The controversy that has plagued the assassination of John F. Kennedy has its genesis in the Warren Commission. The very name of this body lives in infamy as the first official government investigation of the Kennedy assassination. Formed rapidly after the death of the president, it operated for nine months before its conclusions were presented to the press and public in a 912-page book and twenty-six volumes of evidence and witness testimony. The mainstream press, then as now, largely accepted the Warren Commission’s conclusion. However, trouble started when independent researchers began going through the twenty-six volumes and uncovered information that contradicted the main report. Before long, a flood of books and articles began appearing questioning the Commission’s conclusion on the death of John Kennedy that has not abated to this day.
The fact of the matter is it was not a real investigation, in any sense of the word. It was confined from the onset with considerable political intrigue. Commission members leaked confidential information to government agencies. FBI director Hoover exerted acute and relentless pressure to restrict the Commission to the FBI’s initial report declaring Oswald as the lone assassin. Earl Warren proved himself such a spineless leader that lead lawyer J. Lee Rankin had to set the agenda, earning the nickname, “The Rankin Commission Report.” Other issues, such as destruction of material evidence, conflicting witness testimony, irrelevant evidence and witness testimony, inter-governmental turf wars, and leaks to the press, only added to the struggle. Ultimately, they feared they were going to learn more than they needed to know, without an ability to resolve these matters, and settled for a politically expedient narrative of a lone gunman early on, before any witnesses were called to testify.
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