother Jones magazine.
Lane and Meagher feuded about a blurb for her book.
A profile from Esquire Magazine.
An article from the Tampa Bay Times.
An Anthony Lewis column on Mark Lane from 1978.
Howard Roffman finds that Mark Lane's scholarship is lacking.
A profile of Mark Lane in Newsweek.
Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to a witness that, for $25,000, would tie Jack Ruby with Clay Shaw.
This post has a good case study of how Mark Lane exploited a redaction in a document.
