Jefferson Morley's Latest Nothingburger: Evelyn Lincoln
- Fred Litwin
- 24 hours ago
- 9 min read
Her unpublished memoir, entitled "I Was There,” was written in the 1980s. It recounts stories from the first two books with additional observations and informed opinions. The manuscript includes an 11-page “Addenda,” published here for the first time, summing up Lincoln’s responses about the two most frequent questions she fielded: about JFK’s private life and his public death.
The manuscript was first made public without fanfare by the JFK Library last year.
In the eleven-page Addenda, Lincoln wrote that JFK's murder was a plot:
From the catbird seat that I had during my 12 years as John F. Kennedy’s Personal Secretary I would have to say that, in my opinion, President Kennedy’s death in Dallas, Texas, was a deliberate professional political murder, planned by a group in government who wanted him removed from office.
You can download the file here.
Lincoln basically just lists a large assortment of possible conspirators:
As she says, "conjecture."
Who really cares? She is entitled to her opinion, like anybody else. But she had no special knowledge of anything related to such a plot.
So, why is this important?
The Daily Mail in the U. K. then picked up Morley's story:
Now, it is an "explosive hidden memo."
I reached out to Gus Russo, one of the best JFK researchers out there, and here is what he told me:
Unlike Morley, I knew Evelyn and her husband Abe (Abe Lincoln!) pretty well. Evelyn declined badly in her later years, and would tell everybody within earshot that LBJ killed JFK, even though she said no such thing in her book “Kennedy and Johnson,” which she gave me a copy of. She was very nice to me over the years, but she was not credible in her opinions and hatred of LBJ.
With my old high school chum, neighbor, and JFK collector, Robert White, who was like a son to Evelyn, we’d visit she and Abe at their condo in Chevy Chase, Md. I went maybe four times. She sent me Christmas cards, which I still have. She told me the Kennedys gave the condo to her. She had a guest bedroom that was piled floor to ceiling with artifacts she took from the White House after returning from Dallas. Many hundreds of things. My jaw dropped the first time I was shown the room. She gave me a few things, like JFK’s funeral mass cards, WH matchbooks, etc. One day I noticed a plastic bag that held maybe a dozed red plastic ribbon-like items. They were Dictabelt tapes that hadn't been played since JFK recorded them. Robert and I persuaded her to give them to Robert so we could try to have them transcribed. A couple of years later, after Evelyn died, and I began working with Sy Hersh on what would become his book and TV special on JFK, I told ABC, and they flew me down to the Dictabelt company in Florida with Robert’s tapes, where there was the only machine that could play the old tapes. One of the first tapes we played had JFK dictating his memoir, and admitting that he greenlit the coup that killed the Diem brothers. That tape is now in the JFK Library, after a legal fight with the White and Lincoln estates.
There is no end to the list of suspected conspirators to Pres. Kennedy murder. Many factions had their reasons for wanting the young president dead. That fact alone illustrates how the world suffers from a congenital proclivity to violence.
And Liz Smith of Newsday reported something similar in 1997:
Jefferson Morley must be running out of ideas for his Substack. Why else would he think the Evelyn Lincoln story is a huge exclusive?
But then again, Morley's been serving up nothingburgers for quite some time.
Hat tip: Gus Russo and Paul Hoch provided much of the research for this article.
Update:
Cyril Wecht distributed the Lincoln letter to researchers in 1997:
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Jefferson Morley
Morley misinterprets a Soviet document.
A supposed CIA whistleblower wasn't very curious.
How many times must Morley repeat this story?
It wasn't hard to find evidence that Charles Niles worked for the FAA.
The truth about FAA credentials.
A rebuttal to Good regarding Ruth Paine.
Morley presents several conspiratorial allegations about Ruth Paine.
I don't even have law degree!
A new CIA file on Herminio Diaz does not sustain allegations that he was a grassy knoll gunman.
Richard Russell always believed that Oswald was the lone gunman.
An article by Chad Nagle, on Morley's Substack, gets it wrong on Hoover's testimony.
My latest article for Quillette.com
The recent segment on CBS about Morley and JFK documents was not journalism.
Morley's list of six CIA operations does not prove that Oswald was under surveillance.
Morley claims the SpyTalk authors are working as pro bono lawyers for the CIA.
The CIA was just quoting from a State Department memo.
SpyTalk replies to Jefferson Morley.
Gerald Posner on the Joannides file.
Fact Checking Morley's Fact Check
Morley's Fact Check on SpyTalk needs a fact check.
Gus Russo and Michael Isikoff on the Joannides personnel file.
Now that the entire personnel file of George Joannides has been released, Jefferson Morley has now published his unified theory of nothingness.
More Morley Nothingburgers on the way
Morley is requesting more documents -- they will reveal nothing about the assassination.
Morley got the headlines he wanted to a complete non-story.
Joannides did not come out of retirement to work with the HSCA.
There is no mention of an "Oswald Operation" in the Joannides' personnel file.
Morley believes that Dr. Robert McClelland's recollections provides proof of a shot from the front. Here is the truth about McClelland.
A reply by Nicholas Nalli to Jefferson Morley.
Morley suspected a redacted file would reveal major secrets. It didn't.
Several months ago, I posted an article, in association with several researchers, that showed what was contained in the redacted section of Schlesinger's memo.
Morley somehow knows what is in the supposed 2,400 recently-discovered FBI files.
Morley discusses Israel with Tucker Carlson.
Morley believes that the United States can never be great unless it solves the JFK assassination.
An analysis of the 13 documents Morley wants to see.
Morley claims I am a CIA apologist and then misquotes me.
It would be worthwhile for the CIA to release the Joannides file just to stop the incessant posts from Jefferson Morley.
Actually, Oswald stayed at two budget-priced hotels in Helsinki.
He keeps asking the same questions, and we keep posting the same answers.
Conspiracy authors are playing fast and loose with the facts.
There is no evidence that Diaz was involved in the JFK assassination.
There are clues as to what is in a redacted section of Schlesinger's memo.
Chad Nagle and Dan Storper's article on New Orleans gets everything wrong.
Believing Michael Kurtz is problematic.
Morley wrote that there are two redacted memos on CIA reorganization, but there is only one. He wrote about Goodwin's copy as if it was a different memo, rather than a copy of the Schlesinger memo.
The phrase 'who shot John' does not refer to the JFK assassination.
Only one word is redacted in Harvey's deposition.
There are no redactions in the Operation Northwoods document.
Kilgallen had nothing to tell.
An underwhelming interview of Marina Oswald.
Morley often repeats stories and changes their meanings.
Chad Nagle claims there was an assassination plot against JFK in Chicago in November 1963. One problem: There is no evidence of such a plot.
A response to Morley's Substack post alleging that I am a CIA apologist.
A rebuttal to Morley's response to my post Was Bill Harvey in Dallas in November of 1963?
There is no credible evidence Harvey was in Dallas in November of 1963.
Morley repeats the claim that Dulles was at a CIA training center during the weekend of the JFK assassination. He wasn't.
Morley's claims about Efron are all wrong.
Morley responded to my article "The Truth about Operation Northwoods." Here is my reply.
W. Tracy Parnell on Jefferson Morley
W. Tracy Parnell is one of the best JFK assassination researchers out there. Here is his look at Jefferson Morley with several important articles.
Operation Northwoods can only be understood as part of the Kennedys' war against Cuba and Operation Mongoose.
And a response from me.
There is no evidence that Dr. West petitioned the court to examine Jack Ruby before his trial.
There is absolutely no evidence that Dr. Louis Jolyon West interfered with Jack Ruby's case.
Jefferson Morley used a fake Oswald handbill in his press conference for the Mary Ferrell Foundation.
An examination of redactions in the JFK collection of documents.
Morley doesn't understand Alecia Long's arguments about homophobia and Jim Garrison.
Jefferson Morley asks why "what the CIA knew about Herminio Diaz is still off limits."
Morley misses that a lot of redactions are actually available.
Jefferson Morley's press conference presents evidence that belief in a conspiracy has dropped.
Previous Relevant Blogs Posts on Jefferson Morley's Congressional Testimony
An analysis of Congresswoman Luna's Congressional Hearings
An FBI memo that quoted James Angleton is used by Morley to reach an unwarranted conclusion.
Morley misreads Angleton's testimony before the HSCA.
Morley believes a document proves the CIA did not believe that a lone gunman killed JFK.
Additional documents relevant to Part Three.
Morley claims that there is some connection between the suicides of Gary Underhill, Charles Thomas, George de Mohrenschildt, and the overdose death of Dorothy Kilgallen.
Morley believes that Agustin Guitart was spying on pro-Castro forces in New Orleans.