Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 31, 1992 TAG: 9201310017
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
FORD: MAKE JFK FILES PUBLIC NOW
A dozen lawyers from the Warren Commission joined former President Ford on Thursday in calling for disclosure of CIA files and all other government records on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.The lawyers, plus a former commission staff member, urged "the broadest possible accessibility" to evidence in the investigation of Kennedy's death, which has been the focus of renewed attention since the release of the movie "JFK" in December. The film suggests that elements of the government, particularly the Pentagon and the CIA, conspired to murder the president.
Ford made a similar request in a letter last week to Rep. Louis Stokes, D-Ohio, who headed the House Assassinations Committee in the late 1970s. The letter also went to House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash.
Ford and the 13 want disclosure of the few Warren Commission records that remain sealed and a release of 400 cubic feet of closed records from the House panel's investigation. The National Archives is reviewing the 2 percent of the Warren material that is closed to see how much can be made public. Most of the closed records of the House panel are sealed until the year 2009, but a few are closed until 2029.
The Warren Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing the president. The House panel said that Kennedy probably was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy, although it was unable to identify another gunman or the extent of any such conspiracy.
The House committee based its findings on acoustical evidence suggesting that a fourth shot had been fired at Kennedy from a grassy knoll. Ford, who was a member of the Warren Commission, urged the National Research Council to appoint a panel of scientists to review the acoustical evidence.