Was Hoover's Warren Commission Testimony Altered?
- Fred Litwin
- Aug 20
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 21
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s testimony to the Warren Commission on May 14, 1964, has long been available publicly. But thanks to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14176 on Jan. 23, 2025, combined with the efforts of the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), we now know that someone altered Hoover’s sworn statement to fit the “lone gunman” verdict of the Commission for publication in its final report in September 1964.
Mary Ferrell Foundation (MFF) President Rex Bradford ran across the relevant page while preparing it for presentation on the MFF website and brought it to the attention of JFK Facts. The newly released file, in a section pertaining to the nature of President John F. Kennedy’s head wounds, shows the word “portions” penciled in before “of the skull,” while the typewritten words “the back” are crossed out. The document is available here. (Scroll down to the page numbered “6521” in the pdf.)
Nagle's headline asks "who altered the FBI Director's testimony ...?"
By the way, he doesn't mention that the autopsy pathologists did NOT say that "the back of the skull had been practically shot off."
But, nothing of probative or evidentiary value was altered. Hoover's testimony was edited by several people for spelling, grammatical errors, and for a variety of misstatements. The first page of the document spells out exactly who was editing his testimony:
There is nothing nefarious about this at all. After all, the FBI or the Warren Commission could have fixed Hoover's testimony without keeping this document, and allowing us to see exactly what was edited.
You can see all sort of typos that had to be corrected.
J. Edgar Hoover was the Director of the FBI. He frequently didn't know all the details of the JFK assassination case, and it's not unusual for people at the top to make factual mistakes. Jesse Curry was head of the Dallas Police force but he didn't know all the details.
Hoover was given a lot of deference in regards to his testimony.
But the above memo has been out there for years and had the FBI been really nefarious, you'd never be reading about the edits and additions.
"Perhaps Giscard simply misunderstood what Ford said. As Giscard showed in a 2016 appearance, his command of the language is decent but he is not entirely comfortable speaking English."
Morley's JFK Facts is grasping at straws. The best evidence for the location of JFK's wounds are the autopsy X-rays and photographs, and they conclusively show that JFK was only shot from behind.
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on the Medical Evidence
The Parkland Doctors, Part Six
A look at Dr. McClelland's recollections over the years.
Sitzman, who was standing right behind Abraham Zapruder, thoughts the shots came from the TSBD and that she clearly saw Kennedy's head wound over the right ear.
Stringer was very clear that he took the photographs of JFK's brain.
Attending physicians often make mistakes in determining the nature of gunshot wounds. Should we care what the Parkland doctors think?
A look at what the Parkland doctors wrote and what they said.
The Boston Globe interviewed some of the Parkland doctors in 1981.
A 1992 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association has some interesting comments from a few of the Parkland doctors.
An interesting interview with Dr. Robert McClelland.
The doctor treating John Lennon was mistaken about his wounds.
Wecht complains about the HSCA's forensic pathology panel.
Wecht has a suggestion for Dr. Baden.
Wecht's memoir mentions his examination of the autopsy materials in 1972 but neglects to talk about his conclusion that the fatal head shot came from behind.
James DiEugenio's obituary of Dr. Wecht leaves out his conclusion that the fatal head shot came from behind.
Dr. Cyril Wecht (1931 - 2024) זיכרונו לברכה
My obituary for Dr. Cyril Wecht.
A letter from Dr. Wecht to Thomas Stamm on the head shot.
A letter from Dr. Wecht to Sylvia Meagher on the head shot.
Dr. Wecht believes that JFK's throat wound was one of exit.
Dr. Robert Kirschner's consultation with the ARRB explains a mystery in the documentary.
JFK Revisited makes a big deal about the weight of JFK's brain and ignores a non-conspiratorial explanation.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary makes it sound like the autopsy photographer said that he did not take the photos of JFK's brain that are in the current inventory,
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary series, JFK: Destiny Betrayed, features Dr. Charles Crenshaw to bolster its claim that President Kennedy was shot from the front. Viewers are not informed of Dr. Crenshaw's credibility problems.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary, JFK: Destiny Betrayed, misleads viewers on the opinions of Parkland Hospital doctors and Bethesda witnesses regarding JFK's head wound.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary series, JFK: Destiny Betrayed, misleads viewers into thinking the Harper fragment was occipital bone that came from the back of Kennedy's head.
Have a look at Dr. Joseph Dolce's bad judgment
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary series JFK: Destiny Betrayed uses a variety of supposed witnesses to allege that the wound in the back of Kennedy's head was one of exit. Audrey Bell is one such witness and she doesn't have much credibility.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary series, JFK: Destiny Betrayed, tries to make the case that because Parkland Hospital doctors saw cerebellum extruding from Kennedy's head wound, that it indicated an exit wound.
While Gerald Ford edited some language in the Warren Report, he did not change the location of the back wound. Autopsy photographs show exactly the location of the back wound.
Oliver Stone's so-called documentary series, JFK: Destiny Betrayed, alleges that autopsy pathologists were told to fit the wounds to a presupposed conclusion.
A podcast with Robert Wagner who has written an important book on the medical evidence.
