Why do I believe James Files is telling the truth? Here is a non-exhaustive list of reasons in random order:

When I first learned about James Files some three years ago, I was rather amazed that I didn’t know his name. After all, I had been studying the Kennedy assassination for over 12 years. I was more astonished because Files had made his confession in 1994 and I was told the website had been up since 1995. When I searched for the name "James Files" on the Internet, I found that 9 out of 10 articles attempted to completely discredit Files' story. I then set out to closely investigate these criticisms and came to the conclusion they were all superficial and didn't hold water.

For example, critics said that the weapon Files claimed to have used was more a pistol than a rifle and would have had an enormous recoil. They said it "kicks like a mule". Therefore, Files could never have seen what he claimed he had witnessed through the scope of his weapon. I sent an email to one of the gun shops I found on the Internet. I acted as a potential customer and asked whether the Remington Fireball was a pleasant weapon to fire. That man stated the weapon was one of the most sophisticated guns ever made, etc. When I inquired about the recoil he said it was nice and steady. Ultimately, I told him why I asked. He was quite amused and said that the alleged murder weapon of Lee Harvey Oswald had a lot more recoil than the Fireball. He added that whoever said that the XP-100 had substantial recoil had a lot to learn about firearms.

Files was also criticized with the allegation that the XP-100 was not available in 1963 and that the rounds used for this weapon were not a .222 caliber but rather .221. I found both accusations to be untrue. The weapon was introduced in 1963 and prototypes were available as early as 1962. The weapon was originally chambered for .222 rounds. To learn more about the Remington XP-100 Fireball click here.

Another statement was that Files would not have had the time to do all the things he claimed to have done. He states that he bit the shell casing after firing the shot and left it on the on the picket fence on the grassy knoll. He then put the weapon back in his briefcase, turned his jacket inside out, put it on and walked away. Critics shout he would never had the time to do all of that because numerous bystanders rushed to the knoll right after the shots, since that is where most bystanders had heard the shots coming from.

It is true that many bystanders ran towards the grassy knoll, but not immediately. Files says that everyone stood frozen and stunned and that even the policemen acted uncertain, as if they were waiting for someone to tell them what to do.

I was quickly able to determine that Files was right. One of the photos of the knoll shows the press bus in front of it. There is not a soul on the knoll yet. This was the last vehicle in the motorcade, so it must have taken, at the minimum, 30 seconds for the bus to reach that point. The president's limousine had almost come to a stop and the press bus had to make the sharp turn of 120 degrees from Houston street onto Elm, forcing it to a near-stop also. To see that Files was right click here.

The lead on James Files came from the FBI. Agent Zack Shelton (now retired) served 28 years with the FBI. He has an impeccable record and spent much of his career on organized crime task forces of Chicago and Kansas City. He is the man who gave the information on James Files to private investigator Joe West, because Zack Shelton had reason to believe that James Files knew more about the Kennedy assassination. This was based on a remark that James Files had made to an FBI informant. Joe West subsequently located James Files in Stateville penitentiary, which ultimately led to his confession of being the gunman on the grassy knoll.

It is important to note that James Files had never volunteered to give information on his role in the assassination. The tip from Zack was given to Joe West, who was working on a lawsuit to exhume JFK’s body. He wanted to prove that Kennedy was hit from the front and by multiple gunmen and a new and independent autopsy would prove sure as hell that the first was a total fraud.

But Joe West never heard a full confession from James Files. Files didn’t want to talk. Only if Joe could arrange immunity for him, would Files consider it. During that time Joe had to go into a hospital for heart surgery. The operation itself was a success, but then out of nowhere he went into a coma and never came out of it. With his death, his exhumation suit also died. Files, and others, thinks Joe was murdered by an overdose of wrong medication in order to silence him. He was informed as such by one of his sources. Indeed there are some strange details; the attending doctor is still to be found for example. And just before he went into coma and could not talk anymore, he scribbled a note for his family "Get me out of here, they are trying to kill me!" The official cause of death was Acute Deficiency Respiratory Syndrome. Bob Vernon was later told by a surgeon that this is more or less a standard method to cover-up medical errors, such as an overdose of drugs. Joe's death is one of the main reasons why James Files decided to tell his story to Bob Vernon, who took over from Joe.

A second reason is that Files has turned religious. An element of clearing his conscience also plays a role. In addition, he feels it was not his idea to put his name before the public. He says it was the FBI (Zack Shelton) and he was convinced the FBI would want the truth kept covered-up. Indeed J. Edgar Hoover had done his best. To James Files, the FBI is one big bad organization. What he does not understand, is that mostly honorable people work for the FBI and the cover-up was controlled from the top. Zack Shelton and his colleagues feel betrayed their own former boss covered-up such a big crime, while they were thinking they were doing the greatest thing in the world.

Another reason is that both Files and Bob Vernon had received clear threats to stop with all of this. Those threats came from organized crime as well as the government. To name just a few examples: Vernon claims he was shot at from a car and Files received a message from a mob lawyer to "keep quiet and lay down by your doggy bowl." Vernon’s proposal to Files was then: "If they want to take us out, let’s leave them something for history!" Files stared in silence through the window for a minute, according to Vernon the longest minute of his life. Finally Files turned around and said: "Ok, bring in the cameras tomorrow!"

A final reason is that James Files is convinced he will never be tried for the assassination of JFK. A trial would expose the government’s involvement. He knows the powers behind it and they have too much to lose.

Gerald Ford, former President and last surviving member of the Warren Commission, has demonstrated his strategy again: Disguise your crimes by attacking the attacker. I am increasingly flabbergasted about what is possible in America. Why is the world and the History Channel swallowing his attack on the documentary "The guilty men"? For those who missed this headline news, it is the last episode of "The men who killed Kennedy" series, aired last November and originally scheduled for re-runs over the next nine years, which makes a case for Lyndon Johnson as a main conspirator in JFK's murder. Ford's coordinated protest with former Johnson cronies like Bill Moyers, Jack Valenti and Johnson's widow, has now even resulted in complete cancellation of all three new episodes, including those which were not attacked, like "The Love Affair" with Judyth Vary Baker, who makes a credible case for having been Lee Harvey Oswald's girlfriend, exonerating him from the Government's theory that he was the lone assassin. To my knowledge, this is an unprecedented form of censorship in the United States.

In all the heated discussions and controversy about the History Channel's documentary, whether LBJ had a role in the JFK assassination or not, it seems that one thing is overlooked : In this case, Lyndon Baines Johnson and his next door neighbor and close buddy J. Edgar Hoover are guilty of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, not because we can prove they ordered it or because we can prove they had any direct connection to the killing, but because we can prove beyond any reasonable doubt that those two men took steps and took actions that covered up the truth of the crime. Washing out and refurbishing the President's limousine is just one of many examples of destroying crucial evidence. This makes them at least accessories after the fact. And was it not to Bill Moyers that Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach sent the infamous memo: "The public should be satisfied that Oswald was the lone assassin"?

But what's more, Ford himself is guilty! Not only was it learned that he was secretly reporting on the Commission to FBI Director Hoover, but also, forced by declassified files, he has admitted that he instructed the Warren Commission to move Kennedy's backwound up by several inches !!! The significance of this cannot be overstated! For with a wound in the original location, there cannot be a single bullet theory and without a single bullet theory there cannot be a lone gunman. Last time I looked, this was called "tampering with evidence", which is a federal crime and in such an important case as the death of a president, it is also treason. Raised with my naive and Dutch set of values on freedom and democracy, I believe the man should be in jail, despite his rehearsed repetitions that the Commission "found no evidence of a conspiracy, foreign or domestic". Instead, he is allowed to bury essentially good documentaries. What is happening to America?

The murder of John F. Kennedy was a conspiracy.

James Earl Files, in association with Charles Nicoletti and John Rosselli, were sent to Dallas by Sam Giancana, head of the Chicago mob and a known CIA covert operative, David Atlee Phillips.

The CIA and Mafia had full knowledge of the hit and CIA covert operatives were actively involved.

John Rosselli was flown into Dallas on a CIA supported Military Air Transport flight co-piloted by Robert Towh Plumlee.

Charles Nicoletti was driven into Dallas from the Grace Ranch in Arizona by Chauncey Holt.

David Atlee Phillips of the CIA orchestrated Oswald and possibly an unknown third party who was to have eliminated Oswald but who killed Officer J.D. Tippit instead. This man's identity is unknown.