Guests - Fmr. Deputy Chief Robert Tanenbaum, Dave Smith

The Truth About JFK's Assassination: A Conversation with Robert K. Tanenbaum

The CIA's Involvement in Dallas

Robert K. Tanenbaum, the deputy chief counsel for the congressional committee investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., brings forward evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill JFK. With 62 years having passed since that fateful day in Dallas, Tanenbaum's firsthand experience investigating the assassination reveals a government conspiracy that has been hidden from the American public.

"The government knowingly contrived the predetermined conclusion through the pretense of an investigation," Tanenbaum explains. "Both the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee on Assassinations basically disregarded all of the convincing and trustworthy evidence to the contrary of what they have told the American people. And what they've told the American people for 62 years now has been a lie."

During the first week of 1977, when Tanenbaum began his work on the House Select Committee on Assassinations, Senator Richard Schweiker called him to his office. Schweiker had been part of the Church Committee and was in charge of the subcommittee investigating JFK's assassination.

"He told me that the CIA were obstructionists, that they were absolutely out to destroy the committee, and he believed that as a result of his investigation, the CIA participated in the assassination of the President of the United States," Tanenbaum recalls. "I was flabbergasted to hear that from him."

The McCone-Rowley Letter

One major piece of evidence that emerged during the investigation was a letter from the head of the CIA, John McCone, to the head of the Secret Service, James Rowley, dated March 3, 1964. According to Tanenbaum, McCone and Rowley were concerned about leaks revealing that Lee Harvey Oswald was a contract employee of the CIA and FBI since 1957.

"In the letter, McCone says that he's concerned that if this information is in any way disclosed to the wrong persons, it would lead the media perhaps to erroneously claim that the CIA and perhaps others were directly involved in the Dallas action," Tanenbaum explains. "And he goes on in paragraph six of this two-page letter to say, 'While the persons involved in the assassination were in the employ of the CIA as well as the FBI, it is impossible to maintain full 24-hour day responsibility over our operatives.'"

The Multiple-Shooter Evidence

Based on witness testimony and forensic analysis, Tanenbaum has established that there were multiple shooters in Dealey Plaza. He explains that witnesses all agreed there were three flurries of shots during the 8.3-second sequence.

"The first flurry was three shots that happened very quickly—in 2.6 seconds. Then there was a pause of 4.8 seconds. The second flurry, witnesses said, was a 'boom blast.' The people who were on the bridge looking at the motorcade coming down towards them on Elm Street looked to their left. Abraham Zapruder, who was with a business colleague filming this, looked to his right. That's where the stockade fence was and that's where the shots emanated from."

The shot from the stockade fence area—the fourth shot—hit JFK in the temple above his right ear in frame 313 of the Zapruder film. Tanenbaum emphasizes, "This shot caused JFK's head to violently snap back and to the left, leaving him immobile, bodily depressed, and slumped dead, resting on Mrs. Kennedy's right shoulder. That is an issue that the CIA and the government refused to ever mention. Why? Because they claim that the three shots that hit Kennedy, killed him, all came from the back right."

Tanenbaum explains that the physics of a shot from behind would cause the head to move forward, not backward: "I've asked every so-called expert, can you give me one case where someone was shot in their head from the back and their head went backwards?"

A fifth shot was also identified, occurring seven-tenths of a second after the fourth shot. This shot hit JFK in the cowlick area at the top of his head, causing his head to move forward. Fragments from this shot struck Governor Connally in the wrist, fractured his wrist and the axial nerve, and severed a tendon in his thumb area, causing him to drop his Stetson hat. The shot also damaged the interior windshield of the limousine to the left of the rearview mirror.

The Scientific Cover-Up

The government claimed they had science on their side through neutron activation analysis (NAA), which supposedly could match bullet fragments. This was used to support the single-bullet theory by claiming fragments found in the limousine, and from Connally's wrist, matched the "pristine magic bullet."

However, Tanenbaum reveals that neutron activation analysis has since been declared invalid by metallurgical PhDs. "It's known as the principal testing component for comparative bullet-lead analysis. What they claimed it could do—match a fragment to a fragment or a fragment to a bullet—it could not be done."

When the government asked FBI experts to form a group to assess the validity of NAA, they reported back that it was not scientifically valid. The government's response? "They shut down the lab. The only lab we had in America was run by the FBI, and they shut it down on September 1, 2005."

The Motivation Behind the Assassination

When asked about the motive for JFK's assassination, Tanenbaum offers his opinion: "JFK was struck with respect to what happened at the Bay of Pigs, and he was terribly embarrassed." After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Kennedy fired CIA Director Allen Dulles.

More significantly, Tanenbaum reveals that JFK had decided to restructure the entire executive intelligence apparatus. "Every executive branch has its own intelligence agency, and it's all duplication. President Kennedy said to Bobby, 'We're going to do away with the present structure,' meaning the CIA. Because after all, these are unelected officials who are deciding war and peace."

Former President Truman had written a memo expressing regret about allowing the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to morph into the CIA because "it's become an operational and at times a policymaking arm of the government."

Perhaps most damning, according to Tanenbaum, was JFK's plan to make Bobby Kennedy the head of all intelligence, which "was going to change the whole ballgame. And our friends at the CIA did not want to get removed from what they were doing, mainly running our country."

Tanenbaum's Personal Journey to the Truth

Tanenbaum explains why he waited until now to write his book about JFK's assassination. He recently faced a major cancer diagnosis that doctors said would give him only six months to a year to live. After undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, his doctor called him in and asked, "Do you believe in miracles?" The tumor had completely disappeared.

This experience prompted Tanenbaum to write about the truth of JFK's assassination without holding back. "I threw it all away because I was holding back on how my value system was formed that causes me to be fanatic about preparation for cases and about getting the truth out."

Tanenbaum's background includes serving as an assistant district attorney under the legendary New York County D.A. Frank Hogan, where he never lost a felony case. He ran the homicide bureau and was head of the criminal courts, working seven days a week from morning until the wee hours. This experience shaped his meticulous approach to evidence and truth-seeking.

The Importance of Truth in America

Tanenbaum emphasizes that truth is what has always distinguished America. "If you can't get the truth out of America, where are you going to go?" He expresses concern about the current state of society but remains optimistic: "I'm convinced that the more we talk about these things and stand up for what we know is true and valid and authentic, we're going to prevail here. There's no doubt in my mind about that."

When asked about the recent release of JFK assassination documents by the Trump administration, Tanenbaum notes that much of the evidence he discusses has been covered up for decades. Despite USA Today claiming there's no new evidence in the released documents, Tanenbaum explains, "The evidence that we're talking about was already covered up. It's not like now in the 80,000 pages they're going to tell you what happened with minute metallic fragments or that neutron activation analysis was absolutely a fabrication and scientifically invalid."

Tanenbaum concludes that the American public has "the absolute right" to see all the documents, not just those deemed acceptable by government officials. The truth about JFK's assassination—that it involved multiple shooters and CIA complicity—has been hidden for too long, and it's time for the American people to know what really happened that day in Dallas.

Pima County Politics: A Call for Accountability

Shifting to local politics, Dave Smith discusses the recent announcement that Pima County property owners may face higher property taxes. He criticizes the Board of Supervisors for wasting millions of taxpayer dollars, including spending hundreds of thousands of dollars monthly on taxi services for illegal immigrants during the height of illegal immigration.

Smith encourages citizens to attend Board of Supervisors meetings and speak during the call to the public: "You need to show up at these board of supervisor meetings. I know they're during work hours and for a lot of you, you just possibly can't do it. But for those of you who are sitting around retired, complaining that your social security and your retirement isn't going that far—understand there's a group of leeches that we call the Board of Supervisors."

According to Smith, despite Pima County residents already paying the highest taxes in Arizona, county administrator Jan is requesting a 20-cent increase. He attributes this to failed policies that have led to increased homelessness, poverty, and crime.

"We need to understand that we as citizens, the way that you push back is through elections," Winn adds. "And you have to change the trajectory of where the city is headed. It's going to take a team of people, and maybe people that normally wouldn't work together—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—but we should all want to live in a good place."