Chuck Todd takes a deep dive into the JFK assassination conspiracy and the latest document release with Jeff Morley, founder of JFK Facts.He opens the episode by exploring how the government’s lack of transparency and honesty has fueled public distrust—and why that environment often breeds conspiratorial thinking.Chuck and Jeff then examine the government's decades-long effort to keep a tight lid on records related to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and how skepticism from high-ranking officials at the time continues to cast doubt on the CIA’s official account.They break down the most recent document releases, discuss why both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden delayed their full release, and analyze what the timing and redactions might suggest about what the government could still be hiding.The conversation takes a closer look at Lee Harvey Oswald, his potential ties to the CIA, and why the agency has remained evasive about those connections.Finally, they review the key findings from the newly released documents, assess whether any revelations have truly been groundbreaking, and preview what might come next in the ongoing evolution of this historic conspiracy theory.Like and subscribe to The Chuck ToddCast!Timeline:0:00 Introduction02:00 What led to massive distrust of the U.S. government04:00 Chuck’s big questions about the JFK assassination8:40 How did Jeff Morley become JFKfacts?10:10 Oliver Stone’s movie led to congress passing the JFK records act in 199211:40 Released CIA records were a reporting gold mine14:55 Until the internet, the government kept a closed fist on the records15:55 Oswald denied the killing, case was never adjudicated 19:10 Chuck welcoming his son to the conspiracy 21:50 The books that informed Jeff’s thinking on the assassination24:45 Bobby Kennedy never believed the official story25:55 How did Oswald not end up in jail after going to Russia?28:45 Oswald was a known quantity to CIA officials before the assassination29:55 Robert Kennedy asked the CIA director directly about CIA involvement32:10 CIA’s fear was their awful operations being brought to light33:40 Lyndon Johnson didn’t believe the Warren commission34:50 Why did the CIA cover up its affiliation with Oswald?35:40 What did Trump hold off on releasing?37:30 Trump and Biden both punted on releasing files40:40 Trump got back on board after RFK Jr. joined the campaign43:10 The timeline for redactions shows what the government prioritized protecting45:10 Hoover sanctioned FBI agents for their handling of Oswald45:55 Why did the FBI + CIA remove Oswald from the watch list?47:40 Oswald clearly was a CIA asset48:40 Oswald did 5 things that should have landed him in trouble49:55 Oswald goes public with the Fair Play for Cuba Committee51:50 4 people confronting Oswald in the courtroom had CIA connections54:20 Bay of Pigs is the root of Cuban-American support for Republicans59:00 Did we learn anything from old Soviet files?1:01:00 Soviets surveilled Oswald while he was in Minsk 1:03:45 Tulsi Gabbard implied new files had been found1:05:30 CIA hasn’t produced new records that aren’t at the national archives1:06:00 What are we missing on Jack Ruby?1:08:10 CIA motivations for cover up?1:10:15 What if Oswald did it and was part of a conspiracy?1:10:40 There’s no smoking gun proof Oswald did it?1:11:10 Compelling evidence that shots came from in front of Kennedy1:13:10 Investigators botched the chain of possession for evidence1:17:25 Jeff’s experience testifying in front of congress1:18:55 Trump’s motive for declassifying the records1:21:40 Where to find Jeff’s work1:23:10 The CIA was a rogue agency in the 50s 1:24:55 Chuck’s closing thoughts
Full Episode
Welcome to a special episode of the Chuck Toddcast. Why am I calling it a special episode? Is it a very special episode of Blossom? No, I'm kidding. Sorry, I'm showing my age here. But when we used to say, when you ever heard the phrase, a very special episode, it usually was Blossom for whatever reason. But this one's a special episode.
We're going a little bit long and a little bit less on the news, although it is something that's been in the news over the last couple of weeks. And that is The release of new files about the JFK assassination, more importantly about what the government did or did not know about Lee Harvey Oswald before he ended up becoming the chief suspect and assassin of John F. Kennedy.
On that front, my guest is Jeff Morley. He is the man behind JFK Facts.com. If you are familiar with his name, it's I'm guessing because you're already a subscriber to him on Substack. But he's been you know, he tries to he certainly has his own theory on the conspiracy. And the two of us disagree on where this is headed.
But at the end of the day, he's focused on what he can prove, what the documents have said. And this man has been through these documents for decades. I'm not just talking a year or two. He isn't somebody that just started doing this when the Internet was invented. He's been doing this story basically back since the early 90s, and he's probably as
as well known of an expert on all things the government has or may have on Oswald as anybody there is out there. So I think you will enjoy this. But I do want to leave you with this before I just let you dive in to this episode. When we think about the issue of trust and how much of it's been lost. You know, I talk about government, there's distrust of government out there.
It seems like it's, you know, and there's lots of reasons for it, right? The government didn't do, in many ways, weapons of mass destruction, right? That was a moment of government distrust, making people question whether they can believe their leaders. You had, frankly, the fact that government didn't send anybody to jail after the Great Recession, right?
Here was this massive, essentially, destruction of the American economy, all to make extra money on bad mortgages. And no one went to jail for this. I think that has added to this distrust that people have out there of government with the press. I think that we've had a few a few of these moments.
I think the fact that major the major media seem to go along with the Iraq war and the weapons of mass destruction narrative is. I think really did hurt the image of the accountability press corps, if you will, for a lot of folks. I know some people will bring up the current, how Biden was covered or how Trump was covered, but I think in many ways, the reason it is easy
to beat up the press corps on this stuff really does go back to the, at least in this century, to the Iraq war. But when it comes to government distrust and this ability to sell a conspiracy theory, whether it's Russia, and when I say the conspiracy theory on Russia, I mean whether you're on the left side of the aisle or the right side of the aisle, right?
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