JFK Assassination Forum
JFK Assassination Plus General Discussion & Debate => JFK Assassination Plus General Discussion And Debate => Topic started by: Fred Litwin on August 21, 2025, 12:48:26 PM
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Was Hoover's Warren Commission Testimony Altered?
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But, nothing of probative or evidentiary value was altered. Hoover's testimony was edited by several people for spelling, grammatical errors, and for a variety of misstatements. The first page of the document spells out exactly who was editing his testimony.
https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/was-hoover-s-warren-commission-testimony-altered
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My first thought was, "It was Hoover who made the changes." Unless a deponent waives the right, he has a right, by rule, to review a deposition transcript and make changes. The changes are typically attached to the court reporter's transcript on a separate sheet called an errata sheet. In many cases, the changes can be quite substantive - like changing a yes answer to a no. See https://www.oasinc.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-deposition-errata-sheet. The only oddity here is that Hoover's testimony was apparently reviewed and edited by an entire FBI team, with even some involvement by Rankin. In the typical case, the original transcript stands together with the errata sheet so the changes are apparent and can be used to impeach the witness at trial if they are substantive. Here, there never was going to be a trial and Hoover was a god, so I assume the WC simply showed him the deference of allowing him and his team to make changes and went with the revised version as his testimony.
If they had changed "the Mafia hitman" to "Oswald" or "11 shots" to "three shots," we'd have something to talk about. But ALTERED!!! does sound more conspiratorial than "routine changes."