And it generates numerous headlines. “Professional-Castro sniper kills JFK,” “pro-Castro marksman,” “pro-Cuban marksman.” Headlines all around the nation. Very efficient propaganda. Nicely, George Joannides, the person who was working that operation, his recordsdata are clearly associated to the assassination. It was his guys who have been throughout Oswald earlier than and after November 22, 1963. So one of many recordsdata that has lengthy been sought is his personnel file, [along with] the paperwork [detailing] what he was doing in 1963, in 1964.
Joannides later surfaces through the Home investigation on assassinations in 1978, proper?
He’s known as out of retirement in 1978, and he’s made the CIA’s liaison to the Home Choose Committee on Assassinations, the very group whose data President Trump’s order makes public. Joannides lies in 1978 about what he knew in 1963. So after we get the Joannides personnel file we’ll perceive what’s going on with this man. Is he working an operation involving Oswald? Is he known as out of retirement to guard the CIA’s Oswald operations?
Many Individuals, to some extent, are very within the JFK assassination. However this attainable narrative of the CIA basically establishing Oswald as a fall man has animated many within the MAGA-verse. Why do you assume that’s so? Or do you assume that’s so?
I do assume that. I get extra cellphone calls and requests for remark from right-wing media than from liberal media lately.
For instance, you’re speaking to Tucker Carlson.
Sure. There’s extra curiosity over there as a result of, such as you say, there’s extra enthusiasm. I believe as a result of the JFK story is—it’s a basic query of whether or not you consider the federal government or not. And for those who say, “I don’t consider the JFK story,” that’s a manner of claiming, “I don’t belief the institution.” And for those who say it actually loud and actually typically, as Trump is beginning to do, you already know, persons are like, “Yeah, I’ll get behind that” as a result of that’s a solution to, you already know, say, F-you to the institution and to the CIA—and that we don’t consider you.
It’s one other model of the deep state argument.
Yeah, it’s like, “We don’t consider you. You’re attempting to trick us and our man goes after you.” In order that’s why, you already know, they’re enthusiastic about it.
Now, I’m not a supporter of President Trump, and he has harmful authoritarian tendencies. Okay. I say that straight out to my MAGA associates. However this transfer to declassify all of the JFK data, that’s not authoritarian. That’s an antiauthoritarian transfer. And so I help it. I by no means anticipated the JFK factor to be a problem within the 2024 marketing campaign, however I wasn’t stunned that Trump harnessed it as a result of he is aware of it’s like this symbolic factor that may work for him and he doesn’t need to ship on the small print.
Do you assume this had something to do with how he reeled in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be on his aspect?
Yeah, I believe so. And at that rally in August [2024] the place he stated, “We’ll launch all of the JFK data,” take heed to the gang response. It’s spontaneous and large. And, you already know, Trump heard that, and knew he had an excellent line.
So let me conclude with what I assumed was a quote attributed to you—that the JFK assassination is the Rosetta Stone to postwar American historical past. What does that imply?
No, it wasn’t me. A colleague stated that to me. And I assumed it was a putting formulation. As a result of for those who perceive that occasion, you perceive a lot extra in regards to the world, the power-political world from which it got here. And we’ve at all times had this confusion, this blind spot on the coronary heart of our personal historical past, our personal sense of historical past was like, “What was that?” And since the federal government has no credible clarification and the entire thing is surrounded by mad conspiracy theories and disinformation and silly apologetics, it’s a sore level. However that’s why it nonetheless issues within the political tradition, as a result of someway that occasion nonetheless resonates in our politics at the moment.
