WC general counsel and assistant counsel

[Oscar Navarro]

The Presidents Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy was established by Executive Order NO. 11130 on November 29, 1963. Senate Joint Resolution 137 (Public Law 88-102) empowered the commission to issue subpoenas. The CJUS, two senators, two congressmen, and two private citizens made up the Presidents Commission. J. Lee Rankin was selected as Chief Counsel after the first nominee was rejected by the Commission members as being to close to CJ Warren. This rejection gave notice to Warren that the commission was not to be a rubber stamp for the leaders wishes (although Commission Members did yield to Warren's unfortunate decision not to make the autopsy photos and X--Ray's available to the Commission thus yielding to Warren's over sensitive feelings for the former POTUS). J. Lee Rankin was a former assistant attorney general and the Solicitor General of the United States during the Eisenhower Administration before moving to private practice January, 1961

The Commission was made up of 14 Assistant Counsel and 12 named staff members plus additional personnel were hired to perform specialized functions, such as for the writing of the report.
The Assistant Counsel;

Francis W. H. Adams, (Satterlee, Warfield, & Stephens private law firm based in NYC and D.C)
Joseph A. Ball, (Ball, Hunt & Hart private law firm based in Long Beach and Santa Ana, CA)
David W. Belin, (Herrick, Langdon, Sandblom & Belin, private law firm based in Des Moines, Iowa)
William T. Coleman, Jr., (Dilworth, Paxon, Kalish, Kohn & Dilks private law firm based in Philadelphia)
Melvin Aron Eisenberg, (Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler private law firm based in NYC)
Burt W. Griffin, (MacDonald, Hopkins, & Hardy private law firm based in Cleveland, OH)
Leon D. Hubert, Jr., (Hubert, Bladwin & Zibilich private law firm in NO, Louisiana)
Albert E. Jenner, Jr., (Raymond, Meyer, Jenner & Block private law firm based in Chicago)
Wesley L. Liebeler, (Carter, Ledyard & Milburn private law firm based in NYC)
Norman Redlich, (Professor of Law, NYU)
W. David Slawson, (Davis, Graham & Stubbs private law firm based in Denver, CO)
Arlen Specter, (assistant Philadelphia district attorney and private law firm of Specter & Katz, Philadelphia, PA)
Samuel A. Stern, (Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering private law firm based in D. C)
Howard P. Willens, (Second Assistant, Criminal Division USDJ)

Of the 14 Assistant Counsel selected to conduct the overwhelming majority of witness interrogation and selection of witnesses 12 came directly from private practice, one a law professor and one, Willens, was the only associate member who worked for the federal government prior to being selected. It was these guys who collected and analyzed the reports submitted by various agencies of the federal, state and local government for the purpose of determining the value and truthfulness of witnesses. When expert witnesses were called the associate members in whose area the testimony fell had the responsibility to become very familiar with the subject. Whenever you see an FBI report of any type of investigation dated after the initial FBI investigation report was submitted it was thanks to the associate members insistence that such investigations were conducted. These guys weren't forced to take pay cuts, time away from their family, perform long hours of exhausting work in cramped quarters just to rubber stamp what is presented by many as just a forgone conclusion. They had doubts, their own agendas, their own theories and they certainly didn't have any obligations to the commission or the federal government that would require them to be in a position that their jobs and careers were on the line unless orders were strictly followed. They were there to perform their duty as they saw fit and  were free to leave and not be held accountable, as some did.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Terrific post. Short and to the point. Two names jump out at me:

Norman Redlich. Redlich was a committed civil libertarian, a strong leftist in his politics (he was a vocal critic of Joe McCarthy when it wasn't easy to do), a life long opponent of the death penalty, and a supporter of Civil Rights from the start. And not a fan of Hoover's either (the two reportedly detested one another). There is no one who could argue with any sense of logic that he would join with "right wing" or "militarist" elements to coverup for the murder of JFK.

Redlich was the main author of the WC Report. He personally wrote the first six chapters including the critical chapter detailing the actual shooting. If - again if - one believes the Warren Report was a lie from start to end then you'd have to say that Redlich was a key part in producing this lie.

John Hart Ely. Ely was not an important staffer in the investigation but he did play a role in investigating Oswald's background including his childhood. It's safe to say he found no evidence of "two Oswalds". Later he went on to become one of the most influential constitutional scholars of modern times and is among the widely quoted experts on the Constitution.

I find it completely implausible that these two men would cover up for the murder of the president.

[Bill Chapman]

Terrific post. Short and to the point. Two names jump out at me:

Norman Redlich. Redlich was a committed civil libertarian, a strong leftist in his politics (he was a vocal critic of Joe McCarthy when it wasn't easy to do), a life long opponent of the death penalty, and a supporter of Civil Rights from the start. And not a fan of Hoover's either (the two reportedly detested one another). There is no one who could argue with any sense of logic that he would join with "right wing" or "militarist" elements to coverup for the murder of JFK.

Redlich was the main author of the WC Report. He personally wrote the first six chapters including the critical chapter detailing the actual shooting. If - again if - one believes the Warren Report was a lie from start to end then you'd have to say that Redlich was a key part in producing this lie.

John Hart Ely. Ely was not an important staffer in the investigation but he did play a role in investigating Oswald's background including his childhood. It's safe to say he found no evidence of "two Oswalds". Later he went on to become one of the most influential constitutional scholars of modern times and is among the widely quoted experts on the Constitution.

I find it completely implausible that these two men would cover up for the murder of the president.

If the commission had found a conspiracy, their individual careers would soar and they'd be American heroes forever. In fact, I think one of the staffers said something to that effect.

Hell, we all came to this looking for a conspiracy, didn't we?

[Steve M. Galbraith]

If the commission had found a conspiracy, their individual careers would soar and they'd be American heroes forever. In fact, I think one of the staffers said something to that effect.

Hell, we all came to this looking for a conspiracy, didn't we?

Agreed. But you know the response by the conspiracy advocates: they were intimidated or frightened into covering things up. Or Hoover had dirt on them. Or they were paid off. Or all of the above.

Is there evidence for any of this? No, but that's because these groups were so powerful they hid everything. The absence of evidence for this is itself the evidence. Up is down and down is up and nothing is something.

[Bill Chapman]

@Newbies

[Oscar Navarro]

Terrific post. Short and to the point. Two names jump out at me:

Norman Redlich. Redlich was a committed civil libertarian, a strong leftist in his politics (he was a vocal critic of Joe McCarthy when it wasn't easy to do), a life long opponent of the death penalty, and a supporter of Civil Rights from the start. And not a fan of Hoover's either (the two reportedly detested one another). There is no one who could argue with any sense of logic that he would join with "right wing" or "militarist" elements to coverup for the murder of JFK.

Redlich was the main author of the WC Report. He personally wrote the first six chapters including the critical chapter detailing the actual shooting. If - again if - one believes the Warren Report was a lie from start to end then you'd have to say that Redlich was a key part in producing this lie.

John Hart Ely. Ely was not an important staffer in the investigation but he did play a role in investigating Oswald's background including his childhood. It's safe to say he found no evidence of "two Oswalds". Later he went on to become one of the most influential constitutional scholars of modern times and is among the widely quoted experts on the Constitution.

I find it completely implausible that these two men would cover up for the murder of the president.

Thank you, Steve. Redlich was an interesting character indeed. Too summarize in general an interesting episode, Gerald Ford had brought up the idea that ideologs from either the right or left shouldn't make up any members of the counsel. An influential member of Ford's Michigan House District brought it to Ford's attention that Redlich had been the co--author of an article in a leftist magazine or publication that went too far left and Ford almost had Redlich removed but was outvoted by the majority of the other commissioners. It turned out that Redlich's name had been added without his knowledge and he was not one of the authors.  I'm writing this from memory from the book A Cruel and Shocking Act that I read years ago so don't quote me for exactness   

[Oscar Navarro]

If the commission had found a conspiracy, their individual careers would soar and they'd be American heroes forever. In fact, I think one of the staffers said something to that effect.

Hell, we all came to this looking for a conspiracy, didn't we?

I think that was Burt Griffin. He wasn't too fond of the FBI either.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Thank you, Steve. Redlich was an interesting character indeed. Too summarize in general an interesting episode, Gerald Ford had brought up the idea that ideologs from either the right or left shouldn't make up any members of the counsel. An influential member of Ford's Michigan House District brought it to Ford's attention that Redlich had been the co--author of an article in a leftist magazine or publication that went too far left and Ford almost had Redlich removed but was outvoted by the majority of the other commissioners. It turned out that Redlich's name had been added without his knowledge and he was not one of the authors.  I'm writing this from memory from the book A Cruel and Shocking Act that I read years ago so don't quote me for exactness 

Yes, I'm familiar with that controversy too. Ford did indeed, at least from what I read in the same account you mentioned, apparently try to get him removed. Redlich was, well, he was a leftwinger and not a liberal. He thought the Rosenbergs and Hiss were innocent. Or at least they shouldn't have been given the death penalty (which he opposed throughout his life).  As to Hiss's innocence: What was he thinking?

Re Shenon's book: it's a pretty good overview of how the WC was formed and worked.

These were honorable men in a difficult situation. Sure, legitimate criticism of the investigation can be made; it was a product made by humans: what do people make that is perfect? But the claims that they deliberately covered things up is simply not, for me, true.