RIP: G. Robert Blakey, Congressional Investigator Who Was Stonewalled by CIA
Law professor and organized crime expert passes at 90
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The New York Times obituary is misleading because it is outdated.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.
I don't share any admiration for Blakey; read Gaeton Fonzi's book The Last Investigation, which makes clear that Blakey had no real desire to do a full investigation; one of his staff told Fonzi "we're supposed to be closing doors not opening them." The committee came perilously close to making the right connections until Blakey stepped in. They refused to go after David Atlee Phillips, who clearly perjured himself; they backed off on Bernardo De Torres who was probably a key figure, and stopped the investigation just when Fonzi was getting close - AND they were about to declare it NOT a conspiracy when the audio evidence made that impossible. It was a massive lost opportunity. Everybody else knew the CIA was obstructing, and Blakey couldn't figure it out?
Before the dictabelt evidence came to light, Blakey's staff were of the opinion that the lone nut theory was a sure thing, based on "neutron activation analysis." This was a technique developed by the FBI in the 1970's that any ballistic remnants could be scientifically connected to the same box of cartriges by its chemical composition: percentage of lead, percentage of nitrates, percentage of antimony, etc. Blake had fallen under the spell of "expert" Jeremy Gunn.
NAA was later disproven convincingly; the courts refused to allow it into evidence and the FBI discontinued its use.
What the FBI ballistics expert DID find was that the broken bullet (nose and base) recovered from the limo, as well as CE 399, were definately fired from the Mannlicher Carcano rifle found on the Sixth floor. This was based on old and still reliable turn and groove analysis.
All this proved was that at least two rounds were fired from behind, specifically from the TSBD. It did NOT prove the source of the fatal head shot, which the other evidence (medical, Z film, et. al.) convincingly show came from a frontal location.
If you don't believe me, believe David Morales, former JM WAVE chief:
"We finally got the S.O.B.!"