Here is a very good review of JFK from the Chicago Tribune : Chicago Tribune, December 20, 1991 Money Quote : Most of this material is centered on the anti-Castro "homosexual cabal" that the film identifies, with homophobic frenzy, as the triggermen of the Dallas attempt: New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones, comically limp-wristed), bush pilot and failed priest David Ferrie (Joe Pesci, somehow not convincing as a Southerner), and, as a witness, raving hustler Willie O'Keefe (Kevin Bacon). When they aren't plotting to kill the president, they're putting on drag and posing for pornographic snapshots. Second Money Quote : It's a decision that may add something to the box-office appeal of "JFK," but it's also one that hilariously compromises the film's credibility -- simply because the stars personas immediately eclipse the real-life figures they are supposed to be playing. One leaves "JFK" with the confused impression that Johnny La Rue and the Odd Couple have set up Sid Vicious as the fall guy for Lou Grant. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Oliver Stone's JFK The New Yorker Reviews Oliver Stone's "JFK" Another excellent review. Oliver Stone Gets Away with Nonsense At an event in Dallas, Stone says that someone gave orders to Allen Dulles and James Angleton to kill JFK. Is this the Oliver Stone Contract for the Ricky White Story? Stone was interested in the White story. Daniel Patrick Moynihan on Oliver Stone's 'JFK' A very good opinion piece published in the Washington Post . The Second Coming of Jim Garrison An important article from The Atlantic  by Edward Jay Epstein on Oliver Stone's JFK . David Wrone on Oliver Stone's "JFK" Wrone was a friend of Harold Weisberg's and was also very critical of JFK . Oliver Stone says his "battles continue with the truth" More inane comments on the JFK assassination. Oliver Stone Claims He is Not a Conspiracy Theorist An excerpt from an interview with Chris Wallace. Oliver Stone's Hijacking of History   A good opinion piece from the Boston Globe . Harold Weisberg writes Oliver Stone   Two letters from Weisberg to Stone. Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In Reviews "JFK"   A good review of Stone's JFK . Paul Hoch and Josiah Thompson on Oliver Stone's "JFK"   Two JFK researchers watch Stone's JFK . Washington Post on the 30th Anniversary of Oliver Stone's "JFK"   An interesting look back. Harold Weisberg and Tom Wicker   Wicker reviews JFK  for the New York Times  and Weisberg responds. Boston Phoenix  said Oliver Stone's JFK was "sadly homophobic"   Even this counterculture newspaper knew the truth about JFK. David Lifton Writes to Oliver Stone   David Lifton gave me permission to post this letter. Gary Cornwell on Jim Garrison and Oliver Stone   The Deputy Chief Counsel of the HSCA offers up some opinions. When Tommy Lee Jones met Jim Garrison...   Garrison instructed Tommy Lee Jones on how to play Clay Shaw. Is Oliver Stone's film, JFK , Homophobic?   The Advocate  writes about Oliver Stone and Jim Garrison. I've Been Blocked by Oliver Stone!   This post has a large Robert Sam Anson article on the film JFK  from Esquire  magazine. A New Orleans Look at Oliver Stone's JFK   Pershing Gervais, Garrison's first chief investigator, and reporter Rosemary James report back on the film JFK . George Lardner's internal Washington Post  Memo about Oliver Stone   Lardner writes a memo to his editors about Oliver Stone.

It was great fun discussing the single-bullet theory with Dr. Martin Kelly, Fred James, Scott Maudsley, and Nick Nalli . Previous Episodes of On the Trail of Delusion : Episode 1 My first guest was Robert Reynolds who is an expert on the JFK assassination files . Episode 2 Robert A. Wagner discusses his new book, JFK Assassinated . Episode 3 Gerald Posner discusses the JFK assassination and conspiracy theories. Episode 4 Dr. Martin J. Kelly, Jr. discusses conspiracy theories and the medical evidence in the JFK assassination. Episode 5 Steve Roe discusses the life of General Edwin Walker and Oswald's attempt to kill him. Episode 6 Gus Russo discusses his participation in the PBS Frontline documentary on Lee Harvey Oswald. Episode 7 Dave Perry tells some great stories about debunking JFK conspiracy nonsense. Episode 8 Nick Nalli explains some of the science behind the assassination. Episode 9 Alecia Long discusses Jim Garrison and his non-existent case against Clay Shaw. Episode 10 Don Carpenter discusses the life of Clay Shaw. Episode 11 Bill Brown discusses the murder of Officer J. D. Tippit. Episode 12 Eric Dezenhall discusses the relationship between the mob and JFK. Episode 13 Nick Nalli discusses the acoustics evidence and the Zapruder Film. Episode 14 Scott Maudsley discusses Lee Harvey Oswald's antisocial personality disorder. Episode 15 Document expert Robert Reynolds discusses what to expect in the upcoming JFK assassination file releases. Episode 16 A panel discussion on the document releases with Fred Litwin, Gus Russo, Robert Reynolds, Larry Haapanen, Mark Allen, and Steve Roe. Episode 17 An interview with author Michel Gagné about conspiracy theories. Episode 18 An interview with Phil Tinline about his book, Ghosts of Iron Mountain . Episode 19 An interview with Janet Banister, grand-niece of Guy Banister. Episode 20 The Marina Oswald Tapes . Episode 21 Dr. Chad Zimmerman discusses JFK's autopsy X-rays and photographs. Episode 22 Tour guide Daniel Evans talks about his years of researching the JFK assassination. Episode 23 Adam Gorightly discusses Fred Crisman, Thomas Beckham, Raymond Broshears and Kerry Thornley. Episode 24 A fun interview with Larry Haapanen who discusses the Garrison investigation, and his involvement with Project Blue Book. Episode 25 Dale Myers discusses the Tippit shooting and shows us some nifty animation. Episode 26 Brian Roselle discusses the timing of the first shot. Episode 27 Dr. Martin J. Kelly, Jr. talks about the psychology of Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. Episode 28 Gus Russo talks about what happened to Lee Harvey Oswald in Mexico City. Episode 29 John-Paul Pagano discusses conspiracy theories, conspiracism and antisemitism. Episode 30 Dr. Robert Vitt talks about conspiracy theories, the early JFK researchers, and how to evaluate evidence. Episode 31 Josh Sundloff discusses conspiracy theories and his TikTok channel.

Evelyn Lincoln, JFK, and his son. Jefferson Morley's latest Substack post is a complete nothingburger! 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. I am surprised that Morley did not reference Lincoln's list of suspects, which she wrote during the return flight to Washington on the day of the assassination, November 22, 1963: 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. The Daily Mail wrote about that list when it was up for auction : And Liz Smith of Newsday reported something similar in 1997: Newsday, May 12, 1997 Noel Twyman published the letter in his book, Bloody Treason : Jim Marrs received a copy of the letter from Richard Duncan and he wrote back : And here is a copy of the actual letter : Duncan also wrote to Jack Ruby's brother Earl Ruby, who sent his letter back with some comments : And he wrote Pierre Salinger : And Alexander Haig : And Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. : John Kenneth Galbraith : William Manchester : 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: Hat tip: Mark Allen. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Jefferson Morley Jefferson Morley Gets it Wrong, Once Again! Morley misinterprets a Soviet document. The Incurious Dr. Pearcy A supposed CIA whistleblower wasn't very curious. The Reuben Efron Story, Once Again! How many times must Morley repeat this story? Jefferson Morley's William Harvey Nothingburger, Continued It wasn't hard to find evidence that Charles Niles worked for the FAA. Jefferson Morley's Latest William Harvey Nothingburger The truth about FAA credentials. Jefferson Morley Platforms Max Good A rebuttal to Good regarding Ruth Paine. Morley's Substack Goes After Ruth Paine Morley presents several conspiratorial allegations about Ruth Paine. I Am Now a Pro Bono Lawyer for the CIA! I don't even have law degree! Yet Another Morley Nothingburger A new CIA file on Herminio Diaz does not sustain allegations that he was a grassy knoll gunman. Richard Russell and the Warren Report Richard Russell always believed that Oswald was the lone gunman. Was Hoover's Warren Commission Testimony Altered? An article by Chad Nagle, on Morley's Substack, gets it wrong on Hoover's testimony. My Quillette Article on Morley's Nothingburger My latest article for Quillette.com CBS Practices Stenography The recent segment on CBS about Morley and JFK documents was not journalism. Lee Harvey Oswald was not under Surveillance Morley's list of six CIA operations does not prove that Oswald was under surveillance. The CIA's Pro Bono Lawyers Morley claims the SpyTalk authors are working as pro bono lawyers for the CIA. Did the CIA Know Oswald's State of Mind? The CIA was just quoting from a State Department memo. SpyTalk on the Joannides' File, Part Two SpyTalk replies to Jefferson Morley. The Illusion of a Smoking Gun Gerald Posner on the Joannides file. Fact Checking Morley's Fact Check Morley's Fact Check on SpyTalk needs a fact check. SpyTalk on Morley's Nothingburger Gus Russo and Michael Isikoff on the Joannides personnel file. Jefferson Morley's Unbearable Lightness of Being 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's Non-Story Hits the Press Morley got the headlines he wanted to a complete non-story. George Joannides and the HSCA Joannides did not come out of retirement to work with the HSCA. There Was No "Oswald Operation" There is no mention of an "Oswald Operation" in the Joannides' personnel file. The Parkland Doctors, Part Six Morley believes that Dr. Robert McClelland's recollections provides proof of a shot from the front. Here is the truth about McClelland. On the Loss of Occam’s Razor in the JFK Case A reply by Nicholas Nalli to Jefferson Morley. A Case Study in Redaction: The CIA's LIFEAT File Morley suspected a redacted file would reveal major secrets. It didn't. The Schlesinger Memo Unredacted! 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. Jefferson Morley's Clairvoyance Morley somehow knows what is in the supposed 2,400 recently-discovered FBI files. Was Israel Behind the JFK Assassination? Morley discusses Israel with Tucker Carlson. Morley's Bad History Lesson Morley believes that the United States can never be great unless it solves the JFK assassination. Morley's List of 13 Documents Will Tell Us Little An analysis of the 13 documents Morley wants to see. The Schlesinger Memo, Again! Morley claims I am a CIA apologist and then misquotes me. For The Sake of Our Sanity - Release the Joannides File It would be worthwhile for the CIA to release the Joannides file just to stop the incessant posts from Jefferson Morley. Did Oswald Stay at a Luxury Hotel in Helsinki? Actually, Oswald stayed at two budget-priced hotels in Helsinki. Morley Keeps Asking the Same Questions He keeps asking the same questions, and we keep posting the same answers. The JFK Assassination and Truth Conspiracy authors are playing fast and loose with the facts. Was Herminio Diaz a Grassy Knoll Assassin? There is no evidence that Diaz was involved in the JFK assassination. Morley Misleads on Arthur Schlesinger's Memo on the CIA There are clues as to what is in a redacted section of Schlesinger's memo. Jefferson Morley's Podcast on New Orleans Lays an Egg Chad Nagle and Dan Storper's article on New Orleans gets everything wrong. Chad Nagle and Dan Storper Lay an Egg Believing Michael Kurtz is problematic. Is Jefferson Morley Seeing Double? 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. Jefferson Morley is wrong about "Who Shot John?" The phrase 'who shot John' does not refer to the JFK assassination. Jefferson Morley is Wrong on William Harvey, Again! Only one word is redacted in Harvey's deposition. Jefferson Morley is Wrong about Operation Northwoods, Again! There are no redactions in the Operation Northwoods document. Did Dorothy Kilgallen Have any Special Knowledge about the JFK Assassination? Kilgallen had nothing to tell. Morley's Interview of Marina Oswald Porter Fizzles! An underwhelming interview of Marina Oswald. Jefferson Morley: Able to Leap Intellectual Chasms in a Single Bound Morley often repeats stories and changes their meanings. There was NO Assassination Plot in Chicago 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. Fred Litwin, CIA Apologist? A response to Morley's Substack post alleging that I am a CIA apologist. A Reply to Jefferson Morley on Bill Harvey   A rebuttal to Morley's response to my post Was Bill Harvey in Dallas in November of 1963? Was Bill Harvey in Dallas in November of 1963?   There is no credible evidence Harvey was in Dallas in November of 1963. Does it Matter Where Allen Dulles was on November 22, 1963?   Morley repeats the claim that Dulles was at a CIA training center during the weekend of the JFK assassination. He wasn't. Jefferson Morley's Claims about Reuben Efron   Morley's claims about Efron are all wrong. A Reply to Jefferson Morley regarding Operation Northwoods   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. The Truth about Operation Northwoods   Operation Northwoods can only be understood as part of the Kennedys' war against Cuba and Operation Mongoose. Jefferson Morley Responds to my Post on MK-Ultra and Jack Ruby   And a response from me. Did Dr. Louis Jolyon West Ask to Examine Jack Ruby in November 1963?   There is no evidence that Dr. West petitioned the court to examine Jack Ruby before his trial. Did the CIA use a MK-Ultra Psychiatrist to Interfere with Jack Ruby's Case?   There is absolutely no evidence that Dr. Louis Jolyon West interfered with Jack Ruby's case. "JFK: Destiny Betrayed" Misleads Viewers on Oswald's "Hands Off Cuba!" Handbills, Part Four   Jefferson Morley used a fake Oswald handbill in his press conference for the Mary Ferrell Foundation. Redactions, Redactions, Redactions...   An examination of redactions in the JFK collection of documents. Jefferson Morley Doesn't Understand Jim Garrison's Homophobic Prosecution of Clay Shaw 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. Belief in a JFK Conspiracy Drops! Jefferson Morley's press conference presents evidence that belief in a conspiracy has dropped. Previous Relevant Blogs Posts on Jefferson Morley's Congressional Testimony Jefferson Morley's Congressional NothingBurger An analysis of Congresswoman Luna's Congressional Hearings In Search of the Oswald Operation, Part One An FBI memo that quoted James Angleton is used by Morley to reach an unwarranted conclusion. In Search of the Oswald Operation, Part Two Morley misreads Angleton's testimony before the HSCA. In Search of an Oswald Operation, Part Three Morley believes a document proves the CIA did not believe that a lone gunman killed JFK. Update on the Heath Memo Additional documents relevant to Part Three. In Search of an Oswald Operation, Part Four 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. In Search of an Oswald Operation, Part Five Morley believes that Agustin Guitart was spying on pro-Castro forces in New Orleans.

J. C. Price and Mark Lane in a scene from Rush to Judgment. J. C. Price was a witness to the JFK assassination, and here is his affidavit to the Sheriff's department : Price heard a total of five shots, and then "as much as five minutes later another one." Note that Price was quite far away -- on the roof of the Terminal Annex Bldg. in Dealey Plaza, over two hundred yards away from the railroad yards. The Terminal Annex Federal Building is the white building on the far right. Here is the location of Price: Price saw someone "running towards the passenger cars on the railroad siding after the volley of shots." But he doesn't say where he was running from. And he concludes his statement that the man "had something in his hand. I couldn't be sure but it may have been a head piece." So, the person may have been carrying his hat. And lots of people were running right after the shots, including S. M. Holland. J. C. Price also spoke to the FBI : He told the FBI that he "saw nothing pertinent." Mr. Price was interviewed for Mark Lane's film, Rush to Judgment , in 1966 . Here is an excerpt from a transcript: (58:46) Mark Lane : We are in the basement of the Terminal Annex Building on the northeast corner [sic: it's the southeast corner] of Dealey Plaza. We're here with Mr. J. C. Price, the engineer in charge of the building. Mr. Price, where were you at the time that the presidential motorcade drove through Dealey Plaza? J. C. Price : Well, I went up to the roof and where I'd get a better view of the [passenger] cabin. Mark Lane : Is this where you were sitting on November 22nd, Mr. Price? J. C. Price : Yes, sir, Mark Lane : Right here? J. C. Price : Right here on this spot. Mark Lane : And where did you think you heard the shots come from? J. C. Price : From behind the overpass over there -- the triple overpass. That's where I thought the shots were coming from. Mark Lane : And where did you see the man running? J. C. Price : Over behind that wooden fence, past the cars and over behind the Texas Depository Building. Mark Lane : Did you give that information to the Dallas Sheriff's Department on the very day of the assassination? J. C. Price : Yes, I did. I'd say in about 30 minutes after the assassination. Mark Lane : Were you ever called as a witness by the Warren Commission? J. C. Price : No, sir, no sir. Mark Lane : I show you this map published by the Warren Commission of the Dealey Plaza area and ask you if you would mark on it where you thought the shots came from. J. C. Price : Yes, sir. Mark Lane : That's just behind the wooden fence where it joins the overpass. Is that correct? J. C. Price : That is correct. Mark Lane : We're now here, more than two years after the assassination. Now, where do you think the shots came from on November 22nd? J. C. Price : Well, I can't be sure. It seems that, from all information that's been gathered, that the shots came from the Texas Book Depository. But I can't hardly believe that, although I never did look over there at the building, But really I think that the shots came from that direction. Seems that everything pointed to that fact that they came from the Book Depository Building. But I can't buy that right now. That's about it. Lane doesn't ask Price here what the man was carrying. But Lane did ask Price about that, but he cut it out of the film : Price said the man could have been carrying almost anything, "because I couldn't see that well enough to detect.": That wasn't quite good enough, so Lane tried again later in the interview and got what he wanted: Mr. Price appears a few minutes later for a second time in the film. Here is an excerpt from a transcript : (1:02:09) Mark Lane : Mr. Price, did you hear any shots? J. C. Price : Yes, I heard five shots. I counted them, and I think I counted them accurately. Three shots, one volley, and about two seconds, two more from the same gun, and there was not echoes. Mark Lane : Are you certain there were five shots? J. C. Price : I am certain. Mark Lane : On -- what occasion did you have to count the shots? J. C. Price : Well, I knew what it was all about and what they were trying to do, so the first thing popped in my mind was to count the shots to see how many it would take to do what they wanted to do. And I wasn't excited. I was in no danger myself, and I knew what it was all about, so I don't think I was excited, and I don't think I'm mistaken about the amount of shots that were fired. In his statement to the Sheriff's department, Price says there was one volley of five shots, and then five minutes later there was another shot. Now he says there were two volleys -- the first one of three shots and the second with two shots. Now, let have a look at what Mark Lane wrote in his book, Rush to Judgment : (page 32 -33) Across the plaza, watching the motorcade from the roof of the Terminal Annex Building, was J. C. Price. In an af fidavit which he gave to the Dallas Sheriff’s office 30 minutes after the assassination, Price said he heard a volley of shots. His eye was attracted to the area behind the fence on the grassy knoll. ‘I saw one man run towards the passenger cars on the railroad siding after the volley of shots,’ he stated. The man was about 25 years old and wore khaki-colored trousers. That is consistent with the descriptions given by Bowers and Miss Mercer. Price said that the man fleeing from the assassination scene ‘had something in his hand.’ Although he had signed an affidavit giving important information, Price was not questioned by the Commission or by counsel and no reference to his observations appears in the Report, not even his name. On March 27, 1966, I interviewed Price on the roof of the Terminal Annex Building. During our filmed and tape-recorded conversation, he furnished a full description of the man he had seen on November 22: ‘I paid particular attention to him. He had on khaki trousers, a white shirt, and I think—I’m pretty sure that his hair was sandy and long. A man appearing about 145 pounds in weight and not too tall. I’d say five-six or seven. He was bare-headed, and he was running very fast, which gave me the suspicion that he was doing the shooting, but I could be mistaken.’ The man ‘was carrying something in his right hand,’ Price added, which ‘could have been a gun.’ Lane : And where did you see the man run ? Price : Over behind that wooden fence past the cars and over behind the Texas Depository Building. Lane says nothing about a shot being fired five minutes after the first volley. He completely leaves out the fact that Price initially said the man might have been carrying a head piece. He does include Price saying it "could have been a gun" but leaves out that he also said it could have been a head piece [a hat]. Playboy Magazine interviewed Lane in its February 1967 issue and Lane mentioned J. C. Price: Mark Lane: And another witness, J. C. Price, a post office employee, told the Dallas sheriff's office, minutes after the assassination, that he was standing on top of the Terminal Annex Building on Dealey Plaza -- overlooking the route of the Presidential motorcade -- when the shots were fired. Price later told me that when he heard gunfire, his attention was instantly drawn to the grassy knoll. In an interview with me, he said he saw a man run from behind the wooden fence and dash across the parking lot, disappearing behind the Book Depository. Price also said the man was carrying something in his hand that could have been a gun. No mention that Price said the man might have been carrying a hat. Price's attention was not drawn to the grassy knoll; it was to the triple overpass. Lane asked him where the shots came from, and Price said they came from the westernmost part of Dealey Plaza -- where the fence meets the underpass. That is not where most conspiracy theorists place a grassy knoll shooter. The May 1967 issue of Playboy Magazine had letters to the editor in response to Lane's interview. This one, from Professor John Waltz, is relevant to J. C. Price: Money Quote: I once confronted Lane with this embarrassing example on Irv Kupcinet's Chicago television program. Lane's only response was that in a 478-page book he couldn't quote everything in the Commission volumes. Jefferson Morley's Substack featured a post on J. C. Price , which noted: What can be said for certain is J.C. Price was never given the opportunity of telling his story in front of the Warren Commission. Perhaps the real reason that Mr. Price was not called to testify before the Warren Commission was because they already had his statements and recognized that he wasn't a particularly credible witness. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane Mark Lane: The Rush to Publication An excellent article from the Dallas Morning News on Lane's witnesses. Mark Lane and Warren Reynolds Lane cuts out a few of Reynolds' answers. Mark Lane and Napoleon Daniels Sylvia Meagher was incensed at Lane's inclusion of this story in his film. Mark Lane and Charles Brehm A good case study in Lane's intellectual dishonesty. G. Robert Blakey on Mark Lane Robert Blakey and the HSCA were very critical of Mark Lane. George Lardner on Mark Lane Mark Lane and the HSCA. When Mort Sahl Kicked Mark Lane Out of his House An interesting anecdote from Mort Sahl's book, Heartland. Should We Blame Mark Lane? Some ads for Lane's film Rush to Judgment. In Defense of the Warren Commission A Garry Wills opinion piece on Mark Lane. Victor Navasky Reviews Mark Lane's "A Citizen's Dissent" Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting. Mark Lane and Jonestown A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown. New York Times Profile of Mark Lane An apt profile. Nightmare Brought to Life An opinion piece by Anthony Lewis in the New York Times  on Mark Lane and Jonestown. Mark Lane, Again An opinion piece from the Washington Post Mark Lane: A Bent for the Macabre Side A good opinion piece from the Philadelphia Bulletin . Sylvia Meagher Corresponds with Philippe Labro Meagher tells Labro a story about Mark Lane. Mark Lane and The Progressive Even a left-wing magazine like The Progressive  found Mark Lane hard to take. Mark Lane on Clay Shaw Mark Lane's addition to the 1992 edition of Rush to Judgment is eye opening. Mark Lane on the Joe Dolan Show Lane tells Dolan about Garrison's amazing evidence. Did the CIA Try to Kill Mark Lane?   Lane makes a startling allegation. Mark Lane: The Left's Leading Hearse-Chaser   A profile from Mother Jones  magazine. Mark Lane vs. Sylvia Meagher   Lane and Meagher feuded about a blurb for her book. The Case Against Mark Lane   A profile from Esquire Magazine . Mark Lane saw a conspiracy - as usual   An article from the Tampa Bay Times . The Mark of Zorro   An Anthony Lewis column on Mark Lane from 1978. Mark Lane's Scholarship!   Howard Roffman finds that Mark Lane's scholarship is lacking. Mark Lane, Conspiracy Addict   A profile of Mark Lane in Newsweek . Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to "Mr. Candy"   Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to a witness that, for $25,000, would tie Jack Ruby with Clay Shaw. Redactions, Redactions, Redactions...   This post has a good case study of how Mark Lane exploited a redaction in a document. "I Know Who Killed JFK," Part Three Lane tells the Danish press he knows who killed JFK. Mark Lane Said that Clay Shaw Was a "Powerful, Domestic Force in the Assassination." Lane speaks at the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Oliver Stone's so-called documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass , misleads on the supposed Chicago Plot in November 1963. Here is an excerpt from a transcript: (1:23:31) Screen shot from JFK Revisited Whoopi Goldberg : Few people knew there had been at least two prior plots to kill President Kennedy in 1963. One was in Chicago on November 2nd, the second was in Tampa on November 18th. Oliver Stone : Kennedy ended up not going to Chicago. Tell us about that plot. Paul Bleau : An informant on October 31st, an informant named "Lee" gave a warning to the FBI stating that four Cubans were headed to Chicago to shoot Kennedy. The following day, a landlady, reported to the Chicago police that she had rented a room to four people that had rifles with telescopic sights and a sketch of the motorcade. The FBI passed that on to the Secret Service and the Secret Service botched the surveillance of these four individuals. Two of them escaped but they actually picked up two of the snipers, and they detained them. They were stonewalled by the snipers. They didn't get any information out of them. While this was going on, there was another threat coming in from another alternate 'patsy,' named Thomas Arthur Vallee, who making open and loud threats that he would assassinate Kennedy. They only picked him up when Kennedy cancelled his trip on November 2nd at 10 in the morning. What you found in Vallee, and the whole Chicago plot, has so many similarities to what eventually happened in Dallas, that it can't be considered coincidental. Vallee, if we compare him to Oswald, is an ex-Marine, he had been posted like Oswald in the far east on a station that was linked to the CIA because there were U2 surveillance planes on it. It was easy to portray him as disgruntled, anti-Kennedy, a loner, armed ... He had another intelligence link that he shared with Oswald. He trained Cuban exiles for combat, which was a CIA responsibility. And Oswald we know, at least offered to do that. He most likely did train Cuban exiles, but we know he tried to. There's an awful lot to unpack, but let's start with the supposed plot. The source for this allegation comes from an article by Edwin Black from 1975. "A few hours after that meeting adjourned, the phone rang in the Chicago office of the Secret Service. Agent Jay Lawrence Stocks was for a few hours the ranking agent, so he took the call. It was the Federal Bureau of Investigation calling from Washington. The FBI man warned Stocks of a serious and dangerous four-man conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy at the Army-Air Force game. The suspects were rightwing para-military fanatics armed with rifles and telescopic sights. The assassination itself would probably be attempted at one of the Northwest Expressway overpasses. This information came from an informant named 'Lee.'" Where did Black's information come from? Well, he tells us: "Our main supply of information was one of the Secret Service agents on duty at the time of the conspiracy. In cooperating with us, he broke the "old boy system" of the Secret Service and regulations forbidding press contacts among individual agents. His terms: total anonymity. His motive: a desire to set the record straight. We agreed." So, there was one major source for Black's story. Here is how he pieced it all together: "By playing one man's information off against another's, by comparing reactions to accusations, by the use of voice stress analysis and the polygraph (not as foolproof evidence, but merely a good gauge within limitations), by document analysis and other means, we were able to piece together the scenario. A scenario which has not been contradicted or even criticized by either the authorities or the principal players alleged to have taken part. "No comments," memory lapses, yes, But specific denials or contradictions -- not a one. In fact, the more pieces we put together, the more reluctant the Secret Service or FBI people were. If that was any barometer of the reliability of our sources, then the scenario we recounted is accurate. And do, without using the word proof, we repeat: there are strong indications there were four men in Chicago to assassinate John F. Kennedy, November 2, 1963 twenty days before Dallas." Of course, Black cannot use the word proof. The only source for the allegations was former Secret Service agent Abraham Bolden. We know this from Bolden's interview with the HSCA: To verify his information, Edwin Black had Bolden take a lie detector test: "And in our man's case, the lie detector didn't come close to the deceit range, but did fall just short of the total truthfulness range ..." The HSCA could find no corroborating evidence for Bolden's allegations. For instance, they interviewed former Secret Service agent Gary McLeod: "He remembers reading the Edwin Black story in the Chicago Independent, several years ago, and couldn't imagine where he got the information pertaining to the four subjects suspected of being involved in a threat against the President and of Jack Stocks' surveillance. Agent McLeod stated that he felt sure that if this incident had occurred, he as part of the Chicago Field Office would have been aware or informed of what had taken place." The HSCA conclusion: "The committee was unable to document the existence of the alleged assassination team. Specifically, no agent who had been assigned to Chicago confirmed any aspect of Bolden's version. One agent did state there had been a threat in Chicago during that period, but he was unable to recall details. Bolden did not link Vallee to the supposed four-man assassination team, although he claimed to remember Vallee's name in connection with a 1963 Chicago case.. He did not recognize Vallee's photograph when shown it by the committee." Abraham Bolden was certainly influenced by the assassination community. He was interviewed by Bud Fensterwald in 1968, and all of a sudden, two names from the Garrison investigation popped up: Garrison accused Edgar Eugene Bradley of conspiring to kill JFK (see here , here, and here) and he also believed that Manuel Garcia Gonzalez was one of the gunmen. Screen shot from JFK Revisited Of course, the story about Vallee is mostly true. The Secret Service learned of him on October 30, 1963. They discovered he had several weapons and had asked for the day off when Kennedy was visiting on November 2, 1963. The had Vallee watched and arrested him when he made an illegal left turn. They then found an M-1 rifle and 2,500 rounds of ammunition in his apartment. But, JFK Revisited also includes some buff factoids. Vallee was stationed at Camp Otsu in Japan, but it was not a U-2 base when he was there. Not that that matters at all. The allegation that Vallee "trained Cuban exiles for combat," comes directly from Vallee himself. Here is an excerpt from Black's article: "He also gave specifics about this CIA assignment to train exiles to assassinate Castro." But, Black never mentions any specifics, except for this: "Vallee was recruited about the same time to train members of a fiercely anti-Castro guerilla group. Objective: the assassination of Fidel Castro. Training locale: in and around Levittown, Long Island." Levittown, Long Island? I have seen no documents to confirm this. But we do know that Vallee suffered from mental problems. Does he seem like a likely candidate to be hired by the CIA to train Cuban exiles? Here is a document that goes over Vallee's mental health issues: Vallee was discharged before Castro came to power, and so if he trained exiles it would have been after his stint in the Marines. But, would the CIA hire him given his psychiatric record, or after his arrest in Chicago in November 1963? I was particularly interested to see how James DiEugenio discusses Vallee/Bolden in his book, The JFK Assassination . Since he wrote the screenplay for JFK Revisited , his book must contain the evidence to sustain the allegations. Chapter 10, "Chicago and Mexico City," has a section on the Chicago Plot, and one on Abraham Bolden. There are only 31 footnotes in these two sections, and here is a summary of his citations: Bugliosi 3 DiEugenio 2 James Douglass 10 Edwin Black's article 3 Abraham Bolden's book 11 Newspaper articles 2 No documents are cited, just conspiracy sources. If you then check James Douglass' book, JFK and the Unspeakable , you find that his footnotes on the Chicago plot are all either from Bolden's book, an interview with Abraham Bolden, or the Edwin Black article. But there is one citation that is interesting. Here is the quote from JFK and the Unspeakable: (page 201) "[Secret Service agent] Martineau set up a twenty-four hour surveillance of the men's boarding house. He passed out to his agents four photos of the men allegedly involved in the plots." His source for the photos is Sherman Skolnick's suit against the National Archives in 1970. Given the fact that Sherman Skolnick was a fabulist and made up all sorts of stuff, I doubt that there are actually photos. Skolnick was actually on to the story about the Chicago plot and Abraham Bolden before Edwin Black. He disseminated a lot of nonsense. Take this excerpt from an interview with Art Kevin in 1970: James DiEugenio claims that Bolden wanted to tell the Warren Commission about the Chicago plot: (page 275 in Destiny Betrayed ) "Back in Washington, in May of 1964, he tried to contact the Warren Commission. He wanted to tell them about the Chicago plot and the lax standards of the Secret Service White House detail, which he had seen up close." Bolden did want to testify, but not about the supposed Chicago plot: Chicago Daily News, May 22, 1964 There is no evidence to support the allegations of a plot in Chicago in November of 1963. There might well have been one, but JFK Revisited just repeats stories that have been told before - and no evidence has materialized to support the claims. Update The standard excuse for there being no evidence in support of a Chicago plot is that the Secret Service destroyed documents related to threats in 1963 . However, the HSCA reviewed these documents before they were destroyed and they did not find evidence of any threat. Here is an excerpt from my essay, "Did the ARRB Prove a Conspiracy in the JFK Assassination?" In episode 4, Tunheim and Samoluk discuss the Secret Service destruction of two boxes of domestic survey reports, Here is an excerpt from a transcript: (19:25) Judge Tunheim : They destroyed a group of records which involved threats to President Kennedy in the fall of 1963. They have what they're called threat sheets and there were many threats made to President Kennedy's life during the year 1963. They fought us on the release of those records. They even enlisted Vice President Gore's wife to help them because she had a very legitimate concern for mental health records. And the idea was that this might disclose the names of people who had mental health problems. No doubt Tunheim and Samoluk were right to be upset about the destruction of two boxes of records. But right after their appearance in JFK: Destiny Betrayed , the documentary moves to supposed plots against JFK in Chicago and Miami. The juxtaposition is not by accident - since there is no documentary evidence that there was a threat in Chicago, JFK; Destiny Betrayed uses Tunheim and Samoluk to imply that the destroyed records contained valuable information related to the supposed plot. But the HSCA had already looked at Secret Service documents during that period : No evidence ever materialized to corroborate the supposed Chicago plot . The Secret Service wrote a letter to the ARRB noting that "the folder concerning the canceled trip to Chicago would only have contained a preliminary survey report, if any document at all, since final reports are not conducted when a trip is canceled." Preliminary survey reports are just the basic plans for a trip. Update I found the Chicago survey report. While it might have destroyed, it was saved as an HSCA document. And guess what? No mention of a Chicago plot. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on JFK Revisited Was James Gochenaur a Credible Witness in "JFK Revisited"? Gochenaur's writings don't back up his allegations in JFK Revisited. "JFK Revisited" Misleads on Guy Banister Oliver Stone's so-called documentary claims that Guy Banister gave Oswald a room at 544 Camp Street. The evidence does not support the allegation. "JFK Revisited" Misleads on JFK's Brain, Again... Dr. Robert Kirschner's consultation with the ARRB explains a mystery in the documentary. "JFK Revisited" Misleads on the Weight of JFK's Brain JFK Revisited makes a big deal about the weight of JFK's brain and ignores a non-conspiratorial explanation. JFK Revisited Distorts John Stringer's Testimony 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, JFK Revisited Lays an Egg Oliver Stone took to Twitter last weekend to bemoan the fact that the mainstream press is ignoring his so-called documentary, JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass. Oliver Stone with "JFK Revisited" Crucifies Clay Shaw Once Again There is something really obscene about Oliver Stone once again going after Clay Shaw. JFK Revisited Doesn't Tell the Whole Truth about John Connally You won't learn everything you need to know about Connally's position on the shots from Oliver Stone's so-called documentary. JFK Revisited Uses Marina Porter to Mislead Viewers Oliver Stone tries to make it seem like Marina Porter has denied taking the backyard photographs of Lee Harvey Oswald. JFK Revisited: Were the Oswald Backyard Photographs Faked? Oliver Stone once again raises the issue of the legitimacy of the backyard photographs of Lee Harvey Oswald. JFK Revisited: Was Clay Shaw the elusive Clay Bertrand? This post debunks every witness that ever claimed Shaw was Bertrand. Oliver Stone's Poverty of Imagination He cannot imagine any sort of non-conspiratorial explanations for any of the suspicious pieces of evidence in his film. Was Clay Shaw a "Contract Agent" for the CIA? No, Clay Shaw was not a "contract agent." Steve Roe Blog Posts on JFK Revisited JFK Revisited: Again, Caught Creating False Mysteries "Stone/DiEugenio hatch another Bogus Mystery with Sinister Strap/Sling Mounts on Oswald's Rifle" JFK Revisited: Tripping on the Stairs Oliver Stone claims that Oswald could not have been in the sniper's nest on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Steve Roe exposes Stone's mistakes. Oliver Stone doubles-down on the Looney Frontal Shot to the President In an interview on RT [Russia Today], Oliver Stone says that the throat wound might have been made by a flechette. Oliver Stone - Deceptive Filmmaker? Steve Roe presents some examples of Oliver Stone's 'creative' abilities. A Look at the "JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass" Film by Oliver Stone Oliver Stone distorts the testimony about Oswald's palmprint on the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle.

Mark Lane with Charles Brehm Here is an article from the November 27, 1966 issue of the Dallas Morning News: Money Quote However, several of the persons quoted by Lane to support his premise -- that the panel was "blinded by the fear of what they might see" in a more thorough investigation -- think Lane might have rushed to publication to make "a dirty dollar" faster than he accuses the Warren panel of having rushed to judgment. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane Mark Lane and Warren Reynolds Lane cuts out a few of Reynolds' answers. Mark Lane and Napoleon Daniels Sylvia Meagher was incensed at Lane's inclusion of this story in his film. Mark Lane and Charles Brehm A good case study in Lane's intellectual dishonesty. G. Robert Blakey on Mark Lane Robert Blakey and the HSCA were very critical of Mark Lane. George Lardner on Mark Lane Mark Lane and the HSCA. When Mort Sahl Kicked Mark Lane Out of his House An interesting anecdote from Mort Sahl's book, Heartland. Should We Blame Mark Lane? Some ads for Lane's film Rush to Judgment. In Defense of the Warren Commission A Garry Wills opinion piece on Mark Lane. Victor Navasky Reviews Mark Lane's "A Citizen's Dissent" Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting. Mark Lane and Jonestown A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown. New York Times Profile of Mark Lane An apt profile. Nightmare Brought to Life An opinion piece by Anthony Lewis in the New York Times  on Mark Lane and Jonestown. Mark Lane, Again An opinion piece from the Washington Post Mark Lane: A Bent for the Macabre Side A good opinion piece from the Philadelphia Bulletin . Sylvia Meagher Corresponds with Philippe Labro Meagher tells Labro a story about Mark Lane. Mark Lane and The Progressive Even a left-wing magazine like The Progressive  found Mark Lane hard to take. Mark Lane on Clay Shaw Mark Lane's addition to the 1992 edition of Rush to Judgment is eye opening. Mark Lane on the Joe Dolan Show Lane tells Dolan about Garrison's amazing evidence. Did the CIA Try to Kill Mark Lane?   Lane makes a startling allegation. Mark Lane: The Left's Leading Hearse-Chaser   A profile from Mother Jones  magazine. Mark Lane vs. Sylvia Meagher   Lane and Meagher feuded about a blurb for her book. The Case Against Mark Lane   A profile from Esquire Magazine . Mark Lane saw a conspiracy - as usual   An article from the Tampa Bay Times . The Mark of Zorro   An Anthony Lewis column on Mark Lane from 1978. Mark Lane's Scholarship!   Howard Roffman finds that Mark Lane's scholarship is lacking. Mark Lane, Conspiracy Addict   A profile of Mark Lane in Newsweek . Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to "Mr. Candy"   Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to a witness that, for $25,000, would tie Jack Ruby with Clay Shaw. Redactions, Redactions, Redactions...   This post has a good case study of how Mark Lane exploited a redaction in a document. "I Know Who Killed JFK," Part Three Lane tells the Danish press he knows who killed JFK. Mark Lane Said that Clay Shaw Was a "Powerful, Domestic Force in the Assassination." Lane speaks at the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Charles Brehm at the Dallas County Sheriff's Office on November 22, 1963. Charles Brehm and his son were witnesses to the JFK assassination, Here is the FBI report : Brehm told the FBI that the "shots came from one of two buildings back at the corner of Elm and Houston Streets." Here is the Charles Brehm segment from the film Rush to Judgment : (1:04:20) Mark Lane : Mr. Brehm, where were you on November 22 1963? Charles Brehm : I had taken my five year old son downtown to see the Presidential parade. Mark Lane : This is a picture taken by Mr. Nix of the limousine at the time the shots were fired. Do you see yourself and your boy in that picture? Still from Ruch to Judgment showing location of Charles Brehm. Charles Brehm : Yes, sir. This is myself, and this is my son. On this frame here where the first shot hit the President, I would say that the, he was possibly 30 feet away when the first bullet struck, moved a little closer and was possibly 20 to 25 feet away when the second bullet hit. Mark Lane : Did you see the effect of the bullets upon the President? Charles Brehm : When the second bullet hit, there was, the hair seemed to go flying. It was very definite then that he was struck in the head with the second bullet. And yes, sir, I very definitely saw effects of the second bullet. Mark Lane : Did you see any particles of the President's skull fly when the bullet struck him in the head? Charles Brehm : I saw a piece fly over, oh, in the area of the curb where I was standing. Mark Lane : And in which direction did that fly? Charles Brehm : It seemed to have have come left and back. Mark Lane : In other words, the skull particle flew to the left and to the rear of the Presidential limousine. Charles Brehm : Sir, whatever it was that I saw, did fall both in that direction and over into the curb there. Mark Lane : You were a ranger during the war, correct? Charles Brehm : Yes, sir, I was a ranger during the war. Took part in the invasion of France and was shot a couple of times. So, as I say, it's possibly like swimming. I hadn't heard that sound for many a year, but you don't forget it once, once you've heard a shot, coming close to you. Mark Lane : Did you speak with newsmen on November 22 and tell them what you saw? Charles Brehm : Yes, sir. And told them simply that there, two shots had hit the president and the direction that I had thought the bullets had come from. Mark Lane : Did you at any time that day make a statement which was televised? Charles Brehm : Yes, sir. Brehm video Charles Brehm: Fortunately, I was probably 15 to 20 feet away from the president when it happened. Newsman : Tell us exactly what you saw, sir, Charles Brehm : He was coming down the street, and my five year old boy and myself were by ourselves on the grass there on Palmer street, and I asked Joe to wave to him, and Joe waved, and I waved in the ...man, (crying) Newsman : That's all right, sir. Charles Brehm : He was waving back. He was, he was. the shot rang out, and he slumped down in the seat, and his wife reached up toward him. They were slumping down, and the second shot went off, and it just knocked him down from the seat. I'm positive it had hit him. I hope it didn't, but I'm positive that it hit him, and he went all the way down in the car. Then they speeded up, and I didn't know what was going on, so I just grabbed the boy and fell on him, and hopes there wasn't a maniac around. I can't help you more but I won't forget it. end of Brehm video Mark Lane : Did you make a statement to the Dallas sheriff's office? Charles Brehm : Yes, I did. Mark Lane : How long did you remain in the Dallas sheriff's office that day? Charles Brehm : I was, say about three hours to four hours. Mark Lane : Were you among the closest witnesses to the limousine when the shot struck the President? Charles Brehm : Yes, sir, I would have to say that, if not the closest, one of the closest to the unfortunate incident. I did get a view of something I'll never forget. Mark Lane : Were you called as a witness by the Warren Commission? Charles Brehm: No, I was not called by the Warren Commission to testify. Lane tries to use Brehm as a grassy knoll witness based on the movement of skull fragments after the head shot. But, as we all know, the head material (skull, scalp, blood, brain tissue, brain fluids) flew upward and forward and only seemed to go back and to left because the limousine was moving forward. Analysis of the Zapruder film by Itek Corporation. Here is what Brehm thought of Lane's conclusion: (page 61 of The Scavengers and Critics of the Warren Report by Lawrence Schiller and Richard Lewis) So, why didn't Lane ask Brehm where he thoughts the shots came from? Well, he DID ask Brehm, but he cut out his answer from the Rush to Judgment film: Excerpt from the full Lane interview of Brehm. Here is what Charles Brehm told CBS News in 1967 : (page 284 or Stephen White's book, Should We Now Believe the Warren Report ?) And here is what Charles Brehm told Larry Sneed in his book No More Silence: An Oral History of the Assassination of President Kennedy : (pp. 65-66) People have mentioned seeing puffs of smoke at the time of the assassination. I saw none whatsoever. The smoke that I created through years of cigar smoking would probably account for a puff of smoke here and a puff of smoke there as I went through life. But I sure didn’t see any puffs of smoke anywhere; nothing other than the three shots from the same area, and that has been identified to me as that particular window as to where they came from. I would agree with it because of the sound factor. But if they told me today that I was all wrong, that they came from the fourth floor, or the seventh floor, I’d have to believe them. But there’s no question in my mind that there were three shots from one source, the Texas School Book Depository, and nothing else from any of the other buildings. There were no shots from sewers, no shots from the grassy knoll. There were no people hiding around with silencers, which in itself is laughable, because why should this person have a silencer and that person not have a silencer? And if there were nine people, as somebody advocates, why eight people with silencers shooting and only one without one. No, I feel comfortable with myself. I was very uncomfortable until the Warren Report came out because I stood by myself on November 22nd, that night. I came up with the original thought of the single bullet. I said at that time that there were three bullets, and they all came from the same place. Then all the controversy starts. You don’t know what you’re letting yourself in for in a deal like this. The controversy starts about this or that extra gunman coming from here, coming from there. All of these things go on and you start to doubt yourself. You say, “Hey, am I right on this thing or what?” People are going to show me movies and tapes and things like that of what I said and they’re going to cast doubts. But everything I said was what the Warren Commission said, so I felt that I was clean on it. I felt that they printed the truth of what happened. Conspiracy, before or after, I have no idea. All I know is about those few seconds where I was standing, and that I’m sure of. I’ve had one experience with Mark Lane where he did the interview by asking the questions off camera. I saw his movie, “Rush To Judgment,” once, and this was less than a year ago. It seems to me that he might have taken poetic justice with some of the questions that he asked or fit my answers to his questions rather than the opposite way of me answering the questions. But that was an unpleasantness because he was the type of person who made you believe that you were helping him when all he was looking for was one piece of junk in that whole new car showroom so he could say, “Ha! Ha! Here’s what! The whole thing is wrong because of this!” And that’s what he was! He was looking for that junk in some shining place so that he could destroy everything that was worthwhile. Charles Brehm is a good case study of Mark Lane's intellectual dishonesty. Update: The Dallas Morning News of November 27, 1966 has a good article on Mark Lane, and they interviewed Charles Brehm : Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane G. Robert Blakey on Mark Lane Robert Blakey and the HSCA were very critical of Mark Lane. George Lardner on Mark Lane Mark Lane and the HSCA. When Mort Sahl Kicked Mark Lane Out of his House An interesting anecdote from Mort Sahl's book, Heartland. Should We Blame Mark Lane? Some ads for Lane's film Rush to Judgment. In Defense of the Warren Commission A Garry Wills opinion piece on Mark Lane. Victor Navasky Reviews Mark Lane's "A Citizen's Dissent" Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting. Mark Lane and Jonestown A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown. New York Times Profile of Mark Lane An apt profile. Nightmare Brought to Life An opinion piece by Anthony Lewis in the New York Times  on Mark Lane and Jonestown. Mark Lane, Again An opinion piece from the Washington Post Mark Lane: A Bent for the Macabre Side A good opinion piece from the Philadelphia Bulletin . Sylvia Meagher Corresponds with Philippe Labro Meagher tells Labro a story about Mark Lane. Mark Lane and The Progressive Even a left-wing magazine like The Progressive  found Mark Lane hard to take. Mark Lane on Clay Shaw Mark Lane's addition to the 1992 edition of Rush to Judgment is eye opening. Mark Lane on the Joe Dolan Show Lane tells Dolan about Garrison's amazing evidence. Did the CIA Try to Kill Mark Lane?   Lane makes a startling allegation. Mark Lane: The Left's Leading Hearse-Chaser   A profile from Mother Jones  magazine. Mark Lane vs. Sylvia Meagher   Lane and Meagher feuded about a blurb for her book. The Case Against Mark Lane   A profile from Esquire Magazine . Mark Lane saw a conspiracy - as usual   An article from the Tampa Bay Times . The Mark of Zorro   An Anthony Lewis column on Mark Lane from 1978. Mark Lane's Scholarship!   Howard Roffman finds that Mark Lane's scholarship is lacking. Mark Lane, Conspiracy Addict   A profile of Mark Lane in Newsweek . Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to "Mr. Candy"   Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to a witness that, for $25,000, would tie Jack Ruby with Clay Shaw. Redactions, Redactions, Redactions...   This post has a good case study of how Mark Lane exploited a redaction in a document. "I Know Who Killed JFK," Part Three Lane tells the Danish press he knows who killed JFK. Mark Lane Said that Clay Shaw Was a "Powerful, Domestic Force in the Assassination." Lane speaks at the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Still from Rush to Judgment with Warren Reynolds and Mark Lane. There is a segment in Rush to Judgment in which Penn Jones tells the story of Warren Reynolds. Here is an excerpt from a transcrip t: (1:52:59) Mark Lane : Can you give us one instance of a witness who died a strange death? Penn Jones : Well, let's take the case of Betty Mooney MacDonald, one of Jack Ruby's strippers, A fellow named Warren Reynolds saw a man running from the scene of the Tippit slaying. Shortly thereafter, Reynolds was shot through the head. Now, before Reynolds was shot, he could not identify the man running from the scene as Oswald. Then he was shot through the head, and a fellow named Garner was arrested. Then MacDonald was the alibi for Garner. She said Garner could not have shot Reynolds because he was with me at the time, Two days after her alibi, Betty Mooney MacDonald was arrested for fighting with a roommate. Although the roommate was not arrested, MacDonald was put in jail that night, and an hour later, she was found hanged in her cell. And of course, the Dallas Police said she hung herself. Mark Lane : Did Reynolds finally testify before the [Warren] Commission? Penn Jones : After Reynolds recovered from his wound, he testified and was able to identify Oswald. Mark Lane : Mr. Reynolds, where are you employed? Warren Reynolds : At the Johnnie Reynolds Motor Company. Mark Lane : And were you working there on November 22, 1963? Warren Reynolds : Yes, sir. Mark Lane : How close is the used car lot, which you work, to the scene of the Tippit killing? Warren Reynolds : One block. Mark Lane : Were you there at about one o'clock on the 22nd? Warren Reynolds : Yes, sir. Mark Lane : And then what happened? What did you see? What did you hear? Warren Reynolds : We were listening to the radio about the assassination, and we heard these shots, and we ran out on this porch, and we saw this gunman running up the street, and I followed him for a block until I lost him, and then I was going back to the used car lot, and this policeman stopped me and asked me what had happened. And I told him that I had seen this man with a gun, and I had followed him, and I lost him. So, he took the description, my name and stuff like that. And while I was talking to him, some television camera was taking the pictures. And after that, I went on back to the used car lot. Mark Lane : Were you questioned by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the United States Secret Service during November, 1963 Warren Reynolds : No, I sure wasn't. Mark Lane : Were you questioned by FBI agents or Secret Service agents during December, 1963? Warren Reynold s: No, sir. Mark Lane : Were you questioned by FBI agents or Secret Service agents during January, '64? Warren Reynolds : Yes, sir, I was. Mark Lane : When was that, sir? Warren Reynolds : That was on January the 21st. Two agents come out, and they talked to me and asked me what I had seen. And I told them, and they showed me three pictures. Mark Lane : You were questioned by agents of the FBI on January 21, '64. Then what happened? Warren Reynolds : Two days after that, as I was closing up the used car lot one night, when I went downstairs to turn off the lights, some gunman was hidden down there and he shot me. He shot me through the glasses, right here ... and the bullet lodged right over here, Mark Lane : Mr. Reynolds, who knew about your questioning by the FBI between the time that you were actually questioned by them, and the time that you were shot two days later? Warren Reynolds : Just friends, and of course, my family, Mark Lane : The Commission concluded on page 663 of its Report that it was wild speculation for anyone to think that there might have been a connection between the fact that you were shot in January and the fact that you observed the gunman flee from the Tippit scene. What is your comment, sir? Warren Reynolds : If they would catch the man, and prove that he that he did do it, we could figure out from there whether he was connected or not. And until then, I don't belie ve anybody is smart enough to say wheth er there is connection or not. Isn't strange that Mark Lane does not ask Warren Reynolds if the man he saw fleeing the Tippit shooting was, in fact, Lee Harvey Oswald. The whole crux of the story is his supposed non-identification of Oswald and his changed testimony. Why wouldn't you straighten this out with Reynolds sitting right there? In fact, Mark Lane DID ask Reynolds about the man fleeing the shooting. Lane leaves out "and I identified the pictures as the man I knew then as Lee Harvey Oswald. And I identified 'em and they left." And then Lane asked Reynolds about the statement in the Warren Report that "Reynolds did not make a positive identification when interview by the FBI. What is your comment upon that?" This was also left out of Rush to Judgment . My point here is not to use Warren Reynolds as a witness who identified Oswald but to show Mark Lane's intellectual dishonesty. Now, let's go back and set the record straight. In the six weeks prior to Betty MacDonald's suicide, she had tried twice to kill herself. Here is what Dale Myers says about her in his book, With Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J. D. Tippit : (page 606 in the Kindle edition) On February 13, 1964, Nancy Jane Mooney got into a brawl with her roommate Patsy Moore over the affections of a man. Mooney, also known as Betty MacDonald, was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. After being placed in a cell at the Dallas City Jail, Mooney took off her toreador slacks and hanged herself. Police learned that Mooney had attempted suicide twice during the past six weeks. The first attempt was by gas in her bathroom, the second by slashing her wrists. Mooney had exhibited numerous scars on her wrists and stomach to a friend stating, “she had done that to herself.” Patsy Moore told police that Nancy Jane Mooney had four children who were being cared for by Nancy’s mother in Paris, Texas. The children had been taken away from Nancy, which caused her to be very despondent at times. Moore also stated that Nancy claimed to have been a former striptease girl working at various bars in Dallas, including Jack Ruby’s Carousel Club. Mooney had told police the same thing herself during an earlier interview. However, police interviews with George Senator, Ruby’s former roommate, and with employees of the Carousel Club failed to support Mooney’s claim. So, it doesn't appear that MacDonald was a stripper at Ruby's club The Carousel. Here is what Warren Reynolds told the FBI on January 21, 1964 : Reynolds' tentative identification of Oswald got firmer when he testified before the Warren Commission in July of 1964 : Clearly, Mr. Reynolds memory could not have improved and so that is why some assassination researchers don't include him in their list of people who identified Lee Harvey Oswald in the Tippit killing. Reynolds initially thought there might have been a connection between the assassination of JFK and the attempt on his life. But, no evidence has ever surfaced to link the two. Vincent Bugliosi, in Reclaiming History , says this is all nonsense: (page 4029 in the Kindle edition) A shot in the temple can only be calculated to kill. What group of conspirators would have any reason to kill someone who, at that time, hadn’t made a positive identification of Oswald? And even if we assume that a positive identification was, indeed, the standard that qualified someone to be murdered by the conspirators, and the conspirators thought Reynolds had positively identified Oswald, out of the many people who did, why was Reynolds the only one whom they tried to kill? Further, I thought the conspirators were trying to frame Oswald. Why would they want to harm anyone who would only be helping them in that endeavor? Update Here is an excerpt from an article in the November 27, 1966 issue of the Dallas Morning News : Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane Mark Lane and Napoleon Daniels Sylvia Meagher was incensed at Lane's inclusion of this story in his film. Mark Lane and Charles Brehm A good case study in Lane's intellectual dishonesty. G. Robert Blakey on Mark Lane Robert Blakey and the HSCA were very critical of Mark Lane. George Lardner on Mark Lane Mark Lane and the HSCA. When Mort Sahl Kicked Mark Lane Out of his House An interesting anecdote from Mort Sahl's book, Heartland. Should We Blame Mark Lane? Some ads for Lane's film Rush to Judgment. In Defense of the Warren Commission A Garry Wills opinion piece on Mark Lane. Victor Navasky Reviews Mark Lane's "A Citizen's Dissent" Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting. Mark Lane and Jonestown A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown. New York Times Profile of Mark Lane An apt profile. Nightmare Brought to Life An opinion piece by Anthony Lewis in the New York Times  on Mark Lane and Jonestown. Mark Lane, Again An opinion piece from the Washington Post Mark Lane: A Bent for the Macabre Side A good opinion piece from the Philadelphia Bulletin . Sylvia Meagher Corresponds with Philippe Labro Meagher tells Labro a story about Mark Lane. Mark Lane and The Progressive Even a left-wing magazine like The Progressive  found Mark Lane hard to take. Mark Lane on Clay Shaw Mark Lane's addition to the 1992 edition of Rush to Judgment is eye opening. Mark Lane on the Joe Dolan Show Lane tells Dolan about Garrison's amazing evidence. Did the CIA Try to Kill Mark Lane?   Lane makes a startling allegation. Mark Lane: The Left's Leading Hearse-Chaser   A profile from Mother Jones  magazine. Mark Lane vs. Sylvia Meagher   Lane and Meagher feuded about a blurb for her book. The Case Against Mark Lane   A profile from Esquire Magazine . Mark Lane saw a conspiracy - as usual   An article from the Tampa Bay Times . The Mark of Zorro   An Anthony Lewis column on Mark Lane from 1978. Mark Lane's Scholarship!   Howard Roffman finds that Mark Lane's scholarship is lacking. Mark Lane, Conspiracy Addict   A profile of Mark Lane in Newsweek . Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to "Mr. Candy"   Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to a witness that, for $25,000, would tie Jack Ruby with Clay Shaw. Redactions, Redactions, Redactions...   This post has a good case study of how Mark Lane exploited a redaction in a document. "I Know Who Killed JFK," Part Three Lane tells the Danish press he knows who killed JFK. Mark Lane Said that Clay Shaw Was a "Powerful, Domestic Force in the Assassination." Lane speaks at the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Pauline Kael reviewed Executive Action and The French Connection in the New Yorker : THE other new assassination film—”Executive Action,” a fictionalization of how President Kennedy might have been the victim of a large-scale right-wing plot—is so graceless it’s beyond using even as a demonstration of ineptitude. The failures of “The French Conspiracy” are the result of commercialization and so are instructive; the failures of “Executive Action” might be the result of sleeping sickness. In this account, the big, big businessmen who plot Kennedy’s death find an Oswald look-alike in order to frame Oswald—for reasons no one will ever understand. The picture, written by Dalton Trumbo from a story by Donald Freed and Mark Lane, and directed by David Miller (the low-budget Richard Fleischer), ends in perhaps the most ludicrous denouement in thriller history. We are presented with the faces of eighteen “material witnesses” who, we are told, have died, against odds of “one hundred thousand trillion to one.” But the movie has failed to introduce those witnesses into the action; we haven’t discovered what a single one of them witnessed or how he happened to get involved, so the end is as flat as the beginning and the middle. It’s a dodo bird of a movie, the winner of the “Tora! Tora! Tora!” prize—in miniature—for 1973, with matchlessly dull performances from a cast that includes Burt Lancaster (looking very depressed), Robert Ryan, and Will Geer. “Executive Action” could hardly be called a thriller, and it’s so worshipful of Kennedy (while treating him insensitively) as to seem to have no politics. David Miller, whose direction is merely halfhearted traffic management, has made a couple of dozen movies (such as “Love Happy,” “Captain Newman, M.D.,” “Hail, Hero!,” and, with Trumbo, the thickly ironic, overrated “Lonely Are the Brave”), so he doesn’t even have the freshness of amateurism. His approach appears to be low-key not by choice but by default; he gives no inkling that he has seen what other directors have been doing lately in the political-thriller form. “The French Conspiracy” is bad, but it isn’t stone-dead on the screen; it’s bad because it’s an ersatz political thriller. One can at least perceive what it aspires to be. This is from the November 12, 1973 issue. Money Quote : It’s a dodo bird of a movie, the winner of the “Tora! Tora! Tora!” prize—in miniature—for 1973, Chicago Tribune, June 17, 1973 Here is Gene Siskel's review in the Chicago Tribune: Money Quote : And it is precisely on this point, as a conventional movie, that "Executive Action" stumbles badly. The script is so heavy-handed in its portrayal of the oilmen, in its representation of causality, that one might think it was written by a man with a very small shoulder under his chip. And it was. Dalton Trumbo, a tragic victim of the McCarthy-led Hollywood blacklist, lets his bitterness blunt his writing. His errors are elementary. In 1973, and especially in a movie with a subject and cause as serious as this one, you don't have a rich oilman, looking very much like a sinister Col. Sanders, sit in front of a television set, see Kennedy make a couple of predictable speeches, and only then agree to join the conspiracy. That's comic-book causality. Previous Relevant Blog Posts One of the Best Movie Reviews Ever! Leonard Maltin chimes in with a really fun review. Executive Action: "A Shabby Fiction about JFK" The New York Times reviews Executive Action. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane Mark Lane and Warren Reynolds Lane cuts out a few of Reynolds' answers. Mark Lane and Napoleon Daniels Sylvia Meagher was incensed at Lane's inclusion of this story in his film. Mark Lane and Charles Brehm A good case study in Lane's intellectual dishonesty. G. Robert Blakey on Mark Lane Robert Blakey and the HSCA were very critical of Mark Lane. George Lardner on Mark Lane Mark Lane and the HSCA. When Mort Sahl Kicked Mark Lane Out of his House An interesting anecdote from Mort Sahl's book, Heartland. Should We Blame Mark Lane? Some ads for Lane's film Rush to Judgment. In Defense of the Warren Commission A Garry Wills opinion piece on Mark Lane. Victor Navasky Reviews Mark Lane's "A Citizen's Dissent" Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting. Mark Lane and Jonestown A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown. New York Times Profile of Mark Lane An apt profile. Nightmare Brought to Life An opinion piece by Anthony Lewis in the New York Times  on Mark Lane and Jonestown. Mark Lane, Again An opinion piece from the Washington Post Mark Lane: A Bent for the Macabre Side A good opinion piece from the Philadelphia Bulletin . Sylvia Meagher Corresponds with Philippe Labro Meagher tells Labro a story about Mark Lane. Mark Lane and The Progressive Even a left-wing magazine like The Progressive  found Mark Lane hard to take. Mark Lane on Clay Shaw Mark Lane's addition to the 1992 edition of Rush to Judgment is eye opening. Mark Lane on the Joe Dolan Show Lane tells Dolan about Garrison's amazing evidence. Did the CIA Try to Kill Mark Lane?   Lane makes a startling allegation. Mark Lane: The Left's Leading Hearse-Chaser   A profile from Mother Jones  magazine. Mark Lane vs. Sylvia Meagher   Lane and Meagher feuded about a blurb for her book. The Case Against Mark Lane   A profile from Esquire Magazine . Mark Lane saw a conspiracy - as usual   An article from the Tampa Bay Times . The Mark of Zorro   An Anthony Lewis column on Mark Lane from 1978. Mark Lane's Scholarship!   Howard Roffman finds that Mark Lane's scholarship is lacking. Mark Lane, Conspiracy Addict   A profile of Mark Lane in Newsweek . Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to "Mr. Candy"   Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to a witness that, for $25,000, would tie Jack Ruby with Clay Shaw. Redactions, Redactions, Redactions...   This post has a good case study of how Mark Lane exploited a redaction in a document. "I Know Who Killed JFK," Part Three Lane tells the Danish press he knows who killed JFK. Mark Lane Said that Clay Shaw Was a "Powerful, Domestic Force in the Assassination." Lane speaks at the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Leonard Maltin's review of Executive Action : Hat tip: Matthew Kordelski. Ad for Executive Action in the Boston Globe : March 27, 1974 Previous Relevant Blog Post Executive Action: "A Shabby Fiction about JFK" The New York Times reviews Executive Action. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane Mark Lane and Warren Reynolds Lane cuts out a few of Reynolds' answers. Mark Lane and Napoleon Daniels Sylvia Meagher was incensed at Lane's inclusion of this story in his film. Mark Lane and Charles Brehm A good case study in Lane's intellectual dishonesty. G. Robert Blakey on Mark Lane Robert Blakey and the HSCA were very critical of Mark Lane. George Lardner on Mark Lane Mark Lane and the HSCA. When Mort Sahl Kicked Mark Lane Out of his House An interesting anecdote from Mort Sahl's book, Heartland. Should We Blame Mark Lane? Some ads for Lane's film Rush to Judgment. In Defense of the Warren Commission A Garry Wills opinion piece on Mark Lane. Victor Navasky Reviews Mark Lane's "A Citizen's Dissent" Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting. Mark Lane and Jonestown A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown. New York Times Profile of Mark Lane An apt profile. Nightmare Brought to Life An opinion piece by Anthony Lewis in the New York Times  on Mark Lane and Jonestown. Mark Lane, Again An opinion piece from the Washington Post Mark Lane: A Bent for the Macabre Side A good opinion piece from the Philadelphia Bulletin . Sylvia Meagher Corresponds with Philippe Labro Meagher tells Labro a story about Mark Lane. Mark Lane and The Progressive Even a left-wing magazine like The Progressive  found Mark Lane hard to take. Mark Lane on Clay Shaw Mark Lane's addition to the 1992 edition of Rush to Judgment is eye opening. Mark Lane on the Joe Dolan Show Lane tells Dolan about Garrison's amazing evidence. Did the CIA Try to Kill Mark Lane?   Lane makes a startling allegation. Mark Lane: The Left's Leading Hearse-Chaser   A profile from Mother Jones  magazine. Mark Lane vs. Sylvia Meagher   Lane and Meagher feuded about a blurb for her book. The Case Against Mark Lane   A profile from Esquire Magazine . Mark Lane saw a conspiracy - as usual   An article from the Tampa Bay Times . The Mark of Zorro   An Anthony Lewis column on Mark Lane from 1978. Mark Lane's Scholarship!   Howard Roffman finds that Mark Lane's scholarship is lacking. Mark Lane, Conspiracy Addict   A profile of Mark Lane in Newsweek . Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to "Mr. Candy"   Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to a witness that, for $25,000, would tie Jack Ruby with Clay Shaw. Redactions, Redactions, Redactions...   This post has a good case study of how Mark Lane exploited a redaction in a document. "I Know Who Killed JFK," Part Three Lane tells the Danish press he knows who killed JFK. Mark Lane Said that Clay Shaw Was a "Powerful, Domestic Force in the Assassination." Lane speaks at the Louisiana State Bar Association.

My friend Eric Dezenhall has written a superb essay on conspiracy theories. Smart people believe conspiracy theories not because they suddenly become stupid but because the human brain is wired to process resonant plots. Neural pathways cannot accommodate randomness or mystery. It’s simply too distressing to believe we are hurtling through space, subject to forces beyond our control. This is why religion flourishes, not to mention Hollywood. Then there is the issue of pleasure. Conspiracy theories are mental potato chips: we know they’re bad for us but can’t stop eating them because they taste so good. Food companies know this and conspire to sell us more Pringles. The thing is, though, there is an abundance of evidence that corporations do this. Do you know what they don’t do? Magic. Finally, espousing a conspiracy theory is a device of vanity — the guy at the local bar, the blowhard Gern Blanston, who draws a crowd by claiming to know who Mayor Florbel hooked up with at the EconoLodge on Poledance Boulevard last night. Once Gern has everybody’s attention by name-checking Trixy Wiggins, he doesn’t want to lose it, so he starts up with how the Trilateral Commission teamed with the Mossad using gadgets provided by the CIA to fly planes into the twin towers so that Bush would go to war with Iraq to seize the oil for ExxonMobil, which gave the Rothschilds a fee so that the Vatican would hide the cash the Kennedys gave them, which was why the Mafia killed JFK. The important thing here is not proof, it’s attention. If you don’t believe me, go on YouTube and see how many followers wackadoo conspiracy theorists get compared to those who debunk them with evidence. Again, potato chips. Please read the entire essay and subscribe to Eric's Substack. And don't miss my podcast with Eric. Previous Relevant Blog Posts What Stalin's Death Teaches Us About Conspiracy Theories A short documentary by James Lambert. Mae Brussell: Queen of Conspiracy A Paul Krassner article from 1978. Hollywood must bear some blame for the rise of QAnon Oliver Stone played a significant role in the rise of conspiracy theories. Mordecai Richler on Conspiracy Theorists... A Richler article from Playboy Magazine. Conspiracy Fever by Jacob Cohen A good primer by Jacob Cohen.

New York Times, November 25, 1973 Money Quotes: However, even to people who are prepared to accept some sort of conspiracy, including myself, this manner of fiction simply isn't good enough. In spite of the rather pious, unexciting, low-keyed professionalism with which "Executive Action" has been put together, it is fiction of a gross and shabby order. Because it cannot say that this is true, the only point of the film is to raise the question of possibility. Having done that, which is does very quickly, it reduces one of the most turbulent events in American history to the dimensions of routine melodrama. This sort of thing seems very sad, if not reckless. and He [Richard Popkin] points out, correctly, I believe, that the Watergate revelations may have made many Americans receptive to the idea that conspiracies can and do exist at high levels of power and influence in the United States. But that is hardly justification for the bogus history offered by "Executive Action," the heavily-footnoted novel as well as the over-simplified film. JFK assassination researcher Fred Newcomb wrote a critique of the film: Money Quotes : Any plot that hinges, as this one did, on two riflemen gaining access to two buildings, minutes before the motorcade arrives, is a plot that depends for its success upon blind luck. What this plot lacks in sophistication it makes up for in cheap spy thriller dialogue. and At another point, the plotters fear that JFK would lead a revolution to gain rights for blacks and cite this as a reason for his removal. One was left to wonder how these same plotters viewed Johnson's subsequent assistance to the cause of civil rights. Would they now start plotting to kill Johnson? and The story implies that Oswald was set-up as a scapegoat to take the blame for an assassin firing from his place of employment. Police, apparently, would rush into the building after the shooting to arrest Oswald, while the real assassin slipped away. So far so good. However, in this film there we see a second rifleman (the Records Building) across the way, firing from a building that apparently contained no scapegoat. What if Dallas police had surrounded the second building? Was there a second scapegoat? Was there a third scapegoat on the grassy knoll? The script compounds these problems by missing the point. Or did they conceive a plot involving three Lee Harvey Oswalds hanging around Dealey Plaza that day? and The fictional assassination team, for some unexplained reason, was training to accomplish their feat in six or seven seconds. Why not 30 seconds? Is this because an amateur film of the actual assassination taken by Abraham Zapruder showed a six second assassination Had the fictional assassins already seen the Zapruder film? and Alas, the movie ended in a pyroxism of paranoia in attempting to show that witnesses to the event have been systematically eliminated (further assassinations) by this same plot. The number of people were were witnesses to the death of JFK, Oswald and Officer Tippit, or who were associated with the investigation of these deaths, numbered in the thousands. Why is is strange that 18 have died "six by gunfire, three in motor accidents, two by suicide, one from a cut throat, one from a karate chop to the neck, three from heart attacks and two from natural causes?" Three from heart attacks and two from natural causes? Since when are heart attacks classified as unnatural deaths? Why not list Lyndon Johnson, Robert Ryan and several others who have passed away in the last ten years as long as you are mentioning natural causes? The last quote was referring to this excerpt from the book: The London Sunday Times later took back that estimate of the odds in a letter to the HSCA : Here is Richard Popkin's introduction to Executive Action : The Onassis story is a hoot (on page 23 of the Popkin excerpt). What happened to his private safe? The opening of his safe might make for a very good Geraldo Rivera show. Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane Mark Lane and Warren Reynolds Lane cuts out a few of Reynolds' answers. Mark Lane and Napoleon Daniels Sylvia Meagher was incensed at Lane's inclusion of this story in his film. Mark Lane and Charles Brehm A good case study in Lane's intellectual dishonesty. G. Robert Blakey on Mark Lane Robert Blakey and the HSCA were very critical of Mark Lane. George Lardner on Mark Lane Mark Lane and the HSCA. When Mort Sahl Kicked Mark Lane Out of his House An interesting anecdote from Mort Sahl's book, Heartland. Should We Blame Mark Lane? Some ads for Lane's film Rush to Judgment. In Defense of the Warren Commission A Garry Wills opinion piece on Mark Lane. Victor Navasky Reviews Mark Lane's "A Citizen's Dissent" Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting. Mark Lane and Jonestown A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown. New York Times Profile of Mark Lane An apt profile. Nightmare Brought to Life An opinion piece by Anthony Lewis in the New York Times  on Mark Lane and Jonestown. Mark Lane, Again An opinion piece from the Washington Post Mark Lane: A Bent for the Macabre Side A good opinion piece from the Philadelphia Bulletin . Sylvia Meagher Corresponds with Philippe Labro Meagher tells Labro a story about Mark Lane. Mark Lane and The Progressive Even a left-wing magazine like The Progressive  found Mark Lane hard to take. Mark Lane on Clay Shaw Mark Lane's addition to the 1992 edition of Rush to Judgment is eye opening. Mark Lane on the Joe Dolan Show Lane tells Dolan about Garrison's amazing evidence. Did the CIA Try to Kill Mark Lane?   Lane makes a startling allegation. Mark Lane: The Left's Leading Hearse-Chaser   A profile from Mother Jones  magazine. Mark Lane vs. Sylvia Meagher   Lane and Meagher feuded about a blurb for her book. The Case Against Mark Lane   A profile from Esquire Magazine . Mark Lane saw a conspiracy - as usual   An article from the Tampa Bay Times . The Mark of Zorro   An Anthony Lewis column on Mark Lane from 1978. Mark Lane's Scholarship!   Howard Roffman finds that Mark Lane's scholarship is lacking. Mark Lane, Conspiracy Addict   A profile of Mark Lane in Newsweek . Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to "Mr. Candy"   Mark Lane offers to introduce Jim Garrison to a witness that, for $25,000, would tie Jack Ruby with Clay Shaw. Redactions, Redactions, Redactions...   This post has a good case study of how Mark Lane exploited a redaction in a document. "I Know Who Killed JFK," Part Three Lane tells the Danish press he knows who killed JFK. Mark Lane Said that Clay Shaw Was a "Powerful, Domestic Force in the Assassination." Lane speaks at the Louisiana State Bar Association.