Passing of Former HSCA Chief Counsel G. Robert Blakey

[Michael T. Griffith]

A few weeks ago, G. Robert Blakey, the former chief counsel of the HSCA, passed away. For years, the majority of WC skeptics condemned Blakey as "a sellout," "a CIA whitewasher," "a cover-up operative," etc. That began to change when Blakey realized and admitted in 2014 how severely he had been misled by the CIA during the HSCA investigation, and when Blakey then released a statement titled “The HSCA and the CIA: The View from the Top,” which Blakey presented at the 2014 Assassination Archives and Research Center conference.

I have long been a Blakey defender, arguing that, for all his faults, Blakey did an enormous amount of good to advance our knowledge of the assassination and to reframe the debate. It was a very big deal, a historic moment, when the HSCA formally concluded that JFK was killed by a conspiracy, that there were two gunmen and four shots, that there was a grassy knoll shot, that the first hit on JFK came at around Z190 (when the sixth-floor gunman's view of JFK would have been obstructed by the oak tree), that Ruby lied about how and why he shot Oswald, that there was movement in the sixth-floor window within two minutes after the shooting at a time when Oswald could not have been in the window, that Ruby's numerous phone calls to Mafia contacts in the weeks before the assassination could not all be explained as labor-related calls, that Silvio Odio's account was credible, that Ruby had significant Mafia ties, that JFK's back wound was nearly 2 inches lower than where the autopsy doctors placed it and that the wound was tunneled upward, that the WC failed to follow-up on leads that indicated conspiracy, etc., etc. 

Jefferson Morley wrote the following about Blakey's passing in a recent blog post:

Bob Blakey was a central, sometimes controversial, figure in the second official investigation of JFK’s murder, the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA).

Jim DiEugenio’s sensitive obituary in Kennedys and King traces the learning curve of the organized crime prosecutor who served as HSCA chief counsel in 1978 and wrote the Committee’s final report. That report found that Kennedy “in all likelihood” was killed by conspirators who could not be identified.

The Washington Post obituary illuminates how and why the deception of CIA officer George Joannides caused Blakey to change his mind about who was responsible for the assassination.

The New York Times obituary is misleading because it is outdated. It omits the Joannides story and its influence on Blakey, despite the fact that Times reporter Scott Shane reported on the CIA’s “cagey” Oswald story back in 2009.

James DiEugenio, a longtime Blakey critic who softened his attitude toward Blakey after Blakey changed his mind about the CIA's potential role in the JFK's death, wrote a largely favorable article to mark Blakey's passing:

https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/g-robert-blakey-1936-2026

Here is Blakey's 2014 statement:

https://share.google/LYbp2pCKzILMLxv0C

Most of the historic ARRB disclosures from HSCA sealed records would never have happened had it not been for G. Robert Blakey. It was Blakey who authorized the collection of those records and who ensured they were preserved for future release.

[Benjamin Cole]

MTG--

Thanks for a thoughtful review of Robert Blakey, with whom I traded a few e-mails, and for who I wrote one op-ed (regarding opening the JFK Records). 

Blakey was gentlemanly, intelligent, and skeptical--in all directions.

Within the JFKA research community, there is often a stance that anyone who is not 100% a full-blown CT'er, or a 100% LNT'er, is wrong and braindead (as both sides will affirm endlessly).

I suspect a very small JFKAC. But I recognize it is only a suspicion, not a fact.

Blakey was reserved, conservative, and would not leap to conclusions. He disappointed some CT'ers and LNT'ers.

As you point out, Blakey was appalled at the use of the CIA's use of Joannides to put the kibosh on the HSCA look-see into MC, NO and other matters.

That use of Joannides might also have obscured LHO connections to G-2.

[Lance Payette]

Right - the Mafia (my leading CT candidate) left no fingerprints at all except erratic loon Jack Ruby and his "Mafia ties," "Mafia phone calls," yada yada. Ya know, I DON'T THINK SO. I love whoever it was at a hearing who was asked "What would you say if I told you Jack Ruby was working for the Mafia?" and replied "I'd say the Mafia needs a new personnel director." Yeah. The Mafia at the level of Trafficante and Marcello did not deal with characters like Jack Ruby. Can we get a little respect for the Mafia, please?

[Fred Litwin]

Here is my obit for Blakey that includes two private emails he sent me:

[Michael T. Griffith]

Right - the Mafia (my leading CT candidate) left no fingerprints at all except erratic loon Jack Ruby and his "Mafia ties," "Mafia phone calls," yada yada. Ya know, I DON'T THINK SO. I love whoever it was at a hearing who was asked "What would you say if I told you Jack Ruby was working for the Mafia?" and replied "I'd say the Mafia needs a new personnel director." Yeah. The Mafia at the level of Trafficante and Marcello did not deal with characters like Jack Ruby. Can we get a little respect for the Mafia, please?

This nonsense is further proof that you have no business discussing the JFK case. Using your logic, one could certainly call David Ferrie an "erratic loon," yet we know that David Ferrie worked for Carlos Marcello--indeed, he was one of Marcello's personal pilots, among other things--but he was not a formal Mafia member.

The Mafia sometimes used disreputable people who had Mafia connections but who were not Mafia members, precisely to establish technically plausible denial.

The HSCA polygraph experts found indications in Ruby's polygraph results that he was lying when he denied being involved in a JFK assassination conspiracy.

[Jarrett Smith]

This nonsense is further proof that you have no business discussing the JFK case. Using your logic, one could certainly call David Ferrie an "erratic loon," yet we know that David Ferrie worked for Carlos Marcello--indeed, he was one of Marcello's personal pilots, among other things--but he was not a formal Mafia member.

The Mafia sometimes used disreputable people who had Mafia connections but who were not Mafia members, precisely to establish technically plausible denial.

The HSCA polygraph experts found indications in Ruby's polygraph results that he was lying when he denied being involved in a JFK assassination conspiracy.

Ruby flat out lied about being at Parkland talking to Seth Kantor, and he lied about walking down the ramp to kill Oswald.

[Lance Payette]

This nonsense is further proof that you have no business discussing the JFK case.

When MTG tells you your posts are "nonsense," you need to have that framed and put on the wall. It's sort of a Rationality Merit Badge.

Using your logic, one could certainly call David Ferrie an "erratic loon," yet we know that David Ferrie worked for Carlos Marcello--indeed, he was one of Marcello's personal pilots, among other things--but he was not a formal Mafia member.

The Mafia sometimes used disreputable people who had Mafia connections but who were not Mafia members, precisely to establish technically plausible denial.

The HSCA polygraph experts found indications in Ruby's polygraph results that he was lying when he denied being involved in a JFK assassination conspiracy.

Not just by my logic but by any logic one could call Ferrie an erratic loon. Unlike Ruby, however, Ferrie - who did indeed serve as Marcello's pilot - has no demonstrable connection to the JFKA. Because you live in Conspiracy Ozone, the equation is simply "Ferrie knew Marcello = Ferrie had a role in a JFKA conspiracy."

To establish technically plausible denial, one would not start with an erratic loon with underworld connections who made suspicious underworld-type calls in the immediate lead-up to the JFKA and then assign said erratic loon the absolutely critical role of silencing Mr. Patsy - a role that said erratic loon failed to accomplish before Mr. Patsy had been interrogated up one side and down the other. Makes no sense at all except in Conspiracy Ozone.

If the Mafia wanted Oswald dead, he would have been dead within 15 minutes - tops - of the JFKA. If he was a patsy for the purpose of pointing the finger at Castro, the only patsy role that makes sense, he would have been more useful to the Mafia alive than dead so long as he had no clue the Mafia was pulling the strings. If the Mafia wanted Oswald dead, the task would have been assigned to a pro who would have done the deed and vanished like mist, and that's all there is to it.

Because you live in Conspiracy Ozone where everything has to be as complicated as it can be made, regardless of rationality or plausibility, you simply cannot stand the thought that "obvious" characters like Ferrie and Ruby were not involved. Their obviousness - especially in the case of Ruby - is precisely why they weren't involved. You can't stand the thought that the murder of Oswald does not have to be, and almost surely wasn't, for the purpose of "silencing the patsy" (after he had already been interrogated up one side and down the other).

Simply MAKES NO SENSE ... except in Conspiracy Ozone. Having grown up in what was then a relatively small town controlled by Joe Bananas, I have a little more regard for the Mafia than to think they would allow Ferrie or Ruby to have any meaningful role in a Presidential assassination. This wasn't Louie the Knife and the Detroit Goon Squad - this was Carlos Marcello and Santo Trafficante.