National Archives

Tell NARA: Create a JFK Records Declassification Project

November 22, 2013 will mark the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, and significant information is still being suppressed. If certain elements with influence over the government have their way, this information will never be released.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has created a "National Archives Open Government Idea Forum" at ideascale.com for the public to submit, comment on, and vote for ideas. One submission that is gaining popularity is for NARA to: "Create a JFK Records Declassification Project":

The National Archives should create a project to declassify remaining secret JFK assassination records before the 50th anniversary of that tragic event in 2013. The Archives recently established Berlin Wall and Pentagon Papers anniversary projects. Public interest is high in the remaining secret JFK assassination records. Such a project would fulfill President Obama's desire that his administration be the most open administration in the history of the United States. http://naraopengov.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Create-a-JFK-Records-Declassification-Project/338782-17906

National Archive keeps bulk of 9/11 Commission report sealed

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/08/national-archive-keeps-bulk-of-911-commission-report-sealed/

By Reuters
Thursday, September 8th, 2011

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ten years after al Qaeda's attack on the United States, the vast majority of the 9/11 Commission's investigative records remain sealed at the National Archives in Washington, even though the commission had directed the archives to make most of the material public in 2009, Reuters has learned.

The National Archives' failure to release the material presents a hurdle for historians and others seeking to plumb one of the most dramatic events in modern American history.

The 575 cubic feet of records were in large part the basis for the commission's public report, issued July 22, 2004. The commission, formally known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was established by Congress in late 2002 to investigate the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks, the pre-attack effectiveness of intelligence agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the government's emergency response.

Obama moves to curb federal secrets

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091230/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_classified_documents

Obama moves to curb federal secrets
By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
Wed Dec 30, 3:06 am ET

WASHINGTON – More than 400 million pages of Cold War-era documents could be declassified as the federal government responds to President Barack Obama's order to rethink the way it protects the nation's secrets.

Summaries of 9/11 Commission Interviews Released

The National Archives today released a set of records the 9/11 Commission gave it. It did so today because the commission told it it had to wait until 2009 to do so, presumably on the off chance that people would have forgotten about it all by then. The records are in two groups, Memorandums for the Record (MFR), which are available online, and other records, which are not available online.

I have been trawling through the ones that are available online and I have learned a few things of interest.

(1) Stacks of the MFR are not actually available. Either they have not been reviewed yet, or have been withdrawn because they are very classified, or they have been made available, but have had the bejesus redacted out of them.

(2) Two of the two key MFR, ...

Continued here.

National Archives To Open 9/11 Commission Textual Materials

35%? - Jon

Source: archives.gov

WHAT: The National Archives will open more than 150 cubic feet of records of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, known as the 9/11 Commission, an independent, bipartisan commission created by Congress. The Commission’s mandate was to provide a “full and complete accounting” of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and recommend how to prevent such attacks in the future.

On January 14th at 9 AM EST, Memoranda for the Record (summaries of 709 interviews conducted by the Commission), series descriptions, and folder title lists will be available online (www.archives.gov). These records include information on the terrorists, past terrorist events, al Qaeda in general, and related subjects. The records also include information concerning the emergency responses to the attacks in New York City and Washington, DC.

WHO: Steven Tilley, Director of the National Archives Textual Archives Services Division, will brief the media about the review process and content of the records.

RSS